Longxiang

Yaoguang looked at this flying ark Dao artifact in high spirits. "Since it has transformed into a Dao artifact, it can no longer use its old name." Yaoguang sensed the flying ark's various capabilities. It could shuttle through the void at extreme speeds, performing on par with the Void Disk. Its interior spanned a hundred li across, evenly partitioned and embedded with various formations designed for daily living. Its only drawback was that its consumption was slightly greater than that of the Void Disk. "It can completely serve as a mobile sect headquarters, so I might as well name it after Longxiang City, where I used to live in the Nine Cauldrons Sect." The Longxiang Flying Ark. Yaoguang carefully examined the vessel once more. "Once I break through to the Void Piercing Realm, integrate the Void Disk into the Longxiang Flying Ark, and redesign and reforge the two Dao artifacts together, it should be possible to advance it to a high-grade Dao artifact—though naturally, only a void-type high-grade Dao artifact." Given the materials of the two Dao artifacts and his artifact refining skills, achieving this goal would not be difficult. The only current obstacle was his insufficient cultivation. After a while, Yaoguang set about refining the flying ark. Although it was not crafted entirely by his hands, it had been enlightened and guided into the Dao by him, making the refining process proceed smoothly and effortlessly. In less than half a month, he had mastered all the basic transformations of this Dao artifact. "Fortunately, my 'Child of the Void' trait allows my perception of void fluctuations to rival a Void Piercing cultivator's. Otherwise, I wouldn't truly be able to drive either the Heaven-Sealing Stele or the Longxiang Flying Ark." Naturally, his own Void Refining level of realm was just as crucial. Neither could be dispensed with. Had it been any cultivator below the Void Piercing Realm, even if given a Dao artifact, they could only use it as a slightly higher-quality top-grade spirit treasure. "Realm..." Yaoguang pondered, turning his gaze toward the ancient tree in his mental world. Looking at the dormant [Merchant] branch... "Things aren't looking good." Previously, neither bringing down the Yunxiao Sword Sect nor selling supreme divine abilities had advanced the [Merchant] branch's progress in the slightest. At the time, he hadn't given it much thought. Toppling the Yunxiao Sword Sect relied primarily on Li Hanqiu's actions, while selling divine abilities... Selling information gathered through High-Dimensional Cognition was clearly an exceedingly poor bargain for a [Merchant]. It was like an ordinary person using a supercomputer to solve a ten-yuan online bounty. The process might seem simple, but in reality, just the energy consumed to power the supercomputer far exceeded ten yuan—not to mention the intrinsic value and significance of the computer itself. "The first gain of 'experience' should have been wiping out the Black Dragon Bandits, but during that process, I used a Crimson Refined Divine Fire Thunder, and the final harvest was only tens of thousands of Pure Yang Great Pills. A catastrophic loss. I could accept that yielding no experience, but..." Yaoguang could not understand why even acquiring that flying ark had granted him no experience. Given that the vessel was worth even more than the Sky Cleaving Plate... It should have advanced his Void Refining realm progress by twenty to thirty percent at the very least. "Could it be... labor cost?" Yaoguang had gradually developed a clue over this period. He had spent an entire month searching for the Black Dragon Bandits' base. Naturally, an Incandescent White Golden Core would not carry such an exorbitant labor cost. Yaoguang turned his gaze to the [Artifact Refining] branch. A level fifteen artifact refiner. The kind capable of crafting top-tier Dao artifacts once his cultivation was sufficient. If even Void Refining experts were not guaranteed to possess a Dao artifact, then a top-tier Dao artifact was already equipment fitting for a Dao Lord. His status might not quite match a true Dao Lord, but compared to a Void Shattering expert, it probably wouldn't fall far short. Just as Artifact Refining Grandmasters like Dong Liushui had once been guarded by peak Foundation Establishment cultivators back then. Even though might made right on Beihai Star, and cultivators valued personal martial strength over artifact refining, alchemy, or formations, a level fifteen artifact refiner like him was still significant enough to warrant a Void Refining expert as a personal bodyguard. "If I disregard my identity as an Incandescent White Golden Core, and instead view it as a Void Refining expert spending a whole month searching for a top-grade spirit treasure that isn't even a quasi-Dao artifact..." He sighed softly to himself. In that case, it made sense. However, the reason he had pushed the [Artifact Refining] level so doggedly back then was truly because the situation had been far too dire. They had been fleeing the Cangwu Great World in exile toward Beihai Star, and Li Hanqiu, their pillar of stability as a Void Piercing Battle Immortal, had had only three to five years of life remaining. Desperate for any remedy, Yaoguang had sought to elevate his [Artifact Refining] level as quickly as possible to find a way to resolve Li Hanqiu's lifespan crisis. Under those circumstances, forcing [Artifact Refining] all the way up to level fifteen had been an unavoidable necessity. "The [Merchant] branch won't be of much use for a long time to come. I'll likely have to wait until I reach the Void Piercing Realm or even Void Refining, and acquire hundreds of millions of Pure Yang Great Pills, before I can see [Merchant] experience grow again." Yaoguang understood clearly. Looking at the several Dao artifacts in his possession, however... He could only say that every gain came with a loss. Fortunately, his realm had already attained Void Refining; all he needed to do now was advance step by step. ... Once he grew proficient in operating the Longxiang Flying Ark, Yaoguang applied the same concealment technique he had previously used on the Void Disk, disguising the Longxiang Flying Ark to mask its Dao artifact traits. Then, piloting this flying ark disguised as a "top-grade spirit treasure," he glided across the Sea of Chaos, familiarizing himself with its handling while flaunting it openly. A top-grade spirit treasure held considerable value even to a Void Piercing cultivator, let alone to Azure Blue Golden Cores or Incandescent White Golden Cores. In theory, brazenly cruising past in a "top-grade spirit treasure" vessel while intentionally revealing merely an Incandescent White Golden Core cultivation should have made him a prime target to be ambushed and slaughtered in a lawless place like the Sea of Chaos. Yet... It was astonishingly peaceful and uneventful?! Along the way, wherever the Longxiang Flying Ark traveled, cultivators steered clear. Every cultivator who sensed the treasure light radiating from this "top-grade spirit treasure" stayed far away, even Incandescent White Golden Cores. He even happened to pass by an island besieged by a gang of cutthroats bent on annihilating a cultivation sect led by a Radiant Sun Golden Core. Yet before his ark even arrived, the cutthroats abandoned their slaughter, raised their escape lights one after another, and fled in panic, not even bothering to sail away in their warships. In the end... Not only did the island escape annihilation, it even managed to reap a modest fortune. Just like that, he swaggered across half of the Sea of Chaos. "What's going on?" Yaoguang frowned slightly. He had deliberately used a "top-grade spirit treasure" as bait to go fishing, yet not a single big fish took the bait? Even the small fry had been scared off? He wasn't some true disciple from a great sect... "Wait! A true disciple from a great sect!" Yaoguang suddenly realized. Although he only displayed the cultivation of an Incandescent White Golden Core, possessing a top-grade spirit treasure at that level—and above all... daring to flaunt that top-grade spirit treasure so ostentatiously in the open—was practically announcing to everyone that he had an illustrious background, extraordinary backing, and stood far above the rest. As for his Incandescent White Golden Core cultivation... Disciples of great sects who became true disciples usually commanded the combat prowess of an Azure Blue Golden Core. Even if they were only at the Incandescent White stage. After all, the gaps between the Crimson Red, Radiant Sun, Incandescent White, and Azure Blue stages were nowhere near as absolute as the leap from Azure Blue to Void Piercing. Possessing Azure Blue Golden Core combat prowess! And a top-grade spirit treasure flying ark! Ghosts only knew what hidden trump cards he possessed. In the Sea of Chaos, where the strongest figures were merely Void Piercing Battle Immortals or Azure Blue Golden Cores, someone like this was already at the absolute ceiling. He thought he had come to fish, but in truth... He had nearly blown up the entire pond. "Good grief. In the eyes of native Sea of Chaos cultivators, swaggering through like this must look exactly like the arrogant, overbearing posturing of a great sect's true disciple, wouldn't it?" Yaoguang muttered wryly. Immediately after, he put away the Longxiang Flying Ark and traveled by flying sword instead. He released a faint wisp of an Incandescent White Golden Core aura and cast a secret technique to conceal his tracks—one that appeared decent, but was by no means profound. And then... Things went back to normal. For the remainder of the journey, six divine senses comparable to peak Dharma Idol cultivators swept over him. Four of them hesitated and gave up on intercepting him, clearly lacking sufficient confidence and strength. The remaining two divine senses, however, quickly gave chase. One belonged to an Incandescent White Golden Core at the peak stage, boasting a combat power of fully 440,000. With strength like that, he could calmly withdraw even when facing a newly advanced Azure Blue Golden Core. The other cultivator, an Incandescent White Golden Core himself, summoned two Battle Immortals who had reached the Incandescent White Golden Core level as well. Cultivating the Battle Immortal path grew progressively harder the further one went. Many Battle Immortals struggled to maintain even a Radiant Sun Golden Core, let alone an Incandescent White Golden Core. It was no exaggeration to say that the number of Void Piercing cultivators was probably on par with that of Incandescent White Battle Immortals. Those two Incandescent White Battle Immortals were clearly seized by a final madness. With only eight or ten years left to live, they intended to amass one last haul of resources and gamble on that slim glimmer of hope to break through to Void Piercing. Unfortunately... They ran into Yaoguang, directly netting him twenty thousand Pure Yang Great Pills. Naturally, compared to those cultivators, the peak Incandescent White Golden Core with 440,000 combat power had far deeper pockets—he alone yielded fifty thousand Pure Yang Great Pills. This outcome left Yaoguang quite satisfied. "Although it cost me a few extra months, a harvest of seventy thousand Pure Yang Great Pills... isn't bad at all." Watching the coastline draw nearer, Yaoguang was in high spirits. The Sea of Chaos truly was a blessed land—so much so that he was almost reluctant to break through to the Azure Blue Golden Core realm. Radiant Sun and Incandescent White Golden Cores were the most popular hunting targets in the Sea of Chaos. They carried substantial wealth, yet their strength was not insurmountable. Once one reached the Azure Blue Golden Core stage, however... Barring exceptional circumstances, virtually no faction dared target such a candidate for the Void Piercing Realm. Upon coming ashore, Yaoguang did not immediately head off to collect the bounty on the Black Dragon Bandits. Instead, he took time to refine all the seventy-odd thousand Pure Yang Great Pills he had obtained from the Black Dragon Bandits, Xuan Mo, and along the way. One year later. Yaoguang examined the condition of his Golden Core. "My accumulation at the Incandescent White Golden Core stage is nearing completion." Sensing his progress, he was almost tempted to make another round through the Sea of Chaos. If he could just harvest another one or two hundred thousand Pure Yang Great Pills, he would certainly be able to achieve the Azure Blue Golden Core. However, considering how well-informed the major factions in the Sea of Chaos were, his chances of continuing to use the Sea of Chaos as an ATM while disguised as an Incandescent White Golden Core were slim. He couldn't afford to miss the true disciple examination three years from now. Therefore, he still had to take the risk of claiming the bounty in Great Shang. With that in mind, he packed his belongings and headed straight for the Great Shang prefectural capital.