Paragon Of Sin

1862 Chapter 1854: Phoenix Rises Anew

Billions of miles from the edge of the Utmost Purity Galaxy's seven-colored cosmic shroud was the interaction of dragon and phoenix, a merger of yin and yang into unity via an incomparable harmony amidst great pleasure. Two hearts united as one as the residual fluctuations of intense energies attracted the gazes of Supreme Existences from within.

Suo Haoran was originally seated in a levitating lotus position, his focus concentrated on a formation that spanned an entire mile with Tianshi Ya at the center. A luminous crystal of sky blue and verdant green bathing her in rich mystical radiance, infusing into her pores and orifices as it condensed into smoke as it got closer to her physical body. The crystal was a raw material of a peak Mystic-World grade born with heavenly attributes, extremely difficult to refine for those at the Seven Stage of the Mystic Ascendant Realm, the Ascended Saint Phase.

After their relationship had been confirmed, Tianshi Ya had unhesitatingly leveraged their newfound dynamic to ask for assistance to consolidate her foundation as a Heavenly Saint, gearing to tackle the illustrious True Sage Phase, the stage of true mastery of Mystic Intent with self. Suo Haoran was unrestrained in his given support, focusing on her over the last few months while exhausting his precious Resonant Qi of the Heavens to do so.

The level of advantages that Tianshi Ya had with a Supreme Sage personally overseeing her cultivation vastly exceeded her peak Grand Worldly Saint Alchemist abilities. Even with her great wealth as an Alchemist and a member of the Tianshi Clan, she would have to exhaust a substantial amount of resources and issue great promises of concoction to get the assistance of a Supreme Sage, especially a Microheaven Envoy like Suo Haoran who had fully consolidated his cultivation base that forwent their need to preserve resonant qi.

"What is that?" He gently slapped his palm toward Tianshi Ya as the entire assisting cultivation formation was placed into temporary stasis, halting her cultivation as his attention was drawn elsewhere. The caution of his actions was as gentle and thoughtful as a lover. "A collision of fire and…space? Time? Strange Void Anomaly. Is that the presence of the Samsara of Stars? What a strange blood aura…There's a Void Vortex forming!"

Slowly, he rose from his position. There was a glimmer of solemnity within his gaze. However, just as he was about to act, his resonant qi circulated to be ready to execute a Spatial Shifting Art, and his eyebrows furrowed after receiving a Spiritual Transmission. It belonged to a familiar voice—the Incandescent Star Palace Lord!

"There's no need to interfere; Heaven-Saint Neo-Dawn is cultivating an art beyond the galactic borders. He has arranged to extend his gratitude to assist in maintaining and respecting his peace."

A rainbow light blazed a trail towards his palatial residence. It was halted by a thin barrier of translucent light a few thousand miles away from the palace. Suo Haoran's furrowed brows deepened as he calmed his resonant qi, executing a hand-seal to allow the rainbow light to come through, flying harmlessly towards him as he guided it through with meticulous focus. The light descended and landed on his palm.

It was exposed as a square box the size of two palms with two parts, greatly resembling a jewelry box. Curious, he lifted the box and his eyes briefly concentrated before shifting to Tianshi Ya, his gaze instinctively grew softer as he traced her beautiful lips and focused demeanor. Within the box were three vials of Arising Sage Elixir.

And within each vial of liquid was an Arising Sage Overlord Rune. He closed his eyes.

A peak-perfection Arising Sage Elixir was enough for Mystic Overlords to launch entire wars over, an illustrious opportunity at attaining a high-tier True Sage Phase cultivation base, while for a Sage, it was a godly cultivation-assistance. These peak-tier Alchemical Products were unprecedentedly valuable, roughly the equivalent of eighteen Mystic-Heaven Essence Stones total on the market, yet even with six, obtaining one was absurdly difficult.

He had tried to negotiate with Wei Wuyin after the All-Alchemic Clash to acquire one of the thirty-three peak-perfection products he showcased during the game of Mystics, but he was stonewalled without a proper response, had he fully understood. A single elixir was the equivalent of a Sage!

"Hahaha!" He rubbed his face as a chuckle leaked out. When his hand pulled down, his face held a strange smile. "Fine. I'll act as your temporary Dharma Protector."

Suddenly, his will extended further beyond. He could sense several True Sages, Enlightened Sages, and Supreme Sages reacting as a few made their way over through Spatial Shifting Arts. He gave Tianshi Ya one last gaze, containing the utmost warmth and affection, and he finally realized that he had acquired a 'weakness', but he embraced it without restraint.

Sometimes, love at first sight was dangerous.

But other times, love at first sight was wondrous.

He vanished from his position. With his cultivation base roaring to life, his speed exceeded these unconsolidated Microheaven Envoys. He appeared at the edge of the Utmost Purity Galaxy, serving as an obstacle between the Void Vortex forming and the incoming Supreme Sages, Enlightened Sages, and True Sages.

"I ask that you heed my warning: No one is to investigate further. Doing so will…invite disaster by this hand of mine." Murderous intent flourished violently around his figure. Those approaching came to a halt.

"Hm?" Suo Haoran glanced to his side, finding another figure. The Golden Night Sovereign hovered like a shroud of night, serving as a blockade as her qi formed a net.

Unlike him, Golden Night Sovereign was immediately embroiled in a brief clash of resonant qi. Someone dared to test her, refusing to heed her overt yet silent declaration of prohibition.

As for him, the Resonant Soul Realm cultivators, especially those Dao Enforcers representing powerful forces such as the Seven Towers of the Heavenly Sages, began to communicate with him spiritually. They had many questions. Suo Haoran skillfully navigated their curiosity with a great response: "Silence."

He didn't owe them anything else.

A third Supreme Sage constructed a net as well, but Suo Haoran gazed at them from afar, instantly the net collapsed and the Supreme Sage was violently shuttled back into the Utmost Purity Galaxy with blood spewing from their mouth.

Only Golden Night Sovereign and himself were enlisted as Dharma Protectors. The others wanted to gain favor or plan something sinister, either way, he refused to allow it to happen regardless of their affiliation.

"Stay." A single-worded response by the Golden Night Sovereign erupted as the Supreme Sage that clearly had an issue with the Seers of the Night and used this as an excuse to have an exchange was left crushed back, forcefully sent flying through an entire Galactic Zone, and imprisoned by a cloud of thick golden haze.

Suo Haoran glanced at the Golden Night Sovereign and could sense her breathing and aura were mildly fluctuating with some irregularity. While brief in the eyes of mortals, comparable to a blink of their eye, the two Supreme Sages exchanged over ten thousand moves, exhausting a significant resonant qi.

Suo Haoran sighed internally before focusing intensely. He ensured no sight or gaze was capable of penetrating outward into the Void Vortex, so not a single person could even remotely affect or observe the situation. He was aware that that was Wei Wuyin's intentions when he asked for peace, which translated loosely to privacy.

Unbeknownst to Suo Haoran and the Golden Night Sovereign, they were acting as bouncers to the violent tussle of flesh and ecstasy of a phoenix and a dragon. The event that celebrated the union of the two who were partners in the sky went on for three whole days.

By the end of the three days, Suo Haoran was pale. He had to maintain constant vigilance, and had even shrouded against divinations, and many fools were too curious. So he repeatedly intercepted these probing attempts, exhausting a significant portion of his resonant qi.

The Arising Sage Elixirs were worth it in his eyes, but the effort was no different than a human staying awake to guard against wolves without sleep for two weeks; he was tired.

As for the Golden Night Sovereign, the Sovereign Knight that was trapped escaped and clashed with her a total of six times in those three days. The hilarious fact that the Sovereign Knight didn't even care to penetrate the shielding, only pestering her with relentless assaults, taking advantage of her duty. There was a grudge there.

Moreover, she had to maintain an equal level of vigilance while fending off a bothersome mosquito that refused to yield without taking some blood, constantly sealing it away.

At this point, few cared about what was happening beyond the galactic borders and were instead invested in the shocking clash between Supreme Sages.

Suo Haoran didn't interfere; this wasn't his grudge to bear, and if the Golden Night Sovereign decided to retreat, he didn't care as it didn't affect him. In his eyes, the Supreme Sage pestering her wouldn't get through on his watch even if it was their intention.

Then, the Void Vortex began to dissipate.

All Sages, including the pestering Supreme Sage, gazed toward that direction. In their gazes, it was hazy and obscure, shielded by Suo Haoran's perception-distortion spell, and only a faint change could be sensed.

Kree!

A clarion cry resounded. A burst of golden incandescent light followed as a winged figure enveloped in golden flames spanning thirty-three meters flew toward the galaxy with a humanoid figure seated comfortably upon her back, riding her with incomparable finesse.

"Heaven-Saint Neo-Dawn!"

Immediately, Suo Haoran's shielding was canceled as the figure's identity was revealed, including the breathtakingly beautiful avian creature he rode across the Dark Void with.

A Fire Phoenix?

Their flight speed was absurdly fast, blazing across a vast distance with a few flaps of her wings. It didn't take long for the duo to arrive next to Suo Haoran. Without speaking a single word, his Alchemic Stars of Unparalleled Creation imposed an extraordinary pressure.

When he did, a voice resounded throughout the void. "Heaven-Saint Neo-Dawn, I'd like to clarify that I had no intention to interrupt your cultivation or fight for any opportunities you had."

Everyone soon located the origin of the voice; the Supreme Sage who had fought against the Golden Night Sovereign declared calmly.

Wei Wuyin eyed that figure from afar, his gaze shimmering with a seven-colored glow as the exhausted and injured Golden Night Sovereign that floated in the Dark Void remained silent. Despite belonging to the Seers of the Night, Golden Night Sovereign wasn't untouchable, and few Supreme Sages feared her or her organization at their level. This was heightened in the Utmost Purity Galaxy that supported the Alchemic Dao above all else.

The Supreme Sage attacking her was a Sovereign Knight of a rival organization that dealt in fortune, specifically Oracles. They were known as The World's Eye, and the Supreme Sage was the Tri-Eyed Sovereign, a female Microheaven Envoy that had consolidated their foundation, but in terms of comprehensive battle strength, was weaker than the Golden Night Sovereign whose foundation was unconsolidated.

That exchange cost her tens of thousands of years of effort, spat in the garbage, while the Tri-Eyed Sovereign could recover far more easily with her consolidated cultivation base.

This was not the first time these two had clashed, and the Tri-Eyed Sovereign would often force the Golden Night Sovereign to waste centuries of effort at irregular periods whenever she dared to reveal herself. If not for the recent events of ambiguity with Wei Wuyin earlier, and the fact that the Golden Night Sovereign was acting with the survival of her organization in the Void during the game of Mystics, she would have launched an attack right then.

Wei Wuyin knew that the Tri-Eyed Sovereign and the Golden Night Sovereign had kept their qi fluctuations to a minimum, preventing even the aftershocks from reaching the Void Vortex, albeit Suo Haoran wouldn't have allowed them to reach him regardless.

"I understand," Wei Wuyin replied indifferently. He looked at the Golden Night Sovereign and gave her a nod. The quietly taciturn Golden Night Sovereign replied with a nod before giving the Tri-Eyed Sovereign a brief glance and vanishing. Turning to Suo Haoran, he was met with a sharp gaze and a transmission: "This was worthwhile! Haha!" Suo Haoran chuckled as he openly showcased the three Arising Sage Elixirs with their Arising Sage Overlord Runes to the public. Then, he vanished all the same.

Everyone immediately understood that Suo Haoran had acted as a Dharma Protector for the Neo-Dawn Alchemic Saint, and the act was a very generous deal. Envy raged in the eyes of the True Sages and Enlightened Sages of the galaxy.

Wei Wuyin caressed Bai Lin's feathers as he swept his gaze across the Sages littered about.

"This is Bai Lin, my partner in the sky," He introduced.

Kree!

Bai Lin proudly cried out, giving an outright domineering gaze toward these so-called elites of a galaxy. Her scarlet-gold flames had become pure gold with faint vestiges of silver within, sparkling like stars in the vast golden canvas that were her flames. There was a paragonic quality to her existence, utterly perfect.

"As a celebration for her advancement in her cultivation, I will announce a millennial event that will be hosted under my Zenith Tower: the Rising Phoenix Competition! It will be for those of the Demi-Mortal Lord Phase and lower, limited by age. The winner of the event will receive a peak-perfection Arising Sage Elixir, among other resources for themselves or their organization!"

"What?"

"A competition for the youth?!"

Wei Wuyin and Bai Lin smiled as they stamped their unforgettable union in the history of the Utmost Purity Galaxy.