Paragon of Sin

The Night's Sky Undying Stars Array was devastatingly powerful, unleashing a type of gushing, irresistible pressure that fractured the bodies of Rune Kings, ballooned the bodies of Highlords, and directly forced detonation on Venerables. Countless sought refuge under Zhen Yang's golden ward infused with his Mystic Heart Intent of the Yang Sword only alleviated after entering its effective range.

The members of the Endless Voyage Realm cursed Tian Taizong in their hearts, hoping to see their World Emperors, the illustriously powerful Worldly Saints of their Azure-Prime Galactic Zone annihilate his body and soul. This was so even for those of the Celestial Race who had no World Emperors in the Endless Voyage Realm! They internally cheered for the Human Race's World Emperors!

Naturally, none of their hopeful prayers and brutal desires fazed Tian Taizong. In his eyes, they were merely ant-like invaders that dared to ignorantly bite at a titan. Unfortunately, the Night's Sky Undying Stars Array effects were considerably lacking. Unlike the calculations and estimations given by the Tian Clan's greatest minds and architects, those in the Demi-Mortal Lord Phase, the Third Stage of the Mystic Ascendant Realm were capable of surviving the effects of the array.

While this was to be expected as each Highlord of the Endless Voyage Realm was of a considerably higher average standard than those of the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, excluding a rare few, and therefore had stronger bodies, greater levels of self-preservation abilities, and studier foundations resilient to Cultivation Deviation-caused self-detonation, this still brought a hint of displeasure to Tian Taizong's heart.

Hum!

A sword hymn of peerlessly sharp music and rising momentum sang into the Dark Void. Zhen Peng was charging forth with Peng Yue directly behind him. Peng Yue had experienced considerable damage to her foundation, and while she had resumed her original fairy-like appearance, her strength was still slightly below that of an average Worldly Saint. Additionally, circulation of her Mystic Power was discomforting, like trying to move with a freshly burned wound on one's legs. She grimaced as her grip on the Yin Vein Severing Sword's hilt tightened.

Despite her bout of soul-deep pain, she powered through it beautifully, her Mystic Heart Intent of the Yin Sword flourished smoothly around her slender body as a Mystic Ward of hundreds of Yin Sword Mystic Runes. She resembled a Yin Divinity who was ready to expose the world to a grand concert of the ages, surely to be unforgettably murderous.

Hum!

A hymn of subtly sharp music and a declining, resounding momentum sang beneath the surface of the world. The music harmonized with Yang Zhen's, elevating his sharpness to another level! He took the stage like a Yang Divinity of the Sword, intent on rending the sky and sundering the earth!

Tian Taizong calmly gazed at the charging duo. Within the vast Dark Void of the Aeternal Sky Starfield, his imperial robe fluttered without wind as his hazel-gold eyes shone brightly, bestowing him a boundlessly majestic presence that was unmatched.

"Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty!!"

"Your Majesty!!!"

Despite these voices originating from those of weak cultivation bases, some even belonging to mere mortals that instinctively knew of him, taught in preschool of his past and feats, they all reached his ears at this moment. This was the influence of the Seed of the Imperial Law. There were a few general ways to nurture a genuine Seed of Law-Soul Light infusion, True Soul Aura infusion, or Heaven's Aura infusion, and each Seed of Law had special conditions that differed from each. For the Seed of Imperial Law, governing and gathering the formless spiritual will of one's citizens was perfect.

The Exalted Sovereign had notoriously used this method flawlessly, setting a precedent for others in the Azure-Prime Galactic Zone, and greatly influencing the ruling system for territories and their governance within the Galactic Zone. While he wasn't the first to attempt it, he was the first to succeed. After all, the other methods were simply far too costly and time-extensive.

Tian Taizong could feel the despair and hope of his governed citizens, their prayers, and their killing intent. Their want for vengeance! Their want for slaughter!

"Kill these invaders!"

"Suppress them for a million years!"

"Crush their bodies and devour their souls!"

Whether they were young mortals, elite Cultivators, or villainous Evil Cultivators, they all voiced their innermost hearts. At this moment, they earnestly worship Tian Taizong as their Divine Emperor! They didn't question anything else, only wanting to see the outcome of victory!

Victory for the man once regarded as INVINCIBLE!

To Zhen Yang and Peng Yue, these were irrelevant developments. The former was blindingly fast with his Yang Tide Rending Sword in hand, he didn't hold back as he reached the fifty-thousand-mile range of Tian Taizong.

Ninth Way, Ascension Art: Heaven's Hymn of the Golden Sword!

A world-seizing, star-obliterating sword light was unleashed! This attack had eviscerated two colossal Sky Destroyers, erasing them from existence! The lingering hymn was soul-stirring!

Peng Yue came from behind. Her sword stabbed outward!

Ninth Way, Ascension Art: Heaven's Hymn of the Misty Sword!

An all-consuming, deeply concealed misty light was unleashed, riding underneath the golden sword light! Without warning, the golden sword light expanded three times!

Su Nianzu and Jia Yang were solemnly observing from outside the array, and they were taken aback by the sheer might of this combination attack. Zhen Yang might have said he wanted to have a few exchanges, but he didn't hold back at all! Moreover, Peng Yue hadn't either!

Tian Taizong's eyes glowed with a shimmering light as his face was illuminated by the golden sword radiance. He found himself bound by an exquisite seal that shackled onto his temporal aura, spatial presence, mystic fluctuations, life aura, and physical body. Dodging this attack with Spatial Shifting or Temporal Dissonance would only leave one visiting Hell sooner rather than later!

How long has it been since he fought against others? He had long forgotten the taste of the explosive fighting, the restrictive bindings unleashed to halt his movements, and the terrifying attack that could erase a starfield in a single blink of an eye.

"Imperial Sky," Tian Taizong voiced two words as the planet within his Internal World surrounded by a replicated guise of the Sealed Regions' starry sky began to hum slightly. The Heaven's Sky Palace thrummed. The Aeternal Sky Star spontaneously brightened to near-blinding levels. A formless, unfathomable link formed between planet, star, and soul!

Tian Taizong felt his Mystic Soul resonate, pulsating with mystical waves that elevated his state of existence, stimulated by the sensation of external dangers and internal changes.

"So this is the Worldly Saint Phase," Tian Taizong quietly muttered as the golden radiance enveloped him entirely! While his figure was incomparably tiny in comparison, the sword condensed from planet-engulfing size to a few ten meters in thickness, height, and length in an instant. It was as if the gargantuan nature of its existence was a mere illusory presence, and that ten meters of length and height were its true form.

"..."

Su Nianzu and Jia Yang's eyes widened. A single attack?!

However, before they could properly assess the situation, the golden radiance began to degrade in both brilliance and might. In a burst of golden light resembling fireworks, a tall figure strode forward with a few steps.

Tian Taizong!

Unharmed!

The Aeternal Sky Divine Emperor took that dual attack so easily?! Not even his voluminous imperial robe had the slightest cut.

Zhen Yang and Peng Yue's expressions changed drastically as a dignified light flowed through their pupils.

"It's been so long," Tian Taizong said.

Suddenly, Peng Yue formed a one-handed hand-seal, and a pulse of spiritual yin power exploded in a conical shape outwards, enveloping Zhen Yang instantly. Zhen Yang placed his Yang Tide Rending Sword before him defensively.

BOOM!!

Zhen Yang was blasted violently backwards. Peng Yue bled from her nostrils and ears as she chased after him. She hurriedly slashed at the surrounding world in a flurry of yin sword light in a seemingly haphazard fashion while moving. Her movements were accompanied by crisp explosions and shattering sounds.

Zhen Yang twisted his soaring figure to a halt and swung his sword at Peng Yue, unleashing an Ascension Art! Ten thousand streams of yang sword light resembling long-tailed comets pierced the space all around her, clashing violently with something, producing louder explosions.

Peng Yue immediately sped forward, directly arriving beside Zhen Yang as her expression went ghostly pale. Zhen Yang waved his sword in a circle, forming an illusory ward of golden light that resembled clouds. The golden clouds enveloped them both.

Peng Yue lightly stabbed her sword downwards, as if dipping her sword into paint, and the tip vanished briefly. When she retrieved her sword, a dark flame was lit ablaze on the tip of her sword, exuding a chilly yin light and she drew! She painted on the canvas of the golden clouds mystic runes that were unfathomably more complicated than the basic nine runes of the Way of Mysticism!

The golden clouds thickened, forming a spherical barrier, and grew increasingly real as if perfectly created by the merging of yin form and yang growth. The duo stood back to back, sword in hand, their gazes solemn. From outside, their spherical cloud barrier was rippling madly as if under constant siege. With each passing millisecond, their expressions grew increasingly dark as Mystic Power surged forth into their joint defense.

"A Domain of Mysticism!" Su Nianzu accurately pinpointed this strange, invisible power besieging the Dao Couple.

Jia Yang's eyes narrowed.

Tian Taizong was slightly surprised, "You two have experience fighting against domains? The world beyond this one and its cultivators are truly quite incredible indeed." He immediately noticed that their sphere of golden clouds and runes neutralized his Domain of Mysticism's ability to rely on the world's Mystic Dao-graded energies and essence to attack or defend, much like a Worldly Domain.

It was a strangely exquisite method!

Despite his overt praise, the Dao Couple ignored him and focused on their defensive measures to negate the Domain of Mysticism's Worldly Conversion and Control aspects. If they didn't settle this, they would be forced to fight against the entire world endlessly. Just earlier, they were blasted with attacks from every direction without warning. Even the space a millimeter from their skin could be weaponized into a sharp, life-ending attack.

Zhangjie Wushu was both correct and incorrect earlier in her assessment of Imperial Sky, Heaven's Sky Palace, and the Aeternal Sky Star. While the Domain of Mysticism amplification formation placed through the Aeternal Sky Starfield and Imperial Sky's Heaven's Sky Palace was immobile, that didn't mean that Tian Taizong couldn't simply bring it with him!

Hmph! Zhen Yang, however, was fearless. Despite the terrifying power of a Domain of Mysticism, he was undaunted by its strength due to his experience. In fact, his fighting spirit was ablaze with unyielding strength. When you belong to a clan that has nurtured several Worldly Saints and Heavenly Saints over a long period, you learn to fight against them!

"Yue'er!" He exclaimed.

"Yes," Peng Yue didn't hesitate; the young woman tossed her sword slightly upwards, and then formed a double-handed hand-seal, sitting directly in a cross-legged position. Zhen Yang grabbed the Yin Vein Severing Sword with his left hand, dual-wielding both swords, one in each hand.

Then, Peng Yue vanished!

Zhen Yang placed her in his Internal World!

Zhen Yang then flourished both swords, unleashing a torrential wave of omnidirectional sword light. The sphere of solidified golden clouds and dark runes was sucked into his glabella, generating a third eye with a yin-yang symbol of black and gold.

The surrounding space was obliterated, annihilating all traces of time, space, mana, and light. He immediately removed the immediate threats in a single move.

Tian Taizong smiled. He took a step forward. Suddenly, the space that was annihilated by Zhen Yang reformed as if by some godly law, and that space formed an unshakeable bridge. Tian Taizong's step brought him forward by hundreds of thousands of miles in an instant. Within half a blink of an Ascended's eye, he was no more than ten meters away from Zhen Yang.

"Did you think I would stay at a distance?" Tian Taizong amusingly asked.

Zhen Yang didn't answer that question, responding with only a single sentence: "Don't disappoint me!"

"Ok," Tian Taizong nodded.

Zhen Yang held both swords and slashed forth. The extremely close distance made it so his attack was unimaginably fast! He directly unleashed two Ascension Arts!

Ninth Way, Ascension Art: Heaven's Hymn of the Golden Sword!

Ninth Way, Ascension Art: Heaven's Hymn of the Misty Sword!

The two Ascension Arts were one of the highest leveled Ascension Arts carrying starfield destroying power, backed by two Worldly Saints, and merged to form a seamless, peerless sharp sword light! It was double the strength of before!

CLANG! CLANG!

"Huh?!" Yang Zhen's eyes widened to an extreme limit.

Within Tian Taizong's right hand and left hand, between his two fingers of each hand, two sharp swords were perfectly held. They trembled and the sword light was shrieking and howling, the harmony of its hymn was disconcerted and ear-piercing.

Suddenly, a strand of fully nurtured Imperial Law aura invaded each blade. The two strands were domineering and despotic, yet gentle and serene. It exuded boundless majesty, exalted to the utmost.

"Break."

As if listening to an undefiable Imperial Edict, the two swords in his hands wailed unwillingly!

Zhen Yang's pupils shrunk to almost non-existence!

SNAP! CRACK!

Of the two swords, one fractured while the other broke in half!!

Both Su Nianzu and Jia Yang reeled, simultaneously exclaiming: "Sprouting Stage!"

BOOSH! BOOSH!!

The two rushed forward, violently unleashing their Mystic Power intent on piercing through the Night's Sky Undying Stars Array!