Paragon of Sin

"3,121!" The number was revealed in a towering outflow of light in the sky, announced by the voice of the Grand Priestess! The crowd was trembling with excitement as numerous experts entered discussions.

The young man was at the Soul Idol Phase, with a True Age of roughly eighty-three years, so to have such a powerful spiritual foundation was incredible! 

But Wei Wuyin was quite lost at this moment. What did that mean exactly? While he had a rough understanding of what 3,121 Spirit Units meant towards relative might of Spiritual Strength, he had absolutely no comparison or rubric of standard. Was that high for a Soul Idol Phase expert? Was that high for eighty-three years of cultivation?

He was utterly clueless. He even turned to the young woman, hoping to gleam some idea of the standard, but her eyes were relatively indifferent while they focused on the mirror, not the result. Exasperated by ignorance, he was left unable to react.

°3,600 Spirit Units was the relative strength of the Fifth Soul-Pulse Manifestation Ring...So, I guess its high?° Wei Wuyin was incredibly bitter, uncertain what to do. His distracted thinking allowed Ai Juling to reach the mirror soon after, erasing the young man's results, and revealing her own.

"2,733!" The Grand Priestess Si De announced again, but the results were clearly lacking in comparison to the handsome young man. She pouted, her eyes flickering with a hint of frustration. She was older, at the same cultivation level, yet was considerably weaker in terms of Spiritual Strength. How could she not be unsatisfied?

To add insult to injury, she had failed!

The young man had received a surge of Desi's will, giving him his second triangular mark on his hand, but Ai Juling had not. She clearly didn't reach the proper criteria necessary. Wei Wuyin decided not to rush, waiting for the others.

Shockingly, THEY ALL FAILED!

Besides him and the young woman that hadn't gone up, the other candidates had failed to meet whatever arbitrary criteria this so-called divine lord had set! This, however, came as a surprise to no one. Even the crowd only groaned softly in disappointment when their respective race's Holy Candidates failed. 

It seemed this was a harsh, brutally vicious gate that had halted numerous candidates in the past. Wei Wuyin was truly shocked by this. To add, a few had eclipsed the young man's Spirit Units, but were seemingly too old and thus failed as a result.

With only him and the young woman left, Wei Wuyin felt the gazes of millions alongside the outstanding beings of the Desolate Lands land on him. He was remarkably young in terms of his True Age of Cultivation, and while he had a formidable Intent, Intent wasn't much unless backed by a strong foundation.

Logic and common sense dictates that Wei Wuyin's spiritual strength should be lacking in relation to the standard of his cultivation phase. But that might still be enough to receive the right to pass, simply because he was considered far too young.

The young woman curiously glanced at Wei Wuyin. But she wasn't the type to feel inferior and hesitant, so she walked to the mirror and touched it. A similar phenomenon appeared, encapsulating her entire figure before receding, perfectly reflecting her image in the mirror. But there was a strange quiver on her face, as if something had masked her true appearance.

Wei Wuyin was taken aback that whatever concealment the young woman was using had fooled this mirror that exceeded Mortal Limits. To what lengths did she go to conceal her face? What did she really look like? A burning desire to rip her concealment apart and get a good, long look emerged in his heart.

Spirit units started to appear, connecting in their exquisite network of webs and bridges, forming a single cohesive whole. It still fascinated him seeing its structure so clearly revealed, only proving Eden's abilities to determine such profound intricacies. 

The number quickly exceeded 3,000, rising and rising and passed 4,000. Wei Wuyin's eyes focused on the mirror, and so was everyone else! 

The young woman hadn't tested her spiritual strength since she reached the Soul Idol Phase, so she was quite interested in the level it'd reach. Her level of focused investment wasn't any less than the others.

5,000!

6,000!

Wei Wuyin felt the heartbeat of millions start to race, rumbling and inducing faint, barely noticeable changes in the seismic activities beneath the ground. 

7,000! 

8,000!

The young woman's eyes brightened, a feeling of satisfaction emerged in her heart. She briefly turned, glancing at Wei Wuyin with a smile. It hadn't even finished yet, and she felt confident enough to gloat!

Wei Wuyin frowned. This wasn't even as strong as the Seventh Soul-Pulse Manifestation Ring's Spiritual Strength, wasn't she gloating a little too early?

Then, it broke past 9,000! Ending at 9,017!

The old man watched from afar. Unlike Wei Wuyin, he was clearly aware of the standards of Spiritual Strength relative to age and cultivation phase, showing a proud smile on his face as he nodded with satisfaction. 

"It's over nine thousand!!!" An Elven Clan Master amongst the hooded figure, who had faintly spiky hair and a sharp gaze beneath his hood, exclaimed with clenched fists. This was very foreboding to him and the other elves, especially considering the three remaining candidates were all humans! Furthermore, this young woman was terrifying!

Her spiritual strength exceeded his own!!

His outburst prompted the other Clan Masters to feel a pressure on their shoulders. The elves were already in a lesser position. If another human became a Holy Child, their situation would become worse. Furthermore, they would even lose their homes!

Wei Wuyin furrowed his brows as the young woman received her second mark. Not wasting much time, Wei Wuyin walked forward and placed his hand on the mirror, passing the young woman who gave him a competitive glare before turning away. 

Wryly smiling, Wei Wuyin was engulfed by light!

Unlike others, Wei Wuyin had four Astral Souls, but they didn't each have separate spiritual strength. No, they were all combined into a single shared unit. Spiritual Strength was the relative strength of spiritual energy, which was determined by the quality of the intermixing parts: Physical, Mental, and Essence energies.

This meant a person could only have a single spiritual level no matter how many Astral Souls they had! Furthermore, they would all have the same amount of Spiritual Strength! 

But also unlike the others, Wei Wuyin had Kratos, a Seventh Level Mark of Mortal Myth Draconic Void Bloodline that granted him a vast capacity for physical energies and incredibly high quality. This alongside his unhesitating usage of ninth-grade products to reach the utmost limits of quantity and quality of his innate physical energies brought the physical part of his spiritual energies to its literal limits.

He had Eden, a Mind Dao Astral Soul that expanded his Sea of Consciousness to the point one might refer to it as an Ocean of Consciousness, allowing the storage of vast mental energies while elevating their quality them to the apex, in the same fashion as Kratos' Bloodline.

To add, he had two Divine Astral Souls. The term 'Divine' was coined by the Divine King Han Xei as it related to the spiritual qualities, aura, strength, and energies of an Astral Soul. They, by default, had unnaturally higher spiritual qualities than others, refining physical, mental, and essence energies to a higher level and efficiency enough to elevate the spiritual qualities beyond what should be standard.

Furthermore! FURTHERMORE! They were all Nine-Ringed Soul Idols, with Ori having Ten-Rings! 

These four Astral Souls benefited his Spiritual Strength in a way that was unimaginable. So when his Spiritual Strength was analyzed, his figure revealed, the motes started to show up. It didn't take a single second before over 10,000 motes appeared!

Over 9,000?

In a breath of time, it went beyond 20,000!!

A frightening silence once more permeated the entire world as the motes emitted glistening starlight, bright and shining. Some even felt blinded by the resplendent cyan light emitting from the mirror!

Wei Wuyin's silver eyes brightened. This mirror truly did exceed Mortal Limits. In terms of cultivation base, his spiritual strength had to be his greatest foundation, especially with two Divine-type Astral Souls! For it to measure it all without so much as a tremble, he was quite intrigued by the internal formations within.

When he recalled the Ninth Soul-Pulse Manifestation Ring's Spiritual Strength, the ring that took him across starfields, he couldn't help but realize his own spiritual strength had far outstripped it in power. 

The number kept rising!

24,000!

27,000!

It started to slow down for a moment.

29,000!

30,000!

But then, while everyone who wasn't blinded was simply watching with unmoving, unblinking eyes, it sped up again!

38,000!

It seemed as if it wouldn't stop growing!!

Wei Wuyin faintly smiled, realizing this crazed jump was due to Ori's Tenth-Ring! It had abruptly pulsated just before, clearly it was Ori not wanting to hold back! 

Then, it finally stopped at 39,900.

"..." 

"..."

"...39,900!" The Grand Priestess's mental fortitude had proven time and time again to be better than everyone else as she regained her mental focus and declared Wei Wuyin's absurd spiritual strength. But her cheeks were flushed red, her breathing clearly heavy, and those sightless eyes quivered as she loudly shouted. 

Wei Wuyin received the second mark, turning his attention to the young woman who no longer held any competitive spirit in her eyes, but a wisp of horrified terror as if Wei Wuyin was a terrifying monster of legend! 

Rubbing his nose with a bitter smile, Wei Wuyin couldn't really say anything to ease the situation. 

The old man below kept his dates, no longer in the mood to eat. Wei Wuyin's level of Spiritual Strength wasn't that far off from his own, and with his cultivation base, this was an absolutely terrifying discovery. He whispered absentmindedly, almost as if going senile, "Always someone greater, always someone greater."

Perhaps it was him imagining the sect, person, or clan that could nurture such a terrifying monster, but he felt fear for the first time in a long while. A wave of relief entered his mind like the cool side of a pillow on a hot day as he realized he hadn't offended Wei Wuyin. In fact, they could be considered friendly acquaintances! This consoled his aged heart greatly.