Paragon of Sin

Floating in the vast, nigh-endless Dark Void atop a large, earthen sphere was a middle-aged man. His chiseled features, sword-like eyebrows, unfathomable eyes of imperialistic presence, and refined mustache completed with a chin strap created an incredibly handsome visage that would swoon the hearts of endless women. 

Without doing anything, he naturally gave off a domineering aura that demanded respect and incited caution. At this moment, he firmly held a hand-seal as spiritual light swirled around him in a gorgeous, mesmerizing fashion. 

Wu Yu had diligently and patiently stayed with the Terra-Mystic Ore for several months as its guardian. Earlier, he had relocated the Terra-Mystic Ore closer to the Treasured Light Starfield after the spiritquake shook the entire Grand Cyclic Stellar Region. He had not spent this time idly. His cultivation efforts hadn't ceased since his role as a Dharma Protector of the motherlode of Terra-Mystic Ore was given to him. 

The cultivation of Mystic Ascendants was unlike the Mortal Realms, especially the lower-stages. It focused heavily on comprehension of Mystic Intent, affinity with Mystic Energies, accumulation and formation of Mystic Runes, and bravery to tackle their Ascensions. Wu Yu's recent resurrection via the Ever-Rebirth Pill had changed his bodily affinity with Mystic Energies, enough to instill immense confidence to re-attempt the Third Ascension. 

However, he had thoroughly learned his lesson regarding the utmost difficulties of the Mystic Ascendant Realm; thus, Wu Yu refused to go headlong into his next attempt. He no longer had the King of Everlore to bring his talents to fruition, so he needed to take things slowly. 

Long ago, the King of Everlore was a firm and stable crutch that allowed him to walk fast and further down the path of cultivation. But when it was removed, his legs were too weak to handle the pressure that descended from the cultivation path. He nearly lost his life from this mistake. 

While he knew that his talents were not ordinary, after observing Long Chen, Wei Wuyin, Wu Baozhai, and various other geniuses closely from the ring, he learned he lacked what they had: Work Ethic. While Long Chen was driven to madness and inevitably met his end by the hands of his lack of foresight, insecurities, and inner demons, he had put enormous effort into proving himself and consolidating his cultivation, only moving forward after obtaining a firm foothold. 

His talents were definitely no lesser than Long Chen, but that crutch was both a great benefit and its removal was a needed reminder. Thus, he spent the last couple of months consolidating his thousands of years of cultivation insights. He felt enlightened and far lighter than before. 

Thanks to the peak Mystic-Earth grade Terra-Mystic Ore, he had a fascinating reference to observe the fluctuations of mystic essences and aura. This provided a bountiful harvest towards consolidating his insights of Mysticism. This allowed him to learn of his deficiencies as an Ascended cultivator. 

Suddenly, his eyes flashed with spiritual light with ethereal runes swimming within his pupils. He turned his gaze towards an area and felt space begin to shift and change, and a void black sphere the size of a pea formed. His eyes honed onto the pea-sized sphere and observed it thoroughly.

"Void Portal!" He instantly realized what was happening, and a wisp of elation emerged in his heart. While the King of Everlore was a clutch that taught him an unforgettable lesson, he didn't dismiss the utmost importance of an Alchemist to cultivators and their cultivations. He wouldn't dare dilute his own valued opinion of them, and Wei Wuyin wasn't like the King of Everlore. 

He felt...different.

The Void Portal manifested fully as a small-sized white Voidship pushed through it and arrived. Wu Yu halted his cultivation efforts as he stood upright and awaited. When he did this, he couldn't help but think about how his internal thoughts had changed. In his life before, he wouldn't dare follow an Alchemist as a subordinate; even his union with the King of Everlore was mutually beneficial. He never considered the King of Everlore his leader, master, or anything far beyond his own status. 

But now, he had fixed his posture and patiently waited for a person to appear, even cancelling his cultivation. The illustrious Grand Monarch that had once dominated an entire Starfield and ruled over trillions of living beings no longer had an issue being a subordinate. If Long Chen were here, he would've never acted the same for him. 

'I guess I should rename myself to Grand Knight,' he internally joked, but there was no discomfort in his mind towards it. Wei Wuyin wasn't just an Alchemist of astonishing talent and skill, but he was a cultivator with boundless talent. If there was someone he would willingly serve, then it could only be a person like this. 

Wei Wuyin stepped towards the railing of the Voidship, sending his spiritual sense outwards to notice the earthen sphere with his spiritual marking. He gave a faint smile and drove forward. 

When he finally arrived, he and Bai Lin left the Voidship. He initiated his draconic transformation to survive in the Dark Void, stored the Voidship, and descended upon the earthen sphere. Wu Yu looked towards Wei Wuyin and realized that his outfit had changed, yet the aura emitted from it carried traces of mystic qualities. He'd only felt this fluctuation from Terra-Mystic Ore, yet the outfit was clearly cloth. Furthermore, it had an elemental aura that he couldn't pinpoint. 

"Young Lord," Wu Yu greeted. 

The Young Lord appellation was randomly decided by Wu Yu to state his status, adding a bit of allure to Wei Wuyin's name. Wei Wuyin didn't have an issue with it, especially since it was better than Tuo Bihan's sporadic title changes, even calling him little lass once before. Hearing Wu Yu's respectful words and his stable aura, Wei Wuyin sighed with a hint of relief that this wasn't damaging his Imperial Heaven Qi. 

Wu Yu frowned, "Your eyes?" To him, Wei Wuyin was now unfathomable. He couldn't determine his exact cultivation base, and inspecting him was the same as perceiving a boundless chasm of darkness. It was inscrutable. While he was confident that invading Wei Wuyin's body with his spiritual sense would reveal details, that was an absurdly rude action, especially for a subordinate. But despite him being shrouded in mystery, the closed eyes were extremely noticeable. 

Wei Wuyin wryly smiled. This was definitely the first thing people would notice about him, and for those who didn't know him, they'll think him blind. He dismissively answered, "My Ocular Cultivation Method is facing some instability issues. Have you met any…" 

Wei Wuyin paused for a moment, then abruptly asked: "Wu Yu, do you know about the Celestial Eyes of Spiritual Divinity Method?" While he had recalled that memory from earlier, he just realized that Wu Yu and the King of Everlore's relationship was firm, and his sect had the Celestial Eyes of Spiritual Divinity. Since Tuo Bihan was aware of it, then Wu Yu, the founder of the Myriad Monarch Sect, should be far more knowledgeable. 

"Celestial Eyes of Spiritual Divinity?" Wu Yu was taken aback by this question. He frowned for a moment as his mental energies circulated to extract any memories of this name. Unfortunately, he shook his head. "Is that the name of your Ocular Cultivation Method?" 

"...?" Wei Wuyin was confused. He pressed suspiciously, "You don't know about the King of Everlore's Ocular Cultivation Method? It was in your Martial King's Dao Palace." 

"Martial King's Dao Palace? He cultivated this method?" Wu Yu was genuinely confused as he tried hard to find any memory related to this, but he shook his head. "To my knowledge, the King of Everlore never cultivated an Ocular Spell of this name. He cultivated a wood-attributed ocular spell he named the Everlore Eyes of Endlessness. I don't know its original name, but is yours wood-attributed?"

"What?!" Wei Wuyin was floored by this statement. How could this be true? Tuo Bihan had mentioned that the King of…

Wait, why would Tuo Bihan know this? 

Silver eyes! 

But…

The confusion piled on endlessly without any sign of stopping. It didn't make sense. Why was it in the Martial King's Dao Palace, and why did Tuo Bihan say the King of Everlore cultivated this spell? Or was Wu Yu mistaken? 

"What can the Everlore Eyes of Endlessness do?" 

Wu Yu didn't pause a single second to answer, "The eyes can grow and nurture wood-attributed materials, heightening the quality of its essence and imbuing them with a spiritual quality. It elevated his alchemy to another level. Almost all of his personal alchemic products used wood-attributed materials as core material; you haven't noticed this?" 

Wei Wuyin's mind stirred fiercely as he recalled the Ever-Rebirth Pill, Everlore Ascension Pill, and the others. He immediately realized the truth in that statement. When he was cultivating in the Scarlet Solaris Sect, it was mentioned that the King of Everlore was a wood-attributed cultivator, but Wei Wuyin learned to not fully trust records of the lowest level.

"..." Wei Wuyin's mind circulated wildly as he contemplated how this could be. He sought clarification, "Are you certain he didn't cultivate a secondary ocular method?" 

Wu Yu looked at Wei Wuyin and faintly smiled, "You should know that ocular-based cultivation methods are very, very difficult to integrate alongside another. It requires you to change your eyes on a structural level. To properly change Ocular Methods, you'd need a new set of eyes or use one eye for each. But I'm quite familiar with the Everlore Eyes of Endlessness, I've even studied it myself, and it was both eyes. Can this method of yours layer another method atop it?"

"..." Wei Wuyin knew Wu Yu was telling the truth because he tried and failed! The Celestial Eyes of Spiritual Divinity changed his eyes permanently, so changing it would require destroying it and regrowing it into a fresh set. Furthermore, the Celestial Eyes' three formations were deeply integrated in his Sea of Consciousness, Mind's Eye, and eyes. To remove those…

But if Wu Yu was telling the truth, then why did Tuo Bihan believe this and connect it to his silver eyes? He needed to find out why Tuo Bihan thought this. He absolutely needed to. 

"Will you be fine?" Wu Yu asked worriedly. He knew that certain methods had flaws that could derail a person's entire cultivation path if they plateaued at certain points without a very specific impetus. The Tang Clan's cultivation method was an example of this, gating their ability to become Earthly Saint.

"I'll be fine; I already have some solutions in mind. That aside, have you met any issues guarding the Terra-Mystic Ore?" Wei Wuyin decided to change the topic.

Wu Yu recounted his experience with the spiritquake. Besides that, he met with no other issues. This relieved Wei Wuyin and he glanced at the Terra-Mystic Ore. "Let's store this then," Wei Wuyin touched the earthen sphere and interacted with Cai Liuyang's former mystic-graded spatial ring. With a whirring sound, the entire sphere vanished.

"...!" Wu Yu's eyes widened with disbelief. "Y-you!" He was fully aware that mystic-graded materials couldn't be stored in spatial rings. After all, it conflicted with spatial energies regardless of the product. 

Wei Wuyin smacked his hands with a smile. "Now, I have some questions regarding the Mystic Ascendant Realm that I hope you can answer. Firstly, why didn't you mention anything about the language—Mysticism?" 

"Mysticism?"