The Modern Martial Immortal

Chapter 121: Subsiding

Yaoguang stood quietly by Longyou Stream. He did not allow himself to become immersed in the force contained in the earth veins.

Several Psyche-Concentrating Pills had already strengthened his psychic will to the point where he could substitute heaven’s heart with his own. No matter where he was, he could now trigger the heaven-and-earth force field to temper his body.

Not only that, because his realm had reached the star lord tier, his application of the stellar force field was no longer as simple as borrowing the power of heaven and earth to temper himself; he could now leverage the entire stellar force field.

In other words, as long as his body could withstand it, the heaven-and-earth tempering power he could invoke was effectively limitless. Whether or not he borrowed the force of the earth veins had become irrelevant.

”The heaven-and-earth furnace, Heaven-and-Earth Domain, and Star Transformation are, to some extent, all parts of the process of polishing and tempering one’s physical body.” Yaoguang felt the strengthening of his frame as he organized his path of cultivation.

”The heaven-and-earth furnace is the first step in forging the body of a heavenly being. Once the heavenly being’s body is obtained, it resonates with the power of heaven and earth to form a domain. Once the domain is established, one can mobilize even more heaven-and-earth power to temper oneself, making the heavenly being’s body even stronger. Once the body is reinforced to its limit, the cultivator can merge their essence, qi, and psyche into one, touching the stellar force field.”

One involved invoking the power of heaven and earth to temper oneself, while the other involved touching the stellar force field to merge with the stars. The nature of these two was worlds apart.

The former, if practiced to its peak, could stir up weather phenomena and summon wind and rain, but the latter could shatter planets. Not only was the gap immense, but the potential was as different as heaven and earth.

”There is no fundamental difference between the seventh, eighth, or even ninth tiers. The core of this realm is to forge a powerful body, striving for the moment the Star Lord Realm leverages the stellar force field...” Yaoguang muttered.

It’s not just the seventh, eighth, and ninth tiers... From the fourth tier onward, the Martial Dao has been developing in this direction. First, breaking human limits, then nurturing a powerful psychic will, then substituting heaven’s heart with one’s own to invoke the power of heaven and earth, and finally, step by step, touching the stars...

It was a perfectly interlocking cultivation system.

”In terms of cultivation realms, I have already touched the stellar force field. In fact, if I weren’t afraid of being directly crushed by it, I could even forcibly leverage the stellar force field to bolster myself, just like a star lord...”

However, simply thinking about drawing the power of the stars to bolster himself was enough. With his current body, he couldn’t even withstand leveraging one-ten-thousandth of the stellar power. To solve this issue, he either had to follow the steps and temper his body piece by piece until the heavenly being’s body was perfected.

Or... Yaoguang thought of the force of the earth veins triggered by his Great Earth Furnace and slowly exhaled.

”An array art,” he said. An array art could assist him with his cultivation.

”Besides array arts, there are also pills. Pills that increase physical strength can advance the progress of a heavenly being’s body, and healing pills can indirectly improve cultivation efficiency... Therefore...”

After assessing the progress he had made in condensing a heavenly being’s body, Yaoguang felt that three months would be enough for him to reach the realm of heavenly beings. Presumably, a new branch would grow on the ancient tree by then.

”I hope it will be the Alchemist profession when the time comes,” Yaoguang whispered.

He gradually withdrew from his state of merging with heaven and earth. As he did, he sensed someone approaching. By the time he finished his session, Yue Xingzhou, Zong Yan, and Leng Jun were standing a short distance from him.

Upon their arrival, Yaoguang seemed to notice something and fixed his gaze on Leng Jun. ”You refined your internal organs? Not bad.”

”The Liao family had many top-tier pills, every one of them an excellent item for the internal refinement of the organs. I consumed quite a few. If I still couldn’t become a grandmaster, I would truly be too ashamed to face you, Young Master,” Leng Jun said.

Hearing this, Yaoguang remembered that aspect. In fact, it wasn’t just Leng Jun; the progress of Lei Yun, Pang Long, Su Hua, and all the others had been significant. When one’s realm was low, achieving true rapid progress relied on resources.

Take Zong Yan, for instance; if Yaoguang gave him a Soul-Nurturing Pill, he could immediately become a psychic-will martial paragon. As for whether the stray thoughts in the Soul-Nurturing Pill would lead to the birth of heart fiends... Before becoming a high-tier cultivator, there was no such thing as a heart fiend. And if he wasn’t allowed to take the Soul-Nurturing Pill, he might never become a high-tier cultivator in his entire life.

As he thought about that, Yaoguang did not voice his thoughts but instead asked, ”What is it?”

Leng Jun hesitated for a moment before saying, ”The Old Master sent me to ask you... What happened over at the Crimson Star Empire? Have we... allied with the Snowdragon Empire?”

”The Crimson Star Empire...” Yaoguang started, but found explaining the situation wasn’t that easy. He didn’t quite know what to tell Su Chiming.

For the moment, he could only set it aside. ”We have allied. For now, you don’t need to worry about the affairs over there.”

”Understood.” Leng Jun nodded.

Yue Xingzhou stepped forward. ”Speaker, Jiang Sheng of the Jiang family, as well as Lyu Jianfeng and Lyu Xinghe of the Lyu family, have arrived. Representatives from the other families have also come with them.”

”Oh.” Yaoguang wasn’t surprised by their arrival.

Kong Fang had already led his men into the Crimson Star Imperial Palace openly. Throughout that process, they had encountered almost no large-scale resistance from the Jiang family of the Crimson Star Empire. If this trend continued, it was feared that the entire Crimson Star Empire would be completely overturned.

Although the main force overturning the Crimson Star Empire was the Snowdragon Empire, and Dayu had only sent Kong Fang with a few hundred people as a gesture, the two sides were allies!

No matter how few people were sent, when it came time to divide the spoils, the massive benefits would be enough to allow the Su family of Dayu, represented by Kong Fang, to grow into a multi-national, trans-continental level titan at an incredible speed.

Under these circumstances, the various major families naturally couldn’t sit still and were desperate to come and claim a share.

”What are the thoughts of the Yue family?” Yaoguang cast a glance at Yue Xingzhou.

”Everyone in the Yue family follows your lead, Lord Yaoguang,” Yue Xingzhou said without hesitation.

Yaoguang listened and nodded.

Over the past few months, the Yue family had indeed acted like a butler, constantly assisting the Su family from all aspects, allowing the Su family to gradually bring the situation in Dayu under control. If not for the Yue family’s help, no matter how well the Su family had prepared for their promotion to an aristocratic family, they would have inevitably been overwhelmed at this time, potentially throwing all of Dayu into turmoil.

After all, the scale of this leap was simply too large. At present, the Su family was barely able to manage things in Dayu. If Su Chiming were to be sent to the Crimson Star Empire to take over this titan that spanned two continents, Yaoguang estimated that the head of the Su family would be at risk of working himself to death.

With that in mind, it was necessary to delegate power appropriately. After all, these families had been quite well-behaved over the past few months. Of course, if power were to be delegated, it could not continue as it was now. He needed to have a serious talk about the rules with the nine great families.

”Have them go to the conference room,” Yaoguang instructed. Then, he cast a glance at Leng Jun. ”Tell the old master to come as well.”

”Yes,” Yue Xingzhou and Leng Jun replied in unison.

Yaoguang then looked at Zong Yan. ”You must be here for matters concerning the World-Saving Society, right? What is it?”

”Uhh...” For a moment, Zong Yan did not know how to express it. He took a while to organize his words. ”The World-Saving Society was essentially founded to oppose the martial paragons of the Crimson Star Empire. Even allying with nations across the Central and Eastern continents was only meant to be a way to withstand the pressure from the Crimson Star Empire. However, the Snowdragon Empire’s recent swift and thunderous actions occupied the Crimson Star Empire’s capital with crushing force... It seems like... the Crimson Star Empire is finished?”

”Mhmm,” Yaoguang responded calmly. ”According to the level of preparation on Dayu’s side, the Crimson Star Empire will become history at the appropriate time.”

”Dayu?” Zong Yan froze for a moment. Then, his pupils suddenly constricted. ”Dayu?!”

It’s not the Snowdragon Empire but Dayu?! Zong Yan was in utter shock.

”Correct,” Yaoguang gave a definitive answer. ”Dayu.”

Zong Yan stared at Yaoguang in horror, his eyes filled with disbelief. Based on Yaoguang’s words, the Snowdragon Empire is attacking the Crimson Star Empire for him?! In the future, full authority will be handed over to Dayu, to the Su family, or rather, to Su Yaoguang?! H-How is this possible?!

”Although the Crimson Star Empire will still exist for a while out of the need for regional stability, in reality, there is no more Crimson Star Empire... Therefore...” Yaoguang glanced at Zong Yan. ”The World-Saving Society should either disband or change its fundamental nature.”

”There is no more Crimson Star Empire... No more Crimson Star Empire...” Zong Yan kept muttering the phrase.

The Crimson Star Empire... is just gone? The powerful empire that the World-Saving Society viewed as the greatest threat, which we barely managed to survive under by uniting the Central and Eastern continents, is simply gone? It will be completely wiped out by the Snowdragon Federation and replaced by the Su family of Dayu? The goal he had held onto for so many years had suddenly vanished. For a moment, Zong Yan’s eyes were filled with confusion.

Yaoguang said nothing more and walked directly toward the Yuhuang Mountain’s villa. If Zong Yan couldn’t figure it out, he would just have to think more about it. There was no comforting him.

Only after Yaoguang had walked dozens of meters did the dazed Zong Yan regain his cool. He quickly caught up, sounding anxious. ”If there is no more Crimson Star Empire, then... What about the slots to enter the Artifact Sect? And now that the Snowdragon Empire has the Crimson Star Empire, how will the main branch of the Crimson Star Empire within the Artifact Sect react...”

”The Artifact Sect...” Considering that Leng Tianfeng’s claim about the destruction of the Artifact Sect might also be a bluff, Yaoguang did not speak with absolute certainty. He only said, ”The Snowdragon Empire will attempt to open the Star Gate. Only after they have opened it and clarified what happened in the Artifact Sect will there be a plan for the next step. Until then, you need to wait patiently.”

Hearing this, Zong Yan adjusted his state of mind. The recommendation slots for the Artifact Sect were now in the hands of the Snowdragon Empire. And the Snowdragon Empire was clearly in an alliance with Yaoguang...

As he considered the matter, he made a decision. ”Speaker Yaoguang, the Jiang family of the Crimson Star Empire has ruled that land for hundreds of years. There must be countless forces that remain loyal to them. Even with the Snowdragon Empire’s constant purging, these forces cannot be cleared in a short time. To ensure that Kong Fang and the others can smoothly take over the resources and technology left by the Crimson Star Empire, the World-Saving Society is willing to assist fully and follow your arrangements.”

Yaoguang glanced at Zong Yan. He was one of the martial paragons who had pledged loyalty to him relatively early on. The two even shared a history of fighting side by side. Unfortunately, Zong Yan had spent most of his life devoted to the World-Saving Society. Currently, he remained by Yaoguang’s side primarily as a bridge between him and the society. He was not like Kong Fang, who stood firmly and open-mindedly by his side.

With divided loyalties, it was naturally difficult to entrust him with great responsibilities. However, considering that Kong Fang’s side was short-handed, he eventually nodded. ”Let Hong Chuan and Ji Pingtian take their people and go.”

”Thank you.” Zong Yan nodded heavily.

After their brief exchange, the villa was already in sight. However, Jiang Sheng, Lyu Jianfeng, and Lyu Tianhe were not waiting in the conference room. Instead, they stood at the villa’s entrance. Upon seeing Yaoguang’s arrival, everyone did a fist-and-palm salute at the same time. ”Greetings, Speaker.”

The scene was a reenactment of the meeting at the Xingyu Center building. But compared to the last time, when they had maintained only a superficial respect, this time... the gaze everyone turned toward him contained not only respect, but deep-seated awe.