The Modern Martial Immortal

Having delivered his message, Zhao Yang, the Taiyuan Perfected Lord’s direct disciple, left at once without lingering a moment. Heavenly Venerable Jiang’s already ugly expression darkened even more. He clenched his teeth, flames all but blazing in his eyes.

”You...” He wanted to say something. But in the end, he did not dare vent his resentment at the sect master’s direct disciple, and could only console himself inwardly.

My advancement went wrong. As a Void-Piercing battle immortal, neither an elder nor a young sect master, staying on True Disciple Peak really would be inappropriate. Sect rules are sect rules. Senior Brother Zhao Yang has no choice either...

His self-consolation was not even finished when another crisp voice reached him.

”Heavenly Venerable Jiang.” Bai Ling’s figure materialized, her expression tinged with regret. ”In recent years, you have borrowed Master’s name to run roughshod over others, kill those who crossed you, and do as you pleased, and Master is deeply disappointed. In light of your failure to amount to anything, Master has ordered you expelled from his tutelage. From this day forward, you may no longer call yourself a disciple of the Supreme Elder Jade Emperor.”

”Expelled?” Heavenly Venerable Jiang froze at Bai Ling’s words. Then, at last, the true gravity of his situation sank in.

The Cangwu lineage’s disappointment did not frighten him. It had always been the Cangwu lineage begging favors of him, never the other way around, and he was confident that once his cultivation bore fruit, they would come crawling back with fawning faces soon enough.

Even being evicted from the True Disciple Peak by Senior Brother Zhao Yang, despite being humiliating and leaving him at a loss as to how he would ever face the other true disciples he used to laugh and chat with, was something he had been willing to swallow. It was only a residence, in the end.

But now Bai Ling was saying that his master meant to expel him?!

”S-Senior Sister, could there be some mistake? Master... How could he...” Heavenly Venerable Jiang was starting to panic.

”The fault may not lie entirely with you, but everyone must bear the karma of their own actions. Look after yourself.” With that, Bai Ling turned to leave.

”Senior Sister! Senior Sister! I want to see Master. I want to ask him to his face, why—” Heavenly Venerable Jiang scrambled after her.

”Master will not see you. He has already shown you every kindness and every duty owed,” Bai Ling said.

”No! Just because I failed my attempt at the Void-Piercing Realm? Senior Sister, please tell Master that I have faith in myself. Even if this misstep forced me to convert to a Void-Piercing battle immortal, I’m still confident I can master the Nine Refinements of Star Ring within three hundred years and become a true Void-Piercing cultivator. I will never disappoint Master again!” Heavenly Venerable Jiang said in a rush.

A Void-Shattering supreme elder! In any top sect, such a figure stood among those at the very summit. An expert of that caliber was practically the goal of his entire life’s pursuit. For all his confidence, even he did not dare guarantee he would one day match the Supreme Jade Emperor’s achievements.

After all, back when he had been a true disciple, that supreme elder had shone even brighter than Heavenly Venerable Jiang, and had reached the Void-Piercing Realm faster than he’d ever manage to.

It was precisely because he had still considered himself the direct disciple of a Void-Shattering Realm supreme elder that the Cangwu lineage’s abandonment had barely stung.

Even losing the True Disciple Peak, humiliating as it was, he had comforted himself with visions of returning in a few centuries as a true Void-Piercing elder, a mighty cultivator’s homecoming played out before a slack-jawed world.

But now he was being cast by his master?! Without the identity of the Supreme Jade Emperor’s direct disciple, as a mere Void-Piercing battle immortal, whether he could even keep his Primordial Void stable for three hundred years was a mystery.

”Do you truly not know the reason?” Bai Ling paused, giving Heavenly Venerable Jiang an odd look.

”I...” Meeting her gaze, a helpless bewilderment slowly welled up in his eyes. ”Yao-Yaoguang?”

”So you do know,” Bai Ling said.

”But... however formidable Yaoguang is, he’s only a deputy sect master of the Heavenly Dao Sect. How does a Heavenly Dao Sect deputy sect master’s influence reach all the way into our Taiyi Immortal Sect? How does he sway the attitude of Master himself?” Heavenly Venerable Jiang refused to accept it.

”It seems like you really don’t know.” Bai Ling sighed. ”A deputy sect master of the Heavenly Dao Sect could never sway Master’s attitude, no. But if that deputy sect master has an artifact paragon standing behind him, can use a level 13 array to slay two Void-Shattering and five Void-Refining fiendish cultivators, has personal combat strength rivalling the Void-Shattering Realm, and stands an excellent chance of overpowering the Heavenly Dao Sect’s current sect master, Zong Wenxian, to become the next sect master... then is he, or is he not, important enough for Master to reconsider how to treat him?”

Heavenly Venerable Jiang’s mind went blank on the spot.

”He slew two Void-Shattering and five Void-Refining fiendish cultivators?!” The newly advanced battle immortal stared dumbly at Bai Ling. ”Him? Su Yaoguang?”

”You can go ask around yourself.” Bai Ling turned and left.

Heavenly Venerable Jiang stood rooted where he was, unable to collect himself for a long, long time. Eventually, a cold gust of wind passed by, and this prodigy of Cangwu, a man who had just become a Void-Piercing battle immortal, shivered and was jolted awake.

”Impossible. It’s impossible. Yaoguang... How long has it even been since he advanced to the Void-Refining Realm? How could he possibly have that kind of strength...”

He snatched out his communication jade talisman and began asking all his friends and family members.

Many no longer bothered replying to him, but what had happened in the southern domain had shaken the entire North Sea, and far too many people knew of it; even minor factions had heard something.

And those minor factions, not yet aware of what had happened in the Taiyi Immortal Sect, dared not ignore an inquiry from Heavenly Venerable Jiang, and answered promptly.

Every reply, every iron-hard fact between the lines, fell like a sledgehammer on Heavenly Venerable Jiang’s heart. Each answer, another blow. Under that relentless pounding, the pride in his heart was finally smashed apart, piece by piece.

”No! No! No!”

Clutching the communication jade talisman, he collapsed to his knees, fists hammering the ground, and wailed at the heavens.

”Yaoguang! Su Yaoguang!”

***

”Hahaha, Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang, allow me to offer you a toast.”

”Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang has rendered our Heavenly Dao Sect a service for the ages, slaying seven fiendish cultivators! Nothing so glorious has happened in decades. Tonight, no one goes home sober!”

”Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang, all my sincerity is in this cup. From this day on, the entire Shu family will follow your commands.”

Inside the Southern Capital, countless figures at the Void-Piercing and Void-Refining Realms were gathered around Yaoguang, trading toasts in a haze of good cheer, and Yaoguang returned each toast with a smile.

The Void-Refining cultivators managed to keep their composure, but many of the Void-Piercing cultivators grew inexplicably excited when Yaoguang toasted them back, basking in the honor.

Everyone knew that Yaoguang was destined for a meteoric ascent in the near future; having their toasts returned might well be the closest to Yaoguang they would ever stand.

The celebration banquet lasted ten days. During the festivities, Yaoguang also auctioned off, one by one, the Dao Artifacts that the Yin Lunar Sect’s fiendish cultivators had so kindly delivered to him.

Many were damaged, yet selling those five Dao Artifacts still brought him materials worth four billion Pure Yang Grand Pills.

With the Dao Artifact materials those resources could be exchanged for, Yaoguang now had everything he needed, whether to feed the Limitless Sword or to upgrade the Wandering Dragon Sword, the Two-Realm Ruler, and the Heaven-Sealing Stele into high-grade Dao Artifacts.

There were so many resources that, if he felt like it, he could even outfit every Void-Piercing and Void-Refining cultivator at his side with a Dao Artifact of their own.

***

A few days later, the Void-Refining and Void-Piercing cultivators from outside the Heavenly Dao Sect, as well as the Sea Guardian King, Pan Yuan, Qin Zhengfa, and the rest, departed for home one after another.

Many of the Heavenly Dao Sect elders who had come to express goodwill left early as well. But Supreme Elder Chi Yun stayed behind for the time being.

What was more, Jiang Guike, the deputy sect master presiding over the northern domain, and Shen Junyan, the deputy sect master presiding over the eastern domain, both quietly made their way to the domain lord’s residence.

Now the group of them, including Wu Changfeng, who had earned Yaoguang’s trust, sat together in the main hall, discussing the matter of the teleportation array’s ”malfunction.”

”Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang, I trust that you already know what this ’malfunction’ was really about. May I ask what you intend to do next?” Supreme Elder Chi Yun said.

”Nothing in particular.” Yaoguang smiled. ”This alone isn’t enough to bring down that supreme elder, let alone touch Zong Wenxian himself.”

”Then... is there anything you would like me to raise in the Supreme Elder Council?” Chi Yun asked.

Yaoguang considered briefly, then asked instead, ”How many supreme elders sit on the Supreme Elder Council, exactly? How many stand with Zong Wenxian, and how many resent him or stay neutral?”

Chi Yun mulled it over. ”In any sect, the number of supreme elders counts among the highest secrets. But you are a deputy sect master and are about to become a serious contender for sect master, so I can tell you.”

He swept a hand through the air, and silhouettes of cultivators suffused with auras of psychic thought appeared before him one after another.

Seeing how many there were, Yaoguang blinked in mild surprise. ”Thirteen? That many?”

”Eight are relatively active in the open. Of the remaining five, two are in seclusion, and three are deep within the stellar core, monitoring the Gate of the Immortal Realm. The moment the gate shows signs of opening, they will rush back and ask the sect master or the chief supreme elder to send word to the Dao Lord, requesting his return from deep space.”

Supreme Elder Chi Yun flicked a finger through the images. ”The two in seclusion are advanced in years, effectively waiting for death, and rarely meddle in sect affairs. Of the three in the stellar core, only one warrants attention: Perfected Lord Jinghong. That perfected lord is not only the Dao Lord’s direct disciple, but also the voice of the Dao Lord’s will. He is the strongest figure of the Heavenly Dao Sect beneath the Dao Lord himself, a peak Void-Shattering cultivator ranked in the top ten of the Dao Lord Candidate Rankings. To call his cultivation earthshaking would be no exaggeration.”[1]

He added, ”The Void-Shattering Realm is already a realm with nowhere further to advance. Strength there comes down to Dao Artifacts and Dao Techniques! Setting artifacts aside, one’s attainments in Dao Techniques and the number of techniques comprehended are a fair measure of one’s odds of becoming a Dao Lord.”

Yaoguang nodded. Having pushed his own Void-Shattering Realm progress to 100%, he understood this well.

In theory, practicing a single Dao Technique to perfection qualified one for Dao integration. But during the integration process, almost no Void-Shattering cultivator escaped Dao Transformation. The fate of most was to fail the Dao Integration and become part of the Dao.

That being so, only by practicing more Dao Techniques, drawing insight across disciplines, and borrowing the aid of other Great Dao to pull oneself free of the Dao transformation, could one walk to the end of Dao Integration and become a Dao Lord.

Hence, every Void-Shattering cultivator commanded two or three Dao Techniques at minimum, with the stronger ones reaching four or five, even six or seven.

”That perfected lord carries immense prestige among the supreme elders. If he hadn’t gone to the stellar core, the chief supreme elder would never have been Zhen Xuanyuan.” Supreme Elder Chi Yun smiled.

”And the eight in the open?” Yaoguang asked.

”Chief Supreme Elder Zhen Xuanyuan, myself, and Perfected Lord Liao Chen stand opposed to Zong Wenxian. Two supreme elders keep to neutrality. Jing Yuntian, Gu Li, and Bu Zhou support Zong Wenxian.”

”Evenly matched, then,” Yaoguang remarked with a smile.

”Not quite.” Supreme Elder Chi Yun sighed. ”Zhen Xuanyuan, Perfected Lord Liao Chen, and I are not necessarily of one heart; each of us has his own interests to pursue. And among the three supreme elders backing Zong Wenxian, Perfected Lord Bu Zhou’s identity is extremely sensitive. That one man can sway the attitudes of a great many people, including Perfected Lord Jinghong.”

”Sensitive? He can even influence Perfected Lord Jinghong?” Something stirred in Yaoguang’s mind. ”You mean...”

Supreme Elder Chi Yun nodded. ”He is a direct disciple of the Central Heaven Dao Lord, Perfected Lord Jinghong’s junior brother, and Zong Wenxian’s staunchest supporter. All because...”

He paused. ”Zong Wenxian has saved his life twice.”

1. Jinghong can mean a few things. It can mean a shocked wild goose, it can also mean a beautiful woman or an old love. ☜