Assimilation

Yaoguang observed it for a moment, then headed straight for one of the few designated entry and exit points in the colossal energy dome. The moment he drew near, a Dao artifact resembling a drone flew over, quickly emitting a distinct wave of energy fluctuations. These fluctuations transcended the constraints of language; anyone would instantly comprehend the meaning conveyed: “Please report your identity and state your purpose.” Yaoguang wasted no words, interfacing with it directly using his authority as a Level 17 immortal spirit. In the identity field, he selected anonymity. “Honored immortal spirit, welcome to Creation City. As you have not provided identification, we can only grant you Level 15 clearance. Under Level 15 clearance... you may not visit the territory of the Group’s Thirty-Six Islands, but you are welcome to tour all public areas outside the Thirty-Six Islands and fly freely below their altitude... I shall now open the VIP passage for you. Wishing you a pleasant journey.” The drone-like Dao artifact soon emitted a wave of energy, leaving a mark upon Yaoguang, and led him toward a node in the energy dome. Yaoguang had already realized that the entire dome was, in fact, a super formation! A supreme grand formation as high as Level 19! Precisely because of this, with only Level 17 formation mastery, he had no choice but to obediently stick to the areas designated by the Creation Group. When the countless flying boats and battleships queuing on the ground in the distance saw Yaoguang heading straight for the VIP passage, envy and yearning appeared in everyone’s eyes. Yet not a single person felt jealousy or resentment. Because becoming a “VIP” was practically the lifelong aspiration of every cultivator in this world. Furthermore, Yaoguang noticed that every cultivator entering this immortal city had a bracelet placed on them. With his mastery of artifact crafting, he quickly deduced that the bracelet functioned to suppress the energy fluctuations within a cultivator’s body. In other words, once any cultivator entered the Creation Group’s immortal city, without special authorization they could not activate the bracelet to restore their abilities. Yet even with such restrictions, throngs of people still scrambled to enter. Once inside the city, they immediately puffed up with pride, wearing their admission like a badge of honor. Meanwhile, cultivators who failed the screening were filled with vexation and anguish, seeming to blame themselves for not striving hard enough to earn the qualification to enter this top-tier immortal city. As Yaoguang passed through the colossal energy dome, a wave of dense, pure spiritual energy washed over him. Although this spiritual energy did not reach the level of the floating islands, it was not far off; cultivators below the Void Shattering realm could still advance by leaps and bounds cultivating here. “Just like a tiny village in a backward civilization compared to a top metropolis in a powerful nation. In the village, working yourself to the bone yields less than ten thousand a year, while in the metropolis, sweeping streets or picking up trash still brings in hundreds of thousands to start. No wonder everyone does everything they can to live in these top immortal cities and bends over backward to join the Nine Great Groups.” Yaoguang looked around the city. Because the entire city spanned tens of millions of li, and with suppression bracelets preventing Void Piercing, Void Refining, and Void Shattering cultivators from flying within city limits, an excellent transportation system had been established. Beyond that, the city boasted countless venues for leisure and entertainment. These structures were steeped in the style of the Hunyuan Realm—which was to say, the style of the Nine Great Groups. And because the Nine Great Groups were overwhelmingly powerful, to the inhabitants of the Ancient Immortal Realm, that style naturally seemed imbued with artistic beauty. Major landmarks and iconic buildings in particular drew countless Ancient Immortal Realm cultivators to admire and study them. After observing for a while, Yaoguang found his attention drawn to a cluster of statues and descended. Almost the moment he landed, staff maintaining the attraction reported his arrival up the chain, and before long, a middle-aged man at the Void Shattering realm hurried over to attend to him. “Honored guest, welcome to the Great Creation Group Past Presidents and Directors Biographical Park. Would you like us to clear the park and have the lower-clearance cultivators leave?” “No need,” Yaoguang said, his gaze settling on the statue of Immortal King Yuxiao. “I am just looking around. Find someone knowledgeable to guide me.” “All your wishes shall be granted.” The middle-aged man bowed respectfully and promptly summoned a female cultivator in the Void Refining realm whose life aura was quite youthful and vibrant to recount the life and deeds of Immortal King Yuxiao for Yaoguang. While Yaoguang listened to the somewhat nervous explanation from this Void Refining female cultivator, the middle-aged man in the Void Shattering realm had already taken the initiative to clear away visitors around the area. Though he did not drive all visitors from the park, he forbade them from approaching Yaoguang’s vicinity, lest their presence or words offend this VIP who was at least of managerial rank within the Creation Group. His actions did not elicit displeasure from a single visitor present. Every gaze cast toward Yaoguang from afar was filled with heartfelt respect, awe, and thinly veiled envy. Yaoguang could sense those looks, but offered little reaction. “Creation Immortal City.” While listening to the staff member’s introduction of Immortal King Yuxiao, Yaoguang browsed the information regarding this city in the Virtual Immortal Realm. Creation Immortal City had a population of roughly three hundred billion, with Void Piercing and above cultivators making up thirty percent. Settling in this city came with extraordinarily strict requirements, the foremost of which—barring ninety-nine percent of cultivators—was that one had to reach the Void Piercing realm. Although reaching the Void Piercing realm in the Immortal Realm was far easier than in the lower realm, that was only true within select immortal cities; out in the minor towns the Nine Great Groups could not even be bothered to occupy, one might not emerge in thousands of years. Countless Void Piercing cultivators formed the common class of Creation Immortal City. Naturally, there were also Golden Core cultivators who mingled in Creation Immortal City under the pretext of seeking refuge with mentors, friends, or kin. They were the true bottom tier, doing the dirtiest, most grueling labor without any livelihood security. Above Void Piercing came Void Refining cultivators, who could generally secure decent positions; a few with sharper wits could even attain low-ranking administrative posts, making them the middle class. Only upon reaching Void Shattering could one truly become part of the social elite. Yet that was merely doing comparatively well. Wanting to purchase Grand Dao shares to achieve Dao Integration was still virtually impossible. Only by entering the Creation Group... Even as a mere ordinary employee, one effectively crossed social strata, gaining a sliver of possibility to eventually buy Dao Integration shares and ascend to Dao Lord. And higher still were true Dao Lords. Figures like that could easily govern a whole kingdom on the outside. Even here in Creation Immortal City, the power center of the Creation Group, they were still sovereign figures holding the power of life and death in the hearts of all cultivators. No matter how brilliantly gifted you were in your home city—a peerless prodigy or a sacred maiden—if you offended such a powerhouse, your life remained entirely at their whim. To the vast majority of cultivators, a Dao Lord was the highest-ranking figure they could ever hope to encounter. As for the immortals and Immortal Venerables above them... Those were beyond the imagination of ordinary cultivators. Things were somewhat better in Creation Immortal City, but on the outside, let alone ordinary cultivators, even Void Piercing cultivators might never see one in an entire lifetime. “The Creation Group has hundreds of thousands of Dao Lords, over ten thousand immortals, and hundreds of Immortal Venerables... Even assuming everyone in Creation Immortal City were in the Void Piercing realm, only one in a million achieves Dao Integration.” Yaoguang withdrew his thoughts and returned his focus to the statue of Immortal King Yuxiao. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the Creation Immortal City cultivators stealing glances at him in the distance. These people... had completely accepted the rule of the Nine Great Groups. To them, whoever ruled over them seemed not to matter. In fact, even Yaoguang himself could not definitively say who was right and who was wrong between the Hunyuan Realm and the Ancient Immortal Realm. Yet the crucial point was... once the Hunyuan Realm triumphed, the Ancient Immortal Realm would cease to exist. Everything would vanish into smoke as the three thousand Grand Daos were devoured by the Hunyuan Realm. The Hunyuan Realm’s victory was not aimed at ruling, but at world destruction. This left him no choice but to resist to the bitter end. “In the lower realm, my true body’s preparations are almost complete. As for me here, it’s about time I went to the Creation Group to meet those ‘old friends.’” ... The starry cosmos of the lower realm. Bearing the Grand Dao Pagoda in hand, under the admiring gazes of Dao Lords, Yaoguang crushed an alliance made up of a full twenty Dao Lords. Following this battle, the Creation Sect pushed ten billion light-years north across the galaxy. Within this expanse, not a single faction dared defy the will of the Creation Sect any longer. “Very well. One mouthful at a time, one step at a time. That will be all for this sector. I hear rebels are massing in the south? Once they have finished gathering, I will lead our forces to wipe them out in a single stroke, saving me the trouble of hunting them down individually if they scatter,” Yaoguang spoke. “We obey the Sect Master’s decree.” The Dao Lords behind him bowed respectfully. Just then, a communication Dao artifact on Yaoguang’s person vibrated faintly. As he activated it, a divine sense transmission soon came through: “Sect Master Yaoguang, an immortal spirit has joined us and brought astonishing news: our foremost rival, the Yongsheng Sect, was actually wiped out three hundred years ago. I need you to investigate what happened there.” The sender was none other than Immortal King Yuxiao. “The Yongsheng Sect...” The universe was vast; it was hardly surprising that news of the Yongsheng Sect’s demise had taken three hundred years to reach them. Sensing the various fruits of refining the Grand Dao Pagoda over the past century, a faint smile surfaced on Yaoguang’s face. The Grand Dream of a Thousand Years was nearly ripe. He immediately responded, “As it happens, I received some intelligence regarding the Yongsheng Sect not long ago. It cannot be explained clearly via transmission; I will report to Your Highness in person.” “Very well, but I am currently not at the sect. I am at these coordinates. How long will it take you to arrive?” Immortal King Yuxiao sent Yaoguang a set of coordinates. Upon seeing the coordinates transmitted by Immortal King Yuxiao, Yaoguang’s pupils narrowed slightly. “Why has Your Highness traveled so far?” “Word came from my subordinates that a Dao Sovereign–level figure purportedly appeared here, one who single-handedly slaughtered over a hundred and fifty Dao Lords. I am quite eager to discover just which immortal spirit this is,” Immortal King Yuxiao replied. Sensing the coordinates provided by the Immortal King—less than two billion light-years from Beihai Star—Yaoguang’s expression grew faintly aloof. “Since this concerns a Dao Sovereign, it would be safer for us to proceed together. Please wait a moment, Your Highness. I shall be there shortly.”