Mist

The grand battle at the Xingri Sect headquarters raged for several days before finally drawing to a close. Countless Dao Lords had fallen during that time. Fortunately, the fierce battle among the Dao Lords had destroyed the Star Gate, preventing the frenzied Dao Lords of the Star Slayer Alliance from reaching the Xingri Sect headquarters in time, which ultimately spared their lives. Otherwise, the total Dao Lord casualties in this battle might well have reached triple digits. Even so, among the forty-odd Dao Lords of the Star Slayer Alliance who had arrived one after another, only a fortunate few managed to escape with their lives. The rest were trapped within the Ten Directions Heavenly Abyss Pagoda like dry bones in a tomb, methodically slain one by one by Yaoguang over the days that followed. Between the fallen Dao Lords of the Star Slayer Alliance and the twelve who guarded the Xingri Sect headquarters, including Dao Lord Changqing, no fewer than fifty Dao Lords had perished in this battle. The prosperous region surrounding the Xingri Sect, home to around a hundred Dao Lords, had essentially seen its fate decided by Yaoguang in a single war. His sword swept across the eight wildernesses, sweeping clean the universe. ... Several days later. A figure emerged from the void, drifting lightly before Yaoguang. "It is finally accomplished." Yaoguang let out a soft sigh of relief. And this figure... was Shaohua, Dao Lord of Time, who had naturally completed his Dao Integration. Shaohua also smiled faintly, stepping into the center of the formation to consolidate his realm. The two shared connected minds, like a left and right hand; they needed few words to understand each other's thoughts. Now that Shaohua had achieved the Dao... "In the coming period, I must focus on crafting a few Time immortal artifacts to ensure Shaohua retains the power to sweep through star rivers while remaining in the lower realm, keeping the Nine Cauldrons Sect, Penglai Immortal Sect, Heavenly Dao Sect, and our other forces on Beihai Star completely secure," Yaoguang mused. Of course, he had another thought: relocating the Nine Cauldrons Sect and their core forces to the newly discovered Gate of the Immortal Realm. By developing around that Star Gate, given enough time, the Nine Cauldrons Sect might well grow into a colossal power like the Xingri Sect. As for the Xingri Sect's Gate of the Immortal Realm... Far too many Dao Lords knew of it. Without the Xingri Sect, it would inevitably attract the covetous eyes of countless Dao Lords. While he had yet to ascend, those Dao Lords would not dare act rashly. But once he ascended to the Immortal Realm, they would immediately face a situation of a pack of wolves devouring a tiger. Under such circumstances, not only would the Nine Cauldrons Sect be unable to hold out, but even the Heavenly Dao Sect—or all Ten Immortal Sects combined—would not stand a chance. "The Xingri Sect's Gate of the Immortal Realm can only serve as an alternative," Yaoguang reflected. "It just so happens that I intend to craft a batch of Dao artifacts as offerings to integrate into the Ten Directions Heavenly Abyss Pagoda. While crafting them, I can spread word that I intend to establish a new faction to oversee the Gate of the Immortal Realm. Surely Dao Lords will come flocking to pledge allegiance soon enough." After all, he did not plan to monopolize the Gate of the Immortal Realm as the Xingri Sect had. Instead, he was willing to sell ascension quotas. In doing so, rather than harboring hostility, other Dao Lords would do everything in their power to uphold his legitimacy. "The blood spilled by dozens—nearly a hundred—of fallen Dao Lords is already enough to make every Dao Lord in this starry sky submit wholeheartedly and abide obediently by my rules." Thinking this, Yaoguang could not help but recall various legends regarding Dao Sovereigns. Why did the world know that Dao Sovereigns possessed the might to stand alone against a hundred foes and suppress an entire era? Naturally, it was fought for. Every Dao Lord who achieved that title had to display such overwhelming power—defeating Dao Lords one after another, perhaps even surviving and triumphing over an ambush by a hundred Dao Lords—before they were truly revered as a Dao Sovereign and people respectfully accepted the supreme status they held in this starry sky. From this perspective, the path he was walking was identical to that of past Dao Sovereigns. "Dao Sovereign." Yaoguang murmured the title. With this battle, he could be said to have demonstrated the glory of one standing against a hundred, couldn't he? Yet... Considering that every Dao Sovereign was suspected of being the reincarnation of an Immortal King, and the realm of an Immortal King was tenfold greater than his own... Especially the Void Immortal King. Facing such an entity, he would likely be just like the Dao Lords who had opposed him, unable to unleash even half of his full power. Therefore, it was not yet time to relax his vigilance. Lost in thought, he shifted his body and arrived at the Xingri Sect headquarters. To be precise, he arrived at a floating palace that only the sect master and a select few disciples of the sect master's direct lineage were permitted to enter. Because he had already taken control of the Xingri Sect's grand formation, even the sect master's direct disciples and followers inside had been unable to enter or exit, trapped within. Only when he unlocked the formation did these people regain their freedom. Upon gaining freedom, fully thirty percent of the cultivators shouted battle cries and launched fearless suicidal charges at him. Another half fled the scene as fast as they could. The remaining twenty percent seemed eager to pledge allegiance to a new master. Yaoguang paid no heed to those who fled. But whether they charged him or sought to turn traitor and curry favor, he erased them all with a casual wave of his hand. Then, he simply sat within the palace, ignoring any external shifts. Yet the Xingri Sect's formation remained constantly active, and his own aura loomed over the entire Xingri Sect, intimidating anyone harboring ill intent. ... "The Time Orb, the Blade of Destruction, the Human Emperor Sword No. 2... and the Stream of Time." Inside the palace, Yaoguang sorted through his spoils, looking at the four immortal artifacts encircling him. His expression was a mixture of wonder and solemnity, uncertain whether to lament or rejoice. "Dao Lords—each of them was hailed as a cosmic hegemon across the starfield, not unlike the chosen child of an era in their domain. Yet right now, like mere materials, they are refined one by one into parts of these immortal artifacts..." His expression flickered with conflicting emotions. Other Dao Lords met such an end before him, but who could guarantee that in the eyes of someone even stronger, he would not suffer the same fate in the future? Those who kill will themselves be killed. Surrounded by the four immortal artifacts, his sense of insecurity did not diminish; if anything, it grew stronger. He felt as though he could no longer truly understand this world. It was quite a while before Yaoguang collected his thoughts and turned his attention to the energy accumulated under [Demon Hunting] and [Merchant] from crushing the forty Dao Lords of the Star Slayer Alliance. Looking at this energy... for the first time, there was not much joy in his heart. Instead, it carried a hint of heaviness. A heaviness born of an inexplicable dread as the truth drew ever closer. After a long moment, Yaoguang steadied his mind. Fear was never the way to solve a problem. "Let me see what the true Immortal Realm really is!" Resolute, he channeled all the energy from both branches into [Artifact Crafting]. Instantly, his vision was elevated once more. His soul felt as if it had been stripped from his physical body, gazing upon the transformations of the Three Thousand Grand Daos and the workings of the entire world through the perspective of a higher dimension. In this extraordinary state, the progress of the branch—which had only reached 25%—surged all the way to 66% in a single breath. At that point, the energy from the [Demon Hunting] branch was exhausted. Next came the [Merchant] branch. "I have completely taken over the Xingri Sect. Everything belonging to them, including this Gate of the Immortal Realm, is now mine. The energy this time... is considerable!" As his thoughts flowed, the growth progress of the [Artifact Crafting] branch, glowing with glazed jewel-like radiance, surpassed 80%. The moment it crossed this threshold, Yaoguang's already elevated perception seemed on the verge of being raised yet another layer. Vaguely, he appeared to sense the existence of another dimension. Himself! The Immortal Realm! And the dimension where his Higher-Dimensional Cognition resided! But between his perception and the core of that dimension hung a shroud of mist. A mist he could never truly see through, missing some crucial nexus. Even with [Artifact Crafting] Level 19 progressing past 80%, he remained unable to traverse that boundary. Under these conditions, he had no choice but to turn his gaze back to supreme sacred artifacts. The crafting method for supreme sacred artifacts had become even more refined. Faintly, it seemed to encompass all Three Thousand Grand Daos. However, because there were many Daos he had never come into contact with, though the supreme sacred artifact method referenced them, it was not exhaustive. It merely informed him that only by refining immortal artifacts corresponding to each of the Three Thousand Grand Daos into a single sacred artifact could a flawless supreme sacred artifact be forged. That is, the ultimate supreme sacred artifact. "The key does not lie in the supreme sacred artifact, but in that misty barrier, and... the crucial nexus I lack," Yaoguang murmured to himself. The feeling was deeply frustrating. The truth clearly lay right before his eyes; blow away this layer of mist, and everything would be laid bare. Yet... he was still unable to see it. It was truly... "Is it because I am too 'distant'?" Yaoguang asked himself. Himself! The Immortal Realm! The dimension of Higher-Dimensional Cognition! An entire Immortal Realm lay between them. "In other words, I must enter the Immortal Realm to truly see through that mist, to understand the truth behind Higher-Dimensional Cognition, and... to understand... the ultimate concept of my own existence?" He divided his attention and glanced at the progress of [Dao Integration: Void]. The progress percentage had not changed, but the share of the Void he controlled had grown from 9.9 earlier to 18.5. Naturally, the newly added 8.6 share was mostly stored within the reservoir of the Grand Dao of the Soul via the supreme sacred artifact, the Ten Directions Heavenly Abyss Pagoda. If he dared to deploy more than 10 of the Grand Dao of the Void share, he would likely shatter the void barrier with ease and be captured by the Immortal Realm's pulling force, drawing him into the Immortal Realm. "Though I cannot deploy a Void share exceeding 10, during the time I spent increasing my share, it wasn't without gains..." As he spoke, Yaoguang immersed his consciousness into the Grand Dao of the Void. Through the Grand Dao of the Void, he could clearly sense that colossal entity that had previously been some distance from this starry sky... Or rather, the Immortal King entrenched on Beihai Star had now been drawn by his presence here and was rushing toward this starry sky where he resided. It was arriving faster than he had imagined. He had thought the power of the Time Orb could conceal him for at least several decades, but less than a year had passed. An Immortal King was truly formidable. Fortunately, this meant the crisis on Beihai Star was temporarily averted. It also meant trouble was coming here very soon. "Truly... haunting and relentless." Yaoguang exhaled a long breath. He decided not to kill any more Void Dao Lords for the time being. Even if more Void Dao Lords came knocking, he would first suppress them with the Ten Directions Heavenly Abyss Pagoda, waiting until he reached a safe location before slaying them and refining their shares, lest that relentless, terrifying Immortal King swiftly pinpoint his location. Then again, right now... no Dao Lord would be foolish enough to harbor designs on him anymore. "Calculating the time, I must return to Beihai Star as soon as possible. Furthermore..." Yaoguang pondered for a moment, recalling how, during his discussions with Dao Lord Penglai, she had betrayed a subtle emotional reaction whenever the topic of "immortal reincarnations" came up... She must know something. "Perhaps I should have an open and honest conversation with Dao Lord Penglai."