Paragon of Sin

"..." Wei Wuyin was digesting all this newfound information, sitting himself before the steps of the Myriad Element Dao Palace. He comfortably sat in the lotus position, his silver eyes brightening and dimming intermittently. 

The old man, whose name was Wang Yutian, was quietly observing Wei Wuyin with sparkles within his eyes. 'This child is unfathomable. It's too unfortunate that I still have roughly two thousand years left on my service, otherwise I would take him as a foster son. Too unfortunate!'

Wang Yutian had discussed numerous things with Wei Wuyin, including his origin and glorious life before this. Wang Yutian was thoroughly shocked at the nascent state of the starfield's knowledge of cultivation, especially considering there was a Mortal Sovereign Alchemist and numerous Ascended born here. This would normally suggest the rise of the starfield's society and culture, elevating its cultivation foundation, but it still lacked some of the fundamentals, essentially being completely blank of the world beyond the Mortal Limits.

Wei Wuyin didn't react too intensely, losing himself in the grandness of it all, but calmly accepted and dissected this information, even delving further with extremely precise questions. Wang Yutian had never seen someone with such a level of mental intelligence and stability before, especially when newly exposed to this information.

There were some cultivators amongst those within the Mortal Limit who would go insane or even kill themselves after hearing this. It was that intense. It was enough to provoke an existential crisis of self, and it was far worse for cultivators.

This was one of the reasons why, in his region, there was a rule that suggested that keeping certain aspects of cultivation, of the cultivation world, limited to descendants and mortals was preferred lest madness propagate without end. To clarify, unless a person reached a certain degree of cultivation, they would be kept largely ignorant of the grander world by design unless they were absolutely required to know to further their cultivation path.

But Wang Yutian didn't hold back with Wei Wuyin, disregarding that rule and revealing everything while holding nothing back. He expected Wei Wuyin to have a mental breakdown, even curious to see how he handled it, but he wasn't even shaking. In fact, Wei Wuyin calmly accepted this all as if it was unable to disturb his mind one bit.

This marvel was rare, nigh impossible to witness.

But how was Wang Yutian to know that Wei Wuyin had been exposed to the Heavenly Daos, the Bloodline of Sinners, the Calamities of Hell, traveled across time, and even observed the Yellow Springs due to the Celestial Eyes of Spiritual Divinity. He outran heaven's wrath, escaped from the purgatory of his own mind, and witnessed reincarnation.

He had long since shattered his Heart of Cultivation, deciding to live his life with a time limit, and had reforged it even stronger as his will to survive thrived within him, creating a new Heart of Cultivation that was nigh unbreakable.

There wasn't much that could shock or disturb him at this point to the point of insanity.

After a few more minutes, Wei Wuyin breathed out an air of turbid air as his silver eyes regained a light of normality. He slowly rose to his feet, looking at Wang Yutian with a faint smile. He clasped his hands and bowed, "Thank you." 

This was a similar stance that Wang Yutian had taken after being educated by Wei Wuyin. The act of respect caused Wang Yutian to smile, his grey form floating a little higher with pride. 

"It's good that you've come out fine after hearing all that," Wang Yutian nodded in approval. There were very few juniors that could match Wei Wuyin's mental fortitude and intelligence, even his insights were fresh to an old fox such as himself. It would be a real shame if he had fallen to insanity.

Wei Wuyin merely smiled at that comment, looking towards the steps of the Myriad Element Dao Palace that led to its doors. "I can't select a Core Element Dao, so what's next?" 

"Hm?" Wang Yutian finally recalled his original purpose. The anomaly that was Wei Wuyin was truly distracting. He awkwardly chuckled, looking at the Myriad Element Dao Palace behind him. He said, "The Myriad Element Dao Palace has a forge within. Its purpose is for you to receive tempering in a single elemental state, strengthening that specific element's energies within you while bestowing the successors an armament, art, spell, and tool to use during the trial.

"But if what you say is true, that you're balanced and have no preference, then this might actually be extremely detrimental to you. I guess that so-called Divine King truly took a wrong step in his Dao, leading others down that flawed path. How amusing...how unfortunate." A light of melancholy emerged within Wang Yutian's eyes. 

Wei Wuyin nodded, feeling that he was unwilling to follow such an incorrect path. Furthermore, he had a theory about those screams beneath the Auric Sea. If the Divine King Han Xei was responsible for this, Kratos nor any of his Astral Souls, especially Ori, would ever accept him taking anything from this man as a gift. They, and he, would only accept plundering.

He had always been a man of principles and morals, forged by his life experiences and those he respected. While he wasn't a saint, he still had his bottomline. The Auric Sea was far lower than this bottomline. Far, far lower.

A dangerous light flashed within his heart, reflected within his eyes with utmost clarity. When Wang Yutian turned back around, that light hid itself with impeccable speed, vanishing as if it had never emerged.

Ignorant of Wei Wuyin's thoughts, Wang Yutian said: "Well, you also don't have a Token of Elementus, so you're already behind. The trial would be extremely difficult to complete without one, unless you obtained one of the other six."

Wei Wuyin had discussed matters outside of the trial with Wang Yutian, so this information was new. "One of the six? There's nine tokens, three must've been obtained by Lin Ming. But what about the other six?"

"Well, I don't know much about the aspects of the trial, only the primary information such as the goal of each successor. There's three Tokens of Elementus in the outside world, and when all three have found someone, even the same person, it'll initiate the opening of the trial and its world realm. The successors would then be brought into the trial, forcefully if even one enters.

"The goal is to find and collect the other six tokens, including the three outside, obtaining all nine to obtain the core of the world realm. Afterwards, they would obtain the title of Chosen, a type of disciple for an established force. It's hard to describe because Chosens are so wildly different from region to region, so I can't tell you what that means for this region.

"Regardless, they would obtain the main legacy. That's it. For those who've obtained the tokens in the outside world, normally they would understand the massive rewards when I say it'll be roughly ten thousand times as valuable as any outside cache, but since you haven't found one, that must be incredibly meaningless to you." Wang Yutian's expression changed as he once more recalled Wei Wuyin's anomaly-like existence.

"The core? Of the world realm?" Wei Wuyin asked, his eyes brightening considerably with excitement.

Wang Yutian nodded, "the trial is hosted in a World Realm, a massive continent held within a spatial pocket roughly a tenth the size of your starfield. It's absolutely massive, even I'm startled by how large it is. I wonder what's keeping it sustained, especially considering the thriving cultivation society within." His careless comments had revealed vast information that no successor had ever heard before.

"Thriving? Are there any Mystic Ascendants there?" Wei Wuyin's eyebrows lifted in surprise.

Wang Yutian chuckled while waving his hands, "Nope. But there's some upper-phase Astral Core Realm cultivators present there. There's no way a world realm of this quality could give birth to an Ascended. Anyhow, the nirmal goal is to locate and acquire the other eight tokens held by others. There should be at least four held by guardians, the two held by competitors, and each leads to another cache that is only unlocked when the outside tokens arrive. I think that's what that so-called Divine King said."

Wei Wuyin furrowed his brows. Four guardians? Four competitors? Caches? This trial was quite complicated with obstacles. He can imagine that whatever awaited these Successors were likely life-threatening. If at peak design, there should be two other external competitors, two internal competitors, and four guardians that likely held their own trials with cultivation bases beyond the trial participants.

With the age restriction set, this was quite harsh. 

"And this core? Is this the core of the world realm that stabilizes it?" Wei Wuyin asked.

Wang Yutian nodded, "It should be." 

"I see. In that case, I'll enter this trial. All I have to do is collect all nine tokens, that shouldn't be too difficult, right?" Wei Wuyin smilingly said.

Wang Yutian looked at Wei Wuyin, feeling like his desire to collect the tokens wasn't aligned with others. A sense of foreboding entered his heart, but he swiftly abolished it. That doesn't concern him. He wasn't even here, merely an incarnation. Furthermore, he wasn't obligated to handle anything outside of his service.

"Since you haven't chosen a Core Element Dao, you'll be at a disadvantage. The internal competitors have already entered the palace, obtaining their high-grade arts, spells, and armament months ago. They've been thoroughly prepared. I can send you through without entering the Forge, but are you certain?" Wang Yutian could tell that Wei Wuyin was a genius in regards to Intent, but his cultivation base was extremely lacking.

Those internal competitors weren't at the Soul Idol Phase, but far higher, let alone those guardians. Their trials would definitely not be an easy task for a Soul Idol Phase Cultivator to complete safely. Furthermore, they've all obtained Elemental Origin Intent.

Wei Wuyin was unbothered and unconcerned, "I'm quite certain. Send me through. I'm quite curious about this world realm that's a tenth the size of my starfield and has such an advanced cultivation society." With a brilliant smile, he urged Wang Yutian.

"So be it." Wang Yutian didn't hesitate. He waved his grey arm and enshrouded Wei Wuyin in multicolored rays of light. After a bright flash, Wei Wuyin vanished. After he vanished, Wang Yutian smacked his forehead.

"I forgot to tell him about the tokens' ability to locate each other! Well, I'm sure he'll find...a token." Realizing he missed out on an important detail, he shrugged. Wei Wuyin didn't seem incapable. If his goal is to find all nine, then he'll be able to find at least one, right?

Even...if...the...world was massive…

...Right?