Paragon of Sin

While Ori struggled to define herself, Wei Wuyin inspected Bai Xiu's condition. After connecting with Wei Wuyin two months ago, she had suffered a backlash and hastily retreated to the Neo-Dawn Ascension Cauldron. She was currently residing in his Saint Ring. 

"Her aura is weak. Bai Xiu!" Wei Wuyin called out as he projected himself into the Saint Ring, his voice rippling throughout the isolated dimensional space. The cauldron shook slightly. There was a feeble response, and Wei Wuyin released a sigh of relief. Without thinking much, he exuded dozens of thin strands of alchemical energies from his projection, sent from his real body.

She had suffered damage to her Spirit Body, and as a Spiritform of the Alchemic Dao, she simply needed to be infused with a sufficiently compatible energy source or Utmost Purity Mist. Unfortunately, the latter had been exhausted thoroughly in his concoction and upgrade of the Neo-Dawn Paragon-Forging Pill. 

"I…need…more…more…" Her soft voice resounded, pitiful and hungry. Wei Wuyin didn't hesitate to think about his backup plan, and began to scour for his secondary cauldron he used for matters where his Utmost Purity Mist levels were intended to be concealed or could lead to troubles throughout the years. But shortly after looking, his expression changed as he found a crumbled pile of rubble that was once a cauldron.

Bai Xiu had already devoured the Utmost Purity Mist within that cauldron and its innately refined alchemical energies, and it was why she had recovered to this point, and Wei Wuyin swiftly deduced this as he felt helpless. There wasn't another cauldron, so he could only heave a wry sigh and tell her: "You'll have to wait for a little while." 

After confirming her condition was stable, Wei Wuyin infused a little more into her before turning his attention to the slumbering Bai Lin. She was peacefully resting in this Absolute Void Region in a way that he'd never seen her do before. There was a kind of true serenity and comfort in her sleeping body, unimaginably relaxed. Bai Lin was like a divine beast of legend, beautiful and majestic as the heavens themselves. It felt blasphemous to disturb her. 

Wei Wuyin frowned; he soon discovered his bloodline energy flowed smoothly here, extremely, incomparably smooth. 

"Kratos, do you feel this?" Wei Wuyin asked as he placed his hand to his heart, realizing the chaotically pounding intensity of a dragon's heart was absent, replaced by a steady, thunderous rhythm. 

"I do," Kratos replied. "It feels like a shackle inside me had been removed." It spoke of its earnest feelings in the best possible description it could come up with, and Wei Wuyin closed his eyes and nodded, agreeing with that sentiment. However, he also felt as if there was an absence. It didn't bring him any discomfort.

"I feel as if this area should bring me unbearable discomfort," Wei Wuyin remarked as he felt his body's reaction or lack thereof. "But it doesn't. Is this what you guys are feeling too?" 

"Tch." King agreed but similarly voiced its suspicions. What Wei Wuyin felt, it felt too. However, it hadn't experienced what it felt it 'should' experience. The clash of feelings was baffling.

"No. I don't feel any discomfort at all," Eden answered honestly. 

"What will it be…?" Ori was completely distracted.

The Absolute Void Region was a unique environment that had been abandoned by the Mortal, Mystic, and Immortal Dao, lacking the Laws of Elements after the Law of Origin had been taken away by Ori. This space could be considered a tragedy of the world depending on who you asked. While others might call it a blank sheet untainted by the typical Dao Aura—a paradise. 

"..." Wei Wuyin couldn't pinpoint it, but if he had to guess by how King, Eden, and Kratos reacted, then it was likely due to their Daos. Eden was involved with the Alchemic Dao, and it wasn't affected by the Law of Origin's absence while King was a Saber Soul, and that could have been affected by it a little, but as an Omega Saber Soul, it could still function without any issue. 

Kratos, however, was different. It felt a positive influence from this space as if it had lost a set of chains on itself, and from how Bai Lin was sleeping, it seemed she felt similar. This brought several questions to mind, and he couldn't help but think about a few things for a long, long while. In the end, he had to shelve those thoughts for now.

"I feel as if I can advance," Kratos said sternly. There was a seriousness within its voice that made Wei Wuyin's heart throb, likely because it reflected Kratos' excitement. 

"Advance?" Wei Wuyin was taken aback. "Are you talking about your Divine Mark of Myth?" The Divine Mark of Myth was the foundation or quintessence of Kratos' existence and had been formed by the True Dragon Transmutation Method to manifest a Spirit of Cultivation. Kratos started as a Heart of Blood and slowly grew into what it is today from that state. 

The Divine Mark of Myth had three grades, each divided by seven levels of progression. They were the Mortal Myth, Mystic Myth, and Immortal Myth grades, and they reflected two qualities of the Bloodline—Purity, and Energy. Each Level was generally accompanied by Bloodline Abilities, such as Wei Wuyin's Infinite Void Wings, Void Crystallization, and Void Flames. 

It had been a long, long time since Wei Wuyin reached the Seventh Level of the Mortal Myth, having entered into the absolute peak of Kratos' Mortal Limits. It was highly unlikely that Wei Wuyin would be able to perform any of his current feats with his True Void Dragon Bloodline Abilities if it wasn't for him reaching this limit.

To put it simply, the foundation of his heart had always been at the level of profundity as the Star Core Phase of the Astral Core Realm. Unlike Genesis Beasts or ordinary Spirits of Cultivation, the Divine Mark of Myth was a hybrid-type cultivation path that brought the unimaginable into existence, reimagining Divine Myths of Heaven such as True Dragons of legends with the Spirit of Cultivation's path, and didn't adhere to normal standards of progression or limits. 

"For a while, I was unable to reach the Mystic Myth grade for a while despite possessing Mystic Energy from the Mystic Rune Seeds, and I've tried a few times to ascend, but I always felt as if a shackle prevented me from doing so," Kratos explained solemnly, and one could feel the frustration within its tone.

"The absence of the Mortal and Mystic Daos…" Wei Wuyin absorbed Kratos' experiences and concluded: the Mortal or Mystic Dao had likely kept Kratos suppressed! This was likely due to its Existential Framework being within the Mortal Dao. 

"If you're free now, then go! Go! Go!" Ori snapped out of its thoughts and heard what Kratos said, excited and happy that the big-hearted spirit could advance alongside it.

"..." Kratos. 

"What? What's wrong?" Ori could feel that its urging wasn't well received, but was unsure why. Did Kratos not want to advance?

"We can't; if we did so, it would be no different than taking a Mystic-Refined Divinity-Forging Pill, bypassing the Mortal Dao's will, and unfairly entering the Mystic Dao without permission." Wei Wuyin calmly explained, and Ori released an 'oh' and then apologized. 

"It's fine. I can wait," Kratos gravely said, but anyone could tell that they felt aggrieved. 

"..." Wei Wuyin thought for a long time in silence as the atmosphere grew increasingly heavy. Eden aside, Ori and King had undergone evolutions, and Kratos had always been the most competitive. It, too, wanted to advance to another level of power. 

Wei Wuyin decided in his heart, but he didn't console Kratos because it would be disingenuous. After all, he wanted to advance too, and any type of comforting words would be untrue, so he could only think of alternatives. Being a parent wasn't easy, especially not for these four.

Parent?

Wei Wuyin couldn't resist warmly smiling as his instinctive thought brought to light his truest feelings. 

After ensuring that everything was perfectly functioning with his body, Sea of Consciousness, and the four troubles, Wei Wuyin finally woke Bai Lin with a gentle nudge. 

"...kree…kree? KREE!" Bai Lin slowly woke up and realized that Wei Wuyin was awake. She immediately began to communicate mentally, almost in tears, "You're awake! You're awake!" She hugged Wei Wuyin tightly in her feathery wings as she spun in the Dark Void excitedly. Fortunately, Wei Wuyin's body was abnormally tough for a mortal and withstood the imposing strength that Bai Lin possessed.

He felt an indescribable degree of warmth suffusing his heart after seeing her joy and excitement. This was love, born from concern and hope that grew into rampant happiness. It was the purest form of love, earnest and true without a shadow of a doubt. So he allowed Bai Lin to tussle him about to her heart's content. 

"I was so worried! Your body went up in flames and I felt as if I was burning you. I…I thought…" Her voice slowly turned sad as she remembered what had happened all those months ago after she attempted to help. She didn't recognize the Hellfire, but she felt the Nirvanic Flames that had been ignited in Wei Wuyin's Dantian, and it contained pure incineration power, so she was horrified that she was harming Wei Wuyin. 

Wei Wuyin caressed Bai Lin's wings, "I'm fine and that's all that matters, right?" He didn't tell her it wasn't her fault to comfort her, because he didn't wish to lie to her. After pondering the events that happened, Bai Lin's actions directly led to Ori's response, and then the Hellfire scorched into his bones reignited. 

"I actually made a breakthrough in my cultivation because of it, so I actually have to thank you." Wei Wuyin smiled as he slowly wiggled his way out of Bai Lin's embrace, swimming in the sea of extremely dense Chaos Mana without being harmed in the slightest. The Chaos Mana was extremely obedient, a sign of his Zenith Origin State's Mana Dominance at its peak established by four Spirits of Cultivation.

Bai Lin's eyes widened as she tilted her head curiously, "Breakthrough?" 

Wei Wuyin nodded with a big, wide smile. With a wave of his hand, he tapped into Ori's new powers, drawing a wisp of that strange flame through his meridians and projecting it outwards. 

BURN!

The Chaos Mana instantly began to burn despite its density as a white flame hovered on his palm. It was only the size of a fist, but it caused Bai Lin's eyes to widen abruptly. "That's…!" She cried out in shock.

Wei Wuyin nodded again and then began to exert some force into his fingers, and the white flame exuded rich life energy! 

"Nirvanic Flames?!" Bai Lin was initially unsure, but seeing how it shifted its qualities from burning to life-giving was the characteristic of the Nirvanic Flames. It possessed a type of duality that allowed this perfect transition, born from the Unique Intent that contained several laws.

Suddenly, Wei Wuyin's fingers moved strangely and the white flame transformed.

CRACKLE!

A ball of condensed lightning formed. It seemed to be slightly burning as if it was both lightning and fire, but it once again exuded the aura of life energy! 

"Nirvanic…Lightning?" Bai Lin was so shaken that she reeled back, and then pressed her head forward with abundant curiosity. The crackling ball of lightning gave her both a feeling of unfamiliarity and familiarity. 

Then, Wei Wuyin frowned as he took a deep breath and his fingers moved again! The lightning began to rapidly crackle at ten times its original pace, and if it could be heard, it would sound like the chirping of a thousand birds! There was an electrifying power contained that felt extremely potent! 

Wei Wuyin waved his hand and the lightning swooshed into a ball of water! Wei Wuyin's hand dipped as the weight was unbearable, and only after allowing it to exude life energy did the weight seemingly disappear, and he could control it with ease. The surface of the water, however, was burning with white ghastly flames.