Paragon of Sin

Wei Wuyin's entire body was inundated by a liquid-like glow, a splash of seven colors beautifully swimming about as a single, cohesive whole. Wang Yutian levitated slightly off the ground beside him, his bluish eyes containing continuously rippling waves upon waves of lingering astonishment that reached his spiritual form's core. In all his years, he had never personally seen a Worldly Saint Alchemist concoct a product before, so today had greatly expanded his horizons.

The assignment given at the end of the Everclash was practically an impossible task to complete. Wei Wuyin wasn't the first individual in the history of the Everclash to have reached the last step nor was he the first to confidently accept this absurd task, but the others had all failed. Horribly. Extremely horribly.

The task of using random materials, forcefully requiring the usage of all of them, all to achieve a random effect in a ninth-grade product with only a limited portion of materials was a level of absurdity that was borderline insanity. Moreover, this product had to be a pill, further limiting the potential paths one could take! Despite the road being fraught with harsh difficulties, indescribably limiting obstacles, and various uncertainties, it was properly traversed by a young mortal! What he thought was outrageous and impossible had been accomplished!!

A ninth-grade product that could purify a Star Seed!

In his hands was evidence of its success, of Wei Wuyin's undeniably astonishing success. It was small, possessing a crystalline appearance as if formed of clear jelly, and surrounding its levitating, round body was a perfectly circular belt that rippled with mystic aura.

Not only had Wwi Wuyin concocted an entirely new product, but it had reached transcendent quality in a single concoction! Moreover, Wang Yutian had felt Wei Wuyin utter its name, instigating a response from the ambient mana, a strange phenomenon that alchemists who invent often feel. It was a stirring of the world, a recognition of its newfound creation!

From henceforth, should a Heavenly Seers or an Oracle attempt to peer into the secrets of the world through their mystifying powers of fate-scrying and divination, trying to excavate the identity or existence of products that could achieve certain effects, they would all receive the same answer!

The Neo-Dawn Celestial-Clarity Pill!

It wasn't ordinary! In the assignment, Wang Yutian knew that Wei Wuyin had to create a pill specifically that had the effect of purifying a Star Seed, but when Wei Wuyin relayed the effects of this product, as if etching its identity in the heavens, the primary effect was to 'purify' the 'core' of all celestial bodies!

This included the cores of flat continental earths, planets, lunar satellites, and even black holes!!!

Wang Yutian couldn't even grasp the profound concepts regarding the purification of a black hole, and he was a former Worldly Saint! However, the Spiritform didn't doubt the effects in the slightest as there was no worldly rejection as Wei Wuyin calmly and proudly announced its powers. Considering how broad the concept of a Celestial Body was, especially toward cultivators that strive to construct and possess the power of living stars, this pill likely had unimaginably terrifying effects on them.

After Wei Wuyin completed his product, Wang Yutian absent-mindedly performed the rite of success, giving Wei Wuyin his thirty-six rewards. Normally, someone who succeeded in all eighty-one steps would be randomly given nine rewards out of thirty-six potential rewards, but those who completed the final step were given all of them.

This was only the initial benefit of succeeding in the final step. Wei Wuyin, however, glanced at each of the orbs as they tried to conceal the identity of the contained rewards as if to instigate surprise and elation from him, but his Celestial Eyes saw through all of them easily.

Twenty-four of them were astonishing materials. He found an Astralis Tree Seed among them, including a Spirit-Bound Lotus. These were all extremely rare materials, but their grades were a notch above the ones found in the other stages.

For example, the Spirit-Bound Lotus contained clear etchings of a Spirit-type Mystic Rune on each leaf, and hovering inside its core was a type of liquid that bore a strong resemblance to a Divine Origin's aura. This could be used to greatly improve one's Spiritual Strength if attached allowing for one to comprehend the Spirit-type Mystic Rune with near guaranteed success, use its leaves for various types of Spiritualism Conversion Elixir, and help elevate one's Origin Spirit level directly by assimilation.

The Astralis Tree Seed was also perfectly maintained. It would be much easier to create a healthy Astralis Tree from this Seed than using the main root. It would also need considerably less care and resources to reach peak maturity, but if absorbed into one's Star Core, the solar essence absorption effect would be greater than using any root.

It would be like comparing a 3rd Origin State's Mana Dominance to a 7th Origin State's.

The other materials were equally earth-shaking, and all of them had their uses for concoction or cultivation. Even Wei Wuyin was a little taken aback initially by how generous these rewards were. But most shockingly was the other twelve orbs, specifically the one that contained a seven-colored rune exuding a cloudy mist.

An Alchemic Rune!

An Alchemic Rune wasn't one-dimensional, coming in many different shapes, sizes, and purposes. In fact, there were a total of seven different runes. Wei Wuyin had grasped the profound knowledge of each after reaching the Alchemic Stars of Transcendent Purity, granted to him by the Alchemic Dao.

There was generally a rule in cultivation that said one can only fully understand an aspect of cultivation after ascending beyond it. Wu Jiao was a prime example of this during the Myriad Yore Continent, and Wei Wuyin had felt this too, especially after he obtained the memories of his alternative self. His comprehension of the Mortal Realms vastly exceeded any mortal, except those who've mysteriously reincarnated with their memories intact in various ways, and he had felt that his earlier understanding of the Mortal Realms was very elementary.

The Alchemic Rune was a profound ability of the Alchemic Stars of Spiritual Transcendence. It was something that even some Worldly Saints in the World Beyond hadn't fully achieved, but those who possessed the Alchemic Stars of Spiritual Transcendence could create Alchemic Runes. Of course, knowing how to was a different matter altogether, requiring ample exploration and limit testing.

The Alchemic Runes themselves were created by exhausting a portion of one's Alchemic Stars nuclei with the other seven stars, creating seven different runes, in a process called: Condensing Alchemy, Bestowing Dao. This nucleus needed Utmost Purity Mist to recover. Vast quantities of it!

This specific alchemic rune on the orb wasn't the first time Wei Wuyin had encountered it. This was an Inherited Spiritual Wisdom Rune! The same type of Alchemic Rune that Qingye Ying and Tian Xiaolu had attained from the Myriad Transformations Alchemic Saint! Wei Wuyin knew that these runes often contained something similar to the Unity of Alchemic Stars but in a more one-sided, continuous manner.

An Alchemist can gradually attain all they can from the Inherited Spiritual Wisdom Rune little by little, slowly obtaining the Inheritance of that Alchemist. That said, the knowledge within was often limited, not possessing an Alchemist's complete knowledge.

It was a valuable Alchemic Runes, but it had its limitations, mostly because it couldn't last forever, and required extreme amounts of mental energy and time to ponder on every bit of knowledge. The process of gathering wisdom of one's inheritance and trying to put it into practice consumed stupid amounts of time, further restricting how much one could obtain.

Typically, these runes lasted a decade or a century, but that was very, very little time to truly comprehend the Alchemic Dao while simultaneously trying to verify one's gains, and constantly recover one's mental energy all while living life and adapting to any unpredictable changes. After all, not every day was peaceful enough for cultivators to simply go into secluded cultivation for a decade without disturbance.

"This contains the King of Everlore's Inherited Wisdom?" Wei Wuyin eyed the rune as he asked Wang Yutian curiously.

"I...yo...yeh-" The Spiritform fumbled slightly in his words as his mind tried to settle down. After a long sigh after realizing that he had lost himself because of Wei Wuyin, he smiled brightly as he said with a clear voice: "Yes. That contains the insights he gained of his Seven Wonders, essentially: his early Worldly Saint-level knowledge."

"Ah," Wei Wuyin said in disappointment; he had already grasped the Seven Wonders. Then, he looked at the others. "There's a Rune of Transcendence here as well!" His eyes lit as he touched the orb, causing a flood of radiance to bathe him. He was entirely unbothered as he inspected the Rune of Transcendence. This rune was in the shape of a Transcendence Radiance Belt, seemingly constructed of Mystic Markings on its solid body and containing rolling Utmost Purity Mist. The belt resembled a tube.

This was considered one of the lesser runes among the seven. San Yongli once had an emulation of this rune in a cauldron called the Cauldron of Utmost Awakening, and she had used it to assist San Luoyang in reaching the Earthly Saint Alchemist level.

This rune, however, was of a considerably higher level. It could purify Mystic-Earth products gradually, and with enough time, it can transform an impure-quality product into peak-quality. Although the time to do so might be in the thousands of years. It was commonly used in increments of years to purify barely impure-quality into low-quality.

Moreover, it could even be used to transform mortal-tier products into transcendent-quality. In fact, the majority of the transcendent-quality products in the World Beyond originated from a Rune of Transcendence. It required Utmost Purity Mist and Alchemic Soul Light to properly recharge and use, but that wasn't much of an issue in higher cultivation societies.

"These are some generous rewards!" Wei Wuyin found that each of the remaining orbs had various things relating to the Alchemic Dao, including various generic Mystic-Earth concoction manuals and Mystic-level Concoction Methods. These were mostly useless to him, but a few of them neither the library in the Endless Voyage Realm nor his past self had access to.

Their levels weren't very high, but he still sent the contents to the Library of Eden to be properly dissected and studied.

"I guess the Inherited Spiritual Wisdom Rune was meant for Tian Xiaolu," Wei Wuyin thoughtfully pondered this as he wasn't exactly sure if the Heavenly Daos' machinations extended so far into the objects of the Alchemic Dao. "Well, it only allowed her to have an opportunity to obtain it, not outright give it to her."

Wei Wuyin reasoned after some consideration. But this thought inspired a little curiosity as he looked back at Tian Xiaolu. He didn't feel as if her current skill was sufficient to claim the final prize. Upon thinking about this, his eyes constricted slightly.

If the Heavenly Daos were one thing, it was consistent with presenting an opportunity with a chance of success, not entirely reliant on luck, but bravery, skill, talent, and willpower as well. However...

"Was it San Yongli?" He muttered.

"San Yongli?" Wang Yutian's ears perked at the name. Wasn't that that little wine-bearing runt's adopted granddaughter?

"Nothing," Wei Wuyin dismissively waved his hand. San Yongli could steal opportunities that were marked by the Heavenly Daos for its Blessed that were centuries in the making within a few moments, the terror of a Temporal Reincarnator, but it seemed a little more than that.

Perhaps he was overthrowing it and Tian Xiaolu had a trump card somewhere. Perhaps a unique cauldron or a special Concoction Method? After settling that, Wei Wuyin simply retrieved the rest of the orbs, bringing everything into his Saint Ring.

"So what's the final reward?" Wei Wuyin turned to Wang Yutian curiously. These seem extraordinary, but they were simply the random rewards that could be attained by completing the 81st step, not the final step.

"It's this-" Wang Yutian flipped his empty palm. Slowly but surely, an outline formed at the center of his palm, slowly protruding from it as if it was going to break out of his skin.

Wei Wuyin's eyes instantly brightened.

"Is that?!" He looked at the outline with incredible interest.

Wang Yutian could see that Wei Wuyin fully understood what this was, no longer surprised by his unreasonable knowledge of things he should have never been exposed to. The mortal here defied all logic, so it was best not to allow his spirit to suffer further shock by not expecting it.

"It's an Exit Command Sigil Spell. A one-time spell that can be cast to activate the Endless Void Mirror's hidden mechanism, directly transporting you to the territory given to the King of Everlore by the Ascended Sovereigns. Should you cast it, you'll be taken as a disciple of the King of Everlore." Wang Yutian solemnly and strongly said each syllable. It was an item that everyone was fighting for!

Why every last individual who made it to the 81st step would unhesitatingly take the final step! The World Beyond's Alchemists all droll for this opportunity!

For those in the Sealed Regions, it was the only way for them to properly escape without any consequences!

Wei Wuyin began to laugh heartily, exuding genuine happiness and joy, "And here I thought I would have to do so by relying entirely on force! This makes it so, so much easier! Thank you." Wei Wuyin's Celestial Eyes reflected the Sigil as it manifested a likeness into his Sea of Consciousness. It pulsed with a unique Void Energy fluctuation. From all over, strings of draconic energy flowed into it, altering its fluctuation slightly.

"???" Wang Yutian, despite his repeated mental warnings, was deeply confused and shaken by those odd words.

Seeing his confused expression, Wei Wuyin couldn't help but chuckle. "With this, I've obtained my third trump card for my home." The smile on his face was so infectiously bright that Wang Yutian found himself calming down, giving off a slight smile as well, feeling quite gleeful himself as he joined in by chuckling. The two just began to laugh for seemingly no reason.

"As for this spell...I guess I can give it to someone..." He thought about who to bestow this opportunity to.