225: An era without saints!? (Twenty-four)

Gu Yun's footsteps stopped.

He turned back and looked at the child with stubborn eyes and tear stains still on his face.

It was as if he saw himself from back then.

It was also as if he saw the You Chen of the past.

The young boy clenched his fists tightly, hope igniting in his eyes.

Though his voice was immature, it was incredibly firm.

"That way, I can protect my sister! Protect the village!"

"And I can also... kill demons!"

At this moment, Gu Yun's heart was deeply touched.

In this Mortal youth, he saw the shadow of his first life, 'Little Quan Yun,' who fought desperately to protect others.

He also saw You Chen's persistence, which was pure to the point of foolishness.

So be it.

Gu Yun sighed softly in his heart.

So what if he has a Mortal Body?

The Dao should never have been divided by status.

"This sword strike shall be considered a fated encounter between us."

Gu Yun murmured to himself.

He did not speak, but slowly raised his hand, forming a sword with his fingers, and gently tapped the boy's forehead.

"Senior!"

Li Shuang, who was nearby, was shocked, thinking the Senior was going to harm the child, but she was stopped by a look from Gu Zhan.

The boy was also startled, but seeing Gu Yun's gentle gaze, he actually didn't dodge.

The moment his fingertip touched the boy's forehead.

A Divine Thought surged directly into the boy's mind.

Gu Yun's calm voice echoed in the boy's Sea of Consciousness, yet it carried immense majesty.

"I will only perform one sword strike; watch closely."

The moment the words fell, the boy's mental world turned upside down.

He saw a tall phantom of a Divine Being appear within a sea of Chaos.

Holding a longsword of indiscernible form, the Divine Being slowly demonstrated a sword stance.

That sword strike seemed simple to the extreme.

It was just a plain, unadorned thrust.

It contained the entire Profound Truth of the first chapter of the Sword Scripture, the "Revelation Chapter."

From nothing to something, creating heaven and earth.

However, this Sword Intent was far too massive for the Divine Soul of a Mortal child.

The boy felt as if his head was about to explode; he didn't even have time to cry out.

His eyes rolled back, his body went limp, and he fainted, falling straight back.

A gentle force caught him, allowing him to lie smoothly on the snowy ground.

Gu Yun withdrew his finger.

The "seed" of the Way of the Sword had been deeply branded into the depths of this child's true spirit.

As for what kind of flower would bloom or what kind of fruit would be borne in the future, that would depend on his own fortune.

He looked at the unconscious boy and left his final words.

These words were not only for the boy but also for Li Shuang, who was equally shocked beyond measure.

"As for when you can achieve swordsmanship like mine..."

"The day you stop asking is the day you have succeeded."

Having finished, Gu Yun did not linger.

He and Gu Zhan turned and stepped into the wind and snow, vanishing into the horizon in a few flashes.

They left behind Li Shuang, whose face was filled with reverence and shock, and a group of villagers who had been given a new life.

No one could have imagined.

That the move Gu Yun casually made today would, many years later, cause a legendary Sword Dao Venerable who shook the past and present to be born in this withered Northern Plains... A few days later.

Gu Yun and Gu Zhan appeared at the border of the Great You Divine Dynasty.

Along the way, they had grown accustomed to the desolation, Chaos, and bloodshed of the Northern Plains.

Bones lay exposed in the wild, and for a thousand miles, not even a rooster's crow could be heard.

However, the moment they stepped into this territory, the sight before them shocked even Gu Zhan, a battle-obsessed man who had traveled far and wide.

A majestic city stood tall upon the icy plains.

The city walls were a thousand feet high, cast entirely from a metal that shimmered with a dark light, inscribed with dense formations that emitted an aura of solemn slaughter.

Aboard the walls, squads of soldiers clad in heavy armor and holding long halberds patrolled back and forth without looking aside.

Their auras were steady and their steps were in perfect unison; they were clearly an elite force that had experienced countless bloody battles.

Outside the city gates, long lines of commoners and merchant caravans waited to enter, yet not a single person was noisy or disruptive.

Everyone followed the guidance of the Divine Dynasty's soldiers, undergoing inspections in an orderly manner.

There was no Chaos here, no looting, and not even a trace of demons.

There was only the peace brought by an iron-blooded order.

This was a world apart from the precarious regions they had just passed through, where human life was treated like grass.

"Lord..."

Gu Zhan looked at the scene before him, unable to hide his amazement.

"Is this the Great You Divine Dynasty? This Luck is so flourishing; it's far beyond any power I've seen before!"

"It's... it's practically a pure land."

Gu Yun did not speak.

He looked at the familiar city walls, feeling that familiar yet strange aura of national destiny, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

This was the Divine Dynasty he had personally supported in his previous life.

It was also the starting point of his sins.

The two of them followed the flow of people and entered the city.

The inside of the city was an even more different sight.

The streets were wide and clean, and pedestrians moved to and fro, most of them wearing peaceful and settled expressions.

The two of them found a restaurant facing the street and sat down.

Gu Zhan ordered a jar of strong wine, but he didn't drink it for a long time.

To be continued

His gaze was still fixed in shock on the prosperous scene outside the window.

"Lord, it's said that in the previous Great Era, an extraordinary figure emerged from this Great You Divine Dynasty."

Gu Zhan lowered his voice, his expression full of yearning.

Gu Yun poured himself a cup of light tea, his movements slow and steady.

He didn't respond, signaling Gu Zhan to continue.

Seeing this, Gu Zhan's desire to talk grew even stronger.

"Rumor has it that Genius returned from the Ancient Starry Road and... successfully stepped into the Saint Realm!"

"The Saint Realm!"

Gu Zhan's voice trembled slightly as he said this.

"In this Dharma-Ending Age, even Venerables are legends. How majestic an existence must a Saint Realm expert be?"

"As the saying goes, when one person attains the Dao, even their pets ascend to heaven. The legacy left by that existence directly caused Great You, which was originally mediocre among the many Divine Dynasties in the Northern Plains, to leap and become the number one Divine Dynasty in the Northern Plains today!"

Listening to this, Gu Yun's hand holding the teacup paused slightly.

He knew that the "existence" Gu Zhan spoke of was You Chen.

"However, that Saint didn't stay in the Northern Plains for long; he left soon after."

Gu Zhan's tone carried a hint of regret.

"There are rumors that he went to a Life Forbidden Zone in the Northern Plains, and since then, there has been no news of him. No one knows if he's dead or alive."

Gu Yun's eyes flickered slightly.

A Life Forbidden Zone... "Even though he's gone, the legacy he left behind has attracted the covetous eyes of countless immortal forces in the Northern Plains."

At this point, Gu Zhan's face showed a look of confusion.

"But the strange thing is, no matter who goes, no one can take that item away."

"Even when Ancient Ancestors of the Saint Realm from other Divine Dynasties took action personally, they all returned empty-handed."

To be continued

Gu Yun raised an eyebrow.

"They couldn't defeat the power protecting the legacy?"

"No, that's not it."

Gu Zhan scratched his head, seemingly trying to organize his words to describe the incredible rumor he had heard.

"It's said that it wasn't a matter of not being able to win."

"But rather that those experts, whether they were King-level or Emperor-level, or even Ancient Ancestors of the Saint Realm, didn't even have the qualification to approach that legacy."

"It was as if... as if they were 'unworthy.'"