Executing the Nine Transformations of Heavenly Walk, Yaoguang appeared dozens of li away in an instant, evading the blast of raging flames and blinding light.
There was little change in his expression.
Perhaps he felt some faint stirring in his heart, but given the harsh environment of Beihai Star...
He was better off keeping such sentiment and melancholy locked away.
By the time he returned to the Yunxiao Sword Sect, Li Hanqiu had already swept through and wiped out virtually all the Constant Light and Skyfire Realm cultivators.
Under Fang Yueming's leadership, the Fang clan elites were hunting down the remaining Core Formation Realm cultivators.
As for the Foundation Establishment and Unity Realm cultivators...
Li Hanqiu had not bothered to pursue them.
"How did it go?"
Seeing Yaoguang arrive, Li Hanqiu asked.
"Not bad," Yaoguang said. "Pretty much as expected..."
Pausing, he added, "I thought that Crimson Golden Core cultivator would possess a bit more skill, but his baseline was somewhat worse than I anticipated. However, when locked in a life-or-death struggle, these Beihai Star cultivators unleash forbidden arts without hesitation and display extreme savagery. Thanks to that ferocity, his ultimate performance ended up matching my estimates."
Listening to him, Li Hanqiu nodded with a grave expression.
Savagery!
Utter ruthlessness when risking one's life!
This was a quality cultivators of the Cangwu Great World sorely lacked.
The Golden Core cultivators of the Cangwu Great World acted with hesitation and fear of consequences, far less decisive and resolute than those on Beihai Star.
A moment later, remembering something, Li Hanqiu said, "Catch."
With that, he tossed an object resembling a monocle to Yaoguang.
Catching the device, Yaoguang quickly guessed what it was. "Is this..."
"A mechanical creation called a combat power detector. After generations of continuous optimization, its detection accuracy is quite high."
Li Hanqiu paused before continuing, "Of course, this detector we have isn't high-end. Whenever a cultivator stops fighting, the readings aren't guaranteed to be accurate. And if someone practices an aura-concealment technique, the detected combat power data isn't even worth using as a reference."
"What was mine?"
Curious, Yaoguang raised the detector and scanned Li Hanqiu.
*Beep, beep, beep!*
The detector quickly displayed a number:
1.13 million.
"Right now, you're at 15,500. But when you killed that Crimson Golden Core, the detector registered your value at 81,000."
Li Hanqiu glanced at Yaoguang. "Yet you didn't even use your external core in that fight. I estimate your true combat power could reach 150,000."
"150,000."
Yaoguang manipulated the device and quickly found a reference scale.
A Radiant Sun Golden Core's combat power was between 100,000 and 200,000, while an Incandescent White Golden Core ranged from 200,000 to 500,000.
An Azure Blue Golden Core's combat power was theoretically between 500,000 and 1,000,000; however, as seeds for the Void Piercing Realm, their magic treasures and divine abilities were a tier above those of Incandescent White Golden Cores, so their combat power could potentially reach 1.5 million or even 2 million.
"The gap is huge."
Yaoguang looked at Li Hanqiu. "True Lord Li, does your combat power value surpass ten million?"
"The standard value for the Void Piercing Realm is between 10 and 20 million. But as a Void Piercing Battle Immortal, depending on the stability of my primal cavern, I fall somewhere in the range of 1 to 10 million. Besides, our combat power doesn't have much reference value. There are too many secret techniques targeting an unstable primal cavern that can deal a fatal blow to a Void Piercing Battle Immortal. Theoretically, one ought to divide our actual combat power by two or even three."
At that, he smiled self-deprecatingly. "There's a saying: any opponent a Void Piercing Battle Immortal fails to kill instantly has the potential to kill the Void Piercing Battle Immortal."
"You are different," Yaoguang said. "With the Realm-Suppressing Ring, you should count as a top Void Piercing Battle Immortal."
"My attainment in the Void Piercing Realm cannot compare to those at the absolute peak. Measured by this combat power detector, I'd estimate around five million," Li Hanqiu said with clear self-awareness. "Furthermore, true Void Piercing Battle Immortals are battle-hardened through hundreds of fights, while my combat experience is visibly inferior. It would be entirely normal if my final combat power were only four million."
"That is still extraordinary," Yaoguang remarked sincerely.
Before Li Hanqiu made his breakthrough, his combat power had probably hovered around 100,000.
And that was only after gaining ten or twenty thousand from his spirit treasure; otherwise, it might have dropped to 80,000.
To jump from 80,000 straight to 4,000,000—a full fiftyfold leap—the Battle Immortal path was indeed alluring.
...
With Yaoguang and Li Hanqiu overseeing the overall situation, Li Qingshan, Huang Tianhao, Lou Yuyu, Jiang Zhuoyue, Murong Hui, Tang Fenghua, Shen Qinglian, Xu Nianhua, and the others swiftly took control of the Yunxiao Sword Sect with the Fang clan's cooperation.
Fang Yueming did not show the slightest surprise at the poor strength of the people backing Li Hanqiu and Yaoguang.
Such arrangements were not uncommon on Beihai Star.
A supreme powerhouse anchored the faction, a carefully nurtured true disciple prepared to succeed them, and the rest...
They were mere beasts of burden. So long as the beasts survived, there was no need for higher standards.
Fang Yueming even secretly rejoiced. If the mid- and low-level tiers of this Nine Cauldrons Sect were truly this weak, wouldn't his Fang clan have a chance to be entrusted with major responsibilities?
Even serving as beasts of burden was fine.
This was a faction backed by a Void Piercing powerhouse!
Not to mention that the Fang clan's strongest member was only a Skyfire Realm cultivator like him—even clans with Constant Light Realm cultivators or Crimson Golden Cores would beg in tears to cling to such a mighty patron.
...
At nightfall, the Yunxiao Sword Sect's grand formation was reactivated.
As the formation began operating, pushing back the near-tangible "air" of Beihai Star and drastically diminishing the influence of the "star core" on this region, nearly a million people of the Nine Cauldrons Sect stepped off the Void Disks one after another.
After four or five months, finally able to leave the cramped confines of the Void Disks and set foot on solid ground again, everyone was deeply thrilled.
The specifics of settling and organizing the personnel were handled by the respective hall masters.
Meanwhile, Yaoguang and Li Hanqiu reviewed the reports submitted by Li Qingshan, Huang Tianhao, Tang Fenghua, and the others.
After reviewing the general summary, Li Hanqiu was astonished. "The total assets of the Yunxiao Sword Sect actually amount to three billion?"
He glanced at Li Qingshan. "Even though the Yunxiao Sword Sect had an Incandescent White Golden Core overseeing it, they only controlled the eastern section of the Yunchuan Mountain Range at most. How could their stockpiled resources be so abundant?"
"The reason the value is so high is that on Beihai Star, spirit stones aren't nearly as useful as we imagined," Li Qingshan said, glancing out at the sect-protecting grand formation humming outside. "Take the grand formation protecting the Yunxiao Sword Sect. Merely running its basic functions would theoretically consume over a hundred thousand spirit stones a day. But because the atmosphere of Beihai Star naturally contains a colossal amount of spiritual energy, the formation operates normally even without feeding it a single spirit stone. Likewise, many functions that originally required spirit stones to power can run purely on the spiritual energy in Beihai Star's atmosphere."
He paused, then added, "Therefore, spirit stones on Beihai Star are worth far less than we thought."
"The ambient spiritual energy of Beihai Star itself..." Li Hanqiu caught on.
"Of course, we could also say Beihai Star's production capacity in various sectors is higher than Cangwu Great World's. If we sell spirit artifacts and Treasure Weapons, we can still earn plenty of spirit stones. It's just that spirit stones are no longer as indispensable as they once were."
"You mean spirit stones aren't a hard currency on Beihai Star?" Yaoguang remarked, catching the implication.
"Exactly!" Li Qingshan nodded. "The true hard currency of Beihai Star is a cultivator's cultivation base, a cultivator's combat strength. High-level cultivators have no use for things like spirit stones..."
At this point, his expression turned somewhat peculiar. "They use medicinal pills, spirit treasures... especially pills, as a medium of exchange. It's rather like the bartering of ancient times—it feels like a historical regression."
"Perhaps it isn't truly a regression," Li Hanqiu reflected for a moment. "Perhaps it is simply because all trust between cultivators has collapsed. People trust only themselves. Thus, aside from personal strength, no genuine currency can circulate widely on Beihai Star."
A bankruptcy of trust...
Li Qingshan nodded in agreement with this interpretation.
Yaoguang, however, grew intrigued by Li Qingshan's words. "How developed are the alchemy and weapon-refining industries on Beihai Star? What are the properties of the pills used as a medium of exchange? How is their value categorized?"
"The information we've gathered so far mainly comes from those Golden Core cultivators from the Taiyi Immortal Sect and the Fang clan. The Fang clan's status is limited; they only know pills are divided into four tiers: spirit pills, precious pills, great pills, and Dao pills, with each tier differing in price by a factor of a thousand. Among them, the most important pills for Golden Core cultivators are Mystic Origin Precious Pills and Pure Yang Great Pills, with the Pure Yang Great Pill spanning from the Skyfire Realm all the way to Azure Blue Golden Core."
As Li Qingshan spoke, he retrieved a bottle of pills. "We only found this single bottle, and there are only two pills left inside."
Li Hanqiu's gaze immediately fell upon Yaoguang.
Yaoguang did not stand on ceremony. He directly took out one pill, examined it with his divine sense to ensure it was safe, and swallowed it.
Calling the Pure Yang Great Pill a pill was perhaps less accurate than calling it spiritual energy refined to the ultimate extreme. This spiritual energy possessed extraordinary compatibility.
It could replenish the energy within a Star God body, enhance cultivation, and even nourish the mind and soul with remarkable efficacy.
In other words, this single pill simultaneously strengthened the essence, energy, and spirit.
"This pill is designed specifically for cultivation. Moreover... I can tell that it has virtually no pill toxins or pill resistance. It's almost indistinguishable from the spiritual energy an ordinary cultivator absorbs and refines every day."
Within moments, Yaoguang reached his conclusion.
Having said that, he could not help praising, "Whoever invented this pill was truly a genius."
"Beihai Star truly has talented people," Huang Tianhao could not help remarking.
"It truly is a pill dedicated purely to cultivation," Li Qingshan said. "Cultivating essence, energy, and spirit simultaneously to forge a Crimson Golden Core within sixty years and achieve a Radiant Sun Golden Core within a century—when you think carefully about it, that should be impossible. Aside from Yaoguang, would anyone among us dare claim they could achieve such a feat? Yet that kind of talent is merely the standard for outer and inner disciples of the Taiyi Immortal Sect. It defied reason."
He looked at the Pure Yang Great Pills. "Now this bottle of Pure Yang Great Pills provides our answer. As long as one has enough Pure Yang Great Pills and one's realm keeps pace, a cultivator can entirely bypass the process of 'energy accumulation,' saving decades or centuries of bitter cultivation spent refining true essence."
"Bypassing energy accumulation..."
Li Hanqiu also gazed at the bottle of Pure Yang Great Pills. "It's said that in the Heavenly Demon Empire, which is even more formidable than the Moon Demon Empire, they possess a similar technology. Their ranks are divided by territory into Country Lords, Domain Lords, Star Lords, Realm Lords, and the like, with each realm split into nine orders. Ordinary people must grind away time to advance from Realm Lord first order to Realm Lord ninth order. But the imperial bloodlines of the Heavenly Demons can use 'energy tank' technology to infuse energy directly, letting them leap straight from Realm Lord first order to Realm Lord ninth order."
A look of anticipation showed on his face. "If Beihai Star can contend with the Heavenly Demons, it's hardly surprising they have techniques like this."
"The comprehension and realm accumulation of many of our people are actually not inferior to the cultivators here. If we can find a way to obtain enough pills..."
Li Qingshan's eyes gleamed brightly. "I believe many of us will experience an explosive surge in strength."
Watching Li Qingshan lost in anticipation and delight, Li Hanqiu faintly understood why Beihai Star was so chaotic.
In a world where order had collapsed...
Countless people might become stepping stones and bleached bones for the rise of others, but those with true capability could soar to the heavens with startling ease.
Knowing such precious pills existed, who would be willing to hone their true essence honestly through grueling cultivation?
And of those who set foot on the path of immortal cultivation and attained even modest success, who wasn't brimming with confidence in their own talent?
So much so that even as rivers of blood flowed around them, they turned a blind eye, fighting upward with everything they had, seeking only supreme cultivation and world-renowned glory.
Chapter 273