Free Web NovelChapter 238: Growth
Above the Nine Heavens Domain, a towering figure, nearly a hundred meters tall, stood within the layer of Blazing Solar Lightning, allowing the surrounding lightning to continuously bombard him without restraint.
Although he was only a hundred meters tall, the immense gravity emanating from him was drawing in a vast vortex of thunderclouds across the sky, which formed a terrifying whirlpool spanning thousands of kilometers. The sheer scale of this phenomenon was enough to force any star lord or Foundation Building cultivator to retreat in fear.
Yet whether it was the raging winds or the violent lightning, both seemed insignificant to this figure.
Instead, across his body, 108 points of starlight shimmered brilliantly, radiating with the splendor of the celestial stars themselves.
But the light of these stars was not bright enough. It seemed like the energy within them had yet to be fully filled.
As a result, although the acupoints were numerous, the starlight had never fully connected into one unified whole, and thus had yet to evolve into a true, complete cosmic orbit.
After a long while, a Life Force Field enveloped the towering figure. His hundred-meter body gradually shrank, returning to the form of an ordinary human.
Restrained by the Life Force Field, the terrifying gravity emanating from him no longer leaked. Maintaining this ordinary state, he slowly descended toward the ground.
The moment he left the Blazing Solar Lightning layer, Tang Fenghua and the others quickly appeared, bringing him clothing.
"How was it, Deputy Hall Master Yaoguang?" Tang Fenghua asked.
"Not so great," Yaoguang said while looking toward the horizon. "Looks like if I want to quickly fill the ‘mass’ of my star god body, I can only start with stellar cores. As long as I refine 108 stellar cores, I can complete this stage of cultivation and raise my physique to the third tier of the Star God Realm."
"A third-tier physique...That should be enough to keep the Crimson Golden Core in a stable state while using it, right?" Tang Fenghua asked.
"Correct." Yaoguang nodded slightly, then smiled. "Once we reach that stage, there will basically be no one capable of stopping whatever we choose to do."
"In fact, even now, if you were to face those Radiant Sun Golden Core experts, you might not be inferior to them, right?" Tang Fenghua asked with a smile.
Yaoguang glanced at him. "It seems like all of you are quite curious, huh?"
"You’ve already seen through us, Deputy Hall Master Yaoguang. After all, you’re now the number one among the new generation of cultivators. We all want to know just how far you’ve reached," Tang Fenghua admitted openly.
"That’s enough. The sect will soon convene a meeting of the higher-ups. I’ll explain everything there when the time comes, so I don’t have to repeat myself to each of you," Yaoguang said.
Tang Fenghua was slightly surprised. "A meeting? Has something happened?"
"Yes. I just received news from Lin Deng through the Void Psychic World. The Infinite Star Palace decided to withdraw from the conflict with the Black Feather Sect and pull their forces out of the Black Flame Continent."
"Withdraw from the Black Feather Sect?" Tang Fenghua was startled. "Haven’t they failed to secure a decisive victory there all this time? Wouldn't withdrawing now be equivalent to admitting strategic failure in the Black Flame Continent?"
"They have no choice. The threat we pose has grown too great. They’ve realized that if they continue wasting time with the Black Feather Sect, they won’t be able to stop our rise." Yaoguang smiled faintly. "Truth is, it's already too late for them."
Tang Fenghua’s expression turned solemn as he nodded.
The Infinite Star Palace's retreat was essentially forced upon them by the Nine Cauldrons Sect. Such attention even made the Nine Cauldrons Sect feel somewhat flattered.
"Alright. Let’s see what Sect Master Li and the others say next. Over the years, they should have already prepared detailed countermeasures for this situation," Yaoguang said.
"Yes." Tang Fenghua nodded.
In truth, Yaoguang no longer needed his protection. Ever since he had severely injured Feng Ao while clashing with psychic thought and defeated Barton, who had been a star god, in actual combat, the entire Nine Cauldrons Sect had fully acknowledged his strength.
Tang Fenghua’s role had gradually shifted into that of a secretary or assistant, handling various sect affairs on his behalf.
Yaoguang seemed to sense something. He split off a strand of psychic thought and entered the Void Psychic World, quickly locating Fang Jinxue, the director of the Sky Patrol Research Institute No. 3.
"We succeeded! Deputy Hall Master, we succeeded!" Fang Jinxue said excitedly. "Following your design, we managed to integrate thirty-six hundred level 7 defensive arrays, thirty-six hundred level 7 offensive arrays, and thirty-six hundred level 7 spell amplification arrays... There are a total of 1080 level 7 arrays, working flawlessly together! With the power of these arrays, this new Sky Patrol Warship will absolutely reach fifth-generation standards! This is the strongest in the world! The number one warship of Cangwu! This single ship is worth ten third-generation warships!"
"Good." Yaoguang nodded with a smile.
It had not been in vain that he had designed this warship three years ago and personally guided its construction ever since. Now, there was no longer any need for him to assemble it piece by piece.
With the help of Fang Jinxue and the other experts, and under the guidance of his Psyche King secret technique, this warship, hailed as the strongest in the world, would be successfully constructed and launched within two to three years.
Of course, that was assuming the Infinite Star Palace would give them enough time.
"Still, we might be able to buy some time," Yaoguang said. "After all, the Infinite Star Palace still has the Thousand-Beast Sect as an opponent. Data on our growth may seem alarming, but without verifying it in combat, they may not prioritize us over the Thousand-Beast Sect. Even if they intend to deal with us, they will likely first drag the Thousand-Beast Sect into a prolonged war before turning their attention to us..."
This was his assessment based on the intelligence he had gathered within the Void Psychic World. While he couldn't be fully certain, he was rather confident about his assumptions.
With that in mind, he immediately said, "Have everyone rest for three days. After three days, return to work. I’ll guide you personally and ensure this world’s strongest Sky Patrol Warship is completed as quickly as possible!"
"No need!" Fang Jinxue said passionately. "Everyone is in excellent condition right now. We’re all waiting to begin construction under your leadership! The tides have turned. The position as the strongest sect in the world is finally returning to the Nine Cauldrons Sect!"
"Get some proper rest. Building a warship isn’t something done overnight. There’s no need to rush. In three days, we’ll make a plan," Yaoguang said.
This time, Fang Jinxue finally calmed down a little.
Yes, even with Deputy Hall Master Yaoguang overseeing the entire process of constructing a Sky Patrol Warship, ensuring that almost no step goes wrong and that everyone maximizes their role to the fullest, building such a massive warship will still require two or three years. A difference of three days really makes no difference.
With that in mind, Fang Jinxue nodded. "Alright, I’ll have everyone rest immediately."
"Go ahead." As Yaoguang spoke, he had already descended from the nine heavens and returned to his residence at the Purple Firmament Institute.
As soon as he arrived there, Lei Yun and the others responsible for his daily affairs quickly became busy.
While reviewing and summarizing this round of cultivation, Yaoguang also listened to Su Yaoyu, who had hurried over after hearing the news, as she reported on the institute’s latest developments.
Among these reports, one piece of information caught his attention. "Oh? Dong Liushui and the others are done with the prototype for the Purple Firmament Type 20 flying sword?"
"Yes. They are currently verifying the data and plan to report to you once the results are confirmed," Su Yaoyu replied.
"The Purple Firmament Type 20, huh..." Yaoguang murmured.
The reason it had jumped directly from Type 16 to Type 20 was that this flying sword belonged to an entirely new category.
Previous flying swords had been suited for cultivators who had focused on their swords to an extreme level. But the Purple Firmament Type 20 had been designed specifically for Unity Realm cultivators practicing the Primordial Creation Art.
At the Foundation Building Realm, the Primordial Creation Art did not differ much from conventional Foundation Building cultivation arts. At most, it was more refined and comprehensive.
But once one reached the Unity Realm, where essence, qi, and psyche merged into one, a cultivator’s strength increased exponentially. Even fifth-tier great cultivators who had established an immortal foundation and ignited Truefire were inferior in overall capability compared to Unity Realm cultivators.
The only aspect in which they could rival them was burst power and lethality. However, while immortal foundation cultivators could only sustain such explosive combat for ten or so exchanges before exhausting themselves, Unity Realm cultivators possessed far superior endurance and didn't need to rely heavily on primordial psyche cultivators.
That was because they themselves were essentially a fusion of a star lord, a Foundation Building, and a primordial psyche cultivator. Yaoguang had specifically designed the Type 20 flying sword to fully unleash these advantages.
"That's perfect timing. The Nine Cauldrons Sect has thirty-five Unity Realm cultivators right now. We’re only one short of forming a sword array. Once there's enough for a full battle formation, they can be assigned to a battle institute... When that time comes, I really want to see just how much combat power these Unity Realm cultivators can unleash, especially once equipped with Type 20 flying swords," Yaoguang said.
Cultivators who had established an immortal foundation were considered treasures in any sect, individuals with the potential to reach the Golden Core Realm. Unless the war progressed to a point where only one party could survive, it was rare for them to be sent to the battlefield.
In ordinary warfare, the true core forces were usually composed of fourth-tier great cultivators who had established a Dao Foundation and ignited Truefire.
Battle institutes made entirely of such fourth-tier great cultivators were known as ace battle institutes. An ace battle institute could typically face ten elite battle institutes on its own.
Considering how formidable the ace battle institutes were, Yaoguang couldn't help but wonder what would be the result if thirty-six Unity Realm cultivators, each stronger than fifth-tier great cultivators, were to form a battle institute.
Even Yaoguang felt some anticipation.
He glanced toward the Purple Firmament Institute but did not go over to congratulate Dong Liushui and the others. Since they wanted to surprise him, he would simply wait.
Instead, Yaoguang headed to the artifact refinement chamber in the rear courtyard. This was his private artifact refinement chamber.
Through his continuous upgrades, every refinement tool inside had already reached the pinnacle of the world.
As he activated one array after another, he quickly arrived at the center of the chamber. Here, four arrays were operating at full capacity. Vast amounts of spiritual power were continuously being consumed to sustain their operation.
The Stellar Soul was being used to further stabilize the arrays. And at the center of everything, a ring of blazing white light about ten meters in diameter was in the process of being forged.
This was a refinement method he had obtained after advancing his Refiner profession to the artifact paragon tier and reaching 61% progress.
And it was being used to forge the Gathering-Separation Ring, a spirit treasure capable of stabilizing the state of a Golden Core!
