Paragon of Sin

Buzz!

The silence that permeated the entirety of True Desolate was ended by a thunderously loud humming buzz. It attracted everyone's attention. Soon, everyone was staring at the grand temple atop the mountain in a strange daze. Wei Wuyin's true age of cultivation left them too shocked to properly react, but it didn't stop the ceremony.

A strange will seemed to be born, surging from the highest location of the temple alongside the buzzing noise. Wei Wuyin turned to observe the temple and noticed a mysterious power erupt from within. He couldn't react before the top of the temple exploded with a frighteningly bright light that enshrouded his figure.

His first instinct was to resist, but after feeling the warmth of the light, he halted and continued to patiently observe. The light's shine was only temporary as it receded almost as swiftly as it erupted. When all was done, Wei Wuyin had a triangular mark on the backside of his left hand. It was glittering with runic markings.

Similar to before, the first to break out of their shock was the blind Grand Priestess Si De who looked at Wei Wuyin with a solemn gaze despite her sightless eyes. She took a deep breath before announcing, "Our first candidate has received the Will of Desi, a fragment of three! Praise the Divine Lord!"

Instinctively, the inhabitants of True Desolate droned in and shouted, "Praise the Divine Lord!" 

This so-called will was a mark of acceptance, indicating that Wei Wuyin had overcome the first trial and proved his True Age of Cultivation relative to his cultivation base was perfectly suited for a Holy Child.

Inspecting the triangular mark, he realized it was one piece of a full circle. If three equal pieces were put together, that circle would be fully formed. Furthermore, the mark seemed strange. Besides the runic markings, there were traces of pure earthen aura within it. The purity of this aura almost matched the wood aura within his Mark of Eden, shocking him considerably.

Of course, in terms of vastness, the Mark of Eden was like a planet, and the mark on his hand was merely a small pebble. 

While in his thoughts, the Grand Priestess Si De urged the other contestants, reminding them that a single area was not all it took to become a Holy Child. Even still, the others were horrifically disturbed by Wei Wuyin's cultivation speed. In less than ten years, he reached the Spatial Resonance Phase!

The young woman glanced at Wei Wuyin, her expression the picture of calm but her heart endlessly quaked with shock. If this was known to others in her starfield, Wei Wuyin might be considered more monstrous than those world-shaking geniuses titled Chosens. But it's not like it wasn't possible for someone to reach his level in such a small amount of time, but it usually required an enormous amount of resources and extremely high background while simultaneously disregarding one's cultivation foundation.

The old man closed his mouth, his aged gaze feeling a little uncertain. Who was Wei Wuyin? This child was less than fifty, cultivated for less than ten years, was at the Spatial Resonance Phase, and had means and methods that even someone of his cultivation was shocked by. Whoever his family or clan was, they might be from those starfields that possessed multiple Mystic Radiance Belts.

Thinking this, the solemn expression on the old man's face relaxed. 'There's always someone greater.' With that, he resumed eating, his heart settled. He was far too old to be stressing over these matters. As long as he held no ill-intent towards Wei Wuyin, what harm would happen to him? 

Ai Juling was the second to enter one of the true age-discerning rings, causing characters to erupt.

"One-hundred twenty-two years! Soul Idol Phase, Astral Core Realm!"

This was more in line with people's understanding, causing a few to heave inner sighs of relief. If others like Wei Wuyin popped up, then where would they get the confidence to cultivate? Fortunately, Ai Juling had no issue obtaining a Mark of Desi.

The young woman stepped in as well, causing the ring to erupt once more.

"Fifty-two years! Spatial Resonance Phase, Astral Core Realm!" 

"...!" While an overly exaggerated response hadn't happened, many were startled once more by the young woman's True Age of Cultivation and her cultivation phase. Unfortunately, the shock that Wei Wuyin had instilled into them, still lingering within their hearts and minds, dulled their response to a few exclamations and clamoring discussions. 

Wei Wuyin glanced at the young woman's results, feeling like his earlier observation was roughly correct. She had to be under sixty years old, likely starting cultivating at a very young age. Wei Wuyin's own start had begun when he was five, so Ori would be over forty years old. That being said, he did lose out on ten years, and was stuck on a low-tier continent for thirty-seven. 

Regardless, Astral Core Realm cultivators at the peak might be able to live close to two thousand years, depending on their innate energies and cultivation base, so they could be considered children. Even Ai Juling was just starting out.

After all the contestants inspected themselves, a few didn't cause the temple to react, being eliminated in the first test. The World Sea Phase contestant had actually made it, being extremely young and having a True Age of Cultivation at twenty-two years, shocking many amongst the crowd. It seemed he made ample preparations and restricted his cultivation start for this competition, possibly focusing entirely on Intent.

Now, only eight remained out of eleven.

Grand Priestess Si De gave Wei Wuyin another glance before speaking to the crowd, retrieving her bracelet, "The Test of Holy Talent has been completed! Eight of these Holy Candidates have gained Divine Lord Desi's approval! We'll begin with the Test of Spiritual Might! Those who wish to obtain the Will of Desi must prove that their spirits are strong enough, worthy enough, to handle his will!"

Four hooded men behind her stepped forward, waving their long sleeves as pieces of glass surged out of them like lightning. They clashed heavily above, spurting out sparks of light that dazzled the crowd like fireworks. When all the ruckus settled, an oval mirror appeared with a glowing white frame.

It slowly descended before the Grand Priestess Si De, who clasped her hands together in prayer and uttered a strange chant. The four hooded men aside, the other hooded figures outside of the ten Grand Kings and nine Clan Masters chanted along. The atmosphere became sanctified, feeling blessed.

Wei Wuyin noticed this oval mirror was roughly the size of a person, but the mirror didn't reflect a person's reflection. It was strange as a mosaic distortion was reflected instead, seemingly indicating something was off with its interaction with light. 

The young woman frowned, "A Spiritual Reflection Mirror? How did they…" She contemplated with a murmur, a tinge of shock betrayed by her gaze. 

Wei Wuyin heard her hushed voice, his draconic senses were far too great not to. He pondered.

The Grand Priestess Si De shouted to the sky, raising her hands above her head while waving it slightly. Whatever she was doing caused the mirror's surface to flicker with various lights of intensity. The display was quite gorgeous, hard to move one's eyes from it.

Then, she exhaled loudly, causing the sky to roil slightly. The oval mirror landed on the ground and etched itself upright, its mosaic surface facing the candidates. 

"Holy Candidates of our Divine Lord, touch the Soul Mirror of Endless Reflection; your spirit will be reflected for the world and our Divine Lord to see, to inspect, and I pray that his will finds you worthy!" The Grand Priestess exclaimed excitedly, her face somewhat flushed.

Wei Wuyin was about to take the first step, but was a little too slow as the handsome young man originally considered as the dark horse of the competition blurred aggressively before the mirror. The mirror reflected a mosaic reflection of himself. With a fierce and resolute gaze, he touched the mirror in a light caress. 

BRUUUM!

A loud eruption of light engulfed his figure for a brief moment before receding back into the mirror. When it did, the originally mosaic and indistinct form of the young man was perfectly reflected with utmost clarity as if staring at a real mirror. While the background was still vague, his figure wasn't.

Wei Wuyin inspected the mirror with his Celestial Eyes, but he frowned after being unable to decipher or comprehend the formations embedded within. It seemed it exceeded Mortal Limits, far beyond his current understanding. 

Shockingly, the mirror didn't reflect a number. Instead, firefly-like motes of cyan-colored light that hue reminded Wei Wuyin of Soul-Pulse Manifestation Tribulation's rings started to appear from within the clear reflection of the young man. 

Wei Wuyin was also reminded of Spirit Units, a form of measurement that Eden had devised to measure the strength of each Soul-Pulse Ring. 

By using the lowest portion of extractable yet fully stable spiritual strength within the lowest imaginable quantity of spiritual energy, it had devised a measurement and determined it as spirit units. As these 'spirit units' combined together to form greater connective bonds, the 'total' power of Spiritual Strength was elevated as a result.

By this conceived standard, Eden and himself had determined the relative spiritual strength of each Soul-Pulse Ring. This fully revealed the extraordinary calculative prowess of Eden's Mind Dao intermixing with his Alchemic Dao. 

Each mote of cyan light that emerged was 1 Spirit Unit. As the motes were continuously emerging, they started to connect with line-like bridges that increased the intensity of their respective light and constructed an extraordinary network. This supported Eden's measurement and how spirit units interacted and grew stronger, creating a higher spiritual strength!

Engrossed in this development, Wei Wuyin paid rapt attention. The number of motes rapidly increased until roughly 3,000 was revealed, each connected into a single whole via a complex integrated network of webs and bridges. This was the exquisite representation of a single iota of Spiritual Strength.

Regardless of what, this amount of spiritual strength was constant and unchanging lest one increased their foundation. Even if a person used an ocean worth of spiritual energy against a small pond, they would still have the same level of strength. While the pond would be exhausted, it would equally eliminate a small pond-sized portion of the ocean in turn. 

After the motes of cyan light completely settled, the final result was revealed!