The Modern Martial Immortal

The Gate of the Immortal Realm on the North Sea Star was still eight or nine hundred years from opening, but to leave nothing to chance, most Dao Lords would return at least three hundred years early, some even five hundred years. The Central Heaven Dao Lord's timetable was hardly a surprise.

"I'll do my best." Yaoguang went straight to the point. "I reached out to you today because there's something I need to tell you, Dao Lord."

"Go ahead."

"The reason I reached the Void-Shattering Realm so fast is that an artifact paragon has been backing me the whole time, and his ability in artifact refinement is far higher than anyone realizes. Not long ago, even the Penglai Dao Lord was won over by it. She handed him the precious materials she'd collected and asked him to refine a top-tier Dao Artifact for her!"

"A top-tier Dao Artifact?!" The Central Heaven Dao Lord went still for a moment, then immediately asked, "Which Dao Lord is he?"

Barely had the question left him when something clicked. "Wait. You're saying he isn't a Dao Lord?!"

"He isn't." Yaoguang shook his head.

"Not a Dao Lord?! Refining a top-tier Dao Artifact?! That's impossible!" The Central Heaven Dao Lord waved the idea off.

"In theory, yes. But with good enough materials, an artifact paragon who can only manage high-grade Dao Artifacts might still turn out a passable top-tier one using immortal-artifact-level materials. He went to the Penglai Dao Lord to win her backing, and he's hoping that in the middle of refining a top-tier Dao Artifact he can break through his own ceiling, then ride that moment of success and turn it into an attempt to reach Dao Integration." Yaoguang brought up the Penglai Dao Lord a second time, and after hearing her name twice, the Central Heaven Dao Lord finally settled down.

"The Penglai Dao Lord was actually won over? She's willing to bankroll an attempt at a top-tier Dao Artifact?"

"That's right." Yaoguang nodded. "If he can really refine a top-tier Dao Artifact and elevate himself in that same instant, integrating with the Dao in one stroke, then he'll certainly be able to refine semi-immortal artifacts!"

If a top-tier Dao Artifact only raised a Dao Lord's combat power by ten or twenty percent, a semi-immortal artifact matched to its wielder would raise it by half!

"Too difficult," the Central Heaven Dao Lord said. "There's almost no chance of it working."

Then he added, "Only the Penglai Dao Lord, whose money comes that easily, would let an artifact paragon talk her into fooling around like this."

The corner of Yaoguang's mouth twitched. It took him a while to answer. "If the Penglai Dao Lord approved of that paragon, then surely he really does have something exceptional about him."

"The Penglai Dao Lord is a young Dao Lord who hasn't lived two thousand years. What does she know?" The Central Heaven Dao Lord shook his head.

Yaoguang felt his hopes of pulling an investment from the Central Heaven Dao Lord go up in smoke.

At that moment, the Central Heaven Dao Lord seemed to catch on and looked at Yaoguang. "You want me to fund him too, so this top-tier Dao Artifact gets finished?"

"Yes," Yaoguang said. "The Heavenly Dao Sect has the oldest inheritance on the North Sea Star. Surely it holds plenty of top-tier Dao Artifact materials, and even immortal artifact materials? If a portion of immortal artifact material could be put in..."

"I don't agree." The Central Heaven Dao Lord shot it down flat. "A portion of immortal artifact material is worth a hundred billion. All to bet on that artifact paragon's slim chance of advancing? There's no need for me to do that."

"If that artifact paragon manages to advance, I won't promise semi-immortal artifacts, but as for top-tier Dao Artifacts... You'd never have to worry about them again, Dao Lord."

"For an outlay that big, I'd sooner take the hundred billion and just buy a top-tier Dao Artifact."

"A hundred billion will buy you a top-tier Dao Artifact, true, but buying one that fits your own life-bound Dao Technique perfectly is another thing entirely," Yaoguang argued patiently.

"And this paragon behind you can manage that?" The Central Heaven Dao Lord laughed softly. "Even if he's pushed the Sovereign Human Emperor to perfection, and some void Dao Technique to perfection on top of that, he can't have a full grasp of the Great Dao of truth as well, surely? And even if he understood the Great Dao of truth inside and out, it wouldn't necessarily be the Great Truth Technique that suits me."

"Why not?" Yaoguang said with a smile. "Think about it. With my talent, and with the weight of that artifact paragon behind me, I'd do very well in any sect or faction. So why did I choose to join the Heavenly Dao Sect rather than the Taiyi Immortal Sect or the Great Shang Immortal Dynasty? Because besides the Sovereign Human Emperor and a void Dao Technique, that artifact paragon has also practiced the Great Truth Technique."

Plenty of unreasonable things became perfectly reasonable the moment they were said, as long as the speaker was strong enough.

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Off to the side, Zhen Xuanyuan glanced at Yaoguang. A man with an artifact paragon behind him and talent like that should have joined the Three-Qing Temple, the strongest of them all. Instead, they had come to the Heavenly Dao Sect, and it had all been for this moment?

Or rather, the mysterious artifact paragon had long planned for this: the Penglai Immortal Sect and the Heavenly Dao Sect using their full wealth to support the refinement of a top-tier Dao Artifact, so he could use the tremendous confidence boost from turning the impossible into the possible and reach Dao Integration in one go.

Add in the persistent rumors about how close Yaoguang and the Penglai Dao Lord were, and it all made sense.

He was not the only one thinking it over. The Central Heaven Dao Lord was deep in thought as well.

"The Great Truth Technique..." The Dao Lord mulled it over for a while before he spoke. "Have this artifact paragon come and talk with me. Before he arrives, I'll contact Jinghong to try to get a full picture. If what you say is true, and if he can perform the Great Truth Technique in front of me and show he's reached the perfection stage, then I can invest a certain amount and do my part toward refining that top-tier Dao Artifact."

Hearing that, Yaoguang knew it was the man's bottom line.

Still, he had never intended to reveal that he was the artifact paragon in front of everyone; otherwise, he wouldn't have taken such a long way around. So that was that. It wouldn't work.

Fair enough. Expecting the Central Heaven Dao Lord to hand over a hundred billion worth of investment based on just a few sentences was no different than trying to conjure something out of nothing.

"An artifact paragon, especially one already capable of refining high-grade Dao Artifacts, is a strategic asset to any power. The moment he shows himself to the world, a few Dao Lords who can't resist the temptation will try to make a move and carry him off. This artifact paragon absolutely will not appear lightly," Yaoguang said.

Yaoguang's voice turned grave. "As things stand, with me in the Heavenly Dao Sect, we already have a natural basis for cooperation with him. If you were to support his attempt at Dao Integration, Dao Lord, the relationship would go a step further. And if he achieves Dao Integration later on, then setting everything else aside, as long as you supply the materials, he'd refine a semi-immortal artifact for you without question. What do you say, Dao Lord?"

"So he doesn't trust me." The Central Heaven Dao Lord understood what Yaoguang meant.

And fairly so. An artifact paragon below the Dao Lord Realm had almost no way to resist a true Dao Lord. Meanwhile, he himself was unwilling to throw out a hundred billion so casually. There simply wasn't enough trust on either side.

The Central Heaven Dao Lord thought back to Perfected Lord Jinghong's assessment of Yaoguang, and after a moment he relented. "Thirteen thousand years ago, while I was traveling abroad, I did have the good fortune to obtain a portion of material usable for refining an immortal artifact. But I carry it with me, so even if I wanted to give it to that artifact paragon, I couldn't. Let's do this instead. I'll come back at full speed and try to reach the North Sea within a hundred years. Once I'm there and understand the situation properly, I'll make my final decision."

"A hundred years..." Yaoguang did a quick calculation. The timing worked out well enough.

He had promised the Penglai Dao Lord he would finish the Dao Artifact she wanted as soon as possible, and the Guixu Mystic Crystal in his hands could be refined into the Eight Desolations Mirror. At his current skill level, by the time he was done refining both Dao Artifacts, eight hundred or so years would probably have passed.

He nodded. "Then I'll await your arrival, Dao Lord."

The Central Heaven Dao Lord nodded, then added, "The sect treasury holds some top-tier Dao Artifact materials. There aren't many, but they're valuable nonetheless. If they're useful, take them. Whether or not our cooperation comes to anything in the end, count them as a gift, a way of building some goodwill with that artifact paragon."

Yaoguang had been planning to quietly slip into the Heavenly Dao Sect treasury for a look around anyway, and with the Central Heaven Dao Lord's blessing, his mind was thoroughly at ease. "Thank you, Dao Lord. Since that paragon chose the Heavenly Dao Sect, he naturally holds it in high regard. You can rest easy on that count."

The Central Heaven Dao Lord smiled and said nothing more. Once he confirmed there were no other pressing matters, his figure vanished from the array formation.

He had already decided to come at full speed. A hundred years would get him there, and if anything went wrong, he would have enough time to clean it up.

***

After leaving the communications palace, Yaoguang wasted no time and headed straight for the Heavenly Dao Sect treasury.

The Golden Book Venerable guarded the treasury in person, and his true body was said to be inside as well. Yet when Yaoguang arrived, the Venerable didn't even show himself, and Yaoguang walked into the treasury by relying on his authority as the new sect master.

As one of the oldest Dao Lord inheritances, the Heavenly Dao Sect naturally had no shortage of materials and Dao Artifacts stored away.

Yaoguang went through them one by one and found that everything in the treasury was probably worth thirty or forty billion in total. This was essentially the Heavenly Dao Sect's foundation laid bare, although its core remained in the Dao Lord's hands.

Yaoguang picked through the many materials and selected roughly six billion worth of top-tier Dao Artifact refinement materials before walking back out. Outside, he found not only Zhen Xuanyuan but also Chi Yun.

Seeing him emerge, Chi Yun stepped forward. "Sect Master, now that you've taken up the sect master's sigil, you should assemble your own four lineages and get the Heavenly Dao Sect running again. Leaving Yuan Miaoyi and Xiang Zhenlong as lineage leaders isn't very suitable."

Yaoguang nodded. "I'll send word to the southern domain now and have people come over."

Considering that he might not stay in the Heavenly Dao Sect indefinitely, he added, "Qi Sha will take the battle lineage as its leader. For the immortal lineage, I intend to put Chu Gushan in charge. As for the heavenly lineage and the Dao lineage, you supreme elders shall discuss it among yourselves and recommend a few candidates to me."

Hearing that Yaoguang had no intention of turning the Heavenly Dao Sect into a one-man show, Zhen Xuanyuan and Chi Yun were both surprised and relieved. "We won't let you down, Sect Master."

"Go on." Then Yaoguang turned to Zhen Xuanyuan with one more instruction. "And don't be careless in arranging the succession ceremony."

"Understood." Zhen Xuanyuan nodded.

"Sect Master, would you consider moving over to the Radiant Heaven Hall?" Chi Yun the supreme ventured.

"No need. I'm comfortable enough on Nine Cauldrons Peak, and I can't be bothered moving," Yaoguang said.

Chi Yun did not press the matter, though he would take it upon himself to keep the Radiant Heaven Hall vacant regardless and make sure whatever Nine Cauldrons Peak lacked was quickly brought over or built.

With Yaoguang back on Nine Cauldrons Peak, the whole Heavenly Dao Sect began operating smoothly once again.

News that the Heavenly Dao Sect's sect master was holding a succession ceremony spread swiftly across the North Sea.

Word also spread that the Penglai Dao Lord and the Heavenly Dao Sect had simultaneously put out calls to purchase top-tier Dao Artifact materials and immortal artifact materials.

Some felt that the first was to be expected. Yaoguang taking over as sect master of the Heavenly Dao Sect had only ever been a matter of time.

But the second...

An artifact paragon attempting to refine a top-tier Dao Artifact...

That set off an uproar across the North Sea Star.