The Meeting

A Life Force Field. It resembled the stellar magnetic field involved in the ninth tier of Fiendgod Body Refining, yet differed from it in fundamental essence. This kind of force field was more attuned to a power forged by melting together a cultivator's essence, qi, and spirit into one. It could act only upon oneself. At most, it extended to the surface of the body. It fell far short of a stellar magnetic field, which could churn clouds and stir winds as it rotated, vast and majestic. After carefully contemplating the wonders of the Life Force Field, Yaoguang rose to his feet and activated it. Instantly, he felt an indescribable resonance form between himself and the outside world. This resonance differed from the Heaven and Earth Furnace forged through the union of heaven and man, nor did it belong to the Heaven and Earth Domain derived from the Heaven and Earth Furnace; at most, it was merely somewhat similar. The difference lay in the fact that the fundamental power of the Heaven and Earth Furnace and the Heaven and Earth Domain originated from heaven and earth—a martial artist used their own spirit intent to stir worldly forces and manifest all manner of phenomena. Yet the core of the Life Force Field came from the cultivator himself. One operated from without to affect the outside, intervening in heaven and earth. The other operated from within to safeguard oneself, preserving one's own being. As he quietly absorbed the profundities of the Life Force Field, he walked forward step by step, entering Longyou Stream before him. Longyou Stream was not particularly large. Even so, where Yaoguang stood, the water reached a depth of one meter. Yet at this moment, the meter-deep water served as solid ground beneath his feet, supporting his body so that he stood atop the water's surface without the slightest sign of sinking. Ripples spread outward in concentric rings from where the soles of his feet met the water. This was the invisible, substantial Life Force Field shaped by his essence, qi, and spirit contending against the planet's gravitational potential energy. Or rather, using his personal life force field to counter the planetary force field. "Life Force Field." Yaoguang murmured the phrase aloud. At present, his Life Force Field remained exceedingly weak—so weak that he could only borrow the water's surface tension to barely stay suspended over the stream. Yet he understood in his heart that as his Life Force Field continued to grow... The day would come when he could use it to lift himself into the air, thereby mastering the first fundamental skill of stepping onto the path of a Human Immortal—flight! "Not just flight. As a martial artist grows stronger, the destruction wrought by their battles only escalates. Sooner or later, a point will come where combat suits cannot even withstand the shockwaves of combat. But with a Life Force Field cloaking the whole body, at least one will never end up in the awkward predicament where clothes are shattered mid-fight, leaving them streaking naked." Yaoguang let out a soft chuckle. While he was still weak, the Life Force Field could not produce any grand effect. Yet the potential held by this secret art—or rather, talent—surpassed other secret arts by countless orders of magnitude. It was a secret art that would benefit him for an entire lifetime. "It isn't as though it produces no effect whatsoever right now. My Life Force Field is weak, but the opponents I face currently are not high-tier cultivators of the seventh or eighth heavens of Fiendgod Body Refining. The Life Force Field radiates from the inside out. Internally, it shields my organs so I need not fear penetrating force; externally, it adds a layer of defense to enhance my resilience." Yaoguang strode across the stream, step by step, and then allowed himself to become immersed in the momentum of the mountains, rivers, and earth veins. While sinking into that momentum, his mind stirred, applying the Life Force Field to himself. Instantly, the tempering of his body by the momentum of the mountains, rivers, and earth veins was guided by the Life Force Field, permeating every pore of his physical form. It was equivalent to... Bypassing the tangible vessel of flesh and bone to temper his essence, qi, and spirit directly. Cutting out the middleman yielded an immediate, palpable improvement. "To think..." A glimmer of delight surfaced in Yaoguang's eyes. It was somewhat surprising, yet entirely reasonable. The Dao Fruits borne by his [Martial Path] branch shared a common origin, naturally possessing an inherent synergy with one another. Such was the case with Heavenly Demon Disintegration and the Earth Furnace, and the same held true for the Life Force Field. In fact, because the Life Force Field was smelted from the essence, qi, and spirit of his entire body, it granted him a deeper command and understanding of secret arts that drew upon his essence, qi, and spirit—such as Heavenly Demon Disintegration, Divine Descent, the Great Sun Spirit-Suppressing Diagram, and Star Ignition—thereby mitigating the burdensome toll and backlash those secret arts inflicted upon him. "This Life Force Field may not look conspicuous, but it amounts to an all-encompassing passive enhancement... Essentially, it coordinates the entire realm of Fiendgod Body Refining. In theory, such a secret art should only appear upon reaching the perfection of Fiendgod Body Refining Tier 9." Yaoguang pondered. However, considering it was virtually impossible for anyone else in the world to be like him—using the ancient tree as an omniscient search engine to acquire all Tier 8 information of the [Martial Path] across the mortal realm—it made perfect sense that he had derived this secret art at Tier 8. When another secret art was derived at Tier 9, it likely would no longer lean toward cultivation or passives; rather, it would be tied to breaking through realms and slaying enemies across tiers. *** While Yaoguang devoted himself to cultivation on Mount Yuhuang, the Jishi Society uncovered something horrifying from the leads he had provided. When Ji Pingtian reviewed the report brought by his intelligence operative, his eyes filled with disbelief. "No news whatsoever has reached us?!" "Correct! Not a single shred of news has emerged regarding any of the recent batches of Martial Saints. Furthermore, our covert operative risked entering the core of Chixing and arrived at an astonishing conclusion: the light of the Star Gate within Chixing is completely dim, bearing no sign of having been activated at any point in recent years." The operative spoke in a somber tone. "Are you certain?!" "The method to operate the Star Gate rests solely in Chixing's hands; no one else has such authority. We can only infer this conclusion based on ancient records, so we cannot guarantee with one hundred percent certainty that the report is factual." The operative answered. "Just what are the Chixing people doing..." Ji Pingtian took a deep breath. Immediately following that, he instructed his subordinate, "Contact Presidents Hong Chuan and Zhao Xuanbing. Open a secure channel—we hold an online meeting in thirty minutes!" As he spoke, he manipulated his terminal and forwarded the file to the two presidents' private numbers. "Investigate further. I also want to know where those Martial Saints have truly gone." Ji Pingtian ordered the operative. "Yes, sir." The operative quickly withdrew. Ji Pingtian also stood up and entered a fully sealed conference room where not a sliver of light could penetrate. He ordered his men to guard the entrance, stepped inside, and personally powered on each device in the room, logging in with his credentials. Soon, the room lit up, the system booted, and a virtual conference room was projected into the space. At present, Ji Pingtian was the sole occupant. Yet he did not have to wait long. Because the news was so appalling, in under twenty minutes, the Jishi Society's other two presidents, Hong Chuan and Zhao Xuanbing, logged on one after the other. Upon seeing Ji Pingtian, both asked in the same breath, "Is the news true?" "I cannot say for certain, but corroborating information from various sources forms a complete chain of inference indicating that Chixing and the Star Gate have indeed run into problems. Over the past few decades, not a single Martial Saint has sent any word back, correct?" Ji Pingtian said. "You mean... Chixing has lost contact with the Artifact Sect?" Hong Chuan said. "Not just Chixing. That is likely the case for Xuelong as well, but our intelligence apparatus in Xuelong is somewhat weaker, so it will probably take some time to obtain concrete information." Ji Pingtian explained. His words caused both Hong Chuan and Zhao Xuanbing to knit their brows tightly. The Jishi Society was founded precisely to contend against Chixing's Martial Saints during the All-Under-Heaven Martial Meet and secure quotas to travel to cultivating holy lands like the Artifact Sect, thereby leaping through the dragon's gate to attain the qualifications for pursuing higher realms. But if Chixing had lost contact with the Artifact Sect... What meaning was there in vying for those so-called spots? "The reason I investigated this matter was that I caught wind of some hearsay..." Ji Pingtian sent the information to both presidents. The two reviewed it for a moment, their brows furrowing even deeper. "Absurd," Hong Chuan said bluntly. "It makes no sense. If Chixing truly used spots to leap through the dragon's gate to lure Martial Saints from other nations somewhere only to secretly eliminate them, why is it that over the past few decades, all the Martial Saints who obtained spots to go to the 'Artifact Sect' were Chixing's own? They couldn't possibly be wiping out their own Martial Saints and sending them to die for nothing." Zhao Xuanbing remarked as well, "This kind of speculation reeks of conspiracy theory. Besides... would we not know whether the Artifact Sect quota is real or not? Where did this hearsay come from?" "It came from Su Yaoguang," Ji Pingtian said, then added, "He likely heard it from elsewhere as well." "Su Yaoguang." Hong Chuan and Zhao Xuanbing exchanged glances. Of late, they had heard that name more than once. Especially after the news brought by Ji Pingtian corroborated Yaoguang's exceptional brilliance, both had placed great hopes on him. Since he was the one who brought this up... They had no choice but to take it far more seriously. "I will have people verify things on Xuelong's side to see whether they have severed contact with the Artifact Sect as well, and... what kind of mischief Chixing is actually up to," Zhao Xuanbing said. Hong Chuan nodded. Immediately after, he seemed to recall something. "Is everything alright on Su Yaoguang's end? Creating such a massive stir in Dayu was bound to draw Chixing's attention. By now, he must be on the verge of facing pressure from Chixing, right?" "He is already facing it. According to the latest intelligence I received, Commander Shangguan Xiong of the overseas base stationed in Dayu has already deduced that an agreement exists between Yaoguang and our Jishi Society. He has already rallied many remnants of the Liao family and is rapidly contacting neighboring nations, mustering troops and dispatching commanders. Before long, he will likely strike at Yaoguang under the banner of restoring the Liao kingdom." Ji Pingtian paused briefly before continuing, "However, while they take Yaoguang seriously, they clearly haven't taken him with utmost seriousness yet. At most, they can only call upon five or six Martial Saints to take action. Such a lineup might not necessarily be able to do anything to him." "You seem to have forgotten how deeply everyone else dreads Chixing. Shangguan Xiong is a direct descendant of the Shangguan family, one of Chixing's great noble houses. If he makes a move, the Martial Saints of the Lü and Jiang families will never dare oppose him, and the same goes for Zhang Jian. They simply lack the courage to resist Chixing. In other words, Su Yaoguang alone will have to face a siege by five or six Martial Saints," Zhao Xuanbing warned. "I haven't forgotten. I never once counted on the Martial Saints from the Lü or Jiang families stepping in," Ji Pingtian said calmly. "Yaoguang alone is enough."