Time

"A supreme sacred artifact," Yaoguang murmured softly. However, it was merely the lowest grade—a composite immortal artifact that possessed the potential to grow into a supreme sacred artifact. Yet even as just a composite immortal artifact, it greatly enhanced Yaoguang's comprehension of the Grand Dao of the Soul. Furthermore, this comprehension did not seem like the pure power of the Grand Dao of the Soul. Instead, it was more of a resonance induced when the Grand Dao of the Void stirred the Grand Dao of the Soul. "The three thousand Grand Daos jointly construct the entire universe; they have never existed in isolation from one another. In the past, I could already use the Grand Dao of the Void to evoke resonance with other Daos and unleash non-Void Dao arts. Composite immortal artifacts and supreme sacred artifacts merely take this resonance a step further..." Yaoguang held the newly transformed composite immortal artifact in his hand. With a slight stir of intent, he clearly discovered that with this sacred artifact serving as an intermediary, he could seamlessly convert his share between the Grand Dao of the Void and the Grand Dao of the Soul. "Truly incredible..." Controlling his void power, Yaoguang used the Ten Directions Heavenly Abyss Pagoda. Gradually, he felt as though he had merged entirely into the Grand Dao of the Soul, transforming into a Dao Lord of the soul path. During this conversion, the pulling force exerted upon him by the Immortal Realm also gradually weakened. By the time he had effectively become a true soul Dao Lord, the Immortal Realm's attraction toward him had dropped to a point where it was virtually nonexistent. "It can convert shares of the Grand Dao of the Void into the Grand Dao of the Soul... Wouldn't that mean the upper limit of my share in the Grand Dao of the Void has doubled?!" Yaoguang gazed at the Ten Directions Heavenly Abyss Pagoda. Synthesizing the Grand Dao of the Soul had doubled it. If he synthesized it once more and infused another Grand Dao into it, would it double again?! If he continued synthesizing like this, could he use this supreme sacred artifact to directly cultivate into an Immortal Venerable—or even an Immortal King—in the mortal realm? Of course, the prerequisite was that the mortal realm actually possessed thousands of shares of the Grand Dao of the Void. "Whew!" Yaoguang exhaled deeply. The greatest problem he faced in the mortal realm had finally been resolved. Although the void power he could actively mobilize remained limited—exceeding ten shares of the Void would immediately force him to ascend to the Immortal Realm—as long as he did not run into a true Dao Sovereign, who in the mortal universe could possibly push him to such an extent? "Furthermore, converting surplus shares into the Grand Dao of the Soul via the supreme sacred artifact means I can unleash composite immortal arts combining Void and Soul..." Yaoguang pondered, then paused slightly. Composite immortal arts! That seemed to be a realm only touched upon by Immortal Venerables. And those capable of mastering composite immortal arts were, without exception, preeminent figures among Immortal Venerables. In Yaoguang's "memories," there were visions of such immortal arts, but no actual composite immortal arts. This showed that his cultivation, which had barely stepped into the Immortal Venerable level, indeed had not reached that height yet. He estimated that only when the progress of [Dao Integration: Void] exceeded 400%, or even 600%, would various composite immortal arts begin to emerge. Moreover, the composite immortal arts that first emerged might not necessarily be soul and void composite arts that he could practice. "Looks like I'll need to raise my cultivation realm again soon," Yaoguang thought to himself. Yet that thought lasted only a moment before he suppressed it. Compared to advancing his realm and mastering composite immortal arts, he was more curious about what changes would occur when the [Artifact Crafting] branch grew to Level 19 at 100%. Would it reach the limit of "Higher-Dimensional Cognition," or step into a new realm of the Ruler? Carrying that anticipation, he turned his gaze back to the Wuji Sword. "Refining the Wuji Sword into the Ten Directions Heavenly Abyss Pagoda to make it a Ten Directions Wuji Heavenly Abyss Pagoda... probably won't work. After all, the Wuji Sword is also a Void immortal artifact; it won't produce a 'composite' effect." As he pondered, his gaze fell upon a treasure he had spent years crafting, though it had not yet been completed into an immortal artifact. "The Time Orb." Synthesizing the Time Orb, a Time immortal artifact, into the Ten Directions Heavenly Abyss Pagoda. Time and space had always been inseparable. Furthermore, he possessed exceedingly high attainments in the path of Time. Thus, he was quite confident that synthesizing this immortal artifact into it would not result in an unwieldy or counterproductive combination. "After the path of Time, I can try fusing the Dao of Destruction or the Grand Dao of Origin." Aside from the Grand Dao of Time, these two Daos were the ones he was most familiar with. Among them, the Grand Dao of Destruction annihilated everything, which could loosely tie in with the Grand Dao of the Void. As for the remaining Grand Dao of Origin... It was even more of an all-purpose foundation. Therefore, crafting pinnacle Dao artifacts and semi-immortal artifacts of Destruction and Origin needed to be put on the agenda as well. He searched through the spatial storage treasures in his hands. Soon, he located five or six portions of immortal artifact materials capable of forging items for the Grand Dao of Destruction and the Grand Dao of Origin. The fall of the Xingri Sect's twenty-one Dao Lords, including Sect Master Dao Lord Jinguang, had provided him with an abundance of supplies and spoils from more than half of them. If his current "labor cost" weren't so ridiculously high, the [Merchant] experience provided by all these goods combined would definitely have surpassed the [Demon Hunting] experience. Moreover, if all else failed... He had also captured several semi-immortal artifacts. Dismantling those semi-immortal artifacts would allow him to salvage passable immortal artifact materials. "If all goes smoothly, within thirty to fifty years, the Ten Directions Heavenly Abyss Pagoda will possess all five Grand Daos: Void, Soul, Time, Destruction, and Origin. Once I elevate my cultivation realm further and discover composite immortal arts, a single strike would carry soul disruption and time acceleration, alongside void lockdown and the annihilation of all things. Who wouldn't be terrified facing that? On top of that, boosted by the Grand Dao of Origin, wave after wave of immortal arts could be unleashed. If everything proceeds favorably, could I perhaps even challenge and slay an Immortal King as an Immortal Venerable?" As Yaoguang spoke, a sense of realization dawned upon him. Composite immortal arts might truly be the only path for a lower-ranking immortal to shatter their shackles. These thoughts lingered for a moment before Yaoguang chuckled wryly. "My Human Immortal Dao is almost turning into the Heavenly Immortal Dao." He shook his head. "The unity of heaven and man? What kind of immortal would that make me?" Reining in his thoughts, Yaoguang turned around. This time... He headed straight for the Xingri Sect. Delay could bring complications; it was time to resolve the matter of the Xingri Sect once and for all. *** Merely half a day after Yaoguang's departure, the group from the Star Slayer Alliance caught up once more. "Dammit! We're one step too late!" one Dao Lord said regretfully. "His injuries must be too severe. He was likely forced to hurriedly recuperate, and upon sensing that we were catching up, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and keep running for his life," another Dao Lord surmised. "No matter. As long as he still carries the Mystic Light Boat, we will catch up to him eventually. The Mystic Light Boat serves as the headquarters-grade semi-immortal artifact of our Star Slayer Alliance; I deliberately left numerous secret arts and restrictive formations within it. If he wants to refine it, it will take him at least a dozen years! And we won't give him any chance to stop! Heavily injured as he is, let's see how much longer he can hold out!" Dao Lord Jiugong said with absolute confidence. Dao Lord Zhuanhe, however, looked somewhat worried. "Alliance Leader, could Yaoguang be stringing us along on purpose, simply waiting for his injuries to recover before striking us with a thunderous blow?" "Heh, I've said before, we won't give him the chance," Dao Lord Jiugong said decisively. "During this time, I've already spread word throughout the alliance that the core forces of the Xingri Sect have been completely wiped out. I even personally informed those Dao Lords who were previously wavering. Upon receiving this news, those Dao Lords confirmed the truth through their own channels, and their morale soared. Do you know how many Dao Lords have contacted me in less than a month?" He raised a single finger. "No fewer than a hundred!" A hundred?! Over a hundred Dao Lords?! Dao Lord Zhuanhe felt a jolt of shock! "Although not every one of those hundred Dao Lords places complete trust in our Star Slayer Alliance, if they want a quota to ascend to the Immortal Realm in the future, they naturally have to prove themselves. I have summoned them to assist me in surrounding and killing Yaoguang. At present, forty-one have already answered the call!" "Forty-one Dao Lords!" Dao Lord Zhuanhe sucked in a breath of cold air. Even during its peak, the Dao Lords that the Xingri Sect fielded on the surface had never reached such numbers! With so many Dao Lords responding... It seemed this starry sky was truly about to enter the era of the Star Slayer Alliance. "Forty-one Dao Lords have responded, and combined with our thirty-one, that makes a formidable force of seventy-two Dao Lords! You could say more than half of the Dao Lords in this starry sky are gathered under our banner. Against such might, let alone Yaoguang being at the end of his tether, even if he were in peak condition, only death would await him." As Dao Lord Jiugong spoke, he grew excited himself. To command seventy-one Dao Lords! What immense power that was! He had never dared to imagine such a thing before. Moreover, the snowball of victory only grew larger. As long as he publicized the victory of this battle properly, claimed the credit for himself, and aroused shared hatred toward the Xingri Sect among the other Dao Lords across this starry sky... Even if they felt no shared hatred, it didn't matter—didn't they all want ascension quotas through the Gate of the Immortal Realm? Having both on his side, he would eventually ignite a prairie fire that incinerated all forces standing in his path. The Xingri Sect couldn't stop him! A Dao Sovereign... Couldn't either! *** Rushing toward the Xingri Sect at top speed, Yaoguang naturally had no idea that Dao Lord Jiugong had claimed credit for wiping out the Xingri Sect's main force. Nor did he know Jiugong had used the momentum to recruit all the Dao Lords hostile to the Xingri Sect, sweeping toward him like a growing snowball. At this moment, Yaoguang had arrived directly at a massive planet not far from Yunji Starport. This planet was named Jiuye Star. It was the homeworld of the Xingri Sect's Dao Lord Jiuye, who had also guarded it for years. On this planet stood a giant Star Gate providing direct access to the heart of the Xingri Sect. Perhaps the news had not yet trickled down to this level, or perhaps for some other reason, this giant Star Gate had not been shut down. This spared Yaoguang the trouble of altering its operation and forcing it open. Arriving here, Yaoguang instantly activated the giant Star Gate's passage connecting to the Xingri Sect's heartland. With a single transit, he was not far from the Xingri Sect. The headquarters of the Xingri Sect was situated where the Gate of the Immortal Realm lay. It was a supermassive planet similar to Beihai Star. However, while Beihai Star permitted free passage, this massive planet belonged entirely to the Xingri Sect and was fortified with layer upon layer of formations. In fact, not only the Xingri Sect's headquarters, but even the outer planet Yaoguang had just warped to possessed a Level 15 grand formation. Almost the moment he traversed the Star Gate, he plunged straight into the formation. Furthermore, the well-prepared Xingri Sect immediately mobilized twelve Dao Integration experts who, led by Vice Sect Master Dao Lord Changqing, arrived while hoisting an immortal artifact aloft. Evidently, they had already anticipated his invasion of the Xingri Sect and set an ambush in advance. Yet trapped within the formation and surrounded, Yaoguang showed no panic whatsoever. Instead, his gaze immediately fell upon one figure who was preparing a Dao art. If he had not "seen" wrongly... This was a Time Dao art!