Paragon of Sin

ROAR!!!

A titanically explosive eruption of sound shattered the skies above, sundered the earth below, and collapsed the nearby mountains. The chaos was hectic, devastating, and yet the roar kept lingering in the air as space trembled ceaselessly about.

It didn't seem to originate from a normal beast, but a being of heaven, something directly out of myth! Those who were nearby quivered with fear, their bodily functions almost shutting down, their cultivation bases going haywire, and their minds blaring with a sensation of crisis. Like a flock of birds startled by a gunshot, those who were searching for those special locations that held desolate pearls shattered wildly.

Within a collapsed mountain within the Desolate Land, crumbled until it was nothing more than a pile of large rocks, a faint grey wave of light undulated from the gaps and cracks. The sky became tainted in a greyer tint.

Rumble!

After a short while, a hand pierced through the rocks and grasped a nearby boulder, digging its fingers deeply into its surface. The hand was by no means ordinary, having hexagonal grey scales that were absolutely gorgeous, shimmering with radiant grey light. The hand's nail was sharp, long, and black.

It left distinct claw marks on the rock's surface as it exerted force. The rock crumbled into dust, and the hand fell into the pile of rocks, once more hidden. After a brief period, another hand shot out but this hand was flawless, without the slightest blemish, with an exquisite set of neatly cut and trimmed nails. 

It grasped another rock, pulled, and a head popped out of the rubble. With a deep exhale, Wei Wuyin's head fully escaped and felt the world was slightly brighter than before. He looked at the sun, realizing the solar star above was experiencing a slight change.

"Nine months?" Murmuring to himself, Wei Wuyin circulated a little of his astral force to invigorate his innate wind energies, controlling them as he slowly levitated above the rocks, escaping the fate of being buried. 

As he floated above the rocks, he looked at his surroundings to verify that he hadn't appeared somewhere else. Fortunately, he was still in the Desolate Lands. 

"An entire nine months, huh?" Its been quite a while since Wei Wuyin had cultivated in seclusion, and this was probably the longest he'd ever cultivated without any other interactions, focused purely on himself. The last time he remembered such an incident was during the Yang Yore Fields at the Scarlet Solaris Sect.

Thinking of that moment, he nostalgically thought of Wei Si, that muscle-headed adopted cousin of his. He was the only living member of his family, despite his status of being adopted. Wei Wuyin had tried to find him, had Su Mei investigate the incidents that happened that left him rampaging and taken away, but there was nothing.

Now that he met those outsiders that had unknown intentions, unknown origins, he realized that the starfield wasn't one without visitors from beyond. Lin Ming's female companion on the Myriad Yore Continent was likely the same type of person. In that case, could Wei Si have been taken away by one of these visitors?

There was also another question that he didn't really know, and even now, it bothered him sometimes. It was: "Could Wei Si have been a Blessed?" 

This question lingered for a moment before he helplessly smiled, thinking of the Yang Yore Fields once more. There was a particularly stimulating event regarding Yan Zhu, a fellow Core Disciple who birthed a Seed of Spear Intent. He didn't know what happened to her, but if she actually gave birth to Spear Intent, she might be suitable to recruit for the Ascendants.

His Celestial Eyes brightened with a mysteriously obscure light, but only a frown remained as it dimmed. He couldn't get any sort of feeling from her, as if she was no longer a part of the immediate world. 

Was she dead?

After a long moment of silence, he sighed wistfully. Cultivation was difficult; the last time he saw her was nearly twenty years ago, and innumerable events have happened since then. 

"The path of life is about moving forward, always. I just hope Wei Si is alive. I miss that beefy kid." Wei Wuyin couldn't determine Wei Si's current state, even with his Eye of Truth, and it only verified that he had been taken far away, outside of his perceptive reach. 

After spending several more moments in silence, Wei Wuyin shook off the melancholic feelings with a faint smile. He clenched his fist, feeling the flow of blood within his body. It was like a torrential river, surging with immense force that could crush mountains, overturn oceans, and rend the sky.

After nine whole months, Wei Wuyin had refined a little over a million desolate pearls into draconic pearls. That was an extremely arduous and time-consuming task, and even the first time he'd performed this wasn't instant. But the sheer number also developed a problem, Kratos couldn't digest it as swiftly as he'd done before! 

While recovering its Bloodline Source was swift, the apparent increase of its innate qualities was extremely slow! Wei Wuyin had to supplement the draconic blood energies and essences himself, cultivating the Bloodforging Mystic Method to find another outlet. The Bloodforging Mystic Method was a Cultivation Method that was created by the Bloodforge Emperor, a subordinate of Wu Yu. It touched upon concepts that exceeded the Mortal Limits.

It typically required one to find blood-type of materials to cultivate, and it even halted Zuhei from rapidly progressing due to this need. There weren't many objects naturally formed within the heaven and earth of the starfield that could progress it, but the draconic pearls were perfect materials for it!

Originally, the method was filled with various flaws and inconsistencies within, but Wei Wuyin had spent an entire year reforging it with his comprehension of the Alchemic Dao and the True Dragon Transmutation Method to make it suitable for those who cultivate using their beating hearts, while removing the bloodline lineage requirement. With this, he made it extremely suitable for himself and Zuhei to cultivate, but there was another issue.

The Bloodforging Mystic Method could be considered an Evil Method, but that was only in its later stages. During its foundational stages, one merely needed to condense their essence blood into Bloodforge Runes, and then they could use various energies to improve its qualities and power. With these runes alone, one's bloodline power would strengthen as their cultivation advanced.

The resources required after the first level was still beyond this starfield's means unless one commenced a massive slaughter of cultivators with refined blood energies, condensing them into Blood Pills often used by Evil Cultivators. Otherwise one needed to gather blood-enhancing herbs and materials, which the starfield rarely gave birth to.

Yuan Longshi was fortunate to have had unique resources left behind by the Bloodforge Emperor, but he still devoured beasts to drain them of their blood energies for his cultivation and recovery of blood energies. He had reached the third level of the Bloodforging Mystic Method, the Bloodforging Battle Armor.

Wei Wuyin wasn't really willing to slaughter others for their blood energies, be it human, beast, elf, or demon. It clashed with his own principles. While he respected Evil Cultivators, understanding that cultivation was difficult, and in cultivation there was no wrong or right, there was no too far or too little, but it wasn't the path he wished to take. There was always another way, sometimes even better.

As an Alchemist, he understood this principle extremely well.

Till now, he hadn't cultivated the Bloodforging Mystic Method. But now that he had the sufficient resources, obtained without slaughtering a single life, he wasn't going to delay. 

"Unfortunately, despite reaching the later stages of the Bloodforging Mystic Method, refining a million draconic pearls, I couldn't break past the limits of mortality within my bloodline." Wei Wuyin felt an unbreachable wall as he entered the Seventh Stage of the Mark of Mortal Myth, reaching the utmost limits of his bloodline.

There was a wall of the Mortal Dao. He felt that he needed something specific to advance. When he thought of that something, for some reason, he recalled that Solar Star with the ring circulating around it.

Taking a deep breath, he clenched his fists. Kratos was no longer restrained, he had access to his Bloodline Abilities, and his physical body had been refined with the Bloodforging Mystic Method and his peak Mortal Myth-tier True Dragon Bloodline!

"It's time!" Kratos' voice sounded within his mind.

"Time! Time! Time! Let's do it!" Ori started to get overly excited. 

The other two remained silent, but Wei Wuyin could see their anticipation. He faintly smiled, looking at the sky. Since Jiang Feilan had met him that day, offering her Yin Renewal Physique and Primal Yin that contained the secrets of her cultivation, Wei Wuyin didn't restrain himself. They dual cultivated numerous times, and he fully comprehended the Fourth Stage of the Astral Core Realm, the Spatial Resonance Phase!

But the others were unwilling to advance, seemingly waiting for Kratos to fully recover. Now that it had, Wei Wuyin felt the trigger to ascend to the next stage!

With heroic laughter, he flew higher into the sky.