Chapter 68 Returning to the Lower Realm

"What the hell..."

Gu Heng's lips twitched twice, a hint of absurdity flashing in his eyes. "Using a cannon to hit a mosquito? This is a bit of an overkill, isn't it?"

His Immortal Venerable Middle Stage cultivation could sweep through the ages in the Lower Realm; in the Upper Realm, it also made him a regional hegemon.

But facing those nine old monsters outside who represented the peak combat power of the Human Immortal Realm, his current spiritual power fluctuations were like a single match in a violent storm.

They directly gathered nine Immortal Emperors of the Human Immortal Realm!

Were the brains of those people in the Divine Court filled with mush?

To catch a "True Immortal" who had just recently ascended, was it necessary to flip the table and bring out all their hidden assets?

Gu Heng connected all the clues in his head.

Something wasn't right.

Even if the heaven-reaching tower was a Supreme treasure of the Divine Court, this posture of mobilizing everyone was too excessive.

"Doesn't he know that Lin Qingyue is still in my hands?" Gu Heng muttered to himself.

Lin Qingyue was the Personal Disciple of that mysterious female emperor, and there was a Law mark personally planted by the female emperor between her brows.

The high-level officials of the Divine Court and that Divine Envoy holding the imperial teachers token couldn't possibly be unaware of this relationship.

Pulling nine Immortal Emperors to bombard the area... weren't they afraid of blowing Lin Qingyue to bits along with him?

Gu Heng narrowed his eyes.

"Or rather, are they certain... that I wouldn't dare lay a hand on Lin Qingyue?"

If Lin Qingyue died, that Female Emperor's mark would surely trigger some terrifying backlash or directly summon the Female Emperor's true body.

The Divine Court calculated that as long as Gu Heng wasn't stupid, he could only treat Lin Qingyue like an ancestor and wouldn't dare use her as a hostage to be killed.

"They've certainly thought this through!"

...

Chiyan City,

Above the ruins.

"Stubborn and incorrigible!"

The Thunder Emperor looked down at the Dragon Clan Quasi-Immortal Emperor, Old Ghost Ao.

In the sky,

Nine Purple Firmament Thunder Dragons as thick as mountain ridges were roaring.

The color of the lightning shifted between purple, blue, crimson, and gold. With each flash, the surrounding space would collapse in large swathes.

The smell of burning mixed with the bloody scent of evaporated Demon Race Cultivators was everywhere.

The Thunder Emperor didn't waste words and pressed down his raised right hand.

"Boom—"

The nine thunder dragons merged and smashed down onto the rule light shield held up by Old Ghost Ao.

"Crack!"

The Quasi-Immortal Emperor level rule shield only lasted half a breath before a True Immortal Emperor before shattering into a sky full of light rain.

The thunder continued to press down, smashing into Old Ghost Ao's back.

This Dragon Clan Elder, who could be revered as a deity in the Lower Realm, didn't even have a chance to cry out.

The ground shook violently, cracks extending like spiderwebs for millions of miles.

Finally falling into the depths of the boiling magma veins.

At the bottom of the deep pit.

Old Ghost Ao's azure robe was shredded, half a dragon horn was broken off, and golden dragon blood flowed down his forehead, dripping onto the dark red magma with a hissing sound.

He propped himself up with both hands, trying to withstand the Immortal Emperor pressure on his back, his bones making cracking sounds.

"Ugh..."

Old Ghost Ao squeezed out a humiliated groan, his golden vertical pupils staring fixedly at the purple-gold figure in the sky.

"Is this... an Immortal Emperor..."

Between Quasi-Immortal Emperor and Immortal Emperor, there was only one word difference, yet they were separated by the distance between mortals and the heavens.

The power of rules he was proud of was as fragile as paper before the Thunder Emperor's complete Great Dao Law.

Supreme in the Immortal Realm, indeed.

But he was of the Dragon Clan; the arrogance in his bones wouldn't let him bow his head.

Old Ghost Ao spat out a mouthful of dragon blood, his voice hoarse. "But, do you really think my Dragon Clan has no one?!"

He raised his head against the extreme pressure.

"Our Primogenitor... has already awakened! If you dare touch me today, if you sever the clues to our clan's Chosen Son..."

"Noisy!"

The Thunder Emperor didn't even look at him; the two words exploded like thunder.

"Bang!"

The pressure doubled.

Old Ghost Ao's words were stuck in his throat, his head pressed into the hard volcanic rock layer, unable to move a finger, completely unable to speak.

Corner of the ruins.

Emperor Li, one of the Dominators of the Demon Realm, shrunk himself into the shadow of a giant rock, trembling all over.

He watched as the Dragon Clan Quasi-Immortal Emperor who even he feared was held down by the Thunder Emperor like a dead dog.

Fear surged up his spine.

"Crazy... they're all freaking crazy!"

Emperor Li gritted his teeth, trying not to attract the attention of those killing gods.

Human Immortal Emperors didn't necessarily appear once in hundreds of thousands of years.

Even in the earth-shattering Immortal-Demon War back then, combat powers like Immortal Emperors and Devil Emperors only confronted each other from afar outside the Realm, rarely fighting in person.

Because a clash of that level would directly shatter the Origin of a world.

But now, a full nine Human Immortal Emperors, disregarding the risk of war between the two races, had stepped through the border gates of the Demon Realm together.

They seemed to have gathered just for one Magic Treasure, for one person!

And as far as Emperor Li knew, that person was just a thief who had recently ascended from the Lower Realm? An ant had actually drawn out nine Immortal Emperors?

"Did this kid dig up the Divine Court's ancestral graves or sleep with someone's Dao Companion?!" Emperor Li roared in his heart.

Just as Emperor Li felt the Demon Realm border would surely become a place of death today.

Deeper in the Demon Realm, the Laws of heaven and earth suddenly twisted.

"Buzz—"

An aura no weaker than those nine Immortal Emperors pierced through the dark Realm and descended with a boom.

Black Devilish Qi rolled like a tsunami, tearing a hole in the purple-blue thunder sea on the horizon.

The Devil Emperor's aura had arrived.

And more than one.

Three demonic shadows billions of feet tall slowly solidified in the dark sky.

Similarly, those were auras completely on par with Immortal Emperors.

However, compared to the nine on the human side, only three Devil Emperor true bodies descended on the Demon Realm's side.

These three Devil Emperors looked down at the Human Immortal Emperors below with dissatisfied expressions, carrying a bit of "get out of bed" grumpiness from being forcibly awakened.

At this time, the nine Human Immortal Emperors didn't immediately pay attention to those three Devil Emperors, but all turned their heads together to look at a man in white standing behind them.

That was the Divine Envoy.

Logically, Immortal Emperors were high and mighty and wouldn't take orders from a Quasi-Immortal Emperor.

But at this moment, the Divine Envoy was holding up a glowing ancient token—the imperial teachers token.

Seeing the token was like seeing the Imperial Teacher himself.

If not for this token, the nine Immortal Emperors wouldn't have lowered themselves to be deployed here by a Divine Envoy.

Meeting the gazes of the nine Immortal Emperors, the Divine Envoy had a gloomy face and pointed his hand at the ruins of Chiyan City below.

"The last trace of that kid's aura is right here."

The Divine Envoy spoke coldly, his tone certain. "He can't run. Perhaps he's currently using the heaven-reaching tower's concealment Laws to hide inside like a turtle.

As long as we find the heaven-reaching tower from the spatial layers of these ruins..."

A trace of cruel pleasure flashed in the Divine Envoy's eyes. "Bring it back to the Divine Court. As long as that kid is still in the tower, facing those old fellows in the Divine Court, he'll be a lamb to the slaughter, unable to escape even with wings!"

The nine Immortal Emperors nodded slightly upon hearing this.

"Makes sense."

An Immortal Emperor stepping on stars said while stroking his beard.

They heard from the Divine Envoy that the thief was just a newly ascended True Immortal.

Even if his talent was a Prodigy's and he used some wicked Cultivation Technique to forcibly raise his Realm in a short time, how high could his cultivation actually be?

As Immortal Emperors, it shouldn't be difficult for them to join forces to find and bring back a Supreme treasure refined by a True Immortal.

After reaching a consensus, they didn't hesitate further.

Nine world-destroying Immortal Emperor Divine Thoughts, like solid pillars of light, crashed onto the ruins of Chiyan City, filling every inch of space and beginning a carpet search.

An Immortal Emperor level Divine Thought, even just a wisp, was enough to cause an ordinary Immortal Venerable's Divine Soul to collapse.

The nine Divine Thoughts wove a dense Law net, slicing and decomposing the hundreds of thousands of miles of space around Chiyan City, not even sparing the microscopic worlds within a grain of dust.

Seeing the Human Immortal Emperors searching so unscrupulously on Demon Realm territory.

In the sky above, the three newly descended Devil Emperors were so angry they laughed.

"Boom!"

The pressure of the three Demonic Path Supremes was fully released, lunging straight at the human Law net below.

"Fellow Human Immortal Emperors."

The Devil Emperor in the center wearing a bone crown sneered, "For you to come to this Emperor's backyard with such fanfare and dig three feet deep... are you looking down on our Demon Realm too much?"

...

Inside the heaven-reaching tower,

Gu Heng sensed the vague auras of those Immortal Emperors, and the corners of his mouth curled slightly.

"Fight, go ahead and fight, like dogs biting dogs. The more heated your fight, the easier it is for me to escape."

Gu Heng had already made his plans.

Going out now would be seeking death; even with the heaven-reaching tower as a turtle shell, being bombarded by over a dozen Emperor Realm old monsters would eventually cause internal injuries.

Since the bottommost passage of the heaven-reaching tower connected to the Lower Realm where the Five Great Provinces were, he might as well take the opportunity to return to the starter village to lie low.

"Return to the Lower Realm first and handle that business with the so-called 'Dao Foundation Fragment'. While I'm at it, I'll see what kind of secrets are hidden in that world."

Gu Heng stroked his chin, his thoughts gradually becoming clear.

After the business in the Lower Realm was done, he would ascend to another Realm through a different spatial node. In any case, he wouldn't return to the Human Immortal Realm, nor would he come back to this unlucky Demon Realm.

He would find a place with beautiful scenery and abundant Spiritual Qi, and quietly use the System to "pass by" a few fat sheep, steadily raising his cultivation to the Immortal Emperor Realm.

As for this heaven-reaching tower...

Gu Heng felt the vast spatial Laws in the tower; since he had completely refined it, this tower was equivalent to his Lifebound Treasure.

This thing was too big, the target too obvious.

If he took it through the Lower Realm passage, it might cause the passage to collapse or even allow the Immortal Emperors outside to follow the trail.

It would be better to let it turn into a grain of mustard seed and hide in the depths of the broken spatial turbulence of the Demon Realm.

With his mind made up, Gu Heng no longer procrastinated.

With a slight thought, the Laws of the sea of stars in the tower responded immediately.

His figure vanished directly from the meteorite and appeared at the bottommost level of the heaven-reaching tower, at the entrance of the spatial tunnel hidden behind layers of mist.

The tunnel was greyish and emitted the familiar spiritual power fluctuations of the Lower Realm's Five Great Provinces.

Gu Heng took a step, about to walk in.

Before leaving,

He paused, as if thinking of something.

"That Dragon Clan Quasi-Immortal Emperor outside who was being rubbed into the ground by the Thunder Emperor kept saying their Primogenitor had awakened and was looking for some Chosen Son of the clan..."

The image of the Old Dragon King's wretched and flattering old face flashed through Gu Heng's mind.

This old loach usually seemed unreliable, doing nothing but sucking up and clinging to powerful people, but the purity of the Dragon Clan Bloodline in him was something even an amateur like Gu Heng could tell was extraordinary.

If this guy really was some important direct descendant of the Dragon Clan, keeping him would definitely be a valuable bargaining chip.

The Old Dragon King's identity seemed not to be simple.

"I'll take him along, treat him like a talking pet to relieve boredom."

Gu Heng snapped his fingers.

In a corner of the distant sea of stars, the Old Dragon King, who was fast asleep, only felt his neck tighten as the entire dragon was directly dragged over by an irresistible spatial force.

"Ouch! Master, spare my life! This old servant wasn't slacking off; this old servant was praying for Master in his dreams!"

The Old Dragon King fell at Gu Heng's feet, rubbing his dragon horns while crying out repeatedly.

"Cut the crap, I'm taking you to a good place."

Gu Heng kicked the Old Dragon King's butt, sending him into the spatial tunnel, and then stepped in himself.

After he left, the golden runes in the heaven-reaching tower quickly dimmed, and the entire tower, like a mustard seed, drifted towards unknown places with the spatial turbulence.

...

Lower Realm,

East Province, Qingyun Sect.

Continuous rain had been falling for five full days.

By the cliff of the back mountain, it was muddy.

Old Ancestor Qingxuan had discarded that tattered straw raincoat, allowing the rain to soak his transcendent appearance.

He raised his head, staring fixedly at the sky.

Ye Wentian held an oil-paper umbrella that was about to be blown apart by the gale, standing three steps away, shivering from the cold.

"Old... Old Ancestor, how about we go back to the main hall?"

Ye Wentian's teeth chattered. "This celestial phenomenon looks really ominous. If some Nine Heavens Divine Thunder strikes down, our Qingyun Sect will be wiped out."

"Shut up!"

Old Ancestor Qingxuan didn't even blink, rubbing his hands together excitedly.

The originally grey sky now had a golden light that was becoming more and more unusual.

It was no longer a flickering glimmer, but like a blazing sun was trying to forcibly tear through the clouds.

The power of induction poured down from the Nine Heavens, directly covering the entire back mountain of the Qingyun Sect.

The violent raindrops around them instantly stopped under this force, suspended in mid-air.

Old Ancestor Qingxuan felt the spiritual power in his body begin to boil, and his feet actually left the muddy ground, slowly floating up three inches.

His old face turned flushed red.

"Hahahaha!"

Old Ancestor Qingxuan laughed wildly, pointing at the growing golden light in the sky, and turned to look at Ye Wentian.

"Wentian! Did you see that? Did you feel it?"

Wild joy and doubt intertwined within Old Ancestor Qingxuan as he spoke loudly to Ye Wentian,

"Could it be... this time, it's really my Divine Light of Induction!?"