244: An era without saints!? (Forty-three)

At this moment, the supreme divine ability seed that had been nurtured in Gu Yun's Sea of Consciousness for decades finally reached full maturity.

Like a flower bud that had waited for eternity, it slowly bloomed within Gu Yun's collapsing Divine Soul.

Endless profound runes gushed out from it, turning into a vast torrent of information that attempted to repair his damaged Divine Soul.

However, this newborn power had not yet had the chance to take effect.

The double killing blow from the outside world descended once again.

The 'Dharma-Ending Cage' formed by the 'Tribulation of Withering' suddenly contracted, as gray chains condensed from the Law of Decay tightened ruthlessly around Gu Yun's Dao Fruit.

The devouring will formed by the 'Wrath of the Heavenly Ruins' transformed into countless pitch-black 'Law Needles,' piercing into his Divine Soul and frantically draining his Origin and life force.

Attacked from both inside and out.

Gu Yun's Venerable Dao Fruit let out an overwhelmed wail; cracks spread rapidly across it, bringing it to the brink of total shattering.

His Divine Soul and Physical Body moved toward decay together.

The true killing move, however, came for his Dao Heart.

A supreme will descended upon his Divine Soul world.

That will evolved into layers of illusions, intending to completely crush his Dao Heart.

Gu Yun's consciousness instantly fell into a blood-colored Chaos.

The first layer of illusion unfolded with a roar.

He 'saw' a vast 'recipe' that spanned across countless eras.

One brilliant possessor of a special Physique after another flashed before his eyes.

Some possessed the God King Physique, reigning supreme within the star rivers.

Some were born with sacred bone, capable of triggering the resonance of the Great Dao.

They had all shone in their own eras, being the most dazzling existences of their times.

However, the final outcome was surprisingly consistent.

At their most brilliant, Peak moments, they were all 'preyed upon.'

All their unwillingness, roars, and despair were meaningless.

They were merely 'medicinal ingredients' used by the Heavenly Dao to repair itself.

This cruel truth caused Gu Yun's Divine Soul to tremble violently.

But before he could even feel anger, the second strike followed closely behind.

This time, the illusion was no longer grand history, but his own most cherished and unforgettable past.

In a dilapidated small courtyard.

The girl called Sister Yu closed her eyes forever in his arms, her body gradually turning cold.

A cold 'narration' echoed in his ears.

“The necessary Karma to stimulate a heart for cultivation.”

The scene shifted.

On the Fifth Ancient Star, the youth named You Chen burned himself to fulfill Gu Yun's path, passing away with a smile.

The narration sounded again.

“The ‘predestined tribulation’ to temper the Dao Heart.”

Falling Star Mystic Realm, Soul Burial Abyss.

The man named Gu Zhan used his own flesh and blood to block a fatal blow for him, his body disintegrating.

Quan Batian, Li Fentian, Old Mo, Su Yueyao, Princess Taiping... scene after scene, event after event.

All his love, hatred, sacrifices, and protections were, in the eyes of the Heavenly Dao, nothing more than cold tools to maintain the operation of its rules.

They were variables that could be calculated and discarded at will.

The so-called 'Heavenly Dao is heartless' was not a high-and-mighty indifference.

This realization severely wounded Gu Yun's Dao Heart.

But the illusion was telling him that everything he protected, the Foundation he fought for, was itself a joke.

A script pre-arranged by the Heavenly Dao.

“No...”

“It’s fake...”

“Haha... If it is heaven's will, then why change it!”

Gu Yun's Divine Soul was howling, but the illusion was so real—real enough that he could feel the coldness of Sister Yu's body and see You Chen's final smile before dissipating.

Crack.

A soft sound.

For the first time, a crack appeared in his invincible Dao Heart.

Then came the second, the third... the cracks spread rapidly.

He began to doubt himself, to doubt everything from his past.

His will wavered, and his beliefs collapsed.

His Dao Heart was about to shatter completely.

Just then.

At Gu Yun's chest, the long-dormant Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart burst forth with light.

The light penetrated his Physical Body and illuminated his Divine Soul world.

It beat frantically, and with every beat, it seemed to let out a silent shout.

“When lost in confusion, you might as well ask your heart.”

“The heart will not deceive you.”

Buzz!

Ignited by the power of the Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart, Gu Yun's Minds Eye was forcibly activated.

His 'Divine Soul vision' underwent a strange transformation.

In that instant, his vision seemed to overlap.

One layer was the desperate scene of energy collapsing and the Dao Fruit shattering in reality.

The other layer was the cold 'rules' composed of countless runes, operating heartlessly.

At the moment those two layers of vision overlapped, deep within Gu Yun's Minds Eye, an imperceptible phantom flashed by, as if another deeper pupil was reflected within his own.

This change allowed him to see through the falsehoods.

He looked again at those illusions, those cold 'markers.'

Sister Yu's sacrifice was real.

You Chen's fulfillment was real.

His father Quan Batian's protection was real.

Their meaning was defined by him, Gu Yun, and not by the high-and-mighty Heavenly Dao!

“Haha... Hahahaha!”

In the Divine Soul world, Gu Yun let out a sorrowful and crazed laugh.

That laughter was no longer despair, but the fury of having seen through everything.

His Dao Heart stopped shattering.

From those hideous cracks, instead of a white light of repair, black flames ignited.

At this moment, his Dao Heart became firmer and purer than ever before!

“My Dao is invincible; I desire to strike down all enemies in the world.”

“If Heaven obstructs my path, I shall strike it down as well!”

This was the 'Intention to Punish Heaven'!

This unprecedented will, like a thunderclap, completely detonated the already mature supreme divine ability seed in his Sea of Consciousness.

The seed disintegrated entirely, turning into billions of profound runes.

They fused perfectly with the newborn 'Intention to Punish Heaven,' finally reassembling within his Divine Soul Origin into an invisible and intangible 'Conceptual Sword.'

Gu Yun gave a name to this strongest Divine Ability he had created in his desperate straits.

“Punish Heaven.”

In the real world.

At the very last moment before Gu Yun's Venerable Dao Fruit was about to shatter completely.

Gu Yun woke up.

He swung the first sword of 'Punish Heaven,' slashing toward the 'Dharma-Ending Cage' and 'Law Needles' that bound his Dao Fruit.

Crack!

The sound of shattering rang out.

That seemingly inescapable double killing blow, those cold and heartless Heavenly Dao rules, were actually forced open with a gap by this 'Punish Heaven' sword strike.

The shackles were severed.

The pressure vanished abruptly.

Gu Yun's crack-covered Venerable Dao Fruit stopped collapsing.

The newborn 'Intention to Punish Heaven' merged into it, repairing the cracks one by one and branding it with his own unique, invincible Dao marks.

Boom!

A pressure far exceeding the God Realm and reigning above the Laws of this world erupted with Gu Yun as the center.

His tightly closed eyes snapped open.

He could feel that the Heavenly Dao's will had not retreated; it was still coldly watching him, this 'variable' that had escaped the script.

Gu Yun slowly raised his hand, pointing his fingers like a sword.

He condensed his newborn Divine Ability, that pure 'Intention to Punish Heaven,' at his fingertips.

Then, facing the eternal dark clouds of the Heavenly Dao Ruins and the cold will watching him from the void.

He gave a light swing.

Punish Heaven!