Paragon of Sin

Chapter 1647 Chapter 1640: Magi (6)

Within an expansive space with an ethereal mist of silver, a landscape that had seemingly no visible horizons, no distinction of sky and earth, a naked humanoid figure with silver eyes and an acutely defined body where every muscle, every hair, and every lengthy measurement of each appendage was clear. Every inch of his figure was immaculately tempered by the purest energies and trained to the fullest extent. After undergoing Fuxi's guidance across the origins of the universe, and prior to that, the splitting, repairing, and merging of his True Soul, his soul had experienced a dramatic improvement that made it seem as realistic as a living, breathing entity.

"It's been a while," Wei Wuyin quietly muttered to himself as a sensation of familiarity blasted him with a wave of nostalgia. Long ago, decades upon decades earlier, Wei Wuyin had found himself in a tangled situation where ethereal chains bound his mind, forcing him to repeatedly consume other mental versions of himself that existed beyond his control.

He had studied at the Eden Earth Sect. Subconsciously, Wei Wuyin grasped at his neck to touch that familiar warmth. Bai Lin had waited nearly ten years faithfully for him. A happy smile that originated from the deepest parts of his heart rose on his lips. The phoenix who waited.

During that time, the Eden of that time was some type of mental demon that had consciousness without a soul and intended to utilize Wei Wuyin's unique state to seize his body and escape from its predicament. In the end, Eden became his third Spirit of Cultivation by pure coincidence, unaware that his original consciousness had developed the ability to devour other consciousnesses out of necessity.

While waiting for those reckless rascals that were his spirits and his Second Mind to overcome their Dao Acknowledgments and recalling this particular memory, Wei Wuyin couldn't help but question why he was placed in that predicament. f𝚛𝗲𝐞𝐰e𝗯n𝗼v𝗲𝚕.𝚌o𝐦

After suffering the Rite of the Sinner, the pride variant he referred to as the Wall of Heaven, Wei Wuyin experienced a grave cranial concussion that likely caused significant damage to his brain. It was this lapse of self and memories that allowed him to easily pass the First Calamity of Hell without any difficulty.

"My mother had memory retainment issues as well," Wei Wuyin mused. He had thought over this fact many times before and had considered it a hereditary condition or an instinctual response of the mind to repair any damage. Whether it was the latter or former, he believed it had to do with the Magi's innate ability, such as being able to read and understand almost every language.

He still keenly remembered his mother's change of expression after his tribulation as an infant, remembering and reliving each of his life's firsts. She had been aware of his return, if only for a split moment. That moment still hung in his heart. If only at that time he could speak a few words, ask a few questions, and leave behind some advice for her to remain in his life.

There was a truth in his heart that had always lingered there. A truth that he wanted to obfuscate with hopes and dreams, yet unable to do so entirely after Fuxi's guidance and return of Suave Wei Wuyin's complete memory. The truth...that his mother and father died shortly after leaving to find a cure for her ailment. They didn't find some extraordinary place to begin anew and happily live out their mortal lives or were taken across vast spaces to a new world with a new life by the Magi, leaving him and his brother alone reluctantly to not affect Wei Wuyin's life with the karma of the Magi.

He really wanted there to be some grand story behind their lives or deaths, something so great that it made sense why they would leave him and his older brother alone. Just something! ANYTHING!

But...

They had left toward the demonic mountain to search for a rumored herb said to dispel mental affliction just as he remembered and just as he was told, and by an unlucky twist of fate, they were attacked and killed, devoured bone, flesh, and all by a mutated demon beast when he was five. Their journey seeking salvation was cut short by demonically twisted nature.

His father wasn't very a powerful cultivator even by the Myriad Yore Continent's standards and his mother had not an ounce of cultivation in her, so traveling to the demon mountain was already a terrifying risk. Suave Wei Wuyin had scoured the Myriad Yore Continent after reaching the anniversary of their departure and attaining the Mystic Ascendant Realm. With the power of Temporal Reversal and their cultivation bases and existential states being fairly low, he decided to revive them with the assistance of a few other Mystic Ascendants.

However, when that version of himself finally got there and stood before the site of their demise, he never made the attempt. The circumstances of Magi and Temporal Reversal were quite ugly and complex, and reversing time for decades upon decades was so ridiculously difficult that an attempt would not only fail but he would have been killed as well. It was no different than infringing on the River of Time, the Heavens' natural samsara cycle, and so much more.

This was one of the reasons why that version of himself had tried to associate with the Void Voyage Sect during his past and did so willingly, eventually leading to Kratos' death at Liu Yinlan's hands. Hope was a powerful drug and a demon in the heart. Their rumored mastery of space and time left him with the hope that he could find ways to alleviate the River of Time's demanding rate and the Mystic Dao's cost for such a request. Yet knowing that it had already involved too many domains to reverse, such as the natural process of samsara, he knew it wasn't going to be possible.

Wei Wuhin looked back at these memories, his grasp of time and space, his current level of cultivation, and his understanding of Hell and the sequence of events after death, Wei Wuyin fully understood that if that version of himself had attempted to bring his family back, even a mere mortal infant, using Temporal Reversal, not only would he have horrendously failed, but he would have lost his life without Fuxi's assistance.

The karma of these natural forces no longer exceeded his level of existence, and his power was only great when compared to the average Mystic Ascendant Realm of his stage of cultivation, so there was no way for him to properly complete such a feat. Typically, according to Enlightened Sage Springfield's memories, Resonant Soul Realm experts had means to bring back souls and unleash a type of pseudo-reincarnation at a drastic cost, but the time between death and potential revival to do so was limited and the cost was astronomical. They didn't use Temporal Reversal for those who died long ago because that was simply the path of no return and could cause incredible levels of temporal paradoxes to occur if done improperly.

Moreover, Wei Wuyin wasn't the only one who wanted to try to do so, and many Mystic Ascendant Realm experts who've grasped this newfound power, willing to make any sacrifice, often lost their lives fruitlessly due to their ignorance.

Wei Wuyin grew emotional at the thought. All the hopes he had for his parents, even long since knowing the difficulties of using time to bring them back, had been vanquished after Fuxi returned his memories. Moreover, he realized why Fuxi had taken those specific memories that related to his Magi-blood mother. If Wei Wuyin had learned of this, it could have shaken his heart or changed his entire path. Even the Resonant Soul Realm's pseudo-reincarnation had a specific time limit and requirements, and if Wei Wuyin knew of those things then, it wasn't unlikely that he would have taken the route of fast cultivation to meet that deadline. Looking back, it was certainly the correct decision.

With his eyes closed, he felt a wetness on his cheek. It slid down until it fell off. It was warm and stimulating. Then, he opened his eyes to see that Enlightened Scholarly Mist within his Sea of Consciousness was condensed to the point of Liquid, leaking into his Mind's Eye.

"My other mind seems to be doing something incredible," Wei Wuyin absentmindedly muttered. The utilization, solidification, and activity of the Enlightened Scholarly Mist were signs that his Second Mind was delving into the very depths of its knowledge and mental strength.

The three trials and tribulations of Dao Acknowledgments were firstly a test of observation and appraisal, then a test of knowledge-both known and potential to develop new, and finally practical execution. The three tests were brutal, and the suave Wei Wuyin hadn't passed the test of knowledge. In fact, he had horrendously failed. Due to their differences in path, while Wei Wuyin had outrageous innate Alchemic Talent, his grasp of the Alchemic Dao right after reaching the Mystic Ascendant Realm was barely within the range of a Mortal Alchemic Saint or between a low to high-level Earthly Alchemic Saint.

Just the knowledge aspect of Magi Commoner was at the very peak, on the cusp of Mystic-World level of alchemy, and he failed this test despite relying on Eden's knowledge. This was because while Eden was renowned in the process of concoction, its actual knowledge and intelligence were based solely on Wei Wuyin's understanding. It offered almost no advantage in that department. The practical exam wasn't even tested.

As for the knowledge exam having such difficulties, this largely had to do with what Fuxi alluded to earlier-the Alchemic Dao was composed of seven other Daos that had wondrously merged, augmenting their potential under its guidance to become potentially an aspect of limitless creation. If he had chosen the Dao of Concoction, just creating things at the appropriate level for a Magi Commoner would have been surprisingly easy to fulfill, because the innate alchemic talent was the totality of those seven Daos' affinity. This explained why innate talent to the Alchemic Dao was so difficult to possess! Unfortunately, suave Wei Wuyin had missed these words and taken Fuxi had face value, his upbringing clearly not matching Wei Wuyin's continuous search for exploitation and inherent vigilance to any and every opportunity.

Now, however, those four Spirits of Cultivations and his Second Mind had chosen the Dao of Creation, which was no different than challenging the Daos of Creationists, which included the Alchemic Daos three other Daos that weren't the Dao of Concoction, Evolution, Inscription, and Arrangement.

Inscription and Arrangement largely had to do with things such as Talismans, Runes, Formations, and Arrays. In Wei Wuyin's lifetime, he had seen runes on various levels, such as qi runes, astral runes, alchemic runes, world runes that were used to establish World Heart Intent, and even heavenly runes that were left behind on geniuses to facilitate their resonance with Laws, and of course-Mystic Runes. There were countless runes that he had come across, and while talismans were things none of the societies he had visited actively cultivated, he was still aware of their basis, especially after extracting the knowledge of Teng Jiangwen and Sage Springfield. He had also taken the mental knowledge of World Prophetess Bai after she was hunted down and killed and scoured through Alchemic Saint White Sky's memories while she was incapacitated and unconscious.

And many of these unfathomable memories became abundantly clear after his ascension, so his Second Mind would have digested it all with focused commitment. Wei Wuyin had yet to get the condensed, refined version of their memories and knowledge. Additionally, his Second Mind often utilized the War Talisman to integrate into the minds he claimed for further study such as Xu Yun and Xun Yicao. Eden's powers were quite ridiculous after its advancement, and his Second Mind was thirsty for knowledge. Without that thirst, he wouldn't have been able to develop so many wondrous arts and methods such as the Neo-Dawn Virtualization Method. Fortunately, this advancement also gave him peace of mind after leaving such a horrifying task to the three others.

The Enlightened Scholarly Mist soon dripped into the Mind's Eye like rain. Wei Wuyin was 'soaked'.

"How difficult will these tests be?" The only saving grace was that he had received acknowledgment by the Dao of Creation and hadn't failed the first time. But Magi Royalty was bound to have an absurd difficulty.

Eventually, the rain stopped and Wei Wuyin could feel his Mind's Eye vast expansive inner space shrink slightly. A sign of considerable exhaustion by his Second Mind's over-utilization of his soul and mental energy. Wei Wuyin could feel his figure also grow somewhat hazy for a brief moment. Considering he wasn't called out, he expected that they would make it to the final test, the Dao Acknowledgment of Creation.

"HEHE! HEHE! HEHE!!!"

Three explosive sounds of Ori's near-sinister laughter echoed out. Then, he could hear Eden's chuckling In the background.

Ori was an Alpha Origin Astral Soul. It embodied the concept of genesis, the beginning of all things, including the elements. While Wei Wuyin never delved into it specifically, Ori had wondrous abilities of creation.

Wei Wuyin touched his eyes and felt the Eye of Creation's Divine Seed thrum. While it wasn't occurring in this manifestation of himself, the activity was so intense that it rippled across his True Soul, thus affecting him. The Eye of Creation might have that name-Creation-within it, but it was strictly a power related to the Material Dao. The name itself was a great embellishment. After all, the Eye of Illusion involved creation on the level of the Mind Dao. They were not inferior to one another, and simply one part of a whole.

Then, he felt his Eye of Illusion activate as well. And then, he felt the Eye of Truth!

"I think I understand," he softly said as an irresistibly forming grin formed. All of his worries faded upon realizing Eden and Ori's plan, and that earlier promise of Ori saying she wouldn't let them fail was backed by legitimate confidence!

It took a long time...

...before he heard the triumphant laughter of four reckless Astral Souls and himself!