"It really feels a bit like a wanderer returning home."
Looking at the planet beneath his feet and feeling the myriad emotions welling up within his heart, Yaoguang could not help but laugh softly.
In the end, he was simply too young.
From when he began cultivating until now, less than a thousand years had passed.
Feelings to which other Dao Lords—and even Void Piercing cultivators—had long grown numb had not yet faded from him.
Yet he did not reject such feelings.
Humans were not machines, after all.
How could anyone truly be devoid of emotions and desires?
Yaoguang stepped into the void, and with a Void Flicker, he entered Beihai Star with effortless ease.
A few more flickers brought him to the Heavenly Dao Sect.
Arriving at Tianqi Valley, where he had long resided within the sect, he waved his sleeve gently; the clouds and mist parted as he deactivated the formation.
As soon as the formation ceased operating, Tang Fenghua within Tianqi Valley realized what had happened and quickly appeared outside.
Seeing Yaoguang emerge, he hurried forward with a deep bow. "Congratulations to the Dao Lord on completing your seclusion!"
Yaoguang gave him a slight nod.
His departure this time had actually taken less than three hundred years, which was somewhat faster than he had anticipated.
According to his estimates, it would still take one or two centuries before Beihai Star's Gate of the Immortal Realm opened.
Whatever he needed to do, there was still plenty of time.
Smiling, he asked, "Has anything occurred at the Nine Cauldrons Sect over these years?"
"Nothing of great note," Tang Fenghua answered at once. "The Nine Cauldrons Sect's development has been exceptionally smooth. Though demon cultivators stirred up trouble now and then, as soon as they showed their heads, True Monarch Xujin led cultivators to suppress them. They caused no real harm at all; if anything, their presence honed the disciples' combat capabilities, keeping them from becoming the sort of cultivators who know only how to cultivate without understanding real battle."
Yaoguang nodded upon hearing this.
He had only asked in passing.
He had already taken a hands-off approach to the sect's development.
The younger generation, including Su Yaoxue, had already matured.
Li Hanqiu, Wan Liugui, and the others who had followed him for so many years had received his gifts of pills and guidance in cultivation; their cultivation was now well-established, making them more than capable of managing the affairs of the Nine Cauldrons Sect.
So long as it was not a crisis on the level of a Dao Lord, nothing posed a serious problem.
As for Dao Lord-level crises...
He had not yet ascended.
With the cautionary tales of the Ten God Races and numerous Void Dao Lords right before their eyes, surely no Dao Lord would be foolish enough to court death by scheming against the Nine Cauldrons Sect.
"Speaking of which... most of Beihai Star's Dao Lords seem to have returned."
Yaoguang channeled the Grand Dao of the Soul, sensing his surroundings slightly.
On Beihai Star alone, the number of Dao Lords he could detect exceeded a hundred.
Not to mention the other Dao Lords lingering in the starry void surrounding Beihai Star.
"Still, while there are quite a few Dao Lords, that terrifying existence suspected to be a Void Immortal King has departed..."
Yaoguang looked up toward the sky.
His gaze seemed to penetrate the Heavenly Dao Sect's layered formations, pierce the atmosphere of Beihai Star, and see past the vast starry cosmos beyond, coming to rest upon an even more profound and boundless expanse of space.
"In this Dao Contention, I can truly act without reservation."
As Yaoguang spoke, he sensed something else.
A streak of flowing light flashed, and a figure swiftly appeared outside Tianqi Valley.
It was Dao Lord Juntian, who had sensed the valley's formation deactivate and hurried over.
"Fellow Daoist, you have emerged from seclusion? After such rigorous cultivation, your strength must have advanced by leaps and bounds."
Dao Lord Juntian greeted him with a smile the moment they met.
"Indeed," Yaoguang replied with a nod, making no attempt to hide it.
This response caught Dao Lord Juntian slightly off guard.
He had estimated that Yaoguang took only a few hundred years from beginning his cultivation to becoming a Dao Lord, so after three solid centuries of secluded cultivation, his strength was bound to have grown somewhat. Juntian had only meant it as a polite greeting, never expecting Yaoguang to acknowledge it so directly.
Given Yaoguang's character, this supposed "great advancement"...
most likely meant his combat strength had truly surged by a massive margin.
"Fellow Daoist, you... could you have become a Dao Sovereign?"
Dao Lord Juntian suddenly grew restrained.
"Not quite," Yaoguang said, shaking his head. "A Dao Sovereign is not so easily achieved."
Hearing this, Dao Lord Juntian breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
Yaoguang had cultivated for less than a thousand years; becoming a Dao Sovereign within a millennium...
would be downright terrifying.
What he did not know, however, was that Yaoguang's attainment in [Artifact Crafting] had already reached Level 19. If translated to the unorthodox side-paths, such mastery was in no way inferior to that of any Immortal King.
From the perspective of those side-paths, the current Yaoguang was indeed a bonafide "Dao Sovereign."
It was just that even Yaoguang himself had not realized this, bound as he was by habitual thinking.
"Quite a few Dao Lords have arrived on Beihai Star now, haven't they?" Yaoguang asked.
"Indeed," Dao Lord Juntian nodded. "Originally, due to the fate that befell the Void Dao Lords and the Ten God Races, some Dao Lords who planned to participate in this Dao Contention were intimidated by the renown of the two of you and had already left Beihai Star. In the normal course of events, this Dao Contention should have been the most peaceful one yet, with the number of participating Dao Lords dropping to around a hundred and fifty. But... for reasons unknown, over the past few centuries, the number of Dao Lords returning to Beihai has increased considerably, and there are even several who have never appeared here before."
He then added, "Word has it that something happened in the region of the Heart of the Universe."
The Heart of the Universe had always been occupied by the Yongsheng Sect.
Because cosmic star charts were drawn by the Dao Lords of the Yongsheng Sect, they naturally regarded their sect's domain as the center of the universe.
"The current sect master of the Yongsheng Sect is fiercely ambitious and intends to expand outward. When such a colossal behemoth seeks outward expansion, it inevitably squeezes the living space of neighboring powers. Those Dao Lords who can no longer survive there have no choice but to flee into the distant stars."
Yaoguang quickly understood the reason for the surge in Dao Lords.
"At present, there are one hundred and eighteen Dao Lords on Beihai Star. It is unknown how many remain in the outer void, but the number should exceed a hundred. And right now, the Gate of the Immortal Realm has only just finished recharging; its complete opening will likely take another hundred and fifty years. By then, the total number of Dao Lords taking part in the Dao Contention may well surpass three hundred."
A solemn look surfaced on Dao Lord Juntian's face.
"Three hundred Dao Lords."
Yaoguang remained calm.
In past Dao Contentions on Beihai Star, it was not unheard of for three hundred Dao Lords to vie for ascension quotas together.
However, if over three hundred Dao Lords truly competed for those spots...
Once the Dao Contention erupted, even if only ten or twenty percent fell, that would still mean fifty or sixty deaths.
That was almost equal to the total number of Dao Lords Yaoguang had slain during his trip to the Xingri Sect.
Furthermore, if the Dao Contention proved so fierce, it might not be a good thing for Beihai Star.
Yaoguang pondered for a moment...
He still intended to purge the Dao Lords of the Ten God Races, the demonic sects, and the Nine Demon Immortal Lineages first.
On the one hand, vengeance would be settled where vengeance was due.
On the other, it would reduce the intensity of the Dao Contention.
Moreover, if all went smoothly, it might effectively deter those foreign Dao Lords, striking fear into them with the state of affairs on Beihai Star and driving them to depart in haste.
At the very least, it would keep them well-behaved while on Beihai Star.
"What is the current atmosphere on Beihai Star?" Yaoguang inquired.
Yet right after asking, something crossed his mind. "Never mind, it doesn't matter."
Beside him, Dao Lord Juntian grasped Yaoguang's intent. "Are you planning to move against God King Guangmang of the Ten God Races? Since the Gate of the Immortal Realm has entered its opening cycle—even though it won't emit the pulling force for another hundred and fifty years—the Dao Contention has already begun from this moment. Striking at the God Races now will certainly not provoke undue upheaval."
He then added, "Although the mutual defense pact signed by the Ten Immortal Sects only obligates us to join forces when under attack, if you require it, Dihui, Taiwei, and I are all willing to lend you a hand."
"Dealing with the God Races does not require so many people to act together," Yaoguang replied.
"It is true that the God Races suffered a devastating blow under your hands earlier, but one Divine Sovereign who returned recently brought along three Ancestral Gods, restoring the Ten God Races to a lineup of nine Divine Sovereigns! Furthermore, among the three Divine Sovereigns who joined, one is called the Samsara Divine Sovereign—a formidable powerhouse who, like the Slaughter and Destruction Divine Sovereigns, can unleash peak combat strength when backed by their Divine Kingdom!" Dao Lord Juntian warned solemnly.
"Oh?"
Yaoguang was slightly surprised.
Yet it was merely a mild surprise.
In the future, the God Races followed the path of Earth Immortals.
Only within their own territory could they exert their full might.
Once removed from their territory, their strength would be diminished by at least one or two tiers.
Under these circumstances, the disadvantage was that attacking them required pouring in vastly greater strength.
The advantage was that they stayed in place most of the time, sparing Yaoguang the trouble of hunting them down.
"There is no rush with the Ten God Races. The greater the danger, the deeper they will hide—and as long as they stay holed up, they are sitting ducks. The ones that truly need our special attention are the Six Demon Sects and the Nine Demon Immortal Lineages."
Yaoguang paused briefly here.
In theory, he ought to deal with the Six Demon Sects first, thoroughly snuffing out any threat the demonic factions posed to the Nine Cauldrons Sect.
Otherwise, once he ascended, the Six Demon Sects would surely settle scores after the fact.
However...
He very much wanted to speak with Dao Lord Penglai regarding the matter of "reincarnated immortals," and even...
glean detailed information about the "Immortal Realm" from the lingering, unfinished thoughts she had hinted at last time.
In that case, inviting her along to deal with the Nine Demon Immortal Lineages first was quite necessary.
"Judging by your words... you truly reaped tremendous gains from this seclusion."
Dao Lord Juntian looked at Yaoguang with a touch of astonishment.
"At the very least, a lineup of a dozen allied Dao Lords is something I can break with ease," Yaoguang smiled.
"Which faction do you plan to confront first?" Dao Lord Juntian asked.
"The Nine Demon Immortal Lineages first," Yaoguang stated plainly.
The Nine Demon Immortal Lineages?
Hearing this, Dao Lord Juntian was somewhat surprised, but recalling Yaoguang's relationship with Dao Lord Penglai, he found it completely understandable.
"If you have any need of me, do not hesitate to ask," he offered immediately.
"If the need arises, I will not be polite," Yaoguang replied with a smile.
After chatting with Dao Lord Juntian for a bit longer, his figure flashed, and he departed from the Heavenly Dao Sect.
Dao Lord Juntian thought nothing was amiss.
To him, Yaoguang had merely spent three hundred years in seclusion.
To a Dao Lord, three hundred years was virtually nothing.
A single training journey into the cosmos could easily last several thousand years.
Consequently, they could never have imagined that within those three hundred years, Yaoguang had traversed tens of billions of light-years, annihilated an overlord-tier sect, slaughtered dozens—nearly a hundred—Dao Lords, and forged through sheer slaughter the illustrious, resounding title of "Dao Sovereign Yaoguang."
Chapter 524