Paragon of Sin

The Voyage of the Spiritual was astonishingly difficult, designed in such a fantastical way that Wei Wuyin had never heard of a similar trial that tested one's mettle, fearlessness, and resilience. As he walked through the split halves of the churning, ravenously red sea, Wei Wuyin found himself marveling at its power.

If he was a typical traveler attempting to sail across this sea, it would've used his own power against him to induce heaven-shaking catastrophes. If he failed to handle these responses, he would drown, his spirit eaten away by the liquids, leaving him bereft of cultivation. A risky venture, for sure. 

He was unsure if Liu Suyin acting as the overseer would protect him or leave him to die. For an inexplicable reason, he felt as if the latter was more likely. With a brisk pace, he treaded the seabed as if it was flat ground. The other voyagers had jaw-dropped expressions with widened eyes infused with a light of utmost disbelief. 

However, a few comments were born out of this belief. "The fool! He'll expend his Spiritual Strength until none remains. When that happens, the sea will eat away at his spirit without mercy!" 

"It's not like he's the first to commit suicide by sea. Unfortunate, really. He had good looks." A young female Voyager commented, traces of a teary expression and hopeless looks. Her concealed imagination of straddling that phenomenal face and other hard things was mere dreams at this point. 

"Should we tell him?" Another one, kind-hearted yet innately timid, questioned the others. Should they allow Wei Wuyin to simply die? They could still see his back figure walking calmly into the seemingly endless sea, like two split beasts vying for the delicious flesh between them.

"..." They all were uncertain. The Voyage of the Spiritual was a competition at its core, and rewards were granted based on those who succeeded and in what order, and saving him this time might mean placing lower in the future. They could all sense Wei Wuyin's tyrannical Spiritual Strength! If they had him return, and taught him the proper method, he might secure the top three spots from one of them. 

The hesitation led to their long silence. 

A Voyager, slender, pretty, and female, stood from her meditative position and roared out to the endless sea. "Don't! YOU'LL DIE!" This caused Wei Wuyin, who was still in view, to pause. For a moment, that back of his felt as if it could hold up the sky should it collapse, let alone this gluttonous sea for the spirit. 

Wei Wuyin turned to view the one who shouted in distress and warning. It was a young woman that had etched herself into his distant memory some twenty years ago. With his silver eyes, he took in her image. He was fully aware of the dangers of the sea, and he didn't expect her to shout out for him. 

It seems they did have some fate after all. Wei Wuyin revealed a slight smile, shouting back:  "Come! It's safe, Ye Ziling!" After saying that, he turned back to continue walking as a way of spiritual light slithered from his feet towards her shadow. She was stunned; how did he know her name? 

Baffled by this, she discovered that a line of spiritual light had tethered itself to her shadow. She was slightly fearful that this silver-eyed man was acting against her, but when she felt the gentle warmth from her feet, she instinctively knew that this spiritual light was harmless. And it pulsed slightly as if beckoning her to follow.

The other Voyagers were confused and shaken. Who was this silver-eyed man? 

Ye Ziling, for some reason, felt as if that strand of spiritual light was her saving grace. It wasn't forbidden to aid another in a Voyage. After all, adversity can be shared. But with the prizes on the line, and the stronger party being disadvantaged in this fair competition, who would do so? 

Wei Wuyi soon traversed so far that he was a mere dot to them. She gritted her teeth and cursed. With a heavy heart, she rushed forward in a sprint, bringing with her a wad of gravelly sand that could form a small boat. Shockingly, it was enough to form a two-person boat. 

She didn't know why, but Ye Ziling refused to allow this man to die due to his ignorance. She ran and ran through the parted sea. Soon, the other Voyagers could only catch a glimpse of her with a clump of sand above her. 

Some of the male Voyagers wanted to shout out for her to return, but they held their tongues in the end. Two less meant increased chances of being amongst the top three and earning their rewards. How could they risk that? 

Another Voyager's eyes brightened. "She's using him to get further into the sea!" The revelation dawned on her so suddenly that she inadvertently blurted it out. The eyes of many grew wide, and then, as if embarrassed by their stupidity and slow-wittedness, they gathered their clump of sand and rushed off! It was initially one, an opportunist amongst opportunists. Then, it was two. And three. And four! 

However, they merely got roughly half a mile in before the walls supporting the red sea began to dissipate. Their eyes widened as the trembling sea of red and remnant blue cascaded upon their heads without mercy! 

Some screamed. 

Others fled.

Up ahead, Wei Wuyin was walking in front of a cautious looking female with long black hair styled with silver-tipped highlights, white-painted nails on her slim fingers, and a humble figure, neither impressive nor lacking. She kept her Spiritual Strength focused on her boat should Wei Wuyin find himself unable to keep the sea apart. At worst, they could sail back together. At best, the last bit of distance for the Voyage of the Spiritual could be covered by her strength alone. 

She heard screams of panic and shouts of action in the distance. They were fearful and filled with horror. Ye Ziling turned to look behind her and saw the red sea had collapsed, held by an oval-shaped barrier of spiritual light. She realized others might've followed her. 

She looked away, eyeing Wei Wuyin's tall, heaven-holding figure as if he was taking the most leisure stroll in a garden. A strange emotion swelled within her heart, inexplicable and foreign. Ye Ziling didn't speak, remained utterly silent as her caution won out on her desire for conversation or answers. 

The two traveled in this cloud of silence, surrounded by the glaring red of the filtered solar light. This lasted for thirty hours; they soon saw a shore at the end. Her eyes at this point were as wide as can be, her heart beating with the intensity of a thousand rampaging bison, and her mind shaken.

Wei Wuyin lasted thirty hours! What type of ungodly Spiritual Strength was this?! 

When they reached the shore, they were greeted by a door-like gate held by nothing. It was wide-open, a twisting silver vortex of liquid within. 

"I wonder what the next one will be," Wei Wuyin commented curiously. He turned, smiling at Ye Ziling, before pushing through without pause. When he entered the vortex, Ye Ziling felt as if this was all a dream. The clump of sand, the parted red sea, those breathtaking silver eyes, and this entire world. With a soft, steadied breath, she followed along. 

Wei Wuyin was greeted by a change in scenery after entering the vortex. Unlike the joyous beach of glistening blue liquid, he found himself surrounded by a dusky world of grey clouds, desolate, lifeless soil, and weapons of war littering for miles upon miles. 

There were no corpses, but the broken weapons, damaged robes, armors, and faintly bloody smell in the air told the story of an unimaginable battle. This was the Second Voyage, the Voyage of the Unyielding! 

A figure soon emerged beside him. Her curious eyes imbued with a bright black radiance observed the world before her. She had never made it to the Second Voyage before, her heart beating wildly as a result. 

The indifferently androgynous voice of Liu Suyin resounded, "The Voyage of the Unyielding has begun! Make your way through the battlefield, Destined.

"Only your Physical Strength is allowed. Other forms of strength used to overcome this voyage will count as a forfeit of your destiny."

Wei Wuyin was quite intrigued by this type of test. Physical strength was the most underappreciated power of a cultivator. They relied on their forces to do battle, or the world's energies to supplement their forces. It was extremely rare for a cultivator to rely on their strength since reaching the External Flow Phase of the Qi Condensation.

Qi, Astral Force, or Mystic Power—they were all forms of power that vastly exceeded a segment of its whole, such as Spiritual Strength, Physical Strength, or Mental Strength. 

"Are weapons allowed?" Wei Wuyin asked. 

"Only that which is on the battlefield," the voice promptly answered. 

Wei Wuyin nodded; he walked forward and found a tattered saber, pulled it out of the armor it was plunged into, and shook it slightly. As he did, swirls of dirt began to rise in the distance. At first, it was merely a single swirl, then three, then dozens, and then hundreds! 

They twisted and contorted until a humanoid shape wielding new weapons of war and freshly forged armor emerged. Some were archers, others held banners without markings, and most wielded bladed weapons meant to slaughter foes! 

Ye Ziling's scalp grew numb! 

"AHHHH!"

They roared like a pack of warlike beasts. These humanoid figures rushed towards them at mind-boggling speeds that could send any Realmlord's heart to the gutter. Perhaps that was the best location because these bloodthirsty beings sought to plunge their weapons into it! 

Ye Ziling knew that she couldn't face a single one. Their physical speed and physical aura were violent and fierce. Yet, she gritted her teeth, rushed out, and grabbed an intact bow. With an expected deftness, she clenched her fingers around an embedded arrow, pulled it out of its helmet home, and nocked it.

She glanced at Wei Wuyin. "Since we came together, I'll help you!" She shouted urgently, her heart pounding fiercely. The bravery in her voice caused Wei Wuyin to be stunned. It wasn't an exaggeration to say each of these manifested beings of war was as strong as a beast rivaling a Realmlord. They outnumbered them, they had better weapons, armor, and all sorts of things, yet Ye Ziling didn't hesitate to stand before them! 

Her body was clearly unsuited for physical combat, but she held her ground regardless, siphoning off her use, and willing to face death. And from the genuine fear in the depths of her eyes, it was clear that death was a real possibility. 

He couldn't help but recall a quote from Jing Jiu's memories. A mentor told him this before sending him to the Battlefield, "Courage isn't the absence of fear—it's the ability to act despite it. Remember this well." 

Wei Wuyin recalled Ye Ziling's history in the dossier, and he faintly smiled with admiration. The thundering steps of the armored beings were violent, and their roars grew louder as they got closer. 

Wei Wuyin lifted his tattered saber, and with a horizontal slash, the entire world shook! Air screamed, the ground rumbled, and the grey clouds above were sundered and dispersed as if a god had blown them away!