241: An era without saints!? (Forty)

Gu Yun sat cross-legged before that headless skeleton, his eyes tightly shut.

Between the two of them, that purple-gold beam of light piercing through the heavens and earth had not dissipated; instead, it grew increasingly violent.

Both possessed the Primordial Chaos Sacred Body; though their Origins were the same, their wills were different.

Even though this skeleton had fallen eons ago, its residual instinctive will remained haughty, unwilling to be devoured by a junior.

It was resisting.

Inside Gu Yun's body, two majestic surges of purple Qi were clashing wildly within his Meridians.

If it were an ordinary person, their body would have exploded and died long ago.

"Dead means dead."

Gu Yun let out a cold shout in his Sea of Consciousness, his will as firm as iron.

"Since you have already fallen, then I shall inherit your Origin."

"I will take it and finish the path you left incomplete."

Boom!

He no longer suppressed it, and the Azure Heaven Indestructible Art within his body erupted in full force.

A powerful suction force surged from deep within his Dantian.

Under the suppression of this Emperor-grade Cultivation Technique, the residual will of the skeleton emitted an unwilling wail before finally dissipating.

The resistance vanished.

In its place was the infusion of the purest, most primal Origin energy.

The essence of the Sacred Body, which had been tempered in the Venerable Realm and settled over countless ages, flooded into Gu Yun's body.

His Aura began to climb rapidly.

Late Stage Cave-Heaven Realm.

Perfection of the Cave-Heaven Realm.

Boom!

Divine Fire ignited, and a Godhead condensed.

True God Realm!

Gu Yun did not wake up; as the Origin fused, his consciousness was pulled into a much more ancient river of time.

Once again, he saw memory fragments.

But these did not belong to Jun Yun's past life; they belonged to the memories of the headless skeleton before its death.

The images shifted.

It was a deathly silent starry sky.

The Ancient Starry Road.

A man wearing purple-gold battle armor with an extraordinary Aura was riding a Divine Rainbow, speeding through the shattered stars.

Even though his face was not clearly visible, Gu Yun could feel the invincible spirit of the Primordial Chaos Sacred Body emanating from him.

He was in pursuit.

Deep in the Void Realm hundreds of thousands of miles ahead, a speck of azure light was fleeing in panic.

Gu Yun's mind shook violently.

The thing wrapped in the azure light was actually a fragmented pagoda body!

The pagoda body had only one section, ancient and weathered, looking exactly the same as the mysterious small pagoda in his Sea of Consciousness!

"Where do you think you're going!"

The heroic man shouted, reaching out a giant hand to grab the remnant pagoda.

Just at the moment his hand was about to touch the pagoda body.

A sudden change occurred.

The Void Realm split open.

A pitch-black figure stepped out of the rift without warning, blocking the path of the remnant pagoda.

It was a man who looked very young, his face blurred, with only a pair of eyes that were completely ashen, exuding Death Qi.

"Who are you?"

The heroic man stopped, his expression solemn.

The black figure did not answer.

He simply raised his hand, and in the center of his palm, an ancient and eerie symbol appeared.

It was the character for 'Burial'.

The Eastern Domain, Burial Soil!

One of the most mysterious and terrifying forbidden life zones in the Five Domains.

This person came from the Burial Soil!

"This object does not belong to you."

The black figure's voice was hoarse.

"Begone."

As a Primordial Chaos Sacred Body, how could the heroic man ever have endured such contempt? He immediately attacked in a rage.

Purple Qi and the Sacred Body's phenomena erupted with startling power.

The two fought fiercely, and eventually, the Primordial Chaos Sacred Body was suppressed.

One sword strike.

The purple Qi crumbled.

The heroic man's head flew off, and his headless corpse fell into the starry sky.

The scene ended there... inside the mountain cave.

Gu Yun snapped his eyes open.

"Burial Soil... remnant pagoda..."

Gu Yun's expression was uncertain.

He finally understood why this skeleton had ended up here and why it had lost its head.

He instinctively looked into his Sea of Consciousness; the small pagoda, which was usually deathly still, seemed to sense something. It vibrated slightly and then went silent again.

Gu Yun suppressed the shock in his heart.

Regardless of who that black figure was or how terrifying the Burial Soil was, he currently lacked the qualifications to investigate.

Become stronger.

Only by becoming stronger would he have the right to survive and uncover the truth behind all of this.

He closed his eyes again and re-entered meditation.

This time, he was completely focused... time flowed quietly during his cultivation.

Gu Yun sat there for a full fifteen years.

He completely refined all the Origin of that skeleton, not only stabilizing his True God Realm cultivation base but also breaking through the threshold of the Heavenly God Realm in one go.

The ensuing years became dull and long.

He did not leave seclusion but continued to Cultivate hard in this Small World rich with Spiritual Qi.

Because he possessed the quasi-saint weapon 'huntian bell' and occasionally emitted saintly pressure while in seclusion,

the Chi Clan and Bone Clan outside the canyon had long since come to view him as a deity descended to the world.

Every night of the full moon, the two Clan Chiefs would lead their tribesmen to kneel and pray outside the crater, offering up the best resources of their clans... another fifteen years passed.

Outside, in the Five Domains.

These thirty years were peaceful years of seclusion for Gu Yun.

But for the outside world, it was a desperate 'winter'.

The curse of the Dharma-Ending Age finally manifested its full impact.

The speed of Spiritual Qi depletion accelerated.

The mountain-protecting Formations of various major Sects had to be shut down due to a lack of Spiritual Qi support.

Even immortal forces like the Gu Family and Ji Family had to contract their defensive lines and seal off their ancestral lands.

This was an era where all horses were silent.

Prodigies withered, and the older generation passed away.

The entire cultivation world fell into silence.

In the Ji Family's ancestral land, within a dark underground palace.

"Ah—!"

A shrill scream echoed through the underground palace.

The Ji Family Divine Maiden had disheveled hair and blood-red eyes, bordering on madness.

Her body was covered in black demonic runes; her originally holy Aura had now been completely replaced by a cold and evil Devilish Qi.

Over the past thirty years, the Heart Demon Gu Yun had brought her not only did not dissipate, but under the oppression of the Dharma-Ending Age, it became the final straw that broke her.

Her cultivation base remained stagnant, and her Lifespan was rapidly draining away.

To break through and survive, she did not hesitate to Cultivate the forbidden Demonic Technique of the Ji Family—the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Scripture.

Using humans as medicine, she devoured flesh and blood.

"Gu Yun... I will kill you... kill you!"

She roared, her fingernails digging deep into the stone walls.

"Wretched creature!"

A sigh rang out.

Several Ji Family Grand Elders appeared; looking at the Divine Maiden who no longer looked human or ghost, their expressions were pained and helpless.

"She has completely fallen into the demonic path; she is beyond saving."

"Suppress her."

Several thick chains flew out, piercing the Divine Maiden's collarbones and pinning her firmly to the damp wall.

A generation's Divine Maiden had fallen just like that.

This was the tragedy of the era.

In the face of the era's grand trend, an individual's struggle was insignificant... the fragmented Small World.

Boom!

A powerful Aura erupted from deep within the canyon.

Gu Yun had emerged from seclusion.

He wore a simple green robe, with black hair falling over his shoulders and deep eyes.

Peak Heavenly God Realm.

Only one step away from being a Venerable.

Gu Yun looked up at the grey sky, his brow furrowing slightly.

He could feel that the upper limit of this world's Laws had locked his path forward.

This place could no longer contain him.

"It's time to leave."

Gu Yun whispered.

His figure flickered and vanished from the spot.

Over the next three years, Gu Yun traveled to every corner of this Small World.

He searched for weak points in space in the extreme northern ice plains and explored ancient Formations in the extreme southern sea of fire.

He even tried to use the huntian bell to forcibly strike the world barrier.

But every time, it ended in failure.

This world was like a sturdy cage; there was a way in, but no door out.

Unless one reached the Venerable Realm and forcibly tore through the Void Realm, it was impossible to leave.

"Am I to be trapped here until I die?"

Gu Yun stood atop a high Peak, his heart somewhat heavy.

Three years of fruitless searching made him realize that forcing his way out would not work.

Perhaps clues still lay with those two indigenous tribes.

They had lived here for generations; perhaps they knew of some secret ancient roads.

With this thought, Gu Yun no longer hesitated, turning into a streak of light to return to the canyon.

However.

As he approached the territory of the Chi Clan and Bone Clan,

a strong scent of blood drifted over with the wind.

Gu Yun's gaze narrowed.

The originally peaceful settlement was now ablaze with fire, filled with thick smoke.

Shouts of battle, miserable screams, and cries of weeping were all mixed together in a mess.