The Modern Martial Immortal

Chapter 270: Advancement

"The North Sea Star..."

Inside the control chamber of the Void Disk, Yaoguang looked at the marked star chart.

What the chart displayed was not a conventional map, but a vast network.

Around that network, countless spiritual power nodes, similar to those of Cangwu, formed a massive sphere, surrounding the North Sea Star.

Judging by the distribution of these nodes and the flow of spiritual power, the entire North Sea Star resembled a black hole at the center of a star system, pulling innumerable great worlds into orbit around it.

However, people did not refer to the North Sea Star as a Primordial Void or black hole. Instead, they called it the crystallization of the universe, the heart of worlds.

Because everyone who had been there agreed on one thing. The North Sea Star was solid.

Entering it was equivalent to entering a solid body. It only appeared spherical, which was why it was called a "star."

And because that solid structure contained such an immense concentration of spiritual qi that it could be directly absorbed from the void for cultivation, it was also known as the North Sea Spirit World.

"The North Sea Star is divided into three layers: the outer layer, the surface layer, and the inner layer... It is said that within the innermost core layer, physical laws can no longer restrain forms. There, the laws of the Great Dao manifest directly, allowing cultivation through comprehension. It is a sacred land in the eyes of Void-Shattering Realm experts... The greatest difference between the Ten Great Immortal Sects and other factions lies in whether they can secure a foothold in the inner layer," Li Hanqiu explained.

During this period, he had already gone through most of the information obtained from the cultivators that had returned from the North Sea Star, including Susan.

"The Ten Great Immortal Sects..." Yaoguang murmured.

The Taiyi Immortal Sect was one of those ten. It was one of the most powerful forces on the North Sea Star.

Although the North Sea Star also had fiendish cults, demon lineages, Buddhist temples, martial sects, divine races, and immortal dynasties, producing figures comparable to immortal kings such as fiend sovereigns, demon paragons, Buddhas, martial emperors, heavenly gods, and human emperors... The brilliance of the Ten Immortal Dao Sects still stood at the very peak of the North Sea Star.

"For those who have not reached the Foundation Building Realm, survival on the North Sea Star is nearly impossible. Living there is like living in the planet’s core. Should we find a place nearby to settle them first?" Li Hanqiu looked behind him.

There were nearly a million people inside. But fewer than forty thousand had successfully reached the Foundation Building Realm. The rest were mortals.

"Foundation Building... Only now do I truly understand the meaning of this realm." Yaoguang said. "It’s true that ordinary people cannot easily survive on the North Sea Star, but it’s not impossible. We just need to set up some arrays to offset the environmental pressure. If we bring them there, I will personally lay out the arrays. Thanks to the extremely rich spiritual power, many of them should be able to reach the Foundation Building Realm rapidly."

He glanced at Li Hanqiu. "Since they were willing to take the risk and follow us here, we shouldn’t abandon them halfway."

Li Hanqiu felt a trace of relief upon hearing this. "Then we’ll proceed as you say."

He smiled and was about to continue controlling the Void Disk.

Yaoguang took out the World-Stabilizing Ring. "This is for you."

"Hmm?!" The moment Li Hanqiu saw the treasure's shape, disbelief and joy quickly flashed in his eyes. "Could it be..."

"These past few months, I used the crude method of stacking materials and managed to upgrade it into a Dao Artifact. However, the process was extremely forced, and it suffered some damage during refinement. You’ll need to spend time nurturing it before it can fully display the Dao resonance of a true Dao Artifact. Until then, you can only use it as a tool to stabilize your Primordial Void," Yaoguang explained.

"You actually succeeded?!" When Yaoguang had asked to return the Gathering-Separation Ring, Li Hanqiu had very little hope.

That was why he had not disturbed Yaoguang at all over the past months. He had not expected such a sudden surprise.

"Try it." Yaoguang handed the World-Stabilizing Ring over.

Without hesitation, Li Hanqiu accepted it with complete trust and refined it into his body.

Yaoguang stood by, acting as protector.

After all, this World-Stabilizing Ring had been upgraded too forcefully. Even its spirituality had been damaged.

Strictly speaking, it was a flawed product. Fortunately, Yaoguang only required one function from it, which was stabilizing Li Hanqiu’s Primordial Void. Under those conditions, even a nearly failed product was sufficient.

In just half a day, Li Hanqiu had already gained preliminary control over the Dao Artifact, or rather, the pseudo-Dao-Artifact-level treasure.

When he used its power to stabilize the Primordial Void, uncontrollable joy surged in his eyes. "Good! My Primordial Void is stabilized!"

Spatial fluctuations rose and fell around him, unstable yet no longer placing any burden on his body.

"I can now use the power of the Primordial Void normally. If I’m given more time to fully refine this treasure, I won’t be afraid of even a direct battle against Void-Piercing Realm battle immortals. In fact, as long as I don’t confront them head-on, I can simply drag the fight out and outlast them!"

"Good." Yaoguang nodded heavily upon hearing this.

The burden weighing on his heart was finally lifted.

"Perfected Master Li..." He paused slightly. "I should call you Perfected Lord Li now. Go and refine this treasure further. I’ll handle the Void Disk. Once you’ve completed the initial refinement, we’ll directly enter the North Sea Star through void traversal."

Li Hanqiu did not stand on ceremony. He nodded and quickly headed toward the cultivation room.

After he left, Yaoguang let out a quiet breath.

"A Void-Piercing Realm combat force..." He paused. "And one that can be considered almost like a true Void-Piercing Realm..."

With that, once they reached the North Sea Star, they would at least have the ability to protect themselves.

Focusing his mind, Yaoguang glanced at the remaining experience points and spent them, not wanting to waste any.

While controlling the Void Disk, he poured all of it into the Immortal Dao(Void-Piercing Realm) branch.

At once, a flood of information surged through his mind.

Void-Piercing Realm! To perceive the operation of the void! The void was space itself.

It was the foundation needed to sustain all physical transformations, including the Great Dao Laws.

A cultivator at the Void-Piercing Realm could comprehend the workings of the void, distort space to travel through it, unleash faster-than-light strikes by bending space, and even use the power of the void to destroy the physical structure of matter.

For cultivators, this kind of power represented a qualitative transformation.

Once one reached the Void-Piercing Realm, apart from those battle immortals whose Primordial Void could be destabilized, a true Void-Piercing Realm expert facing anyone below that realm was essentially carrying out an attack on beings on a lower level of existence. No matter how many Golden Core cultivators there were, they couldn't inflict any meaningful damage.

Thus, beings of this level, even within the Taiyi Immortal Sect, one of the Ten Great Immortal Dao Sects, held the status of elders.

Were the standards not so high, they'd almost be qualified to establish their own faction and become a regional overlord.

However, the Void-Piercing Realm was only the beginning of qualitative change.

Quality alone was not enough. Quantity was also required.

A black hole with a diameter of one centimeter would not even match the mass of an ordinary star.

Increasing that "mass" came from the second transformation of void power, the Void-Refining Realm.

By refining the power of the void to strengthen the Primordial Void, one could further enhance oneself.

The Taiyi Immortal Sect claimed to have six halls and nine lineages, as well as multiple deputy sect masters. These figures stood at the ruling tier and enjoyed immense benefits, yet not all of them had reached the Void-Refining Realm.

Above the Void-Refining Realm was the Void-Shattering Realm. That meant shattering the void itself.

Such beings could break through the final barrier between the physical world and the true reality. Even without relying on Dao Artifacts, they could glimpse the powers of the Great Dao hidden behind the void.

The sect master and supreme elders of the Taiyi Immortal Sect all belonged to this realm.

Beyond that lay the Dao Realm. Those who reached it were known as Dao Lords. They themselves were almost manifestations of the Great Dao.

By merely observing their true form, cultivators could comprehend Dao resonance and experience explosive growth in cultivation.

If they extracted even a fragment of their understanding, it could be transformed into a Dao Artifact, driving countless cultivators to compete for it.

The North Sea Star could not bind them. Most of the time, they wandered the cosmos, traveling through the depths of space, observing cosmic phenomena and stellar transformations.

To them, the North Sea Star had long lost most of its significance. There was only one goal that kept them there—to attain immortality!

Each Dao Lord was effectively a potential immortal. Only when the hidden secret of immortality within the North Sea Star manifested would they emerge, illuminating the path to immortality and competing with others for that opportunity.

***

Void-Piercing Realm, Void-Refining Realm... Thoughts flashed through Yaoguang's mind.

As the Immortal Dao(Void-Piercing Realm) branch continued to grow, the information related to this realm became increasingly complete.

Finally, when the branch reached its limit, it blossomed and bore fruit, condensing into a new Dao Fruit.

At the same time, the label "Immortal Dao(Void-Piercing Realm)" began to transform into "Immortal Dao(Void-Refining Realm)," advancing rapidly until it reached 41% before stopping.

The Void-Refining Realm focuses on increasing the mass and strengthening the Primordial Void. But at this stage, one must also begin comprehending the Dao itself. Only by grasping a type of Dao can one wield its power to shatter the void and reach the Void-Shattering Realm. Yet there’s a paradox here... Only by reaching the Void-Shattering Realm can one truly break the void and glimpse the Great Dao.

In other words, without comprehending the Great Dao, one could not break through to the Void-Shattering Realm.

But without reaching Void-Shattering, one could not break the void to perceive the Great Dao.

Under such circumstances, Void-Refining Realm experts had only two paths forward.

The first was to rely on Dao Artifacts! Through the Dao resonance within them, one could gradually comprehend the mysteries of the Great Dao until they could shatter the void.

The second was to take a Dao Lord as a master.

At the very least, one needed to study the inheritance of a Dao Lord or the personal items they left behind to comprehend the Dao resonance within them.

The Great Dao, Dao Lords, Dao Techniques, Dao Artifacts, divine abilities... Yaoguang processed these thoughts as they continuously flowed through his mind.

Although he had some prior understanding, it was only after fully digesting this knowledge that he realized Dao Artifacts were far more significant than he had imagined.

Dao Techniques are the true foundation of a top sect’s dominance. Each Dao Technique points toward a specific Great Dao. If cultivated to perfection, one can fully comprehend that Dao and become a Dao Lord. Even just becoming proficient with it allows one to shatter the void and reach the Void-Shattering Realm. Yaoguang continued analyzing.

That’s why true disciples are called ‘true’... because they are qualified to cultivate Dao Techniques. Of course, most true disciples are not yet at the Void-Piercing Realm, so even if a Dao Technique is placed before them, they cannot cultivate it. What they actually practice are divine abilities, great divine abilities, and supreme divine abilities, which are essentially simplified versions of Dao Techniques."

The reason Heavenly Venerable Jiang had been accepted as a disciple by a supreme elder was that he had practiced one of the Taiyi Immortal Sect’s supreme divine abilities: the Undying Tribulation Body.

It was a simplified Dao Art that ultimately pointed toward the Great Dao of life.