“Your Highness, this is all the latest information currently at my disposal.”
Reaching this point, Dao Lord Changqing immediately added, “Given that Your Highness possesses the contribution of being able to unleash power beyond that of an immortal in the lower realm, you would be treated with the utmost regard no matter which conglomerate you join, and our Changsheng Group is no exception.”
Having said that, he tacked on another remark: “As for a trifle like destroying the Yongsheng Sect, it isn't even worth mentioning.”
“Very well. Thank you for informing me. Next, I must ask you for one final favor.”
“Please speak, Your Highness.” Dao Lord Changqing hastily bowed in respect.
“Allow me to experience what clearance of a Tier 17 immortal spirit feels like.”
The moment Yaoguang finished speaking, the Grand Dao Pagoda roared.
Under the Great Annihilation Technique, this sect master of the Yongsheng Sect, whose lamp had already run dry of oil, was reduced straight to powder.
At the moment of his demise, his heart was rife with grievance and resentment.
He had been so cooperative, yet this Immortal King Yuxiao still chose to eradicate him completely.
However, before that resentment could fully manifest, an extraordinary branch extended from the void, piercing into his remaining spirituality.
In the next second, all his perception of this realm was severed entirely.
***
“A Tier 17 immortal spirit.”
Yaoguang quietly sensed the information regarding immortal spirits welling up in his mind.
More precisely...
It was the method by which a Tier 17 immortal spirit mobilized the power of Master Yuanxi.
He, too, could now do the same.
*If Master Yuanxi is likened to artificial intelligence, then right now... do I count as a strain of virus?*
He carefully examined the relationship between immortal spirits and Master Yuanxi.
The cultivation of all immortal spirits relied almost entirely on Master Yuanxi.
Countless immortal spirits uploaded their cultivation experiences into Master Yuanxi's database. Master Yuanxi then harnessed the computational power of these myriad immortal spirits to deduce and optimize these cultivation systems before making them available for each immortal spirit to download and learn.
This collective pooling of wisdom made every single immortal spirit a peerless genius.
Of course, no two individuals were identical.
Varying constitutions meant that these cultivation experiences were not universally applicable.
It was precisely then that the advantage of differing clearance tiers came into play.
When high-clearance immortal spirits encountered bottlenecks in their cultivation, they could borrow Master Yuanxi's computational power to calculate how to break through their realms, and could even draw upon Master Yuanxi's strength to assist them in mastering Dao arts, immortal arts, and composite immortal arts.
For this very reason, nearly all immortal spirits required merely around a thousand years to cultivate into Dao Lords and ascend to the Immortal Realm.
To the native cultivators of the Ancient Immortal Realm, this was nothing short of miraculous and incomprehensible.
Nor was this confined to the lower realm.
Even in the Immortal Realm, it was no different.
Immortal spirits uploaded their experiences of cultivating into immortals, Immortal Venerables, and Immortal Kings across the three thousand Grand Daos into Master Yuanxi's database. Consequently, immortal spirits needed only several thousand or tens of thousands of years to attain a realm comparable to an Immortal Venerable or even an Immortal King.
Dao arts, immortal arts, and composite immortal arts—which native cultivators racked their brains to master—were optimized time and again by Master Yuanxi, broken down into digestible pieces, and made freely downloadable so that any immortal could learn them.
What truly restricted them from acquiring the power of an Immortal Venerable or Immortal King was not their comprehension of the realm, but rather their share of the Grand Dao.
Immortal Kings who possessed Grand Dao shares continued to climb higher, uploading their cultivation experiences to Master Yuanxi. Master Yuanxi then granted contributions based on the experiences they submitted, raising their clearance tiers and granting them authority to borrow even more power to investigate deeper mysteries of the Grand Dao, ultimately creating a virtuous cycle.
From initial contact to open war, the two realms had clashed for only a few million years, yet the Hunyuan Realm had already achieved a tremendous victory!
Had conflicts not arisen among the Nine Great Groups over dividing the spoils, the Ancient Immortal Realm would likely have been reduced to history a million years ago.
*In essence, Master Yuanxi is merely the collective sum of every immortal spirit. If someone could control the thoughts of all immortal spirits, they could interfere with Master Yuanxi's operations through them—just as Master Yuanxi would formulate policies for peaceful coexistence if every immortal spirit believed the Hunyuan Realm and Ancient Immortal Realm ought to develop peacefully... Thus, in a sense, Master Yuanxi is not an enemy. It is... merely a tool! A tool representing the collective will of all immortal spirits in the Hunyuan Realm!*
Yaoguang pondered internally: *In theory, if all immortal spirits ceased to trust Master Yuanxi and stopped supplying it with computational power, this so-called supreme intelligence would collapse on its own without us lifting a finger.*
Of course, that was only theoretical.
In reality, any form of “life” possessed a desire to survive.
Logically speaking, Master Yuanxi, which in some sense had already become a Heavenly Dao-class entity, was no exception.
Therefore, if all immortal spirits truly ceased to provide Master Yuanxi with spirituality and computational power...
No one could guarantee what consequences might unfold.
*Therefore, my subsequent plan can be broken down into several steps. First, spread rumors claiming Master Yuanxi has lost control, playing on the tropes of artificial intelligence destroying humanity to foster fear among immortal spirits toward Master Yuanxi... Of course, this step will be very difficult. Master Yuanxi has led the Hunyuan Realm to far too many successes, so believers in such rumors will be few. What I truly need to do is merely leverage the barrier between the worlds to weaken the power Master Yuanxi projects into the Ancient Immortal Realm. The ultimate objective... is to instill within the Nine Great Groups the notion that they can “control” Master Yuanxi through public opinion.*
He believed that a tiny handful of high-ranking executives in the Nine Great Groups likely harbored similar thoughts, but simply dared not put them into practice—or rather, acted with extreme caution.
*Next, work from both within and without to widen the rivalry among the Nine Great Groups and escalate its intensity... Nine groups are too many; one or two conglomerates would undoubtedly be far better.*
He organized his thoughts.
If there were only one or two groups and he could smoothly gain control over them, influencing Master Yuanxi by altering the mindset of the immortal spirits would be vastly simpler.
*Besides, there might be one other viable method...*
Creating something akin to Master Yuanxi on the Ancient Immortal Realm's side.
However, the sheer scale of such an undertaking was colossal.
Only after truly entering the Immortal Realm could he make concrete decisions based on the situation there.
As for now...
“Deal with the Dao Lords guarding the other two Gates of the Immortal Realm.”
With a shift of his body, Yaoguang vanished from the planet belonging to the Yongsheng Sect.
***
Only several days after Yaoguang had departed did Void Shattering realm cultivators muster the courage to gingerly enter the Yongsheng Sect's headquarters, which had a whole layer sheared away.
After spending a few days verifying that the terrifying Dao Sovereign had indeed left, more cultivators flocked to the planet, scouring it far and wide.
Another half a month passed.
The surrounding factions—some belonging to the Yongsheng Sect, others subordinate to it—finally reached a consensus.
“The Yongsheng Sect has been wiped out.”
“Heavens above...”
“Defeating the Yongsheng Sect—with a presiding Dao Sovereign, an immortal artifact suppressing its karmic fortune, and an immortal formation guarding the sect—all with solitary strength... Could such a mighty being truly exist in this world!?”
“Even the genuine Dao Sovereigns recorded in history were likely never this ferocious, were they? This personage... can already be hailed as first in the cosmos! The strongest Dao Sovereign in all of history!”
Murmurs and discussions rippled continuously through the divine senses of numerous Void Shattering cultivators.
An irrepressible horror permeated everyone's emotions.
“Come to think of it, why would such a supreme Dao Sovereign suddenly strike and wipe out the Yongsheng Sect? I heard the Yongsheng Sect had immense backing and held tremendous influence even in the Immortal Realm!?”
“They must have offended someone they shouldn't have. Ever since Dao Sovereign Changqing took power, he vigorously reformed the Yongsheng Sect and deliberately expanded outward. In a mere few thousand years, countless sects were wiped out, including large factions overseen by over a dozen Dao Lords! Walk by the river long enough and your shoes will get wet; this time they kicked an iron board and provoked a terrifying existence so mighty as to be practically invincible, bringing about the annihilation of their entire sect.”
“All told, from start to finish, didn't the Yongsheng Sect lose nearly a hundred Dao Lords in this battle? Nearly a hundred great Dao Lords standing virtually at the pinnacle of the cosmos! To think they perished just like that... The perilous strife of the cultivation world is cruel beyond measure!”
“Indeed... An ancient faction with a heritage spanning millions of years, gone in an instant.”
Endless sighs and lamentations echoed among these Void Shattering cultivators.
The occurrence of this event served as a wake-up call to all.
If a force as powerful as the Yongsheng Sect could face annihilation one day, what hope did Void Shattering True Monarchs like them have?
From this day forth, they would have to conduct themselves with utmost prudence and caution to avoid courting sudden doom.
***
Meanwhile, after wiping out the Yongsheng Sect, Yaoguang made another trip to the other two Gates of the Immortal Realm.
These two Gates of the Immortal Realm were guarded by elite forces led by the Yongsheng Sect's other two “Dao Sovereign”-level hall masters.
Yet, just as Yaoguang had anticipated, by the time he arrived, the two hall masters had already fled without a trace.
Aside from a handful of Void Shattering True Monarchs, not a single Dao Lord lingered around the Gates of the Immortal Realm.
In the past, locating Dao Lords who deliberately concealed themselves would certainly have been no easy feat for Yaoguang.
Now, however...
Having gained an inkling of comprehension regarding the power of Higher-Dimensional Cognition, he elevated his “field of vision” directly to overlook the vast stellar cosmos.
His current abilities were limited, and this higher-dimensional “overlook” offered only a broad outline. Naturally, he could not “see” cultivators of the Void Piercing, Void Refining, or Void Shattering realms clearly. Yet every Dao Lord was a figure united with a Grand Dao—behemoths in the starry cosmos of the lower realm.
After observing several times, before long, Yaoguang “sensed” where the hall masters and Dao Lords guarding the Gates of the Immortal Realm were located.
None of them were very far from the gates.
Evidently, they were terrified of his fearsome reputation yet unwilling to stray too far, which allowed Yaoguang to spot them in a single sweep.
Without hesitation, Yaoguang showed no mercy.
Some of these Dao Lords might be immortal spirits from the Hunyuan Realm, while others were native cultivators; regardless, allowing them to ascend to the Immortal Realm would merely contribute shares to the Nine Great Groups.
Pursuing them, he swiftly finished off every single Dao Lord guarding the two Gates of the Immortal Realm.
And after wrapping up the loose ends of the Yongsheng Sect and returning once more to Beihai Star, amid the fervent anticipation of numerous Dao Lords of the Ten Immortal Sects, the time finally arrived for Beihai Star's Gate of the Immortal Realm to officially open.
Chapter 551