Chapter 341: Recruitment

Reaching the Void-Refining Realm wasn't originally a process where one could break through simply by cultivating continuously. Comprehension was needed. But for a cultivator like Yaoguang, whose comprehension had long since surpassed his actual cultivation realm, breaking through had been simple. The whole process was as smooth as water flowing into a channel.

It had not even stirred much of a ripple. Even the warship’s flight trajectory had not been affected.

The Void-Refining Realm is based on obtaining energy and mass from the void, from nothingness. The void is the foundation that carries all the Great Dao. Even when there is nothing there, in its deepest essence, it is still influenced by the Great Dao. The Void-Refining Realm strips this energy out through the excavation of one’s own Dao Seed...

A smile appeared on Yaoguang’s face. In scientific terms, I suppose I’ve now mastered vacuum zero-point energy.[1]

At this step, the energy controlled by a cultivator was theoretically close to infinite. Of course, it was only theoretical. The Void-Refining Realm was still far from true infinite energy.

The most important part of the Void-Piercing Realm is condensing a Dao Seed and using the grotto-heaven as the foundation to generate soil that can sustain the Dao Seed’s survival. On the other hand, what's most important in the Void-Refining Realm is the continuous absorption of the power of the void... or rather, the power of the Great Dao carried by the power of the void, to water the Dao Seed and make it grow stronger. During the Dao Seed’s growth, it will also reinforce the grotto-heaven and allow the grotto-heaven to possess greater mass... only then is it possible to try to reach the Void-Shattering Realm.

Yaoguang stood up, and with a thought, he appeared directly on the deck of the warship.

No one noticed the entire process, not even Qi Sha, a Void-Piercing Realm elder.

Now that I have condensed a void Dao Seed using Void Flicker as the origin, I no longer need to channel the power of my grotto-heaven to drive the power of the void. I can do so directly. With this, as long as I don’t encounter a Void-Shattering expert, even if I end up surrounded by ten Void-Refining cultivators, I can still retreat safely. Yaoguang sensed the Dao Seed condensed by Void Flicker.

He now had the confidence needed to say something like that.

Also, I can push the realm of my Dao Techniques further. Right now my grotto-heaven struggles to power a mastery-stage Dao Technique on its own, but that will stop being a problem once I have a suitable Dao Artifact to assist me. This is especially true for the Sovereign Human Emperor Dao Technique. If I can master it, it should be more than enough to cover the energy cost of running a mastery-stage Dao Technique. At that time, when it comes to raw killing power, I might not be any weaker than a Void-Shattering cultivator. At most, I won’t be able to compare to them in endurance. Yaoguang weighed it silently.

Improving the realm of his Dao Techniques did not rely on diligent cultivation and bitter practice; he only needed to advance the progress of the Immortal Dao branch.

He estimated that as long as the progress of the Immortal Dao(Void-Shattering) branch reached 80%, let alone the six Dao Techniques he currently mastered, even raising the other 1082 Dao Techniques to the mastery stage would not be a problem.

Suddenly, a somewhat surprised voice came over, "Hall Master."

Immediately after, that voice became delighted. "Hall Master, you’ve come out of seclusion."

Yaoguang glanced at him.

He was an Azure Golden Core cultivator from the Heavenly Ruin Hall named Yang Feng. Among the twelve Azure Golden Core cultivators, he was considered relatively young, only a little over five hundred years old.

"Mhmm," Yaoguang responded.

He calculated briefly and soon realized that, without noticing it, he had already been in seclusion for three years.

Then, his psychic thought found Qi Sha. After he greeted Qi Sha, this Void-Piercing cultivator soon appeared on the deck.

"Hall Master!" As Qi Sha saluted, his gaze also fell on Yaoguang. He seemed to guess something, and uncertainty flickered in his eyes.

Yaoguang did not take the initiative to explain.

Although he had reached the Void-Refining Realm, cultivation in the Void-Refining Realm required absorbing vast amounts of resources. It was a step-by-step process, and breaking through didn't involve an immediate qualitative increase in power like the one cultivators would get upon breaking through from the Golden Core Realm to the Void-Piercing Realm.

A newly advanced Void-Refining Realm cultivator, compared to a peak Void-Piercing Realm cultivator, was only stronger because of the higher realm of their Dao Technique and the fact that their grotto-heaven power could be mobilized faster.

Using combat power as an example, the combat power of Void-Piercing cultivators was often between ten million and twenty million.

As for Void-Refining cultivators, it was between twenty million and fifty million.

Yaoguang estimated that before he completed the other aspects and increased the mass of his grotto-heaven, the realm breakthrough had at most given him an increase of around five million in combat strength.

After all, his life-bound Dao Technique was not made for combat.

"Did anything important happen over the past three years?" Yaoguang asked.

"The Heavenly Ruin Hall has been peaceful. Over the past three years, everyone’s cultivation has improved quite a bit. They have also occasionally found some demons to practice against and adapt to their increased strength. Their days have been quite fulfilling," Qi Sha immediately answered.

"What about the Heavenly Dao Sect?" Yaoguang asked.

"We’ve only been out for four years. The Heavenly Dao Sect hasn’t asked about us in such a short time. However, Elder Shu Chunqiu had someone send word that the border between the outer sea and the deep sea of the Deep-Blue Sea has been somewhat chaotic recently, and he asked us to be careful," Qi Sha replied.

Yaoguang nodded.

To a Void-Piercing cultivator with a lifespan of ten thousand years, four years were equivalent to no more than a dozen days for a mortal.

As for the information sent by Elder Shu Chunqiu... It was rather interesting.

Yaoguang smiled and said, "Was the chaos at the border between the outer sea and the deep sea caused by that Heaven-Swallowing Demon King? Has Deputy Sect Master Leng still not captured it?"

"That's correct." Qi Sha became rather excited when this matter was mentioned. "The Penglai Immortal Sect had offered a bounty almost equivalent to a Dao Artifact in value. It did attract quite a few Void-Piercing cultivators from the Ten Great Immortal Dao Sects, and even Void-Refining powerhouses joined the lineup. However, among the team led by the Heaven-Swallowing Demon King, there is a demon king that is a Great Dao Golden Cicada. It is extremely sensitive to Dao resonance and the power of Dao Seeds. Even with three Void-Refining cultivators and over a dozen Void-Piercing cultivators arriving in the outer sea, they still failed to drag out the Heaven-Swallowing Demon King’s group. Instead, the demons seized a chance as soon as three Void-Piercing cultivators were isolated and displayed their ferocity!"

"Another three Void-Piercing cultivators died?" Yaoguang was somewhat surprised.

"Two died. They were Void-Piercing cultivators from the Immortal Martial Sect and the Great Shang Immortal Dynasty. The Void-Piercing cultivator from the Three-Qing Temple relied on a treasure to hold on until a Void-Refining Realm cultivator came to his aid, and managed to keep his life. However, his grotto-heaven nearly collapsed, and it is unknown whether he can still recover." Qi Sha smiled as he spoke. "It was precisely because of the information he brought back that the world learned there was a Great Dao Golden Cicada among the demons led by the Heaven-Swallowing Demon King."

"Great Dao Golden Cicada." Yaoguang sighed.

The demon race had countless varieties, so it was very easy for all sorts of bizarre lifeforms to be born among them. Although most of these lifeforms had low intelligence and found cultivation difficult, every now and then, some beings with special talents would appear.

The Great Dao Golden Cicada was one such existence. They were born with an incomparably keen perception of Dao resonance, the Great Dao, and Dao Seeds.

Unless the Great Dao Golden Cicada wanted to be approached, then whether it was Void-Piercing cultivators who had cultivated Dao Seeds, Void-Refining cultivators, or even Void-Shattering experts, they would be completely unable to approach.

Before the enemy could get close, the Great Dao Golden Cicada would have already sensed them and slipped away unnoticed.

"Unless a Dao Lord makes a move and directly erases an entire region, cultivators really have no solution against such a creature," Yaoguang said.

"Exactly. The Great Dao Golden Cicada’s perception of the Great Dao involves the Great Dao of soul, and the Great Dao of soul is one of the core Great Dao second only to the four supreme Great Dao. It is also ranked extremely high among them, so it's extremely profound." Qi Sha nodded. "After the Void-Piercing cultivator from the Three-Qing Temple spread this news, most of the Void-Piercing and Void-Refining Realm cultivators who had originally been interested in the Penglai Immortal Sect’s bounty withdrew. Even the Penglai Immortal Sect has been acting more cautiously in the outer sea."

"The Great Dao of soul..." When Yaoguang heard Qi Sha’s words, his heart stirred slightly.

His current progress in the Immortal Dao(Void-Shattering) branch was only at 4%, and among the information within that 4%, there were not many Dao Techniques at the mastery stage. However, True Spirit Light, which corresponded directly to the Great Dao of soul, happened to be among them.

No matter how talented that demon king formed from a Great Dao Golden Cicada was, at the Void-Piercing Realm, the limit would be enhancing its life-bound Dao Technique to the proficient stage.

With True Spirit Light’s ability to detect the soul fluctuations of living beings, as well as its keen perception of benevolent and malicious intent, perhaps he could give it a try.

Right now, the team led by the Heaven-Swallowing Demon King had already influenced the Penglai Immortal Sect’s expansion strategy. If he could kill this demon king, he'd be able to repay the Penglai Dao Lord's assistance, and he could also obtain 4,800,000,000 contribution points, which were nearly enough to exchange for a Dao Artifact. Why wouldn’t he do it?

"Let’s go. Set off. We’ll join in the fun as well," Yaoguang immediately gave the order.

"We will?" Qi Sha was slightly startled.

He glanced at Yaoguang. "You have already planted your Dao Seed now. I’m afraid it may not be easy to lure out the Heaven-Swallowing Demon King."

"Why bother luring it? Perhaps I can find that demon king instead." Yaoguang waved his hand. "Alright. Start the warship and head toward the outer sea."

After he finished speaking, he looked over the warship. "The standard warships of the Heavenly Dao Sect’s thirty-six battle halls are a little lacking. They are slow, their defenses are weak, the firepower is mediocre, and even their living spaces aren't that comfortable. Compared to the Longxiang Flying Vessel I used to own, they are far worse. Although the Longxiang Flying Vessel was also lacking in defense and firepower, there was nothing to criticize when it came to speed and comfort. If we can successfully lure out the Heaven-Swallowing Demon King and kill it in one fell swoop, the contribution points we obtain will be enough to exchange for quite a few materials and reforge Heavenly Ruin Hall’s warship."

He smiled as he spoke. "The Heavenly Ruin Hall is my first force, after all. If it isn’t equipped with a Dao-Artifact-level warship, how could that be worthy of my status?"

"A Dao-Artifact-level warship?! Your status?!" Qi Sha’s pupils constricted sharply.

Only a Dao-Artifact-level warship can match his status?! Just what status does he have? A deputy sect master of a sect after breaking through to the Void-Refining Realm?! Or... an artifact paragon capable of refining Dao Artifacts?!

Once these thoughts surfaced, they lingered in Qi Sha’s mind and refused to leave.

For a moment, although he knew it was somewhat presumptuous, he still could not help asking, "Young Sect Master... Did you... perhaps break through?"

Yaoguang looked at him. Since he intended to subdue the Heavenly Ruin Hall, he did not conceal it and nodded slightly. "That’s right."

The moment he said this, even though Qi Sha had already sensed it somewhat, his eyes still widened, and his face filled with disbelief. "V-Void-Refining Realm?! Y-You’re already at the Void-Refining Realm?"

Yaoguang smiled. "Counting the time, it has already been ten years since I broke through to the Void-Piercing Realm. It took ten years to reach the Void-Refining Realm... That’s quite reasonable, isn’t it?"

R-Reasonable?! After breaking through to the Void-Piercing Realm, he reached the Void-Refining Realm in ten years. That's reasonable?! Reasonable my ass! Qi Sha was in utter shock.

"H-How is this possible..."

"Qi Sha," Yaoguang suddenly said. "After spending this time together, I can tell that the way you conduct yourself is different from the other cultivators on the North Sea Star. You have your own bottom line. It is precisely because of this that, despite your impressive talent, your path in life has not gone smoothly. But... what I value is exactly this kind of character, someone who has his own convictions."

His expression grew slightly more serious. "Now that I have reached the Void-Refining Realm, I will soon be promoted to deputy sect master. I will likely be sent to the southern domain to take charge there, and at that time I will need people by my side. Therefore, I want to bring you with me. What do you think?"

1. Zero-point energy is the lowest possible energy that a quantum mechanical system may have. ☜