The Modern Martial Immortal

Chapter 233: Confrontation

This time, things will not be so simple. Yaoguang thought to himself.

A star god’s Life Force Field was essentially their absolute domain. In theory, infiltrating or even approaching it without being noticed should've been impossible.

The reason Yaoguang had managed to enter the perceptual range of Barton’s Life Force Field earlier on was that he was a Dharma Form cultivator with a Martial Dao realm far beyond that of a star god, but at the same time, his actual combat power was not overwhelming.

It was like a mosquito landing on an ordinary person. As long as it was there for a short time, it would not draw much attention. If it were a large insect or a small animal, it'd be easier to notice; if it were a beast, a more instinctive perception of danger would make one immediately wary.

But this time, the "mosquito" was not simply landing on Barton. It planned to enter the core of his Life Force Field and bite him. No matter how dull someone’s reactions were, they would inevitably sense something.

Yaoguang advanced cautiously, restraining his aura as much as he could. Yet, when he was still over a hundred meters away from the treasury guarded by Barton, the star god clearly sensed something.

Barton stood up and surveyed his surroundings with a worried expression. A moment later, his Life Force Field started spreading outward like ripples in water. The instant the Life Force Field moved, Yaoguang was exposed.

Barton rose to his feet, and Yaoguang immediately stopped trying to hide. He briefly sensed the heavily sealed outer core. The next instant, the outer core opened. A blazing, violent energy, brilliant like the light of a rising star, erupted outward with him at its center.

"Who dares to cause trouble in my Immortal Alliance?!" Barton instantly realized the danger. As he shouted, he attempted to enter the Immortal Alliance’s exclusive Void Psychic World to call for reinforcements.

But when his psychic will tried to connect with the Void Psychic World, he discovered he had lost perception of it! The anomaly made him realize something at once.

"Another expert?!" Barton exclaimed.

Immediately afterward, the surging power exploded within his Life Force Field like a blazing sun ascending into the sky. Only then did Barton discover in horror that the attacker was barely a hundred meters away.

For a star god, a star lord, or even a high-tier body cultivator, that was not a safe distance. He was practically face-to-face with the enemy.

The sudden eruption at this range filled the star god with alarm. As he frantically mobilized his Life Force Field to suppress the explosive power of Yaoguang’s Crimson Golden Core, his body shot backward at once, attempting to increase the distance between them.

At the same time, while exerting all his strength to contain the eruption of the Crimson Golden Core, Yaoguang smashed through the doors of the Immortal-Proving Tower’s treasury with his body. A powerful stellar force field, wrapped in violent energy, instantly swept through the entire treasury. The resources he had targeted were instantly gathered and drawn into a storage artifact.

Immediately afterward, amid another violent burst of energy, Yaoguang tore free from Barton’s Life Force Field, leaving behind him a thunderclap-like sonic boom that shattered the air as he shot toward the distant horizon.

The shockwave from the energy eruption was like a nuclear detonation within the headquarters of the Immortal-Proving Tower. Blinding light and searing heat engulfed an entire area, erasing everything within it.

Among what was erased was the Dharma Form mark that had originally belonged to Xie He, which Yaoguang had wrapped within his psychic thought. The sudden catastrophe shattered the pride of what had once been the world’s foremost pill export group. Countless people were plunged into despair.

Barton's Life Force Field was torn apart, and that terrified him. He fled upward at top speed toward the Golden Core experts of the Immortal Alliance stationed in the nine heavens above.

Terrifying. Utterly terrifying. The enemy wasn't just able to approach me undetected until the last moment, but he was also able to tear apart my Life Force Field as soon as we made contact. Even if it was just a brief exchange, and even if I was sneaked upon, it revealed one thing clearly. The opponent understands me far better than I imagined! Barton thought.

A Crimson Golden Core cultivator who knew him inside and out... The mere thought was terrifying! If he had chosen to fight to the death, he would have been crushed and likely killed.

As Barton rushed toward the horizon at full speed, a powerful psychic thought spread through the Void Psychic World with a hum, surging toward the battlefield. Feng Ao, the Dharma Form cultivator of the Immortal Alliance, was finally taking action!

But before he could arrive, Yaoguang intervened. His power was as vast as Feng Ao's, yet he was far superior in his control of psychic thought and the Void Psychic World. Yaoguang's power streaked through the void like a meteor, slamming violently into the Void Psychic World that Feng Ao had opened!

The attack was so sudden that Feng Ao barely reacted in time. The collision between the Void Psychic World he had established and the mysterious psychic-thought assault turned into an unprecedented disaster within the public Void Psychic World.

In an instant, hundreds of billions of beings across the world who were connected to the Void Psychic World were forcibly disconnected. Within the public Void Psychic World, it was as if a tsunami had swept over everything, leaving only destruction in its path.

"A peak Dharma Form cultivator?!" Feng Ao roared as he gathered all his strength to withstand the shockwaves unleashed by the psychic-thought collision.

Even so, as the waves of force struck again and again, the entire Void Psychic World trembled violently. Vast regions began to collapse. As those regions disintegrated, countless precious bits of data were lost. Numerous departments were instantly paralyzed.

But Feng Ao could not spare a single thought for anyone else. He drew upon every ounce of power he could channel from the Void Psychic World and continued resisting, trying to dissolve the layers of force contained within that single devastating strike.

In the end, after losing nearly one-third of his Void Psychic World, Feng Ao barely managed to block the impact of that psychic-thought secret technique. Yet, although he had withstood the attack, there was no trace of relief on his face. What filled it instead was an indescribable fear.

That was a single strike! Even if the opponent used a secret technique and the attack came without warning! And even if I ultimately blocked the frontal impact! None of that can diminish the fact that the opponent made only one move! Just one strike destroyed a third of my Void Psychic World.

The enormous disparity in strength sent chills down Feng Ao’s spine. Even as a Dharma Form cultivator standing at the pinnacle of the world, he felt a pure and instinctual fear. So much so that at first he failed to notice that the strike that had shattered his Void Psychic World had been purposeful. Some of the information originally stored within it had been deliberately destroyed.

Shortly after, three powerful psychic thoughts pierced through space and arrived in the region.

"Feng Ao? What happened?"

"You were attacked? Was it Ye Lisha? Did you fight?"

"Nonsense. There are rules stating that Dharma Form cultivators should not act lightly, and I abide by them. My Thousand-Beast Sect does not break agreements like the Infinite Star Palace does."

The reminders from the other Dharma Forms jolted Feng Ao. "Could it be..."

The psychic thought that had intercepted him did not belong to any Dharma Form cultivator he recognized. Realizing this, he quickly extended his psychic thought downward once more. This time, however, he acted with extremely cautiosly. As his psychic consciousness probed outward, the Void Psychic World rapidly shrank, shifting to a defensive posture.

Unfortunately, when his psychic thought scanned the area, all he could see was the chaos within the headquarters of the Immortal-Proving Tower. Barton, the star god stationed there, had already ascended into the sky, manifesting his stellar god-fiend body. His Life Force Field had also shrunk, and he was vigilantly scanning the surroundings.

Suddenly, another powerful psychic consciousness swept across heaven and earth. At the distant horizon, a streak of blazing fire moved rapidly like a meteor. "Feng Ao, have we been attacked? Where is the enemy?"

"Lord Mi Le," Feng Ao replied quickly. "We were attacked by more than one person. There was also a Dharma Form cultivator."

He emphasized his emotional expression. "That Dharma Form cultivator was stronger than me, yet it's not someone we know!"

"Hmm?! A fifth Dharma Form cultivator?!" Mi Le, the Golden Core cultivator backing the Mi family, reacted with evident shock. "Which sect does he belong to?"

"I don't know. Perhaps Barton knows something."

Feng Ao’s psychic thought soon resonated within Barton’s perception. "Lord Barton, what exactly happened just now?"

"A Crimson Golden Core cultivator attacked our treasury! He looted all the pills we had gathered for the auction. We estimate a loss of at least thirty million spirit stones' worth of goods!" Barton replied quickly.

"A Crimson Golden Core? Who? The Brahma Divine Kingdom? The First Yang Sect? The Brahma Cult? Or perhaps the Taiyi Cult?!" Mi Le's psychic consciousness quickly locked onto Lin Deng of the Infinite Star Palace and another Dharma Form cultivator, Luo Fu. "The only Crimson Golden Core that was unaccounted for today is Hu Xi of the Taiyi Cult, whom your Infinite Star Palace has been cultivating. Why would the Infinite Star Palace send Hu Xi to attack my Immortal Alliance? What is your purpose?"

"We haven't done such a thing. Absolutely not!" Luo Fu firmly denied the accusations. "Hu Xi belongs to the Taiyi Cult and has nothing to do with our Infinite Star Palace. Besides, he is within the Taiyi Cult's headquarters right now. How could he possibly have time to enter Immortal Alliance's territory?"

"Hmph! I will personally visit the Taiyi Cult. They must give the Immortal Alliance an explanation," Miller declared coldly.

At the side, Lin Deng seemed to recall something and suddenly said, "Our Infinite Star Palace has maintained good relations with the Immortal Alliance for years. If misunderstandings and suspicion lead to conflict between us, it will only benefit our enemies."

"There are indeed several Crimson Golden Core cultivators in the world, so it is difficult to determine each one. But until now, there have only been four Dharma Form cultivators... This sudden appearance of a fifth Dharma Form cultivator is suspicious. Could it be only Dharma Form power, rather than a true Dharma Form cultivator?" Lin Deng said.

"Dharma Form Realm power?" Miller immediately understood what he was hinting at.

Lin Deng smiled faintly. "Exactly. Don't forget we suspect a Dharma Form Realm existence to be part of the Nine Cauldrons Sect."