Chapter 423: Retreat
"That makes two," Yaoguang said.
Within the world of his grotto-heaven, the Great Dao of void, the Great Dao of destruction, the Great Dao of time, the Great Dao of origin, the Great Dao of soul, the Great Dao of stars, and the Great Dao of devouring were intervowen, as if fused into a millstone of Great Dao, deriving Dao Technique after Dao Technique to grind away the Heavenly Prison Fiend Lord's heavenly fiend origin.
Under the attrition of these Dao Techniques and Great Dao, the fiend lord's heavenly fiend origin was rapidly worn down, its energy pouring into the grotto-heaven and adding to its strength.
It's a pity that at the Void-Shattering Realm, a cultivator has essentially reached the end of the cultivation road. The grotto-heaven can perhaps still be strengthened, but only to a limited degree. What truly separates the strong from the weak among Void-Shattering cultivators comes down to how many perfection-stage Dao Techniques they command, how they use and combine them, their understanding of themselves and their enemies, their combat experience, and the quality of the Dao Artifacts they wield.
The Void-Shattering Realm truly was near the end. The only step above it was Dao Integration, grasping the power of the Great Dao that structured the entire universe!
That step was a genuine leap in tier of power, and it changed one's very essence. It was an even greater leap than the leap from the Golden Core Realm to the Void-Piercing Realm.
Two more Void-Shattering fiendish cultivators killed. The experience gained should be just enough to bring the Daemon Hunter branch to 100% progress at level 15. Yaoguang thought.
In other words, this branch too was ready to graduate. It would only see its next round of growth after the Immortal Dao branch underwent its transformation.
"Hmm? There's someone else?" Yaoguang seemed to sense something. He activated Void Flicker, and in an instant he vanished from the battlefield.
***
Elsewhere, at the Yin Lunar Sect headquarters, Yue Wuying had been following the Eerie Night Fiend Lord's movements the whole time.
Though on the surface they dismissed Yaoguang as not worth talking about, as though he really were nothing but a newly advanced Void-Shattering cultivator with slightly better talent and nothing to show for it but cultivation speed, in reality they gave every cultivator who reached the Void-Shattering Realm their full attention.
No one who managed to reach the Void-Shattering Realm was ever simple. They all understood that perfectly well.
One could belittle an opponent with words, but when it came to an actual duel with another Void-Shattering cultivator, one had to go all out, leaving nothing to chance.
"There is no need to worry, Sect Master. With Heavenly Prison there, it should be fine," a Void-Shattering Realm fiend lord said with a smile. "Heavenly Prison has traded blows with Zhen Xuanyuan before. He was slightly weaker, but when focusing on survival, not even Zhen Xuanyuan could hurt him. So long as he does not get caught in an array, the only one in the entire Heavenly Dao Sect who could truly kill him is Jinghong. Besides, Slaughter Sin has gone as well! Slaughter Sin cultivates the Great Dao of slaughter, and his life-bound Dao Technique is the Seven-Thought Killing Art. In a frontal clash, he is just as strong as Heavenly Prison."
Yue Wuying gave a slight nod, then said, "It simply strikes me as abnormal. Why would the Heavenly Dao Sect let Yaoguang push deep into our territory alone? Are they really willing to let such a talented deputy sect master fall inside our Yin Lunar Sect's territory? I'm worried there might be a trick!"
"I am not far from Supreme Elder Eerie Night's territory, and getting there with a Dao Artifact vessel won't take much time. I'll go lend a hand as well," the Golden Lion Fiend Lord offered.
"Good. With four fiend lords together, even if the Heavenly Dao Sect really has some hidden scheme, we will have enough strength to deal with it. At the very least, with our respective life-preserving abilities, withdrawing will be no problem." Yue Wuying nodded in approval.
Just then, one of the fiend lords froze, and disbelief flooded his eyes. "Sect Master?!"
Yue Wuying had received the same news, and his heart sank at once.
"What happened?" the Golden Lion Fiend Lord, who was about to leave, asked hurriedly.
"The elder stationed in the Eternal Lamp Hall just sent word... Eerie Night's lamp... has gone out." A trace of horror ran through Yue Wuying's voice.
"Gone out?!" The Golden Lion Fiend Lord's pupils contracted sharply. "Fallen?! Impossible! How could it be this fast?! How long has it even been?!"
Then, as though struck by a thought, he added, "Is it Jinghong?! Has Perfected Lord Jinghong followed along to escort Yaoguang?!"
"Jinghong?! How dare he leave the stellar core!" Yue Wuying was shocked and furious in equal measure. "I will send word at once to Supreme Blood Nether on his way to the stellar core. He and the Red Moon Fiend Lord are to strike directly at the other two Void-Shattering cultivators the Heavenly Dao Sect keeps stationed there! Killing those two will repay the Void-Shattering cultivators our Yin Lunar Sect has lost one after another!"
The Gate of the Immortal Realm lay within the stellar core. For many Dao Lords, the ultimate purpose of leaving an orthodoxy behind on the North Sea Star was to observe the Gate of the Immortal Realm's movements.
The Gate was said to open once every ten thousand years, but the timing fluctuated, and certain artificial means could even cause it to open early.
Meanwhile, Dao Lords roaming the universe faced vast distances, often needing decades or even a century or more to return. So the moment the Gate showed signs of opening, these factions would immediately notify the Dao Lords standing behind them.
As for the notion that news of the gate's opening would simply spread on its own until the whole world knew, there was almost no chance of that!
This touched on the Dao Contest! Whenever the Gate of the Immortal Realm neared opening, the Void-Shattering cultivators that stood closest to it would spontaneously lock down all news of the opening, laying illusion arrays to confound all eyes and ears, or sealing the inside off from the outside so no word could pass, all to delay the time it took other Dao Lords to learn that the gate was opening.
If a Dao Lord had no eyes and ears stationed in the inner circle, it was all too easy for that Dao Lord to miss that round of the gate's opening. And if such a chance were missed... one could well imagine the heights that Dao Lord's fury would reach.
That was why every faction would send its strongest to stay in the stellar core, with an additional one to three Void-Shattering supreme elders assigned to support them and make absolutely sure of things.
If the Yin Lunar Sect could truly seize this chance to kill the two Heavenly Dao Sect's Void-Shattering cultivators who were there to support Perfected Lord Jinghong, it would be tantamount to binding Perfected Lord Jinghong to the inner circle. He would no longer dare make any careless moves for fear of an accident.
Otherwise, if the Gate of the Immortal Realm suddenly showed signs of opening while he was away, the other factions would join hands at once to seal off its surroundings, and Perfected Lord Jinghong could forget about ever setting foot inside again, forever unable to obtain firsthand knowledge of the gate.
Just as Sect Master Yue Wuying was contacting Blood Nether to relay his orders, a humming sound rang out, and the Heavenly Prison Fiend Lord's figure suddenly appeared, transmitting a psychic thought steeped in terror. "The intelligence was wrong! Yaoguang's strength is overwhelming, not far off from Perfected Lord Jinghong's! Eerie Night has already been crushed. Fellow Daoists, come quickly!"
The message had barely arrived when despair bled through his psychic thought. "Void Flicker!"
The next moment, his figure simply vanished, clearly subjugated by some power that could cut off even communication jade talismans.
"That is grotto-heaven power!" the Golden Lion Fiend Lord said gravely. "Supreme Heavenly Prison has been subjugated by a grotto-heaven's power!"
"The message Supreme Heavenly Prison just sent with his dying strength said that Yaoguang's strength is not far off from Perfected Lord Jinghong's?!" another Void-Shattering fiend lord said with dread. "Doesn't that mean that the news we got from the Heavenly Dao Sect was true? That Yaoguang really has the power to fight Zhen Xuanyuan and Gu Li at once?"
"It's clear enough now." The Golden Lion Fiend Lord was the quickest to recover, his voice heavy. "Soul Slayer, Foolish Soul, Eerie Night, and Heavenly Prison fell one after another precisely because we misjudged Yaoguang's strength. And not just those four... even the Eight Desolations and Dark Fiend Lords underestimated him, were lured into the Southern Capital's city-guarding grand array, and ended up dead..."
As he spoke, he felt a chill run through him. Counting carefully, the Yin Lunar Sect had now lost six Void-Shattering cultivators to Yaoguang's hands! That man was incredibly ferocious!
Most importantly, he was still rampaging inside the sect's territory. A powerhouse comparable to those in the Dao Lord Candidate Rankings, rivaling or at least approaching Perfected Lord Jinghong's level, was running loose inside the Yin Lunar Sect, and the Yin Lunar Sect had yet to mount a proper response!
If he was allowed to keep killing like this, then aside from the few Void-Shattering cultivators at the headquarters, everyone else would likely end up slaughtered by Yaoguang.
"This is bad! Yaoguang clearly wants to wipe out our Yin Lunar Sect's entire top-tier strength in one fell swoop while we still don't understand his power! Quickly! Recall everyone..." the Golden Lion Fiend Lord roared, while simultaneously transmitting to the Slaughter Sin Fiend Lord. "Return at once! Heavenly Prison and Eerie Night were already killed by Yaoguang. If he sets his sights on you next, you are dead beyond all doubt! Retreat now! Abandon your territory if you must, take your elites, and withdraw to the sect headquarters!"
"Abandon my territory?" The Slaughter Sin Fiend Lord was clearly reluctant. "My city holds a level 13 array. With me presiding over it, however formidable Yaoguang's cultivation may be, is he going to charge into the array and kill me? What's more, my array leans toward defense and entrapment. Once he is caught inside it and you all reinforce me in time through the teleportation arrays, we might even make sure he never leaves."
"What would it look like, all of us abandoning our territories and fleeing back to the headquarters because of one Yaoguang?" Yue Wuying's expression was ugly. "Have everyone activate their arrays and go to full defense. I will summon Supreme Blood Nether, and even invite Supreme Red Moon! We absolutely cannot let Yaoguang keep running wild on our sect's land... We should repay the courtesy. We will answer defense with attack, storm the southern domain, and make him pay his debts in blood!"
Golden Lion opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment the Slaughter Sin Fiend Lord's expression changed violently. "I sense his aura. He's coming... How could he be that fast?! He's already here!"
The moment the words ended, his psychic thought seemed to vanish, disrupted by some overwhelming power that made even transmission impossible.
"That would be the Heaven-Sealing Stele's power!" Yue Wuying turned at once to Golden Lion. "You are closest to the Slaughter Sin Fiend Lord. Go reinforce him, quickly."
"It's useless. If Yaoguang's strength really rivals Perfected Lord Jinghong's, then going to reinforce each other one by one is nothing but a march to our deaths. It will only get every supreme elder of our sect killed." The Golden Lion Fiend Lord's voice was heavy. "Let's retreat. Withdraw to the sect, and when Supreme Elders Blood Nether and Red Moon arrive, we will take our revenge!"
"Retreat? How many supreme elders here do you think would be willing to give up the interests they have painstakingly built?" Yue Wuying sneered.
"In the face of life and death, I believe they will make the right choice," the Golden Lion Fiend Lord said.
"Life and death..." Yue Wuying fell silent.
That silence lasted less than a moment, however, before the Yin Lunar Sect's sect master seemed to receive some message, and his pupils constricted sharply.
"Sect Master?!"
"The Slaughter Sin Fiend Lord's soul lamp... has gone out!"
At that, fear finally surfaced in Yue Wuying's eyes. Not daring to hesitate any longer, he gave a series of orders in rapid succession. "Retreat! Pass down my command: retreat! All elders above the Void-Piercing Realm, withdraw to the sect! Our sect is facing a catastrophe unseen in ten thousand years!"