Infiltration

Returning from the Virtual Spirit Realm, Yaoguang couldn't help but sigh with emotion. "Finally, it's time to set about improving my external security environment." Nine years. It had been nine years since he came to the Cangwu Great World. In these nine years, aside from that initial period after his arrival, there was hardly a waking moment he wasn't working diligently—cultivating, refining artifacts, setting up formations, and creating things with all his might. All to build an environment that was relatively safe for him. At least... The horror of having a Wuji Astral Palace sky-patrol warship bearing straight down overhead, that dread of his life and death slipping beyond his control—he never wanted to experience that again. "Forging a safe external environment is, in the end, only a choice born of necessity. The true path is to place oneself in absolute safety—a state where, no matter how the outside world shifts, one can never be harmed; a realm of supreme freedom, supreme ease, and boundless detachment... And that is... becoming an immortal!" Yaoguang muttered. After reaching the Dharma Idol realm, the Taiyuan Spirit Refining Art had become even more complete. It had been mentioned in this secret art before: Those with endless physiques are Human Immortals; those with immeasurable true essence are Heavenly Immortals; and those with infinite minds are Divine Immortals. Boundless true essence and an infinite mind seemed to merely be manifestations of power. But... An endless physique meant being indestructible. Indestructible, undying, and imperishable. That was the absolute safety he pursued. "Therefore... only by becoming a Human Immortal can I truly reach the destination I seek." ... The Immortal Alliance. Looking purely at paper figures, their comprehensive strength was hardly inferior to that of the Wuji Astral Palace. The entire Immortal Alliance possessed not only over forty elite battle institutes, but also twenty-six sky-patrol warships. Furthermore, the majority of these twenty-six sky-patrol warships were third-generation vessels. The flagship leading them, the White Sovereign, had spared no expense in piling on materials, reaching fourth-generation standards at a staggering cost of nearly one hundred million. As for the remaining main battle institutes and standard battle institutes, there was no need to mention—they could easily pull out over a hundred at a moment's notice. However, compared to the relatively stable political structure of the Wuji Astral Palace, although the Immortal Alliance was barely behind on paper, its forces were divided among eight great clans. With considerable friction among the eight clans, they were held together solely by the pressure of an external enemy, the Myriad Beasts Sect, which forced them to unite in common defense. With much of their strength squandered in internal friction, they had already been left an entire tier behind by the Wuji Astral Palace. ... By this time, Yaoguang had already slipped into the territory of the Immortal Alliance completely alone and unnoticed. Given his stealth capabilities, operating alone was far more efficient than having Tang Fenghua and the others "cooperate" with him. Although Li Qingshan worried for Yaoguang's safety, once he learned from Tang Fenghua that Yaoguang's demonstrated capabilities were already close to a first-generation Star God, he could hardly object. He could only instruct Li Hanqiu, Murong Hui, and the others to keep close tabs on Yaoguang while in the Immortal Alliance and remain prepared to mount a rescue at any moment. At the same time, he mobilized dormant agents planted within the Immortal Alliance, preparing them to support Yaoguang's extraction. Seven Hills City. This was territory belonging to the Mi clan, one of the eight great clans of the Immortal Alliance. It was also home to the headquarters of Dengxian Tower, the largest pill-vending conglomerate in the world today. Yaoguang walked calmly down the city streets like an ordinary tourist. With a Dharma Idol expert's concealment of their own presence, no cultivator's divine mind scanning over him could detect anything amiss in the slightest. Even Feng Ao, another Dharma Idol cultivator in the Immortal Alliance, would notice nothing. While everyone else remained oblivious to his existence, Yaoguang had complete insight into everything happening inside Dengxian Tower's headquarters. His potent divine mind washed like a tidal wave over the architectural complex that spanned a hundred li across the mountain peak sixty li away. He could hear every conversation and exchange with utter clarity. Even obscure dealings taking place in dark, hidden corners were vividly perceived by him. Yet despite stirring up such immense divine mind fluctuations and precisely perceiving every shift within Dengxian Tower, neither the Immortal Alliance's Dharma Idol Feng Ao—who occasionally swept a sliver of divine mind across the area—nor the Mi clan's Origin Soul cultivators stationed here noticed a thing. "We are both Dharma Idols, but compared to them, this Dharma Idol of mine is clearly much stronger... If I weren't worried that the Golden Cores backing them might throw decorum to the wind and gang up on me, I could easily say: 'Myriad Beasts Sect, Immortal Alliance, Wuji Astral Palace—all your Dharma Idols can come at me at once...'" Yaoguang shook his head, then boarded a tour vehicle bound for Dengxian Tower, heading straight there. On the vehicle, an accompanying staff member was proudly recounting the history of Dengxian Tower. "Dengxian Tower is the premier brand promoted across our Immortal Alliance, serving as the flagship emblem of our alchemy lineage. To this day, Dengxian Tower boasts an annual turnover of up to a billion throughout the Cangwu Great World, providing no fewer than ten million jobs to various sects... Inside Dengxian Tower, not only are top-grade precious pills sold—pills that over ninety-nine percent of sects in the Cangwu Great World lack the ability to produce—we also periodically introduce fourth-generation precious pills for auction. Every auction is a monumental event for Dengxian Tower." The staff member spoke with impassioned fervor: "And half a month from now, at the foot of Dengxian Peak under Dengxian Tower's domain, a super auction billed as the 'Rendezvous of the Century' will take place... This auction will not only feature precious pills, but will also present several newly developed spirit treasure-grade pills!" Hearing this, Yaoguang showed a flicker of surprise in his eyes. His divine mind swiftly intensified its scan of Dengxian Tower. Under the deliberate inspection of a Dharma Idol, before long, the secrets of Dengxian Tower's headquarters were laid bare without concealment. Including the items slated for auction in half a month. However... When his divine mind reached this point, it halted. He sensed a powerful Life Force Field. This Life Force Field enveloped the core area of Dengxian Tower; had it been any other Dharma Idol, they might not have been able to penetrate it. This was a Star God! Recalling the profiles of the Immortal Alliance's top brass in his mind, Yaoguang quickly identified the match. Barton. A figure who, back during the war against the Northern Alliance led by the Myriad Beasts Sect, could be called an iron-blooded god of war. A Star God's Life Force Field is forged from the convergence of their own essence, energy, and spirit, effectively serving as an extension of their body. Even for someone as formidable as a Dharma Idol, infiltrating another's Life Force Field with divine mind was virtually equivalent to an "invisible" target making zero-distance physical contact with them; no matter how brilliant one's "invisibility" art might be, it was impossible for the other party not to notice. But... Yaoguang was not merely a Dharma Idol; he was a Dharma Idol who had deeply cultivated the secret art of Heavenly Dao Formless. Moreover, he possessed an exquisite understanding of astral force fields. While his raw power had not reached the Star God realm, his comprehension of the Star God realm surpassed even that of the Star God stationed here. He observed this Star God for a brief moment. At a moment when the Star God's focus slightly lapsed, Yaoguang's divine mind rippled subtly, slipping through his Life Force Field and entering the area he "guarded." This faint ripple seemed to stir an inkling of awareness in the Star God. But the sensation was roughly akin to an ordinary person hearing a mosquito buzz past their ear—he waved a hand and paid it no further heed. This Star God did just that. And having breached the boundary of this Life Force Field, Yaoguang located the key figure he had come to extract: Alchemy Grandmaster Sheikh. He also found the heavily guarded pills scheduled to go under the hammer in half a month. With just a single glance, Yaoguang drew a quiet breath. "Heavy Star Pills, Flame Departure Pills, Golden Formation Pills, Spirit Transformation Pills, Thunderclap Pills... They truly spared no expense!" His gaze swept over them one by one. Based solely on the quantity and worth of these pills, they were already worth no less than one hundred million. Of course, that was retail price; the actual cost of production certainly wouldn't reach such a figure. But right after, he spotted a pill kept under paramount protection. This pill... "Hundred Apertures Star Pill?!" Yaoguang's pupils constricted slightly. Could it be the Hundred Apertures Star Pill, capable of helping a Star Lord open their apertures and charge toward the Star God realm?! What was more, looking at this pill... It didn't look like a relic passed down from the past, but rather... freshly refined?! "Has an alchemy grandmaster in the Immortal Alliance broken through and become an Alchemy Saint?!" Yaoguang was somewhat astonished. During this period, he had become a frequent visitor to the Virtual Spirit Realm; while he couldn't claim to know every secret in the Cangwu Great World, he held clues to more than ninety percent of them. Yet a ninth-grade alchemist in the Immortal Alliance breaking through to become an Alchemy Saint... He genuinely hadn't heard any wind of it beforehand. But within moments, he vaguely discerned something. He was not skilled in alchemy, but after reading so many alchemy books over the years, he was by no means lacking in discerning eyes. Combined with the sharp perception of his divine mind, he quickly judged that the medicinal balance of this Hundred Apertures Star Pill had not been handled properly. It could be called exceptionally violent and overbearing. Unless consumed by a Star Lord whose foundation was profound to the absolute extreme, anyone with even slightly weaker depth would be unable to survive the violent surge of medicinal power, meeting no fate other than dying on the spot. Pondering for a moment, Yaoguang arrived at a tentative conclusion. "The Immortal Alliance must have tried to brute-force create an Alchemy Saint. Though they failed, they still salvaged a somewhat viable pill from the batches produced, and are now auctioning it off to recoup at least a portion of their costs." Yaoguang's attention lingered on this pill. Denying it was impossible: this pill had significant flaws. But... With his foundation, a realm far surpassing ordinary Star Gods, and the talent of his Divine Heart—combining all three, the likelihood of breaking into the Star God realm upon taking this pill was extraordinarily high. And once he stepped into the Star God domain, his "defensive capability" would boundlessly ascend to a new tier. In the future, if he could further open 365 apertures and then 1,080 apertures, he would directly reach a level comparable to a fifth-generation Star God. When that time came... He would be powerful enough to withstand a Radiant Sun Golden Core head-on with his Life Force Field unscathed. Realizing that this single step could resolve his "personal safety" problem in the Cangwu Great World, Yaoguang made his decision in an instant. "I'll take these pills. And the pill formula along with them." Right at that moment, the tour vehicle entered Dengxian Tower's headquarters, pulling to a stop in the outer public zone. Yaoguang stepped off the vehicle, his formidable divine mind blanketing the surroundings. He vanished silently beyond the edge of public sight, moving rapidly toward the mountain's summit.