Paragon of Sin

The three stars high in the sky unleashed illuminating solar light that spread across the Evercrown Ceremony's vast lands and multitude of regions. The clash of differently colored radiant lights was showcased, seemingly transforming the Evercrown Ceremony's vast lands into a planet basking in the rays of three Solar Stars.

The sight was endlessly majestic but similarly as mind-blowing as all three Solar Stars were Titan-sized, but one of them, an aquamarine star that emitted wavy, rippling light that was considerably larger than the others, nearly on the edge of entering the classification of a Colossus.

Within one of the many rainforest regions of the Evercrown Ceremony, two figures were encased within a large cubical shell. One held the other by their slender waist with both hands, and the other was leaning into the other figure, their arms wrapped tightly around the other's neck, pressing themselves closer with zero space between.

Wen Mingna's soft lips were thoroughly occupied as they meshed against Wei Wuyin's repeatedly. Faintly, Wei Wuyin's open mouth released flickering wisps of seven-colored light. Wen Mingna's cheeks would glow as the light traversed from her mouth into her esophagus and traveled upwards into her brain, settling itself at her glabella.

After a long, long moment, Wei Wuyin had to reluctantly separate after no more seven-colored lights left his throat. Wen Mingna's grip on his neck using her arms loosened. The two separated and Wen Mingna hurriedly sat down in meditation, digesting the seeds of mental information she had just received.

Wei Wuyin could only watch as this diligent young woman stubbornly insisted that the transference of mental energy was more effective through close-contact kissing. While she might be right when it came to her form of transference, Wei Wuyin's Alchemic Eden Force-empowered Neo-Fruits of Eden Spell wasn't so rudimentary to such pointless limitations on its effectiveness.

But who was he to debate her on this? Wen Mingna's intentions were clear, and he had no intentions of rejecting her after saving his life at the potential cost of her own, fearlessly and with fiercely condemnable resolve. If she wanted to take advantage of Wei Wuyin using this opportunity, what right did he have to say no?

Cough! Wei Wuyin felt a little bit of shamelessness obstruct his throat. He hurriedly cleared it with a cough.

After seeing Wen Mingna enter a state of cultivation, completely sealing off her senses of the surroundings, Wei Wuyin couldn't help but gently, warmly, and joyfully smile as the level of trust she had in him was evident to an extreme.

Silently, he looked upwards to see the three Solar Stars adorn the once starless sky of the Evercrown Ceremony. Each of these Solar Stars was a product of the Neo-Dawn Star-Seed Pill. From their auras, he could determine the exact individual they belonged to, and he couldn't help but faintly smile.

He had already seen the 76th Noble Prince's power; the man was extremely strong, but his death was quite unfair. Similar to Da Shan, the 76th Noble Prince was overly complacent. The number of exchanges he had with Da Shan vastly exceeded the necessary number needed. Unfortunately, Wei Wuyin also used his Minor Imperial Law to suppress his Exalted King Aura and Exalted Goldking Physique after he used Flow Acceleration.

While it was a direct form of interference, it would be foolish to say that Wei Wuyin would simply watch as Da Shan gets eradicated in body and soul, especially since she hadn't yet requested to be left to her own devices like Na Xinyi. Furthermore, Wei Wuyin genuinely didn't like how he disregarded Da Shan on multiple occasions.

The slight might seem minor, but that was his woman, and treating her like air was the same as disrespecting him, especially since he was acting in such a way because she was a demon. How could he, Wei Wuyin, allow that? Anyone who knew of his past, of his losses, would know that regardless of whether Da Shan failed to kill the 76th Noble Prince or he escaped somehow, he was not leaving the Evercrown Ceremony alive.

°The Exalted King Aura...° Wei Wuyin thought about the 76th Noble Prince's unique power, bearing extreme similarities to the Imperial Heaven Aura and the Aeternal Sky Aura. However, it seemed...

Lower?

If he had to rank auras, he would say that the Imperial Heaven Aura was of the highest quality, then the Aeternal Sky Aura, and finally, the Exalted King Aura. However...there was a flexibility that existed in the exact opposite order. If Wu Yu was innate, the Divine Emperor was intertwined, then the 76th Noble Prince was wielded.

It was hard to describe, but it was as if it allowed for greater flexibility in cultivation, creating greater room for versatility. For example, Wu Yu's Mystic Physique was limited due to his bloodline origins, while the Exalted King Aura could merge with different forces such as golden, fire, or space to create varied foundations for cultivation.

As for their potential, they all 'felt' equal as he observed them through his Minor Imperial Law.

Differing qualities, different versatility, equal potential.

Wei Wuyin could tell that someone was carefully refining their Cultivation Method throughout numerous years, seemingly trying to make it more 'inclusive' and easier to cultivate and they succeeded.

The Exalted Sovereign.

Wei Wuyin's eyes closed as he recalled the descriptions of this grand figure that existed in the World Beyond from memories of his alternate self, and the only one likely capable of modifying a cultivation method was thoroughly in many different iterations. There was an ominous feeling building within his chest as the images of Wu Yu and Wu Baozhai flashed across his mind. It took a deep, steady breath to rid himself of this uncomfortable feeling. Subconsciously, he rubbed his right arm with his left hand.

Soon, the stars in the sky began to change as one of the Solar Stars vanished, seemingly recalled, while two other titan-sized Solar Stars took its place.

The Ascendants began to reveal themselves.

-----

Throughout the myriad regions of the Evercrown Ceremony, Chosen from the World Beyond and the Sealed Regions all gawked at the miraculous sight of the Solar Stars hanging above. The majority of those from the World Beyond were utterly stupefied and terror filled their souls.

They, too, had World-Bound Stars, but many of theirs lacked essence, purely possessing form. For now, they resided in Secret Realms or World Realms where they remained to be cultivated periodically and meant to be absorbed later to establish their Domain of Mysticism, if they were lucky enough to grasp that profound power!

But these Solar Stars were being summoned!

"They're only at the Mortal level!" A calm, calculative, and cool-headed female Chosen of the Titan Race shouted explosively, causing the ground to ripple, the air to explode, and the sound to reach every corner of the Evercrown Ceremony. This shout caused the terror in many of the other Chosen's hearts to gradually lower as they verified that these were indeed Solar Stars of the Mortal level!

The reason for their panic was mostly because Da Shan's Violet Mountain Solar Star possessed innate qualities of various Daos, including the Mystic Dao, due to her exposure to Wei Wuyin's Neo-Dawn Paragon-Forging Pill's phenomenon.

Now that the other Solar Stars began to emerge, it became clear that these were not Stars of Mysticism, but Mortal Stars entrenched within the Mortal Dao. The vast, vast majority of the Chosen from the World Beyond was at the Mystic Ascendant Realm, and they could destroy Solar Stars with sufficient effort.

Some even had gleams of maliciousness within their eyes as they sought to ruin talents. A few sent palms, fists, and slashes of Mystic Power flying toward the Solar Stars, seeking to severely damage or destroy them. Their actions caused the owners of the Solar Stars to panic as they started to dim, vanishing soon after as they shifted through space, returning to the Mind's Eye.

This wasn't a normal battlefield! Not a single cultivator here was ordinary, especially those from the World Beyond. How could they possibly agree to allow these World-Bound Star Domain cultivators to set up shop and establish an unprecedented advantage?

Soon after, the sky once again became starless!

-----

Shui Fengbao was currently racing across a mountainous region, his blazing eyes observing a wiggly line of mystic residue belonging to his prey. He was exhausting great degrees of energy to draw upon the Law of Fire's aura to illuminate this line. He smacked his lips, "She's so sneaky!"

Despite the absurd difficulty and ridiculous concept of a mere mortal tracking down an Ascended being, Shui Fengbao was relentless. He was like a raging fire, unwilling to die out until every last dry wood had been burned to nothingness.

Briefly, however, he gazed at the starless sky and felt a little comforted. "I'm not the only one!" When he unleashed his Worldly Domain, he was a target for everyone. This level of forced restraint was stifling, but seeing that others experienced the same vulnerability of being a large, unmissable target, he was a little relieved.

After all, his mistake wasn't his alone.

-----

Forest Region.

Within the trunk of a large tree, a fetus-positioned Yi Yun quietly remained hidden. He cut off all his senses, ceased all his breathing, and hid his aura entirely. He became one with the tree.

From high in the air, several figures were observing everything curiously as if searching for something. They flew about, using their Spiritual Sense to probe carefully to ensure they didn't miss a single thing.

"Where is that damn brat?!" A gruff voice growled.

A soft, feminine voice followed, "He's in a forest region for certain. That's what you divined, right?"

An indifferent-sounding, incomparably deep voice grunted, "Yes."

"Shit! There are a hundred and eight different forest regions scattered throughout this place! How are we supposed to search them all? Do we destroy them all?!" The voice shouted in frustration, their aura rising as Mystic Power shook the space and air.

Yi Yun remained perfectly still despite feeling the trembling of power that could easily rip him apart in body and soul.

"Stop!" The female urgently shouted. This was all it took for the Mystic Power's aura to settle.

"I know!" The gruff voice spat. Even if they destroyed the forest, if that brat was here, even if they destroyed him, they would lose it too.

Eventually, their auras vanished.

Yi Yun remained silent.

Three hours later, he stayed.

Sixteen hours later, he stayed.

After thirty-one hours, three Mystic Auras flared into existence as they flew off.

"What a waste of time!" The gruff-voiced man exclaimed as they flew away.

Yi Yun didn't move for an additional twelve hours. Then and only then did he slowly burrow himself out of the tree's trunk like a newborn baby falling from a womb. There was maple lathered across his body, but he wasn't uncomfortable at all. Taking a deep breath of fresh air, Yi Yun stretched fully.

Within his right hand, a glint of a strange, miraculous color flashed from the starless light. He noticed this and looked at his hand, a feeling of excitement flowing through his heart. It was a piece of metal, but not any ordinary piece of metal...

It was a fragment! A fragment of the Evercrown!

-----

In one of the glacial tundra regions, a figure covered in heavy clothes to combat the ravenous cold air was leaning over an inactive geyser, sticking their right arm into its mouth and seemingly trying to touch the sides of its icy mouth.

"There you are!" An excited voice resounded as the arm wrenched itself out of the geyser. A glint of a strange, miraculous color flashed in the icy, starless light.

"The Fragment of Extraction!" The heavily clothed figure instantly recognized the color as defining one of the seven aspects belonging to the Alchemic Dao: the Aspect of Extraction!

Their eyes were like treasured rubies when they met the icy light, focused entirely on the metallic object.

-----

Sitting calmly upon a dirt mound, a silver-haired, bare-footed, loose-robed figure calmly fiddled with a fragment that glinted with a strange, miraculous color faintly obscured by dirt.

-----

Three gorgeous, enchanting figures stood in a triangular formation, eyeing the object directly in the middle. It was a translucent pyramid. It was a container!