Paragon of Sin

"Han Hyo-joo."

The leader of Trueborn sat at the table where Jia Yang and Su Nianzu played their game of Mystics. She introduced herself, her eyes glaring at Jia Yang with a deathly light. If looks could kill, Jia Yang's death anniversary would be today. She was only stripped naked as a 'precaution' by Jia Yang's suggestion.

The two World Emperors of the Endless Voyage Realm and experts classified above the term 'ordinary' for their cultivation base, stood respectfully to the left and right of a sitting Wei Wuyin's side opposite to her.

However, when Jia Yang turned to her, flashing a toothy, grinning smile with a lascivious sparkle in his eyes, she lowered her gaze and hastily spoke to Wei Wuyin.

"That's my name. My ancestral lineage dates back to the inception of the Starlight Empire, one of the Three Radiant Empires of my Celestial Race, and the birthplace of the Cosmic Sovereign." Her tone was rife with pride as she clutched at the clothing a little tighter.

Wei Wuyin sat opposite while staring at the isolated World Realm. The game of Mystics was incredibly intriguing, even to his other self, and he thought about certain matters. As for Han Hyo-joo's introduction, he didn't need any of it.

"Mhm," he casually gave a brief reply to indicate that he was listening.

She didn't find Wei Wuyin's disinterest unsettling as she said straightforwardly, "If you have any questions, I'll answer them all." Han Hyo-joo had already steeled her heart to cultivate a Yin Cauldron Cultivation Method and readied herself to be imprisoned with relatively good cultivation conditions, so her mission was no longer relevant.

She was naturally keen-eyed and sharp-witted; After seeing how subservient the Endless Voyage Realm's World Emperors were, she knew there was zero chance for her to destroy the third node. Her objective for the Cosmic Sovereign's win condition was impossible to complete. Since that was the case, joining Wei Wuyin's camp was better than dying or being refined by an Evil Method, soon to be renamed Dark Method by the Neo-Dawn Empire.

If Wei Wuyin decided to seize her talents, she could ascend to the Heavenly Saint Phase before being plucked. Hopefully. And then she could retain a portion of her cultivation base and try to redevelop it, becoming a prestigious Original Magistrate after this game board inevitably ended due to the All-Ending Stellar Calamity.

"What's the wager?" Wei Wuyin asked as his eyes focused on the game board that was the isolated World Realm.

Jia Yang was taken aback at the question. "Uhm, just a few Mystic-World Essence Stones."

"No. Not you," Wei Wuyin clarified. "You," he gestured lazily at Han Hyo-joo, "what's the wager for the Ancient Sealed Regions? And what's your reward for succeeding?" Her mission dated back a long, long time ago, but her age doesn't match. She was the second or third 'trueborn' leader to take the stage. The others must've failed.

Moreover, she wasn't a native. She was a pure-breed Celestial. However, her aura felt altered. She was blessed with uniquely given rights to be here. With his newfound control over the Endless Void Mirror, he could see the faint aura of 'exception' bestowed onto her and a few others.

Han Hyo-joo was shocked. Her fists clenched as her teeth gritted. "I can't. I-"

"Oath?" Wei Wuyin pointed out, and Han Hyo-joo's heart pounded with fear. She had just told Wei Wuyin to ask her anything, and now she was unable to follow through.

"No worries," Wei Wuyin looked at her and his eyes pulsed with Alchemic Eden Force, the light of seven vividly gorgeous colors flared within his pupils, spreading to his irises, and gushing into his sclera repeatedly.

Han Hyo-joo immediately lost consciousness. Her eyes were blank. Wei Wuyin scoured through her memories and got all the answers he needed.

"I can do it at range now," Wei Wuyin thought with interest as he pried into Han Hyo-joo's Sea of Consciousness and observed her memories. The oaths sworn of secrecy were inherently flawed in the face of the Mind Dao. The concept of Mind Reading wasn't foreign, but that usually required individuals to 'invade' with their Spiritual Strength and extract the Sea of Consciousness before studying it extensively, but searching tens of thousands of years of memory was beyond tedious and difficult.

It was like searching through a grand library without any sorting system or librarian to assist. Searching for what you need was nigh impossible.

Wei Wuyin's Alchemic Eden Force applied the seven principles of the Alchemic Dao into the Mind Dao-Extraction, Growth, Containment, Refinement, Creation, Transformation, and Fusion.

Fortunately, Han Hyo-joo was abnormally weak with no mental defense established. He learned a few things.

Firstly, Han Hyo-joo was indeed born outside the Ancient Sealed Region. However, she was a Trueborn and her birth was accompanied by an imbuing method that gave her access to the Ancient Sealed Regions. She was one of several of the Cosmic Sovereign's periodic 'Star Child' blessed with the duty of trying to shatter the nodes and causing the Endless Void Mirror's Ancient Sealed Region to crumble from the inside.

That was the Cosmic Sovereign's win condition. Unlike the Exalted Sovereign who sent members of his distant bloodline into the Ancient Sealed Region to fulfill their mission, the Cosmic Sovereign decided to use specific individuals born outside of the Ancient Sealed Region.

The reason was solely due to the Cosmic Sovereign's belief that environmental beginnings affected potential and competence. A well-known fact of their beliefs. It was also due to this that the Cosmic Sovereign refused to allow any Celestial Race members to be born inside the Ancient Sealed Region and only allowed them as Seekers, never Destined or Natives.

The Infernal Sovereign, the Ascended Sovereign of the Titan Race, joined late. According to her memories, the Infernal Sovereign's goal was time-based. They couldn't deploy any of the members of their race, but they could involve themselves in the game, such as creating the Seekers who can interfere with the other Sovereigns' will. If no one wins within a set period, the Infernal Sovereign would claim victory. Unfortunately, she didn't know the exact deadline.

Also, she speculated that Tian Taizong was leveraging the Exalted Sovereign and Infernal Sovereign's support somehow, but she had no proof and even her contact couldn't verify anything back then.

The Demonic Sovereign was there in the beginning, of course. The objective she was aware of was its escape under extremely stringent conditions. The former defectors of the Exalted Sovereign, the Wu Clan, had tried to assist by developing the Supermassive Solar Star, and so had the Moonfall Lunar Sovereign, and the Aboriginal Demons.

The Demonic Sovereign could act with higher latitudes than the others. They could personally devise and execute several plans within the Ancient Sealed Regions, but they had only that single condition for victory that was incredibly difficult.

There was another individual who joined a few thousand years ago, and that's when everything went radio silent on the Celestial Sovereign's end. Her contact kept details deliberately at a minimum as if instructed to do so by the Celestial Sovereign.

It wasn't just her. The contacts of Tian Taizong and the Endless Voyage Realm were reduced in effectiveness as well. While newer members such as Peng Yue and Zhen Yang still came, including fresh blood for Seekers, there was nothing else definitive. No new orders from the Ascended Sovereigns.

It was as if all sides had stopped playing or interfering.

Her reward for claiming victory was to become the direct disciple of the Celestial Sovereign. This was a heaven-changing opportunity. Moreover, she was not the second or third Trueborn Leader. She was the Trueborn Leader from start to finish. She was simply that old.

Nearly eighty thousand years old!

This wasn't too shocking after discovering that she cultivated a Life Soul through her cultivation stages alongside shadow qi, shadow force, and shadow power while forming a Life Shadow Mystic Soul. Cultivators who cultivated life, wood, and time often had indescribably disgusting lifespans and soulspans relative to their fellow cultivators of similar cultivation bases. There were great advantages to this, but also disadvantages as well.

For example, while she had offensive means such as siphoning life force, her Life Shadow Power was very similar to a pure Alchemist's Alchemic Soul. It was difficult to cause direct harm in the most simplistic, brutal sense. This also pushed her survival skills to an absurd limit with the concealment powers of Shadow Power and regeneration of Life Power.

If she hadn't just ascended to the Worldly Saint Phase and had an unstable cultivation base that kept leaking her fluctuations and thereby exposed her location, how could she possibly be captured so easily?!

As for the reward for winning this game, she only knew that it would define the future of the entire Azure-Prime Galactic Zone, perhaps even determining the sole hegemon of a galaxy!

Oddly enough, she didn't know the winning condition for the Exalted Sovereign. She speculated that it was for a member of their bloodline to escape the confines of this sealed world, but she wasn't sure.

After several minutes, Han Hyo-joo awoke from her stupor with a bit of drowsiness between her brows. She shuddered, thrown into mental disarray as she felt exposed. Her arms naturally covered her chest and heart as her gaze lingered on Wei Wuyin.

What did he do to her?

"Interesting," Wei Wuyin remarked as he noted the glimpses of hectic emotion within Han Hyo-joo's mind. She had felt invaded and violated. She just didn't know how.

This newfound power of Wei Wuyin was a little overwhelming to adjust to, granting a greater degree of insight and understanding. The Mind Dao and its depths were unfathomable, and when paired with the fundamental principles of alchemy...the possibilities were limitless.

Since the crowd believed that Han Hyo-joo was meant to be a Yin Cauldron, including Han Hyo-joo herself, Wei Wuyin decided to play along. "Cultivating the Yin-Yang Life-Nurturing Dual Cultivation Method will suit you. As for you two, since you diligently kept her untouched and her foundation undamaged, I'll offer my thanks."

He slowly rose from his seat. The light in Han Hyo-joo's eyes momentarily sparkled as her earlier unease diminished. Was Wei Wuyin inspecting her potential earlier? Was that why she felt uncomfortable? She had originally thought she would be relegated to a one-sided Yin Cauldron, but to be subjected to a Dual Cultivation Method was far better. At the very least, her cultivation foundation wouldn't be damaged.

Su Nianzu and Jia Yang's eyes brightened. They didn't care that they were essentially selling Han Hyo-joo, an illustrious World Emperor, as a Yin Cauldron. The gains were worth it!

"I'll give you two time to think. Submit your request for a Mystic-World grade alchemical product to the Neo-Dawn Empire after you've done so and I'll have it delivered within fifty years." Wei Wuyin listed his non-negotiable reward. Gesturing for Han Hyo-joo to rise, to which she promptly did, her heart hoping to leave this place, he turned to leave with Ming Shufeng. The two women followed.

To their surprise, the trio seemingly melded with space and vanished without any fluctuations.

The two World Emperors were shaken, but the excitement in their hearts was hard to hide.

Mystic-World grade product?

Fifty years?

This was no different than a blank check! And while fifty years might seem long for a mortal, half a century for them wasn't too long given the amount of time a single Mystic-World grade cultivation product would save! And they only had to wait fifty years! They could wait hundreds! Thousands! Especially if it was for a high-tier product, meant for Heavenly Saints and Ascended Saints!

Their hearts pounded intensely!

Their decision to strike during chaos was worth it!