Paragon of Sin

Atop the treasure trove that was the Terra-Mystic Ore kept as an earthen sphere, Wu Yu sat in the lotus position with his eyes closed. After settling his tasks, he rested diligently, acting as the overwatching guardian for such precious materials. Initially, he was somewhat disinclined to the idea of protecting the ore.

In his opinion, Wei Wuyin should simply inform the Golden Life Pavilion, his merchant contact, and let them handle it and whatever fallout that it would produce. However, after returning to the Aeternal Sky Starfield, he did a little checking on the value of Terra-Mystic Ore via each ounce of it.

He discovered a few facts that caused his thoughts to change. The most notable fact was that Terra-Mystic Ore was divided into difficult to differentiate grades during the initial surveying process. Just like mystic-graded alchemical products, mystic-graded materials were divided into Mystic-Earth, Mystic-World, Mystic-Heaven, and Mystic-Soul, further divided into low, high, and peak grades.

The most common type of mystic-graded materials were low-grade Mystic-Earth materials. They were often fostered and grown by powers using formations or methods, such as the water-attributed Stillwater Blood that the Ma Clan used to surround their headquarters in the Grand Horse Realm.

The greater the grade, the higher the quality of Mystic Intent, Mystic Essence, or attributed Mystic Energies within. He had picked up a means to differentiate them at the Golden Life Pavilion out of curiosity. While there, he also learned that the planet Optimal Sky bid by the Imperial Clan during the auction was only a low-grade Mystic-Earth Terra-Mystic Mine, tiny-sized at that.

Yet it was worth over one thousand mystic stones in its already mined state. This was the Golden Life Pavilion's accurate estimation of its remaining value, not the entire value of the Optimal Sky at its freshly discovered state.

The celestial rogue those three powers found were severely underestimated in value. They were using the rubric of the planet's value as a low-grade Mystic-Earth material. But even then, their surveying was still off its correct value.

Now that Wu Yu had sufficient time to inspect the ore without any impediments, it all compiled in a single area, he was greatly aware of its size. Even if one used that standard, the value of the mine, including its ore and core, would be roughly twenty-two thousand mystic stones. That was enough to make it the third most valuable mine of its type in the entire Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, not much off from the second.

However, the celestial rogue's ore was not low-grade Mystic-Earth, but peak-grade Mystic-Earth. PEAK! When he verified this again and again, he further understood the true importance that this ore was not discovered by others.

Even if the Golden Life Pavilion were to obtain it, they would not be able to handle such a massively valuable treasure trove or keep it a secret from the numerous forces. Not only would mining it in its original state leak its aura outwards, but just having it in the starfield would be like a lighthouse to those Earthly Saints.

A bloody war would be inevitable.

Those three forces had no idea what they discovered. Absolutely none. They would've been crushed by the ensuing chaos for this ore. If Wei Wuyin hadn't extracted the ore using his unfathomable means, there was no telling imaginable way they could have kept it a secret without alerting those peak experts.

In his thoughts, Wei Wuyin was lucky to have found it before they started mining. With the immovable manner of the Celestial Rogue due to its composition, this space would've been the site of a war between the two starfields, and so many other powers would surely have collapsed on it with relentless greed, using those two starfields as bases of operations.

"This thing's value'¦" Wu Yu caressed the earthen surface, calming his racing heart-rate. If the Golden Life Pavilion's measurement methods were reliable, even if their estimation was off by a fair bit, the value of this mine reached eight hundred thousand mystic stones.

To put it into a simple, easier to comprehend scale: Its value equalled roughly three average starfields in the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region! There were only twenty-three. Twenty-three!

Wu Yu no longer thought that Wei Wuyin's decision to keep it a secret and a closely guarded one was an incorrect one. In fact, he felt it was the most sensible decision he had ever come across in his lifetime. He was a little afraid just having it beneath him. Fortunately, he could use physical strength to push the ore as it wasn't entrenched around an entire planet reinforced through continuous contact with the ore. It was still a little heart-shaking that Wei Wuyin solved this issue.

The planet's crust would've been so difficult to mine that ordinary Starlords would have seemed like snails using their innate physical strength to do so.

"I wonder how he discovered this celestial rogue," Wu Yu questioned with fascination. Wei Wuyin's feats were always a little outrageous, from becoming a Mortal Sovereign Alchemist at the age of fifty to shaking an entire starfield with a few calculated moves, but this has to be the single most impressive feat a mere mortal has ever accomplished in their lifetime.

If properly managed...

-----

Unaware of the true value of the mine, Wei Wuyin and Bai Lin floated several hundred thousand miles away from Wu Yu in the Dark Void. Wei Wuyin had his eyes closed as he rode atop Bai Lin. The duo were silent. Their auras were insignificant, as if dead.

Bai Lin had her eyes completely closed. Despite her recent breakthrough, her control over her aura was sublime.

WOOSH!

The space surrounding them faintly trembled. There were ripples, subtle yet largely noticeable if paid close attention to. It was like the movements of a fish within clearwater, producing a wake of ripples. The ripples buffeted the two, but their auras, heartbeat, and thoughts remained entirely silent and concealed as if one with space itself.

The wake increased in intensity, being only a few hundred feet from the two. If one were to observe this phenomenon, it would seem as if a creature was swimming within space itself, hidden within its folds. After a while, the wake's intensity tittered off as if the tail-end of a serpent was all that was left.

Soon, the ripples vanished altogether.

Wei Wuyin and Bai Lin remained utterly silent For a split second, Bai Lin stirred a little with a heave of relief.

"...!" Wei Wuyin used his hand and tightly clenched her back and pressed down heavily as a warning. She grew taut, once more returning to her silent, auraless state.

The ripples returned, even closer than before. The surface of Wei Wuyin's hexagonal scales was indented by the spatial force, pressing inwards as if smashed by a fierce hammer. Even Bai Lin's feathers rippled as if in a gust, but they remained completely still despite being pushed by the waves of space.

The wake of ripples lasted for a few minutes before vanishing again. This time, they remained like dead statues floating in the void-blank space, like asteroids without life or purpose. This state lasted for three days.

Then and only then did Wei Wuyin open his eyes, his Celestial Eyes cautiously peering into the void-blank space. The faint grey light of void energies flowed within. His heart was racing like a thousand horses and his entire body was taut to the extreme.

Bai Lin let loose a soft sigh.

"What the heck was that?" She sent a mental message, terrified. They had been traveling when Wei Wuyin told her with the greatest urgency she'd heard since they came against the mysterious wall that tore earth and sundered the sky in the Myriad Yore Continent.

"..." Wei Wuyin was still shaken a little. He knew the Dark Void was dangerous, holding untold and invisible dangers, but he couldn't fathom how close he was to suffering a deadly calamity without the slightest bit of warning from the Heavenly Daos.

Was it far, far above the level of his Karmic Luck Value? He was once again reminded that the Heavenly Daos had limits and weren't entirely reliable. The words said by the Black Skeleton of the Temporal Reincarnator's fate once again echoed in his mind including his own alternative fate. If one lacked sufficient Karmic Luck Value to overcome certain calamities, exacerbated by one's own choices, then death was their only choice.

His cultivation was a little too low to be recklessly exploring the void-blank space, let alone the mysteries of the Dark Void. He was a mere mortal after all; he's not supposed to be outside a starfield and the natural protections of a Solar Star.

If it wasn't for Kratos' warning, he and Bai Lin would've met their untimely end. He couldn't quite see the existence clearly, but it looked like a long, slithering serpent with a length of several hundred miles that was traveling between the folds of fixed and chaotic space. Chaotic space was a concept that even some Ascended hadn't properly comprehended yet.

Just like Bai Lin had rarely heard the urgency in his voice, he'd never heard the panic in Kratos' voice. It urged him to remain silent, still, and concealed, using his bloodline powers to hide his presence, mimicking the aura of space itself and suppressing their auras to the minimum.

Wei Wuyin made an internal sigh. "I don't know. But lets not test our luck again," Wei Wuyin mentally communicated. When he left Wu Yu, he wanted to travel the Dark Void and check out if there were other fortuitous encounters here before following the Heavenly Daos influence, but after coming this far, he was met with a strange creature and Kratos' panicked warning. If beings like Star-Devourers existed, then other terrifying beings must too.

With that in mind, he no longer decided to act adventurous as a mere mortal. The Heavenly Daos had set-up conditions where his life wasn't forfeited by such existences, so he had taken his months of safety for granted. That being said, with creatures like this present, it was a wonder how Void Hunters acted. Perhaps they had specific means to repel such existences.

He was still too ignorant.

After a hefty heaving sigh of relief in avoiding death, he began to establish a Void Portal.