Paragon of Sin

Chapter 1975 Chapter 1967: Victory

A solemn silence thundered throughout the Stellar Battlefield of Order, generating that absurd contradictory sensation that swept mercilessly across the world.

A single Globe of Creation had, without any prior indication, declared war against the entirety of the Stellar Battlefield of Order. Furthermore, the Creation Value during his initial assault was insurmountable. And as superior numbers drove their hopes, they were struck by a brutal, unchanging truth of reality: Absolute strength was invincible.

By virtue of absolute strength, their numbers and united effort were not enough. Not nearly enough! The strangest development of all was the unknowns regarding the perpetrator that pushed them to the brink of struggle and drowned their lungs in sorrow.

Who was this lone challenger? What was his cultivation? How had he triumphed so decisively against so many elites in a battlefield of limits, ranging from cultivation, to suppressive force, to overwhelming pressure, all of which constantly stifled ability? If this lone challenger was so disgustingly oppressive under these conditions, then who was he?

In the end, none of their questions were answered. Wei Wuyin had arrived too suddenly, leaving behind very little evidence of his existence, and hadn't taken any companions into the Stellar Battlefield of Order. To those who dabbled in divination, their cultivation was far too low to bypass the baseline of Wei Wuyin's anti-divination measures. There was no way to grasp any details regarding this defiant-of-all-reason newcomer.

They had only a single choice before the final phase began, the Siege Phase. At the end of the Skirmish Phase, whichever Globe of Creation had the advantage had the means to directly assault and siege the Towers of Gaia, destroying floors and subjecting the losers to Chaos Descent. This was a phase of no return.

Upon arriving at their doorstep, the only thing left to do was to fight until the last man or be conquered in total defeat. Seeing the gargantuan disparity of Creation Value, they were keenly aware of their inevitable defeat. Even if the strange alchemist that singlehandedly handed them all their asses decided to stay his hand, allowing them to use the nine weeks to concoct wildly to defend without doing anything, there was a great chance they would still fail.

This was not an epic battle of equals. This was a titan squashing ants! And if the alchemist decided to act, they had absolutely zero chance to retaliate. Defeat was on the horizon, and in their eyes, there was no other course for their fates. Despite the greatest of minds uniting to devise a solution, there was none.

So they evoked an ancient rule that had rarely ever been used throughout the history of the Stellar Battlefield of Order: Surrender. It was among three tactics that could be deployed between the Skirmish Phase and Siege Phase. The other two tactics were 'Negotiation' and 'To The Death'.

While the other form often used by those of the Battlefield was Negotiation, establishing a truce in exchange for a heart-rending price, that was only when there was the slightest chance of overturning the situation. As for To The Death, that method was a suicidal, grudge-fueled tactic that has never been taken before. It would suggest that only the complete annihilation of one side would justify an end to the war. There was no defeat, only eradication.

As such, they executed their authority to surrender. It wasn't just one zone, or three, or even a thousand, but every last zone-ALL 2,999! They fell like dominoes. Once a single zone decided to seek out salvation amidst defeat, fearing the consequence of Chaos Descent, the others began to fall one by one without fail.

Each zone elected a representative for their zone, and they made their way to their Towers of Gaia. They were each spatially transported to the Lower Tectonic Zone's Tower of Gaia, landing in the war room to meet their conqueror. While a few sought negotiation with hope, the fact that the disparity was so disgustingly massive, there was no justification for that.

If Negotiation were a discussion, then Surrender was a deliverance of an edict establishing the terms and conditions of their final chance. If they refused, they would be forced to enter the Siege Phase. A single zone by itself would never touch a million, let alone forty-two million, in nine weeks. Their defeat would be all but determined!

The young boy with the vicissitudes of age stood as the representative for his zone amidst the nearly three thousand others present. The war room was spacious enough, designed to accommodate them all with more than enough legroom. Still, there was a stifling air to their gathering. He sat quietly in his seat.

Across from him was a mature-looking woman, whose young disciple stood behind her obediently as an observer. She quietly observed the gathering of elite Creationists nominated and elected by the entirety of their zones to represent their defeat. There were impressively forthright men and gorgeously valiant women, wise scholars and sturdy crafters, elderly sages and young demonic talents among the representatives. They all exuded an aura of great fortune despite their current circumstance.

They were almost all silent. Some seethed with anxiety, others had eyes sparkling with anticipation, and most were doing their utmost to remain calm in heart and mind. They had lost. If they didn't worm into the right mindset, this situation could lead to catastrophic results.

Step. Step. Step.

"..." All breathing went silent as all eyes darted to the door. Not a single person blinked. They didn't dare.

Whoosh!

As the doors swung open with a firm force, before a figure could be seen, a mixture of seven-colored mist and clear, sparkling mist surged forth, dense and heavy as it swept across the feet of everyone. The scent of the two types of mists stimulated the mind and spirit.

A lone figure, welcomed by the deluge of low-rushing, dual mists walked in with steady steps. An unearthly visage with a unique alluring charm that felt otherworldly, almost as if belonging to the creature designed to lure souls and minds, walked in with a majestically paragonic presence. A memory etched in the souls of everyone present.

Especially those eyes.

Those eyes were special, things they'd never seen before, as if they exuded the presence of mortality, unfathomability, and eternity intermixed flawlessly with a universal light of creation. Then, a calm smile formed as he arrived at the host's seat, standing above all others, a sign of absolute superiority that none could defy.

And his first words shook them with a world of surprise.

"Do not find your defeat to be excessive. After all, you have faced a Heavenly Saint Alchemist in this war. As this is only a pit stop for me, I'll only give a single request to each of your zones, to each of your people, and then I'l spare you the punishment of Chaos Descent."

HEAVENLY SAINT ALCHEMIST?!

An admission that they had never even thought of in the slightest! Many of them came from lesser stellar territories, and while some were aware of the existence of galaxies, aware of the name of their galaxy due to their status or fortune from horizon-expanding encounters thus far, most weren't entirely certain. This wasn't that they were unaware; this was simply due to the nature of the Inner Battlefield.

The Inner categories of the Battlefield were restricted to regions, often to a single galaxy or Stellar Region. They had, shockingly, the smallest and largest populations of participants, depending on the type of battlefield and the celestial region in question. The stronger the galaxy, the lower the population. The weaker the galaxy, the greater the population.

Because of the neutrality of both battlefields-War and Order, whereby cultivation bases were restricted and allegiance were based on variety of factors while competition between Creationists never involved personal methods, arts, spells, formations, or arrays, only those associated with the Dao of War, countless souls have entered the Battlefield of War unknown of the greater implication of this grand stage.

Countless.

For example, the Inner Tectonic Zone was tethered to a former stellar region that had been abolished for one reason or another, divided into thousands upon thousands of untethered rogue starfields similar to the Byr Kingdom. Taking a step back, the other Inner Zones were the same. In the end, they were all under a single Outer Zone.

That outer zone was the Utmost Purity Galaxy. And as the second form to immediately access the Outer Battlefield was to find an appropriate access formation, the vast majority entered through the lesser and more numerous inner-tier access formations.

The 3,000 Inner Zones once encapsulated thousands of stellar regions, but due to a variety of issues, some of which resulted in the stellar regions dispersing into rogue starfields throughout the stars, losing large swaths of territory due to battles of god-like cultivators, or the absorption and cultivation of stellar territory through integration and unity, these had shrunk down.

The mature woman's eyes narrowed as she eyed Wei Wuyin. Her heart was pounding, but she forced herself to remain calm despite her growing feelings in her heart. "Lord Heaven-Saint..." She decided to take this mysterious man at his word, starting by addressing him directly, "...what is it that you wish?"

Wei Wuyin smiled at her. That smile caused her heart to leap into a frenzy. She could barely control the blush rising on her cheeks, feeling her body grow hot. Her feelings were not unique to her, as almost all the women present and a few men felt similar feelings of rising heat from his single lift of his lips.

"Simple, really. In exchange for your lives," Wei Wuyin waved his hand and generated thousands of seven-colored crystals exuding soul light. "You will offer your insight into your Daos. Your lineages. Your legacies. Your insights. Everything. All of it."

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Wei Wuyin continued without haste, "And in exchange, I will accept your surrender and initiate negotiation so that you may avoid the destruction of your towers. And in the coming future, you may have the opportunity to join the skies that bow to me, the earth blessed by me, and drink the waters that I purify-my empire."

"...!"