Paragon of Sin

Dazed.

Astonished.

Amazed.

This was Wei Wuyin's initial reaction as the fist impacted his chest, sending a rippling, destructive force into his body, distorting his skin and flesh with forceful waves. A single fist had sent him flying backward at mind-boggling speeds, his limbs flailed with instability as his heavy body and the environment brought him down. Skidding without resistance, Wei Wuyin scraped against the glass-like surface, leaping and hopping until a heavy, fleshy thud resounded.

There was no dust lifted, but the air was rapid like a storm.

Wei Wuyin was laying flat on his stomach, his face on the chilly ground marred by scuff marks from the skidding. While his eyes still remained closed, his thoughts were extremely active, and his facial expression was quite lively, reflecting a state of shock and disbelief.

When was the last time he suffered a direct strike?

When was the last time he was floored by an enemy?

Those questions weren't very hard to answer. He suffered heavily while fighting against ten thousand Ascended beings, and while suppressed, their strength, abilities, and means were varied and coordinated. He suffered then, but this wasn't like that.

Wei Wuyin lifted himself upwards, bringing his 'gaze' to see the masked figure who stayed where they were, not continuing with a follow-up assault. Despite being deeply concealed visually and from all extraordinary senses, Wei Wuyin could feel similar emotions emanating from the masked figure's stance.

Amazed.

Astonished.

Dazed.

Wei Wuyin slowly rose to his feet, feeling a unique spiritual aura course through his body, attempting to assimilate with his meridians, his spirits, and affect his Sea of Consciousness. It was pervasive, like a relentless parasitic being. This sensation he felt must be how Wu Yu's enemies felt when the Imperial Heaven Aura was integrated within them.

Furthermore, it wasn't just this unique aura, but there was a heavy, dense intent that kept impacting his flesh incessantly. He felt a rolling pain in his chest as if that punch was being compounded over and over again.

'Fist Intent.' Wei Wuyin had never faced Awakened Fist Intent before, merely read records of its abilities in documentation left behind by Myriad Yore Continent's experts and scholars. It was an Ethereal Intent, much like sword, battle, or slaughter intent. It embodied a forceful power, aggressive and firm.

However, those two factors were the least surprising and not enough to cause Wei Wuyin to feel the level of shock he had. He touched his chest, pressing against it with his palm, and a wisp of Elemental Origin Intent was generated, flowing throughout his body as it attacked the lingering Fist Intent. The Fist Intent couldn't launch a counter offensive or establish a strong, defense, being eradicated instantly.

If the strength of Intent was compared, an Elemental Origin Intent intermixed with nine Apex-level Intents versus an Awakened Fist Intent, there was no need to guess the final victor. Wei Wuyin merged his Spiritual Aura with his Elemental Origin Intent, sending it into his body, effectively locking down and eliminating the remnants of that strange, pervasive spiritual aura within him.

This was solved with ease, and Wei Wuyin would no longer give either an opportunity to invade his physical body again.

The main contributing factor for his shock and disbelief was the fuel for these two forces. An astral force at the intensity of the Sixth Stage of the Astral Core Realm, the Gravity Emission Phase. It lacked the perfect mixture of Spiritual Strength, Spatial Energy, Light Energy, and Gravitational Force and had the absence of internally refined Worldly Pressure.

These were all indicators of the masked figure's cultivation base. This person's cultivation level…

It was the same as his own!

Moreover, while it lacked internally refined Worldly Pressure, Wei Wuyin felt a distinct, extremely familiar Worldly Pressure erupting from the strike. It belonged to a Domain Seed that was segregated from one's core cultivation base!

'The Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill…' Whoever this person was, they were at the sixth stage of the Astral Core Realm, and they had either cultivated a method that could replicate the effects of the Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill, generating an artificial Domain Seed, or they had taken one. How was this not shocking?

"You're at the Gravity Emission Phase?" The masked figure spoke in a dark, solemn tone. Similar to how Wei Wuyin sensed the masked figure's cultivation base, Wei Wuyin inadvertently leaked his power by instinctively defending against the fist strike. This was bound to happen, but it sent both of them into a stupor at the revelation.

"..."

The air grew stifled, tense, and heavy.

The Stellar Rain released low, thrumming cries. They acted as an audience for these two, not daring to attack. In fact, their glittering starlight seemed to dim, as if they were reflecting the stilling of their breathing. Their mental energies were being affected by the sheer presence of these two.

"..."

Without a sound, the two vanished from where they stood.

They reappeared together, their bodies close, and their stance firm, stable, and striking as they launched an assault against each other. Wei Wuyin had moved at the maximal speed that his body allowed without additional support, yet the masked figure rivaled it.

Unsurprised, Wei Wuyin threw an imposing right straight at the masked figure's face. The air around his fist burned in this superheated environment. The masked figure seemed capable of fully reacting as they sent an uppercut to intercept Wei Wuyin's straight, aiming at his arm, fully intending to break his radius and ulna in half.

The fist glowed with a forceful, heavy light that embodied the fist. If hit, an astral steel mountain would be dented, pierced even. Yet Wei Wuyin didn't retreat; his fist kept straight and true. The uppercut met his arm at its intended targets, but the snapping hadn't occurred as expected, and a soft sound of surprise left the masked figure's mouth as Wei Wuyin's fist met its mask.

BOOM!

An explosive eruption of air resounded. The masked figure's head reeled backward. The scene felt as if their head was going to be ripped off, but after a brief shake, they seemingly dispersed the force behind the fist and regained themselves. Wei Wuyin wasn't one to strike and wait, and he immediately followed up with a heavy left punch to the masked figure's right abdomen. The period of recovery led to an inability to react.

Bam!

The masked figure's body bent, and a gushing of forcefully exhaled air sounded.

Yet it wasn't finished; Wei Wuyin's right arm had pulled back and was thrown out towards the face of the masked figure! This fist carried the momentum of both previous strikes, leading to a devastatingly powerful strike!

The fist connected mercilessly! The masked figure's body was explosively sent backward, twisting from the force, and skidded across the ground in a similar yet more hectic manner as Wei Wuyin.

Wei Wuyin's knees bent, and when he lifted them upwards, a deep, thunderous sound erupted. His body vanished as he moved at his fullest speed, incorporating his elemental lightning force! He became a streak of white lightning that arrived beside the masked figure's hectic skidding. With a forceful stomp and unerring accuracy, Wei Wuyin aimed at the masked figure's chest.

ROAR!

A draconic roar was unleashed in the air. Wei Wuyin's bloodline began to grow abnormally active. Kratos was rousing from its slumber! The Stellar Rain retreated a few miles in all directions. Their sensitivity towards spiritual auras and strength was extremely evident by now. They had a distinct weakness towards it.

BOOM!!

The stomp followed through perfectly, halting the rapid movement of the masked figure's body, pressing him against the glass-like ground that carried a distinctive chill. Wei Wuyin harshly pressed his foot down; his bloodline energies, physical energies, and lightning origin forces were all active. As he stood upright, foot pressed downwards, he was engulfed by streaks of white lightning. From the sides of his eyes, his fingertips, to his entire body, white light was flowing beautifully. He bore a strong resemblance to a lightning divinity!

It was nothing but four moves, yet he dominated decisively. This was the result of Wei Wuyin's cultivation, and he felt it course through him with all its might. He was about to spiritually seal this cultivator, intending to discover all their secrets through Eden's powers.

"Huh, you're strong." A voice, no longer androgynous but clearly from a male resounded.

Wei Wuyin focused his senses as he kept building up his spiritual force to launch a powerful sealing spiritual spell. He sensed that his strikes had damaged the masked figure's concealment mask. There were cracks on it, resembling fractured porcelain. It could no longer hide their voice or their vocal inflections.

"But strength isn't everything," the masked figure stated with a tone of absolute calmness, unbefitting of a defeated foe. Wei Wuyin's mind stirred as a sensation of danger swelled within his heart. He didn't hesitate to unleash his accumulated spiritual force, letting it flow downwards to seal this cultivator!

The masked figure moved his palm with the smoothness of flowing water, touching Wei Wuyin's achilles tendon with frightening speed. Out of Wei Wuyin's control, the pulse of spiritual force halted, built, yet kept surging. It was as if Wei Wuyin's leg was plugged!

Unable to react, his leg expanded several sizes with all his spiritual energy compounding in a single location, unable to find escape or release. His meridians and pathways were sealed! With a touch!

The masked figure then pressed lightly, and Wei Wuyin felt his spiritual flow get redirected. His leg kicked off in a different direction, the explosion of spiritual force had taken charge of his movements, and he was thrown off balance.

The masked figure performed a kip-up, instantly rising upright, and then with an open palm, smashed against his chest at the very center. Already thrown off balance, Wei Wuyin was unable to stop himself from being pushed back, unable to react due to trying to diffuse the ongoing growth of his leg and abrupt build-up of spiritual force. The timing was impeccable.

Wei Wuyin swiftly spun in mid-air, using this movement to disperse some momentum, regaining his bodily movement. But in the time it took for him to recover, the masked figure had already performed a total of ten extraordinarily fast hand-seals!

「Tenth World Origin Art: Nine Chains of Boundlessness」

The masked figure's cloak shook, and nine chains of nine different colors spewed out of his body. They were twisted curb chains, and each chain reflected one of the nine elements: fire, earth, water, wind, metal, lightning, wood, magma, and ice.

They twisted and snaked, approaching Wei Wuyin at lightning speeds despite their respective elements. Nevertheless, they were too slow to ensnare Wei Wuyin. He intended to dodge with ease, but his body shook slightly.

'A spiritual seal!' Wei Wuyin hastily recalled that open palm strike from earlier, realizing that his opponent had discreetly placed a spiritual seal on his body. If delayed for a brief moment, those chains were bound to shackle him, inflicting all sorts of additional restrictions. They were clearly not ordinary, and they bore characteristics of armaments. He would be a complete fool to think they were just constructed of only astral force!

The seal erupted in a timely attempt to hinder his internalized spiritual flow, slowing his reaction and response slightly. Fortunately, his spiritual strength was abnormally vast and terrifyingly strong! In less than a fraction of a blink of an eye, he shattered the spiritual seal through a crushing infusion, dodging the chains with an explosive step that took him tens of meters away.

The chains twisted and slammed against his original location as if seeking to adhere themselves to his body. Several dull noises resounded with each impactful thud of chain meeting glass-like ground. Wei Wuyin returned his focus to the masked figure and the floating Astralis Ultimate Star that remained tethered to him. The figure, however, was still performing several hand-seals in rapid succession!

He wasn't done!