Swept Clean

The Yongsheng Sect's protective grand formation had shattered! Dao Lord Changqing snapped his head up, glaring fixatedly at Yaoguang, who stood shrouded beneath the illusory projection of the Grand Dao Pagoda. It was not that the Yongsheng Sect's protective grand formation was unbreakable. But with him, the sect master, and over thirty Dao Lords helming it, breaching this formation required power surpassing the immortal level. Such power would inevitably exceed the universe's capacity. When that time came, whether one was an immortal or an Immortal King avatar, there would be only one final outcome—ascension! Captured by the gravitational pull of the Immortal Realm and forced to ascend. Now Yaoguang had shattered the Yongsheng Sect's protective formation. In that case, the next step... *Rumble!* Amplified by the Grand Dao Pagoda, another Spacetime Collapse Art came crashing down immediately after. This time, without the grand formation's protection, everyone stood directly exposed to this composite immortal art. The interweaving of five Grand Daos formed an inescapable net, like a miniature universe crashing down. The terrifying pressure wrought by the resonance between Daos caused an involuntary look of terror to rise in the eyes of every Dao Lord in the Yongsheng Sect. “How... how could such a figure exist in this world!?” “Dao Sovereign! Dao Sovereign! A supreme Dao Sovereign!” “A True Immortal descended to the mortal realm! This is definitely not power that a Dao Lord, or even a Dao Sovereign, could possess—this is a True Immortal descended into mortal dust!” Confronted by the sheer terror of death, the thirty-odd Dao Lords could no longer hold their positions. Especially now that the formation was broken, holding their positions was completely meaningless. Facing this composite immortal art, more than half of the Dao Lords below broke away and retreated in frantic haste. The remaining half unleashed their strongest trump cards one after another, manifesting quasi-immortal arts or even attacks rivaling true immortal arts to clash head-on with the Spacetime Collapse Art. However... A composite immortal art was already equivalent to a Dao Sovereign's method. Amplified further by the supreme sacred artifact Grand Dao Pagoda, its might had already surpassed that of a “Dao Sovereign.” Let alone Dao Lords. Even a true immortal, unless one of the top tier, would find only death upon being struck by such an immortal art. As the overwhelming pressure of the Spacetime Collapse Art rolled downward, every quasi-immortal art and immortal-art-level counterattack was ground to powder. The terrifying shockwave of energy swept toward the Yongsheng Sect and the surrounding starry sky like a world-ending storm, instantly reducing the void in the core area to primordial chaos. Under a single strike, countless Dao Lords had their Grand Daos thrown into disarray. The two Dao Lords with the weakest cultivation perished on the spot. Yet no sooner had they barely managed to withstand this composite immortal art than a second Spacetime Collapse Art had already coalesced and descended upon them. Those renowned and top-tier Dao Lords might have had one or two trump cards capable of unleashing quasi-immortal arts or immortal-art-level strikes, but they could not withstand Yaoguang's repeated bombardments of the Spacetime Collapse Art amplified by the Grand Dao Pagoda. “Sect Master, run!” A close Dao Lord beside him roared, moving to pull Dao Lord Changqing away from the scene. “Do not panic! Do not lose order!” Retaining his rationality, Dao Lord Changqing's divine mind erupted forcefully. He did not understand why Yaoguang, having displayed power at the absolute upper limit of the lower realm, had not been forced to ascend immediately, but... ...he firmly believed in the judgment of the predecessors, including the Lord of Yuanxi! The lower realm of this universe did not permit the existence of power above the immortal level. Yaoguang had not ascended yet only because he was bitterly holding out with a secret technique. As long as they could endure, he would undoubtedly be seized by the Immortal Realm's attraction force and forced back to the Immortal Realm, just like the “Dao Sovereigns” of the past. “Form ranks! Hear my command: unleash your strongest Dao arts and fight him to the bitter end! Victory is ours!” The divine mind of the Yongsheng Sect's master swept across the surroundings, quickly holding back the dozen or so Dao Lords who were about to disengage and flee the battlefield. Under his leadership, the thirty-odd Dao Lords quickly unleashed their Dao arts, clashing head-on with the Spacetime Collapse Art crashing down from Yaoguang. Every collision between quasi-immortal arts, immortal arts, and composite immortal arts unleashed an unprecedented deluge of energy above the Yongsheng Sect. Even though the planet of the Yongsheng Sect was sturdier and vastly larger than Beihai Star, with virtually every inch of its ground refined through special methods to be impregnable, under collisions of this immortal-art magnitude, it was still visibly torn apart and collapsing. First was the planet's atmosphere, which resembled liquid spiritual energy. It was stripped completely bare across the repeated clashes. Next, the torrential flood of cascading energy slammed into the planet itself. It not only obliterated all buildings, formations, living beings, and matter on the surface, but also stripped away thousands of li of the planet's crust. The devastation spread across tens of millions of li. Even pulled back into outer space, one could clearly see that the side of the planet facing Yaoguang had been shaved away layer after layer, deformed from a sphere into a slightly bloated teardrop. Against this ceaseless barrage of colliding immortal arts, Dao Lord Changqing could barely hold his ground relying on the might of his immortal artifact. But for ordinary Dao Lords, including the renowned and top-tier Dao Lords who had exhausted their trump cards, it had already pushed far beyond their limits. Under repeated bombardments of the Spacetime Collapse Art, more and more Dao Lords ran out of strength and were pulverized into powder. By the time Yaoguang had hurled down the Spacetime Collapse Art more than ten times, more than half of the thirty-odd Dao Lords, along with the dozen or so Dao Lords who had rushed in as reinforcements, had perished. “We can't hold it! Sect Master, we can't hold out at all!” “This is impossible! The sect has records regarding Dao Sovereigns, but in those records... how could a Dao Sovereign's power reach such an extent!?” “Retreat! Quick, retreat! If we don't retreat, we'll all be wiped out!” The remaining Dao Lords' divine minds crisscrossed the sky above the Yongsheng Sect, radiating feelings saturated with panic and terror. “We cannot retreat! If we retreat, everything will have been in vain!” Dao Lord Changqing's divine mind swept through the air, suppressing everyone's thoughts of dissent. “He is definitely struggling with all his might against the Immortal Realm's attraction force! Our data cannot be wrong—no being can wield power above an immortal in the lower realm. That violates the rules...” He held absolute confidence in the laws derived by the Lord of Yuanxi. Yet... Almost the instant he finished speaking, another round of the Spacetime Collapse Art crashed down once more. Because everyone was already pushed to the brink of exhaustion, this single strike instantly claimed the lives of more than five Dao Lords. Seeing this, the remaining dozen or so surviving Dao Lords threw caution to the wind. As the sect master of the Yongsheng Sect and one of the “Dao Sovereigns” presiding at its core, Dao Lord Changqing commanded astounding prestige. But that did not mean the other Dao Lords would blindly obey and march to their deaths when not a glimmer of hope remained. “Go!” With a low shout, three Dao Lords immediately cast escape arts, attempting to flee for their lives! With someone taking the lead, three more Dao Lords instantly joined the flight. “Fleeing now is far too late!” Yaoguang, who was preparing the Spacetime Collapse Art, switched his immortal art. The Grand Daos of Space, Origin, Chaos, Soul, and Astral swept forth, descending as a world-suppressing gateway that instantly brought the operations of all Grand Daos within this domain to a near standstill. Then, while maintaining the Gate of the World, he coalesced the Spacetime Collapse Art once again. Having lost their coordinated defense, this strike of the Spacetime Collapse Art obliterated all the Dao Lords surrounding Dao Lord Changqing. Even the light of the immortal artifact protecting the Yongsheng Sect's master dimmed drastically, shrinking back into his body. Staring at Yaoguang, who had manifested two composite immortal arts simultaneously, Dao Lord Changqing could not comprehend it no matter how hard he tried. “How could this be...” He could not fathom why Yaoguang was able to display such power in the lower realm! The great, supreme wisdom, the Lord of Yuanxi, had clearly stated that the rules of the Ancient Immortal Realm dictated that power beyond the immortal level could not exist in the lower universe! Yet could Yaoguang's techniques possibly be described as mere immortal power!? Could it be... ...the Lord of Yuanxi was wrong!? “No! That's impossible! The great, supreme wisdom, the Lord of Yuanxi, could never be wrong! He cannot make a mistake!” Dao Lord Changqing could not accept what was unfolding before his eyes. Meanwhile, Yaoguang sensed something at that moment. As his Spacetime Collapse Art struck down those around Dao Lord Changqing, he keenly sensed a special energy being pulled, seemingly preparing to return somewhere. This time, Yaoguang grasped forward through the void, and the mysterious energy was no longer intangible. As the newly sprouted [Spirit of Wisdom] branch swayed within the Glazed Treasure Tree, that special energy was swiftly captured and absorbed by it, and... ...it prompted the branch to grow rapidly. However, Yaoguang did not distract himself to investigate these changes right now. Instead, he gathered another Spacetime Collapse Art as quickly as possible, blasting and killing the Dao Lords pinned beneath the Gate of the World. Immediately afterward, void power surged from the Grand Dao Pagoda. As Yaoguang clenched his hand, the space surrounding Dao Lord Changqing seemed to freeze solid, severed and peeled away forcibly. Peeled away from the void along with that patch of space was Dao Lord Changqing himself. “Not good!” Sensing something amiss, Dao Lord Changqing immediately moved to unleash a trump card and escape. Yet during the preceding battle, he had unleashed over ten attacks at the immortal-art level, and the trump cards in his grasp were virtually exhausted. Facing Yaoguang's space-freezing technique driven by the supreme sacred artifact Grand Dao Pagoda, he could do nothing against it, left only to watch in disbelief as he was drawn into the Grand Dao Pagoda. With this, all resistance from the Yongsheng Sect was thoroughly extinguished. Having accomplished this, Yaoguang did not depart. Instead, his gaze shifted toward several formations within the Yongsheng Sect that stubbornly endured in areas nearly leveled by the aftershocks of immortal arts. That these areas still stood even after tens of thousands of li of the planet's crust had been stripped away showed they unquestionably belonged to the Yongsheng Sect's innermost core. Wasting no time, he swept through them one by one using the Great Void Art, swiftly breaking their outer formations. These formations could withstand the aftershocks of colliding immortal arts, but they could not withstand a true immortal art. As the formations fell, the scriptures, inheritances, and treasures within were swept clean by Yaoguang. Compared to slaying the Dao Lords of the Yongsheng Sect, obtaining more information about the Immortal Realm, and even the Hunyuan Realm, was far more important to him.