Paragon of Sin

"...!" Sheng Jizi, Sun Li, Wu Yu, and Ma Zheng's eyes all revealed incredible shock. Except for Ma Zheng, the three other Earthly Saints acted immediately, urgency spreading across their hearts. They pressed their hands upon the barrier that shielded them from the battle and poured copious amounts of their mystic power to reinforce it.

With Sun Li and Wu Yu acting in concert, their barrier was strengthened to its limits. Sheng Jizi's side, however, was clearly a little lacking. After realizing this, Sheng Jizi roared deeply, and then at the center of his glabella, the Spatial-type Mystic Rune manifested in full, his eyeballs painted in a silver color. The roar unleashed vast quantities of spatial power from his body, engulfing his group entirely.

Yangzi Yanshi finally reactied, screaming out: "IS SHE OUT OF HER MIN-" 

They vanished! 

Sheng Jizi had fled! 

"They're gone!" Ma Sujiang was thunderstruck by these Earthly Saints' actions. She didn't understand the urgency and why a simple move by Yang Chaoyue prompted Sheng Jizi's immediate retreat via spatial shifting. 

Yet none of the Earthly Saints felt an urge to clarify her confusion because all would soon witness the answer! The Infinite Wind Hourglass, the treasured armament of Yang Chaoyue, a tool forged from over ten thousand years of mystic-grade refinement and infusion, was sent hurtling towards the ground and shattered!

The shattering released a howl that twisted the auditory senses, all generated solely by wind currents clashing and surging about in the pinnacle of chaos! From Yang Chaoyue's starting point, a soft gust of wind flowed outwards in every direction. It swept the entire arena gently, instantly.

Ma Sujiang lifted her hand curiously. Was she feeling…wind? As this thought emerged in her mind, she inspected the mystic barrier reinforced by Sun Li and Wu Yu, the latter was an 8th Runic Ascendant, and yet the gentle wind still seeped through. 

How was that even possible?

Faye Liying's eyes shrunk considerably. She hastily abandoned her attempts at establishing a Multi-Link Spiritual Array with her inverse droplets. Her hands danced slightly, then she clasped them together, interlocked her fingers with frightening strength, and tapped into the power of each inverse droplet.

「Aegis of the Elder Sea, Shell of the Ancient Divinity」

GATHER! 

The inverse droplets gathered together, converging onto Faye Liying like loyal soldiers and merging with her Mystic Ward. With each addition, her Mystic Ward's blue color grew darker. This was definitely her strongest defensive state, reinforced by the accumulated refined water energies of her Tear of the Rising Seas. 

Despite her swift response, her actions weren't quick enough. When she felt the wind through her rapidly strengthening Mystic Ward, she knew the worst result was about to unfold. An unstoppable cataclysmic event. 

She felt an urge to ignite her Mystic Soul, to escape this sealed world, but she resisted it with every fiber of her being. Doing so was no different than destroying her life or ruining Ma Zheng's thousands of years of plotting. 

She had to win. 

HOWL!!!

So when the wind howled once again, this time with a screeching intensity that exceeded the other by thousands of times, she hunkered down and decided to see what came! 

It started as a small tornado, no more than a few feet from the epicenter of the shattered hourglass. An innocent wind-type natural phenomena a child might find amusement in from afar, playing with it in their idle time. Then, it grew. It wasn't that tall, about six or so meters. 

But that wasn't the end.

Supplied by seemingly endless wind energies, the twisting tornado grew ten meters, then another, and another, then a hundred meters, a thousand meters, until it touched the ceiling of the Prosperous Arena. Then, it no longer grew in height but expanded. 

A mile.

Two.

Ten.

Ten thousand!

The rate of its growth was utterly explosive! The wind was extremely destructive! The spatial walls were torn and ripped off in silver fragments like a tile roof in a natural disaster. The remnant pieces of Mystic Runes left behind were caught up in its cycling force, devastated into obliteration, and it only seemed to grow as a result! 

Faye Liying was protected by her Tears of the Rising Seas, her Mystic Ward, and her protective art. She felt confident in resisting an unconcentrated release of Earthly Saint's accumulated and refined wind energies. Moreover, this power was far, far too great for an Earthly Saint to control! 

It was better to say that the Infinite Wind Hourglass contained mystic-graded wind energies at the pinnacle Mystic-Earth level. This was the result of Yang Chaoyue's strenuous efforts for several millennia. Faye Liying, too, forged a similar armament with the same purpose—additional power. Her Tear of Rising Seas contained inverse water droplets with pinnacle Mystic-Earth grade water energies that she could control with her spiritual strength. 

Moreover, she had 323,762 Inverse Droplets, each containing her unique gravitational force and spiritual strength, sufficient water energies to generate enough liquid to drown a small-sized planet. As such, she could muster an absurd amount of watery power. In a way, she had forged 323,762 tiny-sized planets and condensed them into droplets of water.

If she shattered her Tears of a Rising Seas, she felt confident in flooding an entire Domain. In return, thousands of years of refining and accumulation would go to waste, and she would suffer a devastating blow to her strength. 

And now, Yang Chaoyue had shattered her Infinite Wind Hourglass! 

Yang Chaoyue's expression was serene, without any conflict or pain in her eyes as her gaze focused on Faye Liying's turtle-shell of a defense. She didn't stop her forceful approach. While behind her was an ever-growing hurricane of death and destruction, she clenched her fist and darted towards Faye Liying! 

Faye Liying was speechless. She couldn't move. Her entire body was engulfed by her art, causing her body to weigh the same as over 300,000 tiny-sized planets of water. She had neither the physical strength nor the mystic power enough to shift a single finger—A genuine turtle shell. 

And from Yang Chaoyue's eyes, it was clear that she wanted this exact scenario! But Faye Liying was confused! Even if Yang Chaoyue struck, she wouldn't be able to breach her defenses in the time it took for the tempest of wind to overwhelm her! 

While some might think that her wind energies might leave her unharmed, that was absolutely foolish. While the wind itself might not harm her, the generated force was not in her control. Similarly, a fire-attributed cultivator can be engulfed in their flames, but when the heat reaches beyond their bodily limit, even their own flames will scorch them all the same! 

The destructive force of the incoming storm of boundless wind will certainly rip Yang Chaoyue into pieces! She was dead if she didn't flee! 

However, witnessing her fearless arrival and clenched fists, Faye Liying's heart thumped ferociously! She was unable to keep her serene gaze, her eyes flickering with a little bit of fear. 

Was she going to use her all to weaken the barrier and cause their mutual destruction?! But when the thought emerged, the fear in her eyes scattered, replaced by an expression of puzzlement that distorted her facial features. 

Why?

Because it was utterly impossible! 

Even if her defense wasn't fully formed, Yang Chaoyue's power couldn't easily breach her Mystic Ward, let alone her reinforced state! What was she doing? Suicide?! 

Yang Chaoyue didn't react to the myriad of emotions of Faye Liying; her fists were tightly clenched and didn't stop her momentum! When she reached punching range, the gathered mystic power in her fists erupted explosively! She thrust each fist with a strong, violent intensity! Her fists were powerful enough to devastate entire planets, yet when her fist met the Mystic Ward, there was a soft pattering sound. It was as if someone was stepping on a puddle, the volume of which amplified by a thousand. 

While loud, it seemed harmless.

Besides some ripples on her Mystic Ward, nothing else came of it. Perplexed by Yang Chaoyue's actions, Faye Liying's eyes widened as the horrifying tempest had already occupied the entirety of her vision, rushing towards them as a chaotic storm of light green wind! 

Ha! Ha! Ha!

Yang Chaoyue, however, kept throwing fierce punches. Her speed was producing afterimages. In seconds, her punches had reached over a thousand in number, yet the Mystic Wards remained unharmed. Not even a concentrated tactic of aiming at the same spot had generated any difference. 

With an odd expression, Faye Liying watched as Yang Chaoyue's suicidal assault came to a depressing result. As she was untouched, it was too late for Yang Chaoyue to escape or form her own defense. She had shattered her precious armament, unleashed this calamity, and was about to resist its full strength solely using her body!

At the last moment, just as the storm was about to engulf Yang Chaoyue, Faye Liying's eyes constricted to their limits! 

"You-"

At this point, no one could see what was happening, be it Ma Zheng's group or the countless spectators! They could only see Yang Chaoyue's relentless assault at the end before the two Earthly Saints were entirely engulfed by the catastrophically monstrous tempest of howling wind. They were all rebuffed by the wind energies; their spiritual senses sent back safely to their owners due to the various mechanisms implemented. 

"What happened?!" The spectators cried. Their spiritual senses were abruptly ejected from the Spiritual Projection Obelisk, so they couldn't perceive the events after the entire world was thoroughly engulfed. Whenever those below the Soul of Mysticism Phase attempted to re-enter, they would be denied due to possible danger.

Even Sheng Jizi's prerecorded voice sounded: "Apologies to all; the current circumstances within the arena will be preventing spiritual sense projection without bringing harm to you. Please give it a few moments to regulate into a stable environment, for your safety." 

Those at or above the Soul of Mysticism only sensed raging winds and endless howls. It was exceedingly terrifying. 

They had to wait an entire four minutes before their senses began to pick up on events. They inspected the scene with keen interest, wanting to know the end result. To many, Yang Chaoyue's actions seemed insane, yet maybe this was how she intended to resist Faye Liying's water power. 

However, what they saw left them speechless. 

Covered in blood, two figures were laying miles away from each other, laying on the floor, sprawled out in unnatural positions. 

They were none other than Yang Chaoyue and Faye Liying! The two renowned Earthly Saints! 

And from their auras, they were…they were unconscious! 

The signs of their tattered clothes, with Faye Liying's upper robe being severely shredded, showing delicate skin and her pink-colored brassiere. Yang Chaoyue's lower legs were completely revealed. It was as if her lower attire had been changed into butt-length shorts. Fortunately, or unfortunately, no…definitely fortunately, the most important aspects were still covered!

These two women were exposed in unnatural positions, yet they couldn't help but stimulate some heated responses. The gulps were likely endless as some tried to zoom in, wishing their spiritual sense's clarity was just a little better. 

But…what was the outcome? 

Later, Sheng Jizi returned with a slightly pale complexion. He was still protecting the others when he returned, shielding them with a barrier of mystic power. It fended off the uncontrolled wind energies still lingering, wind energies that could devastate starfields. 

When he saw the two's physical conditions, inspecting their lifeforce with his ocular spell, he noted that neither was at the edge of death nor dying. They had sustained injuries, but there wasn't a significant difference between them, enough to knock them both unconscious. He frowned slightly.

Who had lost? 

Sheng Jizi tried to view the recorded footage, but the wind energies had prevented any footage from being recorded. Furthermore, they were both unconscious and injured. When they woke up, it was unlikely either would agree that the other won. There was too much on the line.

With a faint sigh, he glanced at Ma Zheng in the far-off distance; then, without wasting a breath, he announced: "Due to the circumstances of the match's conclusion, including a mutual state of unconsciousness of both champions, according to the rules: The match between Yang Chaoyue and Faye Liying will be declared a…DRAW!"