Paragon of Sin

Under the combined effort of King and Ori, the War Soul's spherical form was dissolved at a slow, steady pace. It began to liquefy, initially startling Wei Wuyin until his interests rapidly grew. The War Soul soon became a drop of crystalline liquid that was no larger than a typical rain droplet. As it glistened with a rainbow radiance, Wei Wuyin's enthralled interest continued to increase.

Element released faint saber howls as this went on. Its excitement wasn't hidden at all, but its body quivered as if nervous of what was to come. The Nascent Saber Soul had its own set of memories that would transfer to the cultivator who refined it, so this meant on some level, it maintained a degree of sentience and awareness.

It hadn't developed to the exceptional level of King, Kratos, Ori, or Eden, but it fully understood the current situation.

°The Nascent Saber Soul only has simple memories of how to advance itself and what its innate abilities are. Its different from these Astral Souls of mine who are ignorant of their innate abilities without myself, like Kratos. An independent sentience.° The more he pondered on this subject, the more he thought about the Legion Commander's unique existence. °Unfortunately, there's nothing regarding its stages of development or what it could do.°

Whatever these Nascent Souls were, they clearly were not designed to self-cultivate. They needed an actual intelligent being to take charge. For some reason, he linked this reliance with the heavens. If the stories are true and the heavens created souls, nourished them until they fully grew, and then imparted them to newborn bodies or into objects, such as the Soul Impartations of the Heaven, then wasn't this the process? Was he acting as the heavens?

"..." Wei Wuyin's breathing grew unsteady as the grandness of it all dawned on him. He had to spend several minutes settling down his mind, inhaling and exhaling deeply to disperse his tumultuous emotions. At this point, the liquid War Soul had splashed onto Element like rain water smacking against solid ground.

It splashed and released a faint radiance of rainbow light. Unlike rain water, however, the liquid had all been greedily absorbed by Element as its saber howl became higher in pitch. It seemed as if it was in pain for the moment.

He gently rested his hand against the hilt and he felt it tremble against his touch. The feeling of pain and joy was transmitted to his senses. The Nascent Saber Soul might have found new housing in King and Ori's World Seas, but it was originally refined by his Sea of Consciousness and mental energies, so they were indubitably connected.

The intermixing of emotions caused Wei Wuyin to watch on. Since King and Ori decided to take the lead, he would only act as a foil for their efforts unless asked. If needed, they had free access to all his remaining alchemical products, materials in his spatial rings, Mark of Eden, and his innate energies.

The process continued…

While Wei Wuyin cultivated the Nascent Saber Soul, the outside world hadn't simply halted. The situation beyond was still developing. Most importantly, a date had been set for the upcoming summit. Due to the Everlore Association being the bringers of this suggestion, they were similarly tasked as its host.

The Everlore Association had always been a relatively neutral organization, so they were trusted by the majority of Mystic-tier forces. There wasn't a single Ascended being that hadn't engaged them in some way, establishing relations and supporting their continued cultivation. Whether it be for themselves or their established forces, the Everlore Association provided for them.

The Everlore Association took this responsibility heavily, realizing how important this summit is. It'll have a far-reaching concept towards the future standards of their Starfields. This was potentially an era-changing event that will likely be remembered for tens of thousands of years, and not a single figure within the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region wished to miss this.

They announced the name of the summit alongside the date, generating tremendous interest surrounding it throughout the entire stellar region. It was named: Saint Cyclic Renewal Summit. And its date was established twelve months after the announcement, held directly at the planet of Ever-Sky, the capital planet of the Everlore Domain!

While a single year might be considered extremely short, the entire event was given a timeline of five years! An entire half decade to forge these new standards to be a Chosen. Furthermore, the actual deployment of these standards, if reached during the summit, will likely take a decade or decades to implement. This was heavily due to the public release of the Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill was far away.

There wasn't a single expert ignorant of what truly prompted this change, and understood that its existence was the reason for all this.

This was particularly harsh news for already established Chosen, but also a moment of respite to maintain titles and the benefits and protections that came along with it. While the various factions were likely to move away from nurturing Chosen that have exceeded a certain age, introducing a new batch of younger talents with Worldly Domains, this was already a reasonable enough concession to allow those soon-to-be outdated Chosen to adapt to their circumstances.

The logistics of the Saint Cyclic Renewal Summit was soon released as well. Firstly, every Earthly Saint was invited. And that meant EVERY Earthly Saint. This included the notorious Saints, such as the largest dual Void Hunter organization, Traceless, and its leader, the Traceless Emptiness Void Queen, and the most infamous and publicly known Evil Cultivator, the Sanguine Demon Evil King. They weren't excluded by the Everlore Association, especially since they've participated in the last ten Chosen King Trials with their descendants and/or disciples.

Next, the Everlore Association proposed a Non-Aggression Pact that would be completed by a Mythical Oath of an extremely detailed fashion. While it was extremely long, the finer points illustrated that during the Saint Cyclic Renewal Summit, the various forces would be in agreement to cease all hostilities and not provoke battles amongst Earthly Saints.

The Everlore Association had even gone as far as to agree to deactivate the Ever-Sky's various formations and arrays, including adding various promises that would be sworn directly by the Evergod Pill Alchemic Saint. Furthermore, the Non-Aggression Pact was not going to be forcefully imposed on all existing Earthly Saints, as an invitation was not a requirement.

However, if an Ascended being acted in any ill-intended capacity, even did so much as piss on a sidewalk of another's territory, all those who signed the Non-Aggression Pact will be under strict oath to act against them with all of their power, eradicating them, and if impossible, annexing them out of the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region entirely. Even its Void-Blank Spaces would be completely restricted.

This was towards Ascended beings, not just Earthly Saints. This further shook the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region. The thought of having dozens of Earthly Saints dead-set on killing you. It sent shivers down countless spines. This clearly forced all Ascended beings to either join or just sit at home and twiddle their thumbs, unable to take advantage of the situation.

This prompted another announcement. The Everlore Association allowed any Ascended being to observe the discussion, and if called upon, they'll be allowed to speak their opinions on various discussed topics. To not be excluded from such a grand, era-changing event, very few individuals could resist the temptation!

Lastly, all Mortal Sovereign Alchemists would be invited to the summit, and be treated as Earthly Saints, having a say in the discussion. This was a strange bit of detail to release separately. Simply because it needn't be stated. However, after some thinking, those more fluid with their thoughts instantly realized why this was released—the Ascendant Emperor of Neo-Dawn!

According to rumors, the Ascendant Emperor of Neo-Dawn wasn't an Ascended being, but a young man of unfathomable means. There had been many speculations as to how a Non-Alchemic Soul Alchemist had broken the conventions of the Alchemic Dao in a backwater location, but no one found it too shocking. The concept of elevating the qualities of one's energies or using a proxy was relatively well-known amongst the elite forces.

Furthermore, inventing did not mean making it. There were numerous Architects of the Alchemic Dao that never reached the Emperor Alchemist level yet were so well-read and experienced in reactionary insights that they crafted numerous theorized products. The King of Everlore had done something similar, creating the Seven World Wonders of Everlore. Every alchemist knew that one of those products was the reason why the King of Everlore was worthy to unleash the World Awakening of a True Saint!

In fact, almost every alchemist worth their salt had numerous theorized products that either worked or didn't, and more waiting to be tested. Until Wei Wuyin proved himself as a Grand Mortal Sovereign Alchemist, most thought the Golden Life Pavilion was merely tooting their horn to pull over a talented alchemist, speaking in potential, not ability.

Still, the last announcement was directed solely to invite the young, mysterious talent to participate. With the details of the Mythical Oath publicly released, this mysterious talent should have no fear arriving or leaving without worry about being accosted by the various powers.

But if anyone said the Saint Cyclic Renewal Summit was going to be simple, no one would believe it.

After all, there were various mentions that the Ma Clan's participation was not negotiable. Just from this, one could tell there was more afoot.

After forty days, the mountain that Wei Wuyin occupied had transformed entirely. The inherent essence and energies within had been thoroughly altered from its earth-attributes. From afar, it no longer looked like a mountain, but a thick, jagged saber that reached to the sky. It was slimmer and sharper!

The seismic activity beneath was inducing various saber howls that resounded ceaselessly. It had transformed from an earthen mountain to a saber mountain!

Inside the man-made cavern forged by Wei Wuyin, he currently sat cross-legged while inundated by rainbow mist. With his eyes closed, he held Element in his hand that was releasing erratic and powerful rays of saber light that would integrate with the walls. These rays were like brilliant fireworks that exploded from its surface, and each of these lights could slice a mountain in half if properly harnessed, but Wei Wuyin remained unharmed.

An imposing will of sharpness and dominance was released from him, creating a thin layer of Saber Intent that protected him. When the saber light touched this layer, it became obedient and flowed down his skin to his hands, entering the saber he held as if returning home.

Since King and Ori took the lead, they've refined over 100 War Souls. This was sufficient to generate tremendous changes, including a wave of newly unlocked memories that seemed to have been sealed away in the depths of the Nascent Saber Soul.

"REFINE!" King and Ori's voices resounded throughout the cavern, and the various lights began to slow down their rapidly hectic movements. As if controlled by invisible hands, they were all pulled towards Element. It was like a magnet and a body of water. All the saber lights flowed into it and seemingly vanished inside with only faint ripples serving as evidence of its existence.

In mere moments, all the rays of saber light vanished, but the changes to the mountain were permanent. It would forever be a saber mountain, effusing out ores and essences of the saber. The environment would become a blessed cultivation ground for those who cultivate various Saber Cultivation Methods.

Wei Wuyin abruptly vanished, spatially shifting through the mountain and entering the upper atmosphere of the planet. Within his hand was a saber that quivered slightly as if containing unimaginable power.

Below, there were numerous Qi Condensation figures mining the mountain to obtain the recently generated materials of a saber-attribute, an incredibly rare and valuable resource. It was extremely rare for Ethereal Intents to naturally generate environments like this. There were even a few fruits and trees growing that would carry wisps of Saber Intent. These would be the so-called earthly treasures often spoken about by cultivators.

Wei Wuyin ignored those figures, focusing entirely on the Nascent Saber Soul in his hand. After 100 War Souls and forty days of continuous refinement, it had advanced to the Second Level, and new memories were unlocked.

"How interesting!"

RUMBLE!

Just as Wei Wuyin was about to delve into and exhibit the abilities of the Level Two Nascent Saber Soul, his Sea of Consciousness began to chaotically rumble. His mind was instantly directed towards the sky, his mind stirring intensely.

The Nascent Saber Soul flashed into his dantian.

Woosh!

Suddenly, Wen Mingna spatially shifted next to him, an indication of her tenth-ripple Spatial Resonance cultivation base, and her eyes were glowing a glossy gold as she emerged. She was just as surprised. And it wasn't just her.

All the Ascended beings of the Everlore Domain felt this presence instantly, lifting their heads and directing their senses over.

Wei Wuyin didn't turn to look, asking: "Is it him?" He could only feel the strange, unfathomable aura being unleashed directly above him.

Wen Mingna nodded, "The Third Ascension is underway." Despite her calm tone, her heart was quivering so intensely! She didn't expect that only forty days was enough for Wu Yu to attempt the Third Ascension! Perhaps he was extremely talented.

However, Wei Wuyin frowned so deeply that his eyebrows nearly went vertical. While Wen Mingna was reassessing her opinion of Wu Yu, he realized that something was wrong!