Harvest

Silence fell, heavy and chilling. When the master of the Xi clan's Demon Suppressing Hall—the final Deep Blue Golden Core cultivator stationed in Haizhou Prefecture—was struck down in midair, bursting into a brilliant flare of deep-blue light that illuminated the entire provincial capital, every clan and faction across the city fell dead silent. The Xi clan! One of the three great families of Haizhou Prefecture. An undisputed overlord of Haizhou. In ordinary times, even an ordinary disciple of the Xi clan walking in public would be surrounded by crowds, flattered and revered like the moon encircled by stars, respectfully addressed as "Young Master Xi." If one went to a local prefecture or county seat, those calling him Young Master Xi were beyond count. Local prominent clans, regional magnates, and wealthy scions alike would scheme every possible way to curry favor with him. Even merely becoming a familiar face—earning a passing mention of their name by this Young Master Xi in a public venue—could bring boundless benefits to them and the clans behind them. As for renowned local beauties and courtesans who commanded fortunes from countless cultivators, they were his for the choosing. Yet such an overlord-tier faction—where even a direct descendant visiting a commandery city could have the city lord accompany him—had been completely uprooted today, in this very moment. Pavilions, courtyards, and palaces spanning tens of li had all been razed to the ground. Tens of thousands of Xi clan elites were wiped out, slaughtered on the spot. Even two Void Piercing Battle Immortals and two Deep Blue Golden Core cultivators with hopes of reaching the Void Piercing realm had been reduced to ash. Faced with this, not a single soul dared to make the slightest move. Whoosh! Yaoguang reappeared amidst the ruins of the Xi clan estate. He glanced at the surrounding cultivators. In particular, his eyes swept over those who had stirred with opportunistic intent when Xi Hong had cried out for help earlier. Wherever his gaze fell, those cultivators bowed their heads in terror, completely lacking the courage to meet his eyes. Some even beat a hasty retreat, terrified that their earlier impulse might have caught his attention and invited total ruin upon themselves. Seeing that no one dared utter a single word, Yaoguang walked over to an underground chamber that still stood resilient even after the clan above had been leveled. With a flick of his hand, the already damaged formation was breached. Yaoguang stepped forward and entered the formation. What lay inside? Every cultivator from the major clans who had not yet departed knew full well. Yet not one dared go forward to claim a share. In fact... The patriarchs of the other two great families, the Wu and Zhao clans, spoke directly: "Let's leave." From the City Lord's Estate, only a deputy city lord had shown himself. He had consulted the city lord to see if they should activate the city-guarding formation to trap this violent culprit here. The city lord, considering the damage that Xi Guang's collapsing primal cavern had just inflicted on the city-guarding formation... Even if they forced the formation to activate, it would take time. In that span, the man would have long since vanished without a trace. Instead, they would only offend a true disciple of a major sect who possessed boundless potential. Glancing at the final response given by the city lord—who found it inconvenient to show himself—the deputy city lord could only say, "This is a grudge between a disciple of the Heavenly Dao Sect and the Xi clan. The Xi clan offended him first and brought this vengeance upon themselves; it has nothing to do with our Haizhou provincial capital. We should not intervene too much, lest it spark friction between our Great Shang and the Heavenly Dao Sect." The patriarchs of the Wu and Zhao clans nodded in profound agreement. As the two patriarchs and the deputy city lord departed, they all cast a glance toward the Xi clan ruins in unison. "Two Void Piercing Battle Immortals, two Deep Blue Golden Cores!" The Wu clan patriarch could not help but sigh with emotion. "The Xi clan had four Deep Blue Golden Cores in total—two in the imperial capital and two in the provincial capital. They were overflowing with talent, soaring at their zenith... unlike our Wu clan. Aside from our Old Ancestor, although we have six Void Piercing Battle Immortals, we have only two Deep Blue Golden Cores..." "Every Deep Blue Golden Core is truly a favored child of heaven. The Demon Suppressing Hall governed by Xi Hai was insatiably greedy; not only did the City Lord's Estate know of it, even Garrison Envoy Bai Ya was well aware. But because Xi Hai had achieved a Deep Blue Golden Core and held hope of reaching the Void Piercing realm in the future, the City Lord's Estate and the Garrison Envoy turned a blind eye to his deeds." The Zhao clan patriarch also sighed ruefully. "Still... walk by the river often enough and your shoes are bound to get wet. No matter how cautious one is, once things go wrong, what follows is total catastrophe." The Wu clan patriarch agreed deeply. A moment later, he added, "Two Void Piercing Battle Immortals are one thing, but losing two Deep Blue Golden Cores... Old Ancestor Xi Liu of the Xi clan will likely go mad with rage. This matter is far from over." "This Heavenly Dao Sect disciple... is named Yaoguang, correct? As long as he doesn't wander around recklessly from here on, once he becomes a Heavenly Dao Sect true disciple, with the astonishing power and potential displayed in this battle, he is certain to be taken as a disciple by a Void Refinement peak master—perhaps even with a fair chance of catching the eye of a Void Shattering realm Grand Elder." The Zhao clan patriarch shook his head. "No matter how mad the Xi clan's Old Ancestor becomes, would he dare lay a hand on a Heavenly Dao Sect true disciple who is at least a personal disciple of a Void Refinement master?" "That depends on what the Xi clan's Old Ancestor chooses. After all, the Xi clan lost two Deep Blue Golden Cores," the Wu clan patriarch said. "Breaking through to a Deep Blue Golden Core is extraordinarily difficult. Between the two of them... there was a greater than fifty percent chance that one of them would step into the Void Piercing realm for the Xi clan." Advancing from an Incandescent White Golden Core to a Deep Blue Golden Core required breaking through the limit of "quantity." The peril of this process was hardly lesser than collapsing a golden core into a primal cavern. Even in a sect as mighty as the Heavenly Dao Sect, they could not even fill all eighty-eight seats reserved for Deep Blue Golden Core true disciples. From this alone, one could see just how precious a Deep Blue Golden Core was. If one truly tallied the numbers, the Heavenly Dao Sect possessed more Void Piercing experts and Void Piercing Battle Immortals combined than Deep Blue Golden Cores. In the present world, more than half of all Void Piercing experts had actually broken through directly from an Incandescent White Golden Core. ... Yaoguang did not know how great a shockwave his actions had sent through Haizhou provincial capital. However... Wiping out the Xi clan truly gave him a sensation of having completely shattered his shackles. Only at this moment had he truly integrated into Beihai Star—integrated into this turbulent age where the rise and fall of sects and the turnover of great families were unending. "Mercy has never been the way to survive on Beihai Star. Only slaughter allows a cultivator to truly establish themselves and secure their footing here," Yaoguang mused inwardly. Of course, once one embarked on the path of slaughter, one had to be prepared at any time to be killed by someone stronger. Yet... To want absolute security while also living with untrammeled freedom—how could things ever be so perfect? Back when he had enjoyed the comfort brought by rules, he naturally had to bear the consequence of being bound by them. Except on Beihai Star. On Beihai Star, there were no rules. Or rather, too many people trampled upon rules at will. Under such conditions, if you continued to abide by rules, the only outcome would be getting devoured until nothing remained. "The Xi clan has reigned supreme in Haizhou for so many years. Although much of their resources had to be funneled to the imperial capital for their Void Piercing Old Ancestor and the other two Deep Blue Golden Cores with greater potential, the wealth they retained should still be substantial... Their annual revenue was at least a million." Yaoguang conducted a thorough search of this well-preserved treasury. In less than ten minutes, he had collected everything. The final harvest... Left him thoroughly satisfied. "Just from here and the corpses of those cultivators, the number of Pure Yang Great Pills alone reaches 1,050,000. On top of that, there are invaluable treasures like Flowing Void Crystals, Space-Stabilizing Stones, and Fate-Altering Pills. Adding all these up amounts to another million Pure Yang Great Pills in value!" In other words, by destroying the Xi clan, his total haul exceeded two million Pure Yang Great Pills. Such gains... Even true Void Piercing experts would be tempted. Of course, it would only be temptation. True Void Piercing cultivators would not form an irreconcilable blood feud with another Void Piercing expert over just two million Pure Yang Great Pills. For them to stake their lives... The stakes would likely have to be measured in the hundreds of millions. "These materials will allow me to upgrade my gear. If all goes smoothly, I might even be able to forge another Dao artifact. At the very least, I have considerable confidence in upgrading the Swimming Dragon Sword to a pseudo-Dao artifact. As for the remaining 1,050,000 Pure Yang Great Pills..." A flicker of anticipation appeared in Yaoguang's eyes. These 1,050,000 Pure Yang Great Pills were more than enough for him to break past the quantitative limit of his Golden Core and transform it into a supergiant-form Deep Blue Golden Core. "There is no time to lose. I should head to the Sea of Chaos, find an island, and enter seclusion to cultivate." In three years, the Heavenly Dao Sect would hold its true disciple assessment. With his battle record in Haizhou Prefecture, becoming a true disciple was practically guaranteed. However, having revealed so many supreme divine abilities and top-grade spirit treasures this time, he had also left behind hidden risks. Thus, when he next revealed himself, the stronger he was, the better. With this thought, Yaoguang had no reason to linger in the Xi clan ruins. His figure turned into a streak of golden sword light that shot straight into the sky, quickly vanishing from Haizhou provincial capital. Seeing Yaoguang fly away on his sword, countless people in the city breathed a long sigh of relief. ... Yaoguang flew on his sword for a distance, and to put Haizhou Prefecture behind him as quickly as possible, he later switched to the Longxiang Flying Boat. Traveling at such speed, he arrived in the interior of the Sea of Chaos in just three days. He chose a deserted island barely one li across, which lacked even much of an ecological landscape. There, he excavated an immortal's cave more than a thousand meters underground, then released a sliver of golden core power to bake and glaze the stone walls smooth like ceramic tile, creating a temporary shelter. After making some brief arrangements for this temporary cave, he spent nearly half a month meticulously laying down a concealment formation. Only after all this was done did he take out the Pure Yang Great Pills. "Finally... I'm well-off once again." Looking at the 1,050,000 Pure Yang Great Pills, Yaoguang smiled. He wondered whether the 460,000 Pure Yang Great Pills from the Black Dragon Pirates bounty were included among them. Even if Xi Hai was the master of the Demon Suppressing Hall, he probably hadn't pocketed that bounty so quickly. Then again, even if they had fallen into Xi Hai's hands, they would have been wasted. Whether it was the Xi clan or many native cultivators of Beihai Star, they had a habit of detonating their golden cores before death, destroying all the spoils on their persons—purely driven by the spiteful desire to leave nothing behind and sicken their enemies. With these thoughts in mind, he poured out a handful of Pure Yang Great Pills and began circulating the Kunpeng Sky-Devouring Technique, refining the pure yang qi within. ... Around the time Yaoguang ventured deep into the Sea of Chaos to begin his secluded cultivation, news of the events in Haizhou Prefecture gradually began to spread. For a Void Piercing clan's ancestral grounds to be annihilated was not particularly shocking on Beihai Star, where clans and sects were exterminated regularly. But to Great Shang and the surrounding powers, it was quite a spectacle. Especially since two Void Piercing Battle Immortals and two Deep Blue Golden Cores with genuine Void Piercing potential had fallen in this battle. Under this influence, the name "Yaoguang, inner disciple of the Heavenly Dao Sect" spread rapidly, steadily becoming known to all interested parties. This was true for the Heavenly Dao Sect and the Jiuxiao Sect. And it was equally true for the Taiyi Immortal Sect, which bordered the Heavenly Dao Sect.