Paragon of Sin

Flying away from the Scarlet Solaris Mountain was one man and one beast, soaring at maximum speed through the skies unobstructed.

Wei Wuyin's expression was the picture of solemness. He was currently examining his right arm and the karmic luck value imprinted in it. The moment he decided to travel to the Mystic Elven Forest in search of Mei Mei, his arm stung with pain. His karmic luck value decreased by 8.7, to 162.4 from 171.1.

He harnessed his powerful spiritual sense and swept it around himself. Now that his Hearts of Qi contained world force, yin-yang energy, he had a greater perception of the world itself. His spiritual sense's range increased by nearly ten-fold, while its clarity was greater than ever before. He could even sense moisture levels, the degree of temperature in his surroundings, and the minute dust particulates in the air.

This was one of the benefits of absorbing and refining the pure yin and yang energy within the Yin-Yang God Sphere. The elf man was correct in saying the pure yin and yang energies would benefit one throughout their cultivation.

Wei Wuyin already knew his qi's basic strength had skyrocketed nearly twenty-fold from the Yang Growth Phase. According to records, the increase in strength was typically three-fold while one's spiritual sense doubled in range.

This was the average rate of increase.

That being said, despite the sweeping of his spiritual sense, he discovered nothing. This left him confused as to why his karmic luck value would drop so suddenly. When it dropped before, the world underwent an immediate change, or the opportunity revealed itself quickly.

He hadn't understood much about how the timing or mechanics of karmic value worked even with the scripture, but he did know that he'll be given an opportunity soon.

"I hope it doesn't delay me," Wei Wuyin muttered before he started to cultivate atop the crane. With two Hearts of Qi, his absorption and refining speed was four times as great as before. With his cultivation base rising, the refinement speed also increased.

He decided to use this time to refine his Hearts of Qi. He withdrew the black bag given to him by Su Lanyi, and pulled out a greyish-white oval stone. It was the size of a baby's fist and as smooth as its skin. He clutched it within his hand and drained the essence within.

When it was absorbed through his meridians, as it was already refined and pure, it was easily refined to make it suitable for him in minutes. The stream of refined essence made its way through his various Qi Pathways and into his dantian. The two Hearts of Qi, which like cyclones, rapidly rotated and drew the essence towards them. The strand of essence split off into two paths and entered the core of the Hearts of Qi.

Slowly, the multi-colored spherical core started to expand ever so slightly. The core contained various colors and was about the size of a fingernail. Its colors embodied the various types of energies within. These were elemental, yin, yang, and yin-yang energies.

"So it can grow!" Wei Wuyin was caught in a wondrous feeling. Before, whenever he had sent essence into his core, it would merge it with the various forms of energies and send out strands of refined qi like a fleshy heart pumping out oxygenated blood. There would be no growth.

However, now, he felt a secondary option made available due to the yin-yang energy within. The yin-yang energy kept together by the world force refined a unique form of force that could expand the core. As the core expanded, so did its ability to refine, the amount of energy contained within, and its durability.

The Sublime Qi Phase, also known as the Seventh Stage of Qi Condensation, was reaching the peak size of this Qi Core. It'll grow from a fingernail in terms of size to an actual walnut-sized existence.

With each increase in the quantity of energy, the quality of qi would also increase in turn. It was a fabulous balance that left him in awe.

"I wonder!" Wei Wuyin suddenly had an idea. Since he had two Heart of Qi, could he independently refine them both? Normally, it would be impossible as the Heart of Qi had to focus on an object to absorb it, this would take all his mental power. Now, he could be considered to have two-times the mental power.

He had to at least try.

Pulling out another essence stone, he clutched one in both hands and focused. He had both Hearts of Qi hone onto just one essence stone each. Suddenly, he felt a miraculous feeling as his mind seemed to be joined by another.

This was his cloned mind. In his mind's eye, an arming sword stood tall. It suddenly split perfectly in two from a clearly divided point. When they split, Wei Wuyin felt like he had two sources of thought.

He tested it out.

"Mei Mei."

"Xing Fu."

Simultaneously, he heard two overlapping voices in his head, both his own.

"Incredible!" He shouted aloud. The excitement in his voice was nearly tangible. The profound feeling of possessing two independent yet interconnected minds was intoxicating. As the two essence stones were absorbed through his meridians by force of his Hearts of Qi, directed into hia dantian, he found an even greater, far more miraculous discovery.

Unlike before, the two Hearts of Qi didn't split the essence, but focused solely on their own strands of essence. Yet, the refinement speed hadn't decreased. This was a true representation of twice the result with half the effort.

Kree!

The crane beneath his feet cried. He awoke from his cultivation and noticed that the sky had become dark and the astral bodies were brilliantly shining in the starry sky.

"How long have I been cultivating?" He quietly muttered. If the crane was reaching its limits, it should've been morning, not night.

After taking a look behind him, he noticed the Scarlet Solaris Mountain was no longer in sight and the area was mostly filled with rocky, barren terrain with sparse trees and vegetation. The wood energy was lacking, but the earthen energies were brimming and full.

There were hills and smaller mountains in the distance.

He recalled the map within his mind and the noticeable features of the land. Having traveled eastbound the entire trip, he should be in the Earthly Titan Sect's Gaia State. They deemed it as a state, but it was a part of Wu Country.

Only now did he recall the vast distance to the Mystic Elven Forest from the sect. Even if he had the crane fly without rest, it would still take two weeks. If he had a black crane, that time could be shortened.

He communicated with the crane using a spiritual spell, gaining a rough estimate of his cultivation time. It had been roughly thirty-nine hours since they left. The crane also communicated its immense exhaustion and desire for rest.

Wei Wuyin couldn't help but give a helpless smile. He had been so riled up that he forgot his mount's limitations. A true God-level character would have a unique mount that was both faster and had a greater degree of stamina than his white crane, such as a black crane that was several times the size of a white crane.

He hadn't exposed his cultivation base, and because of rank requirements, the sect hadn't given him an exception and bestowed a black variant crane to him. He understood and had little need for a better mount until now. In truth, he enjoyed having this crane as a mount. It had served him faithfully and their relationship was stable.

"Sorry," he apologized with a rub to its feathers. It cried in acceptance, the exhaustion evident by its weakened sounds.

"Let's find a place to rest." After instructing this, he once more recalled the map of the Gaia State. There were several important locations marked in that mental map, such as the Earthly Titan Sect, Mount Inferno, and Dao Canyon.

"Mount Inferno!" Mount Inferno was the location where magma essence and magma stones were located, bought, and traded. According to legends, the heart of the mountain contained a high-level magma essence called the Blazing Inferno Magma Essence. It was reported to be so hot that it could melt mountains. From the ranking of elemental essences noted in the seventh floor records of the Scarlet Dao Temple, it was also in the top three of all known magma essences in the Myriad Yore Continent.

Wei Wuyin examined his karmic luck value and then recalled something. The route he was taking, whether by fate or coincidence, was Mount Inferno. His eyebrow twitched.

"The Heavenly Daos are quite interesting! If I didn't have this karmic value tattoo, I wouldn't have noticed various oddities. For one, this crane usually lasts eighteen hours maximum, but it exceeded double that time! I thought it was just its healthy state at first." As he said this he recalled his first thought waking up, finding it strange, but dismissed it soon after.

"I also just said eastward, but many things can shift the path the longer you travel and I didn't particularly pick a route, yet I'm heading straight for Mount Inferno. And, there's a city next to it, suitable for resting while also being the closest city! Incredible!"

He had never been exposed to this coincidental-type of karmic luck before, at least not since he became aware. Now that he thought about it, the Three-Point Yin Body female he came across was also coincidental and appropriate at the time. He just took it as luck, but…

He shivered slightly, fearful of the heavenly daos.

Regardless of his emotional shock, he still steered towards the city. He didn't have much choice in this matter, nor did he wish to waste his karmic luck. Communicating his plans to the crane, it cried in happiness before speeding up towards the city.

Several minutes later, he saw Mount Inferno and the city, Ash Dragon City. It had obsidian walls that towered twenty feet, had towers positioned in eight locations, and it created an octagonal city. The towers radiated a powerful qi fluctuation, indicating the inherent formations built within.

According to the legends, despite being mere fourteen miles away from the base of the volcanic mountain, and suffering three separate eruptions, the city still stands due to its unique formation that can withstand the flowing lava.

"Magma originates from beneath the earth, lava is the excess that rises above. Theoretically, with magma qi, one can withstand great pressure and the liquid heat of lava. Is that how the formation works?" Wei Wuyin speculated as he observed the walls.

"Let's land," Wei Wuyin rubbed the crane as he sent his instructions. The crane shot down and arrived at the city gate. This gate also stood twenty feet and was created from a silver metal. Wei Wuyin realized it was froststeel. He had come across it when he met the crazed prisoner.

When he landed, he had the crane take steps towards the gate.

At the city gate, two guardians radiating auras at the First Stage of Qi Condensation stood guard. This elevated his understanding of the city. To have gate guards at the Qi Condensation Realm meant the city held strength. In his clan, those who guarded the gate were measly Meridian Awakening Phase cultivators, those at the Foundation Establishment Realm.

He saw their weapons and realized they were qi weapons which contained faint traces of fire qi. It was similar to Yan Zhu's scarlet qi spear. This was quite valuable. As for their armor, they emitted an aura of earth qi.

His own silver saber contained metal qi. However, it's quality was only on par as he'd obtained it before reaching the Elemental Birth Phase. He knew the strength of weapons imbued with qi were far stronger than those without.

After all, weapons of that level required refined qi stones or those at the Elemental Birth Phase to set up a formation and spend months to years of infusion.

"Halt!" One of the guards ordered with his palm out. His voice was powerful and his aura was already circulating in intimidation. Wei Wuyun laughed inwardly at this. Did they want to intimidate him?

Regardless, he halted with a smile.

"Entry is currently restricted. You can return after the entry ban has been lifted." The guard stated coldly.

Wei Wuyin was shocked. He thought this was an extortion tactic, but instead, it was a direct order of denial. He grew curious as he saw that the gate had indeed been closed. Also, everyone who was at the gate was lingering around with idle expressions.

He had thought it was the issue with the fee, but now he knew it was something greater.

His curiosity grew. He wanted to see inside.

Wait.

He frowned. The strong feeling to stick his nose in other's business, while not unlikely, wasn't natural.

Then, he smiled as realization dawned on him.

"Fine. You want me to look inside, then so be it." As if speaking directly to the heavenly daos, his eyes grew bright. He fully intended to wreak havoc and forcefully enter.

Boom!!!

His eyes widened as the closed gate dented and then straight blew off its hinges. One of the doors that rocketed outwards like a bullet crashed into one of the guards. He didn't even get a chance to yelp before his entirety was crushed in meat paste. His bones made a crushingly eerie sound as a splatter of his organs painted the ground.

The other guard was swatted away like a fly, blood creating a crimson line following the trajectory of his body. He even saw an arm twisted oddly, nearly ripped off at its joint.

Wei Wuyin hastily conjured a strand of silver qi, creating a square wall to defend. One of the doors that flew towards him were directly halted like a flying marshmallow meeting a stone. It deformed, but couldn't even cause a ripple in the wall of qi.

A swift figure shot out from the entrance, and directly passed him.