Subsiding

Longyou Stream. Yaoguang stood quietly beside the stream. Yet this time, he did not immerse himself in the mountain and earth-vein momentum. One Spirit Concentration Pill after another had strengthened his spirit intent to the point where it could supplant Heaven’s heart with his own. Anywhere he went, he could draw upon the heaven and earth force field to temper himself. More than that, because his cultivation realm had reached the Star Lord level, his application of the astral force field was no longer merely a matter of borrowing the power of heaven and earth to temper his body; he could now leverage the entire astral force field. In other words, as long as his physical body could endure it, the tempering power of heaven and earth he could channel practically had no upper limit. Whether he borrowed the momentum of the mountains and earth veins or not no longer mattered. “Heaven and Earth Furnace, Heaven and Earth Domain, Star Transformation—to a certain degree, all three stages are the polishing and tempering of one's own body.” Feeling his body strengthen, Yaoguang sorted through his path of cultivation. “The Heaven and Earth Furnace marks the beginning of forging the Heavenly Being body. Once the Heavenly Being body is formed, it resonates with the power of heaven and earth to create a domain. Once the domain forms, it can mobilize even more power of heaven and earth to temper oneself, making the Heavenly Being body even stronger. When the Heavenly Being body is strengthened to its limit, the cultivator unites essence, qi, and spirit into one, reaching the astral force field.” One was channeling the power of heaven and earth to temper oneself; the other was reaching into the astral force field and merging with the star. The nature of the two was worlds apart. If cultivating the former to the utmost meant stirring weather phenomena and summoning wind and rain, then the latter... could shatter a planet. Not only was the gap immense, but their upper limits were as different as heaven and earth. “Between the seventh rank, eighth rank, and even the ninth rank, there is no fundamental difference. The core of these realms is simply forging a powerful body, striving toward that moment in the Star Lord realm when one leverages the astral force field...” Yaoguang thought to himself, ‘Not just seventh, eighth, and ninth rank—starting from the fourth rank, the Martial Path has been developing in this direction all along. First breaking the human limit, then nurturing powerful spirit intent, then replacing Heaven's heart with one's own to channel the power of heaven and earth, and gradually touching the stars...’ An interlocking cultivation system. ‘In terms of realm, I have long since reached the astral force field. In fact... if I weren't afraid of being crushed to dust by it directly, I could even forcibly leverage the astral force field to empower myself, achieving the feats of a Star Lord-level expert...’ However, drawing astral power to empower himself was something best kept as a passing thought. With his current fragile frame, he couldn't withstand even one ten-thousandth of that leveraged astral power. To address this issue, he could either take it step by step, gradually tempering his body until the Heavenly Being body reached completion. Or... Yaoguang thought of the mountain and earth-vein momentum channeled by his Earth Furnace, and he slowly let out a breath. “Formations.” Formations could likewise aid in cultivation. “Besides formations, there are pills. Pills that increase physical strength can advance the progress of the Heavenly Being body, and healing pills can indirectly improve cultivation efficiency as well... So...” Yaoguang felt the progress of condensing his Heavenly Being body... Three months should just about do it. Three months from now, he would be able to step into the Heavenly Being realm. By then, a new branch would likely sprout on the ancient tree. “Hopefully, it'll be the [Alchemy] profession by then,” Yaoguang murmured under his breath. He gradually withdrew from his state of merging with heaven and earth. Not far away, he had already sensed someone approaching. By the time he finished his practice, Yue Xingzhou, Zong Yan, and Leng Jun had arrived not far away. After their arrival, Yaoguang seemed to notice something, and his gaze landed on Leng Jun. “You've internally tempered your viscera? Not bad.” “The Liao family had quite a few top-tier pills, every one of them superb for internally tempering the viscera. I took quite a few; if I still couldn't become a Grandmaster, I truly wouldn't have the face to stand before you, Young Master,” Leng Jun said. Hearing this, Yaoguang was reminded of something. In fact, it wasn't just Leng Jun. Lately, Lei Yun, Pang Long, Su Hua, and the others had all made tremendous progress. At lower cultivation realms, advancing by leaps and bounds truly depended on resources. Take Zong Yan, for instance: so long as Yaoguang gave him a Soul Nurturing Pill, he could immediately break through to the Spirit Intent Martial Saint realm. As for the stray thoughts in the Soul Nurturing Pill giving rise to inner demons? Before reaching the high-tier cultivator stage, there was no such thing as inner demons to speak of. And if he wasn't allowed to take a Soul Nurturing Pill, he might never become a high-tier cultivator in his entire life. Reflecting on this, Yaoguang kept his thoughts to himself and simply asked, “What is it?” Leng Jun hesitated for a moment before saying, “The Old Master sent me to ask you... What happened over in Chixing? Are we... allied with Xuelong?” “Chixing...” It was hard to explain. Yaoguang wasn't quite sure how to describe the situation to Su Chiming. For now, he could only shelve it: “We are allied. You don't need to concern yourselves with matters over there for the time being.” “Understood.” Leng Jun nodded. At this moment, Yue Xingzhou stepped forward. “Speaker, Jiang Sheng of the Jiang family, and Lü Jianfeng and Lü Xinghe of the Lü family have arrived, along with representatives from several other families.” “Oh?” Yaoguang wasn't surprised by their arrival. Kong Fang had already led men right into the Chixing Imperial Palace in broad daylight, and throughout the process, they had encountered almost no large-scale resistance from Chixing's Jiang family. If this trend continued, all of Chixing was bound to be completely overturned. Although the main force overturning Chixing was Xuelong, and Dayu had merely sent Kong Fang with a few hundred men as a token gesture, still... The two sides were allies! No matter how few people were sent, when dividing the spoils, the immense benefits would be enough to let the Dayu Su family, represented by Kong Fang, grow at an incredible speed into an intercontinental titan spanning multiple nations and continents. Under such circumstances, the great families naturally couldn't sit still, itching to get a share of the pie. “What does the Yue family think?” Yaoguang glanced at Yue Xingzhou. “The entire Yue family follows your lead in everything, Lord Yaoguang,” Yue Xingzhou replied without hesitation. Hearing this, Yaoguang nodded. In recent months, the Yue family... had truly acted like a butler, aiding the Su family on all fronts so that they could steadily stabilize Dayu's situation. If not for the Yue family's help... no matter how thoroughly the Su family had prepared to advance to an aristocratic family, they would inevitably have been overwhelmed at this time, plunging all of Dayu into turmoil. After all... the leap had been far too great. Now, the Su family had barely managed to keep Dayu stable. If Su Chiming were made to go to the Crimson Star Empire as well and take over a colossal entity spanning two continents... Yaoguang reckoned that the old patriarch of the Su family might literally risk being worked to death. Under these circumstances, devolving some power appropriately was somewhat necessary. After all, during these past months, those families had behaved themselves. Of course, if power was to be delegated, it couldn't be done like before. Rules had to be laid down clearly with the nine great families. “Have them go to the conference room,” Yaoguang said. Then he looked at Leng Jun. “Have the old man come as well.” “Understood.” Yue Xingzhou and Leng Jun assented simultaneously. Yaoguang then looked at Zong Yan. “You're probably here regarding the Jishi Society, right? What is it?” “Well...” For a moment, Zong Yan didn't know how to put it into words. It took him a good while to gather his thoughts: “The very purpose of the Jishi Society's founding was to resist Chixing's Martial Saints. Even rallying the nations of the Central and Eastern Continents into an alliance was done to withstand the pressure from Chixing. But lately, the Snow Dragon Federation's thunderous campaign swept everything before it and seized Chixing's capital... It seems... Chixing is finished?” “Yes,” Yaoguang responded calmly. “Depending on how well-prepared Dayu is, Chixing will become history at an appropriate time.” “Dayu?” Zong Yan froze for a moment upon hearing that. Then, his pupils contracted sharply. “Dayu!?” Not Xuelong, but Dayu!? “Correct,” Yaoguang gave a precise answer. “Dayu.” Zong Yan stared at Yaoguang in horror, his eyes filled with disbelief. From the implications of Yaoguang's words... The Snow Dragon Federation had attacked the Crimson Star Empire on his behalf!? And in the future, it was to be handed over entirely to Dayu, to the Su family—or rather, to Su Yaoguang!? This... How could this be possible!? “Although Chixing will still exist for a while longer, that is only out of necessity for the region's stability. In reality, Chixing is no more... So...” Yaoguang glanced at Zong Yan. “The Jishi Society must either disband or transform its nature.” “No more Chixing... No more Chixing...” Zong Yan kept muttering the words under his breath. Chixing... Just gone like that? The mighty empire that the Jishi Society had regarded as their greatest threat—one against which they could barely survive under its pressure even by uniting the strength of both the Central and Eastern Continents—was just gone like that? To be completely wiped out by the Snow Dragon Federation and replaced by Dayu's Su family? The objective he had persevered toward for so many years had suddenly vanished. For a moment... Zong Yan's eyes were filled with confusion. Yaoguang said nothing more and walked straight toward Mount Yuhuang Villa. If Zong Yan couldn't wrap his mind around it... he would just have to ponder it more. There was nothing Yaoguang could do to comfort him. Only after Yaoguang had walked dozens of meters away did the dazed Zong Yan snap back to his senses. He hurried after him, feeling rather nervous: “If Chixing is gone... then... what about the quotas to go to the Artifact Sect? And... now that Xuelong has made a move against Chixing, how will Chixing's main family in the Artifact Sect react...” “The Artifact Sect...” Considering that Leng Tianfeng's claim about the Artifact Sect's destruction had also been a bluff, Yaoguang didn't speak with absolute certainty. He merely said, “Xuelong will attempt to open the Star Gate. Once they open it and find out what happened to the Artifact Sect, there will be plans for the next step. Until then, you need to wait patiently.” Hearing this, Zong Yan collected himself a bit. The recommendation quota to go to the Artifact Sect was now in Xuelong's hands. And Xuelong and Yaoguang were clearly allied... Thinking it through, he had already made up his mind. “President Yaoguang, Chixing's Jiang family has ruled that land for centuries. The factions fiercely loyal to them are bound to be countless. Even with Xuelong constantly purging them, those factions cannot possibly be rooted out in a short time. To ensure that Kong Fang and the others can smoothly take over the supplies and technology left behind by Chixing, the Jishi Society is willing to assist fully and follow your arrangements, President.” Yaoguang glanced at Zong Yan. He was among the earlier Martial Saints to pledge loyalty to him. The two had even shared the bond of fighting side by side. Unfortunately, he had devoted most of his life to the Jishi Society, and remaining by Yaoguang's side right now was merely serving as a bridge between him and the society, unlike Kong Fang, who stood firmly and openheartedly by his side. Divided in loyalty, he naturally couldn't be entrusted with great responsibility. However, considering that Kong Fang was short-handed over there... he ultimately nodded. “Have Hong Chuan and Ji Pingtian lead people over.” “Thank you!” Zong Yan nodded heavily. After a brief exchange, Mount Yuhuang Villa was right before their eyes. Yet Jiang Sheng, Lü Jianfeng, and even Lü Tianhe, the Martial Saint, were not waiting in the conference room; instead, they stood waiting at the villa's entrance. When they saw Yaoguang arrive, everyone cupped their hands in salute in unison. “Greetings, Speaker.” The scene was just like a replay of the gathering in the conference room of Xingyu Center Tower back then. Only, compared to maintaining mere surface respect last time, this time... the gazes everyone directed toward him held not only respect, but profound awe and dread.