Paragon of Sin

"..." 

There was a sudden silence as both Qingye Ying and Wei Wuyin quietly observed the full set of materials to concoct the Refraction World-Light Elixir. The two weren't performing any other movements, merely inspecting the details of each material. 

Wei Wuyin was quite familiar with the Refraction World-Light Elixir, already concocting a few before. Despite this, he wasn't negligent or careless with his methods and observations. He noted that the materials were all top-notch, clearly the best that could be gathered. 

With his eyes roaming about, his hand softly rubbing his chin, he began to run simulations within his mind. This was a pre-game method used by alchemists very often, mentally replicating their process beforehand. Each material had its own distinct qualities, qualities that could be better brought out by specific methods. 

The Dao of Alchemy was vast, governing the seven traits, and each trait had specific methods and a variety of ways to tackle an obstacle. Most cultivators become well-known for mastering a single alchemical method, such as Yi Yun and Li Che. They both were renowned for their usage of specific methods. 

Yi Yun was referred to by the alchemic world as the World Swirling Pill Emperor due to his mastery of the Swirling Transformation Pill Method, a method that was incredibly effective during the Transformation Stage of Pill Concoction. It had its unique properties, having a few products that it could elevate in quality due to it, and some products that could never be used with it.

There were numerous alchemical methods, both specific and general. For example, the Eden Earth Sect specialized in the Eden Creation Method. It was a generalized concoction method useful for all four-types of alchemical concoction during the Creation Stage. 

But the Eden Creation Method was extremely useless on certain products, for example: Miasmic Pellets, Toxic Pills, or Poisonous Elixirs. If used on these specific types of products, the method would certainly produce impure quality products at best, completely fail at worst. 

Therefore, when assessing an alchemical recipe, the methods used were largely up to the alchemist. This was a display of utmost skill, trying to find seven specific methods that can conjoin together to create the best possible product. As for the recipe, it mostly included the materials and quantity. Some detailed and legacy recipes might advise for or against specific methods. 

The King of Everlore had the most detailed legacy with numerous annotations for the future generation to avoid. The Refraction World-Light Elixir was developed by a subordinate of his, which he further improved on and perfected with his experience and skill, so it was a well-accepted recipe with few errors.

Despite that, it could always be improved upon with alchemical methods devised later.

Wei Wuyin, for example, was aware of over a hundred different methods for each Stage of the Concoction Process. This was largely due to his mental prowess being exceptionally high, further supported by two minds and the energies of four Astral Souls. With Eden, he had rarely ever felt exhausted during concoction of any graded product. 

It was embedded within his sea of consciousness, expanding it with each passing second, and with the support of numerous alchemical products that increased his mental capabilities, his mind was beyond the concept of Eidetic Memory, forever retaining everything he perceived. Of course, to prevent himself from being thoroughly overloaded, Eden regulated his memories thoroughly, ensuring a stable sea of consciousness and Mind's Eye.

But whenever he sought to recall anything, it was an instant recall of the most perfect quality. That being said, memory and skill was still a separate matter. He still needed to comprehend each method and apply them correctly.

The moment of silence that Wei Wuyin and Qingye Ying had was a process every alchemist had to deal with, and that's deciding which methods to use. Even though Qingye Ying had planned to choose this pill for months, studied it and likely concocted it before successfully, she still took the time to analyze each individual material. Despite being the same set of materials, a slight difference in age, quality, or size might allow for another specific method to produce a better result or the exact opposite.

The silence continued for several minutes, when Wei Wuyin made the first move. 

Yi Yun was ready to jump at this moment, breaking the silence. "The first one to make a move is Ascendant Emperor Wei! This is shocking to say the least, and I wonder if he'd already determined what he'll use or will he apply a freestyle process!"

Li Che added, "The alchemical process has two main processes that alchemists can take: the Predetermined Process and Freestyle Process. The Predetermined Process involves selecting seven methods from the on-set of the concoction process and following along without any deviation. Usually, its used with seven tried-and-true methods that have the greatest synergistic effect without any conflict with the recipe in question.

"The Freestyle Process is to select an Extraction Method first, see how that goes, then select a suitable Growth Method, then Containment, Refinement, Creation, Transformation, and lastly Fusion Method while adjusting to any changes in a free and unobstructed manner." 

Yi Yun nodded, "Both alchemical processes have their own advantages and disadvantages. The majority of alchemists prefer the Predetermined Method, adding stability, less mental strain, generating expected concoction times, ensuring a greater sense of familiarity of connective reactions, and higher success rate. But the highest level alchemist, those who've mastered dozens of methods, would choose the Freestyle Method, especially for lower-graded products beneath their rank as it can ensure high-quality or even peak-quality products."

This commentary allowed many to be enlightened to alchemy like never before. 

Qingye Yun stared intently at Qingye Ying. 'Ying'er is a Predetermined Alchemist, so her success rate and refinement speed should be high. But what about Wei Wuyin?' No one knew about Wei Wuyin really, simply that he was an extremely talented alchemist that subverted all expectations despite his age.

Wei Wuyin, from the beginning, had never been a Predetermined Alchemist. He had always used a freestyle approach, ensuring a faster and higher quality product. It was mainly this style of his that caused him to fail many of his products the first time, but it also allowed him to develop a wealth of experience extremely quickly.

There were four core materials before him, with seventeen secondary materials. The seventeen secondary materials were mostly irrelevant, only adding certain stability, qualities, and inducing reactions from the four core materias. The first core material was a Light-Attributed Astral Stone. This astral stone was different from normal, being far larger than the standard. If one considered its size, it would be roughly the combination of ten astral stones.

This contained the light essence that needed to be extracted, a core component of the recipe. The other three materials were the Refractory Grass, Brilliant Jade Milk, and a World Pearl. The first was a grass with unique qualities that can act as a medium for light, absorbing and reacting to it. It was one of the core most materials, and its qualities were mainly replicated by the Elixir. The Brilliant Jade Milk contained a radiant spiritual quality formed naturally and the World Pearl contained a set of unique mana.

They each had qualities needed to produce the final product.

He chose an Extraction Method.

The Radiant Flame Extraction Method. 

It was an exquisite method very compatible with light-based materials, and used fire energies to supplement alchemic qi or alchemic force to ensure a greater degree of extraction. With a thought, he started to interact with Eden. It grew lively, starting to pulsate with power.

Wei Wuyin didn't bother inspecting Qingye Ying, lost since losing himself in the process. He started by using his Elemental Origin Intent, gathering the ambient fire energies, while simultaneously interfacing with his Nine Element Eclipse Cauldron, drawing fire energies from within it. In a split second, the area around him became a miniature firestorm before entering the cauldron in full. With both external and internal support, he placed the materials within the cauldron one by one.

The first was the light-attributed Astral Stone. With it inside, he immediately used his alchemic force, drawing further support from the fire energies, and imbued his power into the stone. The aspect of extraction was taking prominent effect as the stone burst into flames, instantly being incinerated.

He hadn't held back, using his immense alchemic force to press heavily upon the stone. In moments, all that existed within the cauldron was simmering flames with radiance within, glimmering endlessly! The bits within the tiny firestorm were light essence.

With a faint nod, Wei Wuyin calmly retracted the fire energies, leaving nothing but tiny stars that radiated with bright light. They flickered, sometimes visible, sometimes invisible. 

Without hesitation, the refractory grass met the same fate. A tiny firestorm formed as it was instantly incinerated. What was soon left were bits of what seemed like a glass-like substance the size of sand. One by one each material met the same blazing fate until the cauldron became filled with a multitude of different substances. These were the purest essences and innate energies of each material in their most stable form.

Wei Wuyin wasn't negligent, keeping his alchemic force instilled into every bit to ensure stability, preventing them from collapsing or going berserk, exploding fiercely. 

The next step was growth. The quantities of these materials might be suitable, but their quality might be too inferior to be a match. Despite each material being carefully selected, when stripped from their normal containers, the difference in quality truly showed itself and their levels were oftentimes too low.

Alchemists were often met with this problem. So they were left with the Growth Stage of the Concoction Process. While it might not always be needed, this was not one of those times. 

Wei Wuyin carefully used his Celestial Eyes to observe each material, not using his spiritual sense. This was one of the benefits he had over alchemists. There were numerous materials such as the Brilliance Jade Milk that had a spiritual quality, and if they were met with spiritual sense, this quality could collapse or be corrupted, eliminating its purity and dropping the end product's quality.

With his Celestial Eyes, he can observe all the intricate details of essences and energies. Therefore, he could accurately determine the best way without interfering or infusing his spiritual sense within. After a proper gauge, he chose the Growth Method: Heatwave Burst Growth Method.

Each material already had fine traces of fire energies within due to the Radiant Flame Extraction Method, so it felt most suitable. When he considered the amount of growth required, he knew this was correct. So, he used his Elemental Origin Intent, interacting with the remnant fire energies while quietly integrating his alchemic force into the structure of each piece.

Then…

BOOM!

With exact measurement and force, each essence and energies were further supplemented, growing in size and radiance. With a long breath, Wei Wuyin faintly smiled in satisfaction. The main factor of this instantaneous growth was the power of his Alchemic Force. With Eden, an Alchemic Astral Soul, the quality of it was absurdly high, further accentuated by its outstanding cultivation foundation.

Growth was one of Alchemic Force's core abilities. It was the act of nurturing via infusion.

He moved on after eyeing each piece of essence and energy left behind. With satisfaction, he chose his Containment Method.

While he was mindlessly going through a process he felt most comfortable with, the King and Emperor Alchemists were all observing.

Their reddened eyes were bulging.

Their mouths were like gaping caves.

Their bodies trembled ceaselessly.

"...!" 

Li Che, as if chiming in on the inner thoughts of everyone, exclaimed with the most shrill-like voice imaginable, "OH MY GOD!"