Paragon of Sin

Du Ling sat in a lotus position, his eyes closed, his aura peaceful, and behind him, placing a hand firmly upon his head full of hair, was Luo Ning. Her withered hand exuded a peculiar energy flow that poured gently inside Du Ling, integrating and coursing throughout his bodily systems, Dantian and Sea of Consciousness. 

The energy was harmless; it scoured throughout without missing a single inch of his innermost body and secrets. At the side, Wei Wuyin watched silently with his Celestial Eyes in full effect. Luo Ning was performing a series of talent assessments on Du Ling via spells. 

Wei Wuyin wasn't exactly unfamiliar with talent assessments. When he was in the Scarlet Solaris Sect, his talent had been gauged in three factors: Absorption Rate of Essence, Energy Conversion of Essence, and Comprehensive Intelligence. 

When he was at the Scarlet Solaris Sect, elders and disciples unanimously believed that he possessed a unique cultivation treasure that elevated at least one of these three factors, boosting his cultivation speed and explaining his hard-fought success. 

However, in the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, especially towards alchemists, these factors were partially classified in the 'Meridian' and 'Psyche' aspects of innate talent. As for innate talent itself, all three aspects were overly complex and fleshed out, each factoring in at least five different categories.

For example, Meridians can be divided into: Absorption Rate of Essence, Energy Conversion of Essence, Speed of Outflow, Speed of Inflow, and Durability of Channels.

These five characteristics defined Meridians specifically, with more generalized categories such as Affinity of Energy, Purity Filters, and Auto-Converters for all three aspects of innate talent.

Affinity of Energy typically refers to a vast reaction difference between various types of energies, such as a male's resilience to Yin Energies Versus their compatibility with Yang Energies. Purity Filters related to how the Meridians, Physique, or Psyche's ability to purify energies before depositing them within the Dantian, Cells, and Sea of Consciousness. Auto-Converters related to 'unique' aspects, such as Qing Qiumu's Innate Meridians of the Nine Meadows, an exceptionally rare set of Meridians that can convert ambient essence to any of the Nine Meadow Wood Intent's essence derivatives at will, such as the Life Meadow Wood Essence.

These essences can then be rapidly refined as energy for her cultivation, greatly amplifying her powers as a Wood Cultivator. These cultivators was genuinely blessed; moreover, these three aspects of talent could all be divided into actual grades and tiers, encompassing the totality of its limits. 

Just like Alchemic Talent, the 'Meridians', 'Physique', and 'Psyche' were divided into five different levels: Null, Standard, Excellence, Overlord, and Chosen. This was further divided by Earthly, Worldly, and Heavenly. Null--level talent referred to a cripple or a living being lacking crucial components of said innate talent, such as the inability to process essence or store energies in their cells, Sea of Consciousness, or Meridians. It had no Earthly, Worldly, or Heavenly differentiation.

The highest registered talent possible was Heavenly Chosen. And none of these talents reflected unique aspects. Qing Qiumu had special characteristics in all three categories of Innate Talent but thuis did not mean that her innate talent was at the Chosen level. In fact, all her aspects were independently graded, and they could all be at the lowest functional level—Earthly Standard.

After five whole hours, Luo Ning completed her assessment of Du Ling's talent, and her eyes were quite peculiar as she gazed at the chubby man sitting before her. 

"So?" Wei Wuyin wasn't adept at determining a cultivator's innate talent. It was actually extremely difficult for those of the Mortal Dao to assess the quality of the Mortal Dao. This was why there were many different apparatuses were used to test cultivators, such as the Myriad Nascent Dao Palace of the Myriad Monarch Sect and the other Myriad Dao Palaces. Even then, it was hard to grasp the finer details since each category of an aspect of innate talent impacted the other. They formed a complete whole that was often referred to as innate talent.

As for Mortal Sovereign Alchemists, since they were almost always exclusively within the Mystic Ascendant Realm, they had grasped the Mystic Dao powers to glimpse into the truths of the Mortal Dao, including Innate Talents of Mortals. This was why Wei Wuyin sat back and watched. It was all he could do.

Luo Ning sighed with a wry smile, "I hope you didn't have much hope of winning this clash." She held back a self-deprecating laugh in mindful of Wei Wuyin's ounce of held-out hope. 

"That bad?" Wei Wuyin was startled. 

"Worse," Luo Ning flatly said. "He has no special talents. His Psyche and Meridians Level is Earthly Standard, and the only saving grace he has is his physique."

"Oh?" Wei Wuyin's eyes brightened.

"That's at the Worldly Standard…"

"Oh…" Wei Wuyin couldn't help but bitterly chuckle. Du Ling was still at the Yang Growth Phase, the fifth stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, after cultivating for nearly eighty years, and seven of those years were spent in the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region's Aeternal Sky Starfield. 

"Besides his slightly higher affinity to Magma Essence and Energies, he isn't…well, you can either spend time reforging his foundation or advancing his cultivation base. But to be honest, I don't think either will be of much use." Luo Ning glanced upwards, imagining the thrones of Mortal Sovereign Alchemists. "Those selected by those old limp fellows will at least have an Excellence level of talent, maybe higher. They'll grasp that and perfectly cultivate it to the greatest possible extent within these three years while instilling a Mystic Star's wealth of knowledge into them."

Wei Wuyin didn't blame Luo Ning for her lack of faith. Du Ling was close to the worst type of Alchemic Knight candidate imaginable. He hadn't comprehended any advanced Intents, mastered a powerful cultivation method, or had rich combat experience. 

Truthfully, he was a useless cultivator.

Despite this, Wei Wuyin wasn't discouraged. Instead, he felt thrilled by the challenge and to see how far he could push the limits of the Alchemic Dao in a short timeframe. 

"We'll begin with the Meridians," Wei Wuyin decided. 

Luo Ning sighed, not believing in their chances in the slightest. Just as she was about to whip out her cauldron, Wei Wuyin walked forward and said, "Let's first start with you." He stretched out his index finger and placed it on Luo Ning's glabella, shocking her instantly.

"Don't resist."