Gou Dao and Cultivation of Immortals, Start from Farming

In the Yang Realm Starfield, light and heat are the eternal themes. Every star is like an ember left by a divine craftsman on a velvet black cloth, burning tirelessly and illuminating the boundless void with magnificence and warmth, like a boundless temple.

Deep within the temple lies the Royal Court of the Yang Realm, a magnificent palace suspended above the core of a star.

Here, every brick and stone is made of "golden glaze", constantly emitting flames strong enough to melt stars.

The palace dome is not a solid object, but is woven from billions of pure Yang laws. Looking up, one can see the trajectory of the Great Dao flowing, like a golden river, surging endlessly.

There was no one on the throne.

Beneath the throne, a figure stood silently, as if he had become one with this world of light. He wore a simple white robe, without any patterns, yet it was more dazzling than any divine armor in the world, for the light, upon touching his body, would obediently submit, as if on a pilgrimage.

He is the King of the Yang Realm.

He didn't look at the general below him, who had just fled back from the Yin Realm Star Domain in a sorry state, covered in blood. His gaze was calmly fixed on the light screen formed by the power of laws in the void ahead. On the light screen, the last scene of the Flame Sun Realm Lord being pierced by the branches of the Chaos Dao Tree and having his origin forcibly stripped away was reflected.

The scene was silent, yet it was more impactful than any thunderclap.

That reddish-brown branch that burst forth from the sky possessed a primal beauty that was both barbaric and unreasonable, easily tearing apart everything that the second strongest being in the mortal realm was so proud of.

After a long silence, the King of the Yang Realm finally spoke, his voice so calm it betrayed no emotion, like a morning breeze brushing across a hillside. "Yan Yang... is dead."

"Your Majesty!" The general finally couldn't bear the oppressive silence any longer and suddenly knelt down, his voice hoarse and trembling, "The Lord of the Flaming Sun Realm... and the three lords, Crimson Fire, Blazing Mountain, and Golden Crow... have all... fallen! We fought our way out to bring back this news!"

The King of the Yang Realm did not turn around, nor did he even glance at him out of the corner of his eye. He simply stared at Li Mu's blurry face in the light screen, as if admiring an ancient painting with profound artistic conception.

"Fallen? That sounds nice." He chuckled lightly, his laughter carrying a hint of worldly-wise indifference. "Yan Yang has always been arrogant, boasting of his pure origin, second only to me, and always thinking of starting his own thing. I sent him to the Underworld to let him bump into a wall and learn his own limitations. I never expected that this wall... would be made of iron."

The King of Yang Realm paused, his tone still calm: "As for Chi Huo and the other two, they're just opportunists. They'll bend whichever way the wind blows. What difference does it make whether they're dead or captured? The Yang Realm has never lacked Realm Lords."

Upon hearing this, the general felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave. He had expected to witness the king's thunderous wrath, but instead felt only bone-chilling indifference. It turned out that in the king's eyes, those powerful and influential top realm lords were no different from pawns on a chessboard. Discarding them was of no consequence.

"Who exactly is that person?" King Yang finally asked the only question he cared about.

“I don’t know…” The general shook his head with difficulty. “His origins are a mystery, his methods are bizarre, and he seems to… wield a chaotic Dao that has never been seen before. The King of the Underworld died at his hands. Tianyin… also did.”

“The Great Dao of Chaos…” For the first time, a ripple appeared in the depths of Yang Realm King’s eyes. In his golden pupils, it seemed as if stars were being born and dying. “No wonder… no wonder the Yin and Yang energies are like toys in front of him. To be able to suppress ten thousand Daos with one Dao, this person is indeed an interesting opponent.”

"Your Majesty, that person has sent word that you... must personally travel to the Underworld within three months to apologize and repent. Otherwise, they will implicate Lord Crimson Fire and the others..."

"An apology? An apology?" The King of the Yang Realm turned around slowly, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.

At that moment, the flames of the entire royal court seemed to dim for a moment, and all the light converged on him. His face was so handsome that it seemed otherworldly, yet it carried a divine majesty and aloofness.

"If he wants the essence of the three Crimson Fires, then let him have it. I also want to see just how big his strange tree's appetite really is."

"Issue my decree," Yang Yi waved his sleeve, and the light screen scattered into countless points of light: "The Yang Realm Starfield, effective immediately, enters the highest alert level. Seal off all interdimensional passages and tighten the defenses. I want to turn the entire Yang Realm into a hedgehog."

"If he doesn't come, I will wait. If he dares to come... this star field will be his burial ground."

……

Three months is perhaps the transition from spring to summer for ordinary people, a time when grass grows and birds fly.

But for the ancient and ever-existing star field, it was nothing more than the Milky Way taking a nap, a fleeting moment when a shooting star streaks across the sky.

The Rift Universe, inside the Chaos Cage.

The Crimson Fire Realm Lord's once fiery beard and hair had now turned withered and dry, like the last leaves falling in autumn. His two other companions were also emaciated, the flame of hope in their eyes long since extinguished by the endless chaos and death.

They went from initial anger and resentment, to later anticipation and torment, and now to numbness and despair.

Three months passed, and the King of the Yang Realm did not come.

Without any news or rescue, they were like three pebbles forgotten in a corner, ignored by everyone.

On this day, the cage door opened silently.

Li Mu's figure appeared outside the door.

His aura was even deeper and more restrained than it had been three months ago, as if he had merged with the entire Yin Realm star field behind him. He simply stood there quietly, yet he exuded an invisible pressure that made it difficult for the three former top realm lords to even breathe.

"The time... has come?" The Crimson Fire Realm Lord raised his head, his voice hoarse as if two stubborn rocks were rubbing against each other.

Li Mu did not answer, but simply looked at them calmly, as if he were looking at three documents that were about to be used.

“I understand…” Chi Huo smiled bitterly, his smile full of self-mockery and sorrow, “The king… has finally abandoned us. Yan Yang’s death and our capture were nothing more than the price of a test in his eyes.”

"The victor is king, the loser is villain; there's nothing more to say." The other realm lord closed his eyes and accepted his fate with equanimity.

Only the last man's eyes blazed with a final madness and venom: "Li Mu! You will die a horrible death! The King will avenge us! Hundreds of millions of cultivators in the Yang Realm will burn you and your Yin Realm to the ground!"

His words stopped abruptly.

A reddish-brown branch silently emerged from the void, gently yet firmly piercing his brow.

There was no bloodshed, no screams of agony.

The body of that realm lord withered away at a visible speed. His pure Yang essence transformed into streams of dazzling golden light, which were greedily absorbed by the branches and continuously poured into the Chaos Dao Tree.

On the Dao Tree within Li Mu's body, the originally dull and shriveled fiery red Yang Fruit, after receiving nourishment from this pure energy, had its flame Dao patterns on its surface instantly brighten several degrees, and the shriveled fruit also became slightly plumper.

Chi Huo and the remaining Realm Lord watched this scene in horror, their bodies trembling like leaves. Death itself is not terrible; what is terrible is watching helplessly as one's life's cultivation is transformed into resources for another's growth, leaving not even a trace in this world.

Li Mu's gaze fell upon them. "Please, gentlemen."

His tone was calm, yet his words left no room for argument.

The branches of the Chaos Tree split into two again, like two spirit snakes waiting to feed, hovering in front of the two.

Chi Huo sighed deeply, abandoning all resistance. He knew that before absolute power, any struggle was futile and would only increase his suffering. He slowly closed his eyes and deliberately released his true essence.

A golden torrent surged forth.

The sun rose a little brighter again.

After the essence of the three top realm lords was completely devoured, the two fruits on the Chaos Dao Tree, one yin and one yang, finally reached a delicate balance. The gray yin fruit remained perfectly round, while the fiery red yang fruit regained seven or eight tenths of its brilliance, no longer suppressed by the yin energy. The two auras flowed together, not yet fully merged, but forming a balanced force, making the Chaos Dao Domain within Li Mu's body even more stable.

Li Mu slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, which carried a faint sense of yin and yang fusion.

He stepped out of the cage, and behind him, three withered bodies turned to ashes and vanished into the chaos.

Ji Yu was already waiting outside the door. He bowed and said, "My lord, the three-month period has passed, and there has been no movement from the Yang Realm."

“As expected.” Li Mu’s gaze pierced through the hull of the Rift Universe and looked towards the distant star field, at that world shrouded in endless light and heat.

“A king who can easily abandon three top-tier realm lords is either a fool or… an extremely arrogant and ruthless tyrant.” A faint smile appeared on Li Mu’s lips. “It seems he has prepared a great gift for me.”

He paused, then turned and walked toward the bridge, his calm voice echoing through the corridor.

"Since he refuses to come, then I will go and visit him myself."

"Pass down the order: Rending Universe, change course."

"Target—The Royal Court of the Mortal Realm."

The cold, resolute command echoed through the bridge of the Rift, like a stone thrown into a still, deep pool, creating silent ripples.

The road ahead is not the darkness and death of the underworld, but the source of light and warmth.

The Milky Way turns backward, and time flows by.

A few months is but a fleeting moment on the vast scale of the universe. The Rift Universe travels through the cracks of spacetime, surrounded by bizarre and chaotic currents of laws, with fragments of time drifting by like crystalline dust.

The closer one gets to the Yang Realm star field, the "warmer" the surrounding void becomes. That warmth is not a temperature that ordinary people can perceive, but rather a "burning sensation" at the level of laws.

The chill and deathly silence were dispelled, replaced by a domineering, majestic, and omnipresent masculine law, which transformed into golden streams of light that surged through the void, assimilating and melting any foreign matter that did not belong to this world.

Ji Yu stood in front of the porthole on the bridge, his expression solemn. Even through the chaotic barrier of the Rift Universe, he could still feel the immense pressure coming at him, as if he were about to be thrown into an invisible furnace.

"My lord, we have arrived at the boundary of the Yang Realm."

Li Mu was already standing beside him, his gaze calmly fixed on the breathtakingly magnificent scene before him.

That was a "wall".

A chasm constructed of pure light and laws. Countless strands of pure solar fire converged into a golden waterfall, cascading from the void and forming an endless curtain of light stretching across the star field.

Above the light screen, phantom images of divine beasts surged about, a golden crow spreading its wings and a fire phoenix crying out; each phantom contained the power of a star. Here, space was distorted by extreme heat, and the concept of time became blurred, as if it were the boundary of the universe, the end of light.

"What a magnificent Yang Realm, what a magnificent Yang Realm King." Li Mu's tone was completely calm, but rather carried a hint of approval. "With stars as the foundation and laws as the chain, you have built such a vast barrier. You are indeed qualified to rule an era."

Without pausing, the chaotic energy at the bow of the Rift suddenly intensified, transforming into a hazy, sharp blade that crashed headlong into the golden waterfall of light!
"laugh--"

There was no earth-shattering roar, only a violent reaction like boiling oil being poured into water. The chaotic energy and the laws of yang, like two completely different fundamental principles, began their most primal and intense mutual annihilation the moment they came into contact.

A huge gap was torn open in the golden waterfall of flames, and endless solar fire surged in, attempting to melt the uninvited guest into molten iron.

The Rift is like an unchanging reef, remaining steadfast no matter how the raging waves crash against it.

The warship slowly sailed into the gap and entered the territory of the Yang Realm Starfield.

However, the vast starry sky that was expected did not appear.

Beyond the breach lay a colossal "cage" that had been prepared for them long ago.

As far as the eye can see, there is a starry sky that has been completely transformed.

One hundred and eight colossal stars were moved here by immense power and float in the void according to some profound and mysterious array pattern. On each star, a huge array flag piercing through the star's core was planted, and ancient golden divine runes flowed on the flag as if alive, radiating a terrifying pressure.

Between the 108 stars, billions of thick golden chains of divine law connect them, and these chains intertwine to form a vast net that covers the entire galaxy.

At the nodes of the divine chain, rows of Mahayana cultivators, clad in golden armor and exuding an aura of unfathomable depth, sat cross-legged. They were connected to the divine chain beneath their feet and the aura of the distant stars, as if they had become part of this massive war machine.

At the center of this giant net, a formidable army has already arrayed itself, ready to fight.

Banners fluttered like a forest, obscuring the sky. Warships stood like mountains, silently suspended in the void. Millions of cultivators from the Yang Realm formed imposing square formations. They remained silent, but the overwhelming fighting spirit and blazing blood energy they exuded solidified the entire starry sky, transforming it into a viscous golden ocean.

Before the army formation stood a towering golden statue of a war god, a military spirit forged from the blood and will of countless soldiers. The war god held a massive, flaming sword, his eyes closed, yet radiating a sharpness capable of cleaving stars.

"My lord..." Ji Yu's voice was somewhat hoarse. Even though he had been the lord of the underworld and had seen countless grand scenes, he was still shocked by the sight before him. "This... this is the 'Great Sun Furnace Killing Formation'! He actually used his entire main force to set up this formation, just to wait for us?"

This is no longer an ambush, but a trial.

The King of Yang Realm gave Li Mu no choice whatsoever. With the strongest power in the entire Yang Realm, he erected a death trap at the entrance, declaring in the most direct and domineering way: those who come will die! (End of Chapter)