Wavering

"You?!" The moment those words were spoken, before Jiang Tianzun could even respond, Wan Liugui's expression changed abruptly. He flew into a rage. "Hanqiu, do you have any idea what you are saying?! You... this is defying True Disciple Jiang's will!" "I know," Li Hanqiu replied. "No, you don't! Do you understand what True Disciple Jiang means to our Cangwu lineage?!" Wan Liugui's vibrating divine consciousness was laden with severe rebuke. "If you think matters on Beihai Star have nothing to do with our Cangwu Great World, you are sorely mistaken! Let me tell you, on Beihai Star, the competition between races, sects, clans, and factions is fierce beyond measure! Unless it remains localized squabbling, once conflict escalates to a certain level, the defeated are left with no way out—no survival whatsoever!" He glared at Li Hanqiu. "If our Cangwu lineage fails on Beihai Star, not only will every last person of our lineage be exterminated without leaving the slightest future trouble, but even our native Cangwu Great World will be destroyed without mercy to nip all danger in the bud! Some factions with ruthless methods wouldn't even spare a single one of the one hundred and eight thousand stars surrounding our Cangwu Great World! And our Cangwu lineage has barely gained a foothold in the Taiyi Immortal Sect. If we wish to truly integrate into the Taiyi Immortal Sect and Beihai Star, our sole hope lies in Jiang Tianzun, who was taken as a disciple by Supreme Elder Yuhuang! Only when he attains the Void Piercing Realm and becomes a Vice Sect Master of the Taiyi Immortal Sect will our Cangwu lineage truly possess a foundation!" At this point, he drew a deep breath. "And you, as a member of the Cangwu lineage, dare to defy True Disciple Jiang's will at this very moment?!" "If that is the only reason..." Li Hanqiu glanced back at Yaoguang, whom he shielded behind him, and drew a deep breath. "Then in my view, Yaoguang's talent is even greater." Hearing this claim, Wan Liugui furrowed his brows. Miller, Lu Xi, Qiao An, and the other Golden Cores who had personally witnessed Yaoguang lead the Nine Cauldrons Sect to create miracles in just twenty short years fell into deep thought. Yaoguang's talent... Doubtless, no one could question it. Many of them possessed dossiers on Yaoguang. When he first arrived in the Cangwu Realm, he was merely at the level of a high-tier body cultivator. That is, the seventh layer of Body Tempering. Yet in a mere twenty years, not only had he smoothly completed Foundation Establishment, but he had also attained power rivaling that of a Radiant Sun Golden Core in a single bound. Even if unleashing such combat power relied upon an external core refined from a Crimson Golden Core... Being able to refine an external core was itself a form of strength. Add to that his body cultivation path stepping into the Star God realm and his Dharma Idol path reaching the pinnacle... Such talent was indeed astonishing. Across the entire Cangwu Realm, likely no one could compare to him! Yet at this moment, Susan, Yang Han, and Hela burst into cold laughter. "A frog in a well daring to vie with the heavens?" "Hahaha! Someone actually claims this Su Yaoguang has greater talent than Jiang Tianzun? How laughable and pathetic!" "The Golden Cores of Cangwu are far too ignorant. Never having witnessed the heights of the heavens and the depths of the earth, they naturally cannot comprehend what the words 'True Disciple Jiang' signify, much less the sheer weight carried by a personal disciple of a Supreme Elder." Amid their mockery, Susan took a step forward, sweeping her gaze over Yaoguang. "Your true cultivation is nothing more than the Fission realm, and your age... forty-three. Reaching the Fission realm at forty-three while simultaneously cultivating all three paths can indeed be considered a rare genius within the Cangwu Great World. But do you know the criteria for a true disciple in our Taiyi Immortal Sect?" She vibrated her divine consciousness, projecting it across the starry sky: "In our Taiyi Immortal Sect, only those who form a core may enter the sect! Only by forming a Crimson Golden Core within sixty years can one be officially registered in the rolls and call oneself a disciple of the Taiyi Immortal Sect to the outside world! Yet even that is merely the lowest rank of outer disciple! To become an inner disciple, one must form a Radiant Sun Golden Core before the age of one hundred before the sect will truly light a soul lamp for you! As for true disciples... What makes a true disciple?! Only one who towers above the rest and defeats every single inner disciple qualifies as a true disciple!" Having said this, she sneered. "A Fission realm at forty-three—how long will it take you to reach the Fusion realm? How much longer to form a Crimson Golden Core? If you were to truly go to the Taiyi Immortal Sect, you wouldn't even qualify to become an outer disciple!" Hearing Susan's mocking words, Qiao An, Zhan Ke, Miller, Lu Xi, Fu Long, Ye Lin, and the other Golden Cores could not help but suck in a sharp breath of cold air. Forming a Crimson Golden Core within sixty years?! Forming a Radiant Sun Golden Core before the age of one hundred?! And... if they were not mistaken... "The Golden Core you speak of... does it refer to a Golden Core realm that requires cultivating essence, qi, and spirit all at once?! A Star God in body cultivation? A Dharma Idol in spirit refining?!" Miller inquired, his divine consciousness trembling slightly. "What else?" Susan glanced at him and sneered, "Did you actually think the Taiyi Immortal Sect would squander precious resources on Battle Immortals like us—who never know when our Golden Core state might destabilize, leading to our deaths and the dissipation of our Dao?" "H-How is that possible..." Zhan Ke felt his mind reel even more. To form a genuine Radiant Sun Golden Core before one hundred, and only qualify as an inner disciple?! A Golden Core like that... A single one could probably sweep across the entire Cangwu Great World, couldn't they? Yet such a Golden Core wouldn't even have the qualifications to become a true disciple in the Taiyi Immortal Sect? "Our Taiyi Immortal Sect is one of the ten great immortal Dao orthodoxies of Beihai, a power that once gave birth to a True Immortal! Across all of Beihai Star, it ranks among the very pinnacle! The experts within are beyond counting; Golden Cores and Void Piercing cultivators emerge in endless succession! Did you really think any stray dog or cat could just join?!" Susan wore an expression of immense pride, as if being able to enter the Taiyi Immortal Sect and form one of the six halls and nine lineages within it was the crowning glory of their lives. To the side, Jiang Tianzun merely listened in silence, not displaying the slightest reaction. As a true disciple... there were many things he no longer needed to address personally. Those below eager to fawn over and flatter him would naturally resolve whatever he wished to see done. "Yaoguang is different from others," Li Hanqiu said in a heavy voice. "Yaoguang reaching Fission at forty-three might seem a bit slow, but he spent over twenty years in a subsidiary world, relying entirely on himself to rise from nothing, fighting his way up step by step along the path of body cultivation! After entering the Cangwu Great World, our Nine Cauldrons Sect did not provide much assistance to his cultivation either. And when he reached the nine layers of Golden Core cultivation, he had no top-tier pills to advance his cultivation. Under such circumstances, he still attained the strength of the Fission realm..." Saying this, he cast a glance toward Linden, Feng Ao, Luofu, and the others, his divine consciousness carrying a trace of spirited conviction: "Moreover, Yaoguang's greatest strength is not his qi refining cultivation, but his attainments in the spirit refining path! In spirit refining, he has already reached the peak of the Dharma Idol realm! In body cultivation, he has likewise reached the third stage of Star God evolution!" "Peak Dharma Idol?" This revelation finally stirred Wan Liugui, as well as Susan, Yang Han, Hela, and the others, to show slight emotion. "This Yaoguang actually possesses such talent in spirit refining?!" "A peak Dharma Idol at forty-three... and factoring in his background in a subsidiary world, plus the years wasted in the Cangwu Great World... this talent is truly remarkable." "Has another fine seed emerged from our Cangwu Great World?" Waves of astonishment rippled through the divine consciousness of these Golden Cores. Compared to body cultivation and qi refining, which could rely upon external resources, the path of spirit refining... placed supreme emphasis on natural talent! Without sufficient talent and comprehension, cultivating the spirit could bottleneck any practitioner to the point of utter despair. To step into the Void Piercing Realm, the most crucial step was to refine illusion into reality—to temper illusory divine sense and Dharma Idol power into the "real," existing power of a True Spirit. The power of a True Spirit could open the heavens and cleave the earth, forming a grotto-heaven. Paired with the chaos cavern opened through the path of qi refining, the interplay between illusion and reality could marshal the entire mass within the cultivator's 1,080 divine acupoints, granting them the power of a veritable chaos cavern. With a simple wave of a hand or gesture of a foot, collapsing a star. That was the true Void Piercing Realm. "Peak Dharma Idol!" Wan Liugui's gaze fell upon Yaoguang. Those like them who took the Battle Immortal path to the Void Piercing Realm relied entirely upon formations and supreme treasures to seal within their bodies the power of a chaos cavern spawned by the collapse of a Golden Core. Every time they unleashed it, it was akin to walking a tightrope between life and death. Since Yaoguang possessed such talent in spirit refining, if he were taken to Beihai Star and meticulously nurtured with the resources of their lineage, perhaps... they might cultivate yet another true disciple! However... He glanced at Jiang Tianzun. Compared to Yaoguang, who merely held potential, Jiang Tianzun—who was already a true disciple, had condensed an Azure Golden Core, and had successfully become the disciple of Supreme Elder Yuhuang—was the true foundation of their Cangwu lineage. For Yaoguang to grow into his potential would take at least several decades or even a century. Meanwhile, the Taiyi Immortal Sect had accepted their Cangwu lineage precisely to use them as Battle Immortals. Once the batch of Void Piercing Battle Immortals amassed during the war against the Moon Demon Empire was depleted... the Taiyi Immortal Sect's attitude toward them might not remain as accommodating as it was now, allowing them to maintain their own separate branch. Therefore... Yaoguang was simply too late. Jiang Tianzun was their hope. Pondering this, he spoke nonetheless: "Tianzun, though you have become Supreme Elder Yuhuang's personal disciple, your next step will inevitably be to attain the Void Piercing Realm and compete for the seat of Vice Sect Master. And to compete for the Vice Sect Master's position, the more assistance you have, the better. Since Yaoguang possesses such talent, perhaps we might give him a chance to become your subordinate and serve you..." "Elder Wan." Before Wan Liugui could finish, Jiang Tianzun cut him off. He looked at the Void Piercing cultivator serving as his Dao protector. "Did I mishear? Are you asking me to take as a subordinate the very murderer who wiped out my Jiang family's lineage in the Artifact Nurturing Realm?" Under Jiang Tianzun's gaze, Wan Liugui felt immense pressure and hastily shifted his words: "I merely cannot bear to see a genius belonging to our Cangwu Great World perish like this. If you are concerned he might betray you, Tianzun, how about planting a Heart-Binding Curse on him to keep him under control?" "Not interested," Jiang Tianzun said indifferently. "What I wish to know right now is: I intend to kill him, yet Elder Wan's disciple, Li Hanqiu, insists on relying on Void Piercing power to obstruct me. As my Dao protector... will you strike your disciple, or will you not?" These blunt, unvarnished words caused the pressure on Wan Liugui to surge to the absolute peak. To strike or not to strike?! If he struck, Li Hanqiu would surely resist with everything he had. In his precarious state of barely forcing a Void Piercing breakthrough, engaging in battle would mean certain death. Wan Liugui would be killing his own disciple with his own hands. Yet if he did not strike... as a Dao protector, he would be betraying his duty. Jiang Tianzun, the prodigy who represented the entire future of the Cangwu lineage, would inevitably become utterly disillusioned with the Cangwu lineage. When that happened... Wan Liugui would become the eternal sinner of the entire Cangwu lineage! This agonizing dilemma plunged Wan Liugui into extreme torment.