The Real Person

“Does your Creation Sect truly have a Dao Sovereign holding down the fort?” Yaoguang asked. Anyone unfamiliar with the truth would have assumed he had grown fearful. Sensing Yaoguang’s hesitation, the Dao Lord did not dare delay in the slightest. “How could it be false? Though our Creation Sect was founded a mere two thousand years ago, within these two millennia, it has swept away all opposition to rule over the surrounding billion-plus light-years. Every faction within this domain must answer to our Creation Sect. To date, our sect already boasts twenty-two Dao Lords.” As he spoke, he seemed to have regained some confidence. “When a true Dao Sovereign emerges, he is destined to dominate an entire era. For a long time to come, the future will belong to our Creation Sect! Even the Yongsheng Sect, heralded as number one in the cosmos, will ultimately have to bow its head and submit before our Creation Sect’s Dao Sovereign!” Hearing his words and judging by the soul fluctuations radiating from him... All of this was true. Although, due to the immense distance, this Dao Lord seemingly had no idea that Yaoguang had already annihilated the Yongsheng Sect, the sudden emergence of a Dao Sovereign was an absolute fact. And a Dao Sovereign usually signified a reincarnated Immortal King. At the very least, they were on par with an eighteenth-level immortal spirit. Whichever the case, either reason made it well worth his while to pay a visit to this so-called Creation Sect. “I will believe you this once,” Yaoguang said. “If your Creation Sect truly possesses a Dao Sovereign capable of dominating the current era, out of respect for him, I can spare your life. But if you have deceived me, do not blame me for being merciless.” “It is absolutely true!” Seeing a glimmer of hope for survival, the Dao Lord hurriedly said, “Our Creation Sect is backed by a Dao Sovereign and is currently in a crucial period of rapid expansion. I, Bai Chao, promise you that with your strength as an invincible Dao Lord, joining our Creation Sect will undoubtedly earn you great esteem. In the future, under the guidance of our Dao Sovereign, let alone ascending to immortality, advancing further to become a Dao Sovereign is by no means an extravagant dream!” Yaoguang did not waste words, merely stating, “Lead the way.” As the Dao Lord turned to lead the way, Yaoguang found the situation increasingly intriguing. *Could it truly be such a coincidence?* His Shaohua avatar was no longer looking up Immortal King Tianyu of the Tianyuan Group; instead, it was searching for information regarding the Creation Group. Below the chairman of the Creation Group, there were nine directors in total. Three thousand years ago, when Immortal King Yuxiao fell, only eight directors remained, and the vacancy had yet to be filled. After all, to become a director of the Nine Great Groups, besides holding at least Level 18 clearance, one also needed the strength of an Immortal King. Yet for an Immortal King, one’s share of a particular Grand Dao had to reach a thousand portions, which was not easy to accumulate. And aside from Immortal King Yuxiao, tracing back a million years, not a single Immortal King-level entity of the Creation Group had fallen. Without the experience of having been an Immortal King... even with Level 18 clearance, possessing genuine Dao Sovereign combat strength was no simple feat. At best, one would reach the level of a pseudo-Dao Sovereign, much like Changqing and Posuo. Thus, regarding this powerful being who founded the Creation Sect and possessed genuine Dao Sovereign-level strength, it was hard not to link him to Immortal King Yuxiao, who had fallen three thousand years ago. *If he really is Immortal King Yuxiao, the path ahead will be much smoother,* Yaoguang thought. Taking the Dao Lord along, he cast the composite immortal art Tianxi Liuguang, rapidly shuttling toward the “Creation Sect” the Dao Lord spoke of. Dao Lord Bai Chao himself was tasked with expanding the Creation Sect’s territory, so he was not too far from the sect—a mere three billion light-years. At Yaoguang’s full shuttling speed, such a distance could be crossed in under ten years. *That Creation Sect Immortal King... it seems he truly wants to carve out a foundation in the lower realm, perhaps even replace the Yongsheng Sect to become the lower realm’s new overlord.* Yaoguang pondered the coordinates provided by the Dao Lord. Ambitious indeed. Unfortunately for him, before he could launch an offensive against the Yongsheng Sect, Yaoguang had already beaten him to it and annihilated them. It was just unknown whether this Creation Sect had received word of it yet. *Regardless of whether they have received word, facing a true reincarnated Immortal King demands twelve tenths of my focus.* Yaoguang focused his attention on the Glazed Ancient Tree. During the battle at the Yongsheng Sect, his progress in the Dao of the Void had increased once more, now reaching around 1,200 portions. While this progress was somewhat inferior compared to Immortal King Yuxiao, it would not result in an overwhelming disparity. When facing an Immortal King, his true advantage lay in the supreme sacred artifact in his hands—the Grand Dao Pagoda. Overall, the Grand Dao Pagoda’s present might surpassed that of high-grade immortal artifacts. Furthermore, forged toward the mold of a supreme sacred artifact, it exceeded any high-grade immortal artifact; its ultimate power, even if not quite matching a top-tier immortal artifact, was likely not far off. Between two Immortal Kings of equal standing, possessing a top-tier immortal artifact versus lacking one were entirely different concepts. If that held true for Immortal Kings, how much more so for Dao Integration cultivators? With this supreme sacred artifact, combined with a realm of attainment scarcely inferior to a true Immortal King, Yaoguang was filled with ample confidence for the battle ahead. What he truly worried about was that this Creation Sect Dao Sovereign might ascend prematurely and flee the battlefield upon realizing the situation was unfavorable. If he were allowed to ascend, several backup plans Yaoguang had in mind would be difficult to carry out smoothly. All of a sudden, Yaoguang halted. “Dao Lord?” Dao Lord Bai Chao asked in mild surprise. Yaoguang did not speak. Pausing for only a moment, he resumed the journey. Just now, he had considered expending great effort to forge a new immortal artifact. A spatio-temporal immortal artifact capable of disrupting ascension. Although such a spatio-temporal immortal artifact fell under the category of high-grade immortal artifacts in his memories, with the art of Dao sacrifice, refining it would not cost him much effort. However, before doing that, he had better confirm whether that true Dao Sovereign of the Creation Sect was indeed the person he suspected, lest he waste time outwitting thin air. In under ten years, Yaoguang entered a relatively bustling stellar domain. Under Dao Lord Bai Chao’s lead, he arrived at the center of the domain: a planet possessing a Star Gate, much like Beihai Star. This was the location of the Creation Sect’s headquarters. Upon entering the Creation Sect headquarters, Dao Lord Bai Chao hesitated slightly over whether to cite an intruder as pretext and summon the sect’s other Dao Lords along with Dao Sovereign Zaohua to slay Yaoguang. Yet in the end, he suppressed the thought. If he truly did that, once the Dao Sovereign took a liking to Yaoguang’s talents as an “invincible Dao Lord” and permitted him to join the Creation Sect, Bai Chao would undoubtedly have offended Yaoguang thoroughly. Offending an invincible Dao Lord with his strength as an ordinary Dao Lord... his future days would surely be an excruciating ordeal. Ultimately, he could only console himself that while there had been conflict between them, Yaoguang had inflicted no substantial harm upon him. He would endure for now and see what the Dao Sovereign’s attitude would be before deciding. ... The moment Yaoguang arrived at the Creation Sect, a Dao Lord from within who had received word came out to greet him: “Dao Lord Yaoguang? I am Chongguang, acting sect master of the Creation Sect. Haha, welcome to our sect, Dao Lord!” Yaoguang sensed him carefully with his soul Dao arts... Although the level of threat Chongguang posed to him was next to nothing, judging by that remaining sliver of threat, Dao Lord Chongguang possessed strength bordering on that of an invincible Dao Lord. At the very least, he held trump cards capable of unleashing one or two immortal art-grade attacks. “Greetings, Dao Lord.” After exchanging brief pleasantries, Yaoguang continued, “I have long held boundless fascination for the legends surrounding Dao Sovereigns, never imagining that a Dao Sovereign would be dwelling in the mortal world within the Creation Sect. I wonder if I might be fortunate enough to behold Dao Sovereign Zaohua in person and receive some of his guidance?” “Haha, I understand your feelings, Dao Lord Yaoguang. In fact, many of our Creation Sect’s Dao Lords came here out of admiration for our Dao Sovereign’s bearing. However, as you must know, the Dao Sovereign attends to ten thousand matters daily and rarely spends time in the sect. If you truly wish to see him, please wait patiently. Every hundred to several hundred years, the Dao Sovereign returns to the sect to meticulously answer the various Dao Lords’ doubts in their cultivation,” Dao Lord Chongguang said with a laugh. “Oh? Even I cannot receive special treatment from the Dao Sovereign?” Yaoguang asked. “With strength befitting an invincible Dao Lord, Fellow Daoist naturally merits special treatment from the Dao Sovereign, but he simply is not at the sect right now. How about this: the moment the Dao Sovereign returns, I will notify you immediately so that you and the Dao Sovereign may sit and discourse on the Dao. I estimate this will not exceed a hundred years. What do you say?” Dao Lord Chongguang replied. “An invincible Dao Lord...” Yaoguang knew this weight was clearly insufficient. Thus, he said, “While I generally only display the combat strength of an invincible Dao Lord, on many occasions... people have addressed me as ‘Dao Sovereign’ as well.” The moment his words fell, he stirred the Grand Dao of the Void slightly. A formidable pressure surpassing even an invincible Dao Lord surged forth like rolling waves, causing Dao Lord Chongguang’s expression to change drastically. *This power...* A Dao Sovereign! This mysterious Dao Lord before him... actually possessed Dao Sovereign-level combat strength?! Although the pressure exuded by Yaoguang was visibly a tier below their Creation Sect’s Dao Sovereign, this magnitude of power was by no means something Chongguang could easily withstand. Off to the side, Dao Lord Bai Chao subtly ducked his head. Fortunately, he had not rashly urged the sect’s Dao Lords to strike; otherwise, once they learned he had provoked a Dao Sovereign-grade enemy for the sect, regardless of the eventual outcome, he would never have met a good end. “Sect Master Chongguang, I wonder if I now qualify to meet the Dao Sovereign to discuss the path of an immortal Dao Sovereign?” Yaoguang said calmly. “I shall send a transmission to the Dao Sovereign at once. Please wait a moment,” Dao Lord Chongguang said solemnly. He knew this matter was no longer his to decide. With Chongguang, the acting sect master, sending the message out, in mere moments he received a definite reply: “The Dao Sovereign wishes to see you. Please follow me.” Yaoguang nodded. Following Chongguang, he quickly flew into the interior of the Creation Sect. After being transported through a teleportation gate, he arrived inside the planet. Outside a Gate of the Immortal Realm whose light was somewhat dim—appearing to have opened less than a millennium ago—a figure sat with an indifferent expression. “A seventeenth-level immortal spirit of the Creation Group greets Your Excellency. May I ask which Immortal King achieved Dao Sovereign and is currently operating in the lower realm?” Yaoguang cupped his hands and inquired. “A seventeenth-level immortal spirit?” A flicker of peculiarity showed on the indifferent figure’s face. Upon learning this Dao Lord had “Dao Sovereign” strength, he had been speculating about the other party’s identity as an immortal spirit. After all, in the lower realm cosmos, let alone a true Dao Sovereign, even among those who managed to become pseudo-Dao Sovereigns, the majority were immortal spirits. This was also why he had agreed to meet Yaoguang. What truly surprised him was this immortal spirit’s origins. “The Creation Group, is it?” The Dao Sovereign murmured the words. After quite a while, he finally spoke slowly, his voice deep and resonant: “You may address this seat as His Highness Yuxiao.”