Plunged into absolute stagnation, a state of total stillness and silence. Not even the air particles created by the artificial atmospheric formations moved. The figure's of Wei Wuyin, Bai Lin, the unconscious male, and Yue Songli were frozen. From Wei Wuyin's warm smile, the glint of exhaustion and comfort from expecting Wei Wuyin's soft caress, to the self-contained elation and buoyant peaks of flesh, they were all as still as a painting.
"Again!" A snarl of outrageous erupted, downright exploded from Wei Wuyin's chest as a torrent of air exploded outwards! A series of throbbing heartbeats resounded, carrying the draconic roars that induced ceaseless quivers.
Wei Wuyin's eyes changed, eight stars manifested themselves within his pupils, and seven of them radiated intense brilliance, burning and bright. In a single breath, seven lights suffused his eyes, surrounding those silver irises that reflected incredible spirituality.
"HUUUUU!" Wei Wuyin shook to movement, deeply inhaling a breath of air. The air particles were directly sucked in by him, entering his body and functioning as normal.
Its been a long, long while since Wei Wuyin last experienced this state of stillness. Instinctively, Wei Wuyin glanced upwards to observe the sky. He expected for Heavenly Tribulation to descend, but there was no cloud or gale in sight.
His first thought was that he had inadvertently been responsible for the death of a Blessed, likely trapped within the base for that organization or working for them. Since he was aware that he allowed Bai Lin to kill without regard, this meant her actions were directly his responsibility.
One of the three thousand commandments condemned the general, never the soldiers. No matter how heinous the actions or sinful the act, if under the orders of someone else, then you weren't directly responsible, they were. The Heavenly Daos were fair but also unfair.
Before he met that Ascended who seemingly escaped promptly, given forewarning, he didn't believe Blessed could cultivate Evil Methods. Even Yuan Longshi's Bloodforge Mystic Method wasn't directly evil in nature, just required at the later stages blood energies to cultivate.
Of course, this was solely at the later stages of the method. The early and middle-stages of the method were quite tame. It was this very reason why Wei Wuyin never cultivated it past a certain point at first.
Fortunately, at the Four Extreme Continent, he obtained a large quantity of draconic pearls filled with suitable blood energies without needing blood pills or commencing a massive slaughter of beasts or humanoids. He had nearly mastered the entire method, only needing to infuse Mystic Intent with his Bloodforge Runes to elevate its potential.
"This seems different," Eden spoke slowly. The last few times time stopped had an indication or an action that enabled it. The last time they were caught off-guard was during the Temporal Reincarnator's arrival. Was this similar?
"..." Wei Wuyin agreed, but he remained silent. He briefly used this spare time to inspect King and Ori. They were subjected to the stillness. It seemed that they were unable to break free from the Heavenly Daos subjugation. It must be due to their intrinsic nature.
"They're partially awake," Eden added. This startled Wei Wuyin. Partially? A more thorough inspection revealed that Eden was correct. They were actively resisting the influence, forming a strong connection with Kratos and Eden. While they couldn't act or communicate, they were aware.
He sighed with a hint of relief. If his two Astral Souls couldn't contend with the Heavenly Daos in the future, he felt that this would certainly result in his inevitable downfall. He didn't know why, but he earnestly felt this in his heart.
Wei Wuyin had set down a heavy, invisible weight on his shoulders. Yet this development still confused him. He checked his right arm, lifting his sleeves to view the Bloodline of Sin tattoo. He expected a warning of some sort, perhaps the appearance of the Black Skeleton again.
But nothing.
"This feels familiar!" Eden said.
"It does?" Wei Wuyin asked, notably confused. Everything Eden experienced, he experienced. How could it feel familiar to one but not the other? He was directly shaken. Could it be connected to the Tree of Eden? But he dismissed it instantly, he lived the entire life of the Tree of Eden, so if it felt familiar, he would feel the same.
He clutched at his chest, feeling the Mark of Eden pulsate slightly.
"No!" Eden deeply said, reading Wei Wuyin's thoughts. "Not to me, to them." A wave of alchemic eden energies flowed to surround King and Ori, shocking Wei Wuyin once again.
"Them? What?" Wei Wuyin frowned for a long, long moment. Then, without warning, his eyes widened uncontrollably!
"Is this it?!" Wei Wuyin exclaimed with ardent excitement and an expectant smile. An answer to a question he has had for nearly thirty years! Something that would feel familiar to King and Ori but not him, not Eden, nor Kratos. There was only a single event that corresponded with this and affected the Bloodline of Sin, involving the Heavenly Daos! To add, his Bloodline of Sin hadn't reacted or alerted him prior!
"But wasn't that person a Blessed?!" He frowned, feeling distinctively confused. But then he added, never having considered it before: "What if he had killed a Blessed instead?!"
His thoughts accelerated and he felt more and more certain, touching the Crescent Moon necklace that he had adorned on his neck for nearly three decades! However, thinking about it, when he killed that figure, unlike Yuan Longshi and Long Chen, there was no indication whatsoever!
The unnamed Commander!
Long ago, Wei Wuyin had left the Scarlet Solaris Sect to search for Mei Mei, who had been taken away by Mei Yang, and the sect had kept her disappearance a secret, not willing to offend a Godlord for a Core Disciple. In a way, Mei Mei helped them establish relations with Mei Yang. Directly after leaving, he received a Karmic Luck deduction that led him to the Ash Dragon City.
There, he witnessed a thief escaping the pursuit of soldiers. The Heavenly Daos had set him up to stealthily infiltrate and steal from Ash Dragon City, an opportunity. Unfamiliar with the sensation and influences tellings, he went for the thief instead. He followed the thief and killed an unnamed Commander.
Shortly after, he abruptly obtained 0.1 Karmic Luck.
At the time, Ori and King were just nascent Spirits of Cultivation. They hadn't even gained their defining attributes yet.
He had originally believed the Heavenly Daos had deliberately acted in a way to avoid two Blessed from meeting. But when he met Long Chen, Yuan Longshi, and Lin Ming or even heard about them, he instinctively felt that they were Blessed. He had observed the unnamed Commander for some time, and no special feelings were present.
He just assumed due to the Black Skeleton's words of stealing Karmic Luck from Blessed that the unnamed Commander was one.
But what if the unnamed Commander wasn't a Blessed, but a sinner? A sinner that killed another lesser Blessed that ran out of Karmic Luck, unable to escape the calamity that was the unnamed Commander's greed and obtained their fortune, so the Heavenly Daos acted in a way to prevent him from meeting the unnamed Commander for fear of bringing harm.
After all, the Heavenly Daos couldn't measure his exact strength!
But there was another theory that he could never quite confirm! What if a Blessed killed someone who had accrued Karmic Sin in this lifetime? Was it their method to increase their Karmic Luck? Is this how Long Chen, someone who's Karmic Luck was so horrendous that his allies were turned into bloody mush before him, yet still became prominent after entering into several conflicts in the Myriad Monarch Sect, was able to regain his Karmic Luck Value?
To inquisitively add, the Ji Clan and Haungfu Clans both had dark, sketchy pasts linked with Evil Methods, and they both actively acted against Long Chen. Wei Wuyin had learned about the former's methods when he had them expelled from the sect, and the latter when Huangfu Jinwei used a soul-eradication spell on beasts to control them. What if both clans had a direct conflict with Long Chen because they possessed those who broke the Heavenly Daos' laws? Long Chen could've been deliberately sent to eradicate them!
Continuous conflict!
Both Lin Ming and Long Chen were always in a conflict.
However, for him, the Bloodline of Sin might be deliberately suppressing the Heavenly Daos attempt to place sinners in his path. Because he was one. He wanted to save Huangfu Jinwei until he reached the Realm of Sages, hoping to use him to cultivate the Soul of True Sin Method. The karmic sin surrounding him was incredibly thick, sufficient enough for even him to notice as a mere mortal.
The actions of dispersing three souls was a heavy sin. After all, the Heavenly Daos managed the progression of souls through the cycle of reincarnation. At the time, Wei Wuyin theorized that this was Long Chen's chance to regain some of his Karmic Luck Value. Unfortunately, too many things happened and he couldn't end Huangfu Jinwei's life to verify this.
If the unnamed Commander was a sinner, a minor one, then this current event made perfect sense.
He glanced around, expecting a development soon after the Heavenly Daos had finished their calculations. Bai Lin had slaughtered numerous Evil Cultivators in that black sphere, who knew how many sinners were directly ended by her! As the general who allowed it, he was directly responsible!
As for why it took physical contact to take effect? This was perfectly explained by one reason: Because the Heavenly Daos couldn't pinpoint his exact existence due to the Bloodline of Sin! It might not have been able to register him as a general until he came into contact with the karma that radiated from Bai Lin.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt this was 90% accurate!
What Wei Wuyin didn't know was that the Heavenly Daos was indeed performing calculations, but that was because sinners Karmic Sin was heavily influenced by their cultivation realms, and further, the reward for slaying them was impacted by the Blessed's cultivation at the time!
Bai Lin had just slaughtered a few Mystic Star Phase experts that had violently extracted soul essences from cultivators to extend their own lives! These experts might not be considered Mystic Ascendants by some cultivation societies, but the Heavenly Daos had no complicated distinctions! Those at the First Stage of the Mystic Ascendant Realm were beyond the Mortal Limits!
That was that.
Therefore, numerous Mystic Stars sinners were calculated by using the Sixth Stage of the Astral Core Realm, the Gravity Emission Phase as the Blessed basis! Not counting the numerous other mortals who also resorted to such despicable means within the black sphere, including harming those without any connection to themselves at all and for no reason or regard, another sin, the Heavenly Daos was in deep, unfathomably complicated calculations to determine his Karmic Luck gains!
If it was Bai Lin, her cultivation strength would justify a quick burst of karmic luck value for her next life, but for Wei Wuyin, it was far, far too complicated!! After all, he was just a mere mortal slaying sinners beyond the Mortal Limits!
He was stuck in a frozen world for an entire three hours! Fortunately, he could survive on his own innate energies after realizing the formations weren't creating more artificial air to breathe.
OOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Wei Wuyin felt the entire world quake. "It's here," he said, looking up and seeing a sea of golden liquid suffused with star-like radiance. He could see faint golden threads like silk gossamers flowing within as well.. Like a merciless tsunami, it barreled towards him with tremendous momentum.
