The Modern Martial Immortal

Chapter 112: Earthquake

It was merely a form of cognition. Ants and mayflies could never comprehend the existence of humanity. Within their limited lives that spanned less than a single day[1], they could not understand the greatness of a lifeform capable of living for a century. In a world where their entire existence was confined to a range of a few kilometers, they could not grasp the vastness of a planet tens of thousands of kilometers in diameter.

Just a moment ago, Yaoguang felt a deep sense of wonder toward the mystical experience of seeing through the essence of all things with a single glance. In reality, however, this cognition was no different from a common person effortlessly seeing the entirety of the world a mayfly could touch in its lifetime.

Both were of the same nature. It was simply a different cognition brought about by different dimensions.

Was it because of my reincarnation? Because I was reborn after dying? I don’t know the reason, but it seems I acquired this high-dimensional cognition. I’m like an ant that suddenly gained the vision of a human, allowing me to see the entirety of the world in one glance. Yet, I am too weak, like a baby who can barely control its body. I can only access a tiny amount of information through keywords... Yaoguang closed his eyes, quietly digesting this truth.

High-dimensional cognition allowed him to see all information related to a specific keyword at once. If an ant possessed human vision and wanted to know where edible leaves were, it could simply look and immediately know. It would not need to rely on cooperation with the other ants.

Similarly, if it wanted to migrate, it could see everything in a single glance, analyze the path, and evade danger. Its individual efficiency would be far higher than the efficiency of the entire collective.

I am too weak right now. Even with high-dimensional perception, I can only retrieve a few keywords like Martial Dao, Daemon Hunter, Merchant, and Refiner. Just as an infant has eyes but can only see a few meters away, I will only be able to unlock more keywords I desire, such as Alchemy and Sword Cultivator, as my strength and life tier continue to rise, allowing me to see more clearly... Yaoguang formed a comprehensive understanding of his own mystery.

As for why the high-dimensional cognition appeared in the form of an ancient tree, that was related to his own subconscious.

In his brain’s understanding of cognition, images like ”profession trees” and ”skill trees” best fit the concept. If he could overcome his initial instincts, he could change the image of the ancient tree into a compass, a galaxy, or something else entirely.

Pondering this, he focused his gaze on the Dao Fruits one by one. If information was what he saw, then the Dao Fruits were equivalent to his understanding of those things. It was like a book; a Dao Fruit was the knowledge he acquired after finishing it.

Yaoguang rubbed his brow and withdrew his psychic mind from the truth of the ancient tree.

Now is not the time for an in-depth study of high-dimensional cognition. Currently, I am just an ordinary person. Someone poor does not find joy in understanding the society of the rich, but instead falls into depression; this high-dimensional cognition is the same. Rather than trying to understand its mystical nature, I’d better use it to improve myself and my surroundings, like a poor person using a contact within the wealthy world to gather information, take advantage of it, and escape poverty.

Yaoguang restrained his psychic mind and focused his gaze on the Dao Fruit formed by the perfection of the eighth tier.

”Stars’ Child.” Yaoguang’s eyes brightened slightly.

The ninth tier was called Star Transformation. The existence of Stars’ Child was almost equivalent to a different result of Star Transformation. A lifeform possessing Stars’ Child would achieve an extremely high level of resonance with their home planet, or more specifically, its magnetic field. Given enough time to push this Dao Fruit to its limit, he could even display the mystical powers of a star lord while still at the heavenly being tier.

”I knew it. Theoretically, the Life Force Field is an ability that only those at the ninth tier should possess. Only by merging one’s Life Force Field with the stellar force field can one truly enter the realm of a star lord. Yet, this ability that should belong to the ninth tier appeared as a Dao Fruit at the perfection of the eighth tier. Therefore, the ninth-tier Dao Fruit must inevitably involve the realm above the ninth tier, the star lord realm.” Yaoguang quietly felt the profound mystery of the Stars’ Child secret technique...

To be precise, Stars’ Child was not a technique but a passive state. It functioned at every moment. This was far more sophisticated than the Great Earth Furnace or the Life Force Field.

”Moreover, with the Great Earth Furnace and the Life Force Field, I can use Stars’ Child to act like a star lord. I can use my Life Force Field to carry the force of the earth veins of the mountains and rivers within myself. With every move, I can truly cause the mountains to collapse and the ground to break.” A sharp light flashed in Yaoguang’s eyes.

The next moment, he stepped out of the villa. He walked with great strides, heading directly toward Longyou Stream, a key point where the energy of Yuhuang Mountain’s earth veins was at its strongest.

Upon arriving at Longyou Stream, he used the Great Earth Furnace to quickly merge himself with the energy of the earth veins of the mountains and rivers, utilizing Stars’ Child to deepen this fusion.

He even began to consciously let his own Life Force Field resonate with the force contained in the earth veins. Under this resonance, Yaoguang clearly sensed his perception spreading at an incredible speed. With Longyou Stream as the center, it surged into the forest ahead and deep into Yuhuang Mountain. The layout of the mountains and rivers fell completely within his sight.

In this state, he felt as if he had become the god of Yuhuang Mountain, becoming a part of the range itself. As long as he wished, he could mobilize more power from the earth veins to temper his body, making his cultivation even faster.

Similarly, as his fusion with Yuhuang Mountain grew deeper, he could even apply the force of Yuhuang Mountain’s earth veins to his every movement.

Although his lack of practice and his relatively weak Life Force Field limited the amount of force he could draw, the entire Yuhuang Mountain seemed to emit a faint roar as he threw a punch.

Rumble! A massive rock weighing a hundred tons, which stood in front of Yaoguang, was instantly pulverized, as if crushed by the force of seemingly formless matter moving forward. And he did it from over ten meters away! He crushed a hundred-ton rock through the air!

Even the power of certain artillery shells could not reach such a level. After all, this was not a matter of drilling holes and using blasting caps to shatter the rock; it was a direct, crushing blow.

Such a method could no longer be called a fist art or a secret technique. Instead, it was a divine ability!

Wait... It shouldn’t be that simple! The mystical power brought about by the stacking of Great Earth Furnace, Life Force Field, and Stars’ Child is more than just this! Yaoguang quietly sensed the flow of Yuhuang Mountain’s force. Soon, he seemed to perceive something. He walked with great strides, and after crossing over a dozen kilometers, he quickly arrived at a massive slope.

The slope had an angle of over sixty degrees and an area of no less than ten thousand square meters, containing countless boulders weighing hundreds of tons. Yaoguang looked at the slope in silence. Then, he suddenly took a deep breath, and his Life Force Field began to vibrate violently.

As his Life Force Field vibrated, the force of the earth veins of the mountains and rivers in the area ahead was also disrupted. The flow of the force in this region was already unstable, and with the interference from Yaoguang’s Life Force Field, the 10,000-square-meter slope, consisting of hundreds of thousands of tons of mountain mass, instantly began to tremble slightly.

As time passed, the vibration became more obvious and intense. Finally, when the vibration reached a critical point, this section of the mountain began to fracture, tilt, and slide downward.

Countless trees on the slope were torn apart during the mountain’s fracturing. Rocks weighing several tons, dozens of tons, or even hundreds of tons rolled down continuously with the sliding mass, crashing into the stream not far away.

Millions of tons of soil and rock poured down majestically as the landslide began. That vast and terrifying power was something even a heavenly being would flee from as far as possible, let alone a martial paragon. Trying to confront such a vast power, one that could be likened to a natural disaster, head-on would lead to nothing but death.

”This power...” Yaoguang felt the landslide he had created single-handedly and could not help but gasp.

Too strong. This is simply too strong. Yaoguang thought.

Furthermore, he was not yet a heavenly being; his Life Force Field still belonged to the level of a martial paragon. If his cultivation broke through further and he truly entered the realm of a heavenly being, with his Life Force Field significantly strengthened and supplemented by Stars’ Child, wouldn’t he be able to trigger a small-scale earthquake by himself?

If a heavenly being could already trigger a small-scale earthquake, what about a star lord? Destroying cities and nations with high-intensity earthquakes would be effortless.

Perhaps those star lords standing at the very peak could even tear through continental shelves, leading the civilization of an entire planet toward extinction. Going a step further above the star lord, could such a being directly pulverize a planet?

Yaoguang’s body trembled slightly. He felt both excitement and fear. It was too powerful. He was essentially a living, breathing human catastrophe. It took a while for Yaoguang to calm his mind.

While using Stars’ Child to trigger earthquakes or landslides was effective for destroying buildings, it might not necessarily be useful in a fight between heavenly beings. After all, the opponent could run. No heavenly being would stand still and let themselves be buried when they saw a landslide surging down.

Therefore, to deal with the Rebirth Society and that Soul Manipulator who had possessed Xie Boen—the one suspected to be from the Expeditionary Army’s Sixth Fleet of the Lunar Fiend Empire’s Divine City—he still had to rely on his own strength.

With Stars’ Child, the subsequent process of harnessing the force of the earth veins and the force of heaven and earth to forge a heavenly being’s body will definitely be significantly shortened. Combined with the Psyche-Concentrating Pill sent by the Snowdragon Empire, which is enough for me to complete the transformation of my psychic will... If all goes well, I can finish forging the heavenly being’s body and truly step into the heavenly being realm in three to five months. Yaoguang estimated.

However, he knew in his heart that the Rebirth Society expert who had possessed Xie Boen might not give him that much time.

Things happened exactly as he had guessed. Only one month later, the mysterious expert who had possessed Xie Boen appeared. He fully displayed the invincible power possessed by a heavenly being presiding over a world, charging into the Snowdragon Empire’s imperial family with the momentum of crashing thunder.

Even though the Snowdragon Empire’s Xie family was well-prepared and had individuals wearing advanced combat armor with powerful firepower, they still ended up having their armor torn apart and dying on the spot.

If the high-ranking members of the Xie family had not acted decisively and dropped a small-yield hydrogen bomb over the palace to heavily injure that mysterious expert, the entire upper echelon of the Xie family would likely have been slaughtered. This upheaval made the Xie family unable to sit still.

Xie Yi’er found Yaoguang immediately and asked him to personally take action and carry out a destructive retaliatory strike against the Rebirth Society. The Snowdragon Empire and the Rebirth Society were now locked in a fight to the death.

1. Factually incorrect. No need to go into details about ants, I hope, but even mayfly adults can live up to a whole two days. Also, that’s just the final, adult stage. Their life cycle is not nearly as short. Larval stages are also important indicators of water quality. Sorry, peeps... your editor’s background isn’t in editing. ☜