Perception

A battle of Dao Sovereigns! Immortal arts were, by their very nature, power at the level of a Dao Sovereign! It was only natural for Dao Lord Zhuanhe to cry out in such disbelief. The only thing this Star Slayer Alliance Dao Lord could not fathom was why Yaoguang, who should have been aligned with the Xingri Sect... had suddenly started fighting against them? And even more, displayed such terrifying strength?! Evidently, however, no one was going to offer him an explanation. At the heart of the void torrent, whose sheer fury sent every Dao Lord scrambling back in terror, Yaoguang stood with the Heavenly Abyss Pagoda suspended above his head, utterly unscathed. Even before the aftershocks of that immortal-art-level clash could settle, he thrust his hand forward once more. Bolstered by his Immortal Venerable realm and the amplification of two immortal artifacts, he forcefully resonated with the Grand Dao of the Void, instantly unleashing another Great Void Art! "How can this be?!" Seeing Yaoguang recover so quickly and cast a third immortal-art-level assault, Dao Lord Jinguang finally revealed dread in his eyes. Yet he still possessed all manner of trump cards. By fusing and amplifying them, he conjured a blow no weaker than the immortal art Great Flowing Light Art, colliding fiercely once more against the Great Void Art. The unabated energy shockwaves compounded yet again, sweeping outward in all directions. However... If the third Great Void Art wasn't enough... then came the fourth! And if the fourth wasn't enough, then the fifth! With the Heavenly Abyss Pagoda negating all damage, Yaoguang's entire focus was concentrated on leveraging the Grand Dao of the Void. Almost the instant the previous strike ran its course, the fourth Great Void Art came crashing down in close pursuit. At this, the dread in Dao Lord Jinguang's eyes finally morphed into outright terror. "This kind of power?! How could you possess such power?!" The Xingri Sect Master unleashed every method at his disposal with everything he had. Semi-immortal artifacts and life-saving treasures burst forth together, producing a strike comparable to the Flames of Dao Extinction. Yet an attack of this caliber... was clearly incapable of withstanding the full might of the Great Void Art. *Buzz! Buzz!* After tearing through all of Dao Lord Jinguang's resistance like rotten wood, the Great Void Art slammed relentlessly against the Starlight Dao Diagram he had manifested. Amid violent tremors, the Starlight Dao Diagram dimmed rapidly, its divine luster fading away. Yet before Dao Lord Jinguang could catch even a sliver of breath, the fifth Great Void Art had already condensed and came crashing down in immediate pursuit. At that moment, a bone-chilling shiver ran down Dao Lord Jinguang's spine. An immortal art! It represented the realm of a Dao Sovereign! For ordinary cultivators to display such measures, they either had to possess the strength of a true invincible Dao Lord augmented by external aids, or rely on ancestral blessings to activate bottom-of-the-box talismans left behind by Dao Sovereigns. Only then could they unleash the might of an immortal art. Yet how many such ace-in-the-hole talismans could one possibly have? And how many treasures existed that could assist an invincible Dao Lord in unleashing an immortal-art-level strike?! To unleash two or three, or even just one or two strikes of that magnitude was already the limit for anyone, including invincible Dao Lords. But five consecutive immortal-art-level attacks... such power... "A Dao Sovereign! A Dao Sovereign! You are a Dao Sovereign!" In an instant, Dao Lord Jinguang felt his scalp go numb with shock. His eyes went wide, staring fixedly at the figure amidst the torrent of energy who commanded the Grand Dao of the Void at will and effortlessly conjured one immortal-art-level strike after another. A Dao Sovereign! A Dao Sovereign! A genuine Dao Sovereign! A supreme existence capable of taking on a hundred foes alone, suppressing an entire era, and treating ordinary Dao Lords like insignificant dust! If such a being wished, he could easily establish a cosmic hegemonic faction on par with—or even greater than—the Xingri Sect! And right now, he, this Xingri Sect Master who styled himself a "Dao Sovereign"... had actually provoked and enraged a real Dao Sovereign roaming the starry sky?! "No! No! Spare me... My Xingri Sect inherits the legacy of Dao Sovereign Huanyin! Dao Sovereign, have mercy..." Dao Lord Jinguang cast aside all dignity and flared his divine mind, begging for a glimmer of survival. "Smug in your conceit, yet groveling the moment reality strikes... It is too late." The moment Yaoguang finished speaking, the Great Void Art bore down, and the void surrounding the Xingri Sect Master shattered with a deafening roar. "No!" Dao Lord Jinguang struggled desperately to pull away and fight back. But the Great Void Art not only exerted an overbearing repulsive force against the manifestations of other Grand Daos, it also forged the surrounding, disparate space into an indissoluble whole. It virtually sealed off every counterattack at the Dao Lord's disposal, giving him no opportunity to flee, dragging him forward to be ruthlessly pummeled. Under such circumstances, unable to withstand the Great Void Art, Dao Lord Jinguang could only watch helplessly as all his frantic struggles brought him closer and closer to that void-crushing devastation, until finally... his entire body was reduced to nothingness alongside the collapse of the void. ... On the other side of the starry sky. Having retreated to a safe distance, Dao Lord Youxu and Dao Lord Zhuanhe felt the repeated immortal art clashes between two beings wielding Dao Sovereign-level power, watching in petrified horror. "A Dao Sovereign! A Dao Sovereign! How on earth did we offend a Dao Sovereign?! Where did such an expert come from?!" Dao Lord Youxu's eyes were filled with trepidation and panic. Meanwhile, Dao Lord Zhuanhe, who should have been their enemy, was equally gripped by fear. "Yaoguang... how could he be a Dao Sovereign?! I... I'm not even a pinnacle Dao Lord, yet I dared to lead a few Dao Lords to hunt down a Dao Sovereign?" Amid his panic, he suddenly thought he had been ridiculously brave. Where in the world had he gotten the nerve back then to promise the Alliance Leader that he would hunt down a Dao Sovereign? "No!" It was at that moment that a terrified, despairing cry echoed from the vast torrent of energy rippling outward in every direction. That divine mind ripple... "It's Jinguang!" "The Sect Master?!" Dao Lord Zhuanhe and Dao Lord Youxu both paled dramatically. At this critical juncture, though fear gripped Dao Lord Youxu's heart... over the years, they had grown accustomed to crowning invincible Dao Lords and even pinnacle Dao Lords with the title of "Dao Sovereign," which ultimately dulled people's fear and awe of true beings capable of suppressing an entire era. Sensing that his Sect Master was in dire peril, and observing that the energy collisions seemed to have subsided, the Vice Sect Master gritted his teeth. "The Sect Master is a Dao Sovereign as well! Even if this Dao Sovereign could suppress him and put him in danger, he must have paid a steep price to do so! We shall attack together and slay this fiend! Let the world see that even a Dao Sovereign can be brazenly slain by our Xingri Sect, shattering every delusion of those with treacherous designs!" With that, he was the first to charge toward the battlefield. Seeing Dao Lord Youxu charge forward, the remaining eleven Dao Lords hesitated for a moment before following closely behind. Compared to the Star Slayer Alliance, the Dao Lords of the Xingri Sect were after all somewhat more united. Had this occurred within the Star Slayer Alliance, it would have been a miracle if one or two core members followed Dao Lord Youxu to risk their lives attacking a Dao Sovereign; the rest would have looked out for themselves and scattered in an instant. And indeed, that was reality. Sensing the terrifying aura spilling from the torrent of destruction, Dao Lord Zhuanhe didn't even entertain the thought of fishing in troubled waters. A Dao Sovereign... "Leave!" Dao Lord Zhuanhe barked in a low voice, "Quickly, inform the Alliance Leader! We must get out of here!" Naturally, he added a grand rationalization: "The Xingri Sect has offended a Dao Sovereign. They will suffer catastrophic losses this time! We'll let both sides tear each other apart before we return to clean up the mess. If all goes smoothly, after this battle, the entire Xingri Sect will be reduced to history!" The other Dao Lords caught on as well, pushing their Grand Dao of Space to the limit as they retreated at full speed. However, Dao Lord Jiugong, who had been worried that Zhuanhe and the others could not handle Yaoguang, had already steered the battle toward this direction. Within moments, he spotted Zhuanhe hastily pulling back. The moment they met, Jiugong demanded, "What happened over there? That terrifying commotion... Did Jinguang arrive? Did you clash with him?" "Not us! It was Yaoguang!" Without the slightest hesitation, Dao Lord Zhuanhe said rapidly, "This is no time to talk. Go, we must leave this place!" "Yaoguang?!" Dao Lord Jiugong was stunned, utterly baffled. "Isn't he in the Xingri Sect's camp? His fight against our Star Slayer Alliance was surely just to curry favor with the Xingri Sect, so why did he turn around and fight Jinguang and the others?" "I can't make sense of it either," Dao Lord Zhuanhe replied with a bitter smile. He had no idea why Yaoguang, who had clearly shown plenty of goodwill toward the Xingri Sect, would suddenly come to blows upon meeting Dao Sovereign Jinguang. He could only hazard a guess: "Perhaps Dao Lord Jinguang feared that Dao Lord Yaoguang... that Dao Sovereign Yaoguang's emergence would threaten his interests and rule, and tried to seize the chance to eliminate him?" Dao Lord Jiugong wore an expression that screamed, *Are you kidding me?* Before resolving a massive trouble like the Star Slayer Alliance, what kind of delusion would Jinguang need to be suffering from to alienate a pinnacle Dao Lord-level powerhouse? Yet... it wasn't completely impossible. Jinguang was the Xingri Sect Master after all. If this Dao Lord named Yaoguang had spoken even slightly disrespectfully to him, leading them to turn on each other... Wait?! "A Dao Sovereign?!" Dao Lord Jiugong snapped his head up. "Dao Sovereign?!" "A Dao Sovereign!" Dao Lord Zhuanhe nodded vigorously. "Yaoguang... is a Dao Sovereign! Just like Dao Lord Jinguang... No, he is definitely a Dao Sovereign far more powerful than Dao Lord Jinguang!" "How... how is that possible?!" Dao Lord Jiugong felt his mind lag for a beat. That mysterious Dao Lord who had suddenly appeared seemingly trying to curry favor with the Xingri Sect... How had he turned out to be a Dao Sovereign?! For an existence at the level of a Dao Sovereign, what ascension slot could he not simply seize? Why would he ever need to curry favor with the Xingri Sect? Or could it be... he had been gunning for the Xingri Sect all along? "Alliance Leader, there is no time to lose. We must leave immediately!" Dao Lord Zhuanhe urged anxiously. And now that Dao Lord Jiugong knew Yaoguang might truly be a Dao Sovereign, a tremor of dread took root in his heart as well. Even though Yaoguang's hostility toward the Xingri Sect theoretically made him a natural ally of the Star Slayer Alliance, earlier... they had shown him no respect whatsoever and had even fought fiercely. All told, four of the Star Slayer Alliance's Dao Lords had perished at his hands. Furthermore, if a Dao Sovereign had set his sights on the Xingri Sect, anyone could guess it was for the Gate of the Immortal Realm. Under these circumstances, they were already adversaries. The terrifying might of a Dao Sovereign was beyond question... Yet neither the Xingri Sect nor the Star Slayer Alliance was weak. Even with the might of a Dao Sovereign, devouring either faction would inevitably cost him dearly. At this thought, Dao Lord Jiugong's eyes flickered. "Fall back! Let's get out of here first! With the current situation, a single misstep means total ruin. But... we won't leave entirely... This is an opportunity that comes once in ten thousand years. We'll let this Dao Sovereign Yaoguang and the Xingri Sect tear each other apart, and then we will bide our time and strike!"