Chapter 431: The Gap
Zong Wenxian and Dong Xi arrived on a planet formed entirely of high-density metal, and a Void-Piercing Realm elder stationed there hurried forward to receive them. "Sect Master."
"Mhmm." Zong Wenxian gave a slight nod, then asked at once, "Any word from the sect?"
"Yes. Lineage Leader Yuan Miaoyi sent a message saying that the moment you returned, you were to activate the array without delay. He said something important had happened, though he did not say what," the Void-Piercing elder replied promptly.
They were currently incredibly far from the North Sea Star, far beyond the range of any communication jade talisman; messages could only be relayed through specific arrays.
"Hmm?" Zong Wenxian frowned.
A message from Yuan Miaoyi? Why him? Perfected Lord Bu Zhou should've been the one contacting me. Counting the days, Perfected Lord Bu Zhou should not only have reached the North Sea Star by now, but he should also have had ample time to invite Perfected Lord Jinghong over as well. A message at this point... Shouldn't it have been someone asking for my exact location?
He turned it over in his mind, then said, "Go. Activate the array."
"Ah... you may need to wait a moment, sect master. Supreme Elder Liao Chen is currently using the communication array," the Void-Piercing elder said.
"Liao Chen is back?"
"Not just him. Supreme Elder Yuan Xing has returned as well."
"Oh?" Zong Wenxian's eyebrows lifted slightly.
Beside him, Dong Xi looked surprised. "Both supreme elders are back? Does that mean they found the divine race's void node?"
"That... they did not say," the Void-Piercing elder answered, head bowed.
Zong Wenxian did not comment. This was the one great inconvenience of the cosmos: it was simply too vast, and communication was nowhere near as easy as on the North Sea Star.
At close range, messages could still be passed through the subtle resonance between communication jade talismans, but at distances measured in light-years, those talismans were no better than dead objects.
"Then let's go over and wait." Zong Wenxian set off toward the site of the communication array.
The Heavenly Dao Sect maintained quite a few strongholds in the starry sky beyond. Aside from the necessary defensive arrays, the most valuable thing in each was usually the array capable of ultra-long-range communication, and many Void-Piercing battle immortals were garrisoned in such places.
The arrays held no value for cultivators who lived by plundering others, and a Void-Piercing battle immortal fighting with its life on the line was not easy to deal with, so these strongholds rarely came under attack, and battle-immortal-level strength was enough to keep them safe.
Soon, Zong Wenxian arrived at one of the planet's mountain peaks. Here, towers rose from the ground one after another, each a full kilometer tall. There were a total of 1,024.
Together they formed a colossal array that seemed to resonate with other arrays deep in the starry sky, and, through that resonance, carried messages across the void.
The array was wreathed in flowing light, and deep within the glow two figures could be seen conversing. The instant they sensed Zong Wenxian's arrival, both fell silent. The light dimmed, and the two figures walked out.
"Supreme Elder Liao Chen. Supreme Elder Yuan Xing." Zong Wenxian greeted them.
"Sect Master Zong." They returned the greeting, but their expressions were odd.
"Have you two located the Light Divine Race's void node?"
"We've narrowed down the general region, but not the precise location," Yuan Xing said, then changed the subject. "Someone is anxious to reach you, it seems? You should reply as soon as you can. We intend to re-verify the suspicious sites we've identified, so we'll take our leave."
Zong Wenxian found their behavior somewhat strange, but thought no more of it and stepped into the array.
The departing Yuan Xing promptly called out, "Perfected Lord Dong Xi, there is a matter I need to discuss with you, if it's convenient."
"Of course." Dong Xi nodded slightly and followed Yuan Xing away.
As they left, he couldn't help but ask, "When you contacted the sect, did you ask when Perfected Lord Jinghong is coming? The Light Divine Race's strength may have declined since they left the divine kingdom, but they've hidden the void node leading to the Dao Lord's secret cache very carefully. We'll have a hard time uncovering it on our own. Best to have Perfected Lord Jinghong act once, capture one of the divine race, and simply get the location out of them... The Gate of the Immortal Realm shouldn't open for another thousand years, so one trip out here would hardly interfere with the Dao Lord's instructions."
Perfected Lord Yuan Xing drew a deep breath. "I'm afraid... Perfected Lord Jinghong won't be coming."
"He won't be coming?" Dong Xi was taken aback. "Why?"
"Something enormous has happened in the sect," Perfected Lord Liao Chen cut in. He glanced toward Zong Wenxian, who had already entered the communication array. "Let's talk after we've left. Better yet, let's get clear of this stronghold entirely and put some distance between Sect Master Zong and us... Otherwise, I'm worried he may lose his mind."
"Sect Master Zong?" Dong Xi was baffled. "How does this concern him? What happened?"
Then, as if something had dawned on him, he blurted, "Is it Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang? Don't tell me... Did the Central Heaven Dao Lord take him as a disciple? So Perfected Lord Bu Zhou's words counted for nothing, and even Perfected Lord Jinghong has decided to back him?"
"That's not what happened, but what you've described isn't far off the mark," Yuan Xing said, his voice still carrying a trace of the shock he had felt when the news first reached him. "Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang... That man is simply legendary! According to Chi Yun, and Supreme Elders Zhen Xuanyuan and Gu Li as well, he exchanged blows against Perfected Lord Jinghong, and neither could best the other..."
"And that's not even half of it," Perfected Lord Liao Chen said gravely. "Perfected Lord Bu Zhou is dead. A Recording Stone shows he died at the hands of the Yin Lunar Sect's Soul Slayer and Foolish Soul Fiend Lords, but in truth the odds are high that Yaoguang planned his death. And afterward, with the excuse of avenging Perfected Lord Bu Zhou, Yaoguang stormed the Yin Lunar Sect on his own and cut down seven of its Void-Shattering fiend lords in succession, forcing a sect founded on a fiend sovereign's legacy to withdraw and seal its gates."
"Wait... Wait!" Supreme Dong Xi's mind reeled, struggling to keep up with what he was hearing. "Yaoguang? Fought Perfected Lord Jinghong to a draw? And used the Yin Lunar Sect's fiendish cultivators as tools to kill Perfected Lord Bu Zhou? And then attacked the Yin Lunar Sect itself, slew seven Void-Shattering fiend lords, and forced the whole sect to seal itself?"
He stared at the two supremes with disbelief, as if they were joking with him. "Are you serious?"
"I know how hard it is to believe. When the news reached me, I thought it was a fairy tale myself. One man crushing an entire sect, a feat that rivals the Penglai Dao Lord. A feat the likes of which haven't been seen in a thousand years... But it is true," Yuan Xing said in a heavy voice.
Dong Xi looked from Yuan Xing to Liao Chen. How long have we been away from the Heavenly Dao Sect? Wasn't it just a few decades? How could the situation in the Heavenly Dao Sect have changed so drastically?
"Seven Yin Lunar Sect Void-Shattering fiendish cultivators died under his sword. Count the Eight Desolations and Dark Fiend Lords from before, and nine fiend lords of the Yin Lunar Sect have now been killed by Yaoguang. Against a record like that, even if Zong Wenxian found the Dao Lord's secret cache, it wouldn't compare," Yuan Xing said. "And now that Perfected Lord Jinghong has returned to the stellar core, the plan of capturing a divine race expert and forcing the cache's location out of them is as good as dead. In other words, Zong Wenxian has basically no hope of ever claiming the Dao Lord's secret cache."
That being so, whether to stand with Zong Wenxian or with Yaoguang... Was there even any need to think before making a decision? This was precisely why Yuan Xing had called Dong Xi away from Zong Wenxian's side.
"H-How is this possible..." Supreme Dong Xi murmured to himself. Reason told him the two supremes could not possibly be lying to him about such a thing, and yet in his heart, he still could not believe it.
It was at that moment that a terrifying aura erupted from the planet housing the Heavenly Dao Sect stronghold, an aura carrying all of Zong Wenxian's shock. From those ripples alone, Yuan Xing and Liao Chen could guess what had happened.
Zong Wenxian now knew what had happened in the Heavenly Dao Sect. The news had struck with such force that the peak Void-Shattering sect master had lost all composure, his emotions fluctuating without control.
"He's lost control of himself," Liao Chen said, urging them on. "Let's go. Best keep our distance, before we're caught in it."
He and Yuan Xing swiftly withdrew. Dong Xi, feeling the fury and horror in Zong Wenxian's aura, came back to his senses as well.
"Wait for me." With a low cry, he hurried after the two supremes.
***
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Inside the array, Zong Wenxian was glaring at the projected figures of Yuan Miaoyi, Xiang Zhenlong, and the others, the violent shock of the news churning his emotions into a storm.
"Yaoguang... He's only got a little more than one hundred years of cultivation! Reaching the Void-Shattering Realm already makes him a peerless prodigy. How could he possibly wield such strength? One man crushing an entire sect? How is that possible?!"
"Sect Master... We sent people to investigate the Yin Lunar Sect more than once, and even activated some of our most deeply buried agents. It's true. The Yin Lunar Sect has lost seven Void-Shattering fiend lords and has been forced into full seclusion," Yuan Miaoyi replied.
"It's true, Sect Master. Anyone who looks into this will find the same," Xiang Zhenlong said, then pressed for instructions. "Sect Master, what do we do now? Please, come back quickly... Perfected Lord Jinghong has already given Yaoguang his approval and hasn't even pursued his responsibility for the deaths of Perfected Lord Bu Zhou and Supreme Elder Jing Yuntian... Supreme Elder Gu Li has betrayed us, too. Like Chi Yun and Zhen Xuanyuan, he now follows Yaoguang's lead in everything... If you don't return soon, then... then..."
Then what?
Xiang Zhenlong couldn't finish. Because the more he thought about it, the more it seemed that Zong Wenxian returning would change nothing.
With what was he supposed to contend against a Yaoguang at the very peak of his power? Whether in ability, strength, talent, or potential, Yaoguang surpassed Zong Wenxian by a wide margin.
Unless Zong Wenxian could achieve Dao Integration and become a Dao Lord on the spot, nothing would turn the situation around; to keep fighting would only be to invite humiliation.
And the difficulty of that... was roughly on par with handing him a rock and asking him to refine a Dao Artifact using that rock as the only material.
There was no contest. No contest at all!
"Yaoguang!" Zong Wenxian shouted the name through gritted teeth.
However furious, however unwilling he was, it seemed he had no choice but to accept the truth. In that moment, the sect master of the Heavenly Dao Sect stood hollowed out, a man who had lost his soul.
"Why... has it come to this?"