Immense Might

"What is that...?" In Longxiang City, everyone raised their heads in terror. The flames falling from above the Nine Heavens were impossibly fast. From dyeing the sky crimson to annihilating the Wuji Astral Palace's sky-patrol warship took merely a single breath. Almost the moment the crowd in Longxiang City noticed the anomalous celestial phenomenon, the sky-patrol warship fleeing a thousand li away was detonated into a colossal fireball. Whether dozens of defensive formations or a hull crafted from materials rivaling Treasure Weapons, none of it held the slightest significance before that beam of light tearing down through the clouds from the heavens. It was crushed to dust with absolute, sweeping ease. This was not a contest between forms, nor a duel between comparable forces. It was unmistakably an asymmetric strike delivered from an entirely different dimension. Under such an assault, every struggle, resistance, and flight was rendered meaningless. ... Yaoguang, Qin Yi, Zi Qiangwei, Luo Yunhai, and those who had reached near-peaks in their respective domains, such as Zhao He, Fang Jie, and Xu Kong, all stared blankly at the massive fireball a thousand li away that blazed bright enough to illuminate the firmament. And... at the colossal rift carved overhead where that beam of light had torn through the sky. The Zixiao Divine Lightning layer, the Blazing Sun Heavenly Lightning layer, the Nine Heavens Astral Wind layer... All of them had been ripped apart beneath that brilliant descending light, leaving behind a hollow, pitch-black void through which one could practically peer past distorted space and directly witness the environment beyond the Nine Heavens. It was like a planet-destroying strike fired from a stellar-class warship, casually tearing through a planet's atmosphere and accurately obliterating a target beneath its veil. Compared to the sheer magnificence and vastness of that power rupturing the atmosphere... the mere destruction of a sky-patrol warship... actually gave off an absurd sense of swatting a fly with a cannon. Yet... aside from Yaoguang, no one found it absurd. Instead, an unprecedented surge of excitement flooded every heart. "The Patriarch! The Patriarch has made his move!" "This power... comes from above the Nine Heavens! It comes from our Nine Cauldrons Sect's Golden Core!" "The might of a Golden Core! So this is a Golden Core... the power of a Radiant Sun Golden Core! Their brilliance rivals the blazing sun in the heavens!" Uncontrollable, ecstatic joy welled up in everyone's eyes. In their hearts, an unprecedented pride and glory was ignited. Golden Core! A Golden Core! In the present Cangwu, apart from the Nine Cauldrons Sect, only nine great powers possessed Golden Cores! Among them, only the Six Great Immortal Sects possessed Radiant Sun Golden Cores! This fact alone proved just how formidable the Nine Cauldrons Sect's foundation truly was. Before such foundation, the Great Sun Sword Sect, the Great Yue Dynasty, the Xuanming Sect, the Ancient Immortal Sect, and the Astral Sea Sect were entirely outclassed. This was the core reason why, despite its lack of conventional military strength, the Nine Cauldrons Sect could still occupy more than half of the Artifact Sect's former territory. "Such power..." At this moment, Yaoguang's Origin Spirit realm had reached a peak state, allowing him to perceive more clearly than anyone else just how vast and immense the power descending from above the Nine Heavens truly was. He could even discern that the strike... had likely been delivered casually. No! It could not strictly be called casual, either! A casual strike would lack precision in regulating its intensity, whereas this blow... had consciously controlled its force. Because... the target lay deep within the Nine Cauldrons Sect's hinterland, only a thousand li from a major metropolis like Longxiang City. Under such circumstances, if the strike had truly been unbridled and lacked restraint, accidentally punching through the Jiuxiao Domain's continental shelf on the coast of the East Sea... good heavens, without the Wuji Astral Palace's sky-patrol warship lifting a finger, the land subsidence caused by their own Patriarch would have submerged the entire Jiuxiao Domain—which would have been laughable. "Truly terrifying," Yaoguang murmured in heartfelt admiration. Back during the war against the Moon Demon Empire, the Cangwu Great World had hung by a thread, facing total extinction. Compounded by the paradigm shock brought by the Moon Demon Empire, all Golden Cores had turned toward extremes in pursuit of peerless destructive force. Within a few short centuries, the Golden Core realm had undergone multiple iterations. What originally should have been the upward progression toward the Nascent Soul realm was developed into the Fission realm, then into the Fusion realm, culminating in the Crimson Red Golden Core, closely followed by the refinement of the Radiant Sun Golden Core and Incandescent White Golden Core... Finally, upon the foundation of the Incandescent White Golden Core, they had derived the Void Cavern realm, which collapsed into a black hole. Only at that point were the peak figures standing at the summit of the Cangwu Realm finally able to defeat the Moon Demon Empire. Compared to the rapid iterations of the Golden Core realm, the evolution of Star Gods and Dharma Idols had been noticeably slower. If the ancient Golden Core realm was considered the first generation, then Fission was undoubtedly the second generation, Fusion the third, and the Crimson Red Golden Core the fourth. The Radiant Sun and Incandescent White Golden Cores were already equivalent to the fifth and sixth generations. In contrast, Star Gods and Dharma Idols had at most reached the second or third generation. After all, during that apocalyptic war, everyone had pursued extreme destructive power. Star Gods, which leaned toward defense, and Dharma Idols, which leaned toward support, were simply not prioritized. "Rumor has it that Golden Cores reside high above the Nine Heavens because their full, unreserved power is more than the Cangwu Great World can bear. To prevent shattering the Cangwu Great World and returning all creation to nothingness, the Golden Cores reached a consensus never to linger within the Cangwu Great World itself." Yaoguang composed his surging thoughts. Now, he had a new goal. A Golden Core! Achieving a Golden Core! But wait... At present, he had yet to unlock the Qi Refining branch. To practice dual cultivation with qi refining and achieve a Golden Core... would be exceedingly difficult. His only path was to become a Star God and push the Star God path—which at best stood at the third generation—toward fourth- and fifth-generation iterations capable of rivaling the Crimson Red and Radiant Sun Golden Cores. If the Star God could also iterate to a fourth, fifth, or sixth generation, its combat strength would surely be no weaker than a Crimson Red, Radiant Sun, or Incandescent White Golden Core. ... "Destroyed! The Wuji Astral Palace's sky-patrol warship has been destroyed by us!" "Anyone who dares trespass into our Nine Cauldrons Sect's territory will pay the price!" "This crisis has passed!" Clamorous voices echoed incessantly through the crowd. Survival after disaster. For the entire Jiuxiao Domain, especially the people of Longxiang City, calling the present situation surviving a calamity was no exaggeration. Including Yaoguang. Beneath the overturning tide of such a catastrophe, no one could have remained unscathed, not even Great Cultivators. At this moment, he deeply realized the difference between the present era and the era of ancient cultivation. In the ancient cultivation era, Great Cultivators who could not win could always flee. Yet in this era... the days of fighting alone had long since passed. Cultivators joined forces: sword cultivators formed sword formations, and spell cultivators converged to cast divine abilities. Amplified by all manner of formations, every unleashed strike could be called world-ending. Much like the Jiuxiao Lightning Tribulation Sword Formation Yaoguang had just directed—if loosed into outer space, a single slash would be enough to cleave an asteroid a thousand li across. Before such power, what could one or two Great Cultivators use to resist? Unless one possessed an Immortal Foundation, any Great Cultivator facing such a sword formation met only death. "The crisis has passed, yet not entirely," Luo Yunhai's voice sounded in the ears of Yaoguang and the others. Yaoguang quickly caught on to what he meant. Zi Qiangwei's expression darkened. "Attacking a sky-patrol warship of the Wuji Astral Palace is tantamount to striking the Wuji Astral Palace's sovereign soil. Given their overbearing tyranny, this matter will never be let go. From here on, the escalation will likely reach the sect-to-sect level, and perhaps even a clash between Golden Cores." "A clash between Golden Cores!" Yaoguang looked up into the distance. He could not see what was taking place above the Nine Heavens, but he understood that something was bound to unfold. After all... the Nine Cauldrons Sect had only a single Golden Core! They were vastly outmatched by the Wuji Astral Palace's might. Just as Qiao Man, captain of the destroyed sky-patrol warship, had said, the only way the Nine Cauldrons Sect could threaten the Wuji Astral Palace was for their Golden Core to seek mutual destruction with them. Or even... detonate his Golden Core within the Cangwu Great World, unleashing the fury of a supernova to destroy the entire world and drag everyone down together. Under such circumstances, could the Golden Core Patriarch of the Nine Cauldrons Sect... withstand the pressure from the Wuji Astral Palace? "Matters like this are beyond our capacity to ponder. Even Sect Master Zhao may not be able to sway how things unfold from here," Qin Yi remarked in a heavy voice upon hearing their exchange. Moments later, his expression turned resolute. "Yet... even if this happens again, our choice remains unchanged. Whatever the ultimate consequences, whatever the price we must pay, we have no regrets. The enemy's sky-patrol warship drove straight onto our Nine Cauldrons Sect's soil and bombarded our cities. If we still did not dare resist, what face or right would we have to stand in the Cangwu Great World?!" His words made Luo Yunhai and Zi Qiangwei freeze for a moment. Promptly, they readjusted their mindsets. Indeed, if the enemy's sky-patrol warship had struck deep into their homeland and they still dared not resist, the Nine Cauldrons Sect might as well surrender or disband! Just as Sect Master Zhao had commanded, this battle had to be fought! With the sect's survival on the line, the Nine Cauldrons Sect had no other choice. Even if it meant confronting the Wuji Astral Palace, they would not hesitate. The group steadied their resolve. "From here on, it depends on what the higher-ups—and the Golden Core level—decide," Zi Qiangwei said. ... The upper echelons acted swiftly. In Red City, Zhou Lijian, Hall Master of the Nine Cauldrons Sect's External Publicity Hall, promptly held a press briefing in the Virtual Spirit Realm. During the briefing, he strongly condemned the act of aggression committed by the Wuji Astral Palace's warship entering the Jiuxiao Domain. The sky-patrol warship's aggression against the Nine Cauldrons Sect flagrantly violated various provisions, including the Cangwu Alliance Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and posed a grave threat to the peace and stability of the Cangwu Great World. The Nine Cauldrons Sect's counterattack was carried out pursuant to Article 51 of the Cangwu Great World Joint Regulations, representing a lawful, legitimate measure of self-defense! Their side lodged a solemn protest against this unilateral bullying by the Wuji Astral Palace. Shortly after the statement from the Nine Cauldrons Sect's external publicity arm, the Wuji Astral Palace issued an equally stern declaration, publicly decrying the action as an act of war by the Nine Cauldrons Sect! Facing such an act, the Wuji Astral Palace declared it would launch an unprecedented, severe retaliation. At the same time, the War Hall of the Wuji Astral Palace issued order after order. Sky-patrol warships stationed across various sensitive regions of the Cangwu Great World set sail one after another. In merely three days, more than ten warships had assembled, casting the dark clouds of war directly toward the Nine Cauldrons Sect. A great conflict loomed, on the verge of erupting at any moment.