Paragon of Sin

Chen Xiaowei summoned her Shadow-Blight Hawk. It soared into the skies with a piercing cry before descending into the open grassy area of Wei Wuyin's courtyard. They both leaped, landing on the back of the hawk in an exceptionally practiced manner. With a powerful flap of the hawk's wings, it took off with the two in tow.

There was no need to bring the other Chen Clan's experts. Since Duke Zhao invited them, then he would have them. All others were unnecessary. When they took off, Wei Wuyin didn't hide his mask or aura, even faintly releasing a strong alchemical scent often emanated from high-level alchemists. Normally, he didn't reveal this scent because it typically matched the quality of his alchemical energies circulating within his body. Now, it was like a storm of explosive scent.

Chen Xiaowei was taken aback, her eyes glazed as her cultivation base seemed to be stimulated by this aura. Even the Shadow-Blight Hawk had a bit of drool leaking from its beak, its eyes and wings seemed to lose a lot of its force. That scent was simply too attractive to the innate energies within the bodies of any existence that cultivated essence or energies.

Wei Wuyin sent a trace of eden force through his feet, shocking the hawk back to full alertness. It seemed to gain vigorous energy from some unknown depth of itself as it cried loudly and explosively shot off faster than ever before. Its display attracted the eyes of all those below and hidden, countless spiritual senses veered their way.

The old man beside Xue Yifei looked upwards, his gaze piercing the ceiling of his building, as he noticed Chen Xiaowei and the masked alchemist take off. When he felt the overwhelming alchemical aura through his spiritual sense, his heart raced three times faster than before. If he was a mortal, his heart might've exploded immediately.

"Such high-quality alchemical energy!" He had never seen such potent alchemical energy from any alchemists before, even those with Alchemic Souls as their cultivation base. It was simply unheard of. However, a glint of realization dawned in his hazy eyes.

"He's definitely Heavenly King Wei!" Only the Second Coming of the King of Everlore, the Prince of Everlore, the renowned #1 alchemic talent of the starfield, excluding the currently developing Princess of Everlore, could possess such high-quality alchemical energy! 

"My thoughts exactly," the gorgeous Xue Yifei stood up and walked over, her hazel eyes looking above at the departing Shadow-Blight Hawk. While she had speculated earlier about his identity, she wasn't entirely sure until this very moment. In fact, the level of this alchemical energy was about to alert countless figures of his presence.

It seemed counterintuitive that he would continue wearing a mask while revealing his extraordinary aura. What was he planning? Her eyes narrowed, unsure in her heart. 

"He's heading to the Scarlet Ash Manor," the old man stated. It wasn't long before they were nearly beyond the horizon. His gaze looked towards Xue Yifei. He didn't know what she intended to do, but her actions right now were exceptionally risky. If 'that' man who stood behind her, allowed her to maintain her current status, was to learn that she was trying to approach Wei Wuyin, perhaps he might not do anything, but the alchemist was still a male. And she? She was a fairy-like beauty of the ages.

If he got interested in her, this could definitely spiral out of control. 

Just as he was about to recommend that they avoid contact, Xue Yu and his entourage had already left before their eyes, following Wei Wuyin. It wasn't just him. Everyone else felt that aura and its alchemistic effects it subjected them to, their eyes became spirited and invigorated as they called forth their mounts and followed in haste. A few were slower than others, cursing their two legs and single mind as they similarly followed.

Xue Yifei lightly bit her soft-as-water lips, "Let's go." 

The old man's words were caught in his throat, but his heart was also screaming to follow. If possible, he sought to obtain Wei Wuyin's favor. With his current age and cultivation base, his lifespan was approaching its limits. If he could assail to the next phase, he could gain a hundred or so additional years as well as being ranked amongst the top five experts on the continent. His old, time-worn heart yearned for it, so while his mind wanted to advise, he didn't in the end.

With a light breath, he wrapped Xue Yifei in astral force as they sped through the lands, vanishing from their building.

After a few minutes of flight, Chen Xiaowei looked behind her with curiosity and the scene caused her scalp to grow numb. Numerous mounts nearly blotted out the horizon as they trailed them from behind. It was a fantastical scene! A flock of avian creatures of a wide-variety was flapping their wings intensely, and the beasts had eyes that were even a little crazy. It was as if they were stirred by something.

Turning to see Wei Wuyin, her heart trembled. Was this all because of his aura? 

Wei Wuyin didn't bother about the amassing crowd. With each passing second, new mounts were seemingly appearing from thin air. These were individuals intrigued by what was happening or felt entranced by his aura.

He stayed silent. At the moment, he was assessing his cultivation base. After the three thousand Astral Sea Pills, each of his Astral Souls' Astral Core expanded by six times, and with additional products, his mental, physical, and spiritual energies were amplified in intensity and quality. With this, his astral force had grown at least twenty times as powerful as he was just a few days ago.

It was nearly unbelievable of the difference. However, he knew there was a limit to his enhancements, and he was very close to approaching it. Especially in regards to Astral Core size. If he wanted to expand it and the World Sea that was his astral force, he needed to advance to the Second Stage of the Astral Core Realm.

The only issue was that he couldn't initiate it. No, that wasn't exactly correct. His Astral Souls were unwilling to evoke it. He had long since taken a Sky World Pill, and even without it, he could sense the world's mana perfectly with his Celestial Eyes. Just a little bit of sensing and exploring and he could achieve control it slightly with his mental energies. The unique ability of Sky Pressure was his to a minor extent, but it was too minor and only a prelude to his true abilities if he could assail the next stage.

When he questioned them, they said they weren't 'full' enough. He didn't understand this initially, but after using those pills to explosively enhance his foundational strength, he deeply understood. They wanted to reach their maximum potential in this stage before ascending.

Perhaps this offered benefits he was unaware of, but considering he wanted to have the sturdiest foundation imaginable, he agreed with their desires. After he returned back to the sect, he intended to obtain enough resources to concoct enough Astral Sea Pills to reach maximum potential. As of right now, he only had enough for three thousand or so.

He really hadn't expected to need so much. Perhaps to normal cultivators, three thousand was more than enough to create a world of elites, but to these four high-tier Astral Souls, it wasn't even enough to fill their bellies.

As he was lost in his thoughts, he didn't seem to notice that vast, sky-blotting shadow tailing him. This shadow was the dense mass of numerous mounts that ranged from ten to fifty meters in wingspan. Chen Xiaowei's eyes were bulging with a pulsating fear. How did this come about?

Xue Yu was within this thick shadow, his brilliance and status ignored and overshadowed as everyone followed Wei Wuyin like a pack of lost dogs. They seemed endless, and no one seemed to approach Wei Wuyin, simply tail like the others. He cursed these shameless people, but he was confused as to why this was happening.

Within this shadowy giant was An Ge, An Biru, and An Feijing. They were drawn to this phenomenon just like the majority of others.

An Ge had a slight frown. An Feijing's bright eyes couldn't help but ask, "What's happening?" Her voice was innocent and truly radiated pure curiosity. 

An Ge opened his mouth slightly but found that he was unable to explain. Was everyone here hoping to gain Wei Wuyin's favor? That didn't seem right. An Biru quietly answered with her best response, "I think he's summoning an audience."

Audience?

An Ge was taken aback. For what? His brows furrowed deeply. If he was gaining an audience, then it was for a purpose, but why did he need one?

Chen Xiaowei soon lost her nerves as she urgently asked, "Heavenly King Wei, this...is this okay?" While she wanted to ask, she didn't know exactly what to ask.

Wei Wuyin laughed slightly, his eyes bright beneath his mask. He was just about to speak when his tri-layered ring flickered with spiritual light. He sent his spiritual sense in the ring and received the message. When he did, his eyes beneath the mask shrunk slightly.

He took a deep breath, cursing in his mind: 'She's already gone. I guess three years is too long.' His second candidate for the Ascendants had departed, and Zuhei, a member of the Silver Wolves and rumored to be of the lineage of legendary Fenrir, was renowned for tracking and had discovered her scent. He traced it to an ancient Void Gate that was highly concealed. It seemed to have left.

According to him, her scent indicated that she left about five months ago.

'Ill-timing. But, what about this ancient Void Gate?' Intrigued, he decided to inspect it later. Right now, he sent Su Mei and Zuhei a message, each with a different order. For Zuhei, his order was:

"Come to Scarlet Ash Manor. I need my fangs and claws." 

With his plans to recruit the two Ascendant candidates in secret and cultivate them either completed or delayed, he was going to move onto his next objective: Conquering the Xue Country.