Paragon of Sin

The once grassy clearing had been reduced to scorch earth, dried and brittle dirt, and lifeless. The surrounding area of two hundred meters was this scene, without an ounce of green in sight. Bai Lin stretched out her large, snow-white wings as she let loose an avian yawned. 

Wei Wuyin's clothing had been reduced to ash alongside the area. Completely naked, he stood with spots of burnt flesh and singed hair. 

"Cough," he spat out a stuffy air. Scratching his head, he inspected Bai Lin, a hint of happiness and a tinge of fear within. Her Nirvanic Flames were terrifyingly powerful, ravaging and forceful. While his mortal body could forcefully withstand her fiery attacks, he was definitely a special existence.

He possessed a body refined by Blazing Inferno Magma Essence, giving him an unnatural heat resistance. Luckily, this heat resistance was further enhanced by his Divine Spirit of Elemental Qi's energies, capable of enhancing his elemental benefits by several-fold.

Inspecting his utter lack of clothing, he warily smiled. While he was resilient, his clothes were not. However, he now had a good understanding of Bai Lin's powers. And, he had a good grasp on her limits and what she can and can not achieve.

"Bai Lin!" He called out, hoping to get a ride out, but when he finally saw this crane of his, his eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets.

Zzzzz!

All he heard was the snoring of a bird, oddly human-like as she nested on the ground. His eyes twitched. Did she not know they traveled like eighty kilometers out for this? The thought of returning by foot was horrifyingly boring. Of course, it never occurred to him to wake up this sleepy bird.

She had brought out her all by his request. His conscience wouldn't even allow him to think of it.

「Spiritual Spell: Spirit Barrier」

「Elemental Array: Set Ward of Eight Directions」

Wei Wuyin established a series of protective spiritual spells and Qi Arrays. After quietly doing so, he departed a distance away. Letting Bai Lin rest was the best.

After a short period, he finally found an area suited for training. It wasn't another clearing, but it was surrounded by lush greens and trees unlike the bleak scorched earth scenery before. He calmly sat down and started to meditate.

"Since becoming a Godlord, an expert at the Eighth Phase of Qi Condensation, I haven't explored my abilities yet. First and foremost, how do I create an avatar?" When he recalled the vivid avatar art used by Wu Xinghong, the Scarlet Warlord and Ancestral Elder of the Scarlet Solaris Sect, he was still filled with wonderment. 

Before he observed that, he never knew those at that level could create avatars or incarnations of themselves. Therefore, he wanted to try it out. Unfortunately, he didn't have any set method or art of which to cultivate, so this would be his own blind exploring.

However, while the task seemed daunting, how did the first cultivator who learned they could do so occurred? He already had a massive advantage over that person—he knew it was possible.

This was all he needed to know to be a thousand years ahead of others. Therefore, what he felt wasn't difficulty, but excitement in the process of success.

"If I had to make an educated guess, then he had to use his spiritual powers as the main driving force. As for the body, it must be constructed from refined Qi with the aspects of creation within. However, the permanence of Qi isn't something I can achieve. Otherwise, I could make legitimate clones of himself.

"The main issue isn't creation, but control. How do I consciously control the avatar? Spiritual sense was great for awareness, but not control. Hm...if I create an avatar then control it within the range of my spiritual sense I can emulate it?" This method seemed the easiest.

So, he tried it.

With a thought, his Divine Spirit of Elemental Qi started to send abundant Elemental Qi through his body which was expelled through his pores. The dense white mist of qi caused the surroundings to experience a change of ambient state. There were faint sounds of thunder, crackling of fire, rushing water, and sizzling of magma. The temperature was indeterminate, becoming cold one moment and hot the next.

The miraculous abilities of elemental qi was truly a wonder to behold. Wei Wuyin felt satisfaction at his cultivation base, but didn't delay. With a thought, the elemental qi started to gather and gather. It became a wad of mist that was about twenty feet high and two hundred feet wide.

It was truly a field of white mist.

"Condense!" He started to formulate hand-seals in the hopes of better commanding his Qi for such an advanced shape manipulation. Indeed, it was intricate and his foresight allowed him to avoid many stability issues. After several minutes, the white mist condensed until it formed the outline of his own body.

For now, it was more like a silhouette than an avatar. Furthermore, it was purely white. He sighed a little at this. It was quite difficult to sculpt his every feature into the mist, but because the mist lacked a solidness, it seemed more like a cloud that 'looked' human.

"How do I achieve solidification?" Wei Wuyin asked this. Normally, this should be a simple matter. A dense compression. But, while it seemed simple, it was anything but. If he compressed it to its limits until it became a solid entity, then it would literally become no greater than a statue.

He needed joints and flexibility of movement. He didn't want a dummy, but a true avatar. With two minds, he could have the avatar perform tasks while he stayed to cultivate, concoct pills, or satisfy his lust without worry. Moreover, if the avatar was destroyed, then so be it.

It was not only a lifeline, but a means to multitask. 

He continued at it for several hours, trying a few solutions. They all failed. In the end, he was a little frustrated. No wonder people loved learning other people's arts, and not devising their own. It was a bit difficult.

That being said, he wasn't a quitter. He continued at it, recalling the details of Wu Xinghong's avatar creation. He gathered from scarlet mist, obviously it was Scarlet Qi, and it was a perfect representation of himself. It was as if he copied his mind, body, essence, and…

Wait!

A spark ignited in his mind. It was a moment of sudden enlightenment. 

It seemed so simple now. Like all the other solutions were simply half-hearted efforts. 

He approached the misty form of his elemental qi. He opened his mouth and from within his esophagus, white light erupted endlessly until a ball of concentrated mist radiating dense spiritual energies exited. This was his Divine Spirit of Elemental Qi's true form after its evolution at the Eighth Phase.

"Enter!" He sent it into his misty avatar. It followed his orders and penetrated the misty avatar and integrated at its dantian area. Almost immediately, a miraculous sight occurred.

The misty form that lacked a solid form rapidly became solid and dense, its form started to shift and in mere seconds, an aura reminiscent of Wei Wuyin's physical body started emanating from it. It soon finished its transformation and an avatar with closed eyes, vivid lifelike features, appeared.

Wei Wuyin's eyes flashed with jubilation at his success! The answer was so simple. Simply have the Divine Spirit of Elemental Qi replicate his essence and body, acting as the control center of the misty Qi. He knew it held a hint of intelligence, so all it took was an order and it perfectly seized its chance and performed perfectly.

After completion, he placed his hand upon the avatar's shoulder and was startled. He felt flesh.

With a squeeze, a wad of white skin was pulled along. 

Thump!

His eyes widened as he took a step back. The shock on his fear was mystical. He had just felt a heartbeat. With a closer inspection, the abdomen of the avatar was expanding and contracting…

Lungs?

Just as he was about to freak out, the avatar opened its eyes and he started. Its pupils were non-existent, and with its white color, it seemed as if the sclera of the eyes were all that existed. It was ghastly and unnatural.

However, before a word could even squeak out yet again, pupils, irises, and a brightness similar to his own was created. His breathing started to rapidly accelerate as he watched the white skin darken until it matched his own and its hair turned as dark as night.

While he wanted an avatar, wasn't this a little too much?

What Wei Wuyin hadn't known at this time was that the Divine Qi of Elemental Qi was merely doing as it was told. It replicated Wei Wuyin's body and essence aspects. This meant a literal clone of himself. A living, breathing clone.

As for the physical energies used to make, wasn't Metaphysical Qi already a byproduct of physical, mental, essence, and spiritual energies? This was their composition, so appropriating priority to one or two wasn't too hard, nor was creating more from the Qi itself.

In fact, it was how cultivators could heal themselves with their qi or, regain their flesh. Even if they didn't have life-type Qi.

In moments, what stood before Wei Wuyin was a perfectly-made clone of himself. With organs, blood, and an essence signature. However, it wasn't without its issues. For example, it lacked a sea of consciousness and soul.

These two things weren't something the Divine Spirit of Elemental Qi could ever create. Perhaps only the Alchemic Spirit of Eden Qi had a chance of recreating a new sea of consciousness. After all, it originated from an existence that randomly birthed its own, capable of experiencing emotions, recalling memories, and establishing a personality.

It took Wei Wuyin a while before he understood what had happened, more or less. He had created a clone of himself. This was the most perfect avatar, because it was him.

Now, all he needed to do was control it...somehow. 

Before he could think further, the Divine Spirit of Elemental Qi exited the avatar, seemingly unable to remain externalized any longer and re-entered him through his mouth, comfortably returning to his dantian. 

For some reason, Wei Wuyin could've swore that he felt pride from this spirit. They truly had their own developing sense of individuality and personality, likely gained from his mind.

"That's it!" Wei Wuyin's eyes blazed once more as realization dawned on him. He walked up to the nude avatar and placed his glabella to the avatar's glabella. His Eden Qi started to rapidly revolve as a tiny, very tiny portion of his sea of consciousness was surgically removed. However, it was seamless and painless.

That severed portion of his sea of consciousness entered the glabella of his avatar, entering his qi-creation brain. It nestled there, but Wei Wuyin felt it.

In moments, it started to latch itself onto the empty mind and a connection was formed between them. When he wished to open his eyes, he was met with the close-up of his avatar's opened eyes.

He stepped back, and so did the avatar. 

He lifted his arm, and so did the avatar.

Then, he closed his eyes. Only his closed. 

The avatar started to move on its own, looking around, but its eyes were newly created and unadjusted to the world, so everything was blurry and lacked a sense of color. However, the inherent qi it was composed of had spiritual energies and started to execute a spiritual spell.

「Spiritual Spell: All-Elemental Eyes」

Suddenly, the world was revealed. He saw his original body and the trees that surrounded them. With these eyes, it could see everything.

"So its lacks a spiritual sense and its physical senses are...not fully working. Well, it makes sense. It doesn't have a spirit, only spiritual energies." He didn't expect the avatar to be perfect, so this was a good result.

"Oh?" The avatar's spiritual energies were rapidly decreasing. Unlike his original body which has vast reserves, this avatar only contained a small amount. Issuing orders to deactivate the spiritual spell, he opened his eyes.

"This avatar of mines needs to be refined continuously with energies of the four types, otherwise it'll be useless." Figuring this out, he inspected the avatar and noticed it was losing physical energies just by existing. It lacked a type of ability that bodies had that kept continuously replacing cells(which physical energies originate). Therefore, as it aged, it started to deteriorate.

If it lost all its physical energies, it would collapse into a pile of spiritual energies. The essence within would return to the ambient essence and his mental energies would disperse without a physical construct to maintain a sea of consciousness to hold it.

After several hours of experimentation, he felt he understood this avatar of his. He waved his hand and the avatar's fleshy body and energies started to vibrate until it became white mist. The white mist gathered and condensed into an orb the size of a baseball in his palm. 

This was the basic state of his avatar. With a thought from his avatar's sea of consciousness, it could invigorate its state and once more emulate himself. This was boundlessly useful. Furthermore, he could continuously inject various energies to strengthen the avatar.

He realized it could barely rival a basic Mortal God, and that was only due to his powerful qi, but it was limited to merely a short burst. After a Qi Art, it would return to its misty form and protect the sea of consciousness within with its remaining energies. He needed time to refine.

In the meantime, he decided on a name for this new art of his.

「Avatar Art: False Mortal God Avatar」

It felt appropriate. He carefully stored it in his three-layered ring for now. 

A small light emitted from his storage ring. It was a transmission crystal. He withdrew it and read the message:

"All targets eliminated." - Su Mei.

Wei Wuyin faintly smiled. This woman was scarily effective. He gave her twenty-three targets, and she killed them all in the span of a day? How horrifyingly frightening. While she had always demonstrated an incredible effectiveness as a subordinate, this was a little terrifying.

A light of alert erupted once more from the transmission crystal. It was Su Mei once more, but this message caused Wei Wuyin to frown. He thought for a moment and warily. 

No wonder.

He sent: "You have my permission."