The Modern Martial Immortal

At the Hundred-Refinement Peak.

Yaoguang continued channeling the Spirit Nurturing Technique to activate the Dao resonance within the Dao Artifact materials, feeding it to the Wandering Dragon Sword for refinement. He glanced up from the corner of his eye just in time to see a streak of sword light cut through the sky.

Shortly after, intense energy fluctuations erupted from a region west of the Southern Capital, among which was the unmistakable Dao resonance of the Great Dao of destruction.

"Isn't this the third time Qi Sha has been deployed today?" Yaoguang asked offhandedly.

"It is. This occasion involves a conflict between an imperial prince of the True Dragon Dynasty and a true disciple of the Golden Crow Sect," Tang Fenghua, who stood nearby handling messages and miscellaneous matters, replied at once.

"The True Dragon Dynasty and the Golden Crow Sect have never gotten along, so a conflict between a prince and a true disciple is hardly surprising. Even so..." Yaoguang paused briefly. "The fact that Qi Sha was deployed means Void-Piercing cultivators were involved. I believe I had everyone reminded before entering the Southern Capital that all guests are to be treated as such, and regardless of any prior grievances between parties, no fighting is permitted within the Southern Capital's borders?"

"That is correct. Those who start fights are to be blacklisted and barred from re-entering the Southern Capital! Those who cause serious damage or inflict injuries will be dealt with severely by the domain lord's residence," Tang Fenghua said, then hesitated. "However, in the previous incidents, both sides stood down as soon as Hall Master Qi Sha arrived. And since they compensated for the damages caused, the expulsion order has not been enforced particularly thoroughly..."

"Which is exactly why the fighting has continued to break out one after another today," Yaoguang said directly. "Send word to Qi Sha. Have those who started the fight expelled on the spot."

Tang Fenghua was taken aback. "One of the parties involved this time comes from the True Dragon Dynasty, one of the Four Great Immortal Dynasties. The other comes from the Golden Crow Sect, one of the Ten Great Immortal Dao Sects. Expelling them could reflect poorly on our auction..."

"You seem to be underestimating the influence a Dao Artifact carries," Yaoguang said, adding a touch of weight to his tone. "It is not as though I am begging them to come buy our Dao Artifact. They are the ones who need to find ways to outbid each other for the Void Sword in our possession."

Tang Fenghua froze.

"Go," Yaoguang said with a wave of his hand.

He understood why Tang Fenghua and the others had these concerns. When it came down to it, aside from himself, the only notable figure the Nine Cauldrons Sect could put forward was Li Hanqiu, who was only a Void-Piercing battle immortal.

What did that amount to at a Dao Artifact auction that was essentially a grand gathering of the entire human race?

The auction had not yet begun, and already the number of Void-Refining cultivators who had arrived was more than one hand could count, while Void-Piercing cultivators had reached double digits. Faced with so many powerful figures, those without sufficient standing naturally hesitated, looking over their shoulders before taking any action.

Suddenly, Wan Liugui came hurrying over. "Deputy Sect Master, something has happened."

He quickly took out a communication jade talisman. "The Liu family, a major family based in the border states, sent word not long ago. Earlier today, a Void-Piercing fiendish cultivator from the Yin Lunar Sect crossed into southern domain territory. Unlike the previous days, when they only plundered some resources and carried out limited, probing attacks with minor casualties, this fiendish cultivator directly used the population of an entire small city in Meng Province as a blood sacrifice, killing forty thousand cultivators!"

"Using the population of an entire city as a blood sacrifice... They are pushing their luck," Yaoguang said with a sigh.

He had intended to deal with the Yin Lunar Sect after the Dao Artifact auction was over, but it was now clear that the Yin Lunar Sect had picked up from those earlier probing attacks that he would not make any major move before the auction was finished.

In particular, Zong Wenxian had brought virtually every battle hall stationed at the Heavenly Dao Sect to the battlefield beyond the heavens.

This was more or less telling everyone, including the Yin Lunar Sect, that the Heavenly Dao Sect was short-handed for the time being and that any reinforcements would arrive slowly. Naturally, the fiendish cultivators that had been testing the waters grew bolder with each passing day.

Only half a month remained before the auction, but if he continued to show no response, more cities would likely meet the same fate. At worst, the Yin Lunar Sect might seize one or even several states. If that happened and territory was lost, Zong Wenxian would absolutely use that as a pretext to make trouble.

"Deputy Sect Master, should we request reinforcements from the sect? After all, this is an incursion by the Yin Lunar Sect!" Wan Liugui asked.

"The scale is too small, and there are other factors at play. Even if the sect dispatched people, it would be ten days to half a month before they arrived, and by then it would be too late," Yaoguang replied. "I understand the situation. I will handle it."

"If you need anything at all, Deputy Sect Master, please say the word. We may be only Void-Piercing battle immortals, but when we go all out, we still have our ways to threaten those Void-Piercing fiendish cultivators," Wan Liugui said gravely.

"It is a minor matter. There is no need," Yaoguang said, waving him off.

Once Wan Liugui had gone, Yaoguang reached out his hand and produced a talisman. As his psychic thought was channeled into it, several towering peaks within the Southern Capital's boundaries simultaneously blazed with radiance. The light gathered for a moment before shooting into the sky, forming a magnificent curtain of light. Countless beams interlocked and merged, eventually blanketing the entire Southern Capital in a large defensive array spanning fifteen thousand kilometers.

The Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array was activated.

For every day this array remained active, even without repelling any attacks or amplifying any Dao Techniques, it consumed five to six hundred thousand Pure Yang Grand Pills. With fifteen days remaining until the auction, the cost would approach ten million Pure Yang Grand Pills, a sum that many Void-Piercing cultivators could not accumulate even in a hundred years.

"Chi Yu," Yaoguang called out with his psychic thought, quickly locating the Void-Piercing cultivator.

"Deputy Sect Master? I am here," Chi Yu replied, sounding somewhat surprised. "The Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array has been activated already?"

"Yes. Keep watch over the array's operation. I need to step out for a while. During that time, if anyone dares to cause trouble, whether they are at the Void-Piercing Realm or the Void-Refining Realm, do not hold back when it comes to subduing them," Yaoguang said.

"Understood," Chi Yu responded, then added, "With those words from you, Deputy Sect Master, I can carry out my duties without hesitation."

"Mhmm." With that, Yaoguang's figure flickered and appeared directly in the building where Li Hanqiu was stationed.

Li Hanqiu was in the middle of recording the names of visiting guests with Li Qingshan and several others. He looked up in mild surprise when Yaoguang arrived and quickly rose to his feet. "Yaoguang, what brings you here?"

"Lend me the Void Disk. I need to go out for a while, and do not let anyone know I have left," Yaoguang said, briefly estimating the time. "I will be back soon. Three days, hopefully. But no more than ten."

"Do you intend to leave at a time like this? Many of the Void-Refining guests have already arrived..." Li Qingshan said hesitantly.

But before he could finish, Li Hanqiu had already taken out the Void Disk without a word of question and gave only one careful admonition. "Please be careful!"

"It is just a small errand. There will be no danger," Yaoguang said with a slight smile.

Li Hanqiu asked no more questions, and Li Qingshan fell silent as well. Both men understood clearly that Yaoguang now operated at a level so far beyond their own that there was simply nothing they could do to assist him.

Their role was to handle the various matters around him as best they could. Whatever he chose to do needed no explanation, and asking would serve no purpose.

***

Compared to the Two-Realm Ruler, the Void Disk excelled at long-distance, continuous flight. When wielding the Two-Realm Ruler, a single use of Void Flicker could carry Yaoguang fifteen thousand kilometers, but that method of travel strained him considerably. After a few dozen flickers, his grotto-heaven would grow unstable, something akin to exhausting one's true qi.[1]

With the Void Disk, the speed was somewhat slower, but the burden on the grotto-heaven was greatly reduced.

It's a pity that the current records on the path to the Void-Shattering Realm contain no mention of the Sovereign Human Emperor Dao Technique. And though my grotto-heaven has been modified by the Void Heart, the absence of any cultivators living within it means it adds very little to my actual combat power...

As these thoughts ran through his mind, Yaoguang executed a single Void Flicker and slipped out of the Southern Capital without a sound. Even with several Void-Refining Realm cultivators already present in the Southern Capital, not one of them detected the traces he left behind, nor did anyone realize he had departed.

Once outside, he flickered several more times, putting well over fifty thousand kilometers between himself and the city, before bringing out the Void Disk and accelerating to full speed.

His destination was the border of the Meng state, where the blood sacrifice had taken place.

Thanks to the Void Disk's exceptional aptitude for void traversal and flight, he arrived within the Meng state in just one day. Once there, he put the Void Disk away and began moving around by using short-range Void Flickers, searching for fiendish cultivators.

With each flicker, True Spirit Light radiated outward in expanding invisible ripples that quickly drew out the fiendish cultivators concealed within each city.

There were fiendish cultivators among the human race, but the term was not exclusive to humans. Any intelligent being who tempered their psychic mind through the seven emotions and six desires and advanced their cultivation in that manner was called a fiendish cultivator.[2]

The fiendish cultivators of the Yin Lunar Sect primarily drew out the dark emotions hidden within the spirituality of sentient beings, fed on those emotions, and used them to refine their divine abilities and Dao Techniques, which in turn fed back into their own cultivation, elevating their realm and allowing for rapid advancement.

The advantage of this system was that, given sufficient dark emotions to draw upon, their divine abilities and Dao Techniques developed quickly, and their realm advanced faster than conventional cultivation.

The disadvantage was that by relying on external forces to develop divine abilities and Dao Techniques first and cultivation second, their actual combat power was generally weaker than their realm would otherwise suggest.

In particular, at the step of Dao Integration, the heart fiend tribulation would claim the lives of 99.99 percent of Void-Shattering cultivators. This was why, despite their faster rate of advancement, they counted only six Dao Lord lineages and their overall influence paled in comparison to the Ten Great Immortal Dao Sects at their peak.

"There are quite a few fiendish cultivators indeed," Yaoguang murmured as his True Spirit Light swept over the area, detecting a large number of beings emanating distinctly dark spiritual fluctuations.

Killing all of them without investigating might mean wrongly slaying one innocent, but even that single survivor who happened not to be a fiendish cultivator was almost certainly no benevolent individual.

With that in mind, Yaoguang did not show any mercy. He raised a hand, and dozens of streaks of sword light slashed across the sky, each carrying invisible void ripples, swiftly killing every being within the city whose spiritual fluctuations carried that dark taint.

After eliminating the several dozen cultivators in that city, he did not hesitate. He picked another city on the southern domain map, flickered over to it, and continued his search.

In the span of a blink, he had swept through six cities. The number of fiendish cultivators who had died at his hands surpassed three hundred.

As long as the Yin Lunar Sect cared even slightly about the fate of their disciples, they would soon become aware that a powerful cultivator had arrived in the Meng state and respond. They would either withdraw their fiendish cultivators or dispatch a Void-Piercing cultivator to intercept him.

Hmm?! A Void-Piercing cultivator?! Mid-thought, Yaoguang flickered to the seventh city and came to an abrupt stop.

Within that city, there was unmistakably the aura of a Void-Piercing fiendish cultivator.

1. True qi is a common concept in wuxia/xianxia novels. It is essentially the energy of a cultivator. ☜

2. Seven Emotions and Six Desires is a term in traditional Chinese culture that describes human emotions and desires. The Seven Emotions typically refer to the seven innate emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, and desire. This concept was first proposed in the Book of Rites: Liyun. Traditional Chinese Medicine theory adjusts them to the seven emotional states of joy, anger, worry, contemplation, sorrow, fear, and fright. The Six Desires were first mentioned in Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals, with the Eastern Han commentator Gao You annotating them as the desires for life, death, ear (sound), eye (sight), mouth (taste), and nose (smell). The Buddhist text Mahāprajñāpāramitā Śāstra defines them as six kinds of sensual desires, including desire for form and desire for physical appearance. Later generations summarized them as the desire to see, the desire to hear, the desire for fragrance, the desire for taste, the desire for touch, and the desire for mental phenomena. ☜

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