Paragon of Sin

The Nexus Battlefield was utterly silent. All its soldiers and commanders laid on the solid ground, surrounding the Obelisk of War, quietly resting in unison. If those outside were told that Ascended and mortals alike were resting, they wouldn't know whether to laugh or cry.

There were talented geniuses, brutal characters, vicious experts, yet they were all simultaneously resting on the ground. While the vast majority expected this was the method to observe the Obelisk of War, this didn't lessen the ridiculous situation at all.

"..." After about ten minutes, an Ascended opened their eyes and lifted their head to observe his surroundings, finding that others were similarly looking about to inspect what was happening. But when they saw the group of Ascended laying on the ground diligently, with the main man himself, that unimaginably extraordinary mortal, they clenched their teeth and went back to attempting to comprehend something.

A period of complete silence followed. Those skeptical about the way to observe the Obelisk of War would lift their heads and notice the majority was still in their resting position, so they laid their heads back down, closed their eyes, and focused harder, not wanting to waste a single minute. Who knew if this observation required a period of serenity, hence this strange position. If they lost this opportunity due to that, how infuriating would that be?

Before long, the strange state caused a few to simply fall asleep. They were all cultivators with abundant mental energies, cultivation techniques to rejuvenate their mental energies and thus remain awake and conscious eternally. The only time sleep was had by some of these individuals was after strenuous dual cultivation sessions.

There were even some cultivators that outright snored, breaking the silence. Yet after a brief moment of being disturbed, these figures tried harder to calm their minds, cursing those idiots for sleeping. Did they not know that this might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?

An Ascended sneered, feeling as if they had comprehended some profound insights into his cultivation technique. They had never progressed so fast in their comprehension in this state, so he was extremely excited. They weren't the only ones to experience this. The tensionless situation induced a serene mental state for some. Their rate of cultivating insights of their Intent, Arts, Spells, and Methods accelerated.

During their many years of cultivation, some of them had never truly realized in their cultivation path, so when they thought this was a requirement to obtain benefits in their cultivation path, it greatly supported their endeavors to acquire insights. Their thoughts flowed smoothly and their worries were eradicated. A few even had their aura of Intent flare as they reached the Awakened Intent level.

This disturbed a few but only reinforced the idea of this amazing chance. They tried even harder to relax!

If Wei Wuyin were to realize that his exhaustion-fueled sleep helped most attain higher levels of insight, who knew what he would think?

This period lasted for a full eight hours.

"Hmmm…" Wei Wuyin smacked his lips, touching his face while grabbing around with his other hand. He immediately felt something semi-soft. There was a distinct warmth and a familiar feeling to his hand.

That was…

WOOSH!

Wei Wuyin's upper body rose at an astonishing speed, pulling his hand back in horror. He turned to 'look' at the one he had grabbed, and his expression was extremely dark and ugly.

There was a soft moan. The sign of someone waking up. It was a male! They slowly opened their eyes and lifted their head curiously, touching their groin curiously. 'What was that?'

Without hesitating, Wei Wuyin used his palm and pushed out viciously in the direction of that person.

"Ahhhhh!" An explosive 'pah' sound erupted, following alongside a horrified scream and a crashing thud in the distance. That voice was quite familiar, and Wei Wuyin had heard that pained cry before, and it belonged to none other than Guan Yu!

'Who the hell told this fool to sleep next to me?' Wei Wuyin's thoughts stirred. That ugly expression grew uglier. He inspected his body and realized that the hairline fractures in his body had been healed, the damages to his muscles were repaired, strengthening him even. While he rested, Ori and Eden were arduously healing the damage to his physical body and Sea of Consciousness.

That said, he wasn't without defenses. Kratos and King were always on full alert and ready to handle any abrupt changes or hostile intent. This was the benefit of having sentient Astral Souls that could operate with their autonomy at times. He could wholeheartedly cultivate or rest without needing to worry about being caught off-guard.

Sleeping had rapidly accelerated the rate of his recovery.

"You're finally up," the mysterious woman said beside Wei Wuyin. When Wei Wuyin noticed the woman was to his left, he cursed his right hand and then cursed his left for moving to his face.

"Yeah," Wei Wuyin breathily responded. With a hearty stretch of his limbs, he slowly rose and felt invigorated. "Did you handle the Spirits of War?"

"She did," an aged voice resounded. A wisp of admiration and respect leaked from this voice. Wei Wuyin turned to the woman, frowned slightly, and felt like something had happened while he was asleep, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "Were you watching me rest?" He wouldn't admit that he was sleeping, at least not directly.

"We didn't watch you rest; we joined you," the mysterious woman corrected. She seemed unbothered by this, but Wei Wuyin's thoughts stirred. He communicated with Kratos and King. Kratos was far more aware of ambient spatial movements, so it was given the task of watching and warning of any approaching threats.

When he learned that a little over a dozen Ascended nearby, but when they approached, they grew still and lacked all signs of aggression, Wei Wuyin could only sigh.

"What was that for?" Guan Yu stomped back with a strained voice. Clearly, he suffered injuries from that palm attack. Wei Wuyin's facial expression grew dark, but it eventually eased into a serene calm.

"I didn't expect anyone to be that close to me. Did you forget this," Wei Wuyin pointed at his closed eyes. This caused Guan Yu to stiffen. He had almost forgotten that Wei Wuyin was blind, feeling a little guilty for his actions.

"Are you really blind?" A soft, feminine voice asked skeptically. It belonged to the petite, pretty young woman that had been brought along as one of the fourteen Ascended beings.

Wei Wuyin wryly smiled. He didn't answer. He wasn't genuinely blind, but if he opened his eyes, spiritual light would flood out and engulf his entire visual perception, effectively blinding him.

"Do you think he would feign blindness for fun? Think he gets a kick out of it, huh?! Such an idiotic question." Guan Yu bit back, defending Wei Wuyin from this skeptical woman's curiosity. It caused the petite woman to grow silent, but her sweet-sounding voice became cold as she snorted aggressively.

Pah!

"Argh!" Guan Yu cried out in pain for the second time, following a harsh slapping sound. His body was sent flying, crashing heavily into the ground, eliciting an even heavier cry of pain, and then a series of groans and spitting of blood.

This caused Wei Wuyin's eyebrows to furrow deeply. He hadn't been able to see what happened, but what happened was clear. Without hesitation, his hand touched his saber's hilt. There was saber light that beautifully flowed across his right hand and forearm.

"Whoever just attacked, stand out," Wei Wuyin demanded.

The atmosphere became thick and tense; faint sounds of saber howls resounded.

"..." There was silence.

"Why?" The mysterious woman asked. Seeing Wei Wuyin's aggressive stance, she realized that young woman's actions that they might casually dismiss, an Ascended disciplining an insolent mortal, had provoked an issue.

"Your hand or your life—you can choose," Wei Wuyin indifferently stated in a glacial tone. There was no other option given.

"..."

If a mortal typically said this normally, these Ascended would laugh, but Wei Wuyin had just slaughtered an entire army and an Earthly Saint that had one-shotted a Demi-Mortal Lord. There was no way that they took those words lightly.

Guan Yu's pained cries still resounded in the distance. An Ascended was an Ascended, so being slapped by one was terrifying. Half of his face was slightly deformed, and his right eye was leaking blood and fluid, stressed to the point that it nearly exploded. It was disturbing to see.

"He-" The mysterious woman was about to speak, but she couldn't get out more than a single word before being interrupted.

"I will kill everyone here if that person decides to not choose," Wei Wuyin's voice became vicious, lacking the slightest bit of warmth. This instilled a chill in the hearts of everyone. He didn't care why this person did what they did, or if Guan Yu deserved it. Guan Yu had spoken on his behalf and he had plans for Guan Yu. As for these Ascended?

They were inconsequential.

"..." The silence became stifling.

"It was me," the petite woman eventually spoke up. Wei Wuyin couldn't see, but all of the Ascended present were looking at her with admonishing looks. This was her fault, so she should take responsibility. In their eyes, she had become a detriment to their chances at freedom. And if Wei Wuyin truly decided to act, could any of them stop him? None of them wanted to die because of her. So what if she lost an arm? As an Ascended, she could recover that.

The moment her words sounded, Wei Wuyin moved with unbelievably quickness, his saber left its scabbard, and the edge sliced into the direction of the voice without hesitation. A series of surprised gasps resounded, but Wei Wuyin's saber edge eventually halted.

"Wait!" Was the prompt that led to his saber stopping, belonging to none other than Guan Yu. If he hadn't spoken, a petite Ascended would've lost her head. She hadn't even reacted before Wei Wuyin's saber edge arrived, causing her heart to pound thunderously.

While the 10,000 Ascended beings were restrained by poison, that had little to do with their physical abilities and reflexes. These attributes of theirs went unhindered, yet who knew how many Demi-Mortal Lords met their end at his saber? This was attributed to Wei Wuyin's physical body being extremely refined. Be it his physical strength, endurance, flexibility, or speed, they were all unbelievably high.

In this restricted environment where cultivators were forced to fight in a similar manner as mortals, he reigned supreme.

Guan Yu rushed forward, giving the petite woman whose expression was insanely pale a look. Her life had flashed before her very eyes, and the glint of saber light emitting from the edge caused her to heavily gulp. Wei Wuyin never intended to give her a choice, only kill the one responsible without mercy! It was only now that she realized why he could dominate the battlefield. How domineering and decisive!

"Please don't kill her," despite holding his face and speaking awkwardly, Guan Yu still pleaded. This caused Wei Wuyin to frown, but he didn't hesitate. He fixed his stance and sheathed his saber.

"Alright, let's bring this to an end." Wei Wuyin didn't ask why Guan Yu asked to spare her life, it didn't matter to him. He didn't know that this simple action of his had established a tie between that woman and Guan Yu, a tie that would eventually lead to an unexpected, surprising event.

Wei Wuyin asked Guan Yu, "Where's the Obelisk of War?"

"Directly in front of you," the mysterious woman answered. Her voice was a little softer, but if Wei Wuyin could see her expression, they would be able to see fascination and excitement. Only a domineering man met her standards. To decide death with a single word and spare it with the next.

Wei Wuyin nodded and then walked forward. He lifted his hand up and calmly stated: "I claim victory against the Nexus!"

Dzzzt!