Paragon Of Sin Chapter 1991 Chapter 1983: The Slaughter Across the Battlefield; A Door
Previously on Paragon Of Sin...
The legion advanced with impeccable synchronization in their steps. Spiritual energies fused into a unified whole, throbbing rhythmically alongside every footfall. This spiritual essence expanded across all eight directions, detecting foreign presences and auras with astonishing accuracy by merging their perceptions. It formed a precise, collaborative detection technique that functioned superbly even amid the spiritually stifling terrain of the Ascendant Battlefield, a testament to their exceptional spiritual prowess.
Should any foe approach, whether hidden or exposed, a rapid strike would immediately confront them. For the majority, however, the uproar from their procession sufficed to warn those in their path to scatter and escape. A legion consisted of no fewer than 10,000 Soldiers and Commanders, and this elite force carried unmatched vigor in every stride. Only the truly reckless would squander their lives in such a confrontation.
Yet some proved foolish enough to lurk in wait or cower in terror, aiming to dodge the legion's advance and prey on softer targets. These were typically minor bands or bold, capable lone operators. The Blessed among them faced direct seizure, while the unblessed went overlooked. Such encounters ended in mere moments, as every Spirit of War held Heavenly Saint Phase cultivation and mastery of the Minor War Law, leaving even rival Original Magistrates unable to flee far.
The sole Blessed granted mercy were those sheltered in his designated camp. He refused to break protocol by striking at concealed comrades. Regarding those allies, his Identity Rune marked his forces as the 44th Army of the Outer-Cosmic. As Tilly explained, the 44th Outer Zone where they had arrived—the standard base for the army—had suffered invasion and ruin, leaving just scattered survivors.
Through her personal intel channels, she discovered that several Entry Moderators had shared reports of the 44th, 67th, and 91st armies being decimated to near extinction. They urged caution against steering clear of those areas when escorting valued allies into the Outer Ascendant Battlefield of War. Furthermore, indicators pointed to the 3rd, 17th, and 18th armies teetering on the edge of downfall. All these fell under the Cosmic Zone's domain, which governed the Utmost Purity Galaxy.
Though described as housing the Utmost Purity Galaxy's cultivators, that galaxy stood as a vast super-structure, born from fusing numerous galaxies into one immense entity surpassing natural boundaries. Every cultivator from the Utmost Purity Galaxy's seven Galactic Zones—each rivaling dozens of standard galaxies in scope—gathered here across countless eras.
Tilly rode in wonder atop a dark steel warhorse that galloped like a flesh-and-blood steed. It brimmed with lifelike vigor, radiating a formidable aura, and left Tilly utterly captivated by its poise. Her astonishment extended beyond the mount to the vast ranks of soldiers trailing behind. Her gaze darted from the horse to the legion, then to the blood-red banner clutched in Wei Wuyin's one hand as he gripped the reins with the other.
"Is-is that the War Talisman?" Her intrigue finally bubbled over into the question she'd harbored for so long.
Wei Wuyin glanced back slightly, "You recognize it?" He inquired, noting how the crimson banner deviated from its typical form, particularly with the emblem of eighteen dragons swirling around a vertical saber thrusting skyward. This personal design set it apart from the cauldron or the Neo-Dawn Empire's symbols.
Tilly shook her head, "Not really, but I've heard rumors about the War Talisman of Champions!" Excitement surged through her as Wei Wuyin tacitly confirmed its nature, "The War Talisman! It's among the Battlefield's greatest treasures, outshone only by the Obelisk of War and the World-Defying Celestial Heart rumored to bestow a second chance at life! Legend says it can call forth armies on demand, crafted from Spirits of War or variants of Spirits of Dao! I've always been curious about their appearance! I can't believe you possess one!"
By the finish, she was nearly bubbling over, her eyes gleaming like radiant stars. "Wait," a sudden realization hit her, "how do you have one?"
Wei Wuyin chuckled deeply, "I earned it, of course."
"Earned it?" Tilly froze in shock. The sole path lay in becoming a Champion, a feat more daunting than imaginable, requiring at minimum survival in the Nexus Battlefield. Which seemed utterly impossible! Or improbable? Given that Wei Wuyin had managed it...right?
"When I was younger, not even a hundred years old, I was forcefully pulled into the Nexus Battlefield after I dominated the Stellar Battlefield of War. I earned enough merit from conquering the Nexus Battlefield and bought one. It only allowed me to buy one. How stingy," Wei Wuyin remarked as nostalgia tugged at his lips, forming a smile of deep remembrance.
Back then, he was effectively blind, and he was pulled, not only to the Battlefield, evaded his true karmic fortune and entered the Battlefield of War, and then performed outstandingly enough to be forced into the Nexus Battlefield. An impetus for his conquests across the stars was due to that mysterious woman that boldly declared that she was his woman. Now, here he was, having etched out a territory of his own in a greater galaxy, ready to claim what was his by her own words.
His smile deepened into a smirk.
"What?!" Tilly visibly reeled.
"WHAT?!" Tilly's eyes widened uncontrollably as disbelief erupted like a supernova.
"WHAT?!?!?!" Eventually, she nearly jumped off the horse. Wei Wuyin gently moved his hand to correct her posture behind him, keeping her steady on the horse.
"Calm," he voiced.
Her rising heart rate was on the verge of causing her heart to rocket out of her chest. That single word was enough to pull the plug of an incoming heart attack. She took several deep breaths, exhaling out each shock with closed eyes. When she opened her eyes, she saw a squad of Soldiers of War chase down a group of ninety-odd cultivators.
The chase was abnormally swift, and they were all captured. After a brief interaction when bringing them back, she witnessed a female Soldier of War place her hand on each of their heads, and upon doing so, she would indicate for execution, capture, or release. Those killed had their bodies engulfed by a sanguine radiance both they vanished entirely.
Wei Wuyin observed this and sensed his sanguine stars within Athena's Heaven's Gate pulse slightly. Since Athena was no different than Little Defiant in regards to being a part of his cultivation base, the Soldiers of War she conjured were no longer an independent object or persons, but directly connected to his soul and karmic ties. Each Soldier of War's kill was a kill that was his spoils of war.
He no longer had to kill them himself to claim them.
'Not a single sinner amongst them,' Wei Wuyin's eyes sharply narrowed as his thoughts churned at this development.
After Tilly calmed down entirely, she stared at Wei Wuyin with great admiration. "You're him! The one who broke the stalemate and conquered the Nexus Battlefield!"
"Him? You make it sound like I'm the only one who has to do so," Wei Wuyin joked as his mood adjusted.
"You are! YOU ARE!" Tilly exploded with zeal.
"What?" Wei Wuyin turned to her in confusion.
"YEAH! You're the ONLY person to succeed in history! THE ONLY PERSON! No, there were others. But according to the rumors I've heard, there was a single soldier that shattered the stalemate of the Nexus Stellar Battlefield that lasted for what felt like an eternity! Some had recordings of the battle, but it was too pricey, so I couldn't afford it. Since only those who bought it had the rights to view it, I could only hear faint rumors of what happened." Tilly's words caught Wei Wuyin off-guard. He immediately recalled Ancient Zenith's words: "I have the Marks of War and tributes prepared, all to enter the Inner region. I hope the Combatants will usher their group far under their lead, potentially entering the Nexus Galactic Battlefield, and meeting up with everyone else, the main Combatants."
Wei Wuyin furrowed his brow, "Has none of the Nexus Battlefields been conquered across the Stellar, Ascendant, and Galactic?"
Tilly was taken aback, "What? The Nexus Ascendant and Nexus Galactic Battlefield have been conquered before. However, the Nexus Stellar Battlefield has not. There were said to be many waves of soldiers with hopes of achieving this, and countless forces from beyond the Battlefield sent endless talents over. However, despite sending them in again and again, at least every two or so millennia, they never could conquer it."
"Ah," Wei Wuyin felt that made sense. "Wait," he paused, "Do you mean across the entirety of all zones?"
"There's only three Nexus Battlefields," Tilly succinctly answered.
The Nexus Battlefields were the ultimate congregation of galaxies, those from the Onestar Galaxy could interact with those from the Treasured Vale Galaxy, even fight and die alongside them.
Wei Wuyin thought about Jing Jiu, the Blessed that he had slayed all those years ago. According to his karmic fortune trajectory, he should have returned after ascending to the Mystic Ascendant Realm and championed a cause to gather the scattered forces and attempt to conquer the Nexus Battlefield. Then, Wei Wuyin thought that his thinking was too narrow-minded. Who was to say Jing Jiu was the first Blessed to attempt it.
In fact, he might not even be the ten-thousandth Blessed to make the attempt.
He might have failed in the end. And when he thought of the strength of Zhan Zheng's legion at the time, a brief mental estimation of his yielded a very low chance of success unless he wielded the strength of a top-tier World Emperor as a Highlord, two entire stages above.
It's possible; Su Yi was considered to have had the strength of a Worldly Saint Phase cultivator as a Demi-Mortal Lord Phase cultivator during his rise. But even then...
Unless there was a potential congregation of multiple Blessed of similar caliber. After all, the Nexus Battlefield was disgustingly oppressive. Wei Wuyin was effectively blinded there, genuinely so, despite being able to wield his Spiritual Strength freely in the Inner Stellar Battlefield back then. To overcome that, he had to unleash his four
thirteen-ringed Soul Idols all at once.
Even then, it wasn't an easy fight.
Was the Nexus Stellar Battlefield too difficult or were the challengers simply too weak? In his opinion, it was overwhelmingly the former. Tilly's reaction no longer surprised him. However, as his thoughts gathered towards that, his eyes felt as if there were hidden undercurrents in this Nexus Stellar Battlefield.
'Could there be a Supreme Seer or multiple Supreme Seers attempting to complete the Nexus Battlefield? Why else would the Heavenly Daos continuously send Blessed to their deaths. That's counter to its logic. Risk is different from certain death.' Wei Wuyin concluded that someone was deliberately manipulating the incoming flow of talents, including Blessed in hopes to complete the Nexus Stellar Battlefield.
But...why?
A great scheme?
With a sporadic thought, he asked Tilly: "Does anything happen if all three Nexus Battlefields are conquered?"
"Does anything happen?" Tilly was confused. And then-it struck. "I don't know for sure, but when I was a little girl, my mentor once mentioned a door that required true conquest to appear. If all the Nexus Battlefields were conquered, I guess that would be true conquest? I don't know about this door, though. I might be misremembering too," she furrowed her brows tightly as she tried to recall.
"A door..." Wei Wuyin muttered under his breath.
Whatever was happening here, he was bound to find out soon. After all, he intended to enter the Galactic Battlefield himself. If anyone should know, he could only think of Ancient Zenith. He would ask her then.