Chapter 265: Shaken Resolve
"You?!" As soon as these words were spoken, Heavenly Venerable Jiang had yet to respond, yet Wan Liugui’s expression had already changed drastically.
He flew into a rage. "Hanqiu, do you even know what you’re saying?! You are defying the will of True Disciple Jiang!"
"I know," Li Hanqiu answered.
"No, you don’t! Do you even understand what True Disciple Jiang means to our Cangwu lineage?!" Wan Liugui’s psychic consciousness trembled with severity. "If you think what happens on the North Sea Star has nothing to do with the Great Cangwu World, then you are gravely mistaken! Let me tell you, on the North Sea Star, the competition between races, sects, families, and factions is so intense that it reaches an extreme. Once it escalates beyond small-scale conflict, the losers will have no path to survival!"
He glared at Li Hanqiu. "If our Cangwu lineage fails on the North Sea Star, not only will everyone of our lineage be exterminated without leaving a trace, even the Great Cangwu World we come from will be destroyed without mercy, just to eliminate all danger at its root. Some ruthless factions would not even spare the hundreds of thousands of surrounding stars! And right now, our Cangwu lineage has only just barely gained a foothold within the Taiyi Immortal Sect. If we want to truly integrate into the Taiyi Immortal Sect and the North Sea Star, our only hope lies in apprenticing under Heavenly Venerable Jiang, who serves the Supreme Jade Emperor! Only if he reaches the Void-Piercing Realm and becomes the vice sect master of the Taiyi Immortal Sect will our lineage truly gain a foundation!"
At this point, he took a deep breath. "And yet you, as a member of the Cangwu lineage, are actually trying to defy his will?!"
"If that is the only reason..." Li Hanqiu glanced at Yaoguang, whom he was shielding behind him, then drew in a breath. "Then I believe Yaoguang’s talent is greater."
Wan Liugui frowned at once. Meanwhile, the expressions of Mi Le, Lu Xi, Johan, and the other Golden Core cultivators who had personally witnessed Yaoguang lead the Nine Cauldrons Sect to miracles over just twenty years turned thoughtful.
No one doubted Yaoguang’s talent... Many of them had records on him.
When he first arrived in Cangwu, he had merely been a high-tier body cultivator at the seventh realm of body refinement. Yet in just twenty years, he had not only successfully achieved Foundation Building, but had also gained power comparable to a Radiant Sun Golden Core.
Although this strength relied on an outer Crimson Golden Core, being able to refine an outer core was itself a form of strength. Furthermore, his body refinement had reached the Star God Realm, and his psyche refinement had ascended to the peak of the Dharma Form Realm...
Such talent was truly astonishing. Across the entire Cangwu, there was likely no one who could rival him!
Yet at this moment, Susan, Yang Han, and Hera all let out cold laughter.
"A frog at the bottom of a well, daring to contend with the heavens?"[1]
"Someone actually dares to say Su Yaoguang has greater talent than Heavenly Venerable Jiang? Ridiculous and pitiful." Someone else laughed.
"The Golden Core cultivators of Cangwu are simply too ignorant. Having never seen how high the heavens are or how vast the earth is, they naturally cannot comprehend what the title ‘True Disciple Jiang’ truly represents, nor the weight of being a direct disciple of the Supreme Jade Emperor."
As they laughed, Susan stepped forward, her gaze sweeping over Yaoguang. "Your true cultivation is merely at the Fission Realm. Your age... forty-three. Achieving the Fission Realm at forty-three, while cultivating three paths simultaneously, is indeed a rare genius within the Great Cangwu World. But do you know the standard for becoming a true disciple of the Taiyi Immortal Sect?"
Her psychic consciousness surged, spreading across the starry void. "In our Taiyi Immortal Sect, one must reach the Golden Core Realm just to qualify for entry. Only those who form a Crimson Golden Core within sixty years will be officially registered and may call themselves disciples of the sect. Even then, they are merely the lowest-tier outer sect disciples. To become an inner sect disciple, one must form a Radiant Sun Golden Core before the age of one hundred, at which point the sect will truly light a soul lamp for you! As for true disciples... What defines a true disciple?! Only those who crush all others and stand above every inner sect disciple qualify!"
She sneered. "At forty-three, you are at the Fission Realm. How long will it take you to reach the Fusion Realm? How long will it take you to form a Crimson Golden Core? If you entered our Taiyi Immortal Sect, you might not even qualify as an outer sect disciple."
Hearing this, Johan, Janko, Mi Le, Lu Xi, Fu Long, Ye Lin, and the other Golden Core cultivators all gasped.
A Crimson Golden Core within sixty years?! A Radiant Sun Golden Core before one hundred?! And if we understood correctly...
"You mean the kind of Golden Core that requires simultaneous cultivation of essence, qi, and psyche? Body refinement to the Star God Realm and psyche refinement to the Dharma Form Realm?!" Mi Le’s psychic consciousness trembled as he asked the question.
"What else?" Susan glanced at him with a cold smile. "Did you really think the Taiyi Immortal Sect would waste its precious resources on battle immortals like us, who might lose control of our Golden Core at any time and perish?"
"H-How could that be..." Janko’s mind wavered violently.
A true Radiant Sun Golden Core before the age of one hundred... Such a figure alone can likely sweep across the entire Great Cangwu World. Yet in the Taiyi Immortal Sect, even that does not qualify one to become a true disciple?
"The Taiyi Immortal Sect is one of the ten great Immortal Dao lineages of the North Sea. It has even produced true immortals. Across the entire North Sea Star, it stands among the very top. Within it, experts are as numerous as clouds, with Golden Core and Void-Piercing Realm cultivators emerging endlessly. Do you really think just anyone can join?!" Susan spoke with visible pride.
As if being able to enter the Taiyi Immortal Sect and belong to one of its six halls and nine lineages was the greatest honor of their lives.
Meanwhile, Heavenly Venerable Jiang simply listened quietly, offering no comment.
As a true disciple, he no longer needed to handle most things personally. Naturally, there were plenty who were eager to curry favor and would take care of everything for him.
"Yaoguang is different from the others." Li Hanqiu said in a deep voice. "At forty-three, reaching the Fission Realm may seem slow, but he spent over twenty years in a vassal world, relying entirely on himself to rise from nothing, advancing step by step along the path of body refinement. After entering the Great Cangwu World, our Nine Cauldrons Sect provided him with little assistance. When he reached the Golden Core Realm, he still had no access to top-tier medicinal resources, yet he still reached the Fission Realm..."
As he spoke, he glanced at Lin Deng, Feng Ao, and Luo Fu, his psychic consciousness carrying a trace of rising conviction. "Besides, Yaoguang’s greatest strength is not his qi cultivation, but his psyche refinement. He has already reached the peak of the Dharma Form Realm. As for body refinement, he has also reached the third tier of the Star God Realm."
"Peak of the Dharma Form Realm?" This description finally caused Wan Liugui, along with Susan, Yang Han, and Hera, to show visible surprise.
"Yaoguang actually has such talent in psyche refinement?!"
"A forty-three-year-old peak Dharma Form cultivator... and considering he came from a vassal world and has lost years in the Great Cangwu World... this level of talent is indeed impressive."
"Has our Great Cangwu World produced another promising prodigy?"
The psychic consciousness of the Golden Core cultivators rippled with renewed attention.
Compared to body refinement and qi cultivation, which could rely on external resources, the path of psyche refinement placed extreme emphasis on innate talent!
Without sufficient talent and comprehension, psyche refinement alone could trap any cultivator in torment.
And to reach the Void-Piercing Realm, the most crucial requirement was to refine the void into reality, transforming illusory psychic thoughts and the power of the Dharma Form into a real force known as true spirit power.
True spirit power enabled one to create heaven and earth, forming a grotto-heaven. When combined with the Primordial Void created through qi cultivation, the interplay between void and reality allowed a cultivator to regulate the mass within the 1080 acupoints of the body, making them akin to possessing the power of an entire Primordial Void.
With a mere gesture, they could shatter stars. This was the true Void-Piercing Realm.
"Peak of the Dharma Form Realm!" Wan Liugui’s gaze fell upon Yaoguang.
Those like them, who walked the battle immortal path to the Void-Piercing Realm, relied entirely on arrays and supreme treasures to seal the Primordial Void power formed from the collapse of their Golden Cores within their bodies. Each use of that power was akin to walking along the edge of life and death.
Since Yaoguang possessed such talent in psyche refinement, if he were brought to the North Sea Star and nurtured with the full resources of their lineage, perhaps they might cultivate another true disciple.
But he glanced at Heavenly Venerable Jiang.
Compared to Yaoguang, who only possessed potential, Heavenly Venerable Jiang—already a true disciple, having condensed an Azure Golden Core and successfully apprenticed under the Supreme Jade Emperor—was the true foundation of their Cangwu lineage.
For Yaoguang to grow, it would take at least several decades, or perhaps even a century. Yet the Taiyi Immortal Sect had only accepted their Cangwu lineage to use them as battle immortals. Once the batch of Void-Piercing Realm battle immortals accumulated during the war against the Lunar Fiend Empire was exhausted, the Taiyi Immortal Sect’s attitude toward them might no longer remain as it was now, nor would they necessarily allow them to maintain their own lineage.
Therefore, Yaoguang was too late. Heavenly Venerable Jiang was their true hope.
After a moment of thought, Wan Liugui said, "Heavenly Venerable, although you have become a direct disciple of the Supreme Jade Emperor, your next step will surely be to reach the Void-Piercing Realm and compete for the position of vice sect master. And to compete for that position, the more support you have, the better. Since Yaoguang has such talent, why not give him a chance and let him serve under you—"
"Elder Wan." Before he could finish, Heavenly Venerable Jiang interrupted him.
He looked at this Void-Piercing Realm expert who served as his protector. "Did I mishear? Are you suggesting that I take in, as a subordinate, the very person who once killed my family in the Artifact-Nurturing World?"
Under Heavenly Venerable Jiang’s gaze, Wan Liugui felt immense pressure and hurriedly changed his words. "I just cannot bear to see such a rare talent from the Great Cangwu World fall here. If you're afraid that he will turn against you, you can plant a Heart-Binding Curse within him to control him."
"No," Heavenly Venerable Jiang replied indifferently. "What I want to know is this. I intend to kill him now, yet your disciple, Li Hanqiu, intends to stop me by relying on his Void-Piercing Realm power. As his master and my protector... Will you act against your disciple, or will you not?"
These blunt words instantly pushed Wan Liugui into extreme pressure.
Act, or not?!
If he acted, Li Hanqiu would undoubtedly resist with everything he had. In his barely stabilized Void-Piercing state, once he fought, he would certainly die. He would personally kill his own disciple.
But if he did not act, then as a protector, he would have failed his duty.
And Heavenly Venerable Jiang, the prodigy who represented the future of the Cangwu lineage, would inevitably be completely disappointed in them. When that time came, he would become the sinner of the entire Cangwu lineage!
Caught between these two impossible choices, Wan Liugui was tormented to the extreme.
1. Frog in the well is a Chinese saying used to describe someone with a limited outlook and a narrow perspective. ☜
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