Paragon of Sin

"This! What is this?!" Bai Lin was now completely baffled by this unique flame that became lightning and water! Was this still Nirvanic Flames? 

"It's all fire, don't let it fool you. Haha," Wei Wuyin answered the question that was plaguing her heart. The ball of water transformed into a radiant glow of light that seemed to be burning, resembling a Solar Star. "I'll call it Originfire. It can emulate various elemental forces and retain its powers, and I wouldn't have it if it weren't for you." 

"Originfire?" 

"Mhm, Originfire." Wei Wuyin didn't reveal everything, however. Originfire  wasn't limited to just this, and could emulate Hellfire! Burn with its soul-burning might! Additionally, Wei Wuyin had the feeling that Originfire had a power that had yet to be explored, but he couldn't quite test it until he found another Unique Intent.

The two discussed excitedly about this newfound power, but then Wei Wuyin frowned as he inspected his Saint Ring's Spiritual Transmission Formation. He found several messages from Wu Yu, the Ascendants, and his Agents of Information, but they were all old; the last message he received was about two months ago.

"It's been so long, but why haven't I received any new messages? Does the Absolute Void Region prevent Spiritual Transmissions?" His heart began to race slightly as he told Bai Lin about his intentions to leave, and Bai Lin looked slightly reluctant. He deeply understood why because this place felt freeing even to him, but he had responsibilities to fulfill and plans to enact.

"This is our home. We can come back anytime we wish, whenever we have free time." Only by saying this did Bai Lin accept it, and they started their journey to leave. Wei Wuyin saw the Tiangou resting in the distance, and the extreme ease of her expression caused him to frown slightly. 

Was it in pain before? 

Unfortunately, he couldn't ask her that question, nor did he have the qualifications to do so. He had other things to focus on. 

The journey to leave the Desolate Dragnet Stellar Region on Bai Lin's back took two whole weeks. Ori's absorption only targeted the Desolate Dragnet Stellar Region, which was an unimaginably vast territory, and it ended perfectly at its borders. Despite the Chaos Mana feeling very freeing, Bai Lin's top speed was reduced to about 5% while within it. As for using Void Portals, Wei Wuyin didn't dare to use them while that creature prowled for him.

This downtime allowed him to study the Absolute Void Region, his newly established physique, psyche, and meridians and evaluate his recent gains. Most importantly, he examined his Hellfire refined bones that were as translucent as crystals and incredibly sturdy. He tried to use his greatest strength and couldn't even produce the tiniest of fractures! 

He also gathered some of this highly dense Chaos Mana and used Void Crystallization on it, storing it in his Saint Ring for further study and possibly a pellet. 

When he finally left the boundary of the Desolate Dragnet Stellar Region, Wei Wuyin found his Saint Ring flaring with a bombardment of delayed spiritual transmissions. It seemed the transmissions weren't erased but were all blocked by the layer of dense Chaos Mana at the border.

Wei Wuyin didn't find this to be unexpected, given that he received roughly a thousand messages every day regarding various updates before, so he read them from oldest to newest. 

"An attack?!" Wei Wuyin found from several messages that there were consistent whisperings from his spies that Trueborn was preparing an attack! This came from multiple sources from Trueborn operatives spread throughout the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region. It was this same network, now much, much greater in reach, that allowed him to catch on to Yue Songli's attack. 

Was Yue Songli attacked again? But considering his contingencies in place for such an event, he wasn't worried that any harm would come to her, and if it had, Trueborn was bound to suffer a heavy loss! 

He glanced at his Bloodline of Sin tattoo and slightly frowned. If Yue Songli was assaulted, he would feel a little dissatisfied by not being able to maximize his gains by dealing Trueborn an unforgiving blow in retaliation.

He kept reading.

The Ninestar Starfield's Nine Solar Stars experienced a temporary dimming, but nothing else was reported! There were thousands upon thousands of these reports throughout his information network's agents. They were all extremely diligent with their reporting, but besides a few, most repeated the same details. 

Unfortunately, that was all that was said. Wei Wuyin, however, found a report from Legion Commander Zhan Zheng that stated the situation clearly: "The Earthly Saints and other Ascended sealed within the Solar Stars of the Ninestar Starfield have been transported out by a uniquely powerful Spatial Art. I attempted to interfere with it, but they seemed to have expected it and sent seven Earthly Saints to prevent me from doing so. I crippled two and severely injured the rest, but they got away using strange talismans imbued with Void Energy. 

I did, however, hinder it for a few seconds, but the Ninestar Starfield's leaders never reacted. It seemed the Saint Soul King and the other Soul Monarchs were also hindered in various ways. An extremely calculated operation." 

"..." Wei Wuyin realized that Trueborn had acted and taken back their Earthly Saints, which was to be expected, and they had planned thoroughly for it. Wei Wuyin already knew that Trueborn wasn't inferior to any of the three Cities in the Endless Voyage Realm, and they likely had dozens of Earthly Saints in reserve.

Their unique Necro Energy allowed them to find recently deceased, undiscovered, and neglected talents and then somehow bring them to higher levels, such as Liao Shuyu. This was one of their greatest strengths. 

Wei Wuyin's eyes narrowed as he kept reading. He didn't think that this was the attack that his agents reported, and he was right!

Wei Wuyin had spread his influence far and wide, the greed of cultivators for resources was indescribable, and at the opportunity for products or resources that they would otherwise never be able to touch in their lifetime, many would sell out their spouses, parents, and close friends in a heartbeat. Each step in their cultivation would likely result in an unimaginable jump in status, wealth, and power. 

Looking at things from his height, where Earthly Saints dominated the scene on a stellar regional scale, then it was easy to forget that cultivation in the Astral Core Realm was difficult! Extremely difficult! Many cultivators would never step into the Astral Core Realm or were stopped for a thousand years at the World Sea Stage, all because they couldn't grasp the profoundness of Mana or die earlier than their lifespan allowed them to live because they had consumed far too many impure products leading to their combat strength being too weak to survive the tribulation or developing various illnesses that degraded their bodies. 

Countless died this way each day. 

Countless!

If a city's strongest cultivator only had a Sky Ruler Phase cultivation base, then becoming one meant rivaling the strongest, enjoying all the benefits that the top dog could receive. How many wanted to be the top dog?

In these eight years, Wei Wuyin had silently bought many organizations' leaderships with oaths of secrecy established or helped establish new leaders from the shadows. This was thanks to the Golden Life Pavilion's reach and connections, especially their recent expansion due to the debt accumulated by the world. 

As such, his network was incredibly widespread. From starting with a pirate ship to now, this was Wei Wuyin's best investment by far. 

"Reporting! There's significant movement happening. They're planning something major in the coming weeks. My wife seems to be preparing for a long voyage!" A report from a month and two weeks ago, belonging to a husband whose wife was suspected of having worked with Trueborn. 

Reports similar to this came in by the thousands, all detailing that Trueborn was making some major move, but none of them was clear about the target until Wei Wuyin realized a connection between some of the messages. Movement! A long voyage! 

"Many of these reports come from those who've worked with Trueborn, or have contact with suspected Trueborn sleeper agents or verifiable active agents. So the gathered intelligence is certainly actionable. What are they planning? There's a clear dividing disparity between these reports. From what I can assume: A huge migration and a massive attack on the horizon?" Wei Wuyin pondered this as he kept reading the reports, but he didn't need to wait for long to find his answer. 

"Lord Wei! The Great Desolate Starfield is under attack!" This came from Highlord Bluecloud.

"Reporting! I believe the Verdant Starfield is currently in turmoil! There are splashes of chaotic lights in their area of the Dark Void!"

"The starfield-wide defensive array of the Beyond Light Starfield, the True Light Endless Radiance Array, is activated! I believe they're under attack!"

"...!" Wei Wuyin's heart was racing as hundreds of thousands of messages, all saying similar things erupted in his senses. Three neighboring Starfields were attacked! 

The culprit?! 

Trueborn! 

Wei Wuyin's breathing grew heavy as he clenched his teeth. This didn't happen in the debonair lifetime, but this was likely due to the Chaosnova being far earlier and more explosive than before, a clear sign of heavy deviation. What were they planning?

By the end, Wei Wuyin finally knew as a report from Wu Yu came in:

"Young Lord, a mysterious force—likely Trueborn, attacked the Great Desolate Starfield(6th), Beyond Light Starfield(9th), and Verdant Paradise Starfield(19th) and laid claim to their land and territory, exterminating all the experts that refused to submit. They acted too swiftly, establishing powerful arrays and strongholds. I believe this has been planned for a long, long time." 

Trueborn was no longer hiding in the shadows.