The Prevailing Climate

Yaoguang looked at Xi Hai. Xi Hai acted as if he could not see the displeasure in his eyes, continuing to maintain his facade of upright integrity. Under the prolonged stare, perhaps feeling somewhat uncomfortable, he waved the jade talisman in his hand. "Fill out the information. Our Haizhou Demon Subduing Hall has always conducted affairs fairly and impartially, serving the world's cultivators. As long as your information is correct and proves that the Black Dragon Pirates were indeed slain by you, our Haizhou Demon Subduing Hall will not shortchange your bounty by even half a fraction." Having said that, he added, "However, if the information is incomplete, there is nothing we can do. We must abide by the regulations from above—the Celestial Dynasty's assets must not be squandered." "My shadow-recording stone is more than sufficient as evidence," Yaoguang said. "It isn't as if a shadow-recording stone cannot be duplicated. Who can guarantee that the recording you hold was truly made by your hand? What if another Azure Blue Golden Core cultivator destroyed the Black Dragon Pirates, only to suffer mutual destruction, allowing you to reap the spoils and take the stone? If we handed the Pure Yang Great Pills to you then, wouldn't we be abetting a rogue?" Xi Hai pointed at the jade talisman with growing impatience. "We must clearly record your background. Afterward, we will verify and investigate. Once it is truly confirmed that you slew the Black Dragon Pirates, your bounty will not be lacking." Yaoguang glanced at the jade talisman and only spoke after a long pause: "Though I knew claiming this bounty would inevitably invite trouble, I didn't expect... your greed to be so completely unvarnished." "Hm?!" Xi Hai's expression turned frigid, and he abruptly rose to his feet. "Insolent! I am the Hall Master of the Great Shang Haizhou Demon Subduing Hall, an official of the lower fourth rank! How dare you slander me like this?! Out of respect for your status as an inner disciple of the Heavenly Dao Sect, I will not hold this against you. Now, get out of the Demon Subduing Hall this instant—you are not welcome here!" Yaoguang rose slowly as well. "So, Hall Master Xi Hai, have you truly made up your mind to swallow my bounty of four hundred and sixty thousand?" "It seems you won't shed tears until you see the coffin—" "Hahaha. I only hope your stomach is strong enough to digest four hundred and sixty thousand Pure Yang Great Pills." Yaoguang did not wait for him to finish, turning on his heel and walking straight out. Xi Hai's gaze turned chillingly cold, and he discreetly channeled a secret technique to leave a mark upon Yaoguang. "Master..." Fang Lang swiftly stepped forward, a ferocious gleam flashing across his eyes as he made a throat-slitting gesture. "An inner disciple of the Heavenly Dao Sect may not be a true disciple, but we still have to give them some face. Furthermore, he walked into our Demon Subduing Hall openly and legitimately to claim a bounty. Moving against him right here would cause too vile of an impact. Even our Xi family might not be able to suppress the fallout. At the very least... it would be difficult for me to remain seated on this lucrative throne of hall master. Therefore... we cannot act just yet." As Xi Hai spoke, he quickly took out a jade talisman and said, "I left a divine mind imprint on him. Take my token to my sixteenth brother and ask him to dispose of this kid. Once it's done, I will agree to grant him the Life Altering Pill he wants for his grandson." "Sixteenth Master?!" Fang Lang was startled. The sixteenth brother his master spoke of was one of the two Void Piercing Battle Immortals the Xi family stationed in Haizhou. To dispatch a Void Piercing Battle Immortal—an existence far stronger than an Azure Blue Golden Core—against a mere Incandescent White Golden Core was a clear sign of how seriously his master took Yaoguang. "That brat's cultivation is quite formidable. Even if I stepped in personally, while I might defeat him, I might not be able to slay him on the spot. Only by asking Sixteenth Brother to act can we ensure nothing goes amiss." Xi Hai said in a heavy voice, "Besides, you must have sensed it as well—his aura is exceptionally young. Even if he doesn't obtain these four hundred and sixty thousand Pure Yang Great Pills this time, becoming a true disciple of the Heavenly Dao Sect is only a matter of time for him. That would be quite a headache. When trouble is foreseeable, the natural course is to eliminate it before a minor nuisance turns into a major disaster." "I understand. I will notify Sixteenth Master right away. With the Life Altering Pill on the table, he will definitely not refuse." With that, Fang Lang quickly withdrew. As for Xi Hai... Parting with a Life Altering Pill was somewhat painful, but he understood that one could not monopolize all the spoils. With four hundred and sixty thousand in bounty pills at stake, the loss would soon be recouped. With that thought, he quickly contacted the main hall to report the matter. *** Outside the Demon Subduing Hall. Sensing the divine mind imprint on him, Yaoguang felt no particular anger. Before securing the status of a true disciple right away, he had already anticipated such troubles. It was just that initially, a sliver of wishful thinking had lingered in him. Now, it seemed... The prevailing climate on Beihai Star was completely rotten. Harboring wishful thinking on Beihai Star was simply irresponsibility toward one's own life. "That Xi Hai tried to trick me into writing down my background and identity under the guise of verifying information, when in reality, it was just to make it easier to pull up my roots and eradicate me entirely." Yaoguang did not bother wiping away the mark. His expression was impassive. Xi Hai's reputation was actually not good among the Demon Subduing Halls of the dozen or so surrounding prefectures. Yet why had he still chosen to claim the bounty at this particular hall? Naturally, he had his reasons. For now, he did not leave the city, instead strolling through the prefectural capital. He focused primarily on observing the city-protecting grand formation. This stroll lasted an entire day. As dusk began to settle, Yaoguang seemed to sense something. He suddenly broke into the sky, flying toward the Sea of Chaos. However, he had flown less than ten thousand li, not yet entering the perimeter of the Sea of Chaos, when ripples undulated through the void ahead. A figure appeared ready to traverse the void and intercept him directly. "Truly... arrogant," Yaoguang remarked from the bottom of his heart. Traversing space by twisting the void in the Void Piercing Realm was in truth a process. Although not long—lasting less than a single breath—against an opponent of equal level, it could easily be disrupted, plunging the traveler into spatial turbulence. Yaoguang was merely an Incandescent White Golden Core, theoretically lacking the ability to perturb the void. Thus, there was nothing inherently wrong with this figure using such means to intercept him. At most... it was overconfidence and underestimating the opponent. Then again, for a Void Piercing Battle Immortal to underestimate an Incandescent White Golden Core, wasn't that only natural? Could one really expect him to go all out like a lion hunting a rabbit? Yet Yaoguang's strength was not something ordinary Incandescent White Golden Cores could measure up to. Back when he had just condensed his Incandescent White Golden Core, his combat power was already 530,000, reaching up to 910,000 at peak condition. Now, after this period of cultivation and consolidation, his strength had climbed from a newly ascended Incandescent White Golden Core to near the late stage. His regular combat power had reached 600,000, and unleashing everything in full burst exceeded 1,000,000. Even among the numerous true disciples of the Heavenly Dao Sect, he would rank in the top twenty, perhaps even the top ten. And within this formidable combat strength, his comprehension of cultivation realms accounted for the most significant portion. It was precisely because of his high realm and the potency of his Child of the Void trait that, as this Void Piercing Battle Immortal arrogantly attempted to intercept him directly through void traversal... Yaoguang saw through every spatial ripple the figure caused at a single glance. "The Xi family only has two Void Piercing experts stationed in the prefectural capital. Xi Lie or Xi Guang?" Yaoguang murmured, but immediately afterward, the Swimming Dragon Sword in his hand thrust forth along the spatial ripples. "Forget it, it doesn't matter." Beneath the layered folds of spatial ripples, the environment required to execute the Sky-Cleaving Strike swiftly took shape. As these void ripples condensed into a single point, it struck with pinpoint accuracy against the Void Piercing Battle Immortal who had just traversed the void to arrive. Having just completed the void traversal, Sixteenth Master Xi Lie of the Xi family had not even managed to disengage from that unique state before he saw a swathe of the void, propelled by some unknown method, crashing toward his body like a tsunami. What was worse, these spatial ripples were condensed into a single point through a specialized technique; if struck directly, he and the surrounding space would be shattered to pieces. "A supreme divine ability?!" Xi Lie's face changed drastically. He could not even care that he had just finished his void traversal and that his primal cavern power had barely settled. He immediately drove his primal cavern's might to its absolute peak, warping the surrounding void into what appeared to be a visible gigantic palm, slamming it violently toward the imminent Sky-Cleaving Strike. "Great Qiankun Hand!" A clash between divine abilities should theoretically end with the Void Piercing Battle Immortal holding the absolute advantage. Yet Xi Lie's counterattack was, after all, too hasty. Moreover, it was launched right upon exiting void traversal—equivalent to someone leaping down from above and striking midair before landing on his feet. Even if he swung his arm with all his might, how powerful could such an attack be? *Bang!* The spatial ripples formed a violent void tremor that engulfed Xi Lie's body. In an instant, this hastily countering Void Piercing Battle Immortal felt as if he had been caught in a void storm, blown backward through the air. To counter this, he had no choice but to channel the full power of his primal cavern, trying to extricate himself. Unfortunately... Yaoguang would give him no opportunity. Relentless in his advantage, Yaoguang bombarded him with a second Sky-Cleaving Strike right on its heels. Moreover, this strike was different from the last. As a Void Piercing Battle Immortal, every time Xi Lie drew upon his Void Piercing power, the vibrational frequency emitted by the operation of his primal cavern was accurately captured by Yaoguang. Through Yaoguang's own comprehension of the Void Piercing Realm and the power of the primal cavern—which far surpassed that of any genuine Void Piercing expert—this Sky-Cleaving Strike not only induced violent spatial ripples once more, but also vibrated Xi Lie's primal cavern itself, visibly throwing it into turmoil. "How could my primal cavern's frequency be—?!" This shift caused the Void Piercing Battle Immortal's face to pale in horror. At this moment, he even suspected he had fallen into a conspiracy specifically orchestrated against him. Had an enemy known him inside out and deliberately ambushed him here? Otherwise, he could not fathom how anyone could perceive and capture the frequency of a Void Piercing Battle Immortal's primal cavern in such a brief instant. Yet before he could think any further, Yaoguang's third Sky-Cleaving Strike crashed down. With the prior experience from clashing against Wang Daoshu, that Void Piercing Battle Immortal, fighting a Void Piercing Battle Immortal had become familiar territory for Yaoguang. At present, his strikes grew smoother and smoother. The chain of Sky-Cleaving Strikes flowed like moving clouds and flowing water. *Rumble!* The primal cavern shuddered. Countless streams of energy began spewing from within, forming rainbow light and beams that illuminated the entire void in radiant splendor. "Stop!" Feeling his primal cavern violently trembling, on the verge of collapsing and spiraling out of control, Xi Lie's spirit shuddered. He frantically transmitted his divine mind voice: "A misunderstanding! Your Excellency, this is a misunderstanding! I was merely passing by—" "A misunderstanding? Since there is already a misunderstanding..." Yaoguang slashed the Swimming Dragon Sword without hesitation. Golden light surged, kicking up ripples to form a fourth Sky-Cleaving Strike that completely destroyed every structure of this Void Piercing Battle Immortal's primal cavern. "...once you're dead, the misunderstanding will naturally be resolved."