Paragon of Sin

Wei Wuyin's emotions stirred, giving this seemingly ordinarily sized door another look. This was a gateway to another starfield? Which? Could it be…

His thoughts rapidly started to circulate as he contemplated the implications of this, including the bits of knowledge he'd obtained thus far. Wei Wuyin regained his calm extremely quickly. "This must've been left behind by the Envoy of the King of Everlore. It's a Void Gate, right? To where?"

Qingye Ying was incredibly shocked by how calm Wei Wuyin was, feeling utter disbelief at the moment. When she first learned of the existence of this Gate of the Myriad Excellence, she had a stupefied expression for at least an hour. Was this a difference of mental stability? She pouted beneath her veil, revealing a cute appearance that no one but Wei Wuyin could see.

Qingye Yun felt impressed by Wei Wuyin's composure, nodding inwardly in approval. He answered, "Yes. Shortly after the Alchemist Association stabilized its foundation, an Envoy of the King of Everlore descended. While I only have journals and records left by my ancestors to extrapolate from, what I can gather is that it was left for a future successor."

"Future successor?" Wei Wuyin turned his head to see Qingye Ying's cute pout, and when she noticed his gaze, she stuck out her pink tongue, believing no one was capable of witnessing her actions.

Qingye Yun confirmed his thoughts, "It was stated that all those who can manifest an Alchemic Astral Soul can enter the Gate of the Myriad Excellence Tower. What was recorded had been somewhat contradicting and vague, but what was consistently clear was that it led to another starfield and it was linked to a force with deep connections to the King of Everlore.

"Those who enter will be...much like your sect's discipleship, accepted by that force to continue their cultivation and obtain the legacy of the King of Everlore. If it wasn't for such a long time having passed, I believe it might've been a trial for a special type of disciple for the King of Everlore himself!" Qingye Yun was excited by the theory but also depressed. There had been more than eight thousand years since the end of the King of Everlore's Era, he was likely long dead.

"This is why you wanted me to help you? To enter this gateway and obtain discipleship from whatever lay on the other side?" Wei Wuyin was confused. Did Qingye Yun realize that he had an Alchemic Astral Soul? But he could've sworn it was very, very difficult to perceive. He didn't think Qingye Yun, an expert at the Sixth Stage of the Astral Core Realm, could sense it when others at his level with stronger senses and closer proximity couldn't.

"Yes, but not for you. All those without an Alchemic Astral Soul are unable to breach the gateway, repelled by a powerful force. Some have even been directly crippled." Those words verified that Qingye Yun was in the dark of his Alchemic Astral Soul, but this only served to further Wei Wuyin's confusion.

Wei Wuyin glanced at Qingye Ying, "She's the one you've chosen?" 

As if offended somehow, Qingye Ying snorted softly to reveal her displeasure. She was a genuine Alchemic Astral Soul Alchemist with a boundless future; Unlike a particular someone, it was obvious that she was one who would venture into the world beyond and experience grander things.

"If that's the case, and you believe I can't travel through the gateway, then why do you need my help? After all, Saintess Ying has all the requirements to enter," Wei Wuyin said skeptically.

Qingye Yun's expression twisted slightly and even Qingye Ying's eyes flashed with a solemn light. A gust of depressed air suffused the atmosphere. The medallion within Qingye Yun's hands released a soft sound at this moment, prompting the door to close with a heavy thud. 

The trio turned their eyes to the now-closed door. Wei Wuyin had never seen such an exquisite Void Gate, finding it quite interesting that something of this level had been constructed thousands of years ago. He couldn't help but draw a link to the Ancient Void Gate found on the Bloodforge Continent. While they might not have a direct link, he felt as if they might've been constructed for the same purpose.

When he recalled losing a potential Ascendant candidate, someone who prematurely wielded exceptional spatial force before the Realmlord level, he frowned with contemplation, reaching for the crescent moon necklace that always hung around his neck. This was likely the key to the Ancient Void Gate, similar to Qingye Yun's medallion.

He had obtained this from the first Blessed he'd killed, an unnamed Commander, and it contained the Spatial Jade Crystal. This crystal was refined with boundless lifeforce and transformed, allowing Kratos to become a Void Soul. There was also a book that required a unique spiritual spell to peeceive. If he recalled correctly, it had three pages and only three words: Will, Void, and Weapon.

While he was pondering the possibilities, Qingye Yun finally ended his solemn silence with a heavy sigh. Wei Wuyin quickly made a mental note to check the contents of that book later.

"You're right. By all means, Qingye Ying should be able to enter the gateway, but there's an additional requirement we hadn't discovered and it was more implied than anything else. To develop an Alchemic Soul, you know there's a base requirement to do so, right?" Qingye Yun asked, seemingly wanting Wei Wuyin to reach a conclusion.

Wei Wuyin didn't find this annoying, merely started to ponder. His mental processing speed was empowered by four Astral Souls and extremely high-grade alchemical products. He swiftly started to evaluate possible issues. Then, a few seconds later, his silver eyes glowed faintly.

"Alchemic Talent." After stating this, Wei Wuyin turned to inspect a seemingly downtrodden Qingye Ying. Her head was lowered and her fists were tightly clenched. When Wei Wuyin entered the Eden Earth Sect, his Alchemic Talent was tested. It was only after it was discovered to be impressively high that he became a disciple to the Eden Earth Sect's Sect Master. He was forced to cultivate a unique method and birth his third spirit, which would later become Eden. 

He understood the concept of innate talent, and it was how the body interacts with specific energies. For example, Qing Qiumu had the greatest wood cultivation talent in the starfield for thousands of years, having a triple set of innate qualities, which elevated her compatibility with wood energies. Even Na Xinyi had a high compatibility with Yin Energies, similarly elevating her talent.

There was also neutral-based cultivation talent, which was the rate at which one absorbed ambient essence or essence from objects. Wei Wuyin was quite talented in this regard, but he knew that Su Mei was even greater. This didn't factor his four Astral Souls that can externalize, amplifying his refinement speed by tens of thousands of times. 

Many sects used this standard to give a projection of one's future limit. While the Alchemic Dao could accelerate your cultivation, it was either extremely expensive or time-consuming to practice for normal cultivators. The only way for it to help the average cultivator was to reach a very high level of skill, like Tuo Bihan, or possess a wealthy background to purchase products from others.

Qingye Yun nodded, similarly looking at Qingye Ying. "Alchemic Talent…"

Wei Wuyin blurted out in revelation, "So she had the requisite talent to develop an Alchemic Soul, but she had ruined that talent. I'm assuming it had to do with the impurities within the Everlore Ascension Pill she took? It's all about adapting the physique to unique energies, so it makes sense the impurities would influence the same line. Now, while she fits the basic requirement of an Alchemic Soul, her compatibility with alchemical energies have been severely reduced to below the acceptable threshold."

Qingye Ying was shocked by Wei Wuyin's quick deduction, further clenching her fists and biting her soft lips.

"Yes," Qingye Yin admitted. "She had taken a highly impure-quality Everlore Ascension Pill. While we had numerous Alchemic Emperors concocting this pill, it was still ninth grade and extremely difficult. We had failed for millennia, but when we succeeded, it was the highest acceptable impure-quality pill. And while it thrusted her into the Astral Core Realm, it thoroughly ruined her natural talents. We hadn't expected it to be so thorough, and our plans to remedy the situation after the fact became pointless. It's not just for alchemical energies, but her Astral Soul can't absorb ambient essences to cultivate."

This time, Wei Wuyin was thoroughly shocked. He used his spiritual sense to inspect Qingye Ying, completely forgetting about etiquette. She didn't reject his spiritual sense in the slightest and he silently inhaled cold wisp of air soon after. He wouldn't have imagined she was crippled without seeming to be crippled. 

Her path to cultivation was over.

"How is she recovering her expended energy?" He inquired. She had clearly concocted properly and restored herself as well during the All-Alchemic Clash.

As if expecting the question, "She's using an astral formation inscribed on her dantian and meridians, interconnected with her Astral Soul acting as independent meridians and forcefully gathering, refining, and injecting energies into her cultivation base. It gives off the illusion of her state being normal."

Wei Wuyin couldn't help but equate such deception to Wu Baozhai's Primal Yin concealment formation, giving the illusion of her intact virginity.

"..." The room went quiet for several awkward seconds. 

"Haaa...okay, but why me? Why did you think I was needed for this?" Wei Wuyin finally got to the point, realizing that even if Qingye Ying did enter the gateway, she would likely be rejected either by the gate or the force beyond unless they had a solution to her issue. 

It was finally here, prompting Qingye Yun's expression to become serious. "For you to reach your current level without an Alchemic Astral Soul, you must have the lowest-grade of Overlord-level talent, at least. There's an ancient method left behind by one of my ancestors, it's called the Meridian Grafting Method. We would remove Qingye Ying's tainted portions of her meridians and graft yours to her body, allowing her to regain her talent to cultivate."

Wei Wuyin frowned, shockingly adding: "So I see. But the Meridian Grafting Method only allows someone to acquire a portion of the other's talent as a result, and if you used with someone with low talent, she still wouldn't be able to enter the gateway, defeating the purpose. But what's Overlord-level Alchemic Talent?" He had an Alchemic Astral Soul, so he knew he had the bare minimum of talent at least, but he wasn't sure about this 'Overlord-level'. 

Qingye Yun didn't think Wei Wuyin was familiar with such an obscure method, finding it quite shocking. 

Qingye Ying chimed in, "When the Envoy of the King of Everlore arrived, he brought along a tome of exceptional information. One of the things detailed was the division of innate talent, not factoring in unique qualities like a Physique or Meridians. There's five levels outlined: Null, Standard, Excellence, Overlord, and Chosen, and each level, besides Null, was further divided by Earthly, Worldly, and Heavenly grades."

Wei Wuyin was intrigued by this division. When she started to explain, he felt his horizons broadened. To cultivate any type of specific Spirit, one needed to reach the 'Heavenly Standard-level' of talent. As for anything beneath it, they simply couldn't absorb and refine the pure essence required for conversion. Of course, there were alchemical products that could bypass this issue.

The Null-level of talent meant either a cripple or a complete incompatibility with various energies. He recalled Zuhei's horrid response to Spatial Energy, likely revealing his Null-level talent, and realizing that there were numerous alchemical products that serve to enhance talent.

He hadn't understood what it truly meant to 'improve' talent until this moment when the differences were clearly outlined. Enlightened, he realized an issue. There were no Alchemical Products that enhanced Alchemic Talent in his memory. 

As if reading his thoughts once more, Qingye Yun added: "There's many different purification products, and with a few centuries of effort, we can entirely remove the tainted portions of Qingye Ying's meridians and physique, but her innate talent would forever be damaged. And unfortunately, there's no known way to increase one's alchemic talent. While a formation is a stopgap measure, it can not replace personally refined essence and energies, making it impossible to improve one's cultivation base."

Wei Wuyin nodded in agreement. There were many ways to detoxify the body from any level of impurities with time, but even if he used a ninth-grade product to do so, removing it in a few months or a year, her talent was already decimated by her actions. There was nothing he could do except provide pills to elevate her talent.

But as a wielder of an Alchemic Astral Soul, she needed to refine or convert essence into alchemical energies to promote her strength. It was similar to how Ori had to absorb the materials of the nine elemental essences to regain its strength or amplify the 'essence' portion of its power. The other way was conversion via intent, transforming ordinary essence into a specific attribute. 

Normally, this wouldn't be an issue due to Alchemical Products, but there was no alchemical energy product that existed. In fact, he was shocked to discover that nothing within the Alchemic Dao supported the Alchemic Dao, at least to his knowledge. 

Her path of cultivation was truly over unless she used a drastic method like the Meridian Grafting Method. But even that had issues, and she might not even exceed Null with someone else with Heavenly Standard-level talent. As for Excellence-level talent, he wasn't certain if they knew someone of that level or how rare it was. 

What he didn't know was that even Heavenly Excellence-level grafting might produce a Null-level talent or a Worldly Standard-level talent at best, meaning it still fell short. 

It was why even Lin Ming's Senior Sister, Senior Sister Lin, someone with vast more experience and knowledge, had completely dismissed Qingye Ying. She was practically an invalid to the Alchemic Dao.

He furrowed his brows tightly, "You want me to sacrifice a portion of my talent and give Saintess Ying another shot at cultivating?" 

Thud!

Qingye Yun uncharacteristically kneeled before Wei Wuyin with both knees on the ground, nearly kowtowing to him. "Yes! I understand the sacrifice we're asking of you, and we're willing to devote the entire Alchemist Association to you for as long as our lineage exists!" 

Wei Wuyin, "..."