220: An era without saints?! (19)

Gu Yun went into secluded cultivation, and the stone door fell.

This seclusion lasted for twenty winters and summers.

For a Cultivator with a long Lifespan, twenty years was but the snap of a finger.

But for the Five Domains, these twenty years were long and bloody.

On the second day after Gu Yun entered seclusion, Gu Family Patriarch Gu Tianxing issued that famous "Sixteen-Character Command".

"Disperse to fight, sustain war with war, cut off the enemy's support, and exhaust and harass the enemy."

A cruel war began.

...

The third year of the war.

Eastern Domain, Sunset Mine.

This was an important Spirit Stone production site for the Wang Family, heavily guarded.

A seven-man Gu Family squad silently snuck onto the mine.

No nonsense, no declaration of war.

Only precise and deadly harvesting.

When the first ray of dawn illuminated the mine, the three hundred Wang Family elites stationed here were all dead.

The mine tunnels were blown up, and tens of thousands of catties of Spirit Stones were looted.

On the wall, only a line of bloody characters remained:

"Those who offend the Gu Family, though far away, will be executed."

This scene was constantly played out across the Five Domains.

A Medicinal Pill workshop of the Ji Family was burned down.

A stronghold of the "Human World" organization was uprooted.

The Gu Family no longer sought direct confrontation on the battlefield but turned into countless sharp knives hidden in the dark, cutting the enemy's arteries one by one.

...

The eighth year of the war.

Southern Desert, a primitive jungle full of miasma.

An encounter occurred here.

A Grotto-Heaven Realm Elder of the Wang Family, with two Peak Guiyi Realm retainers, intercepted a Gu Family squad.

"Running? Let's see where you can run!"

The Wang Family Elder's face was ferocious, Spiritual Qi surging around him, shattering the surrounding ancient trees.

At the very front of that Gu Family squad stood a young man.

He was tall, bare-chested, and his bronze skin was covered in crisscrossing scars.

He carried a heavy sword with a broken tip on his back, his aura steady.

This year, Gu Zhan was sixty-eight years old.

His cultivation was only at the Late Stage of the Guiyi Realm.

In the eyes of the Wang Family Elder, this Realm was like an ant that could be crushed at will.

"A piece of trash in the Guiyi Realm dares to block this old man's path?"

The Wang Family Elder sneered and raised his hand, unleashing a palm strike.

The palm wind whistled, turning into a giant hand of Spiritual Qi, slamming down fiercely.

"Guiyi Realm?"

Gu Zhan smiled mockingly.

"To kill you, that is enough."

Boom!

Inside Gu Zhan's body, a gray flow of Chaos Qi suddenly erupted.

...

The Wang Family Elder's Protective Aura shattered upon impact, and his chest was pierced directly.

"Next."

In this battle, Gu Zhan defeated a Grotto-Heaven Realm powerhouse while in the Guiyi Realm, becoming famous in the Southern Desert.

The world knew that the Gu Family had produced a monster that could not be measured by common sense.

People called him — "The Madman Gu".

...

The fifteenth year of the war.

The war situation fell into a suffocating stalemate.

The Gu Family's "Sixteen-Character Strategy" had significant effects, and the resource lines of the Ji and Wang families were almost cut in half.

But the Gu Family also paid a heavy price, with countless clansmen dead or injured.

Inside a restaurant in the Central Province.

Several Loose Cultivators gathered together, discussing in low voices.

"Have you heard? The Spiritual Qi concentration in the Western Desert has dropped by another ten percent."

"How could I not have heard? It's not just the Western Desert; even the quality of Spirit Stones produced by the main Spiritual Veins in the Central Province is declining."

An old Cultivator sighed, his eyes full of worry.

"Now everyone outside is saying that this world... is really coming to an end."

"The Dharma-Ending Age!"

"The Heavenly Dao has collapsed, and the road to becoming a Saint is cut off. This is an era where it is destined to be impossible to become a Saint, and even Venerables are hard to produce."

"Since there is no hope, why are the Ji Family and Wang Family still fighting so desperately?"

"Is it worth it to fight until their foundations are empty just to argue over a breath?"

Such remarks spread rapidly across the Five Domains like a plague.

Behind this, there was naturally the shadow of the Gu Family fanning the flames.

Gu Tianxing used this "psychological warfare" strategy to infinitely amplify the despair of the "Dharma-Ending Age".

The morale of the Alliance was in Chaos.

Those small forces that originally attached themselves to the Ji and Wang families began to retreat.

In this era where it is destined to be impossible to achieve the Dao, preserving strength and surviving is the way to live.

Why should they be cannon fodder for others' grudges?

They did the bare minimum, complied in public but opposed in private, and even secretly communicated with the Gu Family.

The so-called "Anti-Gu Alliance" existed in name only.

However.

The collapse of this situation instead stimulated the upper echelons of the Ji and Wang families.

They knew better than anyone that there was no way back.

...

The twentieth year of the war.

Gu Family Ancestral Land.

On this day, the sky turned ink-black.

A terrifying pressure crushed down from three directions.

The Gu Family's defensive Formation creaked under the unbearable weight.

"Gu Family brat, get out here!"

A roar shattered the clouds for ten thousand miles.

Three figures exuding decaying yet extremely powerful auras appeared above the Gu Family.

These were the foundations awakened by the Ji Family, the Wang Family, and the "Human World" organization.

Three Ancient Ancestors of the Saint Realm who had sealed themselves in Divine Sources and lingered on until now!

For this battle, they did not hesitate to exhaust their final Lifespan, sublimating to the extreme, and walked out of the Divine Sources.

This was the final all-out attack.

Succeed or die.

"Activate all Formations! Meet the enemy!"

Gu Tianxing was covered in blood, holding the Patriarch's seal, standing at the eye of the Formation.

Behind him were Gu Zhan and all the remaining Elders and Disciples of the Gu Family.

Everyone had resolved themselves to die.

Boom!

The great war broke out.

Three Saint Realm powerhouses attacked simultaneously.

The Gu Family's defensive Formation only lasted for thirty breaths.

Crack.

Gu Tianxing suffered a backlash, spewing a mouthful of blood, his entire person withering away.

Dozens of Elders maintaining the Formation had their Physical Bodies shattered on the spot.

"We can't stop them..."

Someone muttered in despair.

In this Dharma-Ending Age, the combined strength of three Saint Realm powerhouses was synonymous with invincibility.

"Gu Family brat, hand over Gu Yun!"

"Otherwise, today, not even a chicken or dog will be left alive!"

The Wang Family Ancient Ancestor held a Saint-Grade sword with a chipped corner and slashed down fiercely once more.

It seemed the Gu Family's tens of thousands of years of foundation were about to be destroyed in one fell swoop.

A figure stood in front of everyone.

It was Gu Zhan.

He held that broken sword, facing the high-and-mighty Saint without the slightest retreat.

"Want to touch the Master."

"Kill me first."

A flash of contempt crossed the eyes of the Wang Family Ancient Ancestor.

"Just an ant who hasn't even reached the Grotto-Heaven Realm."

He pointed a finger casually.

The Law of the Saint Dao condensed, turning into a beam of light that shot straight at Gu Zhan's brow.

Just at this critical moment.

Deep in the Gu Family's Forbidden Ground.

In that Small World of Chaos.

A light sigh came.

"Sigh."

This sigh was very light.

Yet it rang clearly in everyone's ears, even drowning out the thunder across the sky.

The next moment.

A hand.

A large hand covered in calluses, looking completely ordinary, slowly reached out from the Gu Family's Forbidden Ground.

It grew as it met the wind.

Instantly obscuring the sun and replacing the sky.

On that palm, there was no fluctuation of Spiritual Qi, only a sense of vicissitudes and weight that seemed to have been baptized by countless epochs.

That was the invincible will after walking out of the Ancient Starry Road.

"Get lost."

Two words.

That giant hand covering the sky gently swiped at the three Saint Realm Ancient Ancestors in the air.

Like shooing away flies.

Slap!

The Saint Dao beam of light shooting towards Gu Zhan shattered instantly.

Immediately after.

The three high-and-mighty Saint Realm Ancient Ancestors were slapped directly out of the Gu Family's territory.

The Saint-Grade sword in the Wang Family Ancient Ancestor's hand even broke into two pieces on the spot.

"Pfft—"

Blood sprinkled the long sky.

Everyone present was stunned.

One slap.

Slapped away three Saints.

What kind of power is this?

What kind of Realm is this?

"This... this is impossible..."

A thousand miles away, the Wang Family Ancient Ancestor, who had barely stabilized his figure, was disheveled and full of terror.

He could feel that the opponent hadn't even used their full strength.

"A Two-Lotus Saint... or even stronger."

"The Gu Family... actually has such a level of old monster still alive..."

Deep in the Gu Family's Forbidden Ground, that old voice sounded again.

"Considering your cultivation was not easy, I will spare your lives."

"Now, get over here and sign the letter of surrender."

The voice was domineering and unquestionable.

On this day.

The leaders of the Ji Family, the Wang Family, and the "Human World" organization knelt outside the Gu Family's mountain gate.

They signed an extremely humiliating treaty.

Ceding resource points, paying huge amounts of Spirit Stones, and making public apologies.

The Gu Family, stepping on the faces of the three immortal forces, ascended to the throne of the hegemon of the Five Domains at the end of this Dharma-Ending Age.

The war subsided.

The Gu Family was jubilant.

People rebuilt their homes on the ruins, their eyes full of the joy of surviving a catastrophe.

However, everyone's gaze would unconsciously look in the same direction.

Cloud Top Heavenly Palace.

That was the Gu Family's Forbidden Ground, and also where the Gu Family's hope lay.

Because everyone knew.

This twenty-year-long war was merely a prelude for that person's emergence.

That person was the true soul of the Gu Family.

Deepest part of the Cloud Top Heavenly Palace.

That heavy stone door, engraved with Saint-Grade Formation patterns and sealed for twenty full years.

It was covered in a thick layer of dust.

Outside the door, Gu Zhan sat cross-legged.

He placed that broken sword across his knees like a statue.

Loyally guarding his Master's door.

Suddenly.

Gu Zhan's slightly closed eyes suddenly opened.

Crack.

An extremely subtle yet incomparably clear cracking sound rang out in the silent Heavenly Palace.

Immediately after.

The dust on the stone door fell down rustling.

A tiny crack appeared between the two stone doors.

An aura that had been suppressed for twenty years and settled for twenty years.

Slowly overflowed along that crack.

Gu Zhan quickly stood up and tidied his somewhat worn robes.

Then, towards the stone door that was slowly opening.

He knelt on one knee.

Deeply lowered his head.

"Respectfully welcoming Master, out of seclusion."