Retreat

"Two," Yaoguang murmured. Inside his grotto-heaven, the Grand Dao of the Void, Grand Dao of Destruction, Grand Dao of Time, Great Dao of Origin, Soul Great Dao, Grand Dao of the Stars, and Grand Dao of Devouring shone in concert, turning as if into a millstone of Daos that manifested one Dao art after another to wear down and obliterate Demon Lord Tianyu's heavenly demon origin. Under the erosion of these Dao arts and Great Daos, this demon lord's heavenly demon origin was rapidly ground away, its energy pouring into the grotto-heaven and bolstering its resilience. *A pity that once a cultivator reaches Void Shattering, they have essentially reached the end of their cultivation path. Though the grotto-heaven can still be strengthened from here on, the margins are fairly limited. True strength and standing in Void Shattering depend primarily on how many perfected Dao arts one has mastered, how effectively one coordinates and deploys them, accurate combat intelligence regarding oneself and one's enemy, peerless combat experience, and the quality of one's Dao artifacts,* Yaoguang realized. Void Shattering! He had truly arrived at the culmination of this realm. Beyond it lay only Dao Integration! To truly wield the power of the Great Daos that constructed the universe! Only that step marked a true leap in power hierarchy and an elevation in the tier of life itself. That leap was vastly greater than even the progression from the Golden Core realm to the Void Cavern realm. *Having 'hunted' two more Void Shattering demonic cultivators, the experience I gained... should be just about enough to bring [Demon Hunting] to level fifteen, 100%.* In other words, this branch would also be maxed out. It would only be able to welcome another round of improvements after the main branch, [Immortal Dao: Void Shattering], underwent its transformation. *Hm? Someone else?* At that moment, Yaoguang seemed to sense something. Void Flicker triggered, and in an instant, he vanished from the battlefield. ... Meanwhile. Headquarters of the Shadow Moon Sect. Yue Wuying had been keeping close watch on Demon Lord Guiye's movements. Although they had superficially spoken of Yaoguang as beneath contempt—treating him as merely a newly ascended Void Shattering cultivator with slightly better talent and nothing remarkable besides his cultivation speed—in reality, they gave ample respect to anyone who reached the Void Shattering level. None who could cultivate to Void Shattering were simple. They were all well aware of this. One could look down on an opponent in speech, but when facing an existence of this level in earnest, one had to use all the force of a lion pouncing on a rabbit to guarantee absolute victory. "Sect Master need not worry. With Tianyu there, it won't be much of a problem," a Void Shattering demon lord said with a smile. "Tianyu clashed head-on with Zhen Xuanyuan once. Though he came out slightly worse, when entirely bent on survival, even Zhen Xuanyuan could do nothing to him. As long as he doesn't fall into a formation, the only person in the entire Heavenly Dao Sect who could truly kill him is Jinghong. What's more, besides Tianyu, Shanie has gone over as well! Shanie cultivates the Grand Dao of Slaughter, and his natal Dao art is the Seven Thoughts Slaughter Art. In a straight fight, he isn't the least bit inferior to Tianyu." Yue Wuying nodded slightly, then added, "I merely find it abnormal. Why would the Heavenly Dao Sect allow Yaoguang to advance deep into enemy territory alone? Would they truly bear to let a deputy sect master with such exceptional talent fall within our Shadow Moon Sect? I fear some trap!" "I'm not far from Supreme Elder Guiye's location. Flying over on a Dao artifact flying boat won't take much time either. Let me head over to support them," Demon Lord Jinni spoke up. "Very well. With that, four demon lords will be mobilized. Even if the Heavenly Dao Sect has concocted some conspiracy, we will have enough strength to handle it. At the very least, relying on our respective survival abilities, withdrawing unscathed won't be an issue," Yue Wuying nodded in agreement. Just then, one of the demon lords started slightly. In the next moment, his eyes filled with disbelief. "Sect Master?!" Yue Wuying received the news at the same time, and his heart sank immediately. "What happened?" Demon Lord Jinni, who was just about to depart, asked hastily. "Word just came from the elders guarding the Soul Lamp Hall... Supreme Elder Guiye's lamp... has gone out," Yue Wuying said, a tremor of shock in his voice. "Gone out?!" Demon Lord Jinni's pupils shrank violently. "Fallen?! Impossible! How could it be so fast?! How long has it even been?!" Immediately after, he seemed to think of something. "Jinghong?! Has True Monarch Jinghong followed him to escort Yaoguang?!" "Jinghong?! How dare he leave the planetary core!" Yue Wuying was both shocked and enraged. "I'll immediately message Supreme Elder Xue Ming, who is rushing to the planetary core, and have him and Demon Lord Hongyue strike directly against the two Void Shattering cultivators from the Heavenly Dao Sect stationed there! Slay the two of them to avenge the successive losses of our Shadow Moon Sect's Void Shattering experts!" The Gate of the Immortal Realm existed within the planetary core! The ultimate purpose of many Dao Lords leaving their lineages on Beihai Star was to monitor the movements of the Gate of the Immortal Realm. Although the Gate of the Immortal Realm was said to open once every ten thousand years, the timing fluctuated. Certain artificial means could even cause the Gate of the Immortal Realm to open prematurely. Furthermore, Dao Lords roamed far abroad; the distances were immense, and returning often took several decades or even centuries. Therefore, the moment there were signs that the Gate of the Immortal Realm was opening, these powers would notify their backing Dao Lords immediately. As for the idea that news would naturally leak and become common knowledge when the Gate opened... That was practically impossible! It concerned Dao Contention! When the Gate of the Immortal Realm was about to open, the Void Shattering experts in the inner ring closest to it would spontaneously suppress the news. They would erect illusion formations to mislead the senses, or seal off the inner and outer areas to stop information from traveling—all to delay the moment rival Dao Lords learned of the opening. Thus, if a Dao Lord had no eyes or ears stationed in the inner ring, they could easily miss this round of the Gate's opening. If they were to miss an opportunity... One could only imagine the depths of a Dao Lord's fury. Because of this, any major power would typically station their strongest expert at the planetary core, along with one to three Void Shattering supreme elders to provide support and ensure nothing went awry. If the Shadow Moon Sect could truly seize this chance to kill the two Void Shattering cultivators besides True Monarch Jinghong... It would practically pin True Monarch Jinghong to the inner ring. He would no longer dare make a rash move lest an accident happen. Otherwise, if signs of opening appeared while he was away and the other factions banded together to seal off the perimeter around the Gate, True Monarch Jinghong could forget about stepping foot inside or obtaining firsthand information on it. *Buzz!* Just as Sect Master Yue Wuying was contacting Xue Ming to convey the command, Demon Lord Tianyu's figure suddenly flickered into view via projection. He transmitted his divine sense, filled with terror: "The intelligence is wrong! This brat Yaoguang is overwhelmingly powerful, barely short of True Monarch Jinghong himself! Guiye has already been suppressed! Fellow Daoists, come to my rescue at once!" The moment the message arrived, despair bled through his divine sense: "Void Flicker!" In the next instant, his projection abruptly vanished. Evidently, he had been suppressed by a power capable of severing even message jade talismans. "It's the power of a grotto-heaven!" Demon Lord Jinni said heavily. "Supreme Elder Tianyu has been suppressed by the power of a grotto-heaven!" "Supreme Elder Tianyu's desperate message just said... Yaoguang is barely short of True Monarch Jinghong?!" another Void Shattering demon lord said with trepidation. "Doesn't that mean... the news from the Heavenly Dao Sect was true? Yaoguang... really possessed the power to take on the two Void Shattering experts, Zhen Xuanyuan and Gu Li, simultaneously?" "The matter is already clear," Demon Lord Jinni was the quickest to react, speaking in a heavy voice. "The four demon lords—Zhanpo, Chihun, Guiye, and Tianyu—fell in rapid succession because their assessment of Yaoguang's strength was completely mistaken. And not just the four of them... Even the two demon lords Bahuang and Hei'an ended up meeting their demise because they underestimated Yaoguang's strength and fell into Nandu's city defense formation..." At this point, a chilling dread crept over him. When counted carefully, the Shadow Moon Sect had lost a staggering six Void Shattering experts to Yaoguang! This brat... Was he truly fierce to such an extent?! More critically, he was still rampaging within the sect's borders right now... An expert on the Dao Lord Candidate List comparable—or at least close—to True Monarch Jinghong was running rampant inside the Shadow Moon Sect, yet the Shadow Moon Sect had never adopted an adequate state of alert to counter him? If he were allowed to continue killing like this, then apart from the few Void Shattering experts at headquarters, everyone else might be wiped out by him single-handedly. "Not good! This Yaoguang clearly wants to take advantage of our ignorance of his true strength to wipe out all of our Shadow Moon Sect's top overt combatants in one fell swoop! Quick! Recall everyone at once..." Demon Lord Jinni roared, hastily transmitting a message to Demon Lord Shanie. "Return immediately! Tianyu and Guiye were killed by Yaoguang so quickly. If you are targeted next, you will have no hope of survival! Retreat! If necessary, abandon your territory, take your elites, and pull back to sect headquarters!" "Abandon my territory..." Demon Lord Shanie was clearly unwilling. "The city I reside in possesses a thirteenth-grade formation. With me presiding over it, no matter how formidable Yaoguang's cultivation may be, could he possibly charge into the formation and kill me? Besides, my formation leans toward defense and trapping-killing. Once he's caught in it, if everyone reinforces me in time via teleportation formations, we might even ensure he never returns alive." "What kind of disgrace would it be if a single Yaoguang forced everyone to abandon their territories and flee back to headquarters?" Yue Wuying's expression was grim. "Have everyone activate their formations and shift to full defense. I will recall Supreme Elder Xue Ming... and even request Supreme Elder Hongyue... Under no circumstances can we permit Yaoguang to continue running amok on our Shadow Moon Sect's soil! Courtesy demands reciprocity—we will turn defense into attack, strike into the Southern Domain, and make him pay in blood!" Jinni opened his mouth to say something, but right at that moment, Demon Lord Shanie's expression twisted in horror. "I sense his aura—he's coming... No! So fast! He's already here!" The moment those words were spoken, his divine sense seemed to vanish, jammed by some immense power that cut off all communication. "It must be the power of the Heaven-Sealing Stele!" Yue Wuying immediately turned to Jinni. "You are closest to Demon Lord Shanie. Go reinforce him at once!" "It's useless. If Yaoguang's strength truly rivals True Monarch Jinghong's, reinforcing one by one is sheer suicide. It will only lead to the total annihilation of all our Shadow Moon Sect's supreme elders," Demon Lord Jinni said heavily. "Retreat! Pull back to the sect! Once the two supreme elders, Xue Ming and Hongyue, arrive, we can pursue our vengeance!" "Retreat? How many supreme elders here do you think are willing to surrender the interests they spent so much blood and sweat building?" Yue Wuying sneered. "Faced with life and death, I believe they will make the right choice," Demon Lord Jinni said. "Life and death..." Yue Wuying fell silent. Yet that silence did not last for more than an instant before the Shadow Moon Sect Master's pupils contracted violently, as though having received some news. "Sect Master?!" "Demon Lord Shanie's soul lamp... has gone out!" This time, fear finally surfaced in the sect master's eyes. Daring not hesitate a moment longer, he barked out the order: "Retreat! Pass down my order—retreat! All elders of the Void Cavern realm and above, pull back to the sect! Our Shadow Moon Sect is suffering a catastrophe unprecedented in ten thousand years!"