The Modern Martial Immortal

Within the Taiyi Immortal Sect headquarters, the Supreme Jade Emperor studied the intelligence report in his hand, his face full of gloom. "When Yaoguang slew the Void-Refining Realm fiendish cultivator Evil Eye, one could still say that Evil Eye's Dao Artifact didn't mesh well enough with his life-bound Dao Technique. But Crimson Malevolence was the eldest personal disciple of the Eight Desolations Fiend Lord. He was practically that Void-Shattering Realm fiend's public face, and he was among the elite Void-Refining Realm cultivators. For Yaoguang to kill him... Strength like that already places him among the very top tier of the Void-Refining Realm."

His face was cold; there was no telling what he was thinking.

Just then, a psychic thought came through. "Supreme Jade Emperor."

Feeling it, the Supreme Jade Emperor rose to his feet. "Sect Master."

The next moment, a radiant glow swirled, and a projection condensed from psychic thought appeared on the mountain peak where the Supreme Jade Emperor stood. By his form of address, the figure that had arrived was none other than the Taiyuan Perfected Lord, the sect master of the Taiyi Immortal Sect.[1]

"You should have heard about our neighbor, the Heavenly Dao Sect's deputy sect master Yaoguang? As I recall, one of your disciples has some bad blood with that Yaoguang, so you ought to have been keeping an eye on news of him." Having shown himself, the Taiyi Immortal Sect's sect master didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

"I've heard." The Supreme Jade Emperor nodded. "Less than a century into his cultivation, and he's refined two Void-Refining fiendish cultivators in succession. Truly a dazzling talent."

"With talent like that, his eventual attainment of the Void-Shattering Realm should be only a matter of time. And once he reaches it, just how much weight he'll carry after that... Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

"You mean..." Something seemed to occur to the Supreme Jade Emperor, and he shook his head. "Impossible. The Dao of the void may be one of the Four Supreme Great Dao, but it's easy to learn and hard to master. On top of that, the void is the first Great Dao every cultivator comes into contact with, which makes its cultivators the most numerous in the world and the competition along that Dao fiercer than any other. To attain Dao Integration through the Great Dao of void... The danger is who knows how many times greater than other Dao."

"That's not what I'm getting at. I'm talking about the artifact paragon..." the Taiyuan Perfected Lord said slowly.

"The artifact paragon?" The Supreme Jade Emperor was startled, but he soon caught on. "Do you mean that once he reaches the Void-Shattering Realm, the artifact paragon behind him will step out into the open? That Yaoguang, drawing on the artifact paragon's power, will be able to contend for the position of the Heavenly Dao Sect's sect master and become the number one figure in the Heavenly Dao Sect below the Dao Lords?!"

"Just so." The Taiyuan Perfected Lord nodded. "He's already doing exactly that, is he not?"

The Supreme Jade Emperor's heart sank. After completing the Dao Artifact auction, Yaoguang had publicly promised that he was now accepting commissions for custom Dao Artifacts. That was indeed already a form of advertising for the artifact paragon behind him.

By his own word, he could deliver the first custom-made Dao Artifact within a century. The moment that order was fulfilled, Yaoguang and the artifact paragon behind him would prove to the world that he really could forge custom Dao Artifacts and would fulfill all orders. After that, Yaoguang's prestige in the Heavenly Dao Sect and across the North Sea Star would surely reach unprecedented heights.

The fact that he had said he'd deliver the first Dao Artifact in a century made many suspect he was confident of reaching the Void-Shattering Realm within a hundred years. A Void-Shattering cultivator was qualified to contend for the position of the Heavenly Dao Sect's sect master.

Combined with the artifact paragon's support, replacing Zong Wenxian as the Heavenly Dao Sect's sect master was by no means an empty claim.

"Our sect borders the Heavenly Dao Sect, and since our two sects' Dao Lords don't walk the same Great Dao, there's no risk a Dao Contest will arise between us, so our relations are fairly good. But the feud between that disciple of yours and Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang is a buried thorn. So you'd best deal with this matter." The Taiyuan Perfected Lord stated the true purpose of his visit.

The Supreme Jade Emperor didn't find it surprising. Anyone could now see that Yaoguang's momentum was unstoppable.

Within the Heavenly Dao Sect, there was likely no one left who dared overlook his influence, and even the Taiyi Immortal Sect had felt its effects, to the point that their own sect master had come in person to discuss the matter with him.

Still, Heavenly Venerable Jiang was, after all, his disciple. However dissatisfied he was with Heavenly Venerable Jiang's pace of growth, he couldn't simply cast him aside now.

After some thought, he said, "Zong Wenxian is a crafty schemer, and we understand all too well how formidable his methods are. Yaoguang may not be able to outmatch him."

He added, "Heavenly Venerable Jiang is at a critical juncture of breaking through to the Void-Piercing Realm. If he can attain it, a Void-Piercing cultivator under two hundred years old would hold no small potential. I'll take him to apologize to Yaoguang and do my best to turn hostility into goodwill between them. And if his advancement fails and he simply perishes in the process, then naturally there's an end to it all."

The Taiyuan Perfected Lord felt this was slightly improper. But whether Yaoguang could outmatch Zong Wenxian was unknown.

And while a sect master's standing was marginally higher than a supreme elder's, unless it touched on the sect's grand designs, a sect master had no right to command a supreme elder to do anything.

He could only say, "Then think it over carefully. Best to settle this before Yaoguang reaches the Void-Shattering Realm."

The Supreme Jade Emperor nodded, and with that, the Taiyuan Perfected Lord's projection dispersed and departed.

"A matter among juniors, escalating until even the sect master takes notice..."

The Supreme Jade Emperor was silent for a long while. But then something else occurred to him. Juniors? Who would dare call Yaoguang, who had already killed two Void-Refining fiendish cultivators, a junior?!

Let alone that an artifact paragon capable of forging Dao Artifacts was rumored to stand behind him. For his affairs to alarm even the Taiyi Immortal Sect's sect master was nothing out of the ordinary.

After a good while, the supreme elder called out, "Someone, come."

When one of his followers arrived, he handed over the jade talisman bearing the news of Yaoguang's feats. "Give this to Mo Shan. Have him show it to Heavenly Venerable Jiang during a break in his cultivation. I think he'll understand what I'm trying to say then."

"Yes." The follower acknowledged and quickly withdrew.

Watching him go, the Supreme Jade Emperor slowly let out a breath. "Everyone must bear the consequences of their own deeds. I, as your master, have done enough. Whether you can show enough value to preserve your own life from here... That's down to your own fortune."

***

Within the Taiyi Immortal Sect, the news of Yaoguang refining two Void-Refining fiendish cultivators, and of his claim to possess the ability to forge Dao Artifacts, had caused quite a stir, and the shockwaves were even bigger in the Heavenly Dao Sect and the Penglai Immortal Sect.

During one of Yaoguang's few moments of rest in the two weeks he spent studying the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array, Chi Yu brought before him an Azure Golden Core cultivator named Shu Wuya.

After hearing the man's introduction, Yaoguang was somewhat surprised. "You're a descendant of Elder Shu Chunqiu?"

"Yes," Shu Wuya answered respectfully. "The Shu family wishes to pledge ourselves to you, Deputy Sect Master, to serve you with all our effort. But Ancestor felt that staying in his current position might let him be of more help to you, so he sent me ahead to await your orders first. If you require it, he can resign his post as elder of his immortal lineage and his other duties and bring the whole Shu family to the southern domain to serve."

"Elder Shu... is considerate indeed." Recalling that Shu Chunqiu had also spared no effort helping him acquire Dao Artifact materials, Yaoguang didn't refuse the goodwill. "Then let Elder Shu keep issuing tasks on my behalf within the sect, gathering Dao Artifact materials by taking advantage of the Heavenly Dao Sect's strength. I'll have a batch of resources sent to Nine Cauldrons Peak shortly."

His resources were now extremely abundant. In the span of a single month, he had already disbursed several hundred million.

Most of those resources went to the members of the Nine Cauldrons Sect, in an effort to quickly raise their realms to the Radiant Sun Golden Core Realm, the Blazing White Golden Core Realm, or even the Azure Golden Core Realm.

But a portion was also shared out among the Void-Piercing elders, each receiving a reward of over ten million Pure Yang Grand Pills, equal to a decade's income back at the Heavenly Dao Sect.

"As for you, since Elder Shu has sent you to my side, you'll work under Perfected Lord Li for now. He happens to need enough hands to help keep the Southern Capital running."

"Yes." Shu Wuya bowed, and Yaoguang waved him off.

On the same day Shu Wuya arrived, two Void-Piercing battle immortals of the Penglai Immortal Sect came to the Southern Capital, each bearing a lavish gift. The two represented none other than the Penglai Immortal Sect's two palace masters, Zheng Yang and Xuan Yin.

"The two palace masters are too kind. I already received your sect's last gift."

"That last time were only the resources you deserved in exchange for the contribution points you earned for slaying the Heaven-Swallowing Demon Emperor and foiling the demon race's scheme, Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang. Those resources cannot convey our two palace masters' apologies," the two Void-Piercing battle immortals said hurriedly.

Yaoguang glanced at the gift. Each was worth over a hundred million. Over a hundred million Pure Yang Grand Pills was a vast sum even for a Void-Refining cultivator.

The two Void-Refining palace masters, Zheng Yang and Xuan Yin, had sent two heavy gifts in succession merely because they had once acted to help Leng Qingqiu against him.

"In that case, I'll accept them. Please tell the two palace masters that I never took the matter to heart, and that the Southern Capital welcomes them to visit whenever they have the time." Yaoguang gave a slight nod.

"We'll be sure to convey it."

"Our palace masters have long admired the local customs of the Southern Capital," the two said in turn.

Hearing this, Yaoguang understood something. For the two palace masters to send heavy gifts one after another, they likely had other ideas in mind. He asked with a smile, "And how have the two palace masters been lately?"

"Thanks to you, Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang, the outer-sea demon race has quieted down a little of late, so the palace masters have had a bit of time to rest. It's just... things within the sect are somewhat messy," one of the Void-Piercing battle immortals said, seizing the opening.

"How so?" Yaoguang asked, playing along.

"When we set out, the two deputy sect masters, Leng Qingqiu and Zhan Xiao, had again gone to make trouble for the acting sect master Shi Lin. They..." the Void-Piercing battle immortal glanced at Yaoguang and said with a wry smile. "They seem to think that the reason you claimed you could accept Dao Artifact orders, Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang, is that you have the Penglai Dao Lord backing you, and that the one forging the Dao Artifacts is no artifact paragon at all, but the Penglai Dao Lord herself."

Yaoguang answered noncommittally, "And what do your palace masters think?"

"Our palace masters?" The Void-Piercing Realm battle immortal weighed his words. "The Dao Lord is occupied with a myriad of affairs, especially now, with the Gate of the Immortal Realm having been open for less than a thousand years and the Dao Contest drawing near. She shouldn't waste precious time forging Dao Artifacts..."

He then smiled. "Personally, I rather think that you have great vision and ambition, Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang. In under ten years in the southern domain, you've already completely changed the status quo and made the domain more prosperous by the day. With your abilities, if the news were true and you really are on close terms with the Dao Lord, that wouldn't be a bad thing for our sect at all."

Yaoguang looked at him and smiled without speaking. A mere Void-Piercing battle immortal dared to voice his own opinions before me?

These words were likely prompted by the two palace masters behind him. Or rather, they represent the stance of the many within the Penglai Immortal Sect who are dissatisfied with the deputy sect masters and the sect master. That's interesting...

1. Taiyuan can refer to a few things, including an ancient Chinese era, a city in China, or used to describe the primal, cosmic state of the universe. ☜

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