Paragon of Sin

"Young Lord, Rune Seeds are constructs of Mystic Intent, Mystic Essence, and Mana. You can liken them to a uniquely defined Intent Seed." Wu Yu began to explain to the best of his abilities. This was further enhanced by his recent insights gained from reading the Blood Origin Method. Moreover, Wei Wuyin realized that Mystic Rune Seeds weren't restricted to the Mystic Dao, but a topic of the peak Mortal Dao. Thus, unlike the normally obscure explanation, this one was reinforced by the full knowledge of someone who transcended Mortal Limits.

This startled Wei Wuyin for a moment, but his mind strongly stirred with excitement and elation. For the Mystic Rune Seeds to be at the precipice of the Mortal Dao meant it was comprehensible at the Astral Core Realm. This likely suggested that the explanation given wouldn't be incomplete by the trend of the ignorant and profound.

Wu Yu hadn't explained this before because there wasn't a need to, believing that Wei Wuyin would eventually discover this after overcoming the Ninth Astral Tribulation and automatically coming in direct contact with the Mystic Dao. In fact, there was no information regarding anything related to the Mystic Dao in the Myriad Monarch Canon. But if Wei Wuyin wanted to gain an understanding prior, he didn't mind giving his own insights.

Wei Wuyin had once asked Wu Yu about the Mystic Ascendant Realm, including various details about ascending, but it wasn't very well-thought-out or comprehensive. There certainly weren't any details about Mystic Rune Seeds.

Wu Yu began to delve into the topic with a stern, ruminative expression highlighting his distinct handsomeness. At the moment, he came off as an experienced teacher explaining to his prized student. This gave Wei Wuyin a feeling he only felt once before, reminiscent of Wu Jiao in the Myriad Yore Continent when he gave his impromptu lecture long ago regarding Qi Condensation.

"To develop Mystic Rune Seeds, one must first meet a few conditions. Firstly, they must be in possession of Starforce, the utmost limits of Astral Core Realm's astral force. Only then can one's energies come into direct contact with Mystic Essence.

"Secondly, they must have a strong enough Spiritual Sense to grasp Mystic Essence. As you know, Mystic Essence is all around us, especially in locations like the Aeternal Sky Starfield, yet you can't sense it or feel it as a non-Ascended being. This requires your Worldly Domain to be infused with Starforce as well, hence the importance of Starforce. However, even then, sensing Mystic Essence is a difficult venture that few could complete.

"Lastly, and most importantly, you should have a Zenith Mortal State. This isn't very well-known or spread, and truthfully, I'm unable to explain why it's important. This was simply what the King of Everlore had once told me. You can still attempt to ascend without it, even succeed, but supposedly, it's absolutely crucial to developing Mystic Rune Seeds."

Wu Yu paused after this part. It wasn't that he was being deliberately mystifying, but he truly wasn't able to explain why despite being an Ascended being. He had once told Long Chen that it was absolutely essential to ascending, even stating that it was impossible without it, but that was merely to drive him to reach his strongest state in the Qi Condensation Realm.

Wei Wuyin frowned at the last bit, and while Wu Yu hadn't gotten to the meat of the subject, this made him extremely curious. He had an inkling that Wu Yu's ignorance of this cultivation detail might be one of the core reasons for his failure at his Third Ascension.

"Did you have a Zenith Mortal State?" Wei Wuyin asked.

Wu Yu nodded, "Of course. The Everlore Ascension Pill ensured this. Young Lord, don't tell me you forgot about this?"

Wei Wuyin was reminded that Wu Yu and the other three hegemonic figures of the Everlore Starfield had the assistance of the King of Everlore for centuries, perhaps even an entire millennium, so they would certainly have either had one in the beginning or retroactively gained one through the Everlore Ascension Pill.

"...Wait. Are you saying you didn't ascend to the Astral Core Realm with one?" Wei Wuyin swiftly grasped the tiny detail leaked by Wu Yu's words. After all, he implied that he obtained it through the Everlore Ascension Pill's enhancement effects, not normally.

Wu Yu bitterly smiled, once again reminded of Wei Wuyin's acute intelligence. "That's right. I obtained my Zenith Mortal State post-Astral Core Realm, not during the Qi Condensation Realm. However, that holds no significance because I ascended with a Zenith Mortal State."

"Does it?" Wei Wuyin frowningly inquired in a rhetorically. Wu Yu was left speechless as his heart throbbed slightly. Could there be a flaw in his Spirit of Cultivation because of the Everlore Ascension Pill? He never thought about this before, but Wei Wuyin's words instantly instilled doubt in his mind. The Everlore Essence…was it truly flawless?

Wei Wuyin added his thoughts, "Too many believe that the Dao of Alchemy is about endless benefits with zero detriments. That's not necessarily true; with gains, there are some losses. Typically, it's impurities, but that's just the surface issues."

When Wu Yu heard this, he thought about Wei Wuyin's Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill, the Grand Demonstration's results, and the surprises it brought. He couldn't help but ask, "Are you talking about refinement time?"

Wei Wuyin faintly smiled hearing Wu Yu's conclusion. There's the issue: Refinement Time. This resulted from the body and spirit needing to digest the foreign essence or energies generated by the product. Most of the time, the body and spirit have to forcefully refine the essence and energies and distribute it to the appropriate location to galvanize for whatever purpose it serves.

This was indicative of resistance; the body and spirit's natural resistance against the foreign entities introduced into its system. This could inevitably lead to a loss of energies, or essence, or reduced effects, including an extremely long time to refine. While it was much shorter than refining volatile energies or essences, it was still long.

Wu Yu thought about the Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill and the Ever-Domain Pill. The refinement time between them was utterly massive, absolutely incomparable. The former was a few dozen minutes to an hour while the latter was two years.

Xue Yifei had come across this issue when she compared Wei Wuyin's products to the Golden Life Pavilion's. The ease of refinement was incomparable between the two.

Still, there's always a reason why refinement took longer than needed, such as innate bodily talent, so there was no way of knowing if the Everlore Ascension Pill that Wu Yu had refined resulted in a weaker or different Zenith Mortal State than normal. Moreover, Everlore Essence wasn't a conventional essence in cultivation, which could've induced certain changes.

"..." Wu Yu's doubts grew explosively after Wei Wuyin explained the reason for refinement times being longer than they could be. He had never taken the Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill, but he had taken the Ever-Rebirth Pill. His heart throbbed as he felt concerned that his body had latent flaws hidden within.

Wei Wuyin could feel Wu Yu's dejected yet panicked thoughts. He confidently reassured, "You don't have to worry about the Ever-Rebirth Pill I've concocted."

"Why?" Wu Yu's skepticism couldn't be held back. He had just learned a detail about the Alchemic Dao that shook his confidence in it.

Wei Wuyin felt like laughing, but he didn't torture Wu Yu by withholding information. He explained simply: "Because of Utmost Purity Mist."

"Utmost Purity Mist?" He recalled Utmost Purity Mist. It was the direct result of continuous successful concoctions of seventh-grade or higher alchemical products, a natural phenomenon of the Alchemic Dao. It can passively affect the quality of products. This was what he knew about it. He had also learned that Mu Yura had absorbed some during the Grand Demonstration with great relish.

However, Wei Wuyin had attained the Alchemic Stars of the Alchemic Dao, capable of visually sensing Alchemic Spirit Remnants, and could be considered a genuine Mortal Sovereign Alchemist. He knew the effects of Utmost Purity Mist and how it influences products.

So he explained, "While not the greatest factor, still requiring a good set of method, skilled alchemist, and smooth concoction process, but if the Utmost Purity Mist reaches a certain level for each grade, then the products made will allow 100% of its refinement with very little, if any, resistance, regardless of its quality. There will be no Alchemic Spirit Remnant left behind—a perfect refinement."

Wu Yu's heart and mind were moved by this. He had never delved deeply into the Dao of Alchemy before, and the King of Everlore wasn't the type to share his insights or discoveries very often. He asked curiously, "Does that mean Alchemic Spirit Remnants are the result of imperfect products?"

Wei Wuyin opened his mouth and was about to explain, but he was stumped. The concept of low-quality products typically meant a perfectly pure base product. Saying Alchemic Spirit Remnants were products of the imperfect wasn't wrong nor right. After several minutes, he couldn't answer this despite his insights into the Alchemic Dao. How baffling!

Wei Wuyin directly admitted, "I can't say that, but I do know it becomes easier to refine as long as Utmost Purity Mist reaches a certain level and is infused into the product during concoction. I suggest you don't make assumptions about perfect or imperfect products. This only involves perfect refinements and issues brought about due to resistance."

Wu Yu nodded understandably. He was already delving into a profound topic. Cultivation was difficult, regardless of the Dao it involved. Still, this did soothe his worries. He had refined the Ever-Rebirth Pill with remarkable quickness, and his body had no inconsistencies. In fact, it felt better than ever. Inevitably, he started to see the traces of flaws that the King of Everlore possessed as an Alchemist and the importance of Utmost Purity Mist.

However, he wondered if his failure to successfully complete his Third Ascension was more complex than just lacking a sufficient bodily ability.

Wei Wuyin realized that had gone wildly off-topic, urging Wu Yu: "Continue about Mystic Rune Seeds."