Paragon of Sin

"Welcome to the Elementus Cache!"

In utter awe, Lin Ming was observing this large, miraculous space that held seemingly endless treasure. Was this the final cache left behind for the Chosen of this trial? Was the True Element Sect truly so terrifyingly wealthy?! Some of these resources were extremely rare, almost extinct within the starfield, yet there were some that had a small mountain pile.

"Incredible!" Lin Ming exclaimed, walking around and allowing his feet to carry him forward with eyes of amazement. In comparison to those other caches, they were almost insignificant before this one. With this, with all these resources, his journey as a cultivator seeking the peak can officially begin!

Wei Wuyin, however, reacted very differently. He was extremely calm, not shaken or disturbed by the glamorous wealth before him. As a Mortal Sovereign Alchemist with a stellar concoction rate of ninth-grade products, the contents of his spatial ring might rival this entire space in value or eclipse it by an unfathomable amount.

How could he possibly be shaken or awed? Most of these resources were extremely volatile to refine or had barely any uses unless it matched your cultivation method or foundation. For example, there were quite a few Pure Yin Light Pearls, the natural forming equivalent of the Primal Yin Dark Pearls that used hundreds of thousands of female virgins to create via Evil Methods. The former was almost entirely extinct, but the uses were only for female cultivators or those who cultivated Yin-based methods.

Just a glimpse of this vault of resources allowed him to determine that roughly seventy-percent wasn't suitable for his cultivation in their raw state. This was considering his four Astral Souls! If one considered it from Lin Ming's position, likely less than five percent was usable.

Still, they could be traded off or used for others to be nurtured, which was likely the whole point of this vault—to provide a Chosen with the means to form their own faction. A cultivator could not just rule the world themselves, it is exhausting and unrealistic, no matter how strong they become.

"Isn't this amazing!" Da Shan exclaimed, but when she saw Wei Wuyin's calm eyes that harbored no amazement or excitement, her heart shivered slightly. Was there something wrong?

Wei Wuyin turned to her with a smile, "It is." But as someone who slept in his bed, saw a wide range of Wei Wuyin's emotions, she realized that those words did not reflect his inner thoughts. Was it really not amazing? When she first arrived here, her jaw was dropped for at least an entire day.

But how could she know that Wei Wuyin was a Mortal Sovereign Alchemist? That he could turn a fraction of a percentage of these resources into usable alchemical products and their value would exceed this entire cache.

To add, his main focus was on another purpose as his Celestial Eyes inspected every corner of this cache.

"You used some of these resources?" Wei Wuyin asked, bringing Da Shan to explore the cache.

"Mhm. The spirit said that you'll own this cache so it was okay if I used resources here. I even cultivated in the environment for an entire year. It's the best environment I've ever cultivated in!" Da Shan excitedly said. But she pouted after a while, feeling like the spirit should've allowed her to cultivate longer.

"Hm," Wei Wuyin nodded. His silver eyes flicked from one pillar to the next. "You've reached the nine-ripple Spatial Resonance and White Primary Light?"

Da Shan's eyes brightened. She started to not only detail her cultivation achievements, but what resources she used, and even what had happened that led her here. She was hunted by a group of cultivators in a snowy environment shortly after arriving. She was forced to use the ninth-grade pellet that Wei Wuyin left her, and she was whisked away alongside the pellet.

When she learned from the spirit that her actions warranted death, she was terrified before such a powerful existence. But he became docile after engulfing her in a suffocating pressure that was slowly exterminating her life. The spirit had sensed a familiar aura in her yin energies, infecting her body. After all the times she was ravaged by Wei Wuyin until she was breathless, the times she took in his yang essence inside her, her body was deeply intertwined with his aura.

When it realized the aura belonged to Wei Wuyin, it spared her and explained to her that her actions of threatening the World Realm warranted death, but he could delay it. This delay was of course indefinite.

Later, she was given freedom to cultivate within the cache and use any resources she wished. She used natural earthly treasures to advance her spatial affinity and absorb high-levels of light energies. She had been here since, staying for over two years in this environment waiting for Wei Wuyin to arrive.

Wei Wuyin wondered how Wang Yutian would've handled him not becoming Chosen, likely sending her off and back to him? After all, it wasn't the Heavenly Daos intentions for him to become Chosen, clearly. Or maybe the Karmic Luck Value deduction was towards something else, and maybe the reason would've been being a candidate rather than a future Chosen.

He realized once again that the Heavenly Daos influence wasn't mind control and could form other thoughts and outcomes based on their own personality, experiences, and beliefs. When he recalled how in the Ash Dragon City in the Myriad Yore Continent, one of his first fortunate encounters,  he could've taken the concealed or direct route, he realized it was more of an urge to do something, but how or why or even if you will was still up to you.

At this point, he had inspected the entire inventory of the cache. The materials he needed for his new idea to establish a False Worldly Domain, or even a real one, to a cultivator not in the Realm World Phase, the Seventh Stage of the Astral Core Realm, was all here and ready to be taken. There were even new ideas to improve upon the base concept quite a bit.

"Wei Wuyin…" Da Shan softly called out to Wei Wuyin, causing him to regain himself from his immersive thoughts. She currently had a mischievous smile on her face as they neared the Combat-Type Voidship. There was a glint of ardent passion within her eyes. Her intent was clear. After being alone for two years, scared of a 'what if' scenario, she was filled to the brim with built-up emotions.

Wei Wuyin was taken aback for a moment. Looking at the Combat-Type Voidship that floated within the center of the pillar, its entire size being equivalent to a mid-sized city. After considering something, he sent a mental message to the sky, precisely at the location where Wang Yutian was observing, and he grabbed Da Shan by the waist, eliciting an excited laugh from her. This demonic beauty was truly hard to resist.

They both leapt onto the Voidship's deck like shadows, vanishing within one of its many rooms.

While this happened, Lin Ming kept exploring the vast space and calculated his gains with a pounding heart. "Senior Sister Lin wasn't lying. Being a Chosen will be the very start of my cultivation journey, not in some desolate location like the Tri-Vision Starfield. I can't let her down, or any of them." He clenched his fists as he observed an empty pillar.

An odd expression on his face as he wondered what was inside this pillar. As if reading his thoughts, Wang Yutian sent down his voice: "A Barrel of Liquid Light Essence. Just a drop is enough to form a Violet-colored Primary Light."

"Liquid Light Essence?" He frowned. After a moment, he asked: "What happened to it?"

"That little girl consumed it all," Wang Yutian answered.

Lin Ming's eyes bulged in realization. She gritted his teeth and shoutedly asked: "Isn't this supposed to be the Chosen's cache? Why would you give it to a woman who's not a Chosen nor has a connection with a true chosen yet?! What gives you that right?!" His rage was justified, because this was the type of resource that he needed greatly. As a cultivator in the Spatial Resonance Phase, this could've allowed him to establish a powerful Light Reflection Phase foundation!

"..." Wang Yutian was quiet for a long moment, allowing Lin Ming to heave his frustrations out. But after that moment passed, he responded: "Do you truly not realize the truth of the situation? Do I need to explain it to you?"

While Wei Wuyin and Da Shan were entangled in their heated passion filled with moans, enjoying their lives, Lin Ming was questioning his right to appropriate the cache contents. Even he, a Spiritform, felt a hint of anger from this. Not because of Wei Wuyin and Da Shan, but that Lin Ming was complaining when he could be doing something more freaking productive.

Lin Ming started, "What do you mean?"

Wang Yutian didn't hold back, "Have you stopped to ask yourself if you're even worthy of being Chosen? Your entire journey as a Chosen, even your survival in the trial, was due to the help of others. You didn't claim a single token of your own strength, with your own intelligence, or using your own means.

"While Wei Wuyin, from day one, has been making calculated moves to seize resources and positions, and rightfully earned his Elementus Token through the impossibly difficult trial. He seized the other tokens using intelligent moves, well-timed schemes, and his own overwhelming strength. As for you? You?!

"You used a backdoor to become a Holy Son. You were spared after losing a Chosen Challenge. Then your woman, or at least that woman that has feelings for you, had her Ascended act to halt his rightfully gained Chosen title due to you, for you. Even before another Ascended, he fearlessly killed that little shit without a single hesitation. The amount of courage and willpower needed to do that…

"You sacrificed the life of a little girl to find a loophole to become Chosen, and none of it was gained through any of your own struggle, strength, or means! A defeated loser with some determined cheerleaders, that's what you are. That's the truth.

"Why did I use my right as the Primary Overseer to allow his woman to survive breaking the rules, to enjoy resources that others of her cultivation and status could only dream of? It was because he, Wei Wuyin, was the only one that had the potential to become Chosen, and even if he didn't, I prefer him to you. You're just a pathetic leech with a little bit of luck, charm, and talent." Wang Yutian's voice became colder and colder with every spoken word.

The more he recalled the events of the trial, the more he felt that Wei Wuyin deserved to be here, and Lin Ming simply didn't. However, he couldn't act against the rules of the trial in accordance to his oath.

"..." Lin Ming was rendered speechless. His pride felt impacted by every sentence, and a fierce burning flame ignited within his heart. "Someone who uses self-harming methods for strength, nearly sending themselves to death's door, he's more worthy than ME?! What nonsense is that?"

Wang Yutian felt it beneath him to respond to this ignorant junior with selective hearing. He hadn't even noticed that Wei Wuyin was faking this all to position himself to gain after facing the immovable wall that was an Ascended. For the life of him, Wang Yutian did not understand why Wei Wuyin didn't just kill this petulant child when he had the chance. Could it be because they belonged to the same starfield?

He no longer bothered with Lin Ming's ignorance, speaking his final words: "You can only obtain resources that match your cultivation level. If you wish to exceed that limitation, you can reach the predetermined exceptions or forcefully shatter the pillar. The pillars have restrictions of various strengths. This token will allow you to enter and exit this space from any location within this stellar region after a ten minutes of non-stop channeling Elemental Origin Intent inside." A ray of light fell from the sky like a raindrop and halted directly before Lin Ming's chest.

While Lin Ming was still a little angered, he looked at the drop of light and grabbed it out of curiosity. It formed a complete nonagon Elememtus Token, but it lacked any Origin Essence or Apex-level Intent Aura within.

Lin Ming looked at the pillar that once stored the Liquid Light Essence and saw a series of characters:

"Base Requirement: Spatial Resonance Phase.

1st Exception: Two Centimeter-sized Astral Core."

He turned to the largest pillar on this space which held the Combat-Type Voidship. It had large, bold letters that stood out:

"Base Requirement, Temporal Eye Phase.

1st Exception: Eighteen Centimeter-sized Astral Core.

2nd Exception: Nine-Ringed Soul Idol, Nine-Ripple Spatial Resonance, White-colored Primary Light, & Gravity Emission Phase."