Paragon of Sin
chapter-1672

"Nonsense! Absolutely rubbish!" Shockingly, the elderly woman once known as Madam Fukayna during her early years, the prominently leading authority on Yin-based Cultivation Methods, Arts, Spells, and founder of one of the longest-running non-Sage-led organizations, shouted with disapproving vehemence.

Madam Fukayna, also known as Yin Overlord Dreamless Mirage, was the oldest Mystic Overlord to date and had been recorded to have failed her ascension to the True Sage Phase a record number of times, to the point where her beauty blessed by cultivation had been entirely ruined, and her age was forced to show itself. Each attempt at ascending was fraught with incredible dangers, and failure often meant a complete demise.

There were methods to survive these ascension trials that had been devised over the long course of cultivation's history, such as the natural-born Mystic Origin Liquid and the Neo-Dawn Alchemical Lineage's newly unveiled Neo-Dawn Illuminating-Haven Elixir. There were also heavenly treasures and various unorthodox arts that could be cultivated to eke out a path of survival, and the higher the ascension trial, the higher the chances of failure, causing one to be forgotten by history.

Madam Fukayna had relied on these to survive time and time again, capable of living until a great age, and there were rumors that, despite her repeated failures, she was preparing another attempt at ascending to become a True Sage! An unbroken, relentless, and persistent spirit!

"How could the fate of a galaxy be determined by a wager?! Are we children? This isn't a matter that could simply be decided by something so simple!" Madam Fukayna's voice flew with heated passion, and she hurriedly voiced her heart, causing those who were tempted by Wei Wuyin's outrageously beneficial wager for them upon a victory to reconsider Immediately.

Sage Khonshu lightly cleared his throat, concealing the awkward glint in his eyes. For a fraction of a fraction of a second, the salivating urge for this wager swelled within the deepest portion of his soul, and he had almost been persuaded right then and there.

Seeing the momentum shift as expressions began to change awkwardly, Madam Fukayna gritted her teeth as she stared at Wei Wuyin as one would stare at a suspicious, seductive, and supreme schemer.

"She's right," the scholarly Original Magistrate, Dean Cairo, responded to Madam Fukayna's words with a faintly pale expression. He had almost been drawn in within a single instant, ready to risk it all for the sake of fortune. It wasn't his fault either. Wei Wuyin had laid down almost irresistible conditions. It was hard to see the downside from a single person's perspective, especially after tragedy befell their galaxy due to their weaknesses.

Moreover, those who lost less, or had considerably less territory, would be more inclined to agree to such conditions. Dean Cairo ran the foremost center of education and the greatest academy in the galaxy, so his status wouldn't change even if he submitted.

If one took a step back, however, things would change as a whole which could very well cause the loss of organizational autonomy and currently wielded authority. It wasn't easy to accept such a result.

Dean Cairo glanced at the Scholarly Mystic Overlord who had been involved heavily in the discussion so far, and also his former student with the greatest achievements, and he could see the glint of temptation ravage his expression. If not for that wild ambition of his, despite his scholarly bearing, how could he so easily reach the Ascended Saint Phase of the Mystic Ascendant Realm? He wasn't the only one not dissuaded by Madam Fukayna's words.

"Hold on!" The loud-mouthed Mystic Overlord, Great Overlord Sand Sea, interjected with a booming voice, drawing everyone's attention. "Before we consider anything, shouldn't we at least determine what contest this so-called wager would be?"

"..."

The Main Hall grew silent. Once again, temptation ravaged. One had to know that the promise of being taken care of was great enough, but Wei Wuyin's indiscriminate ten Mystic-World grade products to each leader were too seductive to resist! While the resources within the No-Name Galaxy were abundant and it held strong connections with the Utmost Purity Galaxy, the value of a Mystic-World grade product, products suitable for Worldly Saints, Heavenly Saints, Ascended Saints, and True Sages was far, far, far…far TOO VALUABLE!

And he was promising thousands upon thousands of them every century!

Normally, they would all have extensive doubt whether Wei Wuyin could even properly deliver on such an outrageous promise, but after seeing Wei Wuyin's Alchemic Stars of Transcendent Purity, it was hard to doubt.

"Are you an idiot? No! Think, Overlord Sand Sea, think!" Madam Fukayna shouted anxiously, "If he's willing to wager so much, then he must be absolutely confident in the contest's rules and conditions for victory!"

"..."

Her words resonated heavily with everyone as they turned to the calmly smiling Wei Wuyin, who seemed to be observing like a spectator upon his seven-colored platform that stood out.

"We should at least know the basics before immediately refusing or restructuring the conditions to suit our requirements, right?" Sand Sea snorted loudly. He was dissatisfied with being insulted, but given the venue and summit's rules, he couldn't send a palm or two over at this aged bat.

Despite his expression of dissatisfaction, Madam Fukayna immediately grew ashen after he spoke, her eyes darting and noting several individuals had already caught on to a single important thing at the end of his sentence. Individual!

A single word, yet it reminded and immediately segregated the No-Name Galaxy as a whole. Wasn't Sage Hathor's self-sacrifice all to prevent this outcome? If they decided to individually take upon this contest, there was no way they would win, and perhaps…that's what they wanted!

Sage Hathor and Sage Pakhet's facial expressions shifted!

Sage Imentet's eyes shone as she remarked with a snide tone, "Your Emperor is quite the cunning one. Without speaking a single word on the matter, he divided the unity of the group with irresistible benefits. Is he going to overtly buy out each leader?"

Luo Ning could only smile at her comment, "You and I both know none of that matters unless the eight Sages are in agreement. Even if the entire world agrees to willingly lose to His Majesty, they would only get exiled."

Sage Imentet stared at Luo Ning's beautiful face, her heart softening, yet she was still unable to shake the chill she felt in her spine. She had also been tempted briefly, just like Sage Khonshu.

Seeing the direction of the Main Hall, Sage Shattered Sphinx took the lead, asking: "What contest do you wish for this wager to be held on?" If it was too ridiculously unfavorable, then this would be easily denied in everyone's hearts, and they could move on.

"Hm," Wei Wuyin hummed as if thought and then glanced at the Main Hall. "How about this: It'll be a simple contest of combat. We'll set the conditions like this. My Neo-Dawn Empire will select several cultivators at the lower-stages of the Mystic Ascendant Realm, and then the No-Name Galaxy as a whole will select an equal number of upper-stage Mystic Ascendants, barring any Supreme Sages. Then, we'll have a full-blown battle, and the victor is the winner."

"..."

"...???"

"...!!!"

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that everyone was stunned speechless by Wei Wuyin's proposed contest! It wasn't just wildly unfavorable towards him. It was practically accepting a loss!

"Wait," Dean Cairo interjected as everyone was questioning what Wei Wuyin's aim was. "Will they be allowed to use talismans, pellets, arrays, and heavenly treasures?" His words enlightened everyone instantly!

Wei Wuyin was baiting them! Then, he would stock his participants with one-time usage talismans, pellets, and heavenly treasures to dominate anyone with aggressive wealth! How could they possibly agree?!

Countless eyes shifted to Luo Ning as they recalled her temporary elevation of power to an Enlightened Sage who could fight off Teng Jiangwen! That cauldron of her could absorb his killer fist more than once! It was a heavenly treasure of supreme origins and power!

Even if they sent their Sages, if Wei Wuyin had eight others use that method at the cost of their cultivation, wouldn't they still lose?

Sage Imentet pouted.

"His Majesty isn't so shameless to do something so overly obvious," Luo Ning consoled her. "He'll certainly relent to unfavorable conditions for himself, mostly because of Sage Hathor. But even if he lost, he would still use this opportunity to establish a strong foothold after the fact. After all, the Neo-Dawn Empire and No-Name Galaxy would be fully allied by that point with many great benefits requiring the unity of the two. That would require the entire galaxy to defend or assist our fledgling kingdom's future.

"After all, the No-Name Galaxy is an overly abundant farm of natural resources. Give it another ten thousand years to revitalize its vast stores of resources, and this would be a perfect place to develop a wild variety of alchemists and cultivators."

Her explanation caused Sage Imentet's expression to ease. Did she openly admit that Wei Wuyin didn't want to win, but he simply wanted to not be caught in the isolated, self-sacrificial plot of Sage Hathor, Sage Pakhet, and the others? He wanted to leave a path open!

If not winning or losing matters, then he was achieving his goal by forcing his Empire's fate to be tethered to the entire No-Name Galaxy's fortune. They would be staunch allies after seeing the benefits, and after their period of desolation comes to an end, they could officiate themselves. Was the Neo-Dawn Alchemic Saint's intention not to conquer but to ally? If so…this all made sense.

Sage Hathor and the others had pushed him to focus on alliance rather than vassal state establishment.

The other Sages also heard Luo Ning speak. Despite trying to keep her conversation through spiritual transmission, she was only an Earthly Saint, and she couldn't conceal her words from the Mystic Overlords and Sages present. They were all besieged by realization.

Sage Pakhet even had a faint grin. Wasn't it their concocted plan that allowed this outcome where this ambitious alchemist had to accept a severe loss to obtain a solid foothold in this rich galaxy?

"Hm. Then, we can forbid all use of talismans, pellets, and external methods that forcefully elevate one's cultivation base to unnatural levels. If desired, we can take heavenly treasures out too." Wei Wuyin casually said.

By this point, even those who didn't hear what Luo Ning said, could already understand that Wei Wuyin was giving up! They were all elites or leaders, and they had more or less understood the vicious plot of Sage Hathor's decision to act as a cage for Wei Wuyin's influence while gatekeeping him from everywhere else, so they realized this was an attempt to establish good relations!

He was going to play the long game with heavy losses in the very beginning! If the Neo-Dawn Empire and No-Name Galaxy became staunch galactic allies through this, the benefits they both would gain in the future would be incredible! They might not even have to worry about having a Heavenly Saint Alchemist's Lineage in the future! As for any Supreme Sage interference, they also understood that the No-Name Galaxy was under some form of invisible protection!

Some of them felt guilty after. Sage Hathor's attempt to sever Wei Wuyin's attempts at establishing a galactic-wide vassal state by limiting his range of activity through her, and then sacrificing the benefits to the other portions of the galaxy was quite sinister when contrasted with Wei Wuyin's attempt to give free aid and showcase his good intentions.

Sage Hathor also had a glint of apologetic light flickering within her gaze after seeing how Wei Wuyin was navigating around their play to limit his future influence while baiting him into a difficult situation.

"When you say 'Upper-Stage Mystic Ascendant Realm', what stages of cultivation do you mean?" Dean Cairo asked. He was always an inquisitive and insightful expert, and he refused to be led into a plot of misaligned cultural perspectives. What if 'Upper-Stage' meant World Emperors, Original Magistrates, and Mystic Overlords, while 'Lower-Stage' meant Venerables, Highlords, and Rune Kings? That would give way to a tiny chance of a loss on their part.

His words immediately brought to attention the differences in cultural standards, and they all turned to Wei Wuyin, appreciative of Dean Cairo's suspicion.

Wei Wuyin wasn't bothered by the rapidly shifting gazes going between apologetic, suspicious, and curious. "Upper-Stage Mystic Ascendants are World Emperors, Original Magistrates, Mystic Overlords, and Sages. Lower-Stage is, of course, Exalteds—those at the Mystic Star Phase, Venerables, Highlords, and Rune Kings. I go by the standards of the Alchemic Dao."

In terms of the Alchemic Dao's classification of grades, Mystic-Earth graded products were suitably aligned with the principles of the Mystic Star Phase to the Earthly Saint Phase stages of cultivation, and Mystic-World graded products contained profound principles from the Worldly Saint, Heavenly Saint, Ascended Saint, and True Sage stages of cultivation, being remarkably useful and valuable to those respective cultivators.

Hearing this, they all felt comforted in their hearts, and already they had thoughts of absolute victory.

"Then, we'll limit equipment use to Heavenly Treasures, no Supreme Heavenly Treasures or Mystic-Heaven graded armaments. What do you think?" Sage Nepit suggested. It was clear that the Sages had more or less discussed the conditions and were ready to agree!

Wei Wuyin smiled, "Of course."

Heavenly Treasures had a link to the Three Thousand Realms of Heavenly Law and could draw upon their respective powers, while Mystic-Heaven grade armaments were imbued with the power of law, forged by it. Mystic-Heaven grade armaments were no different than miniature realms of heavenly law. There was a notable difference between drawing power and having a wellspring of that power to freely access.

For example, even someone without any grasp of understanding of a Law could use Mystic-Heaven grade armaments while Heavenly Treasures are best used by those who comprehend the respective laws to draw increasingly greater power from them.

"Then, shall we determine the number of participants?" Sage Khonshu finally chimed in, avoiding Cao Cuifen's blinking gaze.

"I'll leave that choice in your hands," Wei Wuyin forfeited his right to choose. At this point, everyone felt that this Neo-Dawn Ascendant Emperor was simply going through the motions! Seeing this, they felt a little sullen once again. But they were still happy to form a relationship with him, and many have already decided to try their best to redeem themselves in the eyes of this unearthly handsome emperor.

"How about eight?" Sage Amunet suggested. The eyes of everyone lit with a bright, enlightened, and relieved radiance! They felt the pressure on their souls that had recently built dissipate with a comforting breeze. After all, this so-called 'going-through-the-motions' wager would certainly be an impossible-to-lose bet!

Wei Wuyin didn't object.

"I agree," Sage Imentet announced.

"Fine by me," Sage Shattered Sphinx added.

"..." Sage Pakhet stared at Wei Wuyin intensely. While she didn't vocally announce her acceptance, she nodded her head with a slow tilt.

Eventually, the Eight Sages had all agreed. Then, it began to cascade down the leadership, and as if by an invisible gaze, whenever it landed on a leader of the No-Name Galaxy, they would state their agreement!

Then, there was no then! Everyone agreed!

Qing Qiumu blinked her eyes as she saw Wei Wuyin's calm expression and her heart was racing rapidly. Others might know, but she knew that he was about to outplay everyone! She felt this in the deepest part of her soul! And she was ready to witness how!