Paragon of Sin

The old man watched Wei Wuyin with keen interest, but after eating the dried peach with chrome-colored liquid, not reacting in any adverse manner, his expression became somewhat strange. It took him a long moment before he sighed to himself. 'Aren't you a little too monstrous?'

Thinking this, the old man chuckled, only reacting after noticing Wei Wuyin snag a handful of dried peaches from his paper bag. Before he could react, one by one, the dried peaches were rapidly eaten in a single bite. His eyebrows twitched. Those were Deepstar Peaches dipped in Blazing Incandescent Liquid! To think Wei Wuyin could even eat one in a single bite was unimaginable!

"Haaa…" The old man felt defeated. But this secondary sigh caused him to lose another handful of his precious peaches. He hurriedly retrieved his hand, stowing the paper bag away almost magically without a hint of spatial fluctuation.

"What's wrong? Those were delicious," Wei Wuyin commented with a wisp of sadness in his voice. He ate another, looking at the old man with a sly smile. 

Wei Wuyin was well-aware that these fruits were extremely precious, containing essences of incredible origin, and each time they entered his body, outside of the taste, Eden would quickly absorb it and transform it into gentle energies. These energies had thoroughly given him a shock as he felt his body's physical and mental foundation increase by a single percentage in quality. Given his abnormally refined bodily condition, this was even better than a thousand eighth-grade pellets designed to reinforce those energies. 

Furthermore, he had long since reached the peak of his body and Sea of Consciousness' condition at his current stage of cultivation, unable to elevate it even with ninth-grade products, but these peaches were capable of breaking past this limit! If a normal cultivator at the Spatial Resonance Phase had eaten this, they might be boiling out of their skin, convulsing and nearing death.

The old man couldn't afford Wei Wuyin's appetite. "You're a little too much," the old man answered before continuing, "You must be curious about what happened, right?" He said, pointing at the three projected images.

"..." Wei Wuyin looked at the old man for a short moment, and then clicked his tongue. "So, there are more outsiders present, not in the trial. Do they all have bodyguards like you?" Wei Wuyin was a little frustrated, realizing the truth from the old man's presence.

Startled, the old man was once more awed by how quick Wei Wuyin could come up with this conclusion. While there were clues, there was nothing directly saying these individuals were outsiders. They could be carefully cultivated geniuses of the native faction, awaiting the ascension of a Holy Child to capitalize on it.

Still, the old man responded with a nod. "Do I need to explain anything, or do you have it all figured out?" He asked with a bitter smile, wondering if he even needed to waste his breath. He had long since realized that Wei Wuyin was an official member of this trial, so he had no protector like himself. He almost felt aggrieved for Wei Wuyin, considering the state of things.

"Please." Wei Wuyin wasn't all-knowing, so he wouldn't lose his desire to learn more to act smart. 

The old man smiled, feeling useful. "Where should I begin? Let's see...the trial? Yes. This location isn't a trial, per-se. Instead, its more of a training ground that the True Element Sect established in its early days and sold off long ago to a particular faction called the Golden Life Pavilion. It does, however, have a trial inside it.

"The World Realm is divided into four seasons, the Season of Regression, which we're currently in, the Season of Devils, which is fully about survival and combat, the Season of Flourish, and the Season of Elements. The Season of Regression suppresses the world, forcing the cultivators training here to rely on Intent, Arts, and Spells, their own cultivated strengths.

"Typically, cultivators often lose themselves in their high cultivation, unintentionally establishing bad habits and weak foundations by overly relying on the benefits of their cultivation bases. The Season of Regression eliminates this. Even Timelords aren't much stronger than Realmlords here, far unlike the real world. A dozen Realmlords would be crushed by a Timelord with little issue outside.

"The Season of Devils hones battle instincts and one's sense of deadly crisis, forcing one to survive in an extremely hostile environment. Here, learning conservation of astral force and strategic thinking becomes key.

"The Season of Flourish is a peaceful season, the ambient energies within the environment are invigorated, such as spatial energies, light energies, gravitational forces, which in turn promotes an easier time to comprehend the mysteries of the Astral Core Realm. It also gives birth to unique treasures.

"Lastly, the Season of Elements, which is similar to the Season of Flourish, but useful in comprehending Elemental Intents of various levels, especially high-level intent in certain regions. It's not that relevant if you don't cultivate an element, however."

Wei Wuyin soaked all this in, learning more about what he'd previously read and now he understood why. A training ground? Sold? Golden Life Pavilion? Many of the peculiarities of this World Realm were answered. A dual trial and training ground, primarily used as a training ground.

The old man continued, "We, well those like me, are here to act as protectors of certain influential youths within the training ground so they aren't inadvertently killed by a native Realmlords or Timelords unknown about their reason for living. These youths can then hone their skills for over a decade, cycling through each Season at least once.

"The seasons cycle in this order: Flourish, Element, Regression, and Devils, each lasting four years on average, sometimes a month or two difference, give or take. We're about a few weeks before the next shift. That was, of course, until this happened," the old man pointed to the sky. "The safe zone for devils has spread across the entire continent. There's no longer a Season of Devils. We checked, it is indeed the case. A rule of the trial within, I guess. The Golden Life Pavilion overseer is a little pissed, funnily enough."

Wei Wuyin frowned, "Why are these youths participating in the trial?" He was peeved about this little detail. From what he gathered, this was a trial to determine the Chosen of the True Element Sect, a lost and forgotten one. Lin Ming, with the ancient and nascent legacy of the Divine King Han Xei, was trying to become a Chosen through this trial. These youths came from similar or equal forces, so why?

The old man chuckled, giving Wei Wuyin a sidelong glance. He pointed at Wei Wuyin. "Because of you," he couldn't hold back a little sinister laugh.

"Me?" Wei Wuyin was somewhat taken aback, but only for a moment. 

The old man nodded, "Yes, you. You obtained three badges and threw everything out of whack, but more, you let them all see what was within the Grand Earth Cache." At the end his words, he started to laugh again, recalling the entire fiasco that led to the end of the so-called Holy Clans' reign. 

"..." Wei Wuyin was now truly startled, his eyebrows furrowed so deeply that they were nearly vertical. "Fuck…" was all he could say. He had thoroughly miscalculated in that regard. His exposure had leaked the normally secret, unknown location of the cache to the world.

While he had taken care of the Grand Earth Cache in seconds, and felt no senses on him, those outsiders had cultivation bases that exceeded Mortal Limits. How could he know their methods? He wasn't even familiar with what a Mystic Ascendant Realm cultivator could do! They knew exactly what happened and what's inside.

"Fuck, indeed." The old man slapped his knee, finding a frustrated Wei Wuyin pleasing to the eye. "When they informed their little demons of talent, how do you think they reacted? At first, they wanted to act against you, but our jobs are to strictly observe and protect, not be their thugs and stooges. We told them if they wanted to make a move, they'd need to do so against you directly, with the possibility of death. We won't even interfere if you ordered your Realmlords and Timelords to act against them.

"But your results in the Holy Ceremony were a little too terrifying as well, haha. So they decided on the alternative: Obtain their own cache. Of course, only three succeeded in comprehending Apex-level Elemental Intent, not including the grey-eyed youth there. I don't know where he came from, but he took that little brat of mine out of the competition, how unlucky." The old man sighed at the end, feeling the young woman was given the shaft once again by a handsome youth, and it didn't feel remotely pleasant.

Learning that Lin Ming had defeated that young woman left him unsurprised. He was a Blessed after all. As long as his Karmic Luck stood strong, he would always beat his enemies or survive any ordeal.

"But the trial...collecting the badges," Wei Wuyin did not want to fight these so-called talented youths. Not because of their strength, but their protectors and backing. While the old man might be under the presumption that he originated from an outstanding origin, he didn't have anything that impressive.

In terms of background, it consisted of just one thing: himself. 

Hearing Wei Wuyin's voice twisted with vexation, the old man patted his shoulder in a consoling effort. "No worries. As long as you don't intend to kill or cripple them, those old gargoyles of theirs won't interfere. This is your trial. In fact, they might just give you the badges for the right price. You could even form excellent relations with them." While he said this, he felt that Wei Wuyin's backing was far, far greater than these youths.

If not, how else does one reason that he possessed a 39,300 Spirit Unit Level at eight years of cultivation? It was absolutely absurd, something only an Alchemist that exceeded Mortal-tier could accomplish or a high-level Mystic Ascendant Realm cultivator could produce through certain inborn gifts they've bestowed.

It would be to their benefit to befriend Wei Wuyin.

Wei Wuyin understood this concept of using silk, not blades, feeling slightly better. But Lin Ming was still his greatest competitor. Sooner or later, he'll collect the badges of the other two, and bring them to him. So all he felt he had to do was wait. But should he?