Paragon of Sin

Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum!

Right now, his heart was pounding like a war drum. He stealthily gulped as he was about to be questioned by San Luoyang when he spoke out, his voice empowered by his cultivation base.

With a clear, strong voice: "My Young Master, Alchemic Sovereign Wei Wuyin, has decided on the standards for Chosen. To any that disagrees with his criteria, they may send their Chosen Knight to face me!" 

As he spoke, he stood upright, and his eyes tried to replicate the imposing serenity of Wei Wuyin in his image, yet the resulting uproar was absolutely mind-blowing!

The crowd went up in flames in clamoring voices, clashing against each other as they were stunned by this move! 

Everyone was stunned; the Earthly Saints that returned to the sub-realm were no different. The expression of Evergod was dark, and behind his seemingly calm gaze was a batch of seething emotions. He realized that Wei Wuyin's earlier words had all led to this moment. 

All the Earthly Saints had intrigued expressions while the Alchemic Sovereigns' faces were either twisted, solemn, or sharply offended. Yet, they all possessed exceptional memory, even if it was over twenty months ago, and they remembered every syllable and meaning. 

"Who invented Chosen?"

While they didn't give a response, it simply wasn't needed: the King of Everlore! Everyone knew, and everyone worshiped this fact with abundant reverence in their hearts.

"Then you all understand; the only one qualified to set the standards of Chosen is an alchemist. Why? Because we excavate talent. Why? Because we can turn talentless into talented. Why? Because trash with no hope in your eyes can become treasure vastly exceeding you in every way with OUR assistance. The Chosen standards should be determined by our limits, not any theoretical limits, just as the King of Everlore had determined his Chosen standards by 'his' limits. After all, there's no Chosen King yet, is there?"

However, this was set up for this! 

Originally, Wei Wuyin had made it seem that only the Alchemic Sovereigns should compete to determine who had the greatest voice, but from Du Ling's words, it was abundantly clear that was not his intention! Only one is qualified to set the standards of Chosen!

An Alchemist!

And Wei Wuyin was attempting to single-handedly decide the standards for Chosen! In fact, since he wasn't here, that meant that twenty months ago, he already planned to sweep the competition and invalidate every Alchemist's voice and become the next King of Everlore!

How ambitious!

How arrogant!

"Hahaha!" Xun Yicao laughed as if he heard the funniest joke in the entire world. Many of the Earthly Saints found this funny too because it was clear that Du Ling was following orders from twenty-plus months ago! This was before the decision to implement the Excavation Stage! Wei Wuyin had grossly miscalculated! 

"HAHAHAHA!" As Xun Yicao thought about it more and more he found it funnier and funnier. He held onto his sides, his head moving side to side, and he couldn't hold it in as faint unshed tears formed at the edges of his eyes. He was laughing—HARD!

The other Alchemic Sovereigns were infected by his attitude, and the more they thought about it, the funnier it became, and some even chuckled. Before long, a strange mob mentality formed, and most began to chuckle and laugh, shaking their heads with wry smiles at Wei Wuyin's miscalculation.

How could they not? 

For Wei Wuyin to think about using his 'limits' to set the stage for the upcoming era was incredible. He clearly wanted to crawl towards the degree of reverence that the King of Everlore had taken, but his youthfulness had left behind a foolish mistake as he took off, trying to look cool by setting the stage without even being present! If it was all those months ago, they might have been awed and hesitant to accept, but now?

If they refused to send their Chosen Knights forward after having an eighteen months advantage, they might as well toss their Alchemic Sovereign titles in the trash and never concoct again! 

"A young fool is nevertheless a fool," Xun Yicao stated while wiping away his unshed tears. He breathed out loudly. 

Du Ling was slightly squeamish from the thunderous laughter from these up-high throne-sitting figures of prominent status and might. However, he couldn't handle how Xun Yicao insulted his Young Master, his eyes blazing with viciously pure killing intent. He gritted his teeth and stared fiercely at Xun Yicao with a heated desire to commit murder.

Unable to endure any longer, he mustered his bravery and pointed at Xun Yicao, "Then bring your Chosen Knight here, on behalf of my Young Master, I'll properly teach you and yours a lesson your parents should've!"

"..." The entire summit was stunned by this brazen declaration. It wasn't just targeted towards Xun Yicao, but every Alchemic Sovereign that was laughing in their comfortably high thrones. 

"Fine! A foolish alchemist gives birth to a recklessly foolish Chosen Knight, as expected. Go!" Xun Yicao urged the handsome, tall, and fit young man by his side with his hands, impatience in his voice.

He sent through a spiritual transmission to this young Chosen Knight that seemed to perfectly embody the picturesque identity of a male Chosen: "If you can, cripple him. Completely." 

The Chosen Knight leaped forward but his expression changed midway, and by the time he landed, his expression had an icy chill of violence that didn't seem to disparage his handsome face at all. In fact, the hearts of many young women pounded at the sight of him. This type of dangerous aura was extremely attractive.

In comparison to the family man that was Du Ling, chubby in certain areas, and pretty average-looking as a whole, the difference caused many women to root for Xun Yicao's Chosen Knight subconsciously. 

This action caused the Earthly Saints to exchange glances with themselves and the Alchemic Sovereigns. This went against the intended protocol.

Empress Xiaocheng spoke out as the representative of these Earthly Saints, especially considering she was an unbiased figure, and said: "Does this mean that the Alchemic Sovereigns agree with Wei Wuyin's challenge?" This caused the Alchemic Sovereigns' expressions to change slightly. But tacitly, they accepted Wei Wuyin's bold declaration and actions, and in the depths of their hearts, they agreed with this method.

Only one Alchemist should determine the Chosen standards, just like that legendary figure had done once before. But none of them thought it would be Wei Wuyin given his handicapped position. 

An Earthly Saint added with a wisp of respect, "We don't know what those standards are, should we readily accept this type of ambiguous arrangement for our upcoming era?" It was hard to disagree with Wei Wuyin's statement, especially as a non-alchemist, definitely considering the King of Everlore had established that precedent from day one. 

They all agreed that a cultivator with or without an alchemist was far too different, and while the latter might outdo the former in the long run due to outstanding talent, in their youthful period, the farmer's cultivation base will be ahead by lightspeed-like distance. And most importantly, the concept of Chosen was solely dependent on their most youthful stage of development. 

So Alchemists should determine the standards of Chosen! After all, it only existed because Alchemists existed!

"..." The Earthly Saints were quite hesitant to agree, but the Alchemic Sovereigns seemed entirely unbothered by this development. After a brief series of rapid-fire spiritual transmissions, the Earthly Saints soon accepted this condition. Their voice had power, but relative to Alchemists, they simply shouldn't interfere. Most wouldn't even be sitting on their thrones without them. 

"If there are no objections, the final stage of the Saint Cyclic Renewal Summit will begin with altered rules—Last One Standing!" Evergod's voice rumbled outwards and shook everyone's minds, and this invigorated them as they realized the last Chosen Stage was going to change!

Evergod explained, "The Chosen Knight that stands on the stage without challengers or anyone occupying the stage will be declared the winner!" 

"Oooh! What?!" The crowd went wild.

Lim Ming's heart thrummed with fighting spirit. "It's a free-for-all?!" Unfortunately, Chosen was unable to participate due to all the changes that Wei Wuyin caused. Now, those titled Chosen wouldn't be able to participate, only the Chosen Knights represented the voice of each Alchemic Sovereign.

While a little disappointed, he was excited about the event. 

Du Ling was taken aback alongside Xun Yicao's Chosen Knight. They looked towards each other.

The Evergod was making this a fierce Battle Royale! 

The eyes of 244 Alchemic Sovereigns went bright with spiritual light. They sent gazes at their Chosen Knights. 

"All challengers! Take the stage!" Evergod's order resounded like thunder. After it erupted, 243 figures shot off the platforms near their throne-sitting Alchemic Sovereigns, landing on the stage. 

Very few could have predicted that Evergod was striving for chaos, using his authority to change things in his favor. Most importantly, Du Ling felt the wolf-like gazes of many, many Chosen Knights trained on him. They eyed him like a piece of meat that couldn't wait to devour.

They were going to target him! Likely by the order of their Alchemic Sovereign or…perhaps even Evergod himself!

Luo Ning's heart was pounding fiercely in her chest, concerned about this Chosen Knight she had cultivated. She didn't want her greatest creation to be crippled. She hurriedly sent a spiritual transmission to Du Ling, but it was blocked by a spiritual barrier. Her pupils shrunk slightly.

In the sub-realm, the Imperial Advisor gave a slight smile. "Is this what it means to flip over another's trap?" She was acutely aware that Evergod couldn't stop Wei Wuyin's plans without looking like a hypocrite or fearful, so he instead twisted it in his favor while compounding Wei Wuyin's disadvantage several-fold.

What a fearsomely devious mind.

The Boundless Martial High King frowned slightly. Initially, he was excited at the prospect of a fight with these rules, but after hearing the Imperial Advisor, a distaste emerged in his mouth. However, he still couldn't help but pray for the savageness to begin.

Evergod didn't waste time, sending an explosively sonorous voice throughout the secret realm: 

"BEGIN!!"