249: An Age Without Saints! (Forty-Eight)

"Have you heard? The Dao Child of the Gu Family has slain another one!"

"Hiss—is this true? How can a master of the Venerable Realm be so easy to kill?"

"It is absolutely true!"

Rumors about this name were spreading everywhere in the restaurants and markets across the Five Domains. Some nosy people even gave Gu Yun a spine-chilling nickname: Venerable Butcher.

The war of the Immortal Dao Lineage had been raging for so many years, yet the number of fallen Venerables could be counted on one hand. After all, once someone reached that level, who didn't have a few trump card life-saving Divine Abilities? If they couldn't win, couldn't they at least run?

But Gu Yun had slain two in just a few short years. This completely shattered the myth that "Venerables are immortal."

Central Province, Ji Family.

Inside the council hall, the atmosphere was extremely oppressive.

"Madman! That Gu Yun is a complete and utter madman!"

"I propose we awaken the Earth Venerable, or even our ancient Heaven Venerable ancestors to hunt this brat down."

"Impossible. The suppression from the Withered Small World is too heavy right now; the cost for our ancestors to take action is too great."

...

Gu Yun was completely unaware of the turmoil outside, nor did he care.

At this moment, he was sitting cross-legged atop the most spirit-rich Main Lineage of the Gu Family. This was a place for closed-door cultivation specifically opened for him by the Family.

Time flew by, and three years had passed.

Inside the secret chamber, Gu Yun slowly opened his eyes.

He looked inward at his Dantian, staring at the purple-gold primordial dao fruit swirling with Primordial Qi, and frowned.

Three years.

For three whole years, he had used this top-tier Spiritual Vein to cultivate day and night. Yet, the growth rate of this "primordial dao fruit" was exceptionally slow.

In three years, the size of the Dao Fruit had only increased by three or four zhang.

This speed would be enough to make any Venerable ecstatic if it were in the outside world. But in Gu Yun's eyes, it was no different from a snail crawling.

He recalled the exhilarating feeling of his Dao Fruit surging wildly after devouring those two Human Venerable Dao Fruits not long ago. Comparing the two, the difference was stark.

"This won't do; it's too slow."

If this Withered Small World could not provide him with enough nourishment, then he would take it himself.

A crazy idea sprouted in his heart.

Take the initiative.

Hunt the Venerables.

Use the enemies' Dao Fruits as resources to reach a stronger Realm!

The moment he made the decision, Gu Yun did not hesitate in the slightest. He exited seclusion immediately, holding the "Heaven Patrol Token," and contacted the Gu Family's most mysterious intelligence System—the Heaven Patrol Guards.

"I want all the movements of the Venerable Realm powerhouses from the Ji Family, the Wang Family, and all other forces hostile to my Gu Family."

"Highest level intelligence, updated in real-time."

Once the order was given, the entire Heaven Patrol Guard System began to operate at high speed. Encrypted secret letters were continuously delivered to Gu Yun's hands.

Finally, a piece of intelligence marked "Top Secret" caught his attention.

"Target: The Ji and Wang Families, joined by another hostile Immortal Dao Lineage, the 'Ziyang Sect'."

"Movement: The three parties will each dispatch one Human Venerable to assemble near the 'Graveyard of Ten Thousand Spirits' battlefield in three days."

"Objective: Suspected to be planning a raid on a 'Void Realm Divine Crystal' vein of ours in the Western Desert."

"Besiege a point to strike reinforcements?"

...

Graveyard of Ten Thousand Spirits.

Here, ominous winds howled. On the grey-black land, fragments of eternal Laws and monstrous resentment remained.

Three figures, arranged in a triangular formation, hid atop three different mountain peaks. They had set up a lethal formation.

Just at this moment, the space above their heads twisted without warning.

A man in white stepped out from it, landing with absolute precision right in the center of their killing formation.

"Three gentlemen, sorry to keep you waiting."

Gu Yun stood there, his expression calm. "I am here."

The three Human Venerables were shocked. "Gu Yun?!"

They were startled at first, then ecstatic. "Heaven has a path you refuse to take, and you choose to break into Hell where there are no doors! Kill him! This is a god-given Opportunity!"

Boom!

The three did not hesitate, simultaneously activating the killing formation. Three powerful, yet different, attributes of Venerable Law energy surged into the sky, biting fiercely at Gu Yun from three directions.

However, Gu Yun just calmly raised his eyes. "Fireflies daring to compete with the moon?"

He took a step, and the pressure of his primordial dao fruit erupted. Those three overbearing Law dragons actually let out a wail in mid-air, their light instantly dimming by thirty percent.

"This... what kind of Dao Fruit is this? The pressure is so terrifying!" The three were shocked.

Gu Yun did not give them time to react. Fighting three against one, he not only didn't fall behind but displayed powerful suppression.

He took the attacks of two of them head-on, letting those two Divine Abilities slam into his body, emitting a dull thud.

Puff.

Gu Yun spat out a mouthful of blood, his white clothes stained red. At the cost of an injury, he exchanged for a chance for a lethal strike.

He instantly appeared in front of the third Human Venerable, the Elder from the Ziyang Sect.

"Convergence."

Gu Yun pointed like a sword.

"No—!"

The Elder let out a desperate roar. He wanted to escape, but his body was tightly bound by an invisible force.

Splurt.

Body and soul were both destroyed, leaving only the Venerable Dao Fruit about to dissipate between heaven and earth.

The remaining two were terrified. Looking at the empty Void Realm, they couldn't help but feel a chill all over.

Run!

The two looked at each other and, without hesitation, burned their Origin essence blood, turning into two streams of light and fleeing madly in two different directions.

Gu Yun wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, watching the direction they fled, but did not pursue. His main goal had already been achieved.

He reached out and grabbed at the air. The Dao Fruit that had just condensed and was radiating pure energy fell into his palm.

He could feel that the Azure Heaven Indestructible Art within his body was, at this moment, emitting an unprecedented, greedy craving. An indescribable "hunger" came from the deepest part of the Cultivation Technique.

Gu Yun circulated the Cultivation Technique and began to devour. This time, the devouring process was more overbearing and rapid than ever before. The energy of that Human Venerable Dao Fruit surged into his body like a dam bursting.

The primordial dao fruit in his Dantian began to expand rapidly.

Ten zhang.

Fifteen zhang.

Twenty zhang!

In just a short moment, it had surged to twenty zhang in size! This saved him at least twenty years of hard cultivation!

However, after the pleasure of the sudden surge in strength, a "hunger" even more intense and violent than before surged up from the depths of the Cultivation Technique once again.

Gu Yun's heart sank. He suddenly realized that the Azure Heaven Indestructible Art seemed to possess a life of its own.

It was craving more "food."

This greedy will even began to subtly influence his state of mind, giving him the impulse to immediately chase down the two fleeing Venerables and continue the hunt.

"This Cultivation Technique..."

Gu Yun's eyes once again felt deep wariness and suspicion toward this technique.

What was the ultimate goal of the supreme powerhouse who created this technique? This didn't look like a simple technique to make someone stronger; it looked more like... captivity.

Yes, captivity.

Fattening up the host, and then... harvesting?

A chilling thought rose in his heart.

Why would such an evil and overbearing technique exist in that mysterious small tower? Was it really an "Opportunity" that the tower passed on to him?

Or was it...

Was this small tower, which had accompanied him through many cycles of Reincarnation and protected him countless times, actually... a cage from which he could not escape?