414: Chapter 414 True Treasure

"Come well!" Gu Changsheng looked up and laughed wildly, his voice drowning out the thunder across the sky.

"I was just worried that the sharp Qi of this taiyi gold mother wasn't pure enough; this Heavenly Tribulation is a quenching furnace delivered right to my doorstep!"

He lifted his right hand abruptly.

The floating ruler emitted a clear hum, advancing instead of retreating, transforming into a dark golden stream of light that crashed against the thick thunderbolt.

The thunderbolt and the ruler collided with a boom.

There was no expected sound of metal shattering.

The wood-like texture on the ruler's surface flickered rapidly, and the "Zhen" (Shock) attribute of the Yuanmu Law was thoroughly activated.

The pure energy of the Lightning Tribulation poured down along the ruler's texture, greedily devoured by the taiyi gold mother.

A hint of thunder patterns appeared on the golden-green surface of the ruler.

The tribulation clouds in the sky were thoroughly enraged by this provocative act.

Hundreds of lightning bolts wove into an airtight net of thunder, descending upon him.

Gu Changsheng didn't even blink, standing with one hand behind his back, watching coldly.

The ruler shuttled through the air at high speed, transforming into a golden-green long dragon that charged straight into the depths of the tribulation clouds.

Devour!

A frenzied devouring!

The taiyi gold mother was a supreme divine object nurtured over ninety thousand years, naturally restraining the metal of the Five Elements. Now, fused with the Yuanmu Law and Gu Changsheng's Bloodline Origin, its appetite was astonishing.

The thunderous explosion across the sky didn't even make a splash before being sucked clean.

The single eye condensed from the tribulation clouds was pierced through by the ruler before it could even unleash a true heavenly punishment.

Puff!

The single eye exploded with a bang.

The dark red tribulation clouds covering a hundred thousand miles withered and dissipated rapidly, like mud drained of moisture.

Sunlight fell back into the Yuanmu Grotto-Heaven.

The ruler fell from high altitude, hovering steadily in front of Gu Changsheng.

The ruler's surface no longer emitted a blinding luster, instead becoming extremely restrained and ancient.

On the blue-gold base, blue-gold wood patterns and scarlet thunder threads were intertwined.

Gu Changsheng reached out his right hand and gripped the handle of the ruler.

The moment he touched it, a sense of absolute control from the Fusion of Bloodlines flooded his heart.

"Measuring the world, fixing the cosmos."

Gu Changsheng stroked the cold surface of the ruler with his fingertips.

"From now on, I shall call you the Heaven-Measuring Ruler."

He turned around, his gaze piercing through the dome of the Main Peak hall, crossing layers of cloud seas, and landing on the northern edge of the Grotto-Heaven.

There stood a giant peak ten thousand zhang high, the location of the hardest basalt earth vein in the Grotto-Heaven world.

Gu Changsheng raised his right arm, with no leakage of magical power.

He just swung the ruler through the air, extremely casually.

Swish.

The space in front of the Heaven-Measuring Ruler was silently sliced open.

There were no earth-shattering sword lights or shadows.

A thousand miles away.

On the mountainside of that ten-thousand-zhang giant peak, a transparent ripple invisible to the naked eye appeared abruptly.

The ripple swept across.

The upper half of the entire giant peak, along with the clouds, birds, and even the flowing wind within a hundred miles.

In an instant, it fell into absolute stillness.

Immediately after.

Silent annihilation descended.

That half of the mountain did not collapse, nor did it shatter.

Instead, it was thoroughly erased from the material level, turning into extremely fine dust that drifted down.

Ignoring spatial distance.

Ignoring defensive Restrictions.

This was the terrifying power of a True Treasure!

At the foot of the giant peak, a few indigenous Foundation Establishment Cultivators who were fighting froze in place.

They stared blankly upwards, watching that sacred mountain, which had stood firm for millions of years, disappear into thin air by half.

"Divine punishment..."

A Cultivator's knees went weak, and he slammed into the mud.

His Magical Artifact fell with a clatter, and he desperately smashed his forehead against the ground, knocking his scalp into a bloody mess.

The others also knelt, trembling like chaff, their very thoughts of running away crushed by this great power.

This dimensionality-reduction strike, which broke all common sense, shattered their original worldview of the Cultivation World, and then, in extreme fear, reshaped their fanatical faith in that supreme Dominator in the dark.

Pure threads of Power Of Will pierced through the clouds and poured madly into Gu Changsheng's Golden Core.

Gu Changsheng retracted the Heaven-Measuring Ruler, extremely satisfied with the effect of this strike.

The core authority of the Heaven-Measuring Ruler was not this spatial cutting that ignored distance.

It was "Fixing and Solidifying."

When that strike was swung just now, the Laws around the giant peak were forcibly locked.

If it hit a Golden Core True Lord.

With one strike, the golden essence Laws within the opponent's body would be instantly sealed.

Even if it were only for a single breath of time.

In a life-and-death battle at the Golden Core level, a vacuum of Laws for one breath was enough to kill the opponent a thousand times over.

Gu Changsheng tapped his fingers on the ruler, making a crisp sound.

With this Heaven-Measuring Ruler, even if he were to face those veteran Golden Core Cultivators from the Central Plains who had lived for thousands of years, he could pin them to the ground and thrash them.

That True Lord from the Solemn Gold Palace of the Eastern Wasteland who cultivated the Dao of Geng Metal?

The taiyi gold mother naturally restrained metal; once the Heaven-Measuring Ruler appeared, the opponent's ten-thousand-zhang Golden Body Dharma Image would be a living target.

Gu Changsheng placed the Heaven-Measuring Ruler into his Dantian.

The ruler slid along his Meridians and floated quietly above the Golden Core, accepting the day and night nourishment of the primordial wood Origin.

With the treasure refining finished, Gu Changsheng's attention turned to the corner of the hall.

A small dark yellow hill was piled there.

Tens of thousands of pounds of Quicksand Gold Essence.

This was the leftover material dug up from the bottom of the Xumi Sand Sea along with the taiyi gold mother.

Looking at the entire Cultivation World, this pile of scraps was enough to buy half of the top-grade Spiritual Veins in the Central Plains.

Gu Changsheng walked slowly to the pile of Quicksand Gold Essence.

Those old monsters in the Central Plains were now staring at Chengtian Pavilion like mad dogs.

The ruse of fake Hou Chen being in closed-door cultivation couldn't last long.

Once those old monsters lost patience and joined forces to blast open the Foundation of the Luoyan Mountain Range, the truth about the Lightning Wood Puppet would be completely exposed.

He had to find something more tempting for them.

Distract them, and incidentally weaken the top combat power of the Central Plains.

Gu Changsheng grabbed a piece of Quicksand Gold Essence the size of a fist with one hand.

The material was excellent, a top-tier auxiliary material for refining top-grade Magic Treasures, and even better as a top-grade Formation base for setting up large-scale kill Formations.

Those large Sects in the Central Plains would never let go of such strategic resources.

Gu Changsheng clenched his five fingers abruptly.

Tens of thousands of pounds of dark yellow Quicksand Gold Essence collapsed under the invisible great power.

It turned into fine golden dust, floating in the center of the hall.

The mutated Bing Fire emerged from his body, and the dark golden flames devoured the golden dust completely.

Sizzle.

The Impurities were evaporated extremely violently.

This top-grade Spiritual material, which could withstand Purple Mansion True Fire for a hundred years, didn't even last three breaths in front of the mutated Origin.

Gu Changsheng pressed his hand into the void.

Massive Divine Thought smashed onto the boiling golden liquid like a heavy hammer, time and time again.

The hundred-zhang large ball of golden liquid was forcibly compressed.

Ten zhang.

Three zhang.

Finally, it condensed into a dark golden square Seal only the size of a palm.

The surface of the Seal glowed with ten colors, with natural earth and metal Law patterns intertwined, exuding an extremely tempting, heavy aura.

Looking at the appearance alone, this was definitely a True Treasure embryo about to be fully nurtured.

Enough to make any Golden Core True Lord tear off their face for it.

Gu Changsheng tapped his knuckles on the throne's armrest.

This wasn't enough.

He had to add some seasoning.

The Mysterious Yellow Black Flame in his Dantian rolled quietly.

A wisp of extremely pure Deep Qi Origin, revealing a will of destruction, was forcibly stripped away.

He flicked his finger.

This wisp of Deep Qi turned into a black light, drilling into the core of the square Seal extremely secretly.

The Deep Qi lay dormant extremely domineeringly in the deepest part of the Seal, tightly covered by the outer treasure light.

Once a high-level Cultivator forcibly refined it, this destruction Origin would explode directly along their Meridians.

Gu Changsheng brushed his hand over the Seal.

The blue-gold wood patterns flickered, putting the final layer of disguise to isolate detection on this bomb.

The bait was ready.

He raised his right hand and pointed his index finger at the void.

The blue-gold light turned into a tangible chain of Karma, piercing directly through the barrier of the Void Realm.

In the Luoyan Mountain Range of the Central Plains, inside the underground bunker of Chengtian Pavilion.

Chen Mu was sitting cross-legged beside the Lightning Wood Puppet.

Rich Wither-Prosper Death Qi washed through his Meridians rapidly, each circulation bringing forth bursts of thunder.

The void twisted without warning.

The blue-gold light tore through the dimness, and Gu Changsheng's true voice exploded in the secret room.

"Chen Mu."

Chen Mu's knees slammed heavily onto the bluestone floor, his head pressed tightly against the ground.

"Subordinate is here!"

Fanatical faith rolled violently in his chest.

Gu Changsheng's fingertips moved slightly, and the dark golden square Seal fell directly along the chain of Karma.

Bang.

The Seal slammed onto the stone brick in front of Chen Mu, creating a small pit.

The tempting aura of the True Treasure instantly filled the entire bunker.

"Take this Seal and go to the Tianji Mountain Range."

"Find a core node of the earth vein and bury it."

"Set up a sealing Formation that will automatically disintegrate in three days."

Chen Mu held up the dark golden square Seal with both hands.

The heavy treasure light stung his skin.

But he didn't even have a trace of greed, only absolute obedience to the Old Ancestor's scheme.

"Subordinate obeys!"

"I will definitely handle this properly and leave no trace behind."

The blue-gold light dissipated, and the chain of Karma was cut.

Chen Mu stood up and stuffed the dark golden square Seal into his Storage Ring.

He turned his head to look at the Lightning Wood Puppet sitting cross-legged in meditation.

The Purple Mansion Great Perfection aura emanating from the Puppet was still violent.

Chen Mu pinched a Seal with one hand.

Blue-purple vines spread from his left leg, instantly covering his whole body.

The Wither-Prosper Death Qi erupted, dragging his whole person into a state of absolute silence.

Even his heartbeat and blood flow were forcibly frozen.

He turned into a faint shadow and merged directly into the rock wall of the bunker.

The Earth Escape technique, under the cover of Death Qi, did not stir up even a ripple of Spiritual Qi.

Outside the Sect gate of Chengtian Pavilion.

Over thirty obscure Divine Senses intertwined in mid-air.

Scouts from various Sects stared fixedly at the earth-yellow protective Sect Formation.

A Purple Mansion Initial Stage Elder of the Chili Sect sat cross-legged on top of an ancient tree.

His Divine Sense swept back and forth along the edge of the Formation.

The shadow Chen Mu had become swept past the roots of the ancient tree at high speed.

The Death Qi perfectly shielded all perception.

The Elder was completely unaware, still staring at the direction of the Main Peak.

Chen Mu sneered in his heart.

A bunch of idiots.

Did they really think the Old Ancestor's methods could be seen through by ants like them?

He didn't stop, flying and escaping all the way north along the earth vein.

The Tianji Mountain Range spanned the hinterland of the Central Plains.

It was rich in Spiritual Qi and gathered Loose Cultivators, making it the most chaotic and prosperous area in the Central Plains.

The eyes and ears of various forces were intertwined here.

Chen Mu traveled underground for a full two hours.

Finally, he arrived under the Main Peak of the Tianji Mountain Range.

The earth vein here was extremely active, and the Spiritual Qi was so dense it was almost turning into liquid.

From above, the roaring of Spells from Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivators fighting to the death for a Spiritual Plant could be heard from time to time.

Chen Mu traveled through the rock layers, looking for the core node of the Spiritual Vein.

Half an hour later.

He stopped in front of a huge underground karst cave.

In the center of the cave, a milky white Spiritual Spring was spewing out pure Spiritual Qi.

This was it.

Chen Mu broke through the soil and landed on the edge of the Spiritual Spring.

He took the dark golden square Seal out of his Storage Ring.

As soon as the Seal left the suppression of the Storage Ring, the treasure light of the True Treasure embryo was about to soar into the sky.

Chen Mu's left leg exerted force suddenly.

Dozens of blue-black vines shot out, tightly binding the Seal.

The Wither-Prosper Death Qi forcibly pressed the treasure light back into the Seal extremely tyrannically.

He pointed his fingers like a knife, stabbing directly into the rock vein at the bottom of the Spiritual Spring.

The rock shattered, and he dug out a hole several zhang deep.

Chen Mu threw the Seal into the hole.

His hands turned into afterimages, forming Seals rapidly.

Wisps of Death Qi turned into Formation patterns, striking into the surrounding rock walls.

This was an extremely crude, yet extremely precise, timed Seal.

The Death Qi would slowly erode the Foundation of the Formation patterns.

Three days later, the Formation patterns would completely collapse.

The aura of the Seal would no longer be concealed.

Chen Mu filled in the hole and completely erased the surrounding traces.

Even a single broken stone was restored to its original state.

After confirming there were no loopholes.

He turned into a shadow again and retreated rapidly along the original path.

The sky was slightly bright.

Chen Mu sneaked back into the underground bunker of Chengtian Pavilion silently.

The Lightning Wood Puppet was still emanating a violent aura.

Chen Mu sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to polish his Meridians.

Three days.

For a Cultivator, it was nothing more than a snap of the fingers.

But for the scouts lurking outside the Luoyan Mountain Range, it was extremely long.

The situation in the Central Plains was tense to the extreme.

The protective Sect Formation of Chengtian Pavilion remained impregnable.

The roar of fake Hou Chen, "I will not leave closed-door cultivation until I prove the Golden Core," still echoed in the ears of the higher-ups of the various Sects.

Inside the Burning Incense Grotto-Heaven of the Chili Sect.

Old Monster Chili dragged his heavily injured Dharma Image, staring fixedly at the direction of the Luoyan Mountain Range.

He would never allow the Central Plains to have another Golden Core to split the Luck of the fruit position.

Deep within the Sword Pavilion, that peerless fierce sword was also emitting uneasy sword hums.

Everyone thought that Hou Chen might trigger the Golden Core Lightning Tribulation at any time.

The killing intent of the old monsters had accumulated to a critical point.

As soon as the Lightning Tribulation appeared, they would spare no effort to strike and completely erase that fat man.

Noon on the third day.

The scorching sun was in the sky.

The air in the Central Plains was suffocatingly heavy.

Outside Chengtian Pavilion, several scouts were gathered together, talking in low voices.

"It's been so many days, why is there no movement at all?"

"What's the rush? Breaking through to the Golden Core isn't that fast. Keep a close watch; the True Lord has ordered that we must not miss even the slightest anomaly."

Before the words fell.

Rumble.

An extremely muffled roar exploded suddenly from the distant north.

The earth shook violently.

The scouts outside Chengtian Pavilion were caught off guard and staggered.

"What's going on? Did the Foundation of Chengtian Pavilion collapse?"

"No! The sound didn't come from here!"

Everyone turned their heads in unison, looking to the north.

In the direction of the Tianji Mountain Range.

The originally clear sky there was now completely boiling.

An extremely thick golden pillar of light tore through the heavy clouds without warning.

It shot straight into the nine heavens.

The pillar of light was mixed with ten-colored hazy aura.

An aura that belonged exclusively to a "True Treasure"—heavy, tempting, and extremely domineering.

With the Tianji Mountain Range as the center, it turned into tangible Law ripples, instantly sweeping across the entire Central Plains.

This aura was extremely pure.

It was not tainted by any Cultivator's personal mark.

This was a supreme divine object nurtured by heaven and earth, about to be born!