The Modern Martial Immortal

”Dao...” Yaoguang slowly digested this entirely new concept of power.

This was something never mentioned even within the framework of the Immortal Dao(Void-Piercing Realm) branch.

Master one, master all. Once a certain type of power reached a sufficient level, it would inevitably touch upon the principles of other systems of power. Artifact refinement was no exception.

The Dao within it had faintly pointed him toward a realm beyond the Void-Piercing Realm.

A form of power that transcends physical changes... One that begins to touch the laws of heaven and earth? He speculated inwardly.

At the peak of the Void-Piercing Realm, one wielded the power of black holes. Such power was likely already the ultimate manifestation within the physical world.

Beyond that, it would still be the power of a black hole, merely increasing in mass.

And when that mass reached its absolute limit, it would begin to touch the core force that constructed this world and this entire cosmos—Dao.

Ancient sayings claimed that one who attained the Dao could ascend to immortality, and that one could die satisfied in the evening after hearing the Dao in the morning... Does the Dao represent the final realm before becoming an immortal? Once I attain the Dao, will I become an immortal? Yaoguang pondered this silently.

But it remained nothing more than speculation. Until he pushed the Immortal Dao branch to a higher level, he would not gain access to the complete system of power surrounding ”Dao.”

As for how one truly became an immortal, that likely required reaching beyond the Void-Piercing Realm and advancing far enough along that path.

The scope of Dao Artifacts was far too vast. Yaoguang spent over ten days digesting the core information.

As for the remaining ninety-nine percent of secondary details, he could only store them for now and retrieve them when needed. Even so, just the small portion he had absorbed led him to an unexpected discovery.

He quickly retrieved the Void-Splitting Disk, a top-tier spirit treasure, and examined it in detail.

In just a moment, he could not help but sigh in heartfelt regret. ”Void-Flowing Sand, Dao Resonance Stone, Illusory Space Crystal, Tianyi Star Marrow... What a complete waste! Any one of these materials alone could serve as the core component of a top-tier spirit treasure, and not just first-generation, but at least third-generation quality. Combined together, they could even be refined into a Dao Artifact like a Starry Sky Vessel, and yet they were used to produce nothing more than a top-tier spirit treasure? Which fool squandered such materials like this? What a waste of heaven’s gifts.”[1]

In the knowledge he had accessed, a refiner capable of such work would have deserved to have their entire career buried alongside that single artifact. Their existence was a disgrace to the entire field of artifact refinement.

Still, based on his judgment, the techniques used belonged to an ancient era. The Void-Splitting Disk was likely a product from one or two centuries ago. Those refiners had most likely already died of old age, leaving no way to pursue accountability.

With a trace of regret, Yaoguang shifted his focus to the other spirit treasures.

These treasures could all be dismantled. Once dismantled, he could completely reforge them.

Ordinary spirit treasures could be upgraded into high-grade ones, and high-grade ones into top-tier spirit treasures.

Moreover, he would not be using first-generation techniques, but at least third- or fourth-generation techniques.

For Crimson Golden Core and Radiant Sun Golden Core cultivators, ordinary spirit treasures were practically useless. They were useless, yet a pity to discard.

Only those so-called top-tier spirit treasures, crafted with Dao-Artifact-level materials, could display any real power in Golden Core Realm combat.

Yet in truth, spirit treasures clearly provided significant amplification to Golden Core cultivators. It was only because the world’s artifact refinement standards were too weak that such powerful treasures had become almost worthless.

The Gathering-Separation Ring he had crafted was a good example. It could directly control a Radiant Sun Golden Core cultivator who was on the verge of deviation and restore them to normal.[2]

”My previous high-dimensional cognition had a certain directionality. When searching for information, I was essentially targeting the Golden Core system of the North Sea Star...” Yaoguang understood that this was a limitation of his own understanding.

A person could not search for things beyond their own understanding. Anything searched using human language would inevitably relate to human knowledge. Likewise, using the cognition framework of the North Sea Star’s Golden Core system to search for knowledge on artifact refinement would naturally yield only results related to the North Sea Star.

Breaking through this cognitive boundary to glimpse a broader world was far from easy.

”A three-dimensional lifeform finds it difficult to comprehend a four-dimensional one. Even though I now possess the ability to do so, I can only use it according to the habits of a three-dimensional being...” After reflecting briefly, he returned to the present. ”Based on the information I’ve obtained, the equipment used by the Radiant Sun Golden Core cultivators on the North Sea Star corresponds roughly to high-grade spirit treasures of at least third-generation quality. With my techniques, reworking the materials I have into third-generation high-grade spirit treasures would not be a problem...”

At this point, he suddenly paused.

He could indeed accomplish this. But the problem was that in the entire Great Cangwu World, only he possessed such techniques.

He would essentially have to assemble each high-grade spirit treasure piece by piece, like tightening screws one at a time. As a result, even crafting a single third-generation high-grade spirit treasure would take between three and five years.

”Five years at most for one high-grade spirit treasure isn’t slow... but I refuse.”

I’m not going to spend my life tightening screws. I’m not even a professional artifact refiner.

If others handle all the preparatory steps and I only need to complete the most precise assembly work, then spending between ten days and half a month to produce a third-generation high-grade spirit treasure will be acceptable. But three to five years is absurd.

With that thought, the enthusiasm he had just felt for dismantling these spirit treasures vanished completely, and he swept them all aside in one motion.

***

As time passed, the events of the Cangwu Alliance Council gradually spread. The proposal for an Immortal Cultivation Community became known worldwide.

Countless sects, having come to understand the truth behind the battle in the starry sky, dispatched envoys to the Nine Cauldrons Sect, hoping to learn the Primordial Creation Art from them.

It was at this time that Li Hanqiu personally stepped forward. He approached the Golden Core perfected masters of the Golden Temple and the leader of the Sacred Flame Cult. Under his mediation, the two largest forces on the Black Flame Continent reached a historic reconciliation. They signed an agreement to set aside disputes, jointly develop all spiritual power nodes across the continent, and lead its people away from war toward peace and prosperity.

The most crucial point of this agreement was that the Nine Cauldrons Sect would dispatch teams of array casters to assist the Golden Temple and the Sacred Flame Cult in improving their spirit-gathering arrays, allowing them to produce more spirit stones.

In the current world, some wars were instigated by hidden forces, while others stemmed from insufficient energy and unequal resource distribution.

But if there were a bigger pie to share, if everyone could gain more resources and profit, who would still be willing to fight and kill every day?

Under such circumstances, the war-torn Black Flame Continent, which had scarcely known a day of peace, suddenly had no conflicts for an extended time. This news caused a massive uproar across the continent and even throughout the world.

In recent years, the Infinite Star Palace had continuously caused turmoil on the Black Flame Continent. First, they destroyed the Quicksand Sect, then attacked the Black Feather Sect, while heavily supporting the Taiyi Cult. Their goal had been to gradually erode the continent and ultimately bring it under their control.

But now, the two most influential forces on the Black Flame Continent were showing signs of alliance, and the once fragmented continent seemed to be moving toward unity. Under such circumstances, the Infinite Star Palace found itself in a difficult position.

If the Black Flame Continent were truly unified, how could they continue to infiltrate and control it?

For a time, the Infinite Star Palace became busy once more, forced to divert part of the energy it had only just freed from the Black Feather Sect back into the situation.

Not long after this news spread, the day of the Nine Cauldrons Sect’s drill to demonstrate their strength officially arrived.

***

When the day of the grand drill came, tickets for the venue were impossible to obtain. Anyone who managed to secure a place in the audience became an object of envy. Countless people even flaunted their invitations, drawing waves of admiration.

After all, this drill would not only feature the sect’s battle institutes but also showcase its most advanced Sky Patrol Warships, the Zhongzhou and Shenzhou, which would pass overhead for all to observe up close.

Who would not want to attend such an event?

While others scrambled for tickets, the providers of flying swords for the Purple Firmament Institute’s battle institutes naturally received a large number of invitations.

Su Yaoyu, Su Yaoxue, Su Yaoqin, and Su Yaoshuang traveled together to Crimson City. As for Yaoguang, he did not appear.

His current status had already surpassed the level of the Great Cangwu World, and it was no longer appropriate for him to show himself publicly. Besides, he had to ensure the event’s security.

If a Golden Core cultivator were to claim a loss of control and launch an attack on Crimson City, the entire leadership, elites, and core combat force of the Nine Cauldrons Sect would be wiped out in an instant.

Even if they could take revenge afterward, the dead could not be brought back. Thus, Yaoguang and Li Hanqiu bore the responsibility of guarding the event from above the nine heavens.

Fortunately, after their recent battle in the starry sky against the Infinite Star Palace and the Immortal Alliance, the Nine Cauldrons Sect’s deterrence was more than sufficient. Even if those forces had any thoughts of acting, recalling Yaoguang’s overwhelming strength forced them to suppress such intentions.

Under these conditions, the drill proceeded smoothly.

Each time the cultivators from a battle institute flew by on their flying swords, thunderous cheers erupted from the ground. The twenty-four newly established battle institutes, in particular, showcased the immense power of the new cultivation system.

When the massive Sky Patrol Warships, each thousands of meters long and over a kilometer wide, passed overhead like floating islands, the cheers reached an unprecedented peak. The sheer volume of sound seemed capable of overturning the clouds themselves.

Across the Nine Cauldrons Sect, countless individuals who could not attend in person watched the live broadcast through the Void Psychic World on projection screens. Cheers erupted everywhere.

Seeing the well-equipped battle institutes and the powerful, advanced Sky Patrol Warships that rivaled those of the Infinite Star Palace, countless elders who had lived through difficult times were moved to tears.

Meanwhile, the younger generation, especially those who had grown up during the sect’s rapid development over the past thirty years, felt immense pride in being part of the Nine Cauldrons Sect.

If the battle between Yaoguang, Janko, and Mi Le had demonstrated the sect’s peak combat strength, deterring the higher-ups of the various immortal sects, then this demonstration revealed the true power of the Nine Cauldrons Sect’s conventional forces to the entire world.

And it made one thing unmistakably clear. The Nine Cauldrons Sect was fully worthy of being the seventh top-tier immortal sect!

1. Tianyi is one of the main deities of Chinese mythology and the name of an important star in Chinese constellations. ☜

2. This deviation refers to zouhuorumuo (走火入魔), a syndrome of psychological and somatic symptoms related to the practice of qigong and other self-cultivation methods. ☜