Paragon of Sin

The pellet alongside Wei Wuyin's excitement caused the woman to become thoroughly confused. However, when she looked longer at the white pellet, her expression slowly started to change until it dawned on her! That was her Myriad Gravestone Poison! Was that seven-colored light Alchemic Energies? Had this handsome man condensed her Myriad Gravestone Poison into a pellet?! But...how?

What she thought directly conflicted with what she knew, furthering her confusion and uncertainty. The restrictive limitations in this Nexus Battlefield were quite extreme towards spiritual aspects and astral force. While those who've refined their bodies to their limits could manifest their Astral Idol, that was exceptionally rare. And those who could, often had chosen weaker physiques and Astral Souls, so it was easier for them to do so.

She and Guan Yu might have experienced the elevation of their physiques to match the quality of their innate physical energies, but that wasn't close to reaching the absolute Mortal Limits of their physique. It was this very detail that had confused Wei Wuyin earlier.Â

Guan Yu was unable to convey that Mortal Limits was not a consistent baseline. It wasn't like the boiling point of water across the board. Even if one cultivator was water then another could be soybean oil. The former's Mortal Limits is roughly one hundred Celsius while the latter was three hundred Celsius. Very few Astral Core Realm cultivators were aware of this fact, even finding it an extremely contradictory statement.

But such was cultivation.

The woman hadn't reached her limit, yet she spoke earlier as if she had. She was bluffing, of course. After all, this was a Battlefield, if her opponent overestimated her, then that could be pushed to a psychological advantage. If she displayed a fearsome quality prior, this would instill further hesitation in her enemies. Unfortunately for her, her efforts didn't affect Wei Wuyin at all.Â

"Is that a pellet?" She inquired out of sheer curiosity. Since they were speaking, she might as well.Â

Wei Wuyin didn't hide it, nodding: "A pellet of your Myriad Gravestone Poison. Your poison isn't able to affect those Ascended beings, but this certainly will." As he spoke, he tossed the Myriad Gravestone Pellet in the air to gauge its stability and weight, and then he abruptly tossed it towards the woman.

It was extremely quick. The woman was shocked as the streak of white crashed at her feet. She screamed slightly as she tried to back away, absolutely terrified by the speed of the throw, yet she was instantly engulfed by a small cloud of white mist.Â

She immediately broke out of the white mist with haste, running further away, but after a few steps, her steps became unsteady and flustered. "What...what did you do to m-" Her words came to an abrupt halt. A soft thud resounded as heavy, laboured breathing rang through the air.

Her voice became weak alongside her breathing. Then, a heavier thud resounded followed by shallow breathing.Â

Wei Wuyin heard this and nodded in approval. "Guan Yu!" He called out to the scarlet-eyed soldier. The soldier hadn't left far, observing the developing situation. When he finally saw the woman was engulfed by a white mist, ran off, and then collapsed like a ragdoll with horror in her bloodshot eyes, his own heart started to race. What was this?!

He cautiously made his way over.Â

Wei Wuyin couldn't help but ask after hearing him reach a few meters away from him: "Is she beautiful?"Â

Guan Yu's expression became strange, a flicker of disgust in his eyes. "I guess? Why?" While he didn't know if Wei Wuyin had intentions to spare her or do some unsavory things to her if she was, it made him feel disgusted at the question being asked.

However, Wei Wuyin's next words startled him. "That's horrifying," after saying this, Wei Wuyin walked towards the collapsed woman with a steady gait. However, he was shaking his head slightly.Â

Guan Yu was unable to understand what Wei Wuyin meant. He followed along, his bident still tightly gripped in his hand and his other covering his nose without any gaps. It was clear he was still hesitant to be here. However, the floral fragrance had vanished entirely. But not every poison had a fragrance.Â

"What did you mean by that?" Guan Yu couldn't hold back his curiosity.Â

Wei Wuyin halted roughly ten meters away from the woman's collapsed body that was barely breathing. He 'looked' at Guan Yu and gestured towards the body, "Go and grab her face." His bodily posture was as if he was saying: "If you're curious, go and find out."Â

Guan Yu felt uncertainty swell within his mind, but the curiosity took over. "Is she out? Like really out?" He questioned. How could he not be cautious?Â

Wei Wuyin chuckled amusingly, "She's out. If she wakes up, you can just stab her with that weapon of yours. At such a close range, don't tell me you can't kill?"Â

Guan Yu scoffed, "Of course I can kill. Alright!" He moved slowly towards the woman, staring at her beautiful countenance with a wisp of admiration, lust, and praise in his eyes. It was very unfortunate that this woman seemed to have a screw loose somewhere, or she would make a gorgeous bride.Â

He reached out to touch her smooth skin, but when he felt its fleshy tone, he was a little shaken. So soft! However, he blushed as he was slightly embarrassed by his thoughts. Just earlier he was feeling disgust at Wei Wuyin's question, yet he was touching an unconscious woman's face without her permission. If it was in battle, then he was well within his rights to viciously plunge his bident into her face, but not...in this situation.Â

Wei Wuyin shouted out: "Pull!"Â

"What?" Guan Yu was bewildered, turning to Wei Wuyin.

Wei Wuyin gestured with a pulling motion, "Pull it." He was quite animated with it, even faintly smiling. It was a little too bad he couldn't see what was about to happen.Â

"Pull it?" Guan Yu whispered softly to himself. But he relented and did so, and he pinched her soft cheeks and pulled. At first, it was nothing, just the normal tug of the skin you'd expect from pulling someone's face. But as he pulled harder, his eyes widened as he noticed her scalp move in an unnatural manner.Â

Curiosity lit ablaze, he pulled even harder.Â

Tsssskkkk!

Like ripping off a bandaid, a strange peeling sound resounded.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" Guan Yu jumped back, his eyes wide and his mouth gaped. In his hand was a face. No, it could be more to say a flap of skin. There was no blood, but some strange translucent substance adhered to its opposite side. But that wasn't what caused him to go crazy with fear, jumping and cursing!Â

It was the skeletal head with multicolored orbs for eyes, no pupils or irises, just various vibrant colors that swam within the eye-shaped orbs. The scalp of the skull even seemed shaven down to be perfectly flat, as if her brain wasn't there. He was horrified. He was disgusted. He wanted to vomit!

He retched to the side and brought his hand to his face, about to cover his nose again. But he realized the skin that was the woman's originally gorgeous face was still in his hand, he yelped and tossed it aside. His entire body felt uncomfortable and icky.

He looked towards the smiling and chuckling Wei Wuyin. He knew! But he couldn't help but think about this. "Did you do this?" When he thought about Wei Wuyin's pellet, the white mist, and the skin peeling off one's face, he was terrified. Could it make someone lose their skin? 'Oh my heavens! Was I going to lose my face?!'

Wei Wuyin shook his head amidst his amused laughter, "Of course not. She used a poisonous cultivation method to refine her innate physical energies, and this was the effect. I studied the poison a little. There should be no way skin doesn't experience rapid deterioration in long-term exposure. However, if she's beautiful that means she has skin, and if she has skin then-"

"Then it wasn't hers," Guan Yu completed the sentence begrudgingly and retched a little to the side. Whose skin did she use? He couldn't tell the difference, so it couldn't be artificial, no? He hoped it was...because if it wasn't'¦

"Urgh!"

Wei Wuyin had his fun, but it was time to proceed with his plan. He walked forward and arrived beside the woman's faceless body, still sounds of faint breathing within her voice. But there was also chaotic whizzing, and this was a sign that her death was very near. The only reason she was still alive was due to her poison resistance.

Wei Wuyin had no intention to recruit this woman, merely use her for his own goal. So he didn't hesitate to use his finger and jab into her exposed skull until it pierced all the way through. Her body squirmed a little until it fell still.

"You probably don't deserve a merciful death, but since you'll be helping me I'll acquiesce. I wonder if you liked its taste though," Wei Wuyin commented after remembering what she had said before.. Suddenly, the world once again froze. The rewards for slaying a sinner was about to be bestowed!