Paragon of Sin
chapter-1699

The war for the Edict Seed was intensifying to a brutal state of combat, on the verge of mass casualties as the cultivators in the Shell Worlds segregated into individual battlefields with either appropriate or disproportionate cultivation bases to balance out or resist stronger foes. Yet, as the final victor was on the brink of being decided, the entire situation was thrown into the bin of chaos.

The Serene Mountain Sect had first launched their Great Ruination Cannon at seemingly nowhere, and then a sudden disturbance was occurring at the location of their blasted region. The unpredictability caused each organization to send out notice to all their cultivators in the Shell Worlds, especially the crucial battlefield for the Edict Seed that possessed five top-tier talents of the Heavenly Saint, each younger than the next, the precious jewels and future pillars of their respective organizations.

However, the situation descended into true chaos in a fashion that no one could accurately guess as several figures arrived from the chaotic region and sent an object or person into that most important Shell World. Yet they could do nothing to halt that action as the situation outside was changing so abruptly!

SAGES!

Initially, there were only three Sages. Then, when Nepit's cultivation base was unsealed, they felt the imposing Spiritual Strength and innate Worldly Pressure of a fourth Sage! They could barely keep themselves together as these foreign Sages, each of their identities concealed by uniquely wondrous methods, rushed through the Dark Void fearlessly toward them.

The Serene Mountain Sect was spared from being targeted due to their potential threat, but the other forces within the Dark Void could only draw their interest. However, whether that was a good thing or not for the Serene Mountain Sect could only be determined in the upcoming period of bloody war and brewing battles.

Unlike the clash between the organizations, various relationships, and complex interactions and considerations were not considered at all by the four foreign Sages. They saw treasure hoards—nothing more and nothing less. They didn't have to pay too much attention to who this ship belonged to or who this person was.

This was because they had Wei Wuyin, the presumably Exalted World-Saint Neo-Dawn and Neo-Dawn Empire who was in direct control over not one, not two, but THREE galaxies. Since he was here, they would simply offer a portion of their spoils to him and drag him with them. Their thoughts were simple, and since Wei Wuyin had already involved himself in the battle for the Edict Seed directly by sending Wei Si to the most crucial battlefield, they already knew he had no intentions of staying his hand on this matter.

Who could?!

Edict Seeds were objects that Resonant Soul Realm cultivators, those renowned as Supreme Sages, would destroy entire cultivation civilizations for! An Edict Seed was equivalent to a Mystic-Heaven grade treasure! Laws of heaven were the domain for Supreme Sages, not those at the Mystic Ascendant Realm, yet they still dared to break conventions to establish peerless foundations for their potential to become a Supreme Sage and stand above all Ascended beings!

The first one to take action was the fastest—Pakhet! The five triangular-shaped Void Vessels resembling Easy Spring of Enlightened Sage Springfield were the target! They belonged to none other than Exalted World-Saint Azureriver, the widely-recognized Tower Master of the 3rd Floor. However, in Pakhet, Imentet, Nepri, and Nepit's eyes, they were the largest hoards of clustered treasure!

They were already activating their defensive formations, establishing a triangular-shaped ward fueled by a mixture of Mystic-World Essence Stones and Mystic-Earth Essence Stones. The wards were of varying colors, clearly fueled by various elemental essence stones. The defenses were remarkable and sturdy to the maximum, sufficient enough to ensure some safety exploring the Dark Void, specifically the Void-Blank Space between galaxies that not even Mystic Overlords would carelessly traverse alone.

Pakhet saw the sturdy and resilient wards manifest, brimming with energy and readying retaliatory formations after her initial bombardment. They were definitely prepared as this was an active war zone! Given each of their individual strengths, an ordinary Sage would find it difficult to breach these wards in a short period.

Unfortunately for them…

…Pakhet was not an ordinary Sage!

Drawing on the irregular and tyrannical strength of her physical body as a Martial Cultivator and a Sage, a genuine Martial Sage, as well as her Law of Metal, but only summoning forth enough power to equate to the Minor Authority of Metal Law, her hand turned claw became golden and savage. With a single swipe, the space for hundreds of thousands of miles trembled.

She targeted only a single vessel, ignoring the others. Her actions of directing everything to a single vessel bore enormous pressure on that vessel and its inhabitants. They squealed, screamed, prayed, and cursed as the ward held for an extremely brief period, causing the entire vessel to tremble, and then…the ward was sliced apart with five claw-like openings.

Pakhet didn't stop for a single moment as she entered the ward.

At that point, all the panic was justifiably reasonable! All the fear was rightfully felt! Pakhet was a predator with a purpose, and she didn't hesitate to kill.

In the war for fortune, lives were often reaped without pity. And none of the Sages, not a single one, who grew up in the contentious, chaotic, and cruel galaxy were soft-hearted. While Sage Hathor might come off as gentle, kind, and motherly, her hands were stained with the blood of so many that the faint-hearted would faint upon hearing the number! That was to say that Pakhet, a true predator, was certainly not inferior!

"AHHHH!!!"

"LET ME LIV—"

"Curse you! We're weaker than you! Fight someone of your own cultivation, you shameless monster!" A middle-aged World Emperor shouted as he activated all his defensive treasures while simultaneously trying to escape out into the Dark Void. He wanted to abandon ship!

Pakhet blitzed across the halls and corridors, finding any room and indiscriminately tossing any spatial object or exposed essence stone or Mystic-Earth or higher graded material into her Internal World after sealing them with a wave of her hand. When she came across any stubborn fools in her way or too slow to move or had a Saint Ring, she slaughtered them without a second thought.

When she heard those words from across the vessel, her eyes brightened as she rapidly blitzed to his location with her peerless legs. The World Emperor was shaken as a hazy figure arrived before him as he was just about to escape out of an opening made by Pakhet's earlier claw attack.

"I…I—" He stuttered.

But before he could speak further as fear overwhelmed his heart, Pakhet grabbed his head with a single hand and yanked. His spine was pulled out, spewing guts, blood, and flesh across the walls. Then, she took his Saint Ring and crushed his Mystic Core and Mystic Soul with traces of Major Metal Law.

Unless someone had extreme prowess in Temporal Reversion, a Minor Time Law willing to make the sacrifice of lifespan, or a Major Time Law, saving this World Emperor's life would be beyond difficult.

'Your Void Vessel equates to an extremely weak Sage by all standards. There's no longer any difference in cultivation the moment you decide to enter this ship that could harm or even kill Mystic Overlords with your fellow crew.' Pakhet's eyes flashed with disdain and contempt. His logic truly irritated her.

Did a Legion of Ten Thousand that could rival a World Emperor made up of Soul of Mysticism cultivators complain upon being killed by the World Emperor? Perhaps, but they had no reason to! They were just inferior! If the legion killed the World Emperor, could they complain?!

She didn't hold back against anyone who was here. In her eyes, they were all part of a Sage's cultivation base, and she was systematically dismantling portions of each. She destroyed formations as she moved, especially prioritizing the propulsion and spatial formations.

She couldn't spend too much time here. So she handled these things while taking the most precious treasures used to power the vessel, and then exited the ship as it was undergoing chaotic booming sounds of explosions as chaos reigned and a few sinister fellows dared to try to take advantage of the situation.

She brought her sights to another vessel. She rushed towards that one too! They were already trying to split apart and gather distance. This was the difficulty of dealing with five mobile targets. She had to try to seize what she could!

The most astonishing gain on this particular vessel was the mini vault containing numerous eighth, ninth, and Mystic-Earth graded alchemical products, likely meant to reward the crew or accommodate their cultivation needs while in the Dark Void. They weren't too highly graded, with most being impure-quality as one might expect, but it was still a mini-fortune as those impure-quality products had low-levels of impurities and were the type that cultivators would bid for.

Meanwhile, while Pakhet began to ravage the fleet of triangular-shaped vessels, Imentet had used an utterly brutal method as she used her body to crash head first into the ward projected by the Seeking Profound Palace's barque-like vessel. A horrendously thunderous explosion resounded as chaos befell the crew instantly.

Similar to Pakhet, Nepit, and Shattered Sphinx, Imentet had grasped a Minor Authority! She was a bundle of blazing light that was utterly enchanting as she crashed into their ward, utilizing the Minor Light Law! A burning hole was burned into the ward as Imentet snuck in. When she arrived, she was bleeding as her body had suffered considerable impact.

She was fully aware that each of these Void Vessels were equipped with means to resist a Sage! If not for that strength, they wouldn't dare to explore the Void-Blank Space between galaxies given all the catastrophic phenomena, dangerous Void Creatures, and sporadic forbidden zones that they might meet. She didn't hold back despite damaging her beautiful body! She was sturdy as a shield! While Imentet had the highest offensive power, she undoubtedly was the sturdiest by virtue of her cultivation base and Mystic Physique geared toward being tough and resilient.

Her move was no different than a planet smashing against the ward from everyone's perspective! It was straightforward and effective!

The moment she breached their ward in such a startling fashion, she took action disregarding her injuries as black and white light surged out of her body, sweeping across the halls of the ship to fill every inch. Any cultivator without sufficient defenses was vaporized by the flooding light.

Nepri had the Minor Law of Earth! If not for his astonishing talents and above-average strength, how could he invest enough to nurture his Dao Companion into a Sage as well? There were only four Sages out of the ten that grasped Laws, and three of them were here!

Nepri's Spiritual Strength was heavy as grand earth and as unstoppable as flooding waves of grains, crushing the violet-colored strange sailing ship's crew. They immediately couldn't focus as their bodies, Sea of Consciousness, and Astral or Mystic Souls felt unbearably heavy as if a mountain of grains were placed atop their bodies. Those beneath the Original Magistrate level were thrown into a daze while struggling with gritted teeth.

The ward experienced a significant drop in effectiveness as those handling the formations went inactive for that moment. Without much effort, he swiped his two fingers like a sword and split the ward open, just enough for him to slither through with the least amount of effort.

With a casual air and genuine ease, he began to stride across the halls with a faint smile. As he passed by, he began to seize control over portions of the vessel as most cultivators were crushed under his Spiritual Strength and Worldly Pressure, becoming sacks of splattered blood, mangled flesh, and crushed bones. Around his body, Saint Rings and spatial treasures surrounded his body as if he was a great Solar Star and they were tiny planets.

Nepit, however, was having extreme difficulty as the Seventh Wave Pirates’ galleon defended against her repeated assaults of her Mystic Power. It was a true showcase of the vessel's defensive strength as she was unable to breach the ward despite her Sage-level Mystic Power! Moreover, they were preparing to retaliate!

Deep frustration flashed within her eyes as she launched ruthless attack after attack hoping to produce an opening! Any openings!

Unfortunately…

The main issue the crew on these Void Vessels had was that their strongest cultivators were in the Shell Worlds! The stronger the cultivator handling the main formations and array, the greater its effects! This was why Shui Fengbao and Zhan Jiangwen's piloting, speed, and strength of the Minor Elysium were so drastically different!

The chaos was soon noticed by those in the Shell World. They could only come to a temporary truce as they left the Shell Worlds to protect their Vessels with haste! Without their vessels to traverse this hazardous space, they would be left stranded for who knows how long in the Dark Void!