Paragon of Sin

A wave-like surging tremor. A sensation of pressure against one's body, mind, and spirit. That feeling of being surrounded, engulfed, and then tightly strangled.

The hearts of cultivators across the entire Grand Cyclic Stellar Region felt this singular sensation at the exact same moment for nothing more than the briefest time imaginable. Like a low whisper in the wind, tickling the ear, or the shadow at the edge of one's eyes. It attracted one's attention, but whether it was one's imagination or the truth of reality, it was very difficult to tell.

Wu Yu no longer sat in a meditative pose, rising to stand as he stared at the surroundings, his eyes glinting with a ferociously penetrative spiritual light. That sensation of spiritual pressure had vanished, but not before it burst with unfathomable force. It was for just a brief moment, but he had felt it as clearly as his own hand.

"..." Wu Yu stared at the vast Dark Void. The edges of his lips were slightly forming downward arcs, his eyebrows were deeply furrowed, and the light in his eyes emanated a somber light. This ruminative expression was all he had for the next hour, unsure if what he felt was true or not. Since he was in possession of the Terra-Mystic Ore, he was far more sensitive than others.

Wu Yu decided to take cautionary measures. With a hand press, he softly slammed his palm against the earthen layer that enveloped the bountiful and richly valued Terra-Mystic Ore. The slam caused a faint bursting sound to emit, and the earthen sphere started to move away from his current position.

The fact that he felt spiritual pressure in such an isolated location made him question if an Earthly Saint or a being of the Dark Void had taken notice of himself. Regardless, Wu Yu felt that he should relocate nevertheless. It was a strange feeling at the back of his mind alerting him that danger was incoming.

As he did, he sent a spiritual transmission through Wei Wuyin's ring to inform him of his thoughts, decision, and reasons for making this decision. He included the spiritual sensation he had felt, including that strange tremor that faintly shook his Mystic Soul.

While Wu Yu cautiously moved, he hadn't realized that a few existences within the void-blank space that were deliberately hidden or sleeping had woken due to the tremor, searching for the source of such an event. A few hours after his departure, the void rippled as the creature that Wei Wuyin had inadvertently come across earlier slithered through where Wu Yu originally was. The ripples in space were far more active, its movements were clearly more aggressive than before.

If Wu Yu had remained there, he might've forfeited his life.

-----

In the Everlore Domain, the San Clan's core planet—Third Sky. Situated in a seven-storied pagoda that spanned half a mile in every direction with each floor painted in a different color, signifying the variations and aspects of the Alchemic Dao, there were eight alchemists. Seven of which were standing around a large, pristinely white-colored cauldron while one floated high-above, seated in a lotus position while executing a series of timely hand-seals.

The white cauldron emitted a dense mist and ancient aura, containing its long-standing usage and existence. It suffused the entire area with an exquisitely refined alchemical aura. It was Utmost Purity Mist! And it reached over twenty-four meters! Such standards were incredible!

The alchemist positioned above was a handsome, dark-haired, middle-aged man with a well-trimmed stubble and short-tied ponytail. The temples of his hair had faint greying signs, but it only elevated his outstanding appearance. With a focused expression, alchemic force was poured carefully and precisely into the cauldron.

He was San Luoyang, the same alchemist that handled the exodus of trillions from the Everlore Starfield. As a Prime Mortal Sovereign Alchemist, his reputation and prestige was astonishing, but not a single one of the seven figures surrounding him were lacking in reputation either!

If one looked closely, they would notice that these seven were all outstanding alchemists. Amongst them was a veiled woman with heterochromia. For those who observed the Grand Demonstration, she was an unforgettable existence! Mu Yura, the Twilight Alchemic Sovereign!

Furthermore, the other six alchemists were also Mortal Sovereign Alchemists of astonishing renown and ability, and they were currently all heavily focused while concocting in a coordinated manner. At the top of their heads were faint signs of sweat, their spiritual senses were careful and evaded each other for fear of disturbing the process yet unable to retract their spiritual senses.

Clearly, this product wasn't ordinary.

At first, all disturbances from outside were directly blocked, including the initial surge of spiritual pressure. But when that momentary tremoring burst occurred, it leaked into the pagoda through the formations and three Mortal Sovereign Alchemists were caught off-guard, their spiritual senses running amok for a split second.

Yet it was enough.

Like a domino falling in a coordinated manner, the initial chaos only created more. The spiritual energies of these alchemists went wild and they tried to compensate, but they were three separate individuals, not of one mind. The others were also distracted, just more stable, yet they clashed with the others.

BOOM! BOOM! BUUUAAA!

The cauldron spurted out a deep, heavy sound after two explosions of spiritual sense composed of spiritual strength. The clash was hectic and the cauldron trembled fiercely.

An incredibly unsightly expression emerged on San Luoyang's expression, and he tried to hastily formulate hand-seals, sending out bursts of alchemic force and spiritual force to salvage the process. Unfortunately…

"Shit!" San Luoyang uncharastically cursed as he slapped both his palms together and slammed it downwards, sending a burst of alchemic force into it.

BOOOOM!!!

A large explosion resounded, sending out a powerful shockwave that sent all the alchemists flying, crashing against the walls and spurting out blood. Their cultivation bases were profound and their bodies thoroughly refined, but the force of their crash could shatter entire planets. Even the pagoda trembled fiercely as a result.

The Utmost Purity Mist quivered in chaos, as if provoked by some unfathomable law. It rapidly began to shrink continuously until it dissipated entirely without a single wisp of its existence remaining. The cauldron that once emitted a powerful Utmost Purity Mist of twenty-four meters, likely aged in the thousands of years since its creation, had lost its right to possess the name 'Utmost Purity'.

Normally, Utmost Purity Mist wouldn't dissipate upon failure of a product or if an impure-quality product was concocted, but after it reaches a certain point, typically beyond eighteen meters, a product of eighteen thousand successes, a single failure cause it all to dissipate without reason. It was as if the cauldron was no longer worthy of the Utmost Purity Mist that is created.

San Luoyang's expression wasn't just dark, ugly, enraged, or had gritted teeth, but all of them and more. He grunted as he landed on the ground with a thunderous stomp, holding a pill in his hand that emitted a faint dim radiance. He glanced at the three alchemists that caused this unfixable chaos. They were still coughing blood and moaning in agony. One of them was unconscious.

San Luoyang's handsome face distorted into a snarl, his hand opening as a green-colored pill had a single mystic runic marking on its surface, but it was incomplete. If Wei Wuyin had seen this pill, he would recognize it as one of his Seeds of Mystic Intent's runic structure!

"A Spiritquake?" A powerful voice and sense carrying spiritual strength like a divinity cascaded down, engulfing the entire room. San Luoyang's expression changed, including the remaining alchemists. He humbly bowed to no one in particular, "Vice-President Evergod!" The other alchemists, at least those still conscious, bowed too while blood leaked from their lips and suppressing their need to cough.

The voice was silent for a long moment and then sighed in a tone of deep, unfathomable frustration. "It seems that little girl finally succeeded. Don't worry about the White-God Cauldron. Replace it with the Violet-God Cauldron and restart."

San Luoyang's body trembled, and he firmly nodded: "Yes, Vice-President Evergod! Thank you!" The voice and spiritual sense soon vanished, and San Luoyang and the others let loose a faint breath of relief. They had just failed a crucial assignment, ruined the purity of the White-God Cauldron that was the culmination of thousands of years of continuous successes.

To lose the Utmost Purity Mist from a single failure was like eating animal feces, excreting yourself, and then eating your own feces. It was disgusting beyond imagination. If the Evergod Pill Alchemic Saint sought to punish them, they would have no grounds to object.

San Luoyang glanced at the failed Mystic-Earth Product. They had spent sixteen months of manpower and focus on this single pill, yet it was ruined at the most horrendous time imaginable. He couldn't even destroy the product to prevent its creation, as it was already in its last stages of concoction. The pill was not only incomplete, but it was impure. He had an urge to crush it out of frustration, but its value was still immensely valuable. He carefully stored it away, and stared at the White-God Cauldron.

"A Spiritquake? Did she truly succeed? If so…" San Luoyang's eyes glinted with a deadly light.

Wei Wuyin was unaware that his unintentional usage of a transcendent product hadn't just resulted in a huge failure that ruined thousands of years of accumulated effort and success, but had instigated a sequence of events that'll affect the entire Aeternal Sky Starfield, no, the entire Grand Cyclic Stellar Region!