230: The beauty is gone

Whoosh—

A figure, enveloped in a five-colored escape light, appeared above Yuanlian Island, the strong winds brushing his face.

"Yuanlian Island… I haven't been back in a few hundred years, but it hasn't changed much."

Gu Changsheng's form merged with the Formation, passing through it with incredible smoothness.

Inside Yuan Lian Hall.

An old man with white hair and beard was slumped in the main seat, dozing off. His complexion was ruddy, and his spine faintly emitted a Zhan blue Spiritual Qi, transforming into a Dragon shadow. His magic power was incredibly pure, and his cultivation had already reached the Peak True Core Realm.

It was Fang Yu.

"Youngster Fang… I trust you've been well."

A deep voice suddenly echoed in the hall, and a Young Master in green robes appeared.

Fang Yu jolted awake and looked forward. Though he hadn't seen this person for several hundred years, his voice and appearance were deeply etched in his mind.

"Revered Master… you… you're back… Your unworthy disciple, Fang Yu, greets Revered Master."

Fang Yu quickly rose and bowed deeply.

"Heh heh.

Your Heavenly Saint Technique is quite pure, youngster. If you were in Shu Mountain, you'd have at least a thirty percent chance of achieving a Breakthrough to the Profound Cave Realm."

Gu Changsheng smiled faintly, and a wisp of magic power shot out, immediately helping Fang Yu to his feet.

Suddenly, he frowned: "Hmm? Where are Xiao Qian and Hu Niang? Why aren't they on the island?"

Upon hearing this, Fang Yu's face was filled with shame: "Grandma Nie… her Lifespan was nearing its end a cycle ago, and she forcefully attempted a Breakthrough to the Profound Cave Realm, but unfortunately failed… and passed away…"

"Failed… passed away…" Gu Changsheng's eyes widened, and he fell into a daze, Nie Xiaoqian's voice and appearance flashing through his mind like a revolving lantern.

Lanruo Temple… Willow Tree Demon… the beautiful female ghost… all the past events shattered like bubbles.

The Great Shang's resources were scarce. The Great Shang Dynasty's thousand-year Legacy had only produced one Cave Profound Ancestors.

Even someone as exceptionally talented as Duke Zhang Liang of the The Way of Peace had to resort to numerous schemes to achieve a Breakthrough to the Profound Cave Realm, even integrating his Divine Soul into a Heretical Golem, which damaged his sanity.

It was truly difficult for a ghost Cultivator to achieve a Breakthrough.

The ghost tide that erupted in the Great Shang previously had no shortage of Profound Cave Ghost Kings, which was caused by the Yellow Springs Great Emperor's lingering dao karma.

Normally, the birth of a Profound Cave Cultivator was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.

"Did the Marriage Robe Technique I taught her back then not help her achieve a Breakthrough to the Profound Cave Realm either…"

Gu Changsheng's face showed sadness.

"What about Hu Niang then?"

The little fox possessed the Qingqiu Bloodline and had a long Lifespan. Several hundred years should not have been enough for her to pass away.

"Mother Hu… a few years ago, her Bloodline encountered a bottleneck, so she went to the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains to seek an Opportunity.

She has not returned to Yuanlian Island since."

"I see…"

Gu Changsheng nodded slightly and said, "Take me to Xiao Qian's grave."

The five qi gathering tree was lush and verdant. Its canopy, having grown for several hundred years, seemed capable of covering the entire world, far surpassing the one at the Five Viscera Temple back then.

In front of the tree hollow, a wisp of red silk fluttered on a low tombstone, swaying in the wind, like a graceful figure.

"According to Grandma's dying wishes, her ashes were placed here after she passed away.

She said… this was where you, Revered Master, used to spend a lot of time.

Here, there is your Qi.

She… passed away peacefully…"

Fang Yu said with a melancholic expression.

Gu Changsheng stood silently for a long time. He walked to the grave and saw 'My only love in this life, Nie Xiaoqian' engraved on the tombstone.

He felt a wave of melancholy rise in his heart.

Time is the killer of all living things, except for him, Gu Changsheng.

"There is a saying of Reincarnation in the Underworld. If there is a next life, Gu is willing to walk with you through it…"

Gu Changsheng closed his eyes and said silently in his heart.

A moment later, he came back to his senses, his expression returning to normal: "Fang Yu, you have managed Yuanlian Island very well these days.

Your Revered Master is very pleased.

I bestow this upon you."

Gu Changsheng threw out a golden pill, and then his body gradually faded and disappeared.

"This is…"

Fang Yu trembled as he caught it. He saw nine holes on the golden pill, and wisps of Zhan blue Spiritual Qi emerged from it. It was the Nine Revolutions Golden Pill he had longed for.

He looked up, but Gu Changsheng's shadow was nowhere to be seen.

"Thank you, Revered Master."

Two lines of turbid tears flowed down Fang Yu's face, and he trembled as he bowed towards the direction where Gu Changsheng had just been… The wilderness.

A dark, writhing field, like a black python, danced wildly.

Birds flying past were all drawn into it and quickly digested.

"This is the place…"

A hint of purple flashed in Gu Changsheng's eyes.

He saw numerous silver chains floating in the Void Realm, sealing off the entire area.

The originally pitch-black demon Meat Field gradually revealed a gigantic black stone illusion.

As if sensing Gu Changsheng's gaze, the black stone eerily split open, resembling a single eye.

Its aura was hidden, reaching the Peak Profound Cave stage.

"Silver chain Formation…"

Gu Changsheng frowned slightly.

The intricacy of the Formation before him was no less than that of the Boundary-Breaking Formation Plate back then.

It was left by a Yang Spirit, or even someone above the Yang Spirit Realm… "Back then, my cultivation was weak, and I couldn't discern the true form of this demon Meat Field.

Now, it truly seems I had a close call."

Gu Changsheng sighed with emotion.

A wisp of five-colored light appeared at his fingertip, merging into the Void Realm. Immediately, the Void Realm trembled, and countless silver chains emerged, vibrating wildly.

Visibly, the silver chains melted little by little like candles, dripping onto the ground.

A Formation, like a machine, the more intricate it is, the easier it is to destroy… In a few breaths, the silver chains appearing in the Void Realm all dissipated. The demon Meat Field churned continuously, with bubbles gurgling in the center, and a giant stone emerged from within.

Suddenly, the giant stone sharply split open, and a pitch-black, serrated long tongue shot out, aiming directly for Gu Changsheng's face.

"Well, well… planning to eat me as soon as I arrive, are we…"

Gu Changsheng smiled faintly, easily evading it with a shift of his body.

Just now, when dissolving the Formation, he had deliberately preserved a part of it to weaken the power of the black stone before him.

In fact… he could even use the Formation in reverse!

He formed a hand seal, and the silver droplets on the ground gradually converged, forming a gigantic silver sword that slashed down fiercely.

Clang—

The black tongue was severed at its base, writhing in the Meat Field, and the black stone's aura noticeably diminished.

He who tied the bell must untie it.

The power of the silver chains before him was incredibly sharp against the black stone demon.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the black stone became mottled and peeled away bit by bit, revealing its pure, jade-like core.

A special aura permeated the air.

"What a marvelous stone…"

Gu Changsheng's right palm glowed green, and magic power surged in the Void Realm, converging into a giant hand that descended sharply, seizing the jade-like stone into his palm.

"Is it the painan stone… I'll just try it…"

Gu Changsheng closed his eyes, secretly activating his magic power to induce the Heavenly Tribulation. To his astonishment, he found that the vast aura of the Heavenly Tribulation in the Void Realm immediately diminished.

"Indeed…"

"This stone is truly a fragment of the Myriad Spirits Old Ancestor's true body… So, the so-called Black Mountain Demon is a new consciousness born from his remnant body?"

"Then the memories I saw when I was drawing back then were the past experiences of the Myriad Spirits Old Ancestor…"

Gu Changsheng's eyes narrowed.

In those memories, there was an Immortal with long eyebrows who descended and suppressed this stone.

Originally, he thought it was a Yang Spirit Realm Cultivator from somewhere, but perhaps this person came from the Upper Realm.

After all, the Myriad Spirits Old Ancestor was a Yang Spirit Realm mighty figure who had undergone eight Heavenly Tribulations.

Only a True Immortal from the Upper Realm would have a chance to easily suppress him.

The words of Holy Ancestor Jialan involuntarily came to his mind.

"Once you achieve a Breakthrough to the Yang Spirit Realm, you will naturally stand with him…"

"She is the Holy Ancestor of the Saint Race, with an immense Lifespan, yet she has not Undergone Tribulation to achieve Immortal Ascension and Ascend to the Upper Realm. Is there a special hidden reason…"

He recalled the memory of the Myriad Spirits Old Ancestor being suppressed.

Everything can only be known after achieving a Breakthrough to the Yang Spirit Realm.