Paragon of Sin

“I’m searching for it and its origins,” Wei Wuyin explained. The Everlasting Spirit of the Nine Flames Spell was his only real clue to finding another copy of the Celestial Eyes of Spiritual Divinity Method. Hopefully, it was more detailed and contained an avenue for a solution to his ocular problems.

“Its origins?” Han Yuhei gave Wei Wuyin an inspective look. It seems he carried a hint of suspicion for some odd reason. Wu Yu frowned, “Little Yu, the Young Lord asked you a question. Answer it.” There was a glint of dissatisfaction within.

Han Yuhei had to take a deep breath, tightening his fists to the point they shook. The name ‘Little Yu’ tugged at his patience and mental state. He never liked that nickname, even if Wu Yu had called him that since he was a kid. It didn’t hold the endearing tone that others might think it did. At least, not to him.

Still, when he thought of his intense dislike towards Wu Yu, he recalled that his life and death was decided by Wei Wuyin, and Wu Yu was the only reason he could live. This caused tremendous conflict in his heart, but it was enough to calm his aggression. His fists loosened and he took a breath.

If anyone knew three Earthly Saints were being controlled to varying extents by a mere mortal, they would find this situation absolutely ridiculous. Thinking about it, his eyebrow lifted as he observed the handsome, closed-eyed Wei Wuyin.

How did a mortal help Wu Yu? There were rumors of Wei Wuyin being a Grand Alchemic Mortal Sovereign, but that was an unverified claim at best. There was no one who could attest to his ability as one. Wu Yu wasn’t evidence of his status, he was a freakish talent in his own right. The Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill legitimate creation by Wei Wuyin was up to much debate.

“Little Yu!” Wu Yu deeply exclaimed, snapping Han Yuhei out of his thoughts.

“Alright. I remember that spell, it was cultivated by one of Han Xei’s Elementus Knights named Desi.” Han Yuhei answered, recalling the nine Elementus Knights that Divine King Han Xei nurtured, a way to replicate his cousin’s success. Unfortunately, none of them succeeded, ending at the Mystic Star Phase, at most. But only four had done so, the other five fail at the Temporal Eye Phase.

“Desi?” Wei Wuyin instantly remembered this name. It was the so-called Divinity of the Desolate Lands, worshiped by humans and elves alike. Si De, the Grand Priestess of the Desolate Lands, had named herself after it.

Han Yuhei continued after a curt nod, “Desi was a Starlord that cultivated a powerful Ocular-type Spiritual Spell. It could nurture and expel nine types of elemental flames, all mid-level in grade. It was rather destructive and could achieve Permanence without reaching the Zenith Mortal State.”

Wei Wuyin listened attentively. But he was confused, why would such a spell have similarities to the Eye of Immortality? It did nothing…

Wait!

“Achieve Permanence without the Zenith Mortal State?” Wei Wuyin focused heavily on this aspect. He added, “Are you sure its Permanence?”

Han Yuhei felt somewhat offended that a mortal was questioning his judgment, but when he turned to see Wu Yu’s steely gaze, he sighed and nodded. “It couldn’t be extinguished without a strength far more powerful than it, otherwise it’ll stay burning without end. It’s why I recall it so acutely, I hated training against him. Unfortunately, it couldn’t be cultivated alongside other Ocular Methods.”

“…” Wei Wuyin’s mind was stirring like a storm.

Wu Yu timely added through spiritual transmission, “It seems to contain similarities to the Everlore Eyes of Endlessness.” That ocular spell could nurture external essences and materials of a certain type for its own usage. Considering endlessness was a synonym of Permanence, perhaps the link was there. While the Everlasting Spirit of Nine Flames used flames for battle and the Everlore Eyes of Endlessness used wood materials for concoctions, they had strong similarities, but also strong differences.

Wei Wuyin felt as if a lightning bolt had struck in his mind. Those two spells seemed to be cut from the same cloth but of different types. He steadied his thoughts, turning to Han Yuhei and asking: “Do you recall any other spells of that characteristic? Nurturing for usage? Gaining Permanence?”

Han Yuhei shook his head without hesitation. He wasn’t familiar with the King of Everlore like Wu Yu, so. His cousin ensured that they had very, very little contact. He didn’t know why but he always felt a strong degree of separation enforced by his cousin towards the King of Everlore.

Wei Wuyin felt that those two spells were deviated from the Eye of Immortality. He recalled the Celestial Eyes of Spiritual Divinity’s details, including how dangerous it was to cultivate. According to it, one had to inscribe unique Spiritual Formations inside their Eye, Sea of Consciousness, and Mind’s Eye.

These formations acted as the basis for the Eye of Immortality, Eye of Truth, and Eye of Illusion. The cultivation method was absurd, requiring simultaneous inscription of three Spiritual Formations on three sensitive areas at the same time alongside having an absurd amount of Spiritual Energies that vastly exceeded the norm. It felt ludicrous thinking of cultivating something so complicated, and the cost for the slightest failure was outright blindness forever, likely permanent damage to one’s Sea of Consciousness and the Mind’s Eye, the Doorway to the Soul and how cultivators extract their soul to form their Spirits of Cultivation.

If he was to meet that, his first instinct would be to burn it. It was…

Wait.

Wei Wuyin recalled that time accurately. He had seen the imagery of Fuxi, and even then, he intended to burn the book! He really did! Why? It was ridiculously impossible to cultivate it.

But he reasoned it out, thinking his current state of Four Spirits of Cultivation, eyes refined by True Dragon Bloodline Energies, and his Mind’s Eye had fully strengthened thanks to two factors: his enlightenment towards the Soul after meeting the Black Skeleton and absorbing several of ‘himself’ after he lost his memories.

He had the qualifications to cultivate all three spells.

‘How unlikely is that?’ When Wei Wuyin finally delved into it, he had always thought that since his silver eyes linked himself to the King of Everlore from Tuo Bihan’s words, which he now knew was very shady, that the King of Everlore had cultivated all three of these spells. He believed the King of Everlore legend was indomitable, and even such a risky spell was not capable of halting him.

What if he was wrong?

Shortly before finding the Celestial Eyes of Spiritual Divinity Method in the Martial King Dao Palace, he was talking to Tuo Bihan and lost twenty karmic luck after the method was mentioned. It was why he went to search for it.

What if he wasn’t meant to cultivate the spell method directly? What if the King of Everlore didn’t cultivate the Eye of Immortality, but created a derivative with less risk? What if this Desi did the same? Or found a method that had been derived from it?

“…!” Wei Wuyin felt his mind spin. The bow that tied it all together?

The Bloodline of Sin prevented the Heavenly Daos from perceiving his true abilities and limits, concealing a large portion of himself from it! How did it know he could cultivate the Celestial Eyes of Spiritual Divinity?! IT COULDN’T!

Wei Wuyin’s inward reaction was intense, heart racing, blood pumping, and muscle tightening, but his outward reaction was calm, only a slightly raised set of eyebrows. He calmly asked, his voice a little deeper than before, “Did Desi create the spell?”

Han Yuhei scoffed, “No, he didn’t. My cousin gave it to him. He found it amongst…he found it elsewhere after exploring an ancient ruin.” Han Yuhei’s sudden shift was suspicious. Wu Yu was about to force it out of him, but Wei Wuyin halted him with a raised hand.

“Was this before or after he became an Ascended being?” Wei Wuyin didn’t delve into Divine King Han Xei’s secrets, he just cared about the details surrounding it.

“After. And he gave the method out after he arrived in the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region. Why does the timeline matter?” Han Yuhei grew curious.

“Did the King of Everlore ever see the spell before?” Wei Wuyin asked.

“The Everlasting Spirit of Nine Flames? It’s highly possible.” Han Yuhei couldn’t be certain, but considering the close relationship between the two, his cousin could’ve shown him the spell during their years or the King of Everlore could’ve gained interest in its abilities.

Wu Yu caught on, he sent spiritually: “You think the Everlore Eyes of Endlessness was devised from the Everlasting Spirit of Nine Flames?”

Wei Wuyin hesitatingly responded with, “Maybe.”

“Would that mean it’s unrelated to your ocular spell? The timeline is all wrong. After all, the King of Everlore cultivated his spell before arriving in the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, not after.” Wu Yu was skeptical.

Wei Wuyin shook his head, “Not if the Everlasting Spirit of Nine Flames was derived from the Celestial Eyes of Spiritual Divinity, taking qualities of the Eye of Immortality.” Wei Wuyin kept pondering it all. He couldn’t help but feel that he was missing something, something extremely vital.

“That doesn’t make sense. Not only is the timeline wrong, the connection is impossible. Could it be that you’re wrong? The two spells might have some similarities, but what if that’s it? After all, I don’t think the Everlore Eyes of Endlessness granted Permanence. I’ve seen two spell formations with similar foundations yet totally unrelated with their respective creators having no connections with each other. It can be a coincidence.” Wu Yu suggested.

Wei Wuyin didn’t reject this possibility. It was a reasonable conclusion. Suddenly, a spark ignited in his mind. “You said they were a coincidence? Then, those two creators, where did they learn spell formation design? Regardless of how it navigated it, everything has an origin. Creativity is inspired by experience. Those two will certainly have a connection, the progenitor of that type of formation.”

“…” Wu Yu was astonished. Wei Wuyin was reaching far, but he was right. Even if you have ten thousand degrees of separation, the connection was undeniable. Of course, since he met those two creators, then their degrees of separation wasn’t so exaggerated.

“I think the Celestial Eyes of Spiritual Divinity is the progenitor of both spells. If so, then there’s something missing.” Wei Wuyin stated, feeling more certain as he continued. Their connection was undeniable, both nurtured their respective elements, but the ways they did so was different, like two different spells were introduced. For the Everlasting Spirit of Nine Flames, the Eye of Immortality. He just wasn’t certain about the Everlore Eyes of Endlessness.

As for his Karmic Fortune, it was to devise an alternative spell out of the three sets of Celestial Eyes of Spiritual Divinity he found!

“Missing?”

“Yes.” Wei Wuyin asserted.

“Are you’re saying?” Wu Yu could see it now. The reason why the method was in his sect, how the timelines could connect, and how multiple cultivators from different areas devised similar techniques. It could only indicate copies, and divergent copies with different versions.

Wei Wuyin turned to Han Yuhei, saying something that made Kratos growl with dissatisfaction, “I need to talk to Divine King Han Xei.”

Han Yuhei jolted in surprise.

Wei Wuyin felt more certain that the Celestial Eyes of Spiritual Divinity Method he obtained was incomplete!