Paragon of Sin

Wei Wuyin lifted his right hand, his eyes misted over with whiteness, invoking his Elemental Heart Intent. The ambient energies around his palm were infused with his will, converting it into Elemental Origin Energies. It was one of the purest and most natural forms of energy in the Mortal Dao.

According to various collaborated records, it only existed physically during the initial creation of a stellar region. All other forms of Elemental Origin Energy were an artificial mixture, tainted by various processes that birthed Solar Stars and other celestial bodies such as planets. If extracted, it was no different than the energy of an Elemental Origin Soul generated by a cultivator's four essential energies.

This power of Wei Wuyin was treated as legendary throughout the history books. It was a power that the vast majority of cultivators wished to grasp but found obscenely difficult to attain. It was one of the most complex Intents to birth, and throughout the tens of thousands of years of recorded history, he wasn't the first—he was the third. 

The first was a Sage-level alchemist of the Seven Sages Tower. The Sage was heavily regarded as the core pioneer of the Echoing Stars of Vastness Pill and a large variety of other products requiring Solar Stars' core.

The second was an Ascended vagabond that vanished shortly after manifesting his Elemental Heart Intent during the last Imperial Clan's era. There were only brief mentions of him through any records, and solely because his Elemental Heart Intent had created a 'natural' Solar Star. Supposedly, it was speculated to have been used as the basis of the Supermassive Solar Star in the Aeternal Sky Starfield. Whether this was true or not, none of the dairies knew.

Wei Wuyin could be said to be the third. There were rumors of another before him, yet it was never proven. 

Wei Wuyin knew that this power could produce a Star Core that could be considered 'natural', but it would require a lot of time until it was considered a mature Star Core. He needed to find an alternative. 

And so, he spent the last two months, before Yue Songli's rescue operation, ruminating on the topic. He kept conceiving ideas but felt that they weren't reliable. While he didn't shy away from plundering, the act of stealing Star Cores from others using his Ascended subordinates, stripping them away, and trying to change their fundamental characteristics through Elemental Heart Intent and erase the Mystic Dao's influence was a little problematic.

It wasn't that he couldn't do so. Make no mistake, Wei Wuyin was not a saint; he would hunt down Trueborn's Starlords without the slightest sign of mercy, acting with extreme prejudice, accumulating Star Cores and Karmic Luck all at once, but he had a problem:

The Saint Cyclic Renewal Summit. 

The Mythical Oaths established could forcefully make himself an enemy of the top-tier forces of the stellar region, especially if Trueborn is as ingrained in the world's forces as it seemed. It would be foolish to act during this time. He could wait five years, but that was a huge waste of critical time. Moreover, this would only solve his temporary needs. Trueborn's Starlords weren't infinite, and unless he decided to outright slaughter the innocents without a conscience, he wouldn't find enough to fit his needs eventually, forcing him to once again be left with this issue.

Temporary solutions were just that…

"This is so frustrating," Wei Wuyin ruffled his hair in vexation as he spent three whole days pondering. "An alternative? Does the Echoing Stars of the Vastness Pill need a mature Star Core? How can I bypass that…" Just the thought of finding an alternative energy source was more possible than waiting until Starlords grew, and he abhorred the thought of establishing a farm to harvest Star Cores from cultivated Starlords. It sickened him a little. Even if he went with the normal method of killing existing Starlords for their cores, he would be left with waiting a long time to develop each one.

But, even if he did, he wouldn't be able to concoct a limitless amount of pills of a single star, and nowhere near the amount to suit his goals and needs. He had to nurture thousands upon thousands of Solar Stars into maturity, and then countless more during his Temporal Phase and Star Core Phase. How many Starlords could Trueborn possibly have? 

And neither the darkest option nor the normal one would allow him to create enough products in his lifetime, especially without his roughly two thousand or so years of soulspan. 

"I can't make copies…" A sullen light suffused Wei Wuyin's eyes, realizing that besides an alternative to using Solar Stars, one that was easier to use, the idea was impossible. He would be forced to take the years to decades to centuries route of stuffing his Astral Souls with inferior products.

In his frustration, he pulled out the concoction method of the Echoing Stars of the Vastness Pill and tossed it to the floor. It was in a relatively plain scroll, hand-written, clearly forgotten, and deemed irrelevant to the current society of cultivation. Since the pill was essentially extinct, it made sense that it was treated so carelessly despite its imaginary 'pinnacle-tier' labeling. 

Besides the Star Core, he had all the other materials in copious amounts, almost excessively so. If it wasn't for the core material, this pill would've elevated the stellar region's standards by itself. In truth, it had made an era-changing impact when it was popular.

"Leave this stellar region, find other Solar Stars, and take them!" Kratos roared arrogantly. It felt that all this thinking about an alternative was pointless. To it, taking the path of those from the Seven Sages Tower was correct. Just take! Take! And take!

Why wait? Why nurture? Take what you need now, and figure it out after.

"..." For a moment, Wei Wuyin considered this. He could take Wu Yu and leave, find a Stellar Region with a natural Solar Star, and have Wu Yu haul it away or refine it right there.

"That doesn't solve the issue, right? It doesn't, right? Right?" Ori chimed in its confusion. After all, the Solar Stars quantity was the issue. Even if one forgot about the difficulty of snatching or refining a Solar Star, if it was controlled by an Earthly Saint or protected by a Mystic Radiance Belt, then there was a heavy degree of danger involved. Moreover, what if it attracted the attention of stronger beings?

They were all aware that the stellar region was a part of the Azure-Prime Galactic Zone ruled by three Ascended Sovereigns, and even the King of Everlore was a Heavenly Saint Alchemist that ruled over his starfield. Wu Yu's strength or the War Commanders wouldn't save him if Worldly Saints took action or true elite Earthly Saints with tens of thousands of years of genuine cultivation involved themselves.

"The only way is to find an alternative material," Eden echoed Wei Wuyin's thoughts. Wei Wuyin had carefully thought out the entire process from every angle, in many different ways, and his path required an alternative, not a limited, depleted resource. He was right: he couldn't copy Solar Stars.

He had to substitute the Star Core. He contemplated using the Astralis Ultimate Star, but he only had a very limited quantity of it, and only half. To frustratingly add, he had plans for it. Unfortunately, it was the best alternative material on hand, and it could be used to cultivate an Astral Idol, mimicking many of the unique properties of a Star Core. 

"Doesn't solve the issue," Kratos growled. 

"Haaaa…" Wei Wuyin felt an urge to sleep and let this be a problem for the future Wei Wuyin. Tempted, he closed his eyes and heaved a sigh. He slowly leaned back until he was flat on the floor, his limbs sprayed out. If the world of dreams wanted to take him, he would appreciate it.

"You need an alternative; it must come from within." A voice sounded out from Wei Wuyin's Sea of Consciousness. It was the Heavenly War Spirit.

Slowly opening his eyes, he audibly asked: "What do you mean?" 

"If you can produce it yourself, then you can generate it endlessly. I've watched your externalization cultivation method with your Astral Souls, and their recovery rate is exceptional, matching some unique Devouring Spirits of unique races." Listening to the Heavenly War Spirit, Wei Wuyin frowned slightly. 

Devouring Spirits? 

He faintly smiled as he considered her words, closing his eyes again. "I can't create a Star Core at my cultivation level, and even if I could, it would take years to refine one until it became a Dwarf-sized Star Core, the minimum requirement with their recovery rate. I can't implode the Star Core with energies to force its growth, it might veer to an unnatural state or require Ascended beings to help or it'll certainly veer off into the unnatural."

The Heavenly War Spirit went silent as if acknowledging his words. Wei Wuyin was extremely well-researched by now on the topic of Star Core creation. 

"Figure it out!" Suddenly, a pissed voice sounded from the egg, similarly frustrated by Wei Wuyin's dilemma. 

For the first time, Wei Wuyin realized the Heavenly War Spirit was similarly helpless. Guess its knowledge wasn't too thorough and all-knowing, capable of solving every problem he met with ease. Despite his thoughts, the Heavenly War Spirit's words resonated with his Sea of Consciousness. 

He needed an alternative—an undeniable fact. 

If it relied on his cultivation—he could solve the limited quantity issue. 

"Tch." King's signature sound echoed in his flowing thoughts, and as if a lightning strike streaking through his mind, his eyes shot open and glowed with silver light. The Celestial Eyes of Spiritual Divinity grew abnormally active.

"It's too big. It's too big! IT'S TOO BIG! " Wei Wuyin lifted himself off the floor, his eyes intensely staring at the ceiling, observing the vast Dark Void. He was thinking too big! 

With a wave of his hand, he brought the concoction method of the Echoing Stars of the Vastness Pill to himself and inspected it once again. His thoughts began to clash wildly. According to his research, a Solar Star's core was considered 'mature' when it reached the minimum Dwarf-size, relative to the actual Solar Star's Dwarf-size. This was a process that would take numerous years.

However, the concoction method only said a 'natural' Solar Star's core was needed. It was a minor difference, but King's reminder had caused him to compare them. He was genuinely thinking too big.

"I just need a viable natural Solar Star, not a Dwarf-sized one." With that single sentence, he felt as if the obstacle was blown away by a gushing force. All of his thoughts from the beginning to end, all of the issues, all of his means, had collided to a single solution.

"Old Ma!" Wei Wuyin called out, and like lightning, Ma Zheng arrived outside his alchemic room alongside the shadowing Huoyan Liulan. She refused to let him leave her sight. 

Wei Wuyin opened the door, seeing the two Earthly Saints together, and his eyes became a little strange as he noticed Huoyan Liulan's aura. It felt a little chaotic. Ignoring this, Wei Wuyin asked Ma Zheng the most crucial question.

"Can you create the basic infrastructure of a Solar Star's creation? But small, tiny enough to fit in one's palms." As only Ascended beings had the means to generate Solar Stars by themselves, he had to ask if it was possible.

"Infrastructure?" Ma Zheng slightly frowned. 

"A tiny Solar Star?" Huoyan Liulan was interested, and as she spoke, she revealed a little bit of her abnormal breathing. A strange thing for an Ascended, let alone an Earthly Saint

  Wei Wuyin gave them both a look and then nodded. "Is it possible?"

Ma Zheng opened his palm, his mystic power forming to create the fundamentals of the Mortal Dao's Star Creation process. A spark of light soon was enveloped in elemental, spatial, light energies, gravitational forces, and a variety of other components that intermixed into a palm-sized yellow Solar Star.

In a matter of sixty seconds, the Solar Star had been completed! Of course, this was billions upon billions of times smaller than a Dwarf-sized Solar Star, and as such, required billions upon billions of times less effort and energy. It was extremely quick.

Wei Wuyin reached out and grabbed the palm-sized Solar Star with ease, his physical body more than enough to resist the gravitational forces and heat emitted from the star. It was 'artificial' and unable to be considered 'natural', so he was left with the same dilemma that he had thought of before. Fortunately, he had a solution. Wei Wuyin's eyes misted over with pure white color, effusing Elemental Heart Intent. He began to infuse his will into the Solar Star's core, which was as small as a walnut shell. 

"Oh?!" Both Ma Zheng and Huoyan Liulan's eyes brightened as they felt the will of the Elemental Origin Intent merge with the world in such a perfect manner. Huoyan Liulan's hands began to shake slightly out of agitation. She had heard that Wei Wuyin had comprehended Elemental Heart Intent, but only those who witnessed Neo-Origin's transformation could be sure of it. 

To see such a legendary ability before her, she was both excited and awed despite being an Ascended. It was simply that rare and powerful. 

It took three hours before the Solar Star's light energies grew richer, its rotations on its axis seemed more natural, and it perfectly adjusted to the world's ambient mana with ease. There was not the slightest bit of disharmony emanating from this Solar Star.

"A Natural Solar Star?!" Huoyan Liulan gasped out loud. Who didn't know the history of the War of Fallen Stars and Seven Sages Tower? If Wei Wuyin could transform a palm-sized artificially created Solar Star into a natural Solar Star, then…

The implications were endless.

"Don't overthink it; It took a lot just to do this," Wei Wuyin wryly smiled after seeing Ma Zheng and Huoyan Liulan's excited and hopeful expressions. It took a lot out of him to exert his Intent onto the Solar Star and bring about this astonishing change. He might never be able to do it on the scale of a Dwarf-sized star unless he spent years or decades on it. It was best to create a Solar Star and mature it gradually lest he found himself wasting his life away before he knew it.

"Wei Wuyin, you-" Ma Zheng was about to speak with a concerned expression before Wei Wuyin interrupted. 

"Old Ma, I need you to create more, leave them outside them all when you're done. I need as many as you can conjure." After saying this, he hurriedly returned to his room and shut the door leaving Ma Zheng and Huoyan Liulan stunned. Inside, Wei Wuyin's eyes were unbearably bright. "Using Elemental Heart Intent to infuse externally is too difficult, takes too long, but…"

Wei Wuyin's Eye of Creation activated, targeting the Solar Star, causing his black pupils to change into a yellow color. While the Solar Star was a powerful existence, it was still within the range of the Material Dao and Mortal Dao. As such, he didn't have to refine it externally! Using the Divine Seed of Creation within his Eye of Creation, he could nourish the Solar Star, directly transforming it from artificial to natural. Moreover, he might be able to apply Infinite Variations to the Echoing Stars of the Vastness Concoction Method, introducing his unique Intents, and increasing each pill's effectiveness by a few times on his Astral Souls! The thought excited him to no end.

After a few minutes, and a bit of spiritual energy exhausted, the yellow Solar Star in his hands had turned to dust. Then, a white-colored Solar Star took its place, emanating a rich elemental aura, with far higher quality! The Eye of Creation had created an Elemental Origin Star! 

Unbeknownst to Wei Wuyin, his innovative actions would inevitably bring about a great change and an even greater catastrophic calamity to the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region.