Chapter 449: Artifact Paragon
The Heavenly Dao Sect held its succession ceremony right on schedule.
Thanks to Yaoguang's standing on the Dao Lord Candidate Rankings and to the mysterious artifact paragon who somehow qualified to attempt to create a top-tier Dao Artifact for the Penglai Dao Lord, the ceremony's prestige climbed even further.
During the ceremony itself, word of the Light Divine Race began circulating from the starry sky beyond.
Competing over a Dao Lord's secret cache, the Heavenly Dao Sect and the Light Divine Race had wrestled back and forth out in the starry sky for decades, until Sect Master Yaoguang had finally pinned down the cache's exact location.
In the end, he had cut his way in and had struck down the seven divine race figures guarding it, one after another. Among them had been Yinghuo, the strongest Void-Shattering cultivator of the Light Divine Race, and Lyra, whose importance rivaled that of a chief supreme elder of any top sect.
That news elevated Yaoguang's prestige as sect master to an unprecedented level. Some even felt tenth place on the Dao Lord Candidate Rankings was too low for him and that he belonged in the top three.
After all, even the invincible Void-Shattering cultivators in the top three of the Candidate Rankings might not kill over ten enemies at their realm in their entire lifetime.
Yaoguang's tally of hostile Void-Shattering cultivators came to sixteen by anyone's count. Counting Jing Yuntian and Perfected Lord Bu Zhou, both Heavenly Dao Sect members, eighteen Void-Shattering cultivators had fallen into his hands.
No top power could match this figure, even if it emptied its entire sect.
Given all that, more people than ever came to observe the ceremony.
Thanks to its new sect master, the Heavenly Dao Sect had shown its might across the North Sea Star, and even its disciples felt a swell of shared glory they had never known before, buoyed by one dazzling battle record after another.
Under the eyes of supreme elders from top sects across the star, along with their sect masters and heads, Yaoguang sat on the throne, making his position as sect master of the Heavenly Dao Sect official.
As he sat, every supreme elder of the sect, the newly appointed four lineage leaders, the peak masters, the Void-Piercing elders, and all eighty-eight true disciples bowed as one toward the figure above them.
"Greetings, Sect Master Yaoguang."
Hundreds of psychic thoughts converged into one and rolled across the entire Heavenly Dao Sect, declaring that the sect's era under Zong Wenxian had ended completely and that an era belonging to Yaoguang had begun.
"No need for ceremony. Please, be seated." Yaoguang extended a hand.
Below, standing among the crowd, the chief true disciple Yan Huang looked up at the figure on the sect master's throne with a complicated expression.
Decades ago, before Yaoguang had even reached the Void-Piercing Realm, the two of them had faced each other directly.
The result hadn't gone his way, but back then he had at least been a match for Yaoguang in terms of cultivation level. They had fought on the Heavenly Dao Sword Platform, and he had lost by the narrowest margin, surrendering the title of chief true disciple.
In the years since, he had cultivated relentlessly, meaning to catch up, meaning to wash away that shame once he broke through to the Void-Piercing Realm. He had never imagined things would go the way they did.
While he was still adjusting his condition, Yaoguang reached the Void-Refining Realm. By the time he was preparing his own attempt to reach the Void-Piercing Realm, Yaoguang had gone straight to the Void-Shattering Realm.
And when he finally reached his personal peak, with a fifty or sixty percent chance of breaking through and a place in the top three of the Void-Piercing Realm Candidate Rankings, Yaoguang had long since become one of the strongest Void-Shattering Realm cultivators, leaving heads rolling and rivers of blood in his wake.
The fiend lords and divine sovereigns who had died at his hands came to a full sixteen, and the fiendish cultivators and divine race members at the Void-Piercing and Void-Refining Realms were beyond counting.
What sort of unrivaled god of slaughter was he?
And now he had replaced Zong Wenxian, the sect's previous master, and become the Heavenly Dao Sect's new leader. How could anyone compare? What could they even compare with?
In that moment, the Heavenly Dao Sect's foremost true disciple let out a long breath and bitterly abandoned any hope of ever competing with Yaoguang.
He was even grateful that Yaoguang hadn't settled old scores and expelled him outright over his ties to Sect Master Zong. Otherwise, he doubted he would ever have laid eyes on Yaoguang's shadow again in this life.
"People are not all the same." Ling Xi's psychic thought surfaced in Yan Huang's mind without warning.
Unlike Yan Huang, who was still a true disciple, she had already broken through to the Void-Piercing Realm and become an elder, and an elder of the immortal lineage at that, with real authority in her hands.
"Wait a few thousand years, or even a few hundred, and once Sect Master Yaoguang has become a Dao Lord, you'll count yourself deeply fortunate to have exchanged blows with him back then. Because that will already have been the highest moment of your life," Ling Xi said.
Yan Huang was silent for a while. His gaze drifted back to that figure, laughing and talking easily with the leaders of one great sect after another.
He could call himself brilliantly gifted, but an achievement like Yaoguang's was something he would probably never truly reach in this lifetime.
Knowing full well his opinion counted for nothing, the foremost true disciple said it anyway, and meant every word. "Sect Master Yaoguang really is a supreme prodigy the world rarely sees. I, Yan Huang, concede."
***
After the ceremony ended, Yaoguang received one important guest after another in his capacity as sect master.
But with his fearsome reputation for suppressing an entire sect single-handedly, and with word of his achievements spreading through the starry sky, including that he had nearly destroyed the Light Divine Race alone, even killing Lyra and Yinghuo, even the most important guests were incredibly courteous in front of him.
In that warm, thoroughly amicable atmosphere, Yaoguang concluded the previously arranged trades for top-tier Dao Artifact materials, one guest at a time.
Thanks to the grim fate of the Light Divine Race's seven divine sovereigns, several powers that had originally meant to sell their materials at double the price generously "forgot" about the matter, wiping out well over a billion in profit to sell at cost instead.
The Golden Crow Sect, locked in direct opposition with the Light Divine Race, went further and simply gave Yaoguang a portion of top-tier Dao Artifact material as a congratulatory gift.
Ever since news of the seven fallen divine sovereigns spread, the Golden Crow Sect had been expanding its borders at a furious pace, and in a very short span its territory had grown by a fifth. Compared to their gains, one portion of top-tier Dao Artifact material was hardly an expensive gift.
The trading ran for half a month. Nearly everyone walked away smiling, satisfied with the result.
The supreme elders and sect masters of the other factions departed, but the Taiyuan Perfected Lord of the Taiyi Immortal Sect stayed on at the Heavenly Dao Sect. Yaoguang had deliberately saved that meeting for last.
***
In the Radiant Heaven Hall, the Taiyuan Perfected Lord and Perfected Lord Hong Yan finally saw Yaoguang again.
After they greeted each other, Perfected Lord Hong Yan asked impatiently, "Sect Master Yaoguang, what did you make of my proposal?"
Then he added, "Of course, if it's inconvenient for that artifact paragon, I can travel to the southern domain to see him."
"It isn't a matter of convenience." Yaoguang considered the situation for a moment before speaking, "There's a spatial teleportation array between the Southern Capital and the Heavenly Dao Sect. It takes no more time than activating the array to move between them. It's just..."
"Is there some difficulty, Sect Master Yaoguang? Speak freely." Hong Yan smiled. "My own skill at refinement certainly can't be mentioned in the same breath as his, but artifact paragon to artifact paragon, we're bound to have some common ground. If we exchange views and talk things through, perhaps we'll both come away with something."
"I agree with you there, Artifact Paragon Hong Yan. It's just that his identity is a bit sensitive, and at this critical juncture especially, it shouldn't be exposed. If you really do want to meet him, I'd like the two of us to sign a pact first. A pact not to divulge any information whatsoever relating to that paragon's identity." Yaoguang laid out the plan he had worked through long in advance.
"Not to divulge his identity..." Hong Yan thought it over, then smiled again. "Identity alone, correct? Assessments of his skill at refinement and the like..."
"You're free to share those with others." Yaoguang smiled. "If you're willing to vouch for him, I could hardly ask for more."
"Then there's no problem at all." Hong Yan nodded.
They had already guessed that this paragon intended to enter the Dao through the artifact. Once the Penglai Dao Lord's top-tier Dao Artifact was finished, he would likely try to break through almost immediately.
And a Void-Shattering cultivator integrating with the Dao often faced human tribulation set in his path, so it was entirely reasonable for Yaoguang to conceal the artifact paragon's identity and keep that danger as low as possible.
"In that case, I'll have the Great Dao Golden Book draw up a pact. I trust the Golden Book Venerable's credibility is good enough for you, Artifact Paragon Hong Yan," Yaoguang said.
Hong Yan and the Taiyuan Perfected Lord exchanged a glance and nodded their heads slightly. "That will do."
Yaoguang used his authority as sect master to summon the Golden Book Venerable once more. On hearing what Yaoguang needed, the Venerable said little and set about his duties as chief steward and backstop with diligent care.
Once both Yaoguang and Hong Yan had signed, the latter asked eagerly, "And now?"
"Please wait a short while at the Nine Cauldrons Peak, Artifact Paragon Hong Yan. That artifact paragon will be arriving there to meet you very soon." Yaoguang glanced at the Taiyuan Perfected Lord. "You've no objection to me borrowing Artifact Paragon Hong Yan for a private conversation, right?"
"Haha, we've already prepared a hundred-billion-level primary immortal artifact material. Of course we trust you, Sect Master Yaoguang." The Taiyuan Perfected Lord laughed heartily.
Yaoguang summoned Tang Fenghua and had him escort Hong Yan to the Nine Cauldrons Peak. He himself left Zhen Xuanyuan to entertain the Taiyuan Perfected Lord and headed for the area housing the teleportation arrays.
He kept busy there for a full day, even going so far as to fire up the teleportation array three times for show, before suppressing his own aura and making his way back to the Nine Cauldrons Peak.
The moment he reached the main peak, Yaoguang activated every array on the mountain. More than that, he even started up the Twelve-Fiend-God Heaven-Sealing Array and held it half-activated, so that any outside attack would set it running at once.
Once everything was active, Hong Yan, who had waited there alone for a full day, hurried forward. "Sect Master Yaoguang, where is he? Where is this artifact paragon?"
"Far away, at the edge of the sky." Yaoguang smiled faintly and turned to face the Taiyi Sect's artifact paragon head-on. "And near at hand, right before your eyes."