248: An era without saints?! (Forty-seven)

The war paused briefly.

Gu Yun did not linger too long on the battlefield; instead, he took the Chi and Gu clans and returned directly to the Gu Family territory.

He settled the two clans in a place with abundant spiritual energy.

This was both fulfilling a promise and planting a force of absolutely loyal elite troops for the Gu Family.

After doing all this, he immediately headed to the council hall.

"Father, Elders." Gu Yun refused the Family's arrangement for him to go into seclusion to recuperate, his voice calm yet resolute. "The war is currently at a stalemate, and our Gu Family's defensive line is stretched thin. I must go to the front lines."

He walked to the star map and pointed his finger at the area with the deepest color on the map, representing the most tragic battle condition—Dragon-Severing Cliff.

"That is the Venerable Realm battlefield; it is extremely dangerous," the Grand Elder advised.

"I will go there," Gu Yun said, finalizing the decision.

"Master! I will go with you!" Gu Zhan, who was outside the hall, strode in, his expression anxious.

Gu Yun turned around, looked at this Clan Brother who was loyal to him, and shook his head. "No. Clan Brother, you are currently only at the Heavenly God Realm. On the Venerable Realm battlefield, even those at the Heavenly God Realm do not qualify to be cannon fodder. If you go, you will only be a burden to me."

These words were hurtful, but Gu Zhan's body trembled, unable to refute them. He clenched his fists, yearning for strength even more.

Gu Yun did not look at him again and turned to walk out of the hall.

"Cultivate well and wait for my triumphant return."

...

Time flew by; in the blink of an eye, three years had passed.

Dragon-Severing Cliff, a key node.

Boom!

A defensive grand array shattered with a roar, and a Human Venerable Elder of the Gu Family spat out blood and fell from the sky.

Above him, two figures stood suspended in mid-air, both of whom were Human Venerable external reinforcements invited by the Ji and Wang families.

"Old thing of the Gu Family, this is the end for you," the spear-wielding Venerable sneered, attacking simultaneously with the other person.

Blazing fire and spear light intertwined, forming a lethal blow that sealed off all paths of survival for the Gu Family Elder.

Just at this critical moment.

A sword light, not particularly dazzling, sped from the horizon, carrying the will to sever everything. It did not attack directly but precisely struck the intersection point of the blazing fire and spear light.

Boom!

With a loud bang, that lethal blow was actually severed in the middle, and the violent energy exploded outward to both sides.

"Who?!" The two Human Venerables were shocked and retreated violently.

A figure in white quietly appeared in front of the heavily injured Gu Family Elder.

"Gu Yun? That Pseudo-Venerable?!" The spear-wielding Venerable recognized the newcomer. His eyes showed astonishment first, which then turned into greed and brutality. "Perfect! Killing him will bring even greater merit!"

"Attack together!"

The two ignored the Gu Family Elder and attacked Gu Yun together from the left and right.

Gu Yun's expression was calm as he said to the Elder behind him, who was breathing faintly, "Elder, you should withdraw first."

Before his voice had even faded, he had already taken the initiative to meet them.

The battle erupted instantly.

For a time, sword light and spear shadows, blazing fire and Laws collided crazily within the narrow cliff walls. Gu Yun fought two against one, his figure flickering, his sword techniques simple yet lethal, and he was not at a disadvantage in the slightest.

But those two were, after all, veteran Human Venerables with tacit cooperation, and their offensive was continuous, forcing Gu Yun to temporarily avoid their edge, unable to win in a short time.

"This brat is strange! His combat power far exceeds the scope of a Pseudo-Venerable!" The Blazing Fire Venerable became increasingly alarmed as they fought.

"Don't be afraid! He hasn't condensed a Dao Fruit after all; wear him down to death!" the spear-wielding Venerable roared, his offensive becoming even more fierce.

After dozens more rounds of fierce fighting.

Gu Yun's gaze narrowed. In the gap where the spear light and blazing fire intertwined, he keenly caught an imperceptible flaw in the spear-wielding Venerable.

Now is the time!

Gu Yun stopped defending and, instead of retreating, advanced like a white lightning bolt, forcibly breaking into the range covered by the spear light.

"Punish Heaven."

He pressed his fingers together like a sword, that domineering will to sever everything condensing at his fingertips.

Clang!

With a crisp sound, the spear-wielding Venerable's Life Dao Weapon, which had been refined for a thousand years, was actually flicked away by Gu Yun's bare fingers, the spear body wailing violently.

The spear-wielding Venerable was shocked.

However, Gu Yun's offensive did not stop; his other palm passed through the deflected spear shaft and struck the spear-wielding Venerable's chest.

A terrifying force erupted inside the spear-wielding Venerable. He didn't even have time to let out a scream before his Physical Body, along with his Divine Soul, disintegrated into a bloody mist under this palm.

But this was a lethal blow struck after a long struggle, seizing a flaw.

The Venerable in the distance who controlled the blazing fire, seeing his companion killed, had no more will to fight.

He burned his essence blood and fled wildly into the distance.

Gu Yun withdrew his hand and did not pursue. He stood in the bloody mist, his expression somewhat strange.

Just at the moment he killed that Human Venerable, the "Azure Heaven Indestructible Art" inside his body suddenly spun out of control to its limit.

Hum!

A feeling of extreme desire and greed came from the depths of the Cultivation Technique.

Seeing the Venerable's bloody mist that had not yet dissipated, a "Dao Fruit" flashing with the brilliance of Laws was about to fly away through the air and return to the Heavens and Earth.

A powerful devouring force erupted from within his body.

The Dao Fruit let out a mournful cry; it was forcibly fixed in place, turned into a stream of light, and was forcefully sucked into Gu Yun's body.

The scene before him was domineering and strange.

Gu Yun stood in place, his body trembling slightly. After that Human Venerable Dao Fruit was swallowed, it was instantly crushed by the "Azure Heaven Indestructible Art," turning into the purest Origin energy, all of which surged toward that "Heavenly Dao Seed" in his Dantian.

Receiving the infusion of this massive energy, that seed, which had been silent for so long, began to tremble wildly, its skin starting to become plump and crystalline.

Gu Yun slowly opened his eyes, touched the center of his eyebrows, and a strong sense of wariness rose in his heart.

"This Cultivation Technique... is actively 'feeding'."

But at the same time, the increasingly solid "Heavenly Dao Seed" in his Dantian made him feel an unprecedented power. He had an intuition that as long as he swallowed one more Human Venerable's Dao Fruit, this "Heavenly Dao Seed" would be able to fully mature.

This huge temptation, along with his wariness of the Cultivation Technique, formed a violent tug-of-war in his heart.

After a long time, Gu Yun made up his mind, his eyes becoming fierce.

"Since I am riding a tiger and cannot get off, I will ride it to the end."

...

Several more years passed.

After the battle at Dragon-Severing Cliff, Gu Yun's fierce reputation spread far and wide. The enemy Venerables turned pale at the mention of him, regarding him as a "Demonic Star." Wherever Gu Yun appeared, they would flee at the sight of the wind, not daring to fight him at all.

This resulted in Gu Yun being unable to hunt for a second Dao Fruit.

"Hiding?" At a desolate mountain peak, Gu Yun looked at the empty battlefield and sneered. "Since you won't come out, I will invite you into the trap."

Three months later.

A piece of "top-secret intelligence," personally designed by Gu Yun and deliberately leaked through an enemy spy he had turned, reached the ears of a Human Venerable Old Ancestor of the Wang Family.

"Gu Yun had a mishap in his cultivation, suffered a backlash from his Cultivation Technique, is critically injured and dying, and is hiding in a secret place to heal?"

Although the Wang Family Old Ancestor was suspicious by nature, he sent people to test it several times and found that Gu Yun's aura was indeed chaotic, and he had set up heavy defensive arrays outside that secret place, looking as if he were facing a great enemy.

"A god-given opportunity!"

The Wang Family Old Ancestor's greed flared up.

At night, he quietly sneaked into that secret place.

However, the moment he stepped into the core of the grand array, Gu Yun, who had previously had a withered aura, suddenly opened his eyes. Those eyes had no signs of weakness, but were instead filled with cold killing intent.

"I have been waiting for you for a long time."

"Not good! It's a trap!" The Wang Family Old Ancestor turned and fled.

Boom!

The surrounding grand array started instantly, but it was not a defensive array; it was a lethal trapping array.

"Since you have come, stay and be my resources."

Gu Yun stood up and directly activated the "Azure Heaven Indestructible Art."

This was a hunt where the prepared calculated against the unprepared, but the process was exceptionally tragic. This Wang Family Human Venerable was clearly also a veteran of many battles; in a desperate situation, he erupted with astonishing combat power, nearly breaking the array several times, and even leaving several wounds on Gu Yun that were deep enough to see the bone.

Half an incense stick of time later.

Gu Yun paid a considerable price, covered in blood, before finally killing this Human Venerable and shattering his Physical Body with a punch.

The moment the Dao Fruit exuding the aura of a Human Venerable appeared, it was swallowed by Gu Yun, who had been prepared for a long time.

Rumble!

The energy of the two Venerable Dao Fruits superimposed, finally breaking through the final critical point. Inside Gu Yun's Dantian, that "Heavenly Dao Seed" emitted a crisp cracking sound.

The outer shell fell off.

A Life Dao Fruit, entirely purple-gold, wreathed in Primordial Qi, and engraved with countless fine "Punish Heaven" Dao patterns, slowly emerged.

primordial dao fruit!

At this moment, the sky was covered with dark clouds, and thunder rolled.

A vast pressure that truly belonged to a Venerable swept in all directions, with Gu Yun as the center.

He was no longer a Pseudo-Venerable; he had truly stepped into the Venerable Realm.

Gu Yun felt the power inside his body that was enough to destroy the Heavens and exterminate the Earth, and he roared at the sky, the sound of his roar scattering the thunderclouds on the horizon.

"From today on."

"I, Gu Yun, am called the Grandmist Venerable!"