Advancement

Under the Great Void Art, all were equal. When Yaoguang unleashed the Ten Directions Heavenly Abyss Pagoda—a supreme sacred artifact that could both amplify the might of the Great Void Art and induce soul interference—the battle was essentially decided. Especially given that Yaoguang had already seen through their formation and shattered one of its corners beforehand. Once the first Dao Lord fell, there came a second, a third, a fourth... Dao Lord Changqing, a pinnacle Dao Lord, had wanted to unleash the immortal artifact's might to drag Yaoguang down with him, but Yaoguang gave him no such opportunity. The soul-interference property of the Ten Directions Heavenly Abyss Pagoda allowed Yaoguang to incapacitate him before he could trigger mutual destruction, followed by a focused, fatal strike. With Dao Lord Changqing dead, the formation collapsed, and the remaining Dao Lords perished. Aside from a single Dao Lord of Time whom Yaoguang suppressed and captured, not one of the Xingri Sect's final eleven Dao Lords survived. Of course, perhaps one or two Dao Lords had slipped away from the Xingri Sect beforehand with sect inheritances and core disciples, but those fish that escaped the net were inconsequential now. Bereft of the Xingri Sect's backing, the foundation built over millions of years, and the legacy left behind by a Dao Sovereign, they would never again stir up any significant waves. Extending a hand of void energy, the Xingri Sect's paramount sect-guarding treasure fell into his grasp. Yaoguang examined it closely, confirming his suspicion. "As expected, it was forged through the 'Dao Master' crafting method." He was not surprised. He had already sensed traces of this crafting method in the Golden Book of the Grand Dao. "Since others also command the 'Dao Master' crafting method, I wonder if anyone has mastered the 'Dao Sacrifice' crafting method?" He felt curious. Yet reflecting carefully on what he knew of Dao Sovereigns, he had never heard rumors of any Dao Sovereign leaving behind vast numbers of immortal artifacts. Having one or two was already impressive. Moreover, many Dao Sovereigns seemed to share a common trait: They appeared only fleetingly. The spans of time they lingered in the lower realm were never very long. Remaining for even a millennium was rare enough. As for those Dao Sovereigns said to have spanned ten thousand, tens of thousands, or even a hundred thousand years, ample evidence suggested that later generations were simply swindling others in their names. Precisely because of their brief stays, many Dao Sovereigns seemed to have had no interest in refining great quantities of immortal artifacts, which left immortal artifacts exceptionally precious across the cosmos. After some thought, he descended straight toward the Xingri Sect's headquarters, where the Gate of the Immortal Realm stood. His formidable divine sense spread like an immense net, instantly permeating the Xingri Sect while unraveling and seizing control of the remainder of its mountain-protecting formation. With no Dao Lords left to maintain the formation, coupled with his own Level 17 mastery of formations, the process posed little difficulty. Though he took control of the formation, Yaoguang had no intention of slaughtering every disciple of the Xingri Sect right this moment. The territory held by the Xingri Sect was rivaled only by the entirety of Beihai Star. How vast was the multitude of cultivators living upon such a world? Never mind Golden Core cultivators—Void Piercing, Void Refining, and Void Shattering True Monarchs alone likely numbered in the thousands or tens of thousands. His purpose in taking over the mountain-protecting formation was partly to make inventorying the headquarters' supplies easier, and partly... ...for Shaohua. ... Swish! Light flashed. Shaohua appeared at Yaoguang's side. No words were necessary; through their shared mind, he already knew the time had come. The Void Shattering avatar of the Time Dao proceeded to the center of the formation, while Yaoguang took hold of the array's controls, ensuring that even if he diverted his attention to other matters, the avatar would have sufficient defensive power to remain safe. Once all preparations were complete, Yaoguang executed the Dao Lord of Time who had been suppressed inside the Ten Directions Heavenly Abyss Pagoda. Amidst the tremors of the Great Dao, Shaohua initiated Dao Integration without hesitation. Every Void Shattering cultivator attempting Dao Integration faced a mortal tribulation. However, practitioners of the Dao of Time at the Void Shattering and Dao Integration stages were exceedingly rare. Furthermore, since Yaoguang had wiped out nearly all the Dao Lords in this starry sky shortly before, no blind fool sought to become a living tribulation and obstruct Shaohua's Dao Integration for the moment. ... "The Time Orb has completed its transformation." Yaoguang looked at the immortal artifact he had recently finished refining and tossed it to Shaohua. Meanwhile, he stood patiently nearby to guard the process. Throughout this, he had not even spared the time or energy to craft the pinnacle Dao artifacts of the Grand Dao of Destruction and the Grand Dao of Origin required for "synthesis." "There is already a finished product for the Grand Dao of Destruction." A slightly damaged pinnacle Dao artifact surfaced in Yaoguang's hand. It had belonged to Huijin, a pinnacle Dao Lord of the Star Slayer Alliance. With minor repairs, he could begin using the Dao Sacrifice method to refine it into an immortal artifact. As for a Dao artifact of the Grand Dao of Origin... He could craft one whenever he had leisure. After all, having crushed the Xingri Sect and slain so many Dao Lords, his current wealth was immense. He had hundreds of types of immortal artifact materials at his disposal. As long as it was not an overly obscure Dao artifact, he could gather the materials to forge it. "Furthermore..." Yaoguang focused a portion of his mind onto the glazed treasure tree. The vast amount of experience accumulated on the [Demon Hunting] and [Merchant] branches quickly poured into the [Artifact Crafting] branch. Immediately, the progress that had previously halted at 7% began to rise steadily. As the progress increased, Yaoguang's "perception" elevated once more, and an indescribable sensation welled up within him. He felt as if he had become some extraordinary being, forging something like a creator god. Yet this method of creation was beyond his understanding. Or rather, incomprehensible at his current level of cognition. The entire process was shrouded in haze, seemingly missing a crucial link. So much so that while he was fashioning and manifesting something, he could never grasp its essential core. It was like drifting through a half-waking dream where his will could influence the dream's course, yet the ultimate direction of its evolution remained entirely beyond his control. Between them lay a shroud of mist. A mist that could perhaps be described in terms of "dimensions." Because this mist stood between them, he could see and recognize what transpired, yet was unable to exert any substantive influence over the changes. After a long while, the sensation faded. Only then did Yaoguang realize he had been advancing the progress of the [Artifact Crafting] branch. The wealth left behind by the twelve Dao Lords and the entire Xingri Sect—including an immortal artifact—pushed the branch's progress from the previous 7% up to 25%. According to his past understanding, this represented moving past the early stage of a realm and entering the mid stage. That mysterious sensation had likely arisen from reaching this progress threshold. "So... is the truth about to be revealed?" Yaoguang murmured to himself. Would it be at 80% progress of the [Artifact Crafting] branch, as he anticipated? Or 100%? Or perhaps the "ultimate" Level 20? Carrying this thought, Yaoguang continued digesting the influx of information brought by the rise in [Artifact Crafting] progress. This information... ...was mostly unusable. "It can only serve to broaden my horizons, acting as a foundation and reserve of knowledge." As Yaoguang assimilated it, he monitored Shaohua's Dao Integration progress... All was calm and steady. Although slower than his own integration with the Void, the process advanced smoothly and steadily toward natural fruition, completely secure. "It should be settled." Yaoguang checked once more, then shifted his attention back to his artifact crafting progress. "25%." This number caught him somewhat off guard. "Speaking of which, the entirety of the Xingri Sect's assets—including an immortal artifact and the Gate of the Immortal Realm, which defies conventional valuation—only contributed a 6% increase?" This did not make sense. A Gate of the Immortal Realm, even after deducting labor costs, should have yielded at least a 10% boost in progress. Factoring in the immortal artifact palace and other resources, 15% would hardly have been an exaggeration. Yet it was only 6%? "Unless the Gate of the Immortal Realm was not included within the revenue calculations of [Merchant]." Yaoguang reasoned. Under certain rules of judgment, the Gate of the Immortal Realm did not yet belong to him. "Hm?" Right then, Yaoguang seemed to sense something and turned his gaze toward the depths of the starry sky. In that region, Dao artifact-grade battleships were emerging one after another from the Star Gate he had traversed earlier. With each battleship's appearance, the aura of at least one—sometimes several—Dao Lords emanated forth. Before long, no fewer than thirty Dao Lords had arrived. Yaoguang reflected briefly, then shook his head. "They pursued me after all." He had given the Dao Lords of the Star Slayer Alliance an opportunity, but they had clearly failed to grasp it. Then again, it was only natural. People often believed only what they wished to believe. Especially when colossal profits were dangled before them, they would selectively overlook even dangers plainly visible to the naked eye. "Shaohua is integrating with the Dao; I cannot let them disturb him." Yaoguang considered his options. The disposition of the Dao Lords in this starry sky... ...seemed rather warped. The Dao Lords of the Xingri Sect were arrogant and condescending, convinced everyone had to flatter and cater to them. Meanwhile, the Dao Lords outside the Xingri Sect were selfish and self-serving, utterly devoid of solidarity or principle. When there were benefits, they swarmed forward; when there were none, they scattered in an instant. Yaoguang had only ever seen such behavior in mortal kingdoms. Corrupt, decadent rulers, and numb, indifferent subjects. Without hesitation, Yaoguang flashed away, moving to intercept the battleships streaming in without end. ... On the other side. Battleships of the Star Slayer Alliance were hurtling forward at high speed. To pursue at maximum speed and deny Yaoguang even a moment's respite, they had not even considered waiting for the other Dao Lords to form a unified battle line. They feared that being too slow would allow Yaoguang to slip from their control, growing into a mortal threat capable of overthrowing the Star Slayer Alliance's future rule over this starry sky. Even so, upon realizing that Yaoguang had used the Star Gate to reach the Xingri Sect's headquarters, Dao Lord Jiugong had remained on high alert. He knew full well that Dao Lord Changqing was guarding the Xingri Sect's base. Given the sect's own defenses and foundation, an exhausted Yaoguang theoretically shouldn't have possessed the strength to breach the sect at this time. Yaoguang himself should have realized this as well. No matter how eager he was to seize all the Xingri Sect's resources while their main force was gone, he should have waited until his wounds healed. Yet Yaoguang had come to the Xingri Sect at this very moment, acting as if he did not hold the sect's garrison in any regard at all. This anomaly left the leader of the Star Slayer Alliance uneasy. Yet right now, every Dao Lord had their sights set on the Xingri Sect's Gate of the Immortal Realm, itching to take the sect's place. If he dared stop them, even as the alliance leader, he would be forcefully deposed by Dao Lords who believed victory was already within their grasp. Without the Xingri Sect as their greatest enemy, the Star Slayer Alliance... ...was gradually slipping out of his control. He was riding a tiger with no way to dismount! Torn between the possibility of Yaoguang retaining his combat strength and his own status as Alliance Leader, he chose the latter. Thus, despite knowing something was wrong, he braced himself and pressed forward to the end, leading the Dao Lords deep into the heart of the Xingri Sect. He could only hope that Yaoguang would once again fight to mutual destruction against Shi Xingzun, allowing them to reap another easy victory. If things truly proved hopeless... ...retreat first! He had brought sixty to seventy Dao Lords. No matter how formidable Yaoguang was, killing so many Dao Lords would take time. By staying toward the rear, he could flee immediately the moment he sensed the tide turning against them. Only by staying alive was there hope.