The Modern Martial Immortal

Yaoguang reached the Southern Capital, and without even activating the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array to hide himself, he spent three days and nights refining Crimson Malevolence, fully visible to everyone.

Not that long ago, many had heard that their domain lord's strength was formidable, that he had once slain a Void-Refining fiendish cultivator of the Yin Lunar Sect, refining it to death. But hearsay, repeated a thousand or ten thousand times, couldn't match the shock of witnessing it once with one's own eyes.

Over the three days and nights he spent refining Crimson Malevolence, the Southern Capital was more peaceful than ever before. Never mind killing over personal grievances, something the sect forbade... There wasn't so much as a petty scuffle or a small theft.

Administrators and commoners, merchants and customers, everyone acted harmoniously and was friendly to each other. Doors went unlatched through the night and lost goods lay untouched on the road; even family members became respectful to each other.

The Southern Capital had become a pure land on earth, a deep sense of safety filling every corner, moving the countless beings who longed for peace beyond words.

"Mas—Deputy Sect Master is truly incredible." Qi Sha, who kept order in the Southern Capital, gazed toward the domain lord's residence, his eyes brimming with wonder.

Li Hanqiu's eyes, however, held a trace of worry. "First it was several Void-Piercing fiendish cultivators and a Void-Refining one, and now a second Void-Refining fiendish cultivator, none other than the eldest disciple of a Void-Shattering fiendish cultivator. That amounts to thoroughly offending that Void-Shattering cultivator. After this, I'm afraid the Yin Lunar Sect won't let the matter rest."

"Perfected Lord Li, don't worry. With the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array in place, even if a Void-Shattering fiendish cultivator were to come in person, the deputy sect master would make sure he doesn't leave alive." Chi Yu said with a smile.

He clearly had great confidence in Yaoguang and in the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array. "Besides, our southern domain isn't an independent power. The Heavenly Dao Sect stands behind us."

"True, the Heavenly Dao Sect is behind us. But Yaoguang and the Heavenly Dao Sect's sect master seem to..." Li Hanqiu left it unsaid.

Yet Chi Yu already grasped what he meant to say. "The sect master does what he can to suppress certain outstanding deputy sect masters. But his actions have to be grounded in sound reason and can never be revealed to the public, or the Heavenly Dao Sect would have descended into chaos long ago. What's more, if the Yin Lunar Sect were to send a Void-Shattering cultivator, that'd be tantamount to openly declaring war on our Heavenly Dao Sect. The Heavenly Dao Sect would never let it rest. However much the sect master might wish to use someone else's blade to strike at us, he'll have no choice but to dispatch a supreme elder to our aid at once."

Beside them, Qi Sha spoke up as well, "If Zong Wenxian, as the sect master, were to watch as a deputy sect master presiding over an entire domain came under attack by a Void-Shattering fiendish cultivator without doing anything, his days as the sect master would be numbered, and that wouldn't even be his biggest concern. Worse still, an enraged Dao Lord might even have him buried alongside as a sacrifice to uphold the sect's law! Losing his battle with the deputy sect master would only cost Zong Wenxian the sect master's position, leaving him with a position as one of the supreme elders. But ignoring the sect's rules and angering a Dao Lord would cost him his life. Sect Master Zong can surely tell which outcome is best for him."

Chi Yu nodded in agreement. Void-Shattering Realm cultivators stood at the summit of the world, yet in a Dao Lord's eyes they carried little weight. To violate sect law was to defy a Dao Lord, and how would a Dao Lord let that pass lightly?

After all, so long as a Dao Lord wanted to do so, raising a Golden Core cultivator all the way to the Void-Shattering Realm would take no time at all. Shi Lin, the acting sect master of the Penglai Immortal Sect, was the perfect example. Hearing this, Li Hanqiu relaxed a little.

***

Inside the domain lord's residence, Yaoguang had by now finished refining Crimson Malevolence.

Even a single wisp of origin essence from his Yin-Malevolence Heavenly Fiend true body was equivalent to a natural treasure of superb quality, and it pushed Yaoguang's Void-Refining Realm cultivation up another tier.

Of course, fully clearing the erosion that the malevolent qi had inflicted on his grotto-heaven would take a little time, but that was nothing to Yaoguang.

"A fiendish cultivator's origin, a demon's true body, a human's grotto-heaven, a divine-race being's divine kingdom... Of all these, a fiendish cultivator's origin is the easiest to refine." Yaoguang sensed his cultivation rising.

The matter and energy his grotto-heaven could now bear had increased by at least fifty percent compared to before. In terms of combat power, it had risen from twenty million to thirty million.

Of course, that referred purely to the boost the grotto-heaven gave to his strength. In truth, the grotto-heaven's strength was only the base figure; Dao Techniques, Dao Artifacts, and experience all served as amplifiers.

Thirty million combat power, magnified by Dao Techniques and Dao Artifacts and by his rich combat experience and realm attainment, would likely double.

In other words, in terms of combat power, he had fully stepped into Void-Shattering Realm territory, even surpassing those who had only just advanced to it. This, naturally, was on the premise of counting the Sovereign Human Emperor and the Torrent of Time.

A little stronger every day. Yaoguang mused, rather captivated by the feeling.

After a moment, something seemed to occur to him, and he swiftly sank his psychic mind into the ancient tree within his mental world.

A good deal of experience had accumulated on the Daemon Hunter branch. And through the sale of the Dao Artifact Black Heaven Shroud, the Merchant branch had gained no small amount of experience either.

Channeling all of it into the Immortal Dao branch should be able to push his realm up to around 59%. This time, however, he didn't do that right away.

Though I haven't yet touched the true Dao Lord domain, many texts make it clear that the Void-Piercing, Void-Refining, and Void-Shattering Realms are in fact a stage much like Foundation Building. The ultimate aim is to bring the cultivator to complete the process of integrating with the Dao, laying the foundation to truly attempt to achieve immortality. Yaoguang reflected.

To most cultivators, the moment of Dao Integration already counted as becoming an immortal. Every Dao Lord possessed boundless might and was free to roam the vast starry sky as they pleased.

Even Void-Piercing cultivators could traverse the void, and Dao Lords were even faster at it, taking little time to cross from the North Sea Star to the Cangwu World. Suns, moons, and stars were to them no more than mounds of earth or sculptures of sand, to be crushed and erased at will.

Such beings were among the most uncanny and magnificent miracles of the cosmic starry sky. Set before many technological civilizations, Dao Lords would even exceed their imagination and overturn their understanding of the universe.

Even for Void-Piercing, Void-Refining, and Void-Shattering cultivators, such a being needed only to step through the Gate of the Immortal Realm to truly ascend and become an immortal.

And so cultivation at the Void-Shattering Realm was no longer about raising combat power, but about one's comprehension of the Dao, one's understanding of the three thousand Great Dao.

For him now, that understanding wasn't especially pressing. After all, he was only at the Void-Refining Realm, still far from the point of needing to comprehend the Great Dao and attempt Dao Integration.

The most urgent matter was to resolve the predicament he faced. To resolve that crisis, on one hand, he had to forge the Limitless Sword as soon as possible, or failing that, at least upgrade the Wandering Dragon Sword, the Two-Realm Ruler, and the Heaven-Sealing Stele, transforming them into top-tier Dao Artifacts.

On the other hand, he had to cultivate faster. If he were given another eight, or perhaps ten, Void-Refining fiendish cultivators to refine, then his grotto-heaven would grow strong enough to drive mastery-stage Dao Techniques, shatter the void, touch the three thousand Great Dao, and reach the Void-Shattering Realm. He wouldn't even need any additional resources.

Unfortunately, both methods took time, and the second carried enormous hidden risk. If he truly went to the Yin Lunar Sect and killed ten Void-Refining fiendish cultivators, then no matter how unwilling the Yin Lunar Sect might be, it would still be forced to start an all-out war with the Heavenly Dao Sect.

By then, as the chief culprit who had ignited the war, he would likely face the joint pursuit of several Void-Shattering experts at once, and the whole southern domain would be turned into a wasteland as a result.

"Neither method is easy to pull off in a short time. So the only choice is to draw on an outside force to build a real safe zone."

Yaoguang lifted his head, his gaze seeming to pierce the void and see the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array fused into the very fabric of the Southern Capital. "It's a fine array. In theory, with it in place, my current strength is more than enough to rest easy. But it just so happens that this array is a weak point."

His eyes flickered. "Unless I can repair some of its flaws... Wait... I do not need to repair it! Altering it should be enough!"

To alter the array. Laying out a level 13 array took, at the very least, the skill of a level 13 array caster. And the experience a level 13 array caster required, converted into the growth of an ancient tree branch, was not far short of going from the Void-Refining Realm to the Void-Shattering Realm.

But merely making some changes to the array's existing foundation, especially when he had already mastered the array...

"A level 12 array caster will do," Yaoguang said.

It would also preserve the Southern Capital's vitality for the great battle that surely lay ahead, sparing the city from being destroyed in the flames of war.

The next moment, he focused his psychic mind on the long-dormant Array Caster branch. At once, this branch, which had been plainly lagging behind the Refiner and Immortal Dao branches, began to grow quickly.

Level 10, level 11, level 12... To his considerable surprise, an amount of experience equal only to raising the Immortal Dao branch by 14% or 15% had pushed his array caster level all the way to level 13.

And after reaching level 13, there was still experience left over. The result caught him well off guard.

"Don't levels 13 through 15 correspond to Dao Lords? Or is it... 16 through 18 that really mark the Dao Lord domain?" He glanced at the remaining experience and simply tested it.

At once, the leftover experience drove his level 13 array caster level forward by another 11%.

After a quick calculation, Yaoguang soon reached a conclusion. "Hunting roughly three Void-Refining cultivators, or seizing six Dao Artifacts, plus forging and selling a dozen or so Dao Artifacts, would raise my array caster level to level 14."

Level 14. A level 14 array boosted even Dao Lords. It couldn't, like a level 15 array presided over by a Dao Lord, reach the point of trapping and killing another Dao Lord, but a Dao Lord backed by a level 14 array could turn the tide against a Dao Lord who originally outmatched him.

"Did I miscalculate? Is it levels 16 through 18 that correspond to Dao Lords? Or is it that after the Martial Dao, Qi Dao, and Psyche Dao merged into the Immortal Dao, the experience required jumped sharply, leading me to misjudge?" Yaoguang felt some surprise.

But whatever the reason, the change delighted him beyond expectation.

Raising his array caster level to level 13 in one go wouldn't let him simply alter the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array, and even more than he originally intended to, but it would also allow him to strengthen and refine it in certain aspects. The overall performance would be enhanced.

After all, the one who had laid this array out was a Dao Lord, not a level 13 array caster. He had relied on his own exceptional cultivation and comprehension of the Great Dao, using raw strength to forcibly raise the level of the array to 13.

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