Paragon of Sin
chapter-1698

Beyond the Shell World, just prior to Wei Si's forceful intrusion into its restricted cultivation-limiting boundary, the commotion outside had been lively to the utmost.

Wei Wuyin had carved a makeshift tunnel through the chaotic energies using pure tyrannical mystic force. The four Sages near the Minor Elysium, with Wei Si in tow, soared valiantly through the tunnel at the fastest speed possible. While flying, there was seething anxiety in their hearts as the walls of chaotic energies kept aback by Wei Wuyin's means were weakly quivering, threatening to collapse upon them. How could they not feel a sense of urgency?

Pakhet ignored all else, holding Wei Si tightly, as she blazed a path forward with blinding speed, executing her Ascension Movement Art at 110% effectiveness, disregarding the overly taxing usage of Mystic Power. If not for Wei Si's durable body, he would have become string spaghetti.

Imentet held her shield before her body as she tried her hardest to trail after Pakhet. She was a little slow, but that was only in relation to Pakhet, whose physical speed was astonishing as a Martial Cultivator. She was more adept at Spatial Shifting Movement Arts, and right now, she didn't dare to execute any of the sort out of fear.

She wasn't the only one with difficulties. Nepri had it most difficult as Nepit's cultivation was sealed, but even then, he was a Spiritual Cultivator, and his Spatial Shifting Movement Arts or Martial Movement Arts were severely weaker than either of them. Meanwhile, he had to carry Nepit with him, and while she was a woman, and her body was ridiculously small, she had the deadweight that would make an ordinary planet seem light.

She was still a Sage and her cultivation base contained a Mystic Core that genuinely evolved from a Star Core, while her innate energies and physical cells were disastrously heavy. If a Sage just fell on a planet, they would transform into planet-bustering meteorites. The scariest part was that they would likely come out unharmed after, with the planet being shattered and devastated beyond recognition.

With her cultivation sealed, Nepit was simply a heaping mass of humanoid-sized, planet-like weight. Nepri was already sweating profusely after doing his best to tail Imentet. As for unsealing Nepit, her speed was less than his, and her cultivation base was in a weakened state. She would lag behind him!

Their movements alerted the twelve Void Vessels out there. They were all built with various alarm and radar formations, and while the chaotic wall of energies including the lingering remnants made these systems hard to get a clear reading or determination of what was happening, there was an irregularity that caught each of their notice.

The four torus-shaped, donut-like Void Vessels were the first to react.

Within the torus-shaped Void Vessel that fired that beam from their Great Ruination Cannon, and the one Void Vessel that was notably larger than the others of similar make, the activity was rising by the second.

Footsteps resounded through the Void Vessel as the crew readily took positions and replaced the expended essence crystals and other materials used to unleash the Great Ruination Cannon. They needed at least five hundred cultivators, each with at least a Demi-Mortal Lord Phase cultivation base, and they were still working on the process with sweaty bodies and tensed hearts.

The number of crew members on board this singular Void Vessel numbered slightly over 20,000, and each cultivator was at least at the Gravity Emission Phase of the Astral Core Realm! This was an outstanding force and an even more impressive crew.

At the command center of the Void Vessel where the helm was located, which was a levitating donut-shaped wheel engraved with complex and glowing Mystic Runes, there was a tall, slender, yet imposing red and gold-robed man with a stern face and a scar under his left eye. The gold on his robe was brighter than Cao Zhulian's robe.

By his side was a plump elderly man dressed in hemp robes and wearing a black-tinted monocle over his right eye. He had a pair of gold greaves on his feet and blazing red gauntlets on his arms. His appearance was very unusual, especially his semi-bald head with a deeply receding hairline at the middle while the sides were lush with hair.

"World Prophet Jilpa, have you found out anything else about these newcomers?!"

The red and bright gold-robed man controlling the helm asked gravely. They had, without question, launched their Great Ruination Cannon at a single location after World Prophet Jilpa had informed them that newcomers that could change the entire situation were arriving. He warned directly that doing nothing would mean forfeiting the opportunity for the Edict Seed. But who could forfeit such an opportunity?

Besides his cautionary words, there was no other information. As the Vice-Captain of this ship, Ding Yahui was left with no choice but to be decisive. He ordered the usage of the Great Ruination Cannon towards the newcomers. Unfortunately, they only had a general direction of their arrival, so he could only aim for a wider initial range, only shrinking it after they appeared. This could cost more, but he wouldn't easily miss because the beam wasn't something that could be redirected at firing.

Ding Yahui felt that the Serene Mountain Sect was in the best position to claim the Edict Seed, especially since they had a Sage, their Captain, taking action personally. Who would have thought the other forces would decisively reply by teaming up, forcefully delaying the Captain from dominating the entire situation?

Moreover, the news that Exalted World-Saint Azureriver's youngest Alchemic Knight Lu Xuanyu was here was extremely frustrating. The situation immediately became complex and difficult to handle as their Sage was held down by several Mystic Overlords and their army, while they prevented their Sage from receiving reinforcements.

They were originally planning to stealthily prepare the Great Ruination Cannon to wipe out the Void Pirate organization, the Seventh Wave Pirates, from the face of this world, but plans changed so rapidly that he decided to ensure that the situation didn't change too much. Not a single force knew they had the Great Ruination Cannon installed, so they would have certainly suffered, but now… each of the Void Vessels was already erecting their strongest defenses while activating their propulsion systems to get mobile instantly.

The weakness of the Great Ruination Cannon was its inflexible nature. Once fired, it couldn't change directions, not even slightly. They could only expand and shrink to compensate during the design, and this only mildly alleviated the issue.

With them all being prepared for it, they couldn't eliminate a faction easily. Ding Yahui was confident that the newcomers were all dead, but he wanted to know who he might have inadvertently offended to inform the Captain upon her return. At least, he was.

Earlier, he asked World Prophet Jilpa to figure out their general origins. Now, he was urgently seeking answers! The abnormal commotion in that field of chaotic energies was too inauspicious. Who did they offend?!

World Prophet Jilpa rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Then, after keeping the Vice-Captain in suspense, shook his head and said in a very shrill voice, "The chaotic remnants left behind by the Great Ruination Cannon are preventing me from crying any details."

"..." Vice Captain Ding Yahui wanted to get angered, but that was a logically reasonable obstacle that couldn't be refuted or ignored. He was well aware of the lingering effects of their Great Ruination Cannon, so he could only swallow all the frustration in his heart.

They could only observe the situation while readying the formations. Wei Wuyin's estimation of the time required to prepare a second shot was eerily accurate. They needed a few hours, four to be exact.

Suddenly, World Prophet Jilpa's single visible eye constricted as worldly light swirled around his pupils. A warning of a great deadly crisis manifested from his divination art. He hastily roared in his shrill voice, "SAGES!" The fact that he was able to determine this before anyone else showcased his astonishing divination prowess, worthy of the title World Prophet.

Just as his words left his lips, figures began to escape from the lingering remnants of chaotic energies and were fully exposed, their presence unable to be hidden as they blitzed through the Dark Void relying on pure physical speed. Pakhet was the first. When she arrived, she didn't stop at all. She was like a great void whirlwind as she rushed toward the restricted Shell World before the Voidships could react.

She was faster than the average Sage, and her speed left those left on board the various Void Vessels flabbergasted while being unable to follow her easily. They could only see her trail of turbulent space and chaos mana as she arrived near the Shell World, next to the invisible protective formation that was jointly erected with the consent of the forces present to temporarily stop any intruders for them to react, and with a claw, she swiped against the barrier and sundered it entirely with ease. Then, she tossed something toward it guarded by golden Mystic Power.

The object sunk into the Shell World.

Imentet exited just as Pakhet had achieved her goal. Her eyes glowed as she expanded her Spiritual Sense and instantly understood the situation unfolding. Her eyes darted to the Great Ruination Cannon, the largest torus-shaped Void Vessel, but she didn't take action. Instead, she looked at the particularly rich Void Vessels that resembled a Barque belonging to the Seeking Profound Palace and a fleet of five triangle-shaped Void Vessels belonging to Exalted World-Saint Azureriver. The latter was similar to Easy Spring but of noticeably cheaper quality and make, yet that did little to diminish the value of that ship.

Most importantly, Void Vessels had stockpiles of essence stones and materials to activate their myriad of formations, so they were literal treasure chests with cultivators that held their wealth.

As a Sage here, with the top-tier experts held up within Shell Worlds, why wouldn't she go after easy treasure?! As for offending individuals? They were experienced to the extreme in conflict, long since hiding their physical presence and disguising any identifying traits. She had already stowed away her Heavenly Treasure.

She exploded with Mystic Power as she made a mad dash toward the Barque-like Voidship.

Pakhet had already completed her assignment of sending Wei Si in. Moreover, she had taken full credit for it, so all that promised compensation was hers! As for anything and everything else? Her predator eyes located the five triangular ships and didn't hold back as she was cloaked in mystifying power, blocking off all sensory abilities and divination. Besides her True Sage Phase cultivation, there was nothing else exposed. Not even her gender.

Then, Nepri and Nepit left the tunnel.

Vice-Captain Ding Yahui's pupils shrank out of pure fear, yet he responded swiftly. "Send word to the Captain! Three Sages!" He immediately ordered in an almost shrill voice as well, rife with panic, struggling to stay calm and composed. Those tasked with maintaining communications hurriedly sent the transmissions.

When Nepri escaped the tunnel, Nepit was still sealed so her cultivation wasn't so easily seen through. She glared at him. He could only helplessly unseal her, "Be sure to hide yo—"

"I don't need your reminder!" Nepit growled as she used a Mystic-World grade cloaking treasure in the form of a faceless black mask, changing her aura and disguising her figure, and she circulated her cultivation base slightly. She grunted softly out of pain.

Nepri grew concerned, but his efforts to speak were met with a harsh rebuking glare yet again. She looked around, ignoring this Dao Companion of hers, and found an easy target—the Seventh Wave Pirate's Galleon. She ignored Nepri's worried look and flew off.

Nepri sighed in his heart. He looked at the Serene Mountain Sect's four torus-shaped Void Vessels, cautiously observing the chaotic energies surrounding one of them, and he decided against targeting them. This was probably what Pakhet and Imentet had considered too. But that was only for now. It would be different when they later teamed up.

With that thought, he found the violet-colored Void Vessel that resembled a strange sailing ship that he couldn't quite pinpoint. It belonged to the Void Hunter Organization—Violet Breath.

He didn't hesitate to rush toward that Void Vessel as his Spiritual Strength bore down upon it, causing chaos amongst its various formations and cultivators. As a Spiritual Cultivator, he was best suited for this type of business, especially when concealing one's identity was concerned.

Immediately, the scene became chaotic as Sages targeted those powers, uncaring of their origins or affiliations!