The battleship Cangbei glided unhindered toward the Cangwu Great World.
Beyond the Cangwu Great World, every Golden Core and Dharma Idol cultivator wore a bitter expression.
"True Monarch Xie, what should we do next...?" Lu Xi inquired cautiously.
"Those who can assimilate into the Nine Cauldrons Sect should do so. Those unwilling to assimilate into the Nine Cauldrons Sect..." Xie Wu paused. "Go to Beihai Star."
He glanced at the crowd, noticing a trace of resentment still lingering in the eyes of a few. For a moment, he could not help but sigh with emotion. "Once you go to Beihai Star and come to understand its local conditions and customs, and learn what Sect Master Yaoguang's present achievements truly signify, you will feel fortunate. Even more, you will be grateful—grateful that Sect Master Yaoguang did not annihilate you and the powers behind you, and you will realize to your core just how benevolent Sect Master Yaoguang is."
The crowd looked at one another in dismay.
"In three months, I will depart the Cangwu Realm. When the time comes, whoever wishes to leave may depart with me."
With that, Xie Wu waved a hand, disinclined to chat further with these sheltered juniors who had only ever seen the sky from the bottom of a well. "Let it be so."
...
Within the Cangwu Realm.
Passing through layer after layer of divine thunder and astral winds, the battleship Cangbei sailed directly to what was once the Nine Cauldrons Sect's other stronghold—the location of Jiuxiao City.
One could tell Jiuxiao City seemed to have experienced the fires of war.
However, because the Void Piercing Battle Immortal Xie Wu had arrived in the Cangwu Realm more than a decade ago, the turmoil had long since settled, and some of the destroyed buildings had even been rebuilt.
As a result, the entire Jiuxiao City looked surprisingly little changed from when they had departed.
"Very well. I know you all have your own matters to attend to. Act freely," Yaoguang said. "Given that the weakest among you possesses the strength of a Crimson Golden Core, the Cangwu Great World is vast, yet there is nowhere you cannot go."
The Nine Cauldrons Sect veterans, including Liang Qiu, Dong Liushui, Lou Yuyu, Murong Hui, and Xu Qiexing, bowed respectfully to Yaoguang before departing eagerly in all directions.
Just as Yaoguang had said, with their current strength, the Cangwu Great World held no danger for them whatsoever.
What was more...
The entire Cangwu Great World, including the surrounding starry sky, lay within the range of Yaoguang's divine sense. If anything truly happened, he would sense it immediately.
"True Monarch, Sect Master Li, Fenghua, you should also attend to your affairs—look into the Nine Cauldrons Sect's current condition and plan the sect's future development," Yaoguang addressed the few remaining by his side.
Li Hanqiu and Li Qingshan nodded without ceremony.
Tang Fenghua, however, said, "All my relatives and friends have already gone to Beihai Star. I have nothing here to linger over, so I will stay by Sect Master's side to handle trivial matters."
Seeing this, Yaoguang did not insist and nodded.
In truth, in the Cangwu Realm... he did not seem to have anything worth longing for either.
Even the Yaoguang Realm did not hold much weight in his heart.
After all, what bound human sentiment was people, not places.
No matter how familiar a hometown might be, once all the familiar faces were gone, one would not feel much attachment to it.
Especially... Jiuxiao City had clearly sustained damage in the past. Although Zixiao Institute still stood, it had been rebuilt over the past dozen years, and Yaoguang could no longer sense much familiarity within it.
Things remained, but the people were gone.
Nothing could be truer.
His return to the Cangwu Realm was meaningful more as a conclusion and reckoning for his past struggles here.
Proof that he had once lived and fought in this place.
"The Cangwu Realm is, after all, too small and too fragile," Yaoguang remarked.
"Indeed. Back then, we felt the Cangwu Realm was immense and vast, filled with countless mountains, rivers, and wonders... Yet now, if we wished, our footsteps could easily cover every corner of the Cangwu Realm," Tang Fenghua replied.
"That was because we were weak back then... With a cultivation at the Core Formation or even Unity Realm, traversing the tens of millions of li across the Cangwu Great World was no simple feat," Yaoguang said.
Tang Fenghua nodded. "It reminds me of my hometown when I was a child. Back then, I thought our village was huge—so large that an entire day wasn't enough to explore it all, and every corner felt like a hidden treasure trove. But looking back now, it was only because we were too small, small enough that a tiny village could hold our entire world. Yet when we grow up and return to take a look... it really was just an ordinary little village."
Yaoguang smiled faintly.
He felt the same way.
Unfortunately, neither the Yaoguang Realm nor the Cangwu Realm gave him that particular sentiment.
Because neither place was his true home.
"Let it be so," Yaoguang said. "To ensure the Cangwu Great World cannot be casually threatened or breached by anyone, I will lay down a formation to safeguard this world's security."
Having said that, his figure flickered, and he appeared outside the Cangwu Great World.
To him now, the Cangwu Great World was indeed far too small.
Small enough that a single Void Flicker could take him anywhere in this world.
When he reappeared outside, Xie Wu was still packing his belongings. Sensing Yaoguang's appearance in the starry void, Xie Wu moved forward immediately to greet him. But Yaoguang shook his head at him, and then...
He clenched his hand across the void.
The surrounding starry sky seemed captured by a vast, magnificent power, contracting and collapsing toward the space where they stood.
Yet amidst this contraction and collapse, the Cangwu Great World itself remained entirely unaffected; only beings outside the Cangwu Great World could witness it.
Thus, what appeared before their eyes was tens of billions—even hundreds of billions—of li of void flowing ceaselessly toward the Cangwu Great World like water. The spectacle was so vast and staggering that even a Void Piercing Battle Immortal like Xie Wu was stunned into a daze.
As for Golden Core and Dharma Idol cultivators like Ye Lin, Lu Xi, and Feng Ao, watching this "cosmic catastrophe" that defied all description, they were struck dumb with terror.
Unimaginable!
Tens of billions, hundreds of billions of li of void pouring, contracting, and collapsing toward the Cangwu Great World like rushing currents...
This...
This was practically equivalent to condensing an entire stellar system onto a single world!
Such a divine ability, such vastness, such majestic might exceeded the comprehension of everyone witnessing the scene.
This was a power they would never have dared imagine in their entire lives.
"Such power..."
After who knew how long, Ye Lin finally let out a choked groan.
"Ants," Lu Xi murmured softly. "Before such power, I feel... I am an ant."
At their limit, their power could rival a star.
Yet a star was only several million li in diameter.
Before Yaoguang's cosmic scale, spanning tens or hundreds of billions of li at will, what did stellar brilliance amount to?
It was like one person lifting a boulder half a meter across, while the other...
Moved mountains and filled seas!
The cognitive shock and subversion instantly shattered the psychological defenses of every Golden Core and Dharma Idol cultivator from the Wuji Astral Palace, Immortal Alliance, Myriad Beasts Sect, and other factions.
Only at this moment did they truly realize what it meant to be humble as ants, and what it meant to view the heavens from the bottom of a well.
"It isn't just a feeling."
Xie Wu glanced in their direction. "Before a great being like Sect Master Yaoguang, Golden Core Battle Immortals... are ants... Even if thousands or tens of thousands of Golden Core Battle Immortals swarmed him at once, they couldn't harm Sect Master Yaoguang in the slightest."
These words completely extinguished any lingering defiance in these Battle Immortals.
...
Yaoguang paid no heed to the Golden Core Battle Immortals outside the Cangwu Realm.
After all, the difference in their levels was simply too vast.
At this moment, he was drawing upon the surrounding void to reinforce and reshape the perimeter of the Cangwu Great World.
The formation he was laying down was called the Thick Earth Void-Suppressing Formation. Its rank was not particularly high, only rank thirteen.
On the one hand, even the cleverest housewife could not cook without rice. The environment surrounding the Cangwu Great World made it difficult to arrange an overly advanced formation.
On the other hand, he did not intend to expend too much effort and time on this formation.
At rank thirteen, if a Void Piercing Battle Immortal were stationed to preside over the formation, any incoming Void Piercing cultivator would meet only death.
Even a Void Refining cultivator would be trapped within the formation, unable to extricate themselves.
And that was merely with a Void Piercing Battle Immortal presiding. If a true Void Piercing cultivator took charge, trapping and slaying a Void Refining cultivator would not be difficult.
A year later.
If any Golden Core Battle Immortal native to the Cangwu Realm gazed out into the surrounding starry void at this time, they would discover that the spatial structure around the Cangwu Great World had taken on an entirely new look, even displaying a hint of the miraculous aura unique to Beihai Star.
The rank-thirteen formation had fully taken shape.
"That should be enough," Yaoguang remarked. "At least it guarantees the Cangwu Great World will remain safe and secure."
The Void Piercing, Void Refining, and Void Shattering figures in this star domain might not all reside on Beihai Star, but eighty to ninety percent had ties to it.
The remaining ten to twenty percent were also renowned figures in the cosmic void who could be easily inquired about.
And just as those individuals were easily known, they would naturally possess an awareness of prominent figures on Beihai Star and in the surrounding cosmos.
Yaoguang reckoned that after beating the Shadow Moon Sect into sealing their mountain, a spot on the Dao Lord Candidate Ranking was certainly assured for him.
While a powerhouse of this stature did not possess the fame of a Dao Lord, his name would still echo across millions or even tens of millions of light-years.
Once they learned of this world's connection to him, those Void Refining and Void Shattering experts capable of breaking the formation would surely not be foolish enough to target the worthless Cangwu Realm.
As he completed the formation's deployment, Li Hanqiu and the others waiting nearby stepped forward together and bowed respectfully to him. "Our sincere thanks to Sect Master Yaoguang for deploying this grand formation to safeguard the Cangwu Great World."
Yaoguang nodded to them, then took out three jade-seal-like implements and handed them to Li Hanqiu. "These are three formation talismans I condensed. All three hold the power to control the grand formation; distribute them as you see fit."
Li Hanqiu hurriedly received the formation talismans.
"In addition, the Thick Earth Void-Suppressing Formation will alter the Cangwu Great World's structure, drawing it closer to Beihai Star. Of course, this change will happen gradually, taking about a century to complete the transformation entirely. Once transformed, the density of spiritual energy in the Cangwu Great World will be several times higher than before. With spiritual energy rising, Foundation Establishment cultivators—ordinarily rare—will naturally increase in number, and there will be no shortage of Golden Core cultivators. Under these new conditions, every Golden Core Battle Immortal like yourselves can hope to make a push for the Void Piercing realm."
Yaoguang paused, then added, "Consider this formation my final gift to the Cangwu Realm."
Chapter 431