Artifact Saint

The succession ceremony for the Sect Master of the Heavenly Dao Sect took place as scheduled. Between Yaoguang's standing on the Dao Lord Candidate Rankings and the mysterious Artifact Saint supposedly qualified to help Dao Lord Penglai attempt to forge a pinnacle Dao artifact, the prestige and grandeur of the ceremony reached new heights. Above all... During the proceedings, news concerning the Light God race spread from the outer starry sky. To contest a Dao Lord's secret cache, the Heavenly Dao Sect and the Light God race had tangled and struggled across the outer starry sky for decades. Finally, Sect Master Yaoguang discovered its exact location. In the end, this Sect Master had stormed into the secret cache, slaying the seven members of the God race stationed there one after another. Among the dead were Yinghuo, the strongest Void Shattering expert of the Light God race, and Tianqin, a figure whose stature rivaled that of a top sect's Chief Supreme Elder. The spread of this news pushed Sect Master Yaoguang's renown to an unprecedented peak. Some even felt that ranking tenth on the Dao Lord Candidate Rankings was too low for him; he belonged in the top three. After all, even the invincible Void Shattering cultivators among the top three of the rankings might not necessarily slay double-digit numbers of Void Shattering opponents in their lifetimes. Yet Yaoguang... The hostile Void Shattering experts credited to his name already numbered sixteen. If one also counted Jing Yuntian and True Monarch Buzhou, who belonged to the Heavenly Dao Sect, as many as eighteen Void Shattering cultivators had fallen by his hand. That was a tally far beyond what any top power could match even if it mobilized its entire sect. Under such circumstances, the number of guests who arrived to witness the ceremony was naturally greater than ever before. Thanks to Yaoguang, their new Sect Master, the Heavenly Dao Sect made quite an impression across Beihai Star. The disciples of the sect basked in an unprecedented sense of shared glory from their Sect Master's series of magnificent achievements. ... Under the watchful eyes of supreme elders, sect leaders, and sect masters of equivalent standing from various top sects, Yaoguang took his seat upon the throne representing the Sect Master of the Heavenly Dao Sect. As he sat upon the seat of honor, all the Heavenly Dao Sect's supreme elders, the newly appointed four lineage masters, peak masters, Void Cavern elders, and eighty-eight true disciples bowed in unison toward the figure on the throne. "Greetings, Sect Master Yaoguang." Hundreds of divine senses converged into one, reverberating throughout the Heavenly Dao Sect, heralding the definitive close of Zong Wenxian's era and welcoming an era that belonged entirely to Yaoguang. "No need for formality. Everyone, please be seated." Yaoguang raised a hand, motioning for them to take their seats. Below, amidst the crowd, Chief True Disciple Yan Huang gazed with complex emotions at the figure on the Sect Master's throne. Decades ago, before Yaoguang had even attained the Void Cavern realm, Yan Huang had clashed directly with him. Although... ...the result had not been ideal, at that time he was still an expert of the same tier as Yaoguang. The two had waged an intense battle on the Heavenly Dao Sword Platform, where Yan Huang suffered a narrow defeat and yielded his title of Chief True Disciple. Over the years, he had cultivated assiduously, eager to catch up with Yaoguang, even dreaming of washing away his past disgrace after breaking through to the Void Cavern realm. He had never expected... While he was adjusting his condition, Yaoguang reached Void Refining. When he prepared to assault the Void Cavern realm, Yaoguang advanced straight to Void Shattering. With great difficulty, Yan Huang honed his condition to its peak, giving himself a fifty- to sixty-percent chance of reaching Void Cavern, and even battled his way into the top three of the Void Piercing Candidate Rankings... Yet by then, Yaoguang had already wrought bloodbaths and sent heads rolling in the Void Shattering realm. The demon lords and god emperors who died by his hand... ...totaled sixteen! As for the Void Cavern and Void Refining demonic cultivators and god race members, their numbers were beyond count. What kind of peerless god of slaughter was this? And now, he had replaced the former Sect Master Zong Wenxian, taking the helm of the Heavenly Dao Sect in one stroke... How could he even compare? What was left to measure himself against? At that moment, the Heavenly Dao Sect's foremost true disciple let out a long breath, bitterly abandoning any extravagant hopes of competing with him. He even had to be thankful that Sect Master Yaoguang had not settled old scores and expelled him from the sect due to his ties with Sect Master Zong... Otherwise, he might never have had the chance to see even Yaoguang's shadow again for the rest of his life. "People are simply not the same." Lingxi's divine sense sounded in Yan Huang's mind without him realizing when it had arrived. Yet unlike Yan Huang, who remained a true disciple, she had already broken through to the Void Cavern realm and become a regional elder—and one who held real authority within the Immortal Lineage. "Wait several thousand years... or even just several hundred. When Sect Master Yaoguang becomes a Dao Lord, you will feel deeply grateful to have had the honor of crossing swords with him in the past, because... that will have been the brightest, most glorious moment of your entire life," Lingxi remarked with no small measure of emotion. Yan Huang fell silent for a moment, his gaze returning once more to the figure chatting and laughing with the leaders of the top sects... Though he could be considered extraordinarily talented, achievements like Yaoguang's... ...were something he would likely never reach in this lifetime. After a time, the foremost true disciple murmured from the bottom of his heart. Even though he knew his opinion meant nothing, within his heart he was thoroughly convinced: "Sect Master Yaoguang is truly a peerless supreme genius rare in this world. I, Yan Huang, submit." ... Once the succession ceremony concluded, Yaoguang, as Sect Master, received the heavyweight guests. However, with his fearsome reputation for suppressing an entire sect on his own, coupled with the news from the outer starry sky that he had single-handedly broken the Light God race and slain two peak powerhouses in Tianqin and Yinghuo, even the most prestigious guests were exceedingly courteous and all smiles in his presence. In this wonderfully harmonious and friendly atmosphere, Yaoguang also concluded trades for the agreed-upon pinnacle Dao artifact materials with each guest. Thanks to the tragic fate of the seven Light God race god emperors, some factions that originally planned to sell pinnacle Dao artifact materials to Yaoguang at double the price waved their hands magnanimously, shaving off over a billion in profit to willingly sell the materials to him at cost. In particular, the Golden Crow Sect, which stood in sharp opposition to the Light God race, directly gifted a pinnacle Dao artifact material to Yaoguang as a congratulatory present. With the news of the seven god emperors falling, the Golden Crow Sect had been aggressively expanding its borders, enlarging its territory by a fifth in a remarkably short time. In light of that, gifting a single pinnacle Dao artifact material was by no means overly lavish. The trading process lasted nearly half a month. Almost everyone obtained a satisfactory outcome and departed with smiles. While the supreme elders and sect masters of the other factions departed, True Monarch Taiyuan of the Taiyi Immortal Sect remained at the Heavenly Dao Sect. Yaoguang had likewise saved his meeting with him for last. ... Inside the Huangtian Great Hall, True Monarch Taiyuan and True Monarch Hongyan met once again with Yaoguang after his half month of busyness. Following the greeting, True Monarch Hongyan asked with some impatience, "Sect Master Yaoguang, what do you think of my proposal?" He then added, "Of course, if it is inconvenient for that Artifact Saint, I can travel to the Southern Domain to meet him." "It is not a matter of convenience," Yaoguang said after some thought. "There is a space teleportation formation between Nandu and the Heavenly Dao Sect. Coming over takes no more time than activating the formation once. However..." "Does Sect Master Yaoguang have some difficulty? Please, do not hesitate to speak," True Monarch Hongyan said with a smile. "While my forging mastery cannot compare to his, as fellow Artifact Saints, we surely share some common ground. By conversing and exchanging ideas, perhaps we can both gain something from it." "I agree with Artifact Saint Hongyan's words. However... that individual's identity is rather sensitive, especially at such a critical juncture, so it is ill-advised to expose him. If Artifact Saint Hongyan truly wishes to meet, I hope to sign an agreement with you—one that forbids disclosing any information related to that Artifact Saint's identity." Yaoguang laid out the plan he had devised long ago. "Forbidding disclosure of the Artifact Saint's identity..." True Monarch Hongyan pondered for a moment before smiling again. "Only his identity, correct? What about appraisals and opinions regarding that Artifact Saint's forging mastery...?" "Those may naturally be told to others," Yaoguang said with a laugh. "If Artifact Saint Hongyan is willing to vouch for me, I could hardly ask for anything better." "Then there is no problem." Artifact Saint Hongyan nodded. They had previously guessed that this Artifact Saint intended to enter the Dao through artifact forging. Once he finished forging this pinnacle Dao artifact for Dao Lord Penglai, he would likely mount an immediate assault on the Dao Integration realm. When a Void Shattering cultivator sought Dao Integration, mortal tribulations of Dao obstruction frequently arose. It was entirely reasonable for Yaoguang to conceal the mysterious Artifact Saint's identity to minimize the dangers of such a tribulation. "In that case, I will ask the Golden Book of the Grand Dao to draw up an agreement. I believe Artifact Saint Hongyan can trust Venerable Golden Book's credibility," Yaoguang said. Artifact Saint Hongyan and True Monarch Taiyuan exchanged glances, then nodded slightly. "That will do." Right away, Yaoguang used his authority as Sect Master to summon Venerable Golden Book once more. After hearing Yaoguang's requirements, Venerable Golden Book said nothing more, conscientiously fulfilling his duty as the sect's ultimate steward. Once the two signed the agreement, Artifact Saint Hongyan asked impatiently, "What next?" "Please head to my Nine Cauldrons Peak and wait a short while, Artifact Saint Hongyan. That Artifact Saint will soon arrive at the peak to meet you." As Yaoguang spoke, he glanced at True Monarch Taiyuan. "You do not mind if I borrow Artifact Saint Hongyan for a private chat, do you?" "Haha, we have already prepared the primary immortal artifact material worth over a hundred billion. Naturally, we trust Sect Master Yaoguang," True Monarch Taiyuan replied jovially. Yaoguang then summoned Tang Fenghua and had him guide Artifact Saint Hongyan toward Nine Cauldrons Peak. Meanwhile, Yaoguang asked Zhen Xuanyuan to entertain True Monarch Taiyuan while he headed to the teleportation formation area. After busying himself and delaying for an entire day, even pretending to activate the teleportation formation three times, Yaoguang concealed his aura and made his way back to Nine Cauldrons Peak. The moment he arrived at the main peak, Yaoguang activated every formation on the mountain. Not only that, he even engaged the Twelve Fiendgod Sky-Sealing Formation, keeping it in a half-activated state so that the instant any external assault occurred, it could spring into full operation. Once all these formations were engaged, Artifact Saint Hongyan, who had waited there alone for an entire day, stepped forward eagerly. "Sect Master Yaoguang, where is he? Where is that Artifact Saint?" Yaoguang smiled faintly, looking straight at the Taiyi Sect's Artifact Saint. "Far as the horizon, yet right before your eyes."