Origins

"How could it be a Dao artifact?! A Golden Core not only possesses a Dao artifact, but can even activate it!" Xuan Shuang was terrified, furious, and shocked all at once. The mortal peril brought by this sudden turn of events stripped this true disciple of all his earlier arrogance and composure. "Break for me!" With a grim expression, he pushed his Scarlet Gold Divine Phoenix Body to its limit. Blazing scarlet-gold flames erupted from his form as if to dye the entire sky red. He slashed his saber repeatedly, golden flames surging with an intense heat that warped space itself, threatening to incinerate the very fabric of reality. The pair of wings behind his back flapped frantically at full speed, hoping to break free of this sealed space the moment the saber light and flames tore through the void. Yet... It was entirely in vain. No matter how desperately he struggled or how fiercely he brandished his saber, the spatial seal only grew tighter and tighter, stronger and stronger. "No! No! No!" Space solidified and contracted; the pocket of space he occupied shrank continuously, smaller and smaller. At last, the hundred-li pocket containing Xuan Shuang was compressed to the size of a palm, its spatial fabric nearly frozen solid. Trapped within it, he was like a mosquito entombed in amber. He could not budge in the slightest. As Yaoguang recalled the Heaven-Sealing Stele, that hundred-li space—along with the true disciple trapped within—was completely drawn inside and suppressed. "I'll keep him suppressed for now and deal with him once my strength grows," Yaoguang mused, preparing to depart. Immediately after, a thought struck him. "If I remember correctly, wasn't there another person tracking me all this way?" Previously, unwilling to tear all face with Jin Yuliu, he hadn't eliminated the pursuer despite knowing he was being shadowed. Now... Now he could see that the situation was different. These people might not be Jin Yuliu's men after all. The Azure Blue Golden Core he had suppressed with the Heaven-Sealing Stele was likely a true disciple of the Heavenly Dao Sect. However, Yaoguang had only joined the Heavenly Dao Sect a day ago and was unfamiliar with its eighty-eight true disciples, so he hadn't recognized him right away. Though he didn't know why this true disciple was targeting him, as long as the one scheming against him wasn't a Void Piercing elder like Jin Yuliu, there was no need to show any courtesy. Activating the Two Realms Ruler, Yaoguang traversed space in a single leap. He soon sensed a Radiant Sun Golden Core trailing a thousand li away, who believed his concealment methods to be exceedingly clever. Due to the considerable distance, this Golden Core cultivator didn't yet know what had happened several thousand li away. He was merely gazing in astonishment toward that direction, watching the dazzling rainbow auroras and celestial disturbances caused by the collapse of a primal cavern. Yaoguang paid him no extra mind. Relying on his Child of the Void talent, he precisely captured the traces of spatial ripples. With a flash of golden light, the Swimming Dragon Sword seemed to merge seamlessly with these spatial fluctuations, piercing through the void amid waves of ripples. As it shot through the void, the ripples stacked layer upon layer, forming a torrent like a collapsing mountain and a raging tsunami, all bound by powerful divine sense and condensed into a single point. This Radiant Sun Golden Core seemed to possess an extraordinary treasure. Faced with Yaoguang's strike—a blow from the Swimming Dragon Sword that even Incandescent White Golden Cores might fail to detect—he actually reacted in the nick of time. "Not good!" The moment the Golden Core cultivator realized disaster had struck, he hurled out a defensive spirit treasure with incredible speed. Unfortunately... Though this defensive spirit treasure was not poor, it still fell short compared to the Swimming Dragon Sword. If Yaoguang were an ordinary Incandescent White Golden Core, or even a newly ascended Azure Blue Golden Core, this defensive spirit treasure might have bought the cultivator a slim chance of survival against the blow. Yet against the razor sharpness of the Swimming Dragon Sword—especially one traversing the void and imbued with the supreme divine ability, the Sky-Cleaving Strike—that defensive spirit treasure was utterly useless. It was pierced through in an instant. And pierced through alongside it was his body. At the moment his body was pierced, Yaoguang could see the overwhelming remorse in the man's eyes. What he was regretting, Yaoguang did not know. Nor was he interested in knowing. The intense heat within the sword light of the Swimming Dragon Sword instantly reduced this Golden Core cultivator to ashes. Yaoguang swept up the storage treasure on the man's remains and swiftly turned back. Having done all this, he dared not linger for even half a breath. Pouring his full power into the Two Realms Ruler, he vanished rapidly into the void. ... Barely a dozen breaths after Yaoguang left the area, ripples fluttered across the void. A figure traversed space and arrived on the scene. Judging by his attire and robes... He was surprisingly a Void Piercing elder currently on patrol duty around the Heavenly Dao Sect's perimeter. Between the energy traces that had yet to completely disperse and the dramatic celestial changes triggered by violent spiritual energy currents rushing to fill the "crater" blasted into the void, this Void Piercing elder deduced what had just occurred here with a single glance. "A Void Piercing Battle Immortal has fallen? Let me see who it was..." He sent a brief inquiry to a specialized sect department that monitored nearby Void Piercing Battle Immortals, quickly receiving an answer. "Wang Daoshu of the Wang Family? Who killed him?" He had some impression of this Void Piercing Battle Immortal. Moreover, from what he knew, the Wang Family had recently run afoul of the Chi Family. A woman from the Wang Family, who had been betrothed to a disciple of the Chi Family, had actually broken off the engagement to pursue so-called "true love." Although by the very next day both she and her true love had been found dead, their corpses hung outside the Wang Family's gates, the matter had clearly not ended there. So... "Was it the Chi Family's doing? Ruthless and unsparing indeed." The Void Piercing elder furrowed his brow. After a moment, he waved his hand dismissively. "Never mind. The Chi Family lineage holds immense power within the sect. They have Void Piercing elders above, Azure Blue true disciples in the middle, and Void Piercing Battle Immortals along with numerous inner disciples serving them below. Without any benefit in it for me, why bother meddling in such business?" With that, his figure flashed, vanishing into the void. As for the true disciple who had been suppressed... his soul lamp had not yet gone out. Furthermore, no one knew he had even left the Heavenly Dao Sect, so in the short term, his absence would naturally draw no attention. ... On an island in the Sea of Chaos close to the mainland. Yaoguang brought his sword down to land and deliberately set up a concealment formation. Though his formation attainments could not compare to his artifact crafting, among ninth-tier Golden Cores, anyone would have to call him a master. Even a formation set up in just a single day would require a Void Piercing elder to conduct a deliberate search to discover; a casual sweep of divine sense would never root him out. With the formation in place, he immediately retrieved that Radiant Sun Golden Core's storage treasure weapon. Sweeping his divine sense across it... The various resources, materials, and medicinal pills inside amounted to no less than 150,000 Pure Yang Great Pills in value. "Such wealth—even an ordinary Incandescent White Golden Core would likely fall short compared to him. After all, cultivators in this world don't have the habit of 'saving money.' In these circumstances, more than half of Incandescent White Golden Cores might not even be able to produce 100,000 Pure Yang Great Pills in one go." As Yaoguang spoke, he soon found the Golden Core's identity token. "Xuan Mo? How did I provoke him?" Yaoguang frowned. Yet after a moment, he couldn't be bothered to ponder it further. If he had crossed him, so be it. People on Beihai Star made enemies for baffling reasons all the time. The man was dead anyway, so the reason no longer mattered. "Is there a disciple roster? I wonder if a Radiant Sun Golden Core qualifies to be listed in one." Yaoguang searched through the storage treasure weapon. Within every sect, such rosters were commonly sold. These rosters typically documented in detail every true disciple as well as certain inner disciples—their identities, strengths, connections, and so forth—making it easy for sycophants to identify whose coattails to ride. Similarly, they prevented new disciples from being blind to sect politics and offending the wrong people, thus inviting senseless fatal disaster. Specialized departments within every sect produced and updated them regularly, and they usually enjoyed brisk sales. Soon, a jade talisman appeared in his hand. "Found it." He scanned it with his divine sense and raised an eyebrow. "A high-end edition? Looks like this Golden Core had some connections." Then again, it made sense; an ordinary Radiant Sun Golden Core could hardly amass wealth on par with an Incandescent White Golden Core. Flipping through the roster, he quickly found the identity of the true disciple he had sealed away. "Xuan Shuang? Occupant of the thirty-fourth true disciple peak? In recent years, he has attended lectures and cultivated under the Head of the Heaven Lineage, expressing several times his desire to become the lineage head's disciple. However, limited by his aptitude, he never caught the lineage head's eye and failed to succeed, though he has persevered relentlessly..." He glanced further at the family background backing Xuan Shuang. Originally, the clan had relied on a single Void Piercing Battle Immortal to gather resources and nurture him into a true disciple. Once Xuan Shuang achieved that status, he reciprocated to the family, enabling a second Void Piercing Battle Immortal to emerge within their ranks. In addition, six clan members had entered the inner sect, a clear sign of prosperity. If he managed to reach the Void Piercing realm in the future... They would surely become an influential faction within the Heavenly Dao Sect. "Six people... Found him." Flipping through for a moment, Yaoguang quickly located the owner of the storage treasure weapon. Xuan Mo? "His younger brother by blood, eh?" Yaoguang sighed with emotion, sensing the true disciple inside the Heaven-Sealing Stele constantly struggling in an attempt to break free. "Then he definitely has to die." Dying in the Sea of Chaos would be plausible enough. However... He needed to make adequate preparations. He had to ensure that the next time he released Xuan Shuang, he possessed the power to kill him outright. Otherwise, once the true disciple realized Yaoguang possessed a Dao artifact like the Heaven-Sealing Stele, he would flee for his life at maximum speed. If he escaped... The allure of a Dao artifact was enough to make any Void Piercer fight to the death. Yaoguang set the roster down. Soon, he took out the Flowing Void Crystal. He glanced at the Doomsday Ark obtained from the Black Dragon Pirates and the Swimming Dragon Sword in his hand... One was for offense, the other for escape. After pondering for a moment, he decided to apply the Flowing Void Crystal to the Doomsday Ark, which was capable of spatial traversal. Right away, he used the method of "Enlightenment" to enlighten this powerful treasure, then used the Spirit Nourishing Technique and Treasure Refining Technique to smelt the Flowing Void Crystal into the Doomsday Ark. In just three months, the quality of the Doomsday Ark had risen by a whole tier. "That should just about do it." Looking at the treasure in his hands, he once again channeled the Enter the Dao divine ability, tapping upon this treasure that had incorporated vast quantities of precious materials. Immediately, the supreme treasure's potential was rapidly stimulated, and waves of Dao charm emerged one after another. Relying on his Child of the Void talent, Yaoguang quickly stirred spatial ripples, attempting to guide the direction of this Dao artifact's metamorphosis toward "void traversal." At the same time, drawing upon artifact crafting attainments capable of producing top-grade Dao artifacts, he focused his spirit to guide the restructuring of this spirit treasure's material composition, clearing away any obstacles in its metamorphosis. At last... As the Dao charm of "void traversal" within the treasure devoured the Dao charms of the surrounding auxiliary materials, the ark smoothly entered the Dao. "A third Dao artifact! It's done!"