Paragon of Sin

With the stasis loop broken, under the guard of five thousand, the Minor Elysium resumed its journey toward the green zone. The back-to-back incidents gave those who volunteered to act as escorts a hefty and healthy dose of vigilance as they redoubled their efforts and coordination while bringing the ship along. However, there was an underlying relief upon realizing the depths of the foreign Worldly Saint Alchemist's means as the dawning realization that this was legitimately a sightseeing trip for his group of gorgeous wives.

Just accompanying them this far allowed them to seize a heaven-sent opportunity as pure time energies flooded their bodies and their affinity, comprehension, and cultivation toward all things time had been elevated. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that those Demi-Mortal Lords felt that achieving a complete formation of the Temporal-type Mystic Rune during their Fourth Ascension was a foregone conclusion. The gains had abolished centuries of required effort.

The White Abyss was renowned for its dangers and absurd mortality rate, yet Wei Wuyin's intervention had seemingly trivialized two extraordinary calamities. It was hard not to feel a sense of reverence or envy, the latter of which was directed toward his wives.

Violet Sea, Fairy Silence, Crosman Blade, and Grey Rose once again began to have conversations with those on the Minor Elysium, informing them of various events and the history of the White Abyssal Galaxy. While Fairy Silence led many of these discussions, providing most of the answers as well, Grey Rose talked solely to Wei Wuyin and elaborated on things if she could. While she wasn't the most knowledgeable, she was still capable of doing a decent job of clarifying small details. This detail was noticed fairly quickly by everyone else, and Crimson Blade snorted out of frustration quite often.

Unlike before, the green zone gradually expanded as the distance between the ship and it shrunk. The gradually intensifying glow of luminous green on their skin allowed them to understand that they were genuinely getting closer! They had already traveled tens of millions of miles, yet they still felt further away. The distance was absurd, but they were closing it little by little!

"The green zone's environment is fairly tame. Unlike this region, there are no spontaneous changes. That said, it's not without its threats."

While Fairly Silence explained each zone's known or suspected properties, she got to the green zone, also known as the Fourth Colored Zone. The debate as to whether the green zone was one or thousands was still something left unanswered, and Wei Wuyin wouldn't directly answer the question.

Instead, he said with a shrug: "Both. Neither."

Which only further fueled their differentiating opinions and discussions on how little sense that made. How could something be only one but also thousands at the same time? And then be neither one or thousands? However, if there was a way, they all knew that Wei Wuyin knew the answer and the why to it. Still, this topic continued to excite Qing Qiumu and Yue Songli as they avidly argued over which was which.

Cao Cuifen and Liu Suyin joined in on other matters, while Young Master Shang drank. After experiencing the stasis loop, his sense of fear had dwindled considerably. Wei Wuyin had revealed his authority over the Law of Time, once again showcasing how abnormal of a mortal he was, and that left him feeling safe.

"Have you figured out what this place is?" The Heavenly War Spirit asked. She was a Spirit of Dao attuned to war, and while her general understanding of cultivation and trivia was high, her specialization of exact knowledge such as astronomical environments like an Absolute Void Region wasn't comparable to her understanding of combat tactics.

She had noted that Wei Wuyin's Sea of Consciousness and the Palace of Eden were experiencing high levels of activity far beyond the norm, which was already stupidly high at all times.

"The Living Vortex of Space and Time, the Whirlpools of the Devoid, and the spontaneous Stasis Loop are all signs of Void Phenomenon. Previously, we were magnets to these events until I blocked off our temporal and spatial fluctuations," Wei Wuyin explained as the Minor Authority of Time and Space was subtly put into action, enforcing his will, and preventing even greater environmental changes from occurring.

The Heavenly War Spirit guessed as much.

Wei Wuyin continued: "I've more or less figured out the White Abyss, what it is, and the treasure within, but I'm deciding whether to make a move now or wait until we've explored more. I want Yue Songli, Qing Qiumu, Cao Cuifen, Liu Suyin, and the Ascendants to expand their horizons, but I'm unsure if it's necessary."

"Oh?" The Heavenly War Spirit hadn't expected Wei Wuyin to long since move past identification and already zone in on the fortune held within this strange region regarded as the heart of a galaxy. "If you think it's necessary, then it is. If you think it's unnecessary, then it is. You'll make the right choice, but what is this place?"

Wei Wuyin couldn't resist the urge to smile. How domineering were those words? If anyone else heard that, it'd be remarkably easy to inflate their egos to exaggerated levels. As for Wei Wuyin, his Heart of Cultivation was unable to maintain such lofty opinions of his will, Imperial Law or not.

"Do you remember the Star-Devourer corpse?"

The Heavenly War Spirit's interest was piqued instantly, "Yeah. The gargantuan pool of Star Void Liquid formed due to its body's unique properties. Why? Is the White Abyss a Star-Devourer corpse?"

Once again, Wei Wuyin shook his head internally. This confused the Heavenly War Spirit.

Wei Wuyin used his draconic gaze empowered by the Celestial Eyes of Spiritual Divinity to spiritually project what he saw into his Sea of Consciousness as a screen, allowing the Heavenly War Spirit to see everything he saw!

And what she saw left the golden mass in a state of trembling shock!

"IS THAT...?!" Her cute, youthful voice quivered with disbelief.

At that time, Yue Songli gasped in awe as she and the others observed the White Abyss' walls surge like waves, crashing into each other, as fog and mist danced together in a breathtaking scene. It was like clouds. Sometimes, they saw humanoids spinning about. They were tiny or gargantuan, and everything in between. Some had four arms, others had one eye. Some had no arms, others had many eyes.

Sometimes, they saw clashes of great animalistic shapes of fog and mist as if within a battle of the bestial ages. And sometimes, they saw the white light transform into a condensed orb of hot radiance, resembling a solar star, and then vanishing in a gentle implosion.

"The Shadows of the Abyss!" Violet Sea exclaimed in wonder. She had only heard of it, never experienced it before.

Yue Songli jumped excitedly in Wei Wuyin's arms as she gestured with the exuberance of a youthful young woman seeing beautifully new things. Her two great mounds bounced, a heart-pounding sight with gaze-drawing arcs. In comparison to before, her attitude was far more relaxed and social as her shell was slowly breaking. Within the arms of her savior and future lover, she talked to the others energetically and they immediately made all sorts of comments and replies amidst their exclamations of awe.

Meanwhile, Liu Suyin's emotionless gaze had long since melted away, her mental cultivation method had been subtly dismantled and her true personality which was a mix of impulse spontaneity and strong, fiery emotion was revealed. She was the most argumentative among them, shocking the others.

Qing Qiumu was still a little reserved, but talking to Wei Si and the other 'wives', especially Yue Songli, slowly chipped at her well-hidden distrust of others and a strong sense of keeping a distance. Her kind visage gave away to a young woman with a heart of adventure and an appreciation of the cosmic wonders of the world.

Cao Cuifen gazed at the White Abyss phenomenon with starstruck eyes.

More than half of her life was filled with death and chaos, fear and despair, while the latter revolved around obligation, responsibility, and never-ending hard work. When she was young, she took the path best suited to survive the harshness of the world while capitalizing on her nephew's astounding talents. When she became older, she had to grow, support, and stabilize an entire starfield, constantly trying to elevate her Alchemic Dao to better prepare for any potential threat.

She was left with little to no time for herself, to be a proper young woman, or to focus on herself selfishly by delving into her own interests. Her goals and dreams had been placed on the wayside, and her Heart of Cultivation had shriveled.

Cao Cuifen had no real love for the Alchemic Dao, a path she was forced to take due to her innate talent and circumstances. In fact, she never had the time to fall in love with the Alchemic Dao. Or with anything...for that matter. Her long life while maintaining her chastity was evidence of that.

Survival and responsibility were two words that defined her existence for far too long. But all of that came crashing as Wei Wuyin appeared in her life. He smashed it apart ruthlessly. Those words back in the hall that day, where he told her that she only needed to rely on him, gave her the freedom to let everything else wash away. All those feelings of responsibility and obligation, the harsh, incessant weight on her shoulders of impending death at a single wrong action...all of it was gone.

She couldn't feel any of it.

She didn't just feel safe.

She KNEW she was safe.

Her needs which were the needs of others were slowly replaced by her wants and her wants for herself. It could be considered a simple change yet the difference was life-changing.

All of them had experienced life-changing feelings since coming on this trip across the cosmos over the last few weeks and this wondrously magical show within the White Abyss only elevated those same feelings.

"Did you do that?" The Heavenly War Spirit asked as she still felt slightly shaken by what she had just seen.

"Just a little show," Wei Wuyin chuckled. Then, when the phenomenon came to a conclusion and the wonder remained in everyone's hearts, he spoke to Fairy Silence, "I think we'll visit every colored zone before leaving."

Fairy Silence was astonished by the sights of the White Abyss when she heard that. Slowly pulling herself out of her amazement, she nodded. "If that's what you wish, World-Saint Neo-Dawn."

His words matched the others' desires too. They wanted to see more!

They soon sped up! Within a few uneventful hours filled with stories, Yue Songli and Qing Qiumu painting on the side, and Cao Cuifen discussing cultivation with Wei Wuyin, especially regarding time, they entered the green zone.

The Heavenly War Spirit had finished digesting what she saw. Her golden mass form couldn't help but move about excitedly, "To think that this was a fragmented graveyard! Just a fragment and it's enough to act as the heart of a galaxy!"

Her mind was filled with the image of a beast that she recognized within her memories bestowed to her by her Creators.

"Leviathan!"