Paragon of Sin

The creation of the Excavation Stage was a fortuitous event for the numerous spectators at the summit. They were all given time to input generalized products of a certain grade that would benefit their cultivation or specific raw resources, similarly limited by the quality, that suited them.

Those in the Qi Condensation Realm at the lower-stages—Qi Creation, External Flow, and Elemental Birth—were limited to asking for qi-graded raw materials and fourth-grade alchemical products; the middle-stages—Yin Form, Yang Growth, and False Reality—were limited to fifth-grade alchemical products; the upper-stages—Infused Spirituality, Sublime Qi, and Qi Essence—were limited sixth-grade alchemical product.

The Astral Core Realm had the same restrictions with astral-graded raw materials; the lower-stages—World Sea, Sky Ruler, and Soul Idol—were limited to seventh-grade alchemical products; the middle-stages—Spatial Resonance, Light Reflection, and Gravity Emission—were limited to eighth-grade alchemical products; the upper-stages—Realm World, Temporal Eye, and Star Core—were limited to ninth-grade alchemical products, typically concocted by Mortal Sovereign Alchemists.

This was a mighty boon to those Realmlords, Timelords, and Starlords, as many of these cultivators had never tried a ninth-grade product in their entire lifetime, either too rare or too expensive, and now they could simply request one, and it'll be delivered to them with ease! If this wasn't a fortuitous event granted by ungodly levels of luck, then what was?

There was a saying in the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, it went: "Without the ninth elixir, the path to ascension remains forever sealed." This saying was heavily believed to mean that without consuming a ninth-grade product, your chances of ascending to the Mystic Ascendant Realm were depressingly impossible. Whether it was true or not, it infected the minds of many hopefuls and restricted their courage to fight.

The late Ye Ming, despite being a Sect Master of a silver-rank force, had never consumed a ninth-grade product before. There were simply too few in the stellar region relative to how many Starlords existed. The last time the production versus population was taken, roughly three thousand years ago, supposedly for every successfully concocted ninth-grade product, low-quality or higher, there were ninety-three thousand Starlords throughout in any given year. If narrowed to certain starfields or Domains, this number might cause one to grow deathly pale with despair.

So the opportunity to select their specific product was unimaginably the greatest fortune many of them have ever received.

The Excavation Stage lasted eighteen months which came and went much the same way as the Development Stage. The 244 Mortal Sovereign Alchemists went into secluded cultivation with their instructors and began to fiercely concoct for their chance to reclaim their honor. Luo Ning and Du Ling were by themselves, but since Luo Ning was going to act as a solo proxy for Wei Wuyin, there were no objections by anyone.

_{ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ꜰʀᴇᴇᴡᴇʙɴ(ᴏ)ᴠᴇʟ. ᴄᴏᴍ}

Luo Ning didn't have Wei Wuyin's personal instruction and oversight, so she had to handle it herself. Unfortunately, even Wei Wuyin hadn't anticipated the shamelessness of these Mortal Sovereign Alchemists to add another stage of development, so she could only formulate a regiment for Du Ling using his current cultivation as the basis.

Since he was at the Spatial Resonance, she'll attempt to concoct elixirs such as the World-Light Refraction Elixir to better prepare him for the Light Reflection Phase. She used a month and two failures before successfully concocting the World-Light Refraction Elixir. This was a feat that caused her to feel conflicted, but she attributed it to her lack of the All-Elemental Eclipse Cauldron. If she had this, she definitely wouldn't have failed.

However, she had done it! When she brought it to Du Ling, however, the chubby man asked a question that almost caused her spine to shoot up in anger!

"Is it peak-quality?" Just four words, and as an alchemist, these were the words they hated the most to hear. Those who desired a specific quality were extremely spoiled, failing to understand the difficulties of concoctions, and many alchemists would not do business with those who asked for specific qualities. It was a world-resounding success to merely get it at the low-quality!

However, this was Du Ling, and she couldn't snub him and refuse to excavate his remaining potential. Yet, the chubby little mortal shook his head when she told him it was high-quality. According to Du Ling, Wei Wuyin told him to not consume any low or high-quality products!

She was so stunned that her mouth was wide for approximately three minutes, just out of sheer audacious disbelief! When she asked for the logic behind such unreasonable conditions, the answer was effectiveness! She knew that the more products you consumed or a type or similar type reduced continuous consumption, but this…

"Master said to not consume these products because if I consume the peak-quality product AFTER, it'll be severely reduced in its effectiveness." While Wei Wuyin didn't have to worry about that because of his Externalization Spirit Method, others had to refine using their meridians and bodies, so this was always an issue with many seeking higher quality as their first product.

Luo Ning slinked off with a heavy pout and tried to create a peak-quality World-Light Refraction Elixir. She spent the next seven months attempting it, and while she had an astonishing success rate and refinement speed, she had finished thirteen, but none of them was peak-quality. She had to resist the urge of forcing the elixir down Du Ling's throat!

She finally stopped, deciding to spend time analyzing the concoction method and her past successes and failures, to figure out why she was unable to concoct a peak-quality elixir. This took her another three months before she had a spark of realization, greatly eased by the experiences that Wei Wuyin instilled into her.

She attempted it again and…succeeded!

Du Ling consumed the elixir without issue, but he still needed to accumulate light energies and comprehend insights into it. But Wei Wuyin hadn't given his understanding of the Light Reflection Phase to Du Ling, so he was doing so by himself, so advancing in this limited time was certainly impossible.

Luo Ning decided to concoct eighth-grade foundation enhancement products now. She spent the remaining time successfully concocting a few peak-quality products, and grew to measure her success at doing so. She found fresh joy in this new outlook and goal. Several profound details that went into successfully concocting peak-quality products relied heavily on critical aspects of the seven aspects of the Alchemic Dao. She knew that her skill was jumping by leaps and bounds with this mindset!

Eighteen months soon came to an end and the Excavation Stage was over. Evergod's majestic voice announced, "The Excavation Stage of the Saint Cyclic Alchemic Clash has come to an end!" Since San Luoyang was participating in the clash, wholeheartedly focused, he was unable to perform this task.

"Please exit your dwellings!"

The Mortal Sovereign Alchemists too enthralled by their concoctions were shaken awake, forcefully regaining themselves, and realizing the time. The first Alchemic Sovereign to exit was strangely similar to the last, Mu Yura!

Li Qingli strutted out and her aura was extremely terrifying to behold. Her steps left saber marks of brilliant light as footprints. Moreover, her saber circulated with rays of sharp light as if it was a planet, and it emanated an incredible degree of spirituality. She must've cultivated a unique Weapon-Spirit Union Method during this period, forming a resonance link with her Spirit of Cultivation and Saber.

An extremely difficult method to cultivate, and also extremely dangerous! If her saber was damaged, her Spirit of Cultivation was inflicted with similar damage, and if her Spirit was damaged, her saber would suffer. It bonded the two entirely.

Everyone was focused on Li Qingli immediately as she took the spotlight as the first Chosen Knight to appear. Even Mu Yura's outstanding features paled slightly to her Chosen Knight's aura. They could see the faint rippling of ambient mana around her, coinciding perfectly with Li Qingli's breathing.

"She's a Sky Ruler!" An avid fan that had grown to love, respect, and near worship Li Qingli exclaimed excitedly. While she wasn't a nation-toppling beauty, her demeanor and sharpness contained an attractive charm. Now, she had a greater chance of triumphing over Du Ling in the upcoming Chosen Stage.

Then, Xun Yicao made his exit! Hearts and expectations were roaring! What will these Chosen Knights be pushed to? How much latent potential was brought out during these eighteen months?