Paragon of Sin

Mu Yura!

The first Mortal Sovereign Alchemist to leave her palace, carrying an incomparable demeanor of majesty and beauty, was the Twilight Alchemic Sovereign herself, alongside the Solitary Saber Sect Master, Dao Yuwen, and her Chosen Knight, Li Qingli.

The Chosen Knight selected by Mu Yura was relatively fresh in the minds of everyone present, and they were awestruck by the difference. What was originally a young girl, thin and slender, black-haired and blue-eyed, likely no older than twelve years old, had grown explosively!

She had grown taller, gaining curves on her originally skinny frame and stood straight like a spear, and her big blue eyes had acquired an impeccably cold sharpness. If before Li Qingli was an innocent cultivator with little experience, she had become a noblewoman carrying the bearing of an elite warrior forged by battle and challenges.

Her new appearance, contrasting greatly with her old, firmly set the tone for this clash, invigorating the spectators and those whose family and friends were luckily selected by these awe-inspiring, heaven-changing figures called Mortal Sovereign Alchemists!

Li Qingli's father, an Everlore Domain merchant in a silver-rank association, was radiated palpable excitement seeing his baby girl's fantastic change. Her future would certainly be limitless! If she were to receive Mu Yura's favor, she would become a future Alchemic Knight, serving a peak figure, and changing her previously lackluster path.

Ma Zheng inspected Mu Yura's Chosen Knight, his eyes glinting with spiritual light. At his sides were Wu Yu, Han Yuhei, and the recently awoken Zhang Ziyi. The Grand Elder of the True Element Sect had finally recovered, and her complexion was healthy and flushed with life. One would never guess that the Soul Saint King's casual action nearly sent her to death's door.

"She was originally at the Yin Form Phase. Now, she's at the Qi Essence Phase. Five stages in three and a half years—fascinating." Ma Zheng commented praisingly. Furthermore, it was all genuine.

The leap of five stages in the Qi Condensation Realm was an astonishingly praiseworthy feat to achieve in three and a half years. A byproduct of perfectly curated teachings and resources in a balance.

"Mu Yura has reforged that little girl's innate talents, especially her Sea of Consciousness; her eyes are practically exuding with a saber light generated by mental energy." Han Yuhei noted with his nine-colored eyes swirling with spiritual and elemental light. There was a hint of respect in his eyes. This was the ability of an alchemist—elevating innate talent!

"Fascinating. She's at a higher cultivation than I was at her age." Zhang Ziyi was equally as intrigued by this competition, finding it to be a breath of fresh air. When Zhang Ziyi was sixteen, she was barely at the Yang Growth Phase. This was already amazingly impressive, to say the least, given that she was a female cultivator faced with the abnormal difficulties the Yang Growth Phase presented.

"Mu Yura is only an Official-tier Mortal Sovereign Alchemist, yet her Chosen Knight has reached this level. I wonder how far those at the Prime and Grand tier have developed their Chosen Knights, especially those like the Tri-Vision Alchemic Sovereign(San Luoyang) and the Lavender Alchemic Sovereign(Xun Yicao)." Ma Zheng rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Could they nurture Astral Core Realm Chosen Knights? Wouldn't they blow out the competition?" Han Yuhei's expression grew severe after saying this. If that were the case, Li Qingli wouldn't be impressive at all.

"There are many ways to conceal Astral Tribulations using various treasures, especially to overcome them—Alchemists are renowned for bypassing these types of challenges. Look at the King of Everlore's Everlore Ascension Pill. It's certainly not impossible for it to happen and for us not to know about it." Ma Zheng added his analysis, allowing this possibility to flutter in the minds of everyone.

"Impossible." Their conversations weren't hidden, done openly through verbal communication, and as such, an outsider got themselves involved. They turned their gaze to find Huoyan Liulan seated with a neutral expression. While she had joined in the operation by Ma Zheng's request to deal Trueborn a devastating blow, she had her own clique that she was a part of.

They included the Hexaflame Starfield's Earthly Saints and their allied starfields leaders, such as the Beyond Light Starfield(9th) and the Daylight Starfield(16th). However, they were rather drearily dull, so she conspicuously floated closer to Ma Zheng's group to talk or listen in from time to time. She had just gotten back from leaving them a month ago.

Zhang Ziyi knitted her brows, "And why is it impossible?"

Huoyan Liulan gave her a glance as if to say: "Do I really need to explain it to you?" But in the end, she floated closer, integrating seamlessly with the group, and began to explain her point of view. "The Qi Condensation Realm is the realm of accumulation; there's very little comprehension that needs to be completed outside of the three stages: Elemental Birth, False Reality, and Infused Spirituality. As long as a cultivator isn't limited by resources, the rest of the stages are endlessly easy.

"However, accumulation has its limits—a cultivator's innate talent, quality of resources, and time. All three of which are extremely relevant to this clash. The Qi Essence Phase is the final stage of Qi Condensation, but one has to refine specialized Qi Essence Motes formed from their own Spirit's refined Mana. An extremely time-consuming feat." Huoyan Liulan was merely giving a brief lesson of cultivation, but all these Earthly Saints knew all this; still, quite a few turned their attention to her out of boredom or curiosity as to where she'll go with this.

"So? With products like the seventh-grade Astral Dipper Foundation Pill, this can rapidly accumulate Essence Qi Motes." Zhang Ziyi rebutted.

"Time," Huoyan Liulan pointed out, "they're only given three and a half years. Which of these Mortal Sovereign Alchemists is going to settle for less than a Zenith Essence breakthrough? And how many of these pills will it take? If they don't use a pill like the Everlore Ascension Pill, will they be strong enough to complete their Mortal Star Formation Tribulation?"

"..." Those listening felt there was some truth to that, but there's no telling if these alchemists were willing to sacrifice reputation for chances of victory, finding a way. Zhang Ziyi was about to present this point too, but Huoyan Liulan interrupted her.

"It's not just that. All products they use MUST be newly concocted. Which Mortal Sovereign Alchemist here can concoct an Everlore Ascension Pill in that timeframe alone?" Only then was everyone enlightened. Huoyan Liulan had said time not solely because of a Chosen Knight's refinement time but also factored in the concoction time of these alchemists. It simply wasn't possible to concoct everything else and then begin an Everlore Ascension Pill, finishing in what limited time they had left without risking the entire competition, especially when they were without assistants!

It was extremely difficult to concoct ninth-grade products, and Mortal Sovereign Alchemists might have gained the approval of the Alchemic Dao, but even they failed, and sometimes they concocted impure-quality products. Since they were the sole alchemist nurturing these Chosen Knights, they couldn't delegate smaller tasks to achieve grander feats.

Even if a Mortal Sovereign Alchemist threw away their pride, time would still be a heavy factor. They would've had to refine Astral Dipper Foundation Pills, wasting weeks or months not training their arts, spells, or auxiliary methods. As a result, a lesser Astral Soul's Mortal State would then create a weaker Astral Core Realm cultivator; it was bound to be a failure! They may not even be able to defeat Li Qingli, who was clearly cultivated with battle in mind.

As if verifying Huoyan Liulan's words, Mortal Sovereign Alchemists began to waltz out of their palaces with their Chosen Knights. None of which was at the Astral Core Realm, but they all had auras of junior elites.

The weakest was at the Yang Growth Phase, unable to reach the False Reality Phase, accessing the power of Creation, or remotely close to forming their Natal Souls. The look in the Mortal Sovereign Alchemist's eyes was incomparably gloomy, frustrated, and desiring to kill worlds. The Chosen Knight had halted in this stage, unable to advance regardless of instruction.

This wasn't an uncommon sight; there were thirty-two Yang Growth Chosen Knights, and one of them belonged to a Prime Mortal Sovereign Alchemist! They all knew that their chances of victory were at the absolute lowest.

When the Earthly Saints noticed this, when the supreme Forgers and Architects noticed this, when the spectating crowd noticed this, when the other Mortal Sovereign Alchemists noticed this, the very same thought crossed their minds:

Cultivation is difficult!

They didn't blame them; they didn't pity them; that could've easily been them! For the stages that required comprehension, they were ruthless gatekeepers meant solely for the talented and lucky. This was why the Astral Core Realm had a vast disparity in numbers—a realm whose initial and middle-stages were centered around comprehension. This could be perfectly observed at the Everlore Starfield. There were trillions of cultivators, yet only five million Astral Core Realm cultivators throughout! Among these five million, less than fifty were at the Gravity Emission Phase.

That said, there were absolutely no Chosen Knights in the Infused Spirituality or Sublime Qi Phase, the Seventh Stage, and Eighth Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, respectively. They were either in the Yang Growth Phase, False Reality Phase, or the Qi Essence Phase. This was expected as once one reached the Infused Spirituality Phase, it was remarkably easy to reach the Essence Qi Phase through resources alone.

"The Tri-Vision Alchemic Sovereign is coming out!" An excited exclamation resounded as San Luoyang brought out his Chosen Knight! It drew the attention of many.

What level has this third-in-command of the Everlore Association reached?