Paragon of Sin

"Impossible! IMPOSSIBLE! ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE!" The old man seemingly went berserk, as if he had heard a piece of information that shattered his world view. This unique lifeform and that vivid reaction only reassured Wei Wuyin that this old man was an incarnation, and there was a legitimate lifeform behind it, likely an ancient expert.

But Wei Wuyin was entirely undisturbed by the explosive reaction, merely waiting. 

After a good few seconds of the old man staring at Wei Wuyin like he was lying through his teeth, he finally seemed to calm down and those old eyes became extremely sharp and narrow. "When I first met you, you hadn't even formed Nine Intents, still at the Qi Condensation Realm. Two decades haven't passed yet, but you have already formed Elemental Origin Energy and formed Elemental Origin Intent without a token. That just isn't possible!"

Wei Wuyin's eyes brightened, "So you do remember me!" He was entirely uncaring about the old man's shock regarding his talent, only focusing on his recollection of time and the first time they met. 

The old man grunted softly, "How could I not? You birthed Saber Intent directly, a feat only capable by those blessed by the Saber Dao. You shouldn't be able to do the same with the Elemental Origin Intent, especially without a Token of Elementus."

Wei Wuyin chuckled, "Thanks for the compliment."

"..." The old man wasn't sure how to respond. He was accusing Wei Wuyin of lying but he was thanking him so genuinely?! There was a light of awe within his grey form, unsure how to proceed.

Wei Wuyin decided to take the reins of the conversation, "What is this Token of Elementus? Why are you so certain I can't form an Elemental Origin Intent without this token? Why do I have to choose a Core Element Dao? What even is that?"

"..." The old man remained silent.

"Take your time; I can wait." Wei Wuyin observed Ling Ming entering the palace doors, venturing in through what seemed to be a mirrored space that existed together but separately. He now realized that this was why he didn't find Lin Ming when he ventured into the Myriad War Dao Palace after him before, they were separated by this fold of space.

"Are you sure you don't have a token of Elementus? That you haven't received a portion of the Divine King's legacy?" The old man asked with a much calmer voice. It seemed he was trying to adjust to the likelihood of Wei Wuyin's odd existence.

Wei Wuyin nodded in confirmation.

"...Haaa…" A very real sigh was released from the old man, causing him to rub his bald head in agitation. As if determining something in his heart, he started to speak.

"The Divine King left three fated tokens to the outside world, hopefully allowing one or more successors to lay claim to it. Within the token is the secret to forming Elemental Origin Intent, integrating a myriad of elemental variation within, as well as a key to the caches he left behind. They contained numerous materials, extraordinary arts and spells, and alchemical products suitable enough to cultivate a Chosen Candidate.

"Three have been claimed, that's why the trial was initiated and the door was revealed. I assumed you had claimed at least one. Your Elemental Origin Intent is extremely high-grade, already integrating six high-level elemental Intents. In comparison to the other Successor, no, I guess you're not a Successor...Anyways, I felt you had the greatest chance to claim the Chosen Title. 

"To think you're not a Successor, furthermore you've never obtained the secret to forming Elemental Origin Intent. This means you must have reached this level all by yourself, a feat that shouldn't be possible." The old man seemed to be tired as he spoke, feeling as if he had aged in such a short period of time.

"You've said that many times. Why is it 'not possible?' Explain." Wei Wuyin urged.

The old man heavily sighed, looking at Wei Wuyin. "Elemental Origin Intent requires one to comprehend nine different intents, then one has to merge each intent individually. Water and Fire into one, Water and Earth into one. Like this, then merge three into one, four into one, until they merge nine into one. This forms Elemental Origin Energy. But that doesn't give one 'Elemental Origin Intent'.

"To achieve that, one doesn't just have to merge nine into one, but return them to their origin, requiring a unique material called Genesis Essence, something that only the Tokens of Elementus contains within the current starfield. A resource that can only be extracted by the Ascended, held in objects beyond the Mortal Limits. Without the Tokens of Elementus, any mortal lifeform that came into contact with it would dissipate into nothing—there are no exceptions to this."

His words prompted Wei Wuyin to furrow his brows in thought for a long moment. Genesis Essence…

That particular name felt familiar yet also distant. He faintly recalled hearing about something extremely similar to this somewhere. He just couldn't pinpoint where or when.

"The Divine King had left behind these tokens for that reason, to allow those fated to them to obtain the chance to birth Elemental Origin Intent. If they are unable in the end, then the tokens would relocate after the obtainer's death, searching for another fated one. This is why unless you obtained a token, you can't birth Elemental Origin Intent. It would be going against the heavens." The old man finished his words, explaining why he reacted so violently and mentioned Wei Wuyin's low cultivation base.

Wei Wuyin was confused for a while until that last sentence. The old man was assuming heaven's will, but the Mortal Star Formation Tribulation, the very first Tribulation of a cultivator's life, instructed them in forming Intent suitable to their cultivation base. He could only assume that the method to form Elemental Origin Intent listed in the tokens of Elementus was an incomplete and flawed version of what Ori had obtained fully from the very heavens themselves.

This so-called Genesis Essence must be a forceful way to establish Elemental Origin Intent if one lacked the extremely high-level of comprehension required to grasp the fullest opportunities from the tribulation itself. It was another 'door' but not the perfect one. As they say, there was never one path to achieve anything. 

While he couldn't be certain if the Astral Tribulations were regulated by the Heavenly Daos, the 'heavens' mentioned were simply the laws by which everything ran by. 

He shook his head, turning to the old man with a look of a senior instructing a junior. "One must never believe only one path exists on the difficult journey of cultivation. Doing so will only narrow the mind, limiting one's view of the world. A frog in the well, so to speak. To say something is going against the heavens is the words of a fool, as the heaven's designs isn't something we as mortals can comprehend. When we can, when we can understand it, we'll be its equal."

"...!" The old man's eyes widened as he started to intensely tremble. As if Wei Wuyin's words had triggered something, he felt his mind explode. He felt a path opening in his mind, revealing his past assumptions and thoughts to be inherently flawed, limited in view, and extremely arrogant with the presumptions of his truths.

After a long moment, he looked at Wei Wuyin deeply. Then, his legs became clear as he stepped on the ground, clasped his hands, and bowed slightly. "Thank you."

Wei Wuyin casually nodded in acceptance, forming an assumption as to why the Tokens of Elementus might be flawed. He felt it was likely due to the Divine King Han Xei forming Elemental Origin Energy and challenging the tribulation, but he couldn't comprehend all of the information, forcefully devising another way to overcome this obstacle. He felt his guess was likely 90% correct, likely missing a small portion of the truth.

"Now, are you going to answer my questions?" Wei Wuyin asked, still curious about the connections of this place to the other palaces, who devised it, and why.

The old man felt shocked that such a young man could say such profound words yet be entirely unaffected. What type of heaven-defying experiences has this young man gone through? In the end, he decided to speak the truth. 

As he spoke, Wei Wuyin's eyes grew wider and wider!