Paragon of Sin

Hong Cunhua drew her sword from her floral-embroidered sheath. Like a solar star rising from the horizons of a planet at the break of dawn, bathing the world in the fresh, nascent radiance of the day arose from her eyes, from the sword, and her Astral Soul. It was soulful, graceful, and calming, and emanated a faint aroma of morning's first whiff of flowers. It was soul-stirring to all, easily allowing one to be lost in the beauty of its existence. Hidden within this pleasing beauty of the dawn was a sharp, radiant intent, unforgiving and valiant. It encapsulated Hong Chunhua-the First Commander of the Ascendants' Legion.

The eighteen blooming roses, carrying eighteen incredibly tiny, palm-sized solar Stars, shook as pollen-like motes of light were scattered about, lightly cascading around Hong Chunhua's figure, enhancing her already dominant presence as they danced.

Xue Yifei's heart pounded fiercely, "Dawnbreaker Swordlight!" She had gathered information regarding each threat of the competition, even resorting to using her connection with her husband, to eke out every ounce of advantage possible. Hong Chunhua was not absent from that list.

The Dawnbreaker Swordlight Method was an exceptional Cultivation Method that could be classified as among a high-Earth grade at its most fundamental level; however, the method was not inflexible, and could in fact be advanced by changing certain aspects of its cultivation process. For example, when condensing the Dawnbreaker Swordlight Quintessence, the primer for the cultivation method, it was, at minimum, a requirement of White Primary Light and Awakened Sword Intent. It didn't detail the potential of formulating Dawnbreaker Swordlight Quintessence with True Light or Soul Light. Despite that, it was classified firmly as a high-Earth graded Cultivation Method.

Hong Chunhua, however, had pushed it far, far beyond its description, and had even altered the Dawnbreaker Swordlight Quintessence by adding her innate comprehension of fragrance and flora alongside her Soul Light.

It wouldn't be incorrect to say that Hong Chunhua had modified the Cultivation Method with her soul to perfectly adhere to her unique, exceptional path of cultivation. She was a marvel. She was an abnormal talent destined to rise. And with that, she was by no means ordinary.

Xue Yifei lamented how she had devised seventeen different ways to counter and resist Hong Chunhua, with only a single one of those methods being remotely reliable. Hong Chunhua was able to maintain the First Commander position for so many decades despite the fierce and violently competitive environment of the Ascendants for a reason.

Even Su Mei, the First Ascendant, had the first change in gaze since their joint assault began.

Su Mei's two outstretched fingers acting as a saber thrummed softly, releasing a heart-throbbing saber howl. The ambient mana of the world clashed against itself. It violently churned, and then swirled around them for a mile, even condensing into tangible, off-white mist that encircled them, almost blocking them from being seen by typical, ordinary mortals.

As the two women exchanged gazes, the rapidly swirling mana halted unnaturally. It was as if it was halting, quivering, and palpitating from the anxious anticipation, fearful of disturbing the two's invisible clash.

Hong Chunhua leaned forward, her thighs expanded as if infused with greatly refined physical force, her breath came out as tangible sword light, and her eighteen roses spun.

Su Mei lifted her saber hand, her spine was upright with pure, black eyes clear to an otherworldly extent.

WHOOSH!

Hong Chunhua arrived before Su Mei with a single step, accompanied by a violent whirlwind of sword light, birthed from the eighteen roses, all torrentially greysering toward the sky, blindingly brilliant and forceful. The soul-seizing fragrance assailed the senses.

Those who were hundreds of miles away lost focus for a second, overwhelmingly stimulated to the point their other sensory means went inactive or unclear in anything they could register.

She swung her sword diagonally, seeking to sever Su Mei in two. The speed of her attack faintly touched upon the concept of lightspeed, beyond the limits of the Mortal Dao. It carried with it abundant, highly concentrated Sword Light. For a moment, it seemed as if dawn itself had arrived in a world that had only known darkness. Countless were blinded.

CLANG!!

Su Mei answered with a concise reply. Her legs remained firmly on her platform as she met Hong Chunhua's sword of radiant, world-illuminating light with her saber of darkness and light, twilight embodying dusk and dawn. The sound of metal clashing erupted, blasting the world for tens of thousands of miles, causing robes, hair, and souls to flutter.

The Ascendants braced themselves at once. They formed Astral Wards while empowering themselves with their World-Bound Star Domains or Martial Arts.

"Ah!" Those with too weak of a cultivation base or strength couldn't react, having lost too many senses, confused and astonished, they were blasted for miles away and crashed hectically and heavily in various regions. Many had their bones shattered or their Astral Cores experiencing fractures.

A sword hummed!

A saber howled!

The two opposing forces radiated a resonance with an obscure, fascinating law, yet barely anyone could truly grasp such an instantaneous and rare moment. Those who caught the glimpse were fascinated to an indescribable extreme.

CLANG! CLANG!! CLANG! CLANG!!

Instantly, fierce, metallic clashes unfolded as saber and sword cried out their unyielding spirits. The world itself was affected; the saber howl and sword hum instigated a change in energies, essence, and mana, as Sword Light and Saber Light intertwined ferociously against each other, fighting so intensely as if the world itself was in a civil war.

Hong Chunhua stabbed her sword, aiming at Su Mei's heart. The killing intent was hell-raising and intentful.

KILL! KILL!

Su Mei guarded herself deftly as she parried the stab. Her two fingers sliced across the surface of the sword, aiming for Hong Chunhua's flawless neck. Her attack was expertly timed and angled, and even if Hong Chunhua dodged in ten thousand different ways, she would lose a pound of flesh somewhere.

KILL! KILL!

Hong Chunhua didn't dare to take a single back, her gathered momentum was pushed to a literal limit, and she refused to lose a single iota of this gathered strength by retreating. Even in death.

One of the eighteen roses in the midst of a glorious bloom suddenly began to thrum with an oscillating sound originating from the miniaturized solar star at its center. Hong Chunhua didn't hesitate to unleash its power!

In her heart, as the saber neared at speeds that could cut the heads off Ascended beings, she cried: "Shatter through the horizon, expose dawn! Sever through the light, break death! Conquer through the bloom, implode worlds!"

Suddenly, one of the eighteen roses' solar stars shrunk to a tenth of its size.

Su Mei's pupils focused on that particular rose, constricting ever-so-slightly.

Hong Chunhua felt the saber already slicing into her flesh, drawing blood despite being so far away. The intent to end her life, the threat of death, and the feeling of her incoming demise did not halt her actions in the slightest as she held no hesitation in her soul or sword.

"STAR IMPLOSION!"

The star shrunk, shrunk, and then-

-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

Cries of hectic and agonizing screams resounded as a gargantuan explosion of radiant energy exploded, devastating hundreds of miles of area within the blink of an eye. A hole, gaping and far-reaching, was blasted into the sky.

Xue Yifei's Demonic Dragon Armor shuddered intensely as the gushing wave of solar explosion smashed against her body, almost sending her flying! She hunkered down alongside the other Ascendants, forcefully remaining where they were, resisting the intense wave of solar heat and force.

The barren earth, seas, mountains, lakes, deserts, forests, frozen tundras, swamps, and many, many more different regions experienced a catastrophic impact as they experienced notable changes. The bodies of water largely evaporated from the heat and entire mountains crumbled.

"Supernova!" Tambu Ma exclaimed as he protected himself and his allies. His eyes were bulging to their limits, dawn near falling out of his skull. Unleashing supernovae was the ultimate ability of Starlords, those at the very peak of the Mortal Realms.

The thunderous sound of it left him deaf. If he wasn't an Earthly Saint, he likely would have been blinded, deafened with an overwhelming fragrance clogging his sense of smell and other senses. Even now, he felt his Spiritual Sense was being affected greatly, and it was hard to grasp details of the surrounding world.

He couldn't help but focus heavily on the cloud of solar mass that was present to not miss a single detail.

WOO!

A slender figure jetted backward from the cloud of remnant solar mass. They landed in a devastated barren region with chasms and uplifted earth, forcefully pressing their feet to the ground, skidding to a stop. Within their hand were two outstretched fingers that unleashed a sharp, piercing howl.

Su Mei!

She was unscathed.

WHOOSH!

Another figure approached, her momentum was earthshaking, and she wielded her sword with exceptional precision and lethal intent. Hong Chunhua arrived once again before Su Mei. She swung her sword. She swung again. And again!

Clang! Clang!

Behind her, a whirlwind of swordlight and seventeen blooming star roses!

Su Mei, for the first time, seemed to be on the back foot of the exchanges. While she expertly blocked and attacked, her defensive maneuvers vastly exceeded her strikes, and she was constantly unable to find a stable footing. Her steps were light, her movements fast, yet Hong Chunhua was no less fast as the whirlwind of light seemed to push her forward at speeds that faintly exceeded Bo Kay!

Hong Chunhua had shattered Su Mei's gathered momentum established in her immovable form, forcing her to retreat. As for her momentum, it was still accumulating with each swing! Every attack swung faster and harder, and every defensive block was an attack in disguise. She pressed the offensive without holding anything back!

Su Mei, however, was too abnormal; as she retreated, her momentum shockingly began to regather itself. Each attack was similarly faster, stronger, and her defensive maneuvers didn't need to be disguised as offenses, they only served to strengthen her position and weaken her opponents, forming openings if one was the slightest bit careless.

The skill was awe-inspiring to witness.

"STAR IMPLOSION!" Hong Chunhua found her heart guard pressed forcefully by Su Mei's fingers, intent on piercing her through, and she exclaimed with unrestrained valor!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The world shook.

The regions morphed.

The cultivators cried.

Run! RUN! RUN!!!

With abject fear in their hearts, many fled! A few Chosen had been seen from both worlds that had been eviscerated by the supernova, either by its explosive force or its blistering, scorching heat. The sight sent shivers down the spines of those still living.

Only the Ascendants intent on facing Su Mei stayed closely together, withstanding the force and heat with their strength or jointly resisting.

Xue Yifei was astonished. "She condensed pseudo-Star Cores to implode at will! While they aren't too strong, almost rivaling the strength of a full-powered strike of a Demi-Mortal Lord, they're highly condensed and can inflict sensory overload. If this was an ordinary Ascendant, they definitely would have suffered severely, if not outright died to her sword by now." Seeing Su Mei handling Hong Chunhua's insane tactics was a marvel in and of itself alongside this unique Spiritual Art.

Unleashing supernovae by Star Implosion was the sole power of a typical cultivator in the peak of the Mortal Realms that could contest with an Ascended being. If they used their actual Star Core as the power source, the damage an ordinary Starlord could inflict would severely wound a careless Venerable. It could muster strength beyond self-detonation by a large margin.

Hong Chunhua had cultivated eighteen pseudo-Star Cores to mimic this effect! It wasn't just miraculous, it was downright terrifying!

"Fortunately...there seems to be a limit..." Xue Yifei couldn't help but think that her one reliable method was less reliable now. If not for the fact that Hong Chunhua seemed unable to detonate all eighteen at once, not even that method would work.

Xue Yifei's keen observation skills were such that even Hong Chunhua would be terrified by her thoughts. She indeed couldn't unleash all eighteen at once, and that was simply due to the limitations of her Spiritual Strength.

CLANG! CLANG!!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

CLANG! CLANG!!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

CLANG! CLANG!! CLANG!!!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

Repeatedly, Hong Chunhua kept finding herself at the edge of death by Su Mei's fingers. Moreover, the explosions seemed to be unable to break through her innate defenses or damage her body. What type of physique does she have?! A point-blank supernova could only disrupt her momentum?!

Hong Chunhua's expression was abnormally tense and dark as each explosion led to her life escaping death. Eventually, she had unleashed nine of her blooming star roses, yet Su Mei hadn't even bled once. Not even her battle armor was scratched.

She soon reached the two-hundred-and-sixteenth exchange between them.

Bei Weiwei's eyes were as frigid as the frozen depths of a frosty hell, exuding a spiritual light that could pierce through the soul and self at a glance. She took a step forward at this moment!

"She's acting!" Xue Yifei's eyes lit.

The Fourth Commander of the Ascendants' Legion, Bei Weiwei.

The #1 Spiritual Cultivator of the Ascendants.

The only...

Bei Weiwei soared into the sky, her hands forming rapid hand-seals as she targeted Su Mei. Her lithe, frigid figure was utterly soul-stirring to witness as she rushed into battle. Within her, a unique connection of mind-body-spirit formed that shook the mind, all tethered by a single type of force, a single type of extraordinary power.

Spiritual Force!

Su Mei's eyes flashed with a frigid spiritual light as her expression slightly changed. Her eyes darted toward the incoming figure exuding frigid Spiritual Force.

Su Mei's eyes shone faintly, and she softly whispered: "Spiritualist."