Chapter 621: Shadow of the Beginning

These Nascent Soul cultivators from the nine inner sea sects toasted and bowed to Su Ye, their attitudes deferential.

By annihilating the Jade Void Sword Sect, he had made an example of them, and now these inner sea sects were filled with awe for Su Ye’s power.

‘However…’

‘Getting them to submit wholeheartedly would still be very difficult under normal circumstances…’

Su Ye saw things with perfect clarity. The political structure of the nine sects ruling together had persisted for eight hundred years, and it had a certain inertia.

Even with his unparalleled strength, unifying the Yaoguang Islands under a single ruler would be an arduous task.

‘So, the threat of the Blood Moon Demon Palace is still quite necessary…’

Propping up an enemy to consolidate power, manufacturing an external threat to unify his own people—it was an old trick of his.

‘Of course, relying solely on political maneuvering isn’t the proper way… As the ruler of the Yaoguang Islands, if I want to win the people’s loyalty, I need to create tangible benefits for them.’

‘For instance, I could promote the large-scale development of the Far South Continent and turn that barren land into a paradise for cultivators.’ Su Ye mused, his strategy already decided.

…

After the battle of Luofu State, Yehai’s fearsome reputation thundered throughout the Yaoguang Islands, known to all.

Faced with such a track record, the other two of the three major sects, the Star Casting Hall and the Brahma Pure Sect, bowed to Su Ye’s might and sent envoys to express their allegiance.

Using the Jade Void Sword Sect as a stepping stone, Su Ye’s prestige reached its zenith.

His power began to expand at an incredible rate, structured around the Nanyaoguang Corporation, with the True Treasure Pavilion and the master of the Jade Void Sword Sect as direct subordinates, and the other inner sea sects as second-tier vassals.

Countless cultivators of outstanding aptitude and extraordinary talent flocked to join the Nanyaoguang Corporation.

Entire Crystallization and Golden Core-level factions were absorbed, becoming mere departments within the Nanyaoguang Corporation and causing the company’s scale to swell rapidly.

The Nanyaoguang Company Headquarters was also moved to the Central Sea Region, to the very site of Tingchao Pavilion, which Su Ye had destroyed. Its Tier Five Spirit Vein was perfect for the company’s main base.

As for the residual contamination from his Immortalized Dharma Body at the former Tingchao Pavilion gate, Su Ye brought it under his control, gathering and containing it so it posed no threat to company employees.

The demonic creatures spawned from that contamination even became a signature tool for Nanyaoguang Corporation employees. Depending on their position, employees could gain the authority to command some of these creatures as aides in battle.

Beyond that, a series of other procedures were available, such as limb modifications and organ implants using parts from the Ghostly Flood Dragon, which could enhance an employee’s strength, lifespan, and even their innate aptitude.

The employee benefits were outstanding!

Of course, this was also a form of control.

Should an employee attempt betrayal, Su Ye wouldn’t even need to lift a finger. The contracted demonic creatures and implanted organs would tear them apart, leaving no corpse intact.

It was even more brutal than the Huangban Corporation’s remote cyberware shutdowns!

With his power base expanded, things became much easier for Su Ye.

He played up the threat of the Blood Moon Demon Palace, propping up an enemy to justify his own power, and used the “encirclement of Miss Sanhua” as a pretext to gradually encroach upon the territories of the other inner sea sects and expand his sphere of influence.

He opened up the Far South Continent, lifting the Nanyaoguang Corporation’s long-standing restrictions and controls, and allowed Loose Cultivators to explore and colonize it. This opened up a new frontier for the stagnant and hyper-competitive Jade Light Cultivation Realm.

Meanwhile, Su Ye himself focused on his cultivation, peacefully using the vast resources of the Yaoguang Islands to enhance his own power.

As an Immortalized Dharma Body, his strength was far from its peak. The treasured Nascent Soul Secret Skills of the nine sects, exceptionally rare Tier Five Spiritual Objects, and the Divinity Transformation inheritance he had obtained from the master of the Jade Void Sword Sect…

Su Ye amassed the resources of the Jade Light Cultivation Realm at an astonishing rate, all to increase his own power.

…

And just like that, in the blink of an eye.

Twenty years had passed.

‘A hundred years in the mortal world passes in the blink of an eye.’

Atop a mountain peak, at the core of the Tier Five Spirit Vein on the former site of Tingchao Pavilion—now the Nanyaoguang Company Headquarters—stood a palace of white jade.

At the palace’s highest point, Su Ye, dressed in loose, dark robes, leaned against the stone balustrade of a viewing platform. He calmly gazed into the distance as the sun slowly rose from the sea, blanketing the bustling metropolis that sprawled for thousands of miles in a brilliant golden glow.

‘It’s truly beautiful… In the blink of an eye, I’m already a hundred years old. How many more times will I get to see such a magnificent view?’

‘Oh, right. I forgot I still have over six thousand years to live. Never mind, then.’

Su Ye shrugged, a smile playing on his lips. He was in a good mood.

In these past twenty-odd years, nourished by the resources of the Jade Light Cultivation Realm, Su Ye’s cultivation had reached Nascent Soul Perfection.

His physical body and divine soul, bolstered by numerous rare resources and Secret Techniques, had also reached Tier Five Perfection.

With his essence, qi, and spirit at their peak and his Dao Source Prototype at Perfection, it was safe to say he was only a single step away from becoming a Divinity Transformation Daoist Monarch.

In terms of political power, the inner sea sects that had dared to feign compliance while secretly defying his orders had all but vanished over the past two decades.

The Sect Leaders of the Star Casting Hall and the Brahma Pure Sect had been replaced by a new generation. Several of their Nascent Soul elders had “regrettably” perished during the campaign to encircle Miss Sanhua.

Su Ye expressed his condolences.

As for Miss Sanhua herself, Su Ye had personally captured her four years ago.

She was currently undergoing a Soul Search, a process to extract all knowledge of the Blood Moon Demon Palace from her mind.

Su Ye was quite interested in the legacy of a Divinity Transformation Sect. Besides, her Dao Embryo Dharma Aspect was also incredibly valuable; it would be a shame to kill her outright.

‘Right now… the only ones who can still pose a threat to me are the Divinity Transformation Daoist Monarchs in the sea region, who are as elusive as divine dragons, showing their heads but never their tails…’

Where were the Divinity Transformation True Monarchs now? Why had they vanished without a trace instead of interfering in the affairs of the Yaoguang Islands?

Over the past twenty years, by combining fragments of information from the Divinity Transformation legacy with his own insights, Su Ye had made some progress on this question.

‘They let the Yaoguang Islands be, vanished without a trace, rarely interfered in mortal affairs, and didn’t even build their own factions… It’s not that those at the Divinity Transformation realm are unwilling, but rather…’