Paragon of Sin

As the sun's rays brightly lit the inside of his quarters, Wei Wuyin lifted his body and stretched. Without much consideration, he donned his disciple robes. Unlike Elders who wore multicolored robes, disciples donned their Mountain's specific colors, but this only mattered to the Extreme Origin, Creation, and War Mountains.

Extreme Origin Mountain: White.

Extreme War Mountain: Scarlet.

Extreme Creation Mountain: Black.

"Forming a faction." Quietly muttering, Wei Wuyin left his room. This was a process that had to be completed in person and officiated. Not only did one have to possess enough status to establish a faction, but they needed to have earned a sufficient amount of Imperial Merits.

In basic sects, this could be considered contribution points, but they had a slight difference in terms of the standard functions and method of obtainment. For normal disciples, Imperial Merits were earned after applying for it. Missions issued by the sect did not give Imperial Merits, but specific rewards. This could be a voucher for a storehouse alchemical product of a certain grade, time in a treasured cultivation grounds or resources.

As for Imperial Merits, they were applied for and truly based on merits. At any point in time, you can turn in a portfolio of your completed tasks, this even included daily tasks done by Null Disciples and Nascent Dust Disciples. This would then be subsequently judged by a twelve-person tribunal that would determine what you should receive individually. Then, they calculated the mean of that numerical value; that's what you received.

Afterwards, your personal portfolio of completed tasks and merits would be wiped clean, completely reset.

This made earning Imperial Merits both fair and easy. It was like 'additional' benefits for your contributions to the sect. It was being officially recognized! But Imperial Merits can directly be exchanged for any resource, time in treasured cultivation grounds, used to commute a criminal charge, and many more such as creating a faction.

"The importance of establishing a faction is the ability to rapidly accumulate Imperial Merit as a group." To establish a faction, he needed to accrue a total of 100 Imperial Merits. This would give him the right.

Normally, earning a single Imperial Merit could take years, but creationists like himself had ways to earn this at a rapid rate: Alchemical Products, Armaments, and Brand-new Arts/Spells/Arrays/Formations designs. While there were missions assigned for specific products, these usually included fifth or sixth-grade products. There's no one who'd randomly issue a global seventh-grade order.

It was a highly unrealistic expectation, so most simply visit the alchemist in person and pray they'll accept their money. Alchemists did not need to perform tasks as they can directly gain Imperial Merit by simply delivering completed alchemical products.

According to Bo Kay, this was due to the endless demand for products. There could never be enough, but very few would offer products to the sect, so they essentially set down this benefit to entice others.

A single sixth-grade, high-tier product was worth a single merit and a peak-tier product was worth three merits. This related to low-quality products, not high or peak as their reward was a tad bit higher.

As an alchemist that has an unreasonably amount of random sixth and seventh-grade alchemical products, he could easily earn a hundred merits, and much, much more.

After setting his goal in mind, he exited his room and the sky palace onto the Sky Layer foundation.

The Sky Layer was an oddity. At first he thought it wasn't solid, but it was. Well, it was more like a strange blend of solid and gas, capable of acting as a foundation for a sky palace. While formations and arrays helped support this state, it was mostly due to the unique qualities of the Sky Layer itself.

Kree!

Lifting his head, he saw Bai Lin soaring freely through the skies while breathing in massive amounts of astral essence. It seems this environment was insanely beneficial to beasts and cultivators alike. For example, despite being here for two days, Su Mei was unable to suppress her breakthrough into the Eighth Stage of the Qi Condensation.

She was currently consolidating her cultivation. Shockingly, despite having a Divine-type Natal Soul, she hadn't immediately ascended to the eighth stage due to her own suppression. He had originally thought it was merely his own advantages due to the uniqueness of his Natal Souls combined with the Divine-type enhancements it received. But it was completely due to herself, shocking even him.

But as he recalled her battle with Na Xinyi and their inability to bring out the most basic ability of 'creation' that typically those at the sixth stage of her realm possessed, it made some sense not to leap too far. It was best to acclimate in your stage of cultivation so you don't lack foundational knowledge in the future.

Woosh!

Bai Lin arrived before him with blazing golden lights emitting from her eyes. They seemed sacred, pure, and contained a strange worldly truth. His eyebrows furrowed as he realized the Golden Phoenix Fruit Bai Lin consumed truly had endless benefits, constantly influencing her.

Kree!

"Oh?" Wei Wuyin felt Bai Lin's spiritual intent. 'You're about to undergo a transformation?' He pondered for a moment, inspected her body with his spiritual sense and felt the seething blood within her body. It seemed as if it was boiling and changing color, becoming golden.

"Is this the Awakening of the Phoenix?" When he obtained the records of the Beast-Taming Sect, he learned of the legendary and mythological traits of phoenixes. One of these traits was called the Act of Awakening. It was a process of rebirth that would have their bloodline powers unlock their inner potential.

Phoenixes was said to be determined in strength by how many awakenings they underwent, the more the better. Since this was her first awakening gifted to her by her bloodline, this meant she was approaching closer and closer to that legendary state.

'Would this crane become a true phoenix one day?' This thought sounded ridiculous, but as he observed the proud and contentful expression of Bai Lin, he felt it was more and more possible. If she did, how majestic and world-shaking would she be?

"Go. Undergo your transformation. I'm going down for a bit, so I'll be back soon." He smilingly held out his hand. Bai Lin shifted her head to lightly receive Wei Wuyin's caress. Her eyes that radiated pride and contentment was replaced by glee and relaxation. She seemed to enjoy this greatly despite Wei Wuyin's hand being slightly larger than a single feather of hers.

Fweet!

He whistled.

Bai Lin's head lifted abruptly and seemed ready to take flight, causing galewinds to form.

"Not you!" Wei Wuyin laughed. Usually, he whistled to get her to come to him, so her response was based in reflex. She had a keen sense of hearing and even greater response time. It was this very whistle that led her to him after the collapse of the Tree of Eden.

Woosh!

A winged existence as large as Bai Lin shot into the air and brandished its wings that flowed with faint jade light. It neighed and stomped, making its way towards Wei Wuyin and Bai Lin.

Bai Lin let loose a faint grumble as she lowered her wings. Right, she couldn't leave the Sky Layer yet. In fact, she tried yesterday but only got repelled. Her strength wasn't at the Star-grade yet, so she could only wait for her first awakening. When she did, she knew her strength would reach a sufficient level of power! Then, this pegasus shall be gone!

The adolescent Sky Pegasus arrived beside Wei Wuyin and lowered its head. Wei Wuyin softly caressed it too, and it neighed in delight, but he didn't have the same feeling as when he caressed Bai Lin. Perhaps it was the difference in texture, but he enjoyed touching Bai Lin more.

With a shrug, he flashed atop the pegasus's back. "Be diligent in your transformation. Don't make mistakes!" After those cautious words were said, the pegasus shot upwards and dove like a hawk seeking its prey. It smashed into the Sky Layer and penetrated it with utter ease.

Unlike Bai Lin, and despite being a young pegasus, it was still a star-grade beast. While its combat strength might not rival an Astral Core Realm cultivation at this moment, it was still stronger than the Qi Condensation Realm level of power.

Descending was much faster than ascending, as merely a few minutes was required before they exited.

When they did, Wei Wuyin's eyes once more witnessed the hustling, the bustling, the lively, air produced by the hardworking men and women of the Extreme Creation Mountain. There were areas similar to Common Growth Villages where farms, greenhouses, stables, and more were set up for various agricultural activities.

It was quite a sight to see on a mountain of all things. The waterfalls that ascended, twisted, and descended was a surreal sight as well that would likely cause most mortals' worlds to be turned upside down.

'Bo Kay said that I have to build up my portfolio and turn those marked and recorded achievements to the Extreme Monarch Mountain for Imperial Merit and then sign up for permission to form a faction. That's the start. Then, I'll need to find members.'

His decision to establish a faction had always lingered in his thoughts from the very moment he heard of its possibility. When he was a Core Disciple of the Scarlet Solaris Sect, he had his own faction with talents such as Han Yu, the one who possessed a rare aquatic bloodline. It was through this faction that he established a powerbase and authority.

While due to the rules of Authority here, there were slight differences, a faction was an army and a tool of deterrence. Furthermore, he intended to do many things in this sect and world; he wasn't the type to struggle for everything with his own hands. Why do so when one can have subordinates to do that?

When he took down the remnant forces of the Violet Moon Sect, he had rarely taken action personally. This was the life of a true elite, a true expert. And that was to have other experts under your command.

If he wanted to establish the firmest and strongest foundation using the Dao of Alchemy as the basis, then he needed time, resources, and true authority. He couldn't remain idle while cultivating, nor was he that type of lazy individual.

'I don't believe that the Myriad Monarch Sect is an unsurpassed existence nor an uncontested one. Every force has its enemies and rivals, and since the existence of Evil Cultivators and traitors exist, there is likely conflict happening constantly. Moreover, enemies from within the sect is a possibility.'

Jiu Lang was a prime example of an enemy within the sect. Since his rise, she was intent on using him as a stepping stone and crushing his potential as a threat to herself.

Everything was a competition in the world of cultivation, because the most crucial and universally accepted fact of the world was: Cultivation is difficult.

This phrase, this saying, and this universal law had never changed and will never change regardless of how high you reach. Even in the Myriad Monarch Sect; even in the Myriad Monarch Astral Territory; even in the Tri-Vision Starfield.

If he wanted to establish a strong foothold, not just in the Myriad Monarch Sect, but the entire starfield, he needed to ready himself for battles, challenges, and intense competitions.

"Go!" Wei Wuyin ordered the sky pegasus to descend onto the sixth level, the Alchemic Dao Pavilion. There was one on every level, besides the seventh through ninth. It was designed to accept the submission of alchemical products for Lord Alchemists and above, as well as filing an application to issue a global mission order to the alchemists.

Most cultivators looking for sixth and seventh-grade products would visit here to redeem product vouchers of that level or Imperial Merits.

When his eyes descended onto the building, his heart was instantly moved!