The Secret Trove

Yaoguang did not discuss the matter further with Li Hanqiu, merely attributing the anomaly to a "cosmic catastrophe." Yet deep down, a premonition stirred within him. That premonition inclined him to suspect this strange phenomenon was actually the energy unleashed upon the demise of a great being. The energy released after his death had triggered a cosmic catastrophe, collapsing all void nodes within a radius of one billion light-years and giving birth to planar worlds like the Cangwu Great World. Even so, the lifespan of a planet was typically measured in hundreds of millions, billions, or even tens of billions of years. The same held true for the Cangwu Great World. As such, even Yaoguang could not discern just how ancient an era this event had transpired in. Over the course of those long and ancient ages, the cosmos evolved, a new generation of void nodes took shape, and the civilizations flourishing once more today gradually emerged. Furthermore, the Gate of the Immortal Realm guided all living beings toward the Immortal Realm, allowing people to truly achieve the Dao, become immortals, attain immortality, and secure eternal life. ... Aboard the warship as it resumed its voyage, Yaoguang continuously digested the information granted by [Immortal Dao: Void Shattering]. This knowledge... was simply too vast and too cluttered. It reminded Yaoguang of his past as an ordinary human, using search engines to look up obscure, niche topics. Search results routinely numbered in the millions or tens of millions, yet finding anything truly useful was no different from searching for a needle in the ocean. "The Immortal Realm..." Yaoguang murmured inwardly. At the same time, he checked the Glazed Ancient Tree, which was on the verge of completing its transformation... "Hopefully, once my Higher-Dimensional Cognition finishes its transformation, my Information Search will become a bit more precise." He refocused his attention on the records pertaining to the Void Shattering Realm... Yet even after searching for half a month, his brow remained tightly furrowed. "Previously, whenever my progress in a realm reached eighty percent, subsequent information would begin touching upon the various wonders of the next realm. This time, even though Immortal Dao: Void Shattering has reached one hundred percent, descriptions regarding the subsequent Dao Integration remain exceedingly scarce." This seemed somewhat abnormal. Of course, it was not as though there was no information at all regarding what followed Dao Integration. For instance, the concepts of "Ghost Immortal, Human Immortal, Earth Immortal, Divine Immortal, and Heavenly Immortal" clearly did not belong to the Void Shattering stage; they were cultivation paths to be pursued after Dao Integration. Indeed—paths, not realms. "So, after Dao Integration and ascending to the Immortal Realm, one must choose one among these five kinds of immortals to attain? And only then can one achieve an immortal lifespan and eternal existence?" Yaoguang pondered. In the end, there was simply too little information. He assessed the [Merchant] branch, which had only a sliver of progress remaining, and the [Alchemy] branch, which would have to start from scratch, and came to a decision. "Returning from Cangwu, bringing Higher-Dimensional Cognition to full transformation, and stepping into Dao Integration to glimpse the vista of a Dao Lord must be the utmost priority requiring my full effort going forward." With that, he cast his gaze back onto the star chart. According to the distance displayed on the chart, the journey to Beihai Star still had roughly... "Hmm?" Just then, Yaoguang seemed to notice something and abruptly paused. He recalled the coordinates of several auras he had obtained through the Source Tracing technique when refining and executing Demon Lord Jinni... They were unexpectedly close to his current position. Operating on the thought that he was already in the area, Yaoguang called out, "Hold on." He pointed toward several void nodes on the chart and drew a line. "Take this route. Pass through these six void nodes and proceed to this region. I need to find a few people." "Understood." Li Hanqiu carried out Yaoguang's directive without the slightest hesitation. Even though their journey had already taken several years—effectively leaving them out of contact for just as long—he still harbored no doubts whatsoever about where Yaoguang wished to go. Besides... even if some faction moved against the Southern Domain during this time, they would never dare carry out an extermination. So long as Yaoguang had not fallen, wiping out the Southern Domain would shatter his bottom line and drive him to act completely without restraint—a price no one could afford to pay. ... Although this route passed through only six void nodes, the distance between them was somewhat substantial, taking them an entire month. Once the warship reached the designated region, Yaoguang instructed, "Wait here." Immediately afterward, with several Void Flickers, he arrived directly upon a planet three million li away from the void node. This planet... boasted an extremely high oxygen content, covered in colossal trees that soared straight into the clouds, inhabited by massive beasts standing ten to dozens of meters tall, reminiscent of the Cretaceous period. In addition, a technological civilization appeared to have sprouted upon it. These intelligent beings resembled humans but were far taller, typically reaching three meters in height. Their skin was deep blue, and they possessed tails used for balance. Yaoguang paid them no mind, heading straight to the summit of a towering mountain. The Void Piercing aura he sensed... was concealed precisely atop this peak. This Void Piercing demonic cultivator had not built any manors or palaces to revel in tyranny over the planet. After all, to a Void Piercing cultivator, what did a crowd of mortal beings have that was worth bullying or enjoying? Wealth? Useless to him. Beautiful women? To a Void Piercing cultivator, every anatomical structure of a creature of flesh and blood was laid bare at a single glance. Power and authority? Even more meaningless. If this Void Piercing cultivator so desired, he could erase the planet in an instant. Just as modern people piloting an advanced, highly automated sky carrier, sent back to the primitive era on a reconnaissance mission for a brief stay, would hardly be interested in ruling over hairy, unevolved primitives. Consequently, the Void Piercing cultivator had chosen to designate an area as a forbidden zone, living in total seclusion while awaiting Demon Lord Jinni's next directive. Locking onto the demonic cultivator, Yaoguang clenched his hand from afar. The space around the cultivator rapidly solidified and collapsed, as if a black hole had manifested out of nowhere. Yet under Yaoguang's precise control, the black hole merely gouged out a pit several dozen li in diameter on the ground, swallowing and annihilating the trees, boulders, and lakes within that span, causing no further disturbance beyond it. Through this effortless process, a Void Piercing demonic cultivator had become a captive in his grasp, his grotto-heaven crushed and shattered by the void power under Yaoguang's command. "Senior... spare my life..." piteous pleas tumbled from the demonic cultivator's mouth. "I ask, you answer," Yaoguang said flatly. "Where is the Dao Lord's secret trove?" The moment Yaoguang attacked without hesitation and posed this question, the Void Piercing demonic cultivator deduced what had happened. He hurriedly replied, "If I tell Senior the location of the secret trove, could Senior spare my life?" "Never mind. Let me see if there are any fairly effective soul Dao arts..." Yaoguang pondered, quickly diverting part of his mind to search for soul Dao arts related to soul searching. Seeing him fall silent, the demonic cultivator instantly felt a suffocating, lethal pressure. That pressure swiftly demolished his mental defenses, prompting him to cry out in panic, "I'll speak, I'll speak! I am willing to lead Senior there... However, several decades ago, experts from the Light God race suddenly arrived at that secret trove. They seized it by force and hunted all of us down, leaving us unable to show our faces, much less find the time to send word back..." "Experts of the Light God race?" Yaoguang immediately thought of Zong Wenxian's frantic efforts during this period. What a coincidence. "Lead the way." Yaoguang slightly relaxed his restraint on the demonic cultivator. "Yes, this way, Senior... We need to travel eighty trillion li." The demonic cultivator hurriedly pointed out the direction. Yaoguang summoned a Dao artifact flying boat. Eighty trillion li was a full four light-years. Without a void node, that was no short journey. For a Void Piercing cultivator to cross such a distance would take over half a year. Even for Yaoguang, it would require several days of travel. "Tell me about the state of that Dao Lord's secret trove," Yaoguang instructed directly. "Yes. That secret trove was a cave abode hastily left behind by that Dao Lord before he passed away. He even left behind his own legacy... Of course, because his lifespan was nearly exhausted at the time and he could no longer make it back to Beihai Star, he was unable to pour much effort into constructing the cave abode. It was more of an offhand creation, which was why the Ancestor managed to discover it later..." The demonic cultivator gave a swift introduction: "However, even if it was a cave abode casually laid down by a Dao Lord, its defenses are still not something ordinary cultivators can breach. The entire cave abode is guarded by a threefold formation. Back then, the Ancestor spent over a century just to grind away the outermost layer, obtaining a few utility talismans. Over the years, the Ancestor ventured deep into the starry sky several more times, but was never able to wear down the second layer of the formation..." Yaoguang fell into thought upon hearing this. Judging by this description, the cave abode's formation was at least rank fourteen. Moreover, the formation likely contained Dao artifact spirits, guardian divine beasts, combat puppets, or similar defenses. Supported by a rank-fourteen formation, such measures could indeed leave Void Shattering demonic cultivators, who were unsuited for siege assaults, utterly helpless. Of course, now that the cave abode had fallen into the hands of the God race... how much longer the formation could hold was anyone's guess. "During this time, because Zong Wenxian has been relentlessly investigating this Dao Lord's secret realm, the Light God race had to deploy eight God Emperors just to hold him and his people at bay, so they probably haven't had much time to grind down the formation..." Thinking of this, Yaoguang smiled inwardly. Zong Wenxian's frantic efforts in the outer starry skies were not entirely useless after all. At the very least, he had bought enough time for Yaoguang to find the secret trove. Without him... if the God Emperors of the Light God race had joined forces unhindered, several decades would have been more than enough for them to breach the secret trove and plunder everything inside. Three days later. A supermassive blue giant appeared in Yaoguang's field of vision. This time, without needing any prompt from the demonic cultivator, he had already sensed the auras of three Void Shattering God Emperors. These three God Emperors were currently attacking a formation concealed within the blue giant with all their might. By the looks of it... with another twenty or thirty years of assault, the formation would be completely breached. Yet almost the instant Yaoguang arrived near the outskirts of the blue giant, the auras of the three God Emperors attacking the formation hitched slightly. In the next moment, the surrounding environment shifted drastically. Only then did Yaoguang realize that while his attention had been focused on the blue giant, this Void Piercing demonic cultivator had quietly led him straight into a trap. And the trap had been laid by the God race. "You actually betrayed Demon Lord Jinni?" Yaoguang glanced at the Void Piercing demonic cultivator. Yet he soon found it completely natural. For a demonic cultivator, no betrayal was surprising. Sensing two God Emperors charging forward to encircle him, he looked down at the demonic cultivator in his hand. "Still... aren't you placing a bit too much confidence in these three God Emperors?"