Paragon of Sin

Xue Yu's sunken eyes were brightly lit while Xue Han was in deep thought. This information was highly valuable and shocking. It was already rare for an Alchemic King to arrive on a continent, let alone one with such prestigious reputation and acclaimed talent. If they could form relations with him, even the smallest tie, wouldn't their futures be completely set? 

This thought wasn't limited to just them, but it was infectious in all of them. The difficulties in cultivation were often alleviated or entirely abolished with the support of alchemical products. Those who had no talent could ascend the Astral Core Realm, joining the five million experts of the starfield! How grand was this thought? Even these lofty princes and princesses didn't have a hundred percent chance of reaching the Astral Core Realm.

Furthermore, the greater the alchemist, the easier it was for them to reconstruct your innate talent or support you into higher phases of cultivation. The King of Everlore was renowned for essentially providing the keys for the current five hegemons of the Tri-Vision Starfield! And this was during the golden era where experts at the Astral Core Realm were far more numerous!

"Fei'er, what do you think?" Xue Yu questioned this sister of his. The tone at which he spoke was gentle and filled with caution. It was as if he was somewhat afraid to offend her, seeking approval to speak further on this matter.

Fei'er, or Xue Yifei, was silent. Her hazel eyes behind her veil were rippling endlessly with thoughts and calculations. Her lack of comment caused the rest of the room to fall into an incomparably tense silence. Even the old man could only breathe lightly, yet in his heart, he was a little frustrated.

If Xue Yifei wasn't just beautiful, then he wouldn't have any issue having such reverence and respect in his heart for her, but...she was...just beautiful. To put it simply, her birthright was all-time low by royalty standards. Born from a maidservant and a one-night-stand at that. Moreover, not only was her talent incomparably average even when compared to Xue Han or Xue Yu, she wasn't very skilled in the Dao of Design, Forging, or Alchemy.

While the only exceptional quality of hers was a decent level of deductive reasoning and slightly greater intelligence, it wasn't noteworthy because she lacked the resources, status, and talent to fully nurture and apply it. Her entire facade of esteem and prestige was entirely based on a single person—A man.

Earlier this year, this man had caused immense chaos on the Bloodforge Continent and slaughtered numerous individuals. With his abilities, he killed an Astral Core Realm cultivator while at the Qi Condensation Realm. And, he had recently ascended to the Astral Core Realm. 

Their relationship was unordinary and he was very, very sensitive, easily driven to anger, and quite murderous. The reason everyone gave her such respect was fear of offending that sole figure that will likely dominate a portion of the Myriad Monarch Astral Territory in the future. If it wasn't for him, she would've long since been married off for the betterment of the country or been the plaything of one of her siblings. While it was a bleak reality, it was the reality she was born to.

In the end, after a long moment of silence, Xue Yifei abruptly stood up and looked towards the old man. She said, "I would like to go for a walk." While this sounded casual, it felt more like an order that could not be denied.

The old man smilingly nodded. With a flash of bright light, the two vanished from the room leaving the others in a slight daze. Xue Yu paused for a moment before he clenched his teeth slightly, grinding them against each other. 'That bitch is trying to be the first to make a move! Screw this wench!'

He cursed in his heart before he left with his own protectors. While they were severely lacking in comparison to the old man, they were still experts at the Ninth Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm. With two at his beck and call, they soared away in the direction Chen Xiaowei took off.

Xue Han didn't follow the other two. When he left, he sought to return to the capital. 

-----

In the Blood Titan City, Manor of the Chen Clan.

Wei Wuyin was situated in a rather luxurious courtyard designed for respected guests. After having a little conversation with Chen Xiaowei, they had settled on compensation and his little favor. It was minor really: allow him to stay in the Chen Clan for a period of time. He needed a place to stay. It was that simple.

Of course, she didn't reject his request. In fact, she was ecstatic.

As they flew towards the Chen Manor, he discovered that she was rather easy to have a conversation with. Despite his current reputation and status, she was capable of comfortably holding a conversation with him. There were some too scared to even breathe loudly in his presence or women that sought his favor and bed, but she was rather neutral and friendly.

He liked this. So, he decided to reward her a little bit more when deciding the appropriate compensation. In truth, Wei Wuyin fully intended to claim the Bloodforge Continent as one of his territories in the immediate future. Initially, he planned to plant his own Bloodforge King, but it might be better to select a native. The Chen Clan didn't seem too bad, well, Chen Xiaowei didn't seem too bad.

Keeping her candidacy in mind, he couldn't help but recall that breathtakingly gorgeous woman that sat with those other officials. According to Chen Xiaowei, she was likely Xue Yifei, and news of her had been rather rampant lately. Originally, she was a lowly princess born from a maidservant, and her status and talent were widely considered as being lower than expected standards. This was until she reached adulthood and became a nation-toppling beauty. Then, all sorts of events happened around her.

For example, there was a young man, an absolute genius of a cultivator, who caused extreme mayhem and slaughter for a period of time. There was even a manhunt for him by a recently destroyed superpower that exceeded even the Chen Clan.

This superpower belonged to the outside of the Xue Country, but its leader was a Second Stage Astral Core Realm expert. Supposedly, a year ago, this expert and his subordinates were all brutally killed in a grand battle against that man. He was called Yuan Longshi, and Xue Yifei had an unordinary relationship with him. This caused her status and perceived importance to skyrocket as he'd been very vocal about supporting her after fully establishing his name, power, and reputation on the continent.

Others called him the Demonic Dragon.

He was of a demon lineage and a human, and said to have gained the legacy of a True Dragon. Regardless of the truth, his combat abilities spoke for themselves as he had achievements that exceeded Long Chen and Wei Wuyin's. When he was at the Seventh Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, he had killed an Astral Core Realm cultivator!

While they've both killed Astral Core Realm experts while at the Qi Condensation Realm, they both used external support and means.

This intrigued Wei Wuyin as he realized he likely found another Blessed, because according to his exploits, he had survived way too much to just be a little lucky. While low-valued Blessed might make minor impacts like he had before, high-valued Blessed's actions were truly too hard to ignore. Even Long Chen's past was like an epic tale out of a fantasy novel, let alone this guy.

'I had to work my ass off, fight off countless deadly schemes, and strive for scraps, while they were...' He truly felt a hint of grievance against the Heavenly Daos when he thought about it. The indignant feeling lasted for a brief moment before it was suppressed. This type of mentality was an abyss that he didn't wish to delve into. He inspected his Bloodline of Sin tattoo.

Karmic Luck Value: 563.2

First Calamity: Survived - 7/7.

Second Calamity: Suppressed - 36 Years.

His karmic luck value was immense, yet he hadn't experienced a deduction since that 0.1 incident that seemingly pulled him towards the Bloodforge Continent. Was it because he didn't have a specific need for anything? When he was attempting to form his Elemental Qi, he met fortune after fortune that helped him attain it. 

He found this somewhat strange. What conditions must be met before the Heavenly Daos make arrangements? While slightly pondering this, he lifted his eyes to observe the outside world. With his Celestial Eyes, he saw that breathtaking figure once more, guarded by an old man within an Inn of the Blood Titan City.

Xue Yifei was staying there, seemingly patiently waiting for something or verifying his presence within the manor. It seemed his first goal had been achieved. With a bright smile, he decided to cultivate for a period.

Now that he was in the Astral Core Realm, he should improve his four Astral Cores. Their current size was merely half a millimeter and while this was impressive for a cultivator who recently ascended, it wasn't satisfying to him in the slightest. The Astral Core size reflected the levels of quality and quantity of the 'World Sea' within, which was his refined astral force that originated from his mental, physical, essence, and spiritual energies.

Bringing out his cauldron, he started to make preparations. Using the Thirty-Three Heavenly Concoction Method, he withdrew thirty-three portions of materials to produce Astral Sea Pills. These were seventh-grade, peak-tier pills. Their primary effect was to expand the Astral Core, while their secondary effect could improve the durability and resilience of one's meridians. 

Generally, each product had two effects. Its primary effect, which wouldn't increase after reaching low-quality, and its secondary effect, which would improve in high and peak-quality.

According to the recipe's description, a single pill can expand the Astral Core by a tenth of a millimeter. This was essentially increasing Wei Wuyin's current reserves and power by 10 to 20%. While the effectiveness wasn't permanently consistent—the more your Astral Soul consumed, the less benefits it would provide—Wei Wuyin fully intended to treat these pills like candy.

He started concocting.