Free Web NovelChapter 231: Infiltration
After returning from the Void Psychic World, Yaoguang could not help but sigh. "At last, it is time to start making the external environment safer."
He had come to the Great Cangwu World nine years ago. Over these nine years, aside from the brief period when he had just arrived, he had almost never stopped working. He had cultivated diligently, refined artifacts, set up arrays, and created all manner of constructs. All of it had been for one purpose: to forge a relatively safe environment for himself.
At the very least, he never wanted to experience again that kind of terror he had once felt when the Infinite Star Palace’s Sky Patrol Warship had loomed directly above his head, and his life and death had not been in his own hands.
"Building a safe external environment is ultimately a forced choice. The only solution is to place myself in a state of absolute safety, a state where no matter how the outside world changes, I will never be harmed. A state of great freedom, ease, and detachment. That's something I can only achieve by... becoming an immortal!"
After reaching the Dharma Form realm, the Taiyuan Psyche Refinement Technique had grown even more complete. This secret technique had also provided him with knowledge: one whose physique was boundless became a human immortal, one whose true origin was immeasurable became a heavenly immortal, and one whose mind was infinite became a psyche immortal.
True origin without limit and mind without boundary seemed to be merely different ways to apply power. But a boundless physique meant something else. It meant being indestructible, neither dying nor perishing. That was the absolute safety he sought.
"So... only by becoming a human immortal can I truly reach the end I pursue," he muttered.
***
At the Immortal Alliance...
If one looked purely at the numbers on paper, its overall strength was hardly inferior to that of the Infinite Star Palace. The Immortal Alliance possessed more than forty elite battle institutes and twenty-six Sky Patrol Warships. Of those twenty-six warships, more than half were third-generation vessels.
Its flagship, the White Sovereign, had reached fourth-generation standards thanks to constant investment in materials, with its total cost approaching a hundred million spirit stones. The sect also had over a hundred additional battle institutes, when taking into consideration the main and standard ones.
However, compared to the relatively stable internal political structure of the Infinite Star Palace, the Immortal Alliance, though not much weaker on paper, was divided among eight great families. Internal conflicts between them ran deep. They had only united under the external pressure of the Thousand-Beast Sect.
With so much of their strength wasted on internal strife, they had already fallen an entire tier behind the Infinite Star Palace.
***
Yaoguang had already silently infiltrated the territory of the Immortal Alliance. Given his concealment abilities, acting alone proved more efficient than having Tang Fenghua and the others assist him.
Though Li Qingshan had worried about his safety, once he heard from Tang Fenghua that Yaoguang's abilities had already approached those of a first-generation star god, he could hardly object further.
He could only instruct Li Hanqiu and Murong Hui to pay close attention to Yaoguang’s movements within the Immortal Alliance and be ready to rescue him at any time. At the same time, they mobilized hidden agents embedded within the Immortal Alliance to prepare for Yaoguang’s retreat.
Seven Hills City was the territory of the Mi family, one of the eight great families of the Immortal Alliance. It was also the headquarters of the world's largest pill-sales conglomerate, the Immortal-Proving Tower.
Yaoguang walked calmly along the city streets like an ordinary tourist. Dharma Form experts could conceal everything about themselves, so a cultivator’s psychic thought would not detect anything unusual when sweeping over him. Not even Feng Ao, the Dharma Form cultivator within the Immortal Alliance, would sense anything amiss.
While others remained unaware of his presence, Yaoguang could sense everything happening at the headquarters of the Immortal-Proving Tower. His powerful psychic thought spread like a tide, covering the vast complex that occupied more than fifty kilometers atop a mountain thirty kilometers away. He heard every exchange and every conversation. Even events occurring in dark corners, unknown to others, were not hidden from him.
Despite Yaoguang unleashing such immense psychic-thought fluctuations to perceive even the most minute changes within the Immortal-Proving Tower, occasionally even probing Feng Ao and the Mi family’s primordial psyche cultivators, none of them sensed a thing.
We are both Dharma Form cultivators, but my Dharma Form is clearly far stronger than Feng Ao's. If I weren't worried about Golden Core cultivators possibly joining forces against me, I would tell the Thousand-Beast Sect, Immortal Alliance, and Infinite Star Palace to send all of their Dharma Form experts at me together... Yaoguang shook his head. He boarded a vehicle headed for a tour of the Immortal-Proving Tower and made his way toward it.
Inside the vehicle, the guide proudly introduced the history of the Immortal-Proving Tower. "The Immortal-Proving Tower is the most well-known brand within the Immortal Alliance, as well as the flagship brand of our alchemy. Its annual revenue within the Great Cangwu World has reached one billion, providing no fewer than ten million jobs to the various sects. Through the Immortal-Proving Tower, we sell all the high-grade treasured pills that ninety-nine percent of the sects in the Great Cangwu World are incapable of producing, and we also occasionally auction fourth-generation treasured pills. Each auction is a grand event!"
The staff member spoke with great enthusiasm. "In just half a month, beneath Immortal Peak, a high-profile auction known as the ‘Covenant of the Century’ will be held. This auction will not only feature treasured pills but will also unveil some of the latest spirit-treasure-level pills!"
A trace of surprise flickered in Yaoguang’s eyes. His psychic thought immediately focused on scanning the Immortal-Proving Tower. Thanks to his power as a Dharma Form expert, it did not take long for all secrets to be fully exposed before him, including the items scheduled for auction in half a month.
However, when his psychic thought extended further, it suddenly paused. He sensed a powerful Life Force Field.
This field enveloped the core region of the Immortal-Proving Tower. Any other Dharma Form cultivators would likely not have been able to penetrate it. There was a star god stationed there! Yaoguang recalled the information on the Immortal Alliance’s high-level figures and quickly found a match.
It was Barton. He had once fought on the battlefield against the Northern Alliance led by the Thousand-Beast Sect, a presence hailed as an unyielding god of war.
A star god’s Life Force Field was formed from the condensation of their own essence, qi, and psyche. It was effectively an extension of their body. Even for a Dharma Form expert, attempting to infiltrate another’s Life Force Field with psychic thought would be no different than suddenly making direct contact with the opponent. No matter how refined the concealment technique or how well they had been hidden before, the other party would inevitably react.
However, Yaoguang wasn't just any Dharma Form cultivator. He had also cultivated the Formless secret art in depth. Moreover, he possessed a profound understanding of stellar force fields. Although his actual cultivation had not yet reached the Star God Realm, his comprehension of that realm surpassed even that of the star god stationed here.
He observed this star god carefully. At a moment when the other’s psychic mind relaxed ever so slightly, Yaoguang’s psychic thought stirred, slipping into the Life Force Field and infiltrating the region it guarded. The subtle disturbance seemed to vaguely disturb the star god. But the feeling resembled nothing more than a mosquito brushing past a normal person’s ear. The person would wave a hand and ignore it. Barton did the same.
Once his psychic thought broke through the Life Force Field's cover, Yaoguang located the key figure he intended to take away: the alchemy grandmaster Xie He. He also found the numerous pills that were heavily guarded in preparation for the auction half a month later. The sight caused Yaoguang to gasp quietly.
Heavy Star Pill, Yanli Pill, Core Formation Pill, Psyche-Transforming Pill, Thunderclap Pill... They are really willing to spend! His gaze swept across them one by one.
Judging by their quantity and value alone, they were worth at least a hundred million spirit stones. Of course, that figure reflected the market price. The actual production cost would not have reached such heights. His attention shifted to a pill that was under especially tight protection.
The Hundred-Acupoint Star Pill?! Yaoguang’s pupils constricted slightly.
That's a pill capable of helping a star lord open acupoints and charge toward the Star God Realm! And judging by its state, it doesn't seem to be old stock preserved from the past. It appears to have been refined recently!
Has an alchemy grandmaster within the Immortal Alliance broken through and become a pill paragon? Yaoguang wondered, feeling quite surprised.
He had been a frequent visitor to the Void Psychic World during this period. He would not claim to know every secret of the Great Cangwu World, but he usually possessed leads on more than ninety percent of them. Yet he had heard nothing about a level 9 alchemist within the Immortal Alliance advancing to a pill paragon.
After a moment, he began to suspect what the truth was. Alchemy was not his specialty, but over the years, he had read countless alchemical texts. Combined with the sharpness of his psychic thought, he quickly judged that the medicinal balance of this Hundred-Acupoint Star Pill had not been properly stabilized.
Its effects were extremely domineering. Unless it was consumed by a star lord with extraordinarily deep foundations, anyone whose preparation was even just slightly lacking would likely suffer from the violent release of its medicinal force and die on the spot.
Yaoguang thought for a moment and reached a conclusion. The Immortal Alliance likely attempted to forcibly create a pill paragon. Though they failed, they selected one pill from the batch that retained some utility. Now they are putting it up for auction to recover part of their cost.
His mind lingered on the pill. There was no denying that it was significantly flawed. But thanks to his own profound foundation, the fact that his realm far surpassed that of ordinary star gods, and the added advantage of his Psychic Heart talent, he had a high probability of being able to use this pill to step into the Star God Realm.
Once he broke into the Star God Realm, his defensive power would inevitably rise to an entirely new tier. If he later opened 365 acupoints, and then reached the level of 1080 acupoints, he would be comparable to a fifth-generation star god. At that point, he would be strong enough to withstand a Radiant Sun Golden Core with his Life Force Field alone, without suffering any harm.
The moment he realized that this step could resolve his personal safety within the Great Cangwu World, Yaoguang made his decision. I will take these pills. And the formulas as well.
Just then, the sightseeing vehicle entered the headquarters of the Immortal-Proving Tower, stopping in the outer public district. Yaoguang stepped off. His powerful psychic thought spread outward, and he quietly vanished from sight. Moving swiftly, he headed straight toward the mountain peak.
