Chapter 1733: The Red Dust Flows; Fourth Calamity (6)
Chapter 1733: The Red Dust Flows; Fourth Calamity (6)
Hell.
Outside the Red Dust Dimension.
The denizens of Hell were numerous and diverse, and their focus was entirely on a singular bubble dimension that held the rising-in-fame Dual Sinful Mortal. He was an unprecedented anomaly that garnered much attention from Hell's residents, far beyond what could be expected from a simple challenger of the higher floors of Hell.
There were expectations held and said, including a silver-winged figure that had seen this sinner from his beginning to now, including his dual challenge as a Sinful Pride Mortal but as a Sinful Lust Mortal, the latter of which run was unimaginably domineering, and proclaimed to the others with joyful excitement that this mortal might just conquer all eighteen floors of Hells!
Others were teeming with uncertain skepticism, awaiting the inevitable failure of this so-called unprecedented Mortal, just like all the others before him. The main proponent of this position was the dark red-winged figure that resembled earthy rock with jagged points that defined its seemingly stiff yet oddly flexible limbs that defied common understanding.
They couldn't see the reality that Wei Wuyin had fallen under, but from their perspective, they could see the world of red dust chaotically swirling about his soul and physical body, threatening to engulf him whole!
Initially, they saw how terrifying Wei Wuyin's soul was as the red dust struggled to adhere to his body. This startled all those watching without exception.
"How can he resist the Red Dust?!" The white-winged figure, seemingly born of the purest jade, exclaimed in abject disbelief. "He's not exerting any strength of his Sinful True Soul to do so! How is that even possible?!"
Wei Wuyin had immediately upset the crowd as he entered the Red Dust Dimension with unsettling clarity. Most souls, if not all, would immediately be drowned by the red dust with very little difficulty. Within a few picoseconds of time, Soul Deterge Mist would descend. Those with remarkably strong wills, resilient souls, and a sense of existence would then last a little longer, delaying the descent of the Soul Deterge Mist, receiving the recognition of Hell, and thereby, if their virtue of resistance outweighs their sin, they would be blessed by the Heavenly Daos in their next life.
The grading was remarkably simple, yet the task was herculean. But they had never seen someone resist the Red Dust without a Sinful True Soul! Even then, the True Soul of Sin Method that was notoriously cultivated by Sinners would usually come into major play after a period of acclimating and complete encasing of red dust. They would then rely on their cultivated Sinful True Soul to emulate the resistance that strong wills, resilient souls, and a sense of existence would grant those impressive few.
"How could he have possibly cultivated a Sinful True Soul as a mortal?!" The emerald-winged figure excitedly pointed out.
"!" They all realized that this Dual Sinful Mortal was repulsing the red dust with his soul—only his soul! What type of abnormally strong soul was required to do this?!
"There has to be a trick to it," some remained skeptical. To them, this mortal must be cultivating his True Soul earlier with a different method. They weren't entirely wrong. They hadn't borne witness to Wei Wuyin tempering his soul by blade and fire, giving birth to Hellfire!
The silver-winged snarled, "The red dust is gathering! It's just slow!" After doing so, they noticed that the red dust was gradually gathering on Wei Wuyin, and while his feat was highly irregular, those who were seeking a disastrous end could only pin their hope on this. "As long as he feels despair, Hell shall find its due, and his existence will be voided without mercy."
There was a hint of sinister desire within his words. He sought Wei Wuyin's abject failure and desired nothing less than the eradication of his entire existence. A few of the winged figures silently turned their gazes to the silver-winged figure and remained silent. The others didn't bother with it.
Few knew why he hated those Sinners who dared to challenge Hell, but those who did understood it was due to a particularly nasty encounter with a powerful, eccentric, and petty Sinful Wrath. The conflict left the silver-winged figure suffering for an indescribably long period of time.
"It really is gathering…" The silver-winged figure muttered as worry tinged its voice. As one of the two that had seen this Dual Sinful Mortal's beginnings, it wouldn't be wrong to say it had an emotional investment similar to the crimson-winged figure. The sight of Wei Wuyin being engulfed gradually by the red dust was heart-seizing, and it was hard not to feel concerned.
Indeed.
From their perspective, Wei Wuyin was slowly losing his ability to resist the red dust. He was falling deeper into the dimension's constructed reality. What they didn't know was that this Dual Sinful Mortal of theirs was purposefully allowing this to occur, especially after discovering the setting, and his goal wasn't as simple as resisting this dimension's powers for the sake of middling Karmic Luck Value.
He was aiming for something far, far greater.
They couldn't even conceive of it.
What type of daring was required for a mere mortal to dare think they could challenge Hell itself?! How could the denizens, regardless of their opinions or what they've seen, think that Wei Wuyin would take such a tyrannical path without hesitation?
"Oh!!" The silver-winged figure exclaimed as the red dust surrounding Wei Wuyin was blasted away with a violent outburst of soul energy! This shook all the winged figures. They scrambled with sounds of shock and disbelief, completely unbefitting a crowd of Hell's denizens and resembling more mortal than most mortals!
But then, the sight of his terrifying explosion seemed to be Wei Wuyin's last effort of resistance as all of that repulsive power began to wane, and this Dual Sinful Mortal was drowned within a few breaths of time.
"..." The crimson-winged figure remained silent, its wings tensed to an extreme. This was it. The Red Dust Dimension, no, every dimension had very simple solutions that could be overly complex but were easier to gauge. Whether it was the Mortal Abandonment Dimension(1st Calamity), Regretful Heart Dimension(2nd Calamity), or Agonized Road Dimension(3rd Calamity), they all had relatively simple solutions once discovered.
However, this was towards earning a karmic fortune by approval of the Heavenly Daos on various virtues of resistance. As for 'claiming' a dimension of Hell, that was remarkably difficult. For example, despite having no memories of sense of relation to the memories within The Mortal Abandonment Dimension, Wei Wuyin had only passed and received Karmic Luck Value. It was only after he had deduced the critical purpose of the Second Calamity and overcame it, the Regretful Heart Dimension, was he able to claim it.
This was the same for the Agonized Road Dimension. The karmic fortune requirement was to resist the burnings and severing of the dimension, a soul death by scorching Hellfire and infinite cuts, but Wei Wuyin hadn't just resisted, he completed the overarching purpose of a road: he got to the other side! No, it would be better to say he trekked the entire stretch of road!
The Red Dust Dimension had very similar rules, both simple yet conquering it needed one to see beyond the plain act of being strong-willed. To be a master of someone, genuinely, conquering not just their body, but their heart, a person needs more than just strength of any type! This dimension was no different!
And Wei Wuyin desired no less than to make this Hell and EVERY Hell after his!
He and his family would settle for absolutely nothing less!
He had taken this path of a Paragon, and he intended to live as a Paragon!
"Now that his body and soul have sunk into the red dust, we'll have to see if he can survive the subsequent trials and how long. If he fails on the first trial, this Dual Sinful Mortal will be no more," the winged figure seemingly made of sentient ice said with scorching aggressiveness. For Sinners who've dared to challenge Hell, failing meant the end of everything, but every dimension had specific requirements on what 'failure' meant.
In truth, it's the degree of failure.
"You're wrong," the silver-winged figure spat with a biting dissatisfaction, "as a mortal, failing at any stage will be his end. He would have to survive the nine lifetimes scattered amid the red dust in their entirety."
"..." His words might sound harsh to the ears, laced with hatred, but his words carried the truth. They could tell that Wei Wuyin had an incredible soul, but Soul Deterge Mist could aim for the True Soul. If he hadn't cultivated his True Soul with the True Soul of Sin Method that Sinners were infamous for, he would be eradicated.
The first three calamities were abnormalities. The first trial he had elicited no Soul Deterge Mist, which was the beginning of Wei Wuyin's abnormal run. He hadn't felt any emotions.
Wei Wuyin had been all but right before, without the latent powers of his Anima-Devourer lineage that originated from his mother, he would have faced that trial and inevitably been eradicated. It should have been all but impossible for a mortal to succeed!
Moreover, if he hadn't claimed the next two calamities, he was as good as dead without an indifferent run as he had in the first calamity. However, the Agonized Road Dimension's laws meant pain had to be felt. He would not have been able to survive without his Second Mind. If he felt any tiny prick of pain without claiming the dimension, he was…what mortals would say…cooked.
This was why all the denizens of Hell were so fascinated by Wei Wuyin's astonishing run as a mere mortal so far. It was an inconceivable occurrence!
A single ounce of despair felt without conquering the Calamity of Mortal Despair would send Soul Deterge Mist. Without a True Soul cultivated: Game Over.
"..." They didn't know the condition for conquering this Hell despite being denizens, but not one of them was able to look away at the dimension.
What will happen?
Will this mortal survive somehow?
Or will this be the last day of existence for this Sinner?