Paragon of Sin

What now?

Proceed?

How? 

No. The better question was: Why? 

Those Mortal Sovereign Alchemists had beguiled expressions intermixed with slightly unsightly smiles of bitterness and uncertainty. If Evergod had no objections to Wei Wuyin's end result, then what was the point of continuing? They all saw it! They saw the unbelievable! 

In forty-two months, Wei Wuyin had somehow transformed a Yang Growth cultivator into a Spatial Resonance Cultivator with abnormal spatial energies and a ten-ringed Soul Idol! To top it all off, that Chosen Knight had refined a Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill and manifested a Worldly Domain indistinguishable from the Realm World Phase. 

That at least answered the question as to what the peak-quality Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill granted as its pinnacle effect. Unfortunately, it did them little good to see such miraculous results further reinforcing the Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill's exceptional era-defining qualities. 

The strongest competitor against Wei Wuyin's Du Ling was San Luoyang's Duze Beixuan. There was no need to fight or compare their powers—it was a blowout. This was as evident as the difficulties of cultivation. Just the Worldly Domain was enough to single-handedly devastate all these Chosen Knights!

"How did you accomplish this?" Ma Leihan, the Mortal Sovereign Alchemist of the Ma Clan, asked with a tone drowning with disbelief, grasping at straws to maintain his sanity. It wasn't wrong to say that Wei Wuyin's achievement had caused him to question his existence as an Alchemist. He wasn't the only one.

While he knew that Ma Zheng was likely throwing him a disapproving look due to asking the question publicly, he had to know! If he didn't find an explanation soon, he felt as if his heart of cultivation would shatter then and there from his overimagining the vast difference between them. 

'It hurts just to breathe.'

His question prompted a universal curiosity that demanded an answer. The Earthly Saints were similarly curious, wondering what type of shortcut he used to find such heaven-defying success. 

Wei Wuyin knew that he had carelessly trudged into sludge, unable to escape without others granting him permission to, and all due to his overestimation of the Mortal Sovereign Alchemists' skill and means. For the first time since the different-graded transcendent product revelation that started from first-grade to ninth-grade, he realized how inferior the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region was in terms of speed and success rates. 

Wei Wuyin heaved an internal sigh; he felt this was likely the result due to severe lack of Alchemic Souls. Besides a few Mystic Stars, none of those throne-sitting alchemists were true Alchemic Soul cultivators. Curiously, he wondered why that was the case. Was it solely due to the fact that dedicating your cultivation base to the Alchemic Dao was largely disadvantageous to cultivating and advancing? Or was there a larger play that affected society despite the King of Everlore's radiant existence?

"I must thank Xun Yicao for this," Wei Wuyin pointed out, clasped his hands, forgoing respectful titles, and gratefully gestured towards Xun Yicao. Instantly, the old codger's expression contorted as searing gazes turned his way. He retorted, "Don't speak nonsense! Explain yourself properly!" 

He feared others might genuinely think he helped Wei Wuyin in some way. 

"Nonsense?" Wei Wuyin carried a small grin, "No nonsense. I'm genuinely thankful. How can I, a mere mortal, dare compete in terms of quality of alchemical energies, size of reserves, or understanding of the Alchemic Dao than you all—Ascended beings? It is a rather exaggerated statement. Even if I admitted it myself, I wouldn't believe it." 

Those words heavily resonated with the Mortal Sovereign Alchemists, Earthly Saints, supreme Creationists, and spectating crowd. It would be delusional to say a mortal who was reported to be at the Realm World Phase could rival these thousands of years old experienced experts of the Alchemic Dao with a cultivation base an entire realm beyond. It would be poppycock to the most insane of minds, let alone the sane ones.

"You gave me the chance by choosing my instructor." Wei Wuyin gestured towards Luo Ning, who now shared the spotlight. There was a hint of hesitation in her eyes that was swiftly replaced with pride and excitement. Her hunchback straightened a little, and she pushed out her chin. She walked forward and stood beside Wei Wuyin. 

"Luo Ning?" Xun Yicao was stunned to near stupidity, unable to connect the dots. But not everyone was as slow-witted as Xun Yicao, with San Luoyang's eyes glowing brightly. He didn't explain, however.

Empress Xiaocheng did: "How fated; the Unity of the Alchemic Stars. Miraculous. Miraculous indeed." Her voice contained a hint of amusement that tugged at the heart, drawing one's eyes to her lovely expression and swooning the mind without effort. Quite a few gulps resounded as the eyes of Empress Xiaocheng showed a liveliness that was almost unheard of. 

Her words caused those with keen insights to widen their eyes from their realization. The Mortal Sovereign Alchemists who got it were had hideous expressions, as if someone had stolen their victory away, and they could only blame themselves. This left them with the urge to cry but no tears to shed; fortunately, this also brought them strange relief. 

Yet some didn't get it, slower than others, like Xun Yicao, who was still baffled. It was likely due to being directly involved that he had grown forgetful, or his subconscious repressed the truth as it tried to form. Regardless, Empress Xiaocheng explained clearly: 

"The Unity of the Alchemic Stars gave you the opportunity for insights of these illustrious figures' Alchemic Dao. As a mortal and youngster of no more than a hundred, how can you possibly rival their knowledge or means? How can you possibly process that vast harvest? However, if given an assistant, one with hundreds of years of arduous experience and an Alchemic Soul, strengthening their connection to the Alchemic Dao. Just by regurgitating what you've gained, you granted an old horse a set of holy wings. Am I right, Alchemic Sovereign Wei?" 

She beautifully smiled as if solving this puzzle gave her great joy, causing many to lose themselves in her beauty. She was just too much! 

"You're absolutely right, Empress." Wei Wuyin didn't need to actually say anything, as the logic was readily accepted by everyone! Wei Wuyin used a proxy! As if washed with enlightenment, the stress of these alchemists was reduced considerably, and their hearts of cultivation settled.

They lost. 

Without a doubt, they lost. 

But they lost to themselves! This was completely acceptable, and while there were some curious points, such as how Wei Wuyin retained enough for Luo Ning to capitalize on this, some of them experienced the Unity of the Alchemic Stars quite a few times and were aware of how drastically sporadic the gains were. 

Moreover, they finally realized why Du Ling's growth vastly trumped everyone else's! Wei Wuyin was tasked with handling the higher-graded products, wholeheartedly putting his all into their success, while Luo Ning either helped out or assisted with the lower-graded products! 

Xun Yicao finally realized the 'truth'. While he was internally relieved, he coldly snorted as he glanced at Luo Ning dismissively. "Unfair competition—rubbish." 

His thoughts actually echoed in the hearts of everyone else. It was unfair! After all, Du Ling essentially had two alchemists assisting him while they had one! Even the crowd felt that it was a little unfair. 

"Hahaha! You're all going to complain when you could've selected those Alchemic Soul 'rejects' that you looked down upon! You had the opportunity to do the same, disregarding battle experience for cultivation level and foundation advantages, but you chose otherwise. Don't you all dare cry like wronged bitches because you've missed an opportunity. Don't make me, Wu Yu, look down on all of you." Wu Yu explosively laughed, ridiculing these Mortal Sovereign Alchemists directly, yet just like many times before, they couldn't refute!

There were at least twenty Alchemic Soul instructors to choose from; all had low prices and all were capable assistants. Yet what did they choose? Combat instructors! Evergod had placed them on the plate of choices for a reason, but they all neglected this possibility simply because they were too proud. It came off as the whining of pathetic losers. 

Xun Yicao's eyes darkened to resemble the lightless night itself. Clearly, Wu Yu targeted him directly as he was the only one to speak out! Who was the wronged bitch? He was?! He refused to be! So he coldly snorted and ignored Wu Yu. The competition wasn't over yet! There was still the Chosen Stage of the Saint Cyclic Alchemic Clash, so these Mortal Sovereign Alchemist soon soothed their bruised egos.

Wei Wuyin felt relieved that this worked. Luo Ning was the perfect cover for his talents. This was merely a spontaneous contingency plan to hide his Alchemic Soul, but it had essentially concealed his exceptionalism. If he had taken it upon himself to cultivate Du Ling without restrictions, he would not have been at the Spatial Resonance Phase of the Astral Core Realm.

Wei Wuyin had many ways to aggressively allow Du Ling to comprehend Soul Light or the essential profundities of gravity, vastly exceeding his current cultivation level. With his Neo-Fruits of Eden Spell, he could directly bestow Du Ling with his cultivation insights. While the Soul Light might be a little difficult as it heavily relied on his experience of freely sensing souls, an ability he gained after obtaining the Bloodline of Sin, he had the transcendent World-Light Refraction Elixir at the ready for as a substitute. 

With that settled, Wei Wuyin and the rest were now left with proceeding to the Elimination Stage. For the sake of a good stage, all three Astral Core Realm cultivators would be granted an automatic spot into the next stage, while the rest will fight for the remaining fifteen spots. Since the Earthly Saints were given the ability to determine who passed and who failed regardless of the winner or loser of these fights, they readily accepted this exception.