The Reason

Half a day later. Qi Sha, suffused with killing intent yet composed in demeanor, appeared atop the peak where Yaoguang resided. "Lord, the entire core leadership of the Jing clan within the Heavenly Dao Sect has been put to death! In addition, we have issued orders to administrative branches across all territories of the Heavenly Dao Sect to arrest Jing clan members scattered across every region. They will all be brought to justice shortly," the War Hall's Void Refining cultivator reported in a deep voice. "Very well." Yaoguang responded calmly, "You have full authority to handle this matter. Distribute whatever is seized from the eradication of the Jing clan among the various factions that participated in the operation. There is no need to report back to me on it." At these words, Qi Sha's pupils instantly constricted. The Jing clan! That was a top-tier clan backed by Jing Yuntian, a Supreme Elder at the Void Shattering realm. Even though that Supreme Elder's Dao artifacts and storage treasures had become Yaoguang's spoils of war, there were still several Void Refining and Void Piercing cultivators within the clan, and Jing Zhengyang had even carried a Dao artifact of his own. Add to that the Jing clan's industries, land deeds, and assets spread across tens of thousands of cities throughout the Heavenly Dao Sect's territory—all of it combined had to be worth at least three to four billion! For many Void Refining experts, their entire fortune did not amount to even ten or twenty percent of that figure. Now, such an enormous fortune was being handed over entirely to him to manage and distribute?! Such utter trust... Qi Sha took a deep breath and cupped his fists solemnly. "I will not disappoint you, Lord." Yaoguang gave a slight nod. Soon, Qi Sha took his leave to oversee the aftermath of the Jing clan's fall. Yaoguang remained on the peak, reviewing the gains and insights from his battle against Jing Yuntian, Zhen Xuanyuan, and Gu Li. In truth, relying on his wealth of experience, he had long been able to accurately gauge his own standing. Just like before coming to the Heavenly Dao Sect this time, he had possessed the strength to flip the entire board, which was why he had taken this step. By his estimate, even if all the remaining Supreme Elders of the Heavenly Dao Sect swarmed him at once, he possessed the might to suppress them. Even if they possessed some remaining trump card, he could still retreat at ease by relying on the great perfection stage of his natal Dao art, Void Flicker. Events had proven that his assessment was not mistaken. Even when the three Void Shattering experts—Jing Yuntian, Zhen Xuanyuan, and Gu Li—joined forces one after another, he had handled them with ease. Even if Supreme Elder Chiyun had not sided with him and had joined Zhen Xuanyuan's camp instead, the outcome would not have changed in the slightest. Still... Theoretical understanding was one thing, but firsthand experience was another. Only after a true, thorough clash could he establish an even more precise measure of his strength. *My natal Dao art is actually Void Flicker, which allows me to come and go as I please. Yet amplified by a top-grade Dao artifact, even my Void Sword—which isn't even a natal Dao art—can overpower Zhen Xuanyuan's Void Great Annihilation Art, especially when he was wielding a high-grade Dao artifact of his own.* Yaoguang pondered. If he had truly chosen the Void Sword as his natal Dao art... A single strike would have been enough to cut down Zhen Xuanyuan in an instant. Of course, he had no regrets about choosing Void Flicker as his natal Dao art. A Void Flicker at the great perfection stage, amplified by a top-grade Dao artifact, already granted him the power to roam unhindered across the world. As long as he did not face a Dao Lord, he could venture into any dragon's den or tiger's lair as he pleased. Even if he barged into the headquarters of the Six Demon Sects, the Nine Demon Immortal Lineages, or the Ten Direction Ancestral Gods at will to decapitate one of their sect masters, he could still make a leisurely retreat. No matter how many experts they dispatched, none could lay a finger on him. *Charging recklessly into an opposing sect's stronghold to slay their sect master... would easily provoke their Dao Lord into action. Although Dao Lord Penglai is willing to serve as my Dao protector... I cannot place my safety entirely in the hands of another.* Yaoguang narrowed his eyes slightly. A reckless assault was out of the question. However, if he possessed a legitimate pretext, it might not be impossible to attempt. Take the Shadow Moon Sect, for instance. Decades ago, the two demon lords of the Shadow Moon Sect, Bahuang and Dark, had led five Void Refining demonic cultivators into the Southern Domain, intent on strangling him—the Lord of the Southern Domain—in the cradle. Courtesy demanded reciprocity. Since the demonic cultivators of the Shadow Moon Sect could come to kill him, he could naturally go to the Shadow Moon Sect to eliminate their deputy sect master and sect master. *Once the Southern Domain's Skynet system is fully assembled, and the formations of Nandu are thoroughly perfected, I will pay a visit to the Shadow Moon Sect.* Yaoguang's mind was exceptionally calm. This kind of retaliatory conflict between sects was fully justified and well-grounded; it would not escalate to the level of Dao Lords. As long as he did not slaughter every single Void Shattering demonic cultivator in the Shadow Moon Sect, their Dao Lord would not intervene, lest it trigger a war between Dao Lords at the critical juncture of the impending Dao Contention. *Whoosh!* While Yaoguang was contemplating his next move against the Shadow Moon Sect, two streaks of light descended simultaneously onto Nine Cauldrons Peak. It was the two Void Shattering Supreme Elders who had arrived together—Zhen Xuanyuan and Chiyun. Clearly, Zhen Xuanyuan felt uneasy about being alone with Yaoguang and had deliberately brought Supreme Elder Chiyun along. "Sit," Yaoguang said. The moment they met, Zhen Xuanyuan immediately offered his apology: "My apologies, Sect Master Yaoguang. Earlier, I..." "You had your standpoint." Yaoguang did not pursue the topic further. "For the coming period, watch over the Heavenly Dao Sect and ensure no turmoil arises. That will suffice." "Rest assured. With our Heavenly Dao Sect's long heritage and the presence of Venerable Golden Book, our stability is far greater than that of other sects. No foolhardy faction would dare strike directly at our Heavenly Dao Sect's main headquarters," Zhen Xuanyuan said. With no outsiders present, his attitude was remarkably deferential. After all, did not every Void Shattering expert behave with utmost respect before a Dao Lord? The attitude that accomplished elites in the eyes of ordinary folk displayed before true titans was something commoners could hardly fathom. The pride of the strong? For a powerful cultivator to bow to one who was stronger was by no means a humiliation. Yaoguang nodded. "So, tell me. What on earth is Sect Master Zong Wenxian up to? Leaving for decades on end—is he truly that unconcerned about the Heavenly Dao Sect, or does he simply no longer care about the position of sect master?" "Sect Master Zong... Zong Wenxian indeed made an enormous discovery out in the extraterrestrial starry sky," Zhen Xuanyuan explained at once. "Sect Master Yaoguang must be aware that while it is not impossible for Void Piercing, Void Refining, and Void Shattering cultivators to traverse a galaxy, doing so requires a tremendous amount of time. Consequently, as long as they have access to a decent cultivation environment, experts of this caliber rarely wander about. After all, even cultivators as mighty as those in the Void Shattering realm possess a lifespan of only ten thousand years. Wasting too much precious time journeying through the stars drastically reduces their chances of becoming a Dao Lord. Those who can truly roam the sea of stars are only Dao Lords, who have merged with the Grand Dao and wield boundless power." Yaoguang nodded. Although he had lived on Beihai Star since his Golden Core realm days, he still had some understanding of the standing of cultivators at these realms across the cosmos. In the outside world, many regarded the nine layers of the Golden Core as the Nine Realms of Ascending to Immortality. Reaching the Void Piercing realm granted boundless longevity, elevating one to an Immortal King. Above that, Void Refining corresponded to an Immortal Emperor, and Void Shattering to an Immortal Sovereign. It was identical to the Demon Kings, Demon Emperors, and Demon Sovereigns of the demon race, or the God Kings, God Emperors, and God Sovereigns of the God race. Every Void Piercing Demon King or God King was the ruler of thousands or tens of thousands of stellar systems. Certain God Sovereigns could even rule an entire galaxy, standing as the uncrowned rulers of that galactic expanse. A power like the Heavenly Dao Sect, placed in the cosmic starry sky, could effortlessly project its might across an entire galaxy. "The power of the universe is unfathomably vast. Materials forged by cosmic disasters and cosmic wonders are extremely precious even to Dao Lords. Therefore, many Dao Lords journey through the cosmos to search for such resources and materials. Some lucky ones can even locate brand-new Immortal World Gates." As Zhen Xuanyuan spoke, a fervent gleam appeared in his eyes. "A brand-new Immortal World Gate means scarcely any Dao Lords know of it, which also means almost no 'Dao Contention' takes place there. It means anyone who achieves the Dao Lord realm can enter the Immortal World... For many Dao Lords who lack supreme combat prowess and do not excel in deadly combat, this is the optimal choice for ascending to the Immortal World. For that very reason, many Dao Lords spend their entire lives on the path searching for an Immortal World Gate." His gaze dimmed slightly as he continued, "Yet... how exceedingly rare are Immortal World Gates? Many Dao Lords can never find a new one or one with minimal competition in their entire lives. By the time they grow old and wish to return to territories with known Immortal World Gates to make one final desperate bid, they have ventured too far to make the journey back. Or, for various reasons, their lifespans suffer severe damage, upending their calculated return schedules, leaving them no choice but to pass away in helpless resignation." "Pass away?" Hearing this, Yaoguang keenly connected the dots and asked in slight surprise, "You aren't trying to tell me that Zong Wenxian and his group found the resting place of a deceased Dao Lord, are you?" "Yes, and no," Zhen Xuanyuan said. "The ones who found the Dao Lord's resting place were not Zong Wenxian, but the Light God race of the Ten Direction Ancestral Gods. Not long ago, our people intercepted a God race fleet and learned from them that they had discovered the resting place of a deceased Dao Lord." He immediately added, "However, this resting place is extraordinarily far from Beihai Star. One must utilize specific spatial nodes across the stars to perform spatial jumps in order to shorten the travel time. Therefore, during this period, Zong Wenxian and the others have been searching for the location of the node hidden by the God race." Yaoguang's expression turned somewhat peculiar upon hearing this. "So... up until now, leave alone finding the Dao Lord's resting place, you don't even know how to get there? In fact, you can't even be one hundred percent sure whether this Dao Lord's resting place actually exists?" "The intelligence regarding the Dao Lord's resting place should be fairly reliable. As for the spatial node leading to it... they have made some headway..." Zhen Xuanyuan could not help but add, "It is the resting place of a Dao Lord! It would yield at least tens to hundreds of billions in resources. If that Dao Lord left behind a substantial number of Dao artifacts and treasures, or if there is even a top-grade Dao artifact among them, reaching several hundred billion or even a trillion in total gains is by no means an extravagant fantasy." "Heh. Would a Dao Lord possessing a top-grade Dao artifact ever perish of old age? Would such a person fail to seize a spot at an Immortal World Gate?" Yaoguang remarked. "Uh..." Zhen Xuanyuan hesitated for a moment before saying, "Perhaps it was a Dao Lord of the Void path." Yet he immediately felt this explanation defied common sense as well. Dao Lords who possessed top-grade Dao artifacts were practically all preeminent figures among their peers, with an extremely high probability of entering an Immortal World Gate. Thus, he amended his words: "The chances of a top-grade Dao artifact being present are indeed very slim. Zong Wenxian and the others must have deduced this as well, which is why they valued the resting place in the range of several tens of billions to a hundred billion." "A hundred billion... A windfall of that scale would be tantalizing to any top sect, wouldn't it?" Yaoguang asked. "Naturally. After all, even for Void Shattering cultivators like us, our annual income is merely several tens of millions," Zhen Xuanyuan said, nodding heavily. "Which means..." Yaoguang showed a flicker of interest. "For such a colossal sum of wealth, the Light God race will certainly go all out?"