Paragon of Sin

Wei Wuyin and Han Yuhei had stayed in the Original Dawn Palace for an entire hour. Afterward, Han Yuhei exited the palace's doors with grounded steps, his thoughts clearly occupied accompanied by a frowning expression. When he walked roughly to the edge of the Original Dawn Palace's floating foundation, his eyebrows finally lifted and he regained an enigmatic expression worthy of an Earthly Saint—unfathomable and mysterious.

Shortly after, Wei Wuyin had left the Original Dawn Palace, but he was unable to find Wen Mingna. With his current level of spiritual sense, he could encapsulate the entire planet with some effort, yet he discovered that she wasn't present at all. While her aura lingered here and there, she was gone.

With a frown, a wisp of panic swelled within his heart. It was merely a wisp as he closed his eyes, focusing on sensing the spatial ring on her possession marked with his void signature. "She's…so far?" Baffled by discovery, Wei Wuyin was about to conjure a Void Portal as he felt that she was in transit, growing further and further away, having already left the Elementus Domain.

Then, a voice rippled through his immediate surroundings, directing itself into his spirits as a transmission.

"Her assignment has been completed; the Golden Gate Pavilion will resume her training." The voice stated plainly, belonging to a male. Wei Wuyin's eyes opened, a ray of silver spiritual light within. He didn't hesitate for a single moment, immediately locking onto Wen Mingna's position, and touched the void with his right hand.

Kree!

A black spherical orb roughly thirty meters in height manifested out of pure Void Force, the Void Portal Creation Art had reached an unfathomable level! With his recent ascension to a Realmlord, his grasp on various spatial concepts had greatly elevated.

Instantly, the black spherical orb began to rapidly disintegrate on greyish dust, revealing Bai Lin's majestic and pristinely white and golden form. It was as if she replaced the Void Portal. For a brief moment, she was confused by the abrupt adjustment of her surroundings, especially when she felt a strange force envelop her, but she was familiar with Wei Wuyin's aura and hadn't resisted. So when she saw Wei Wuyin, she released a clarion cry of joy.

But she stopped mid-cry immediately after seeing his solemn expression, and her eyes burned with a golden fire reflecting the emotions reflected from Wei Wuyin's pupils. Bai Lin moved rapidly, positioning her body for Wei Wuyin to easily mount her.

Then, Wei Wuyin didn't explain, and rode Bai Lin. Afterward, he formed a one-handed seal, and the space ahead of them formed a Void Portal. The two shot into the Void Portal.

Far, far away.

A golden light infused with spatial energies was shooting off like a comet through the Dark Void, concealed so deeply that even the Elementus Domain's innate, passively activated spatial-restricting array wasn't able to detect its departure. Within the comet was a stone-faced Wen Mingna with her eyes closed.

Atop this comet of energy was a middle-aged woman seated cross-legged. The woman white eyes without any sign of pupils or irises, completely blank. Despite her strange appearance, she still carried herself with a gracefully beautiful charm befitting a mature woman.

At her side, a young man with light-grey hair and standing at five feet and three inches was beside the middle-aged woman. His eyes were focused downwards as he inspected Wen Mingna, who was being transported by this shuttle of golden energy known as the Heavenly Way Shuttle, a unique Voidship that was only slightly beneath the Star-Hex.

It was one of the smallest shuttles, yet they were all on or in it, traversing through the Domains without being discovered.

The young man couldn't help but say after a long while, "Junior Seer Wen's lifeforce is brimming, but her cultivation stage hasn't advanced." This brought him a lot of confusion as this shouldn't be easy to achieve. As Heavenly Seers, their actions of peering into the Heavenly Daos' intentions often had the consequence of losing lifespan, and doing so continuously damages their soulspan. It was notoriously well-known that Seers had shorter lifespans than any other type of cultivator.

If Wen Mingna had broken through into the Realm World Phase, he would understand her increase in lifeforce, but she would still suffer some deficit from her complete lifespan, yet…she seemed to be overflowing with abundant lifeforce.

"Her assignment has benefitted her," the middle-aged woman calmly stated. "Remember this: Everyone's path is different. As there are gains on every road of cultivation, there are losses in every choice made."

"Losses?" The young man was surprised by this statement, but he didn't immediately seek an answer from the middle-aged woman, merely ruminating over her words.

The middle-aged woman was serene, especially as they reached the half-way mark of the Everlore Domain. Suddenly, however, her white eyes had rays of golden light streak through it. Her serene expression changed abruptly.

KREE!

From seemingly nowhere, a twenty-two-meter-sized avian creature appeared. The clarion cry was enough to stun the young man, who turned to see the white and golden feathered beast shot towards them at an insanely fast speed. They were currently concealed, even an ordinary non-Spatial Mystic Rune Earthly Saint would find it difficult to find them, so this was shocking to say the least.

Their speed wasn't too fast.

The middle-aged woman frowned slightly. Then, the avian darted towards them accurately, and a faint Worldly Pressure enveloped the Heavenly Way Shuttle, causing it to come to a violent halt. The young man's footing was shaken, and he almost flew off the shuttle. If it wasn't for the middle-aged woman waving her hand, locking him in place, he would've been hurled into the Dark Void.

"What? We stopped?!" The young man exclaimed with extreme shock.

Wei Wuyin and Bai Lin arrived before the golden light that had an egg-like shape. Within the egg-like Voidship, Wen Mingna was closed-eyed, stone-faced, and non-responsive whilst floating within. As for atop the egg, two figures were observing him.

At that moment, Wei Wuyin's Formless Divinity Domain, Kratos' Worldly Domain, was unleashed! While his limit was 333,000 meters in size, or slightly over 206 miles, he had only brought it to two kilometers. Still, it was sufficient to grasp the Heavenly Way Shuttle entirely given its small size and speed. Furthermore, he had appeared directly before it with only a hundred or so meters between them.

The middle-aged woman's frown deepened as she realized that the Heavenly Way Shuttle was forcefully seized by a Worldly Force. She was typically not one to be shaken by any occurrence, but her pupil-less and iris-less eyes moved in a way that perfectly reflected her acute shock!

The Heavenly Way Shuttle was a mystic-grade Voidship, powered by Mystic Stones and Mystic-Earth graded spatial materials, yet it had all come to a cold halt. The Heavenly Way Shuttle's energy flow, mystic, spatial, and excess, had been forcefully suppressed. It was actually a little of an understatement to call her current feelings 'shocked'.

Wei Wuyin's eyes revealed an extremely cold light as he regarded the two cultivators, his Celestial Eyes in full effect. Instantly, he realized that the middle-aged woman wasn't there in person. She was an avatar with a wisp of spiritual sense, constructed from mystic power. As for the man, he was a Starlord and actually here in person.

"You haven't asked my permission to take her away, have you?" When Wei Wuyin said those words, Bai Lin's eyes burned with a nirvanic light that threatened to incinerate all before her.

The young man was taken aback by Wei Wuyin's hostility. When he saw how handsome this young man was, he was a little thrown-off, and even stunned. How could a man be this good-looking? There wasn't anything femininely beautiful about this man, seemingly being of a pinnacle masculine nature, without being too freakish. It was extremely hard to describe. For a moment, he questioned his own inclined preference, but only for a brief moment.

When he broke out of his stupor, he harshly replied with: "Who do you think you are?" The moment those words left his lips, the young man's expression drastically changed as he felt an overbearing void power sieged him, seemingly ignoring space itself. It was outrageously powerful, insidious, and felt unstoppable!

Just as he was about to conjure his own Worldly Domain, a wave of the middle-aged woman dispersed the power. Despite being an avatar, the power fueling it was beyond Mortal Limits. Still, the avatar actually faded slightly as a result.

The total strength of this avatar was at the upper-limits of a Mystic Star Phase, yet it had exhausted a great portion of its limited power defending against Wei Wuyin's assault.

The middle-aged woman's thoughts grew serious. They were in the middle of the Everlore Domain, and her real body couldn't descend here. Realizing that staying here would have consequences, she tried to regain control of the Heavenly Way Shuttle.

CREAK!

A harsh and dangerous sound occurred as the Heavenly Way Shuttle was unable to move, restrained by Wei Wuyin's Worldly Domain. The strength of this avatar wasn't enough to leverage enough power to escape. She instantly realized this.

But she was even more shocked to discover that Wei Wuyin's Worldly Domain has grasped such a terrifying control over spatial energies, and seemingly halted mystic energies flow as well, including dominating the mana of the shuttle. This was inconceivable for a Realmlord.

She could only logically attribute it to a unique treasure empowering his Worldly Domain. This man truly seemed to possess many unfathomable means.

Was he the one?

"Are you going to stop her continued cultivation? Out of lust?" The middle-aged woman took a different approach.

Wei Wuyin frowned.

The middle-aged woman continued, "I allowed her to leave on assignment despite it being against the rules of our Golden Gate Pavilion, to seek you out and complete her determined objective. She has completed that, no?"

The woman was clearly referring to Wen Mingna's transference of the Eighteen Hells details.

Wei Wuyin inspected the Heavenly Way Shuttle closely. The male's voice from earlier belonged to the young man here, yet it was transmitted with the means of an Ascended. It seemed the avatar acted as a proxy for the young man.

"You are?" Wei Wuyin asked, and Bai Lin's fiery eyes flared. There were wisps of golden flames leaking from her beak, and she seemed ready to strike.

The middle-aged woman kept calm, but she was actually a little vexed by this situation. How could she have not predicted this? If Wei Wuyin decided to bring Wen Mingna away, there was nothing they could do to stop him. Bai Lin, the Fire Phoenix, had the strength of a Demi-Mortal Lord, exceeding her avatar's strength.

Yet she remained calm, replying: "Grand Seer of the Golden Gate Pavilion." She didn't give out a name, merely a title. Yet, she added: "I am also Wen Mingna's Master."

When she said those words, the feeling of calamity began to dissipate from around her.

Wei Wuyin's eyes glinted with a strange light. Wen Mingna had briefly mentioned what happened after she left the Neo-Dawn Starfield, arriving here and shortly after being recruited by the Golden Gate Pavilion. She mentioned accepting a master, a Grand Seer, who was instructing her on cultivating divination.

He didn't doubt it after realizing she had a casually made avatar with the strength of an Ascended being. It was clearly from the temporal age that this avatar was roughly three days old. It must've been created right after his Realmlord ascension.

The Grand Seer's avatar looked at Wen Mingna's unconscious body. "I understand your thoughts, and I'm sure you understand that if I were to give her a choice, she would have strongly declined. After all, she was willing to give her essential Primal Yin to you. However, if she is to maximize her potential talents, she must return to the Golden Gate Pavilion."

The hostility in Wei Wuyin's heart calmed down. He was a little selfish at the moment. He didn't want her to leave just yet, and they hadn't talked about that kiss. But hearing the Grand Seer speak so clearly about the event, maybe she sensed that Wen Mingna's cultivation path as a Heavenly Seer was in danger.

"You're correct; her cultivation path was endangered," as if reading Wei Wuyin's thoughts, the Grand Seer calmly stated.

Wei Wuyin didn't respond immediately. He couldn't keep Wen Mingna with him indefinitely—he knew this. The Golden Gate Pavilion was an organization designed to nurture top-tier Seers, and while he could provide her endless resources, he couldn't provide her with profound instructions or a suitable environment.

If she had stayed with him before they left the Neo-Dawn Starfield, she would only have had the cultivation method he had brought her to rely on. Her achievements might not have been a hundredth of what it was now. As someone who struggled with arts, spells, and methods himself, he understood profoundly what he lacked. Even in terms of Alchemic Dao, he lacked instructions and information that a Mortal Sovereign Alchemist should know. For example, the uses of the Alchemic Stars of Mortal Spirituality or its evolutions.

Wang Yutian described Mortal Sovereign Alchemists as terrifying, and Wei Wuyin strongly felt it was linked to the Alchemic Stars in his eyes.

In the end, he caressed Bai Lin's feathers, dispersing the fiery light in her eyes and the nirvanic flames receded into her beak. She no longer felt as threatening as before.

He brought out a spatial ring, infusing his spiritual force within, leaving behind a series of messages. The ring contained a lot of alchemical products and resources, even strange things like Tear of the Fated, a unique and rare fate-based material used by Seers to strengthen their cultivation or certain divination arts. This was one of many different materials obtained from Wu Yu's 'exploration' of the parasite clans of the Elementus Domain.

After ensuring it had everything, sealed to only allow Wen Mingna's unique aura open it, he tossed it casually through the Dark Void towards the Grand Seer. She caught it with ease.

"I won't stop her from leaving," Wei Wuyin decided. Then, with the coldest eyes imaginable, he said: "But if she ever wishes to leave of her own volition, and I find out the Golden Gate Pavilion kept her prisoner, forced her to do something against her will, or brought her unnecessary harm, I can promise you that the Golden Gate Pavilion will vanish from this world."

The Grand Seer wasn't shocked or bothered by those words, her eyes reflected pure serenity. She merely grasped the spatial ring and nodded. But the young man beside her had a contorted expression. He had never felt like a side character before until today.

Moreover, this person was younger than him yet was seemingly stronger…and…and more handsome! Additionally, he held a conversation with the Grand Seer without the slightest bit of respect in his tone, talking as if they were of equal status. He was enraged.

Unfortunately, he wasn't qualified to speak here. Bai Lin alone threatened their lives in this situation, and he was painfully aware that staying and causing a commotion here would have consequences. He could only keep his feelings to himself.

Wei Wuyin gave one last look at Wen Mingna. This woman had saved his life three times. She was one of the greatest decisions in his life.

He withdrew his Worldly Domain, and the Heavenly Way Shuttle didn't waste any time restarting and shooting off into the distance without a single word. Wei Wuyin watched their departure and stood on the spot for ten full minutes. Then, after a soft sigh, he and Bai Lin left via a Void Portal.

Shortly after, a few Ascended beings came to this location and investigated the area with suspicion written across their expressions. However, even after using their various means, the abnormal temporal flow of the area made determining what happened entirely impossible. Shocked, they hurriedly informed the Everlore Association's leadership of their discovery.

An hour or so later, a figure seemingly manifested out of the void. It was a feminine figure, and she inspected the location a few times. "Void Portals?" The figure looked away, peering into the far distance towards the Elementus Domain. Then, she vanished in a strange manner as if she didn't exist.