Paragon of Sin

Unequivocal, irrefutable, verifiable proof!

There was no greater evidence than the Alchemic Stars of Mortal Spirituality for an Alchemist's skills, proven and accepted by the grand Alchemic Dao! It spoke volumes, revealing that an alchemist has sufficient knowledge, skill, and ability to concoct alchemical products in the ninth-grade without any outside or external assistance. 

"You!" San Luoyang was uncharacteristically tongue-tied, unimaginably vexed by the situation. Suddenly, within his eyes, seven colorful stars manifested in each, mirroring Wei Wuyin's Alchemic Stars! 

He, too, had attained the Alchemic Dao's approval, granted a higher Will towards the way of alchemy.

Without warning, replacing the Main Hall's ambient mana, a strange Utmost Purity Mist began to permeate the world. It was of a considerably lower quality than the Utmost Purity Mist commonly seen on cauldrons, and closely resembled the excess attached to certain alchemical products concocted in high-end cauldrons.

"What is this?!" Several Earthly Saints, leaders of their respective forces, and hegemons of domains were taken greatly aback by this strange phenomenon. They looked at the peerlessly handsome, silver-eyed Mortal Sovereign Alchemist before them and San Luoyang, realizing the mist was spreading with the empty space between them as the epicenter. 

"Twilight Sovereign Mu?" An Earthly Saint of the All-Fury Starfield that had always admired Mu Yura, purposefully kept close, noted that she was experiencing a change. Her heterochromatic eyes manifested seven stars in each, revealing the Alchemic Stars of Mortal Spirituality! 

It wasn't just her! 

The Mortal Sovereign Alchemist present, all 288 of them, began to experience drastic changes as their Alchemic Stars manifested within their eyes, mirroring the two others. Instantly, the entire Main Hall began to flood with Utmost Purity Mist. 

The youths below gawked as they conjured astral wards in defense, yet the Utmost Purity Mist was as invasive as it was non-lethal, penetrating without the slightest resistance, and causing their pores to open. Their eyes opened as they breathed in the mist, and their Astral Souls united in a gracious howl as their meridians were infected by the mist.

Lin Ming was stunned; the Utmost Purity Mist invaded him from all angles, entering his pores, his orifices, and spreading like the most infectious poison. He found himself in euphoric pleasure within moments. The wisps of Alchemic Spirit Remnants within his body began to break down in the most mystical ways, and all the bits of unrefined alchemical products started to react, becoming extremely effective! 

After three deep breaths, he felt his cultivation base elevate another notch, even faster and more seamless than the diluted Astralis Essence! In a minute, he felt as if his entire body had lost thousands upon thousands of pounds. The bodies of cultivators were unnaturally heavy, some weighing more than entire planets, a direct result of their vast innate energies, and dantian storing their Astral Cores.

"Amazing," he breathily said as he relished this experience. He wasn't the only one, even Su Mei, Xue Yifei, Wu Baozhai, Na Xinyi, and all the other Chosen and prospective Chosen experienced the exact circumstance. Remnants of their entire lives' refinement efforts, bits of unique alchemically altered essence and energies came out of the woodwork and were given new life. 

The Ascended beings present weren't affected by the Utmost Purity Mist, and it actively avoided entering their bodies. Clearly, their states of existence exceeded the Mortal Dao, and as such were unable to receive the blessing of this fascinating phenomenon! 

They could only observe in awe, committing this to memory as their own horizons were broadened. It's been a long, long time since many felt as if there was something new to observe in this world after living for thousands, some even tens of thousands of years. What hadn't they seen? 

After seven full minutes, the Utmost Purity Mist vanished without any prior warning, dissipating like clear smoke on a clear day. The ambient mana of the Main Hall had to be replenished from the outside. 

After it was over, eyes were shifting between the Mortal Sovereign Alchemists present. Some of them had frozen expressions, dull and lacking in consciousness. They were in a strange state. Others were hyper-aware, looking hastily at the others as if seeking if they too experienced the same.

Wei Wuyin and San Luoyang's gazes never left each other, but when the phenomena ended, so did the manifestations of their Alchemic Stars of Mortal Spirituality.

"What was that?" Many asked, but no one answered. 

Chen Yibo, the Earthly Saint of the Chen Clan, was already direct. So he didn't hesitate to speak loudly, "San Luoyang, what just happened?" 

The question snapped San Luoyang out of his ongoing staring match against Wei Wuyin, causing him to close his eyes and take a deep breath. When he opened his eyes, looking at Wei Wuyin, there was a light of genuine respect within them. 

San Luoyang mobilized his floating throne to take center stage, the others floating around him obediently. With a heavy expression, he explained: "A form of resonance of the Alchemic Dao; Alchemic Sovereign Wei induced a connective state between the Alchemic Stars of Mortal Spirituality and induced a fusion of Wills. A cause for celebration for us all." 

While he didn't directly speak about the benefits of such resonance, from how San Luoyang's form of address had changed, suffused with respect, there was no need to doubt that Wei Wuyin had proven his existence as an Alchemic Sovereign of the Mortal Dao. 

Wei Wuyin's heart was pounding with torrentially explosive emotions. While he was calm outwardly, his Sea of Consciousness, particularly his vast sea of mental energies, had depleted! He felt extremely drained, never having experienced such a terrifying sense of unity before. 

When the resonance began, he felt various insights of the Alchemic Dao of another, specifically, San Luoyang, surging wildly within his thoughts, formulating as a type of experience. It didn't include the actual physical process, but the applicable and successful experiences. 

However, trying to firmly remember these experiences had consumed a titanic amount of his refined mental energies. Fortunately, he had Eden and an absurdly high cultivation foundation. When he etched those insights into his memory, more began to manifest. 

They included products he had and hadn't concocted, details regarding certain materials, errors and proper corrections during the concoction process, and so, so much more. He had a feeling that unless he used his mental energies, he would not be able to recall any of these insights into the Alchemic Dao after. 

So with great haste, he utilized every drop of mental energy in his Sea of Consciousness, even resorting to using his refined alchemic eden force as a substitute, which was over ten times more effective. Regardless, he had gotten greedy. As he etched more of these insights, more continued to come. They originated from every one of these Mortal Sovereign Alchemists! 

All 288 Mortal Sovereign Alchemists and their thousands and thousands, likely totaling over a million years of accumulated insights, successes, failures, corrections, and so much more was being openly shared by them all. This included him as well. 

After exhausting his Sea of Consciousness's mental energy reserves and Eden's, he tried to convert the forces of Ori, King, and Kratos into alchemic eden force. Unfortunately, the resonance ended! 

Wei Wuyin sighed as he took out a vial of elixir and directly consumed it, allowing his Astral Souls to refine it and replenish his mental energies. It was easier to replenish than to reinforce, so by the time San Luoyang had finished, Wei Wuyin's mental energy reserves already exceeded most cultivators at his level, allowing him to properly function. 

"Are you okay?" Wei Wuyin heard Wu Yu's spiritual transmission, concern oozing out of his voice after seeing how briefly dull Wei Wuyin's gaze was, very similar to some of these Mortal Sovereign Alchemists. 

Wei Wuyin subtly nodded. This brought relief to Wu Yu. Just like him, those Mortal Sovereign Alchemists had overdraft their mental energies trying to grasp those Alchemical Insights born by the phenomenon called the Unity of Alchemic Stars. Simply named, yet rightfully understood by all. 

In just this brief seven minutes, Wei Wuyin had directly gained thousands of years of insights into the Alchemic Dao, greatly saving him endless centuries of arduous efforts. Unfortunately, the Unity of the Alchemic Stars can only affect an alchemist once every seven hundred years. 

The only exception is through dual cultivation, a different type of unity would form limited to only two individuals rather than a potentially limitless amount. 

Wei Wuyin felt that, if he had known ahead of time, he could've sought out insights that boggled him, navigating the endless sea of information. 

'The Alchemic Dao truly breaks the conventions of cultivation. Just exchanging information can be done, but cultivation makes this almost impossible. Not even Earthly Saints can send such clear, profound bits of information to their descendants.' Wei Wuyin heaved a heavy breath as he was promptly reminded of the difficulties of standard cultivation. 

Wu Yu turned to San Luoyang and calmly said, "Since you admit his status, the Everlore Association should keep true to their word." 

"..." The Earthly Saints, Mortal Sovereign Alchemists, Forgers, Architects, and young geniuses were all silent, looking at the sitting San Luoyang with varying gazes. They made a bet and immediately lost! Moreover, they were extremely foolish to accept when Wei Wuyin was confident! Did they think he was bluffing? 

While many were amazed that Wei Wuyin was a Mortal Sovereign Alchemist at his proclaimed age, it didn't cause tremendous waves in their minds or hearts. After all, six or so years, they were all discussing him in the same vein as the Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill, King of Everlore, and Mortal Sovereign Alchemists. In fact, it was extremely easy to accept, especially when one thought about how the Golden Life Pavilion would never lie about something so important.

They were excited to just have confirmation.

San Luoyang took another deep breath, not understanding what Evergod was intending, but knew that it was his fault for screwing up. Evergod's orders were to elevate the difficulty of the challenge in light of this new wager, but Wei Wuyin had seized the momentum of his dialogue, disrupting him, and pushing him to a cliff of premature acceptance. 

All Wei Wuyin did was perform what they agreed upon, no concoction necessary, but 'proved' he was a Mortal Sovereign Alchemist beyond any shadow of a doubt. Even Evergod himself would find it difficult to escape this trap without looking like sore losers.

A matter of face was the issue, even more so since it concerned the entirety of those cultivators outside and inside. If public opinion was to be taken into account, they would go down in a blaze of hellfire for refusing to pay up. These were all elites, especially the older cultivators that didn't wish to throw their lives away. 

However, how could he accept that? Even if they were rained in hellfire, it wouldn't change their status in the stellar region. They were needed as alchemical products were always needed. 

San Luoyang was going to refuse! He'll explain clearly that the conditions he meant to say were halted by Wei Wuyin's continued interruptions. 

"I-" He got out a single word when another spiritual transmission came in, shaking him to his core, as he looked towards the grinning Wei Wuyin with a tinge of fear.

It was a message from Evergod!

And it said: "Agree! We can not give him the opportunity." 

It was merely this, but San Luoyang's thoughts were remarkably quick and he swiftly understood Wei Wuyin's plans as if he could vividly visualize the eventual result. 

First, the Everlore Association would refuse this ridiculous request, set impossible conditions that Wei Wuyin couldn't possibly pass given his age, even if the Unity of Alchemic Stars helped him, and then continue with the summit as normal.

Then, the hellfire of disapproval would begin, tanking the Everlore Association's position as stronger, more relevant cultivators were denied entry or died at the hands of their Entities.

After widespread dissatisfaction stellar region-wide, a new alchemical association could miraculously manifest itself into existence, mounted on the momentum of the Mortal Sovereign Alchemist Wei Wuyin! A household name by almost every elite after this. 

Their refusal would give an opening for competition, and with the ongoing wave of frustration and dissatisfaction flowing towards them, the business might sway away from them. It was a targeted attack on their livelihood! Evergod instantly realized the implications, especially if Wei Wuyin refused to accept another challenge after proving himself. 

Furthermore, it's not as if the Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill's creator could be absent from the summit! Who knows how many would feel that it was a pointless endeavor, leaving in droves? The Everlore Association would single-handedly cause the failure of the summit, becoming a laughingstock after organizing it all. 

This was why San Luoyang had fear in his eyes when he saw Wei Wuyin, clearly enlightened to the mine that he had almost unwittingly stepped on. With a bright, confident smile, San Luoyang announced: "Of course, we will! We're the Everlore Association. As per the wager, they're all allowed into the Main Hall." 

Wei Wuyin inwardly cursed as he noticed from his peripheral vision the nodding heads of several Earthly Saints, approving of the Everlore Association's poise. In their minds, this was deliberately done to prevent further deaths and dissatisfaction from them. After all, it was ludicrous to think they willingly agreed to this wager just to lose most expectedly. They weren't stupid, right? 

But did the Everlore Association have such wealth to exhaust? Just the price for the diluted Astralis Essence must be absurd. Wei Wuyin had seen their treatment from the folds of space as the Main Hall and Proving Stage were tethered next to each other in the folds of space. 

"We'll need to find equivalent alternatives as Astralis Essence is a very limited resource, but I can assure you, the treatment of those beneath five hundred years of age will not be any inferior to those who succeeded in the challenge." After saying this, San Luoyang brought out a strange talisman.

Wu Yu openly scoffed. But he couldn't help but think about how many cultivators' lives Wei Wuyin saved through this single bet.