Paragon of Sin

While Wei Wuyin was on the verge of attaining a multi-decade goal, the last eight years were not lost on the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region. Countless minor and major events had unfolded, and most of these events were still in the developing stage, continuously ongoing while witnessed by numerous eyes from throughout the Sealed Regions. 

The one with the most focus was none other than the Everlore Association's joint task force with the Golden Life Pavilion to concoct the new Sharded God Domain Pill and the Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill! The publicly declared objective was to produce sufficient quantities of these two products to better transition the world into the next era of cultivation while simultaneously preparing talented geniuses for the upcoming Chosen King Competition. 

However, at the underbelly of this task force was a declaration of bold challenge that the young Mortal Sovereign Alchemist Wei Wuyin had issued to the Earthly Saint Alchemist Evergod! Those with any keen awareness of Intent knew that Wei Wuyin was openly challenging the Alchemic Saint and Everlore Association's Vice-President to try and concoct the pills. 

To some, this felt foolish, but to others, this was incomparably exciting! While only a very small minority believed that Evergod was incapable of replicating the success of Wei Wuyin, especially since the Ma Clan was known to have created the first batch of Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pills with only two Mortal Sovereign Alchemists at the Official-tier, how could Evergod fail? 

The majority was focused on not 'if' he could do so, but 'how long' it would take. As for revealing the Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill, those with acute business sense knew that this decision to openly share the Concoction Method wasn't a rash decision, but purely an attempt to gain more Alchemists. Many applauded Wei Wuyin's overt scheme that couldn't be avoided; in fact, should Evergod and the Everlore Association refuse to work as his mule to concoct products for others, he would be signaling to the entire starfield of their inferiority! 

Evergod's face would be further shattered into bits, giving the Sharded God Domain Pill an additional layer of meaning that'll echo in the history books. A grand, resounding self-served slap that would severely harm his face. This was especially so with the Everlore Association still reeling off the possibility of falsely elevating their Ever-Domain Pill by an entire grade, a fact that already showed others being highly suspicious of other products.

To elevate things further, the Golden Life Pavilion had followed the flow and openly allowed betting stations throughout the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region regarding the amount of time it would take for the Everlore Association to successfully concoct a Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill with a verified Concoction Method at their fingertips. 

While it wasn't openly announced, word immediately spread that Evergod himself, one of the three Alchemic Saints of the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, would personally lead the first concoction efforts of this ninth-grade product. As such, the betting stations were wildly packed with vigorous and lively folks from all over.

The betting period was set to be within every seven-day period, lasting an entire year. You can bet from one to seven days, eight to fourteen, or even one hundred and thirty-four to one hundred and forty days. The odds varied based on each date's popularity, with the more bets a period has, the higher its payout odds! This greatly subverted typical betting methods, and the meaning was quite clear! 

While the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region's cultivators might have unshaken confidence in the Evergod's success, the Golden Life Pavilion was willing to bet the exact opposite and risk it all doing so!

The period with the most bets was twenty-nine to thirty-five days! The odds were 32 to 1! If Evergod succeeded between this day, the payout was rumored to be able to cripple the Golden Life Pavilion. Absolutely brutal. 

As the periods went further on, the betting odds grew worse for betters. With days such as two hundred and four to two hundred and ten day periods having odds of 1 to 98, showing how tremendously unpopular it was, especially after the Evergod's Concoction estimated speed for ninth-grade products was poured over with a fine comb.

Now, the hopes of everyone's dreams were placed on Evergod's shoulders. Moreover, this was a chance to thoroughly deliver a lethal blow to the Golden Life Pavilion's lifeblood—their wealth! 

When the official date of the concoction began, countless were waiting with bated breaths as they cheered Evergod on. How could an Alchemic Saint, a leader of the Everlore Association, the greatest alchemy association in the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, not succeed in concocting a ninth-grade product?! Moreover, he was leading the project, so he had the assistance of countless Mortal Sovereign Alchemists! 

When San Luoyang's participation was announced as well, the betting stations went wild again, shooting up odds for the first hundred days by a disgusting degree. Even if the highest payout was missed, just the lowest payout in the first hundred days would have the Golden Life Pavilion crippled for decades. This was how vicious they were!

When the first week passed, with no announcement of success, a few felt depressed that they missed their longshot bet. But since multi-period betting was allowed, countless people didn't mind it. It was the second to last least popular bet in the first hundred days, so who cared? They simply bet on the other periods. If they got it right, with these unreasonable odds, they'd still profit!

Then, the second week passed. No announcement.

Then, the third week passed. No announcement.

"..." The entire Grand Cyclic Stellar Region was all looking toward the Everlore Domain despite the concoction happening in a secret realm elsewhere. It was a symbolic gaze into the starry skies, filled with all their hopes and prayers. 

You can do it Evergod! 

YOU CAN DO IT!

When the fourth week came…and went, the world went silent. No announcement! 

The reverse odds had netted the Golden Life Pavilion an ungodly amount of wealth. Even if they lost later, their previous earnings would still produce an overwhelming profit with the odds as they were. Countless went into debt. Terrifyingly crippling debt. 

Their belief in Evergod had fragmented.

But how?

Why?!

Some resolutely protested that the Concoction Method provided was tampered with! These ordinary cultivators didn't even see the concoction method nor could verify it, but they tugged onto any semblance of an excuse to dismiss their poor decision. This was one of the dozens of excuses that existed in Evergod's favor, but it was the one that got the most traction. 

The voices of the lovers were so loud that riots began to happen at betting stations, people on the verge of madness, and calling out injustice towards the Golden Life Pavilion! That said, this continued for an entire month, slowly growing until a full-blown antitrust campaign was issued against the Golden Life Pavilion!

"The Concoction Method is fake!" They cried. 

"The Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill is higher than its tier suggested!" They shouted with a grievance. 

Despite the pill being a peak-tier, ninth-grade product already, some scoured the depths of the history of Alchemy to find products like the Echoing Stars of the Vastness Pill, a rumored pinnacle-tier, ninth-grade product, and tethered the excuse of rivaling difficulty to its concoction! 

Fortunately, the Golden Life Pavilion was a superpower amongst the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, capable of stations or hiring Ascended to oversee each betting station, so no harm was brought to any of these areas. It was actually extremely safe for protesters too.

Somehow, word spread that the Golden Life Pavilion was pouring oil on the fire as well, subtly paying others to participate in the riots and assemblies. When this happened, the expressions of an uncountable number of protesters was unimaginably colorful and disbelieving. This was verified by a few as the Golden Life Pavilion soon didn't hide it, offering essence stones to those in these riled-up crowds with the meaning that they didn't wish to see the decline of their cultivations in this rising societal era…

"..." Before long, tens of billions were crying for their losses, accusing the Golden Life Pavilion of somehow tampering with the Evergod at the doors of the betting stations across the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region.

In the mornings, they roared. At night, they all cultivated joyfully with the provided essence stones. But one could clearly tell that the hearts of many were hard to sink into their goal as doubt sprung up by the passing day of the Everlore Association. Shouldn't they make a statement verifying the Golden Life Pavilion's deliberate corruption?

Of course, betting didn't stop despite this, and many felt that the Evergod had to succeed soon, right? 

…Right?

The result was the next hundred-day period was flooded with additional bets overflowing with last-ditch mentalities and hopeful aspirations of hitting it big. As the odds rose with popularity, so did the desire to bet on those days by even the protesters themselves. 

Evergod should succeed in these hundred days! Even if the Concoction Method was tampered with, as an Alchemic Saint, he should easily notice and demand the right method, and then concoct the pill lickety-split! 

Due to the freely-distributed essence stones, tens of billions grew to hundreds of billions, all crying out their belief in the Evergod's success and the Golden Life Pavilion's inevitable downfall amongst the growing crowd! Some of the desperate clans even invested gargantuan amounts in bets to manipulate the odds. With their joint effort, they attacked the fundamental flaw in the popularity odds system, and made it so that…

As long as Evergod succeeded in this second hundred-day period, they would profit at least double! They were nefarious!

But this strategy was soon leaked to many clans and organizations. They learned that the more they bet, the greater their potential profit regardless of which day Evergod succeeded in as long as they bet across the board! Incomparably excited by their discovery and the Golden Life Pavilion's folly in wanting to bet fully against Evergod, these clans and organizations bet and leveraged entire territories, uniquely cultivated materials, and essence stone mines. They were going all out!

This exploded after a timely release of the Evergod's estimated record of concoction times for first-time ninth-grade products was released as a solo alchemist post-Earthly Saint Alchemist by the Golden Gate Pavilion. It was firmly within the initial part of this second hundred-day period! Seeing this, countless frothed at the mouth as they rushed the betting stations.

It reached a point where even a single period would not just cripple the Golden Life Pavilion, it would run them out of business entirely. The Grand Cyclic Stellar Region seemed to be bearing down on the Golden Life Pavilion, from the little girl with a single essence stone for candy to the opulent-dressed businessman with many properties. In their hearts, while Wei Wuyin was outstanding, Evergod was a holistic figure rivaling a Divinity of Alchemy, infallible and terrifying.

He couldn't fail.

They all prayed for the Evergod's success! He would succeed! San Luoyang would succeed! The Everlore Association will certainly succeed! 

THEY HAD TO! 

-----

Day 148. 

Everlore God Realm.

A luxurious sky palace basked in the radiance of a Dwarf-sized Solar Star with a seven-colored Mystic Radiance Belt. The picturesque beauty of the sky palace was awe-inspiring, seemingly as if it was an immortal painting.

Unfortunately, within this Immortal painting…

BOOM!!!

A terrifying explosion erupted as several grunts of pain resounded alongside the smashing of several fleshy bodies against a hardened wall. It originated from the grand Alchemic Chambers of the Everlore Association, the location that had been the birthplace of numerous Mystic-Earth grade products that shook the entire world. 

"Not again! Useless! The lot of you!" Within this room, only three figures stood in the center of the room where a cauldron once existed, while the rest were pinned to the walls with distorted expressions and blood leaking from their lips. Some even coughed up colorful blood, while one of them was outright unconscious with their head hung lifelessly to the side. 

These were the Mortal Sovereign Alchemists of the Everlore Association! And these three figures? 

They were none other than Xu Yicao—Grand Mortal Sovereign Alchemist of the Imperial Clan, San Luoyang—the Grand Secretariat of the Everlore Association, and Evergod! 

Evergod's slender figure garbed in golden robes bestowed him an unimaginably prestigious distortion. However, his chestnut-colored skin and good looks were distorted by wrinkles of anger and a dark expression! 

After so many days, they still hadn't been able to concoct a single Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill!

Why?

Because it kept exploding! 

"There's something we're missing," Xun Yicao solemnly stated. Each attempt felt like it tethered in success, but after a while, the concoction process would grow volatile at critical points and the Spiritual Sense and built-up energies from the Alchemists would explode in their faces. 

Despite working for the Imperial Clan, Xun Yicao had readily agreed to lend his assistance after learning about the Golden Life Pavilion's betting, but he kept his involvement completely in the shadows, and not even the Golden Life Pavilion knew of it.

"..." Evergod remained silent. It brought cold shivers to the conscious Mortal Sovereign Alchemist's spines. He was enraged! 

San Luoyang's eyes glinted as he turned to the oval mirror that connected them with the Golden Life Pavilion's Alchemic Chambers, viewing their progress. While they couldn't sense the concoction methods or spells used, the Golden Life Pavilion had already succeeded in concocting several Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pills, and one of them was high-quality. 

"..." 

Due to the Mythical Oaths established, they knew that the Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill's Concoction Method and resources given were unaltered, and the Golden Life Pavilion was using the same materials with exact specifications, in age and similar quality, and had far only Mortal Sovereign Alchemists working on it, with not a single Grand Mortal Sovereign Alchemist present.

The fact the Golden Life Pavilion could succeed with far less support, assistance, and Alchemic Power, while they, the great Everlore Association were failing continuously made his heart dark. Evergod had even tried to concoct by himself, yet failed at the Refinement Stage of the Alchemical Concoction twice. 

San Luoyang felt that what felt like an ignorant challenge on Wei Wuyin's behalf was now an act of careful planning.

"Again." The Evergod coldly declared as he brought out another treasured cauldron! "We're changing the fusion method to the Nine-Revolving Gravity Spell." Those resounding words woke up the unconscious alchemist, and the rest groaned as they rose with quivering, tired bodies.

Suddenly, the oval mirror began to shake. The Everlore Association group's alchemists all looked over to see those Emperor Alchemists and Mortal Sovereign Alchemists of the Golden Life Pavilion jumping and leaping about, even going as far as hugging each other and clasping hands with joyful expressions. 

Their expressions were immediately distorted into unsightly expressions.

"Yes! Another high-quality pill concocted!" The announcement reverberated through the oval mirror into their Alchemic Chamber. This was an agreed-upon condition, to inform the other party of every success. It was like twisting the knife plunged into the stomach.

Ma Leihan, the Official Mortal Sovereign Alchemist of the Ma Clan was present, smiling as brightly as ever. He looked at the oval mirror in their alchemic Chambers that glowed with faint seven-colored light. He couldn't help but coldly chuckle in his heart.

"With only the foundation of the Concoction Method, I wonder how long it'll take you all to match us." Unlike Evergod's party, they had Wei Wuyin's detailed and revised notes on the concoction process!