Paragon of Sin

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"Alchemists…" Lin Xianxei was rather wistful as that term was mentioned, resonating with her Heart of Cultivation. In her eyes, they were of paramount importance to cultivators, especially those seeking to reach the highest peak.

The vast majority of high-level materials were extremely volatile, only being useful after years, sometimes decades of refinement, yet Alchemists turned the normally above ninety percent of cultivation resources in a starfield into incredible creations. Even those materials that were unable to be used for cultivation, such as the Soul Ash of Divine Jade, a result of failed Soul Impartations of the Heavens, can be turned into heaven-defying materials that can shatter the conventions of cultivation!

The one thing a starfield never lacked was materials. In fact, there was an overabundance of materials in the Imperial Dawn Starfield. It was so excessive that if all these materials were transformed into viable cultivation resources, the Myriad Yore Continent could convert almost all cultivators into the Ninth-Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, with ample leftovers to spare for some Astral Core Realm Cultivators.

That was despite the Myriad Yore Continent being a flat continental earth unable to produce astral-grade materials.

The King of Everlore was the best example of this paramount importance. While residing in a starfield lacking a Mystic Radiance Belt, he was capable of personally producing numerous notable 'true' Mystic Ascendants, and with his casual support, several others at the Mystic Star Phase, the First Stage of the Myriad Ascendant Realm, such as the Bloodforge Emperor or the four Elementus Knights.

There was also Divine King Han Xei's Cousin, the Guardian of Elements, and even the Nine Worlds Fate Seer! While the latter was said to have no connection with the King of Everlore, it was extremely unlikely that the person hadn't acquired some product that was concocted by the King of Everlore, either by purchasing it or other means.

This was all in a Stellar Region considered 'desolate' by those like Wang Yutian!

While this revealed the absolute brilliance and outstanding talents that the King of Everlore possessed, supporting his astonishing legacy with every retelling of his achievements, it simultaneously highlighted the absolute potential of Alchemists!

Lin Xianxei's feelings as she spoke out that title was justified, every ounce of it. She slowly ran her hand through her hair, slowly closing her eyes as she took a deep breath. When she finally exhaled, she felt her thoughts clear.

"I've been purposefully avoiding this conversation, but you're right: You're now facing this world too. So I'll explain it," Lin Xianxei said her thoughts, revealing that her actions of avoiding this topic was intentional. Yet now, she was willing to divulge it all.

Lin Ming, however, was baffled. Was the topic of Alchemy taboo? While he, as a cultivator, understood its significance, he was someone who believed that hard work would overcome any and all shortcuts. That was why he wasn't dejected by losing to Wei Wuyin, believing he used self-damaging methods to temporarily elevate his strength.

As if reading his thoughts, Lin Xianxei continued: "You think alchemy is a shortcut, that it's an auxiliary path that only supports, highlighting the talent already present, nothing more, right?"

Lin Ming was startled initially. But after some thought, he reaffirmed his belief and nodded. "Since I was young, I have faced numerous so-called experts and elite geniuses that relied on alchemists, eating pills and drinking elixirs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, yet they all fell short in the face of my own hard work. Their wealth and pills that they were so proud of was merely a crutch, and when faced with true talent and work ethic, they stumbled in defeat."

"..." Lin Xianxei actively listened, hearing the moulded mind and hardened belief behind those words. "I know. This is why I wanted to avoid the topic. Well, in some ways, you're not wrong. But you're also totally wrong."

Lin Ming knitted his brows. Regardless of Lin Xianxei's belief, his life's trajectory filled with obstacles and rich, pampered idiots courting death left him firm in his belief. It was this unshakeable belief that allowed him to train harder than anyone and always strive for greatness. After all, he had the courage to step onto the path of Elemental Origin.

Even Wei Wuyin in his younger years heavily debated doing so, the difficulty was not to be underestimated. There were still cultivators at the Realmlord level that hadn't even comprehended one of the five advanced Elemental Intents in their entire thousand years of life.

There were even cultivators who spent their hundred or so years of life forever at the Essence Flow Phase, the Second Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, solely because they couldn't comprehend one of the four basic Elemental Intents.

If it wasn't for the trial's unique environmental period, the Season of Elements, specifically designed to help cultivators comprehend Elemental Intent, there would be almost no one who could become a Holy Candidate amongst the natives, excluding the very rare few.

"I…" Lin Xianxei was about to speak, to reveal her truest thoughts, but seeing the firm drive within Lin Ming's eyes, she inevitably hesitated. She kept her next words to herself, proceeding to explain with a faint smile: "In the Aeternal Sky Starfield, almost every force has their own alchemists. However, the alchemists beyond a certain level are widely known, to the point their exact number is public knowledge, even the faction they belong to. It is a point of pride to these forces.

"In the Tri-Vision Starfield you belonged to, referred to as the Everlore Starfield by those of this starfield, there were ranks to Alchemists. Here, it's mostly unchanged, but the conditions to be classified as a certain rank of alchemist, of a certain level, is different. It's more detailed and far more difficult to be recognized in comparison."

Lin Ming's brows lifted in interest. This was the topic he was interested in, because much like others, he held the King of Everlore's legend close to his heart. While he truly believed that alchemy wasn't everything to a cultivator, he understood that when used appropriately by a talented cultivator, they can achieve wonders.

Divine King Han Xei was the perfect example of this.

"In the Aeternal Sky Starfield, there's two main tiers: Neophyte Alchemist & Ranked Alchemist. Those Neophyte Alchemists are Alchemists that can concoct products up to the sixth-grade. They can only be considered Ranked Alchemists when they can concoct seventh-grade products to a certain standard."

Lin Ming interrupted, "Certain standard?" Lin Xianxei had mentioned twice now that the way an alchemist was determined and recognized was different from their starfield.

He tried to recall their starfield's requirements. It was...right, five percent success rate with a product of a certain grade and an acceptable refinement time. This gated many alchemists however, with quite a few being outrageously slow yet consistent or fast and with an even more pathetic success rate. This led to some Lord Alchemists successfully concocting seventh-grade products, yet unable to become King Alchemists.

Lin Xianxei elaborated, "To be considered a Ranked Alchemist, of any rank, be it Mortal or Mystic, one needs to have a success rate of twenty percent or above! Only low-quality products counted. Moreover, they must be able to concoct a high-quality product of the tier in their desired rank's grade."

"..." Lin Ming's heart skipped a beat. "Did that mean…?"

Lin Xianxei solemnly nodded, "Yes. To be considered an Alchemic King of the Mortal-rank, one must be able to concoct a low-tier, seventh-grade product with a twenty percent success rate out of a certain number of tries.

"Despite this, our Aeternal Sky Starfield has billions, hundreds of billions, of alchemists beneath the King Alchemist level, and has billions of King Alchemists, and millions of Emperor Alchemists. To be exact, it has 3,549,331 active Emperor Alchemists since I last checked."

Lin Ming's heart didn't just skip a beat, he went full stop.

WHAT?!

When his heartbeat resumed, it started to wildly race. Wasn't that too exaggerated? Their entire starfield only had thousands of Alchemic Kings and a dozen or so Emperor Alchemists! Yet millions here?! MILLIONS?!

The sheer disbelief exuding from his eyes was almost tangible, enough to nearly grab it!

But Lin Xianxei wasn't as excited, continuing with an indifferent tone: "There are three divisions to each rank. They are: Official, Prime, Grand. There are also divisions for the three tiers of products: Low, High, & Peak. If a King Alchemist can meet the requirements of twenty percent success rate in concocting peak-tier products for their grade, any product, they will be called Grand Alchemic Kings.

"Can you guess how many of those over three million Emperor Alchemists are beyond the Official division?" Lin Xianxei asked with a faint smile, her eyes glinted with slight amusement.

"...uh, two hundred thousand? No! Uhm, fifty thousand!" Lin Ming thought his first guess was a little too high, so he reduced it to a fourth. But when he saw the amused light increase in her eyes, he knew he was off.

Not holding back any longer, she said: "Five. Hundred. And. Four." She stated each word clearly, causing Lin Ming to reel. What? Five hundred and four?

504?

Just 504 Alchemists beyond Official? Out of three million?!

What the fu-