Paragon of Sin

Chapter 1875: Chapter 1867: Contest For Tiny Heaven (8)

While the pleasant exchanges and conversations were surprisingly vibrant as the unexpected scene-stealing newcomer, witnessed by all to be aggressive, competitive, and egotistical, carried himself with an approachable, friendly, and respectful demeanor, each of these surprise existences was here for something needing their immediate attention—the upcoming detonation of the Incinerated Dominion!

The Incandescent Star Palace Lord's question allowed the atmosphere to shift naturally as Sovereign Oakfather became to center of focus, and Sovereign Primal Star's frigid gaze experienced a normally imperceptible suffusion of urgency, if not for Wei Wuyin's keen senses.

Sovereign Oakfather was about to launch into a continuation of the rules, but taking note of Wei Wuyin's unforgettable presence, he thoughtfully explained with greater consideration of his potential ignorance: "As you know, Sovereign Incandescent Star, we prevent catastrophic collisions of supreme experts by limiting engagement when it concerns internal events within the Utmost Purity Galaxy. Disallowing such conflict ensures the continuation of our Utmost Purity Galaxy's core strength, while promoting a culture of growth of youths, talents, and investments of the future organizations."

"If we didn't take such precautions, all treasure would be dominated by Supreme Existences and their respective organizations, and not a single relevant treasure could be acquired or contested for by rising organizations or unknown talents yet to be discovered." A stylish, shorter-than-average middle-aged woman dressed in less-than-modest honey-colored robes that not only tightly hugged her figure, but her chest was exposed by a circular opening, giving others a view of her bountiful valley of delicate flesh. While she lacked crucial endowments that those such as Xi Ning, Shang Wanqing, and Yue Songli possessed, far more average, she flaunted what she had without fear.

She spoke with a serious tone, chiming in at a timely pause. The Incandescent Star Palace Lord had introduced her as the Honeygold Star Palace Lord, also regarded as Sovereign Honeygold Flower, the 15th Palace Lord of her lineage, and the only existing Resonant Soul Realm cultivator of that lineage.

"While that may seem fair in the short run, after all, the strong should obtain the treasure, it has long since been determined by history that such oppressive tactics promote an air of degradation within any society. If competition didn't exist amongst the young hopefuls, then only despondent acceptance and stagnation of cultivation would inevitably occur." Adding on with a shockingly shrill voice that was somewhat disconcerting to hear, a bald elderly man with an incredibly skinny physique and white as snow skin spoke.

'Sovereign Vilesnow of the Peerless Poison Pavilion—despite his average height and scrawny appearance, he's a true-blue Spiritualist skilled in poison arts.' Wei Wuyin regarded Sovereign Vilesnow with great importance. Out of everyone here, this man was the sole existence that had killed a Supreme Sage in tandem with two others.

While it wasn't a solo effort, killing a Supreme Sage in combat was unimaginably difficult. Typically, the go-to strategy was to seal them, grinding away at their True Soul and Soulguard until they inevitably perished.

Despite Wei Wuyin using every ounce of his cultivation, which was heaven-defying to the truest extent possible, he couldn't kill Long Shiya who stood there and took it head-on. He could only slaughter his physical body, and while that was a death of sorts, it wasn't permanent.

Wei Wuyin nodded in acknowledgement of the two Supreme Sages who were working in concerted effort to expound on the explanation and reasoning, ensuring he had the best understanding, albeit it was wholly unnecessary. He had Enlightened Sage Springfield's memories.

Sovereign Oakfather continued: "Indeed. The Utmost Purity Galaxy has a firm culture of establishing a contest with a clear set of rules by which we engage, decided on by those vying for the treasure in question. It might not be entirely fair, but given our decision to allow an open platform for opportunities, it's to be expected that those deciding these rules possessed an edge."

Wei Wuyin found nothing wrong with that, and the warning was enough for any listener to understand that the rules were made by the powerful, enforced by the powerful, and could be rewritten on the whim of the powerful. While it might assist in the growing of undiscovered talents and youths, they would inevitably take the largest piece of any pie present.

This type of societal standard was only possible in an environment where the rulers felt no need to seize everything or that lacked absolute authority. Various organizations, such as the Blessed Yri Empire or other Imperial Dao-ruled civilizations, would acquire and distribute via competition after all gains and benefits had been acquired. The lowborn citizens could only taste the soup with great struggle, while those highborn, such as royalty, would be given everything without contest.

They would then leave the middle of the value treasures for those seeking to rise in their own hierarchy through merit.

The Seven Utmost Tower, which included the current generation of Zeniths and the Ancient Zenith were Alchemists, so they rarely competed for anything internally outside of a bidding war. Even things fought for externally would likely enter their hands via their great wealth.

Even today, it was clear that none of the Zeniths cared about the Incinerated Dominion's impending detonation and were likely only watching from afar for the developments regarding Su Yi. If they were to participate, it certainly wouldn't involve fighting amongst themselves for treasure that they could buy, but seeking to capture Su Yi for his valuable secrets that couldn't be bought.

The ones here were all the Supreme Sages who had decided to participate in the Incinerated Dominion's contest. And it was abundantly clear why.

Excluding the Heavenly Saint Alchemists who were all here, every other Supreme Sage was quite low on the rung of the wealthy. Sovereign Honeygold Flower, for example, dealt in the cultivation of agriculture, serving as workers tasked with the development and cultivation of plant life on various planets, World Realms, and Heavenly Realms to promote a healthy ecosystem.

Sovereign Vilesnow's Peerless Poison Pavilion and Sovereign Primal Star of the Peerless Primal Pavilion were both here for Su Yi. The latter's investment in Su Yi's safety and treatment of the young swordsman was clear as she fought against Sovereign Golden Night earlier, while Sovereign Vilesnow was here to end a personal vendetta—he wanted Su Yi dead. It was an open secret that Su Yi had killed his 98th Concubine, and while she was excessively vile in personality and activities, utterly sadistic, her weaker cultivation as an Original Magistrate, a cultivator at the Sixth Stage of the Mystic Ascendant Realm, the Heavenly Saint Phase, allowed for him to kill her after she threatened his allies.

That said, she wasn't dead.

As the 98th Concubine of a Supreme Sage, it would be foolish to think she would stay dead unless her True Soul was eradicated, which was a great taboo. While he had paid a significant price, she was revived by his efforts. After learning of his deeds, he had been searching for Su Yi for a while, but under the protection of the Primal Star Sovereign and his strange treasures concealing his movements, Sovereign Vilesnow was unable to find an opportunity.

Su Yi had only appeared during the Knightly Dao Pavilion's incursion. And while he wanted to act then, this was an ongoing game of Mystics, so his participation was directly prohibited. Later, Wei Wuyin came into the picture and openly protected him. Despite that, he held no grudge against the newly promoted Heavenly Saint Alchemist.

The two Pavilion Masters were in clear opposition. As for Incandescent Star Palace Lord, he was here to profit from both participation in the contest and the usage of his Star Bridge Array, which would certainly have its uses after the detonation. The power of swift transportation across the galaxy could not be overstated. There was a reason he brought Stellar Brilliance, the Void Vessel. It had a small-scale Star Bridge Array ready for activation, and he had invited Wei Wuyin here, who could sell the Star Discs.

"As such, either the Zeniths or we, the Seven Towers of the Heavenly Sages, construct the rules. Only those of the appropriate qualifications of the Alchemic Dao may do so." Sovereign Oakfather explained why all seven Heavenly Saint Alchemists of the Seven Towers of the Heavenly Sages were present here, and that was largely due to the Zeniths choosing not to involve themselves.

And while this might seem condescending from the Zeniths' viewpoint, this wasn't an unusual event for something of this level. There were scales to the authority by which the rules of engagement would be determined. If not the Zeniths, then it would be seven Heavenly Saint Alchemists from any organization. And if not seven Heavenly Saint Alchemists, then it'll be seven Exalted-tier Worldly Saint Alchemists. And if not seven Exalted-tier Worldly Saint Alchemists, then it'll fall to seven Senior-tier Worldly Saint Alchemists.

And so on…

This was the significance of 'culture' and 'tradition' regarding the Alchemic Dao of the Utmost Purity Galaxy, further exemplifying the authority and power of Alchemists.

The Incinerated Dominion's detonation was a multi-galactic zone event, but it hadn't reached the level of an omni-galactic zone event. So the Zeniths weren't necessary to set the rules of engagement.

The last time they had was over eight hundred thousand years ago, when a Star-Devourer's death was involved after the clash of two Star-Devourers, creating an apocalyptic treasure region that was its enriched body for the youths. Many demonic geniuses gave birth to Absolute-sized Solar Stars during that time, and at least two Resonant Soul Realm cultivators who ascended had participated in that event.

When Wei Wuyin learned of this from Sage Springfield's memories, his mind was immediately drawn to the Star-Devourer's corpse that he had found at the Void-Blank Space between galaxies. At that time, questions were flung about why a Star-Devourer was just dead out in the Void-Blank Space, and this had answered that question.

It had fought with another Star-Devourer to the death near the Utmost Purity Galaxy and later perished due to its wounds, unable to recover, and left there. It was likely an opportunity set by the Heavenly Daos for a future Blessed, explaining why he could discover it yet others hadn't in nearly a million years.

After Sovereign Oakfather laid down the foundation of the why, he finally began to reach the meat of the matter—the rules.

The First Rule: All within the galaxy can participate beneath the True Sage Phase of the Mystic Ascendant Realm.

The Second Rule: No age limit.

The Third Rule: Any treasure seized and bought away from the three million mile boundary of the upcoming detonation will be grant the cultivator a 'Protected Status' by the rules of the Alchemic Dao for three years, and said cultivator AND their organization that acquired said treasure can choose to sell it to any alchemy organization or keep it for themselves.

The first three rules caused Wei Wuyin's brows to rise. The first two were simple, the establishment of the level of conflict, and it's to be expected, but the third rule was quite interesting. A safe boundary? Protected Status? This was what Alchemists inherently possessed, mostly those with Alchemic Souls, for obvious reasons.

This would mean that cultivators and Alchemists would be punished for harming or outright killing the protected, and this was extended to their organization as well. This was like securing a three-year death-prevention token, and it gave them enough time to decide whether they wished to sell, trade, or use it for themselves.

A well-put-together rule.

But was escaping the three-million-mile boundary of a Heavenly World's detonation so easily done? Not to mention obtaining the treasure in the first place!

It gave hope.

And sometimes, that was enough.

The Fourth Rule: All True Sages and above will not intervene or enter within the three-million-mile established boundary of the Incinerated Dominion's designated implosion zone.

The Fifth Rule: Daoist Su Yi can not participate; doing so will allow all True Sages, Enlightened Sages, and Supreme Sages to involve themselves freely to eliminate him as a competitor before promptly retreating.

"..." The gorgeous golden eyes holding the vast cosmos of Sovereign Primal Star narrowed with a dangerously soul-piercing light while the Vilesnow Sovereign's lips had a slight sneering curve at its edge.

Even Wei Wuyin was stunned. They were going to publicize that Su Yi could not hide in the chaos of the Heavenly Realm's detonation that he caused. He would have to escape. If he could. And could not benefit from the rules of obtaining a treasure and fleeing the boundary, or fighting for treasure and remaining there.

Sovereign Oakfather smiled toward Wei Wuyin as he stated the Sixth Rule:

World-Saint Dazzling Jewel can not be harmed; doing so will place a bounty on the perpetrator's head and their entire lineage for a single Mystic-World Alchemical Product of their choice amongst the Seven Towers of Heavenly Sage's lineage of high-perfection.

While it was a rather irrelevant rule, it took Wei Wuyin's considerations and desires into account. It would prevent the riffraff from seeking death, while simultaneously reinforcing that the rule setters wanted no harm to come to her. As for those of significantly higher cultivation where a bounty of a single Mystic-World product might not be enough to warrant fear, who hadn't heard of Wei Wuyin's declaration for Yue Baoyue among the higher-ups?

As for the final rule, the Seventh Rule: All present within the Utmost Purity Galaxy may bid or fight for opportunities, regardless of their origin. The latter of which is only viable if their comprehensive strength doesn't reach the Resonant Soul Realm.

After Wei Wuyin had invited various elites of the lesser galaxies, many were still here, and quite a few were even hanging out with Nepri and Nepit. This also allowed intelligent beasts, demons, and other strange creatures to be allowed in, drawn by the event.

This would amplify the danger by several degrees.

After all, no one would stop those terrifying Void Creatures that linger within the Void-Blank Space between galactic zones or strange existences born from forbidden regions.

Moreover, there existed Star-Devourers that were already drawn to it.

Ready to eat.

This added brutality was not a detail that Wei Wuyin disliked. In fact, this would give the Prime Ascendants the right to polish their cultivation bases. True Sage-level threats would emerge.

He liked this.