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Chapter 485: 481
For top-tier forces, the titles of elder and Supreme Elder were never simply about seniority.
Instead, they represented identity and strength.
In the Li Yang Cave Heaven, the Sect Leader’s weight was much higher than that of forces like the Purgatory Sect and Netherworld Sect.
The stature of the Supreme Elders was only equivalent to that of the Elders during the Purgatory Sect era.
Of course, compared to the Elders in the Purgatory Sect, the Supreme Elders still had more say.
With a True Immortal present in the world, the Supreme Elders would nominate themselves, and ultimately, the True Immortal would appoint the next Sect Leader.
If there were no True Immortal, the Sect Leader would be chosen through competition and selection from among the Supreme Elders.
Whoever gained more supporters would take the position of the Sect Leader.
There’s also a variable that cultivators can’t avoid—strength.
The Sect Leader is often the most powerful among the Supreme Elders.
The only difference is that some powerful Supreme Elders do not wish to devote their limited energy to managing sect affairs, so the number is on the decline.
However, in a certain sense, Gu Jinlai had already possessed the identity of a Supreme Elder.
There was no longer a True Immortal in Li Yang Cave Heaven, and even such Void Immortal-level masters as the Supreme Elders were all caught in a net by a Demon Emperor among the devils.
If things went poorly, Gu Jinlai might be the only Supreme Elder of Li Yang Cave Heaven.
Plus, since the Sect Leader was selected from the Supreme Elders, he could also be considered the Sect Leader of Li Yang Cave Heaven.
This was why people like Liu Feiyun gave all Divine Skills and Cultivation Techniques to him without any hesitation.
...
"When I established Lingxiao Palace, I intended to make it on par with Grotto Heaven and Holy Land. Now... Lingxiao Palace hasn’t developed, but I have become the Master of Cave Heaven,"
Gu Jinlai chuckled to himself.
Although his position as Master of Cave Heaven was nominal, the inheritance he held was real.
While riding in the carriage, he was also reviewing the chronicles from Li Yang Cave Heaven, which filled a Storage Treasure.
The Sect Suppressing Technique of Li Yang Cave Heaven was the Li Yang True Fire Technique.
This Cultivation Technique was enlightened by the ancestor Li Yang from one of the Four Divine Beasts—the Vermilion Bird.
A thousand years ago, the Heavenly Master Civilization was in its heyday, hunting down Divine Beasts and refining Divine Weapons countless times.
Each Divine Weapon represented a Divine Beast that had passed away.
Even the creators could only hunt weaker Divine Beasts, avoiding the stronger ones.
Among the Four Divine Beasts, the Vermilion Bird was one such powerful beast.
In Gu Jinlai’s memory, like the Sky Extreme Sword, the main material was from a legendary Innate Divine Beast—the Candle Dragon.
Even the Aries Star Lord and Libra Star Lord combined could not contend with such an ancient existence. 𝑛𝘰𝑣𝘱𝑢𝑏.𝘤𝑜𝘮
It was only by luck that the Libra Star Lord found the remains of a Candle Dragon on an alien star, and with that, he approached the Aries Star Lord. Together they invested countless materials to forge the Supreme Divine Weapon Sky Extreme Sword, intending to make this sword the Libra Star Lord’s carrier of the Dao Artifact.
Of course, the creators couldn’t contend with top-grade Divine Beasts alone, but there were dozens of them.
Swarming them, even the sacred Divine Beasts could be surrounded and killed.
This is why over the years, Divine Beasts have become increasingly rare, completely disappearing from human sight.
There are rumors that these Divine Beasts might be hiding in some deep mountains or great marshes or perhaps, using their talents, they have left this world.
After all, at the peak of the Heavenly Master Civilization, they possessed the world, and even if the Divine Beasts hid well, they couldn’t escape their search and hunt.
"It’s indeed a Cave Heaven-level force established by comprehending the Vermilion Bird’s Mysterious Divine Beast—Li Yang Cave Heaven. Of the Nine Great Divine Abilities, four are Fire Series Great Divine Powers. Besides, thunder and fire are inseparable, and there are also two from the Thunder System Great Divine Abilities. Unfortunately, one is an Escape Skill Divine Power, which came a bit too late, and the other one..."
Gu Jinlai reviewed the chronicles one by one.
His eyes lingered on the Great Divine Power called "Thunderstorm" for a moment.
This was the Great Divine Power wielded by the Heavenly Dragon Wood.
He still remembered the shock when he witnessed this mighty Heavenly Dragon releasing this Divine Power.
Unexpectedly, this Great Divine Power was now laid out before him.
"I can integrate this Divine Power into my Thunder Light Domain, but it’s not very meaningful. Currently, the Thunder Light Domain is only at Mahayana, and it has not transformed into a Great Divine Power level. I cannot maintain it at full force for long. The push through Chi Long Territory relied entirely on the endless advantage of the Eternal Furnace. If the Thunder Light Domain transforms into a Great Divine Power, based on my cultivation of the Chaotic Star Light Body, I would struggle after five or six uses."
Gu Jinlai weighed in his heart.
Besides, of the Nine Great Divine Abilities, he was somewhat regretful that none was defensive-oriented.
It has to be said that this was a sect that allocated all its skill points to offense.
As for the four Fire Series Great Divine Powers...
Gu Jinlai did not currently intend to cultivate the other three.
His Chaotic Star Light Body had not yet reached Perfection, and he could not perfectly control the power of the Eternal Furnace. Cultivating Great Divine Powers would be harmful rather than beneficial.
However, he made a note of one of them, the South Fire Divine Light.
When he attacked the Demon Territory, he used an attack similar to an Atomic Breath, but this attack was extremely rough in its use of the Eternal Furnace’s energy, only fooling the Demon King and Demon Marshal level of devils, and no match for Demon Emperors.
The South Fire Divine Light, similar to Atomic Breath, could unleash a fiercely raging energy beam to remotely bombard targets.
Once he perfected his Chaotic Star Light Body and could perfectly control the Eternal Furnace, let alone a Demon Emperor, ordinary Demon Emperors would be obliterated with one blow.
Gu Jinlai glanced at these Divine Skills.
He then took another look at the still-to-be-perfected Thunder Light Domain, Thunder Light Dragon Transformation, and Chaotic Star Light Body.
He glanced again at the mere fourteen rays of Qingguang left...
In the end, he forced himself to look away from those cultivation techniques.
"What’s most important now is to quickly achieve Perfection in my cultivation of the Chaotic Star Light Body, otherwise, no matter how much I practice, I won’t be able to gain control over true Great Divine Powers."
However, he would need to delay working on Divine Skills for the time being.
It was still worthwhile to consult the cultivation techniques.
Even though many techniques were unattainable for cultivation, flipping through them could significantly expand his horizons, and perhaps...
In the future, further optimize the Chaotic Star Light Body and Eternal Furnace, transforming them from ordinary Golden Techniques to Deep Gold and even Bright Gold Levels.
Besides...
Among the six Dao Artifacts, there was one defensive Dao Artifact named the Cloud Flame Robe.
If used by Devas, only an Attack Divine Power could break through this artifact.
But for Gu Jinlai, its defensive power had plummeted by sixty percent.
However, what Gu Jinlai truly valued about this Dao Artifact was its high-temperature resistance.
Once he brought the Chaotic Star Light Body to Mahayana and possessed the Thunder Light Domain to deliver nuclear fusion energy, each strike’s power was still equivalent to a ten kiloton yield.
The power was comparable to a top-grade Attack Divine Power.
When fully operating the Eternal Furnace for a charged strike, the yield could escalate to fifty kiloton levels.
The power was on par with supreme Attack Divine Powers.
Such a level could instantly kill an ordinary Demon Emperor, and even if a Demon Emperor were struck head-on, they would struggle to defend against it.
Moving beyond that...
It was the power he had used to annihilate three Demon Emperors with a single strike from the Dao Artifact Panwu Spear back in the day.
The yield was a staggering five hundred kilotons.
This was already in the realm of Great Divine Powers.
Although the Cloud Flame Robe would not enable him to withstand the collateral release of nuclear fusion energy at a five hundred kiloton yield, it would pose no issue at a hundred kilotons.
With this Dao Artifact, he was more confident in "persuading" City Lord Zhao Hua and others to accept these tens of millions of people.
...
Upon leaving the Chi Long Territory, the safety of everyone along the way had greatly increased.
Despite the fact that it would still take these people almost half a month to reach Wind and Rain City, arranging the food, clothing, shelter, and transportation for tens of millions wasn’t easy.
Gu Jinlai had to go to Wind and Rain City in advance to prepare.
As such, he took Zhao Yushu, Qi Yunxiao, Zhuo Chunqiu, along with thirty Martial Sect Level experts ahead to Wind and Rain City.
Without the burden of common people, their travel speed was noticeably faster.
In just a few days, Wind and Rain City was already in sight.
"You go ahead and mobilize the power of the Wind and Rain Chamber of Commerce to prepare for accommodating these ten million people," Gu Jinlai instructed Zhao Yushu, "Qi Yunxiao and Zhuo Chunqiu will assist you."
"Yes."
Zhao Yushu nodded her head.
With Qi Yunxiao’s decent organizational ability and Zhuo Chunqiu being a Devas Realm expert, handling such a minor issue should be no problem with the two of them.
"The rest of you, come with me to the Zone Master Mansion," said Gu Jinlai, glancing in a direction, "My Thunder Operation is far from over. The figures I’ve dealt with these past few days are just small fry; the big fish are yet to come to the table..."
The group quickly arrived at the Zone Master Mansion.
Upon reaching the Zone Master Mansion, Qiao Muqi immediately greeted them, looking relieved, "Lord of the General District, you’ve finally returned. The City Lord Mansion has inquired about you several times, and the Grand Steward Luo Bing personally left a message, asking you to report to his residence as soon as you return."
"Report progress... As the Outer City District Chief, in theory, I only need to answer to City Lord Zhao. Luo Bing, as a City Lord Mansion Grand Steward, manages the affairs of the City Lord Mansion and has no authority over me," Gu Jinlai retorted.
Qiao Muqi was momentarily taken aback before he subtly hinted, "This Grand Steward often follows the City Lord’s orders; hence... this might be the City Lord’s intention..."
"If the City Lord intended to, he could’ve directly ordered me to report for duty; why would he resort to using intermediaries?" Gu Jinlai shook his head, "Besides, I have been away for so many days; waiting a few more won’t hurt. Moreover, the Outer City has not been purged yet; what progress is there to report? If someone had used their connections to reach Chief Manager Luo, it would mean my Thunder Operation would end halfway if I were to go now, wouldn’t it?"
Qiao Muqi stood dumbfounded.
Is the Zone Leader... utterly disregarding the Grand Steward’s face?
"Alright, gather the District Chiefs of the various zones..."
Gu Jinlai began but then halted.
He had intended to summon the District Chiefs to arrange for the accommodation of one million refugees from the Chi Long Territory, but on second thought, he realized his words might not carry weight with the Chiefs; they would likely pay lip service and waste time.
Therefore...
"I’ve been gone for only half a month, and I made all sorts of preparations in advance. What could have happened? Continue the Thunder Operation, call together all hands; this time..."
Gu Jinlai’s eyes narrowed slightly, "We are heading to the Mountain and Sky Tower."
