Chapter 322: Realm

"Mo Shan?!"

"You..."

Seeing Mo Shan of Taiyi Immortal Sect leave without the slightest hesitation, taking Heavenly Venerable Jiang with him, Hou Feng and Xi Liu were left somewhat dumbfounded.

Immediately afterward, they were overcome by uncontrollable anger.

"Bastard!" Hou Feng could not help cursing aloud.

They had fought and risked their lives for Heavenly Venerable Jiang. Not only had they offended the Penglai Immortal Sect, but they had also offended Yaoguang, the young sect master of Heavenly Dao Sect, a Void-Piercing Realm cultivator with boundless prospects. And yet those two had simply patted their asses and left.

After all that work, they had gained no benefits at all and had only gotten themselves in trouble. How unlucky!

"Mo Shan! Heavenly Venerable Jiang!" Hou Feng gritted his teeth as he yelled those two names.

He hated them to death.

If Heavenly Venerable Jiang had not still had Mo Shan, a Void-Piercing Realm protector, by his side, and if Mo Shan had not left so decisively, Hou Feng would have taken Heavenly Venerable Jiang down on the spot and forced him to bleed heavily to compensate for his losses.

So what if he was a direct disciple of a Void-Shattering cultivator? Could the supreme elder of the Taiyi Immortal Sect really interfere with the elders of the Heavenly Dao Sect?

A bunch of idiots! Xi Liu cursed inwardly, his expression dark.

However, there was nothing he could do. The Xi family had ended up opposing Yaoguang because of Xi Hai's decisions. Even if he wanted to assign blame, he could not blame Heavenly Venerable Jiang.

Now that things had come to this, he could only run back to the Great Shang's imperial capital as quickly as possible and hide there. Surely, no matter how arrogant and domineering Yaoguang was, he would never dare run wild in the Great Shang's imperial capital and attack him, a second-grade official.

Thinking this, he felt regretful. He no longer wanted to stay with these useless elders from the top great sects, so he rose into the air without even saying goodbye and quickly left the scene.

When the tree fell, the monkeys scattered.

There was no saying more fitting than this.

Seeing Xi Liu silently leave as well, Hou Feng could not help cursing again, "A bunch of trash! None of you can accomplish anything!"

Tong Ming had no time to curse anyone. Instead, he said with a worried face, "We should think about how to deal with the new young sect master."

As he said this, he reorganized everything he had done against Yaoguang during this period...

Hmm?! Although I have been pursuing Yaoguang, everything I have done seems reasonable and lawful. It cannot really be called targeting.

A true disciple of the heavenly lineage has died. As an elder of the heavenly lineage, I have investigated the matter to the end. During the process, I have not overstepped in any way. I will go to the young sect master later, explain everything clearly, and present a generous gift. It may be possible to turn this relationship around.

Furthermore, the young sect master has never gone through the true disciple stage. He jumped straight from an inner sect disciple to a young sect master, so he has basically no forces attached to him. If I take advantage of this apology to move closer and become the first Void-Piercing Realm elder to express sincerity toward him, then once Yaoguang grows stronger in the future, I may even become one of his powerful allies in the Heavenly Dao Sect.

When Yaoguang becomes a Void-Refining Realm cultivator in the future and advances to deputy sect master, he will be an even stronger backer.

Perhaps this is no big deal. Thinking this, Tong Ming instructed Hou Feng, "Fortunately, things have not reached an irreparable point yet. We should return to the sect as soon as possible and think of a way to resolve this conflict with the young sect master."

After saying this, he also left on a travel light and disappeared into the sky.

"No wonder nothing can be accomplished when I work with such indecisive, spineless people," Hou Feng said. He was just done talking when the communication jade talisman on him began vibrating again.

He took the jade talisman and glanced at the information within it. In just a moment, his eyes had widened with rage. "Yuan Miaoyi, you... You want to use me as a chess piece to test Yaoguang?!"

Being treated as a chess piece was one thing. The key point was that no matter what he did to probe Yaoguang, he would not end up well.

As long as Yaoguang had a trump card, he would not have a good ending.

Even if Yaoguang had no trump card, his close relationship with the Penglai Immortal Sect might still draw out experts from the Penglai Immortal Sect, and Hou Feng still would not end well.

"Good! Very good!" Hou Feng sneered. "Yuan Miaoyi, who do you think I am?! A chess piece for you to manipulate however you please? You are only a Void-Refining Realm cultivator! Do you really think that one order from you is enough to willingly throw my life away?! I went through untold hardships and brushed past death time and time again before I reached the Void-Piercing Realm. Do you think you can command me?!"

As a Void-Piercing Realm cultivator, where could he not enjoy high-level treatment?

If the Heavenly Dao Sect would not keep him, there were naturally other places that would.

At most, he would have to abandon his many possessions in the Heavenly Dao Sect, and even the forces of the Hou family line.

But as long as he was still alive, he could develop another force like in time.

Void-Piercing Realm cultivators were known to have boundless longevity. He had plenty of time.

Although he had already formed a plan, Hou Feng did not give it away.

Instead, he responded to Yuan Miaoyi, saying he was willing to atone for his mistake through meritorious service.

Light flickered in his eyes.

Yaoguang definitely has a Dao Artifact on him! He also has a huge secret. Perhaps it's the inheritance of the Penglai Dao Lord?!

For these two things, what does it matter if I abandon the Hou family and abandon the foundation I have built in the Heavenly Dao Sect?

Forget the Hou family. Even ten Hou families put together can't compare to a single Dao Artifact!

"So what if he is the young sect master? Let me see whose methods are superior when the time comes." Hou Feng had made his decision.

If he could obtain the Dao Artifact and the secret inheritance from Yaoguang, he might very likely take another step forward and reach the Void-Refining Realm.

When that time came, he would slowly settle the accounts with Yuan Miaoyi, Zong Wenxian, and the others.

***

Meanwhile, the Penglai Dao Lord had already received news from the Heavenly Dao Sect.

"He has reached the Void-Piercing Realm." She glanced at it and smiled faintly. "Not bad."

As a Dao Lord, she was qualified to evaluate the Void-Piercing Realm with nothing more than the words "not bad."

After saying this, she once again focused her attention on sensing the stellar core of the North Sea Star.

"The Gate of the Immortal Realm," she said softly.

Yes, the Gate of the Immortal Realm.

The greatest temptation of the North Sea Star, the secret to becoming an immortal, lay in the Gate of the Immortal Realm hidden deep within its stellar core. Once opened, this gate would select three thousand Dao Lords who had grasped the Three Thousand Great Dao, allowing them to enter and ascend as immortals.

It was because of this gate that the North Sea Star's structure had changed, becoming firmer and more vast. It was also because of this gate that the immortal realm qi leaking from it had been refined and condensed into Pure Yang Grand Pills and Void Dao Pills, nurturing one top expert after another.

And because of this gate, countless Dao Lords from all across the starry sky had rushed to the North Sea Star, establishing sects and founding their own lineages. As a result, the cultivation world of the North Sea Star had become incomparably prosperous.

The purpose behind these Dao Lords establishing sects was to have people observe the movements of the Gate of the Immortal Realm on their behalf. Once the gate manifested and opened, they would return from wherever they had been traveling, having done everything possible to strengthen themselves, and compete for the slots of the Gate of the Immortal Realm. Nominally, there were three thousand slots, but in truth, only a few dozen were actually available.

"A cycle of ten thousand years... Less than a thousand years remain before it opens."

A thousand years. To mortals, that was enough time for dozens of generations to rise and pass away. To a Golden Core cultivator, it was a long lifetime. Even to a Void-Piercing Realm cultivator, it amounted to one-tenth of their lifespan.

But to Dao Lords, whose lifespans reached 129,600 years[1], it was nothing at all.

A thousand years from now, she would inevitably go to the Gate of the Immortal Realm deep within the stellar core, defeat all her opponents in the Dao Contest, enter the gate, and seize the chance to ascend as an immortal.

She had enough confidence to stand out in the Dao Contest. After all, not many cultivated the Great Dao of origin.

But after she left, the Penglai Immortal Sect would be in trouble.

"Tai Qingzi, Daoist Seed of the Three-Qing Temple; Tian Qin, the goddess of the Fiend God Cult; Qin Xianhuang, the sixth princess of the True Dragon Dynasty; and now, Yaoguang, the young sect master of the Heavenly Dao Sect, can be added to the list as well... In the next thousand years, let's see which of you can stand out, reach the Void-Shattering Realm, and protect and inherit the Penglai Immortal Sect's legacy and Dao tradition I leave behind."

***

On Nine Cauldrons Peak, after Yaoguang activated the level 12 array art, he sat down directly on the cultivation platform, which stretched for dozens of meters in every direction.

Now that the array formation of the main peak was activated, no one would dare go up the peak and disturb his cultivation unless there was something truly important. He finally had enough free time to review his gains.

Among those, aside from the many changes that had come with reaching the Void-Piercing Realm, the one he looked forward to the most was the newly grown branch. And this branch...

"Finally..." Yaoguang let out a long breath.

After waiting for so long, the Alchemist branch had finally appeared.

Although he could now buy pills by selling Dao Artifacts, other than the difference in cost, that process alone added an extra step. And while Pure Yang Grand Pills were easy to buy, Void Dao Pills were not easy to obtain.

Refining Void Dao Pills required not only an alchemist who had mastered alchemy to a high enough level, but also a Dao-Artifact-level alchemy furnace. Because of that, every successfully refined Void Dao Pill was extremely valuable.

The reason top sects could attract one Void-Piercing Realm expert after another was precisely that they possessed Void Dao Pills, which almost never circulated in the outside world.

The most important part of cultivation from the Void-Piercing Realm to the Void-Refining Realm is increasing my comprehension of void power, then building my grotto-heaven until it is as solid as a fortress and can unleash its full power with ease. Void Dao Pills are excellent for deepening my understanding of the void!

The mysteries of the Void-Piercing Realm flowed continuously through Yaoguang's mind, and in only a moment, he realized that comprehension was far more important than accumulating energy.

My comprehension has long since reached the Void-Refining Realm, possibly even its middle stage... In other words, I basically don't need to spend any more time on void power. As long as I choose the right Dao Technique, then reshape my grotto-heaven according to my future path and build it to the point where it can accommodate a Dao Seed, I will naturally reach the Void-Refining Realm. Yaoguang understood clearly.

Reshaping the grotto-heaven would be quick. If he kept his requirements simple, he could reach the Void-Refining Realm in as little as three years, or at most ten years.

I still prefer this kind of cultivation that leans toward realm comprehension. I'll save billions of Pure Yang Grand Pills. Yaoguang thought.

1. Editor's note: As a reminder, 129,600 is a full cycle in Chinese cosmology. ☜