The Great War Finally Ends, the Foundation Shocks the Beyond and Leaves It Deeply Uneasy
The Great War Finally Ends, the Foundation Shocks the Beyond and Leaves It Deeply Uneasy
With the death of Purple Mansion’s Great Elder, the remaining Purple Mansion cultivators, in utter despair, chose to submit one after another.
The great war that had shaken every Dao lineage finally drew to a close.
Within a radius of a million miles, stars were shattered and the firmament lay broken.
One could even see the rules of the Heavenly Path manifesting, with scenes of gods, demons, immortals, and Buddhas weeping in grief.
They mourned for the True Daoists and the countless living beings who had perished in this great war.
Bloody rain drifted down from the sky, corpses lay strewn across the ground, and the miserable sight made one’s heart palpitate.
Some of the more timid cultivators, watching from afar, turned pale, their stomachs churning and legs going soft, nearly unable to stand.
Devastation as far as the eye could see!
The number of cultivators and living beings who died in this battle was simply beyond counting.
Even Sacred Realm existences could not necessarily preserve their lives in a war of this scale; they might perish from the mere aftershocks of clashes between Sacred Emperor Realm beings.
Purple Mansion alone lost several Sacred King Realm existences.
The three Sacred Emperor Realm beings, once they realized at the end that the situation could not be reversed, also chose to submit in despair, all their former confidence and bravado gone.
Who could have imagined that this suddenly appearing Ancestor of the Gu Family would possess strength so terrifyingly overwhelming?
Even someone as powerful as the Great Elder was slain by a single palm strike.
For the people of Purple Mansion, this was undoubtedly the heaviest blow imaginable.
It was foreseeable that from this day forth, Purple Mansion would be erased from the world.
It had, after all, been an immortal great sect that stood unshaken through the ages, yet in the blink of an eye it turned to ash, annihilated in the long river of history.
This left the many cultivators and Dao lineages who witnessed the scene sighing with emotion, even feeling a trace of “when the rabbit dies, the fox grieves.”
But soon enough, remembering that Purple Mansion had brought this upon itself, they felt much more at ease.
Colluding with the Successor of Demonic Arts, making an enemy of the entire world—this was the consequence.
“The foundation of the Longevity Gu Family absolutely exceeds imagination. Just the strength of this Gu Family Ancestor alone is enough to sweep through the foundations of countless Cults of Immortality...”
Some sect masters of great sects, using the Heaven Peering Eye, had watched the entire battle from beginning to end in distant lands, and now their words were filled with emotion.
“Speaking of which, back when Purple Mansion insisted on colluding with the Successor of Demonic Arts and opposing the various Dao lineages, they should have foreseen this outcome...”
An old man nodded, sighing deeply.
Of course, he did not feel Purple Mansion was pitiable. It was the same old saying—if they had known this day would come, why did they do it in the first place?
In this world, anyone who became even slightly entangled with the Successor of Demonic Arts would never meet a good end.
“Young Master, how should we deal with these remaining Purple Mansion disciples?”
Hei Yanyu’s figure appeared beside Gu Changge as she asked respectfully.
Gu Changge narrowed his eyes and said, “Those who submit shall live. Those who refuse shall die.”
Purple Mansion’s elite disciples, kept as the final embers of the sect, had been brought to this place, meant to be led away by sect elders after the battle ended, to find some place to rise again.
But unexpectedly, because Gu Changge had detected this in advance and dispatched the Sacred King Realm experts of the Celestial Ancient Races to hunt them down, they were now nearly all dead.
At this moment, they naturally heard Gu Changge’s words as well.
Some were furious, their eyes filled with defiance and hatred.
But before they could even curse aloud, Hei Yanyu noticed them. With a wave of her jade hand, a palm imprint descended across the sky, instantly slapping them to death.
“Did you not understand what the Young Master said?”
Her face was filled with coldness as her gaze slowly swept over everyone.
The terrifying pressure was enough to make one’s very soul tremble.
With this precedent before them, the remaining Purple Mansion members, no matter how unwilling, could only bury their feelings deep in their hearts, not daring to show the slightest anger or hatred on their faces, silent as cicadas in winter.
The many elders’ expressions were full of bitterness and helplessness. Who could have imagined that the mighty Cult of Immortality, Purple Mansion, would one day come to this?
The three Sacred Emperor Realm beings remained silent. Facing this scene, they dared not act rashly.
The tricks of fate?
No—if anything, they had courted their own destruction.
Many people secretly resented Heavenly Monarch Ziyang as well. All of this, in the end, had been brought about by him.
But even more people understood clearly that this was merely an excuse for Gu Changge to move against Purple Mansion; it actually had little to do with Heavenly Monarch Ziyang. As the saying goes, when one wishes to condemn someone, one never lacks a pretext.
“Young Master, how should these who submitted be dealt with?”
Soon, Hei Yanyu returned from patrolling the area with the Celestial Ancient Races’ people. Seeing that no one dared resist, she asked respectfully again.
“From this day forth, seal their cultivation. They shall mine for my Gu Family for a hundred years. After a hundred years, we shall decide further.”
Gu Changge instructed casually, deciding the fate of Purple Mansion’s people in short order.
The faces of Purple Mansion’s people changed drastically, paling faintly. Their cultivation sealed, mining for a hundred years?
This could not be called a heavy punishment, but for those who had once stood high above all others, it was no different from being cast down from the clouds into the mortal dust, becoming little more than mine slaves.
“Do any of you have objections?”
Hei Yanyu swept a cold gaze over them.
Purple Mansion’s people gritted their teeth in humiliation. At this point, would they dare object? Compared to losing their lives, mining for a hundred years was already the height of mercy.
Afterward, from the many Ancient Battleships behind Purple Mansion’s forces, Gu Changge scavenged quite a few treasures—divine weapons, Heavenly Herbs, sacred pills, mineral ores... all of it the accumulated foundation of Purple Mansion over the years, specially loaded onto these Ancient Battleships.
He had known beforehand that Purple Mansion would surely take its accumulated foundation with them rather than leave it within the sect grounds.
As it turned out, this worked out cheaply for him.
The hearts of Purple Mansion’s people bled. Especially when Gu Changge glanced over scroll after scroll of Sacred Emperor Realm legacies and Nirvana Realm insights, only to casually toss them aside—they felt their vision go dark.
“Purple Mansion’s inheritance is nothing more than this...”
Gu Changge flipped through them idly, then simply bestowed these things he thought little of upon the Celestial Ancient Races.
This scene made the nearby Dao lineages green with envy. This was the accumulation of Purple Mansion over countless years!
And he gave it away just like that!
The many Dao lineages still fighting at Purple Mansion’s mountain gate surely had no idea that when they finally breached Purple Mansion, they would gain nothing at all—all their efforts wasted.
After settling these matters, Gu Changge finally looked toward Gu Lang in the distance, whose gaze had been carrying an air of keen interest all along, and cupped his hands slightly.
“Changge greets the Eighteenth Ancestor.”
“Oh? How did you know I am the Eighteenth Ancestor?”
Gu Lang descended from the high sky, his black robes fluttering. As he spoke, his face rapidly aged once more.
His gaze held some curiosity as he asked with a smile.
Gu Changge smiled and said, “Ancestor Gu Lang’s illustrious name—Changge has naturally heard it like thunder in his ears, and has long seen it in the family genealogy. I once heard that the Ancestor split open the Celestial Ancient Path with a single blade strike, and I never had the fortune to meet you. I never imagined I would meet you in such a manner today—it fulfills a long-held wish of mine.”
In his original plan, he had intended to have Gu Qingyi act, since he could not possibly reveal his true strength on such an occasion.
The appearance of this Ancestor Gu Lang was somewhat beyond Gu Changge’s expectations, but it also conveniently resolved a problem for him.
As for these words, he naturally spun them off the cuff.
Moreover, what Gu Changge said was true—he genuinely wished to meet all the old ancestors of the Longevity Gu Family.
After all, beings who could reach such heights had each been the protagonist of their era in their youth, invincible across the world, sweeping through a generation, each with their own splendor.
“Although I know these are merely superficial flatteries, this old man still enjoys hearing them.”
“It seems you must have known all along that Purple Mansion’s Great Elder was hiding in the shadows, just waiting for this old man to act?”
Only at this moment did Gu Lang truly begin to size up Gu Changge.
Grand Runes faintly appeared in his gaze, and in the end he clicked his tongue in admiration. “Well, well. You’ve hidden yourself quite deep.”
Under his scrutiny, there was still a fog around Gu Changge that even he could not see through.
But he paid it no mind. Secrets—who didn’t have a few of those?
Yet the fact that even he could not see through it only proved that whatever Gu Changge was hiding was no simple matter!
“The Ancestor flatters me.”
Gu Changge smiled, appearing poised and natural, yet not lacking the deference due an elder.
“To possess such strength at just over twenty years of age—you are far stronger than this old man was back then.”
Gu Lang shook his head with a smile. He held considerable fondness for this junior Gu Changge. Though his methods were indeed ruthless, which of those who accomplished great things had not walked such a path step by step?
In truth, after leaving the Gu Family, he had crossed through space to arrive at this place.
So he had watched all of Gu Changge’s methods against Ziyang, and found nothing improper about them—he even approved.
Originally, he had not planned to intervene, intending to watch the show from the shadows. But Purple Mansion’s Great Elder had thrown away all face, attempting to viciously kill a junior, and that was what finally angered him.
While Gu Changge and Gu Lang conversed, within the territory of the Vermilion Bird Empire, which had long since been reduced to scorched earth and ash—
Chu Hao stared at the ruins before him, fists clenched tight, teeth gritted hard.
His whole being was like a wounded beast, eyes bloodshot, letting out a roar on the verge of despair.
In the end, the Vermilion Bird Empire had still been destroyed.
Even with everything he had, he could not stop it.
The homeland he had given everything to protect still could not withstand a single command from Gu Changge.
This enormous gap in status and background, this sense of powerlessness, was enough to drive one mad with despair. Chu Hao did not even know whether he would ever have the chance to take revenge.
“Hao’er, return to the sect with your Shishu for now. As for the Vermilion Bird Empire’s affairs, you should let them go. Gu Changge’s arrogance is at its peak right now... You had best not provoke him.”
Bai Yang, standing to the side, advised him, his tone equally helpless and worried.
He knew what Chu Hao was feeling at this moment, but this world was simply like this—the weak are prey to the strong, natural selection at work.
Without sufficient strength, even with the will to stop it, one could not reverse the heavens.
Whether in strength or background, Gu Changge far, far surpassed Chu Hao.
Just like now—even though many people had noticed the Vermilion Bird Empire destroyed by this battle, none would step forward to say anything about it. They pretended not to see, as if blind to it.
“Shishu...”
“I hate this!”
Chu Hao’s face flushed red, his hatred surging to the heavens. Seeing him in this state, Bai Yang worried he might suddenly descend into madness and fall into demonic obsession.
So he struck, knocking Chu Hao unconscious, then picked up the long-unconscious Vermilion Bird Emperor beside him. His figure flashed, swiftly vanishing from this place to return to the sect.
He planned to let Chu Hao calm down for a while—ideally until he broke through to the Sacred Emperor Realm and became the future Mansion Lord of the Supreme Cave Heaven. Only then would he have a chance at revenge; otherwise, everything was empty talk.
If Chu Hao stepped forward to argue with Gu Changge at this point, Gu Changge might very well find some casual excuse and slay him on the spot.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Qin Wuya, hiding within a stretch of ruins, also wore an ugly expression.
He had originally planned to fish in troubled waters—to rescue Heavenly Monarch Ziyang amid the chaos of the two armies’ great battle.
But who could have imagined the war would end so quickly? That Purple Mansion Great Elder was so powerful, yet in the end he was slapped to death in the open sky.
Even if Heavenly Monarch Ziyang were rescued by him in the end, he likely would not survive—after all, even his Chaos Dao Bone and Foreseeing Eye had been dug out by Gu Changge.
He could only say that Gu Changge was truly too ruthless.
“Ziyang, my junior brother...”
“It’s not that your senior brother refuses to save you. If I acted at this moment, even I would not get away.”
Qin Wuya gritted his teeth inwardly. After weighing it over one final time, he gave up. He had no certainty of rescuing Heavenly Monarch Ziyang, and besides, even if rescued, in Ziyang’s current state he would hardly survive.
Otherwise, why would Purple Mansion’s people have been so furious earlier?
“Junior, you were trying to screw this venerable one over! Going to save that so-called Heavenly Monarch Ziyang at a time like this—isn’t that just courting death?”
At this moment, a voice carrying lingering fear and alarmed anger rang out from the void.
“Qianbei...”
Qin Wuya smiled bitterly, appearing quite helpless. He had not expected things to turn out this way either.
“Junior, you’d best look out for yourself. Offend the Longevity Gu Family and no good will come of it. Whatever I promised you before is hereby void, and this venerable one won’t be taking that thing of yours either...”
The ancient being of the Lake of Reincarnation was quite decisive. After saying this to Qin Wuya, its figure vanished from this space.
Just moments ago, it had even felt that ruthless man—the one who slew Purple Mansion’s Great Elder with a single palm—glance in its direction.
It had instantly broken out in a cold sweat, its soul-light flickering, terrified of being slapped to death as well.
Seeing this, Qin Wuya dared not say anything more.
Right now, anyone who had witnessed that scene would be frightened.
Purple Mansion’s Great Elder was absolutely one of the figures standing at the very peak of the Beyond. With such strength, destroying an entire world would be as easy as flipping a hand.
Yet he had been slapped to death here in such a shocking fashion. Once news of this place spread today, the entire Beyond would surely be shaken.
Then, he took one deep look at the high sky before his figure vanished from this place, heading toward the mountain ranges. The only remaining concern in his heart now was Tang Wan.
As for Gu Xianer, Qin Wuya no longer held out hope of restoring her memories of her past life.
After all, given her current relationship with Gu Changge, no matter what he said, Gu Xianer would never believe it.
The reason Heavenly Monarch Ziyang had provoked Gu Changge, in his view, was entirely because of Gu Xianer.
Perhaps in Gu Changge’s eyes, Gu Xianer was already his forbidden possession—how could he allow another to lay a finger on her?
Soon, news of this place spread, and the Beyond was shaken. All forces and cultivators were horrified. Meanwhile, within Purple Mansion’s territory, as the armies of the various Dao lineages breached Purple Mansion’s mountain gate and stormed inside, they advanced like a bamboo-splitting force, unstoppable.
The vast Purple Mansion, with its ancient heritage, crumbled and fell to ruin within a single day.
Purple Mansion’s former Sect Leader Liu Ming, Saintess Liu Ziyan, and the many elders and disciples who had opposed the Great Elder’s actions were released from Purple Mansion’s dungeons.
Facing this scene, they were overcome with grief. In the end, they could only heave a long sigh and choose to lead the remaining disciples elsewhere.
On this matter, Sky Emperor Mountain, the Endless Fire Kingdom, the Longevity Gu Family, and the other Dao lineages did not make things difficult for them.
Purple Mansion’s Great Elder had willfully persisted in his own course, leading Purple Mansion to destruction. Though Purple Mansion’s Sect Leader and the others had wished to stop him, in the end they could not reverse the heavens.
Seeing the once-prosperous mountain gate reduced to scorched ruins, they could only let out a sigh, unable to voice their endless sorrow and grief.
In this battle, the foundation and strength displayed by the various Dao lineages also left all sides shocked and astonished.
Especially the Longevity Gu Family—in the final clash with Purple Mansion’s army, a full two Nirvana Realm beings and three Quasi-Nirvana Realm experts charged forth, and as for Sacred Emperor Realm experts, there were no fewer than ten.
Not to mention the cultivators of other levels, who were simply too numerous to count.
Such a foundation left all the Dao lineages trembling, deeply uneasy.
Even Sky Emperor Mountain, with its incomparably ancient heritage that had produced several Sky Emperors, fell far short when compared to the Longevity Gu Family.
Furthermore, the battle above the Vermilion Bird Empire drew particular attention.
Purple Mansion had secretly ferried away its elite disciples and accumulated foundation, even with the Great Elder overseeing it, intending to rescue Heavenly Monarch Ziyang—yet he was slapped to death on the spot by a Gu Family Ancestor, shocking all eight directions.
After this battle, both the Longevity Gu Family and Gu Changge once again reached an unmatched peak of fame.
“In cultivation, one first trains the Physique. Only after tempering it does one move on to the Dantian.”
“The Dantian is a cultivator’s Wheel of Life, the very root of a cultivator’s being, formed of spiritual energy, the source of magic power. Legendary Immortals even fully transform their Dantian into an endless source of life—a single drop of which can raise the dead and regrow flesh on bare bones...”
“The Dantian is to a cultivator what the origin is to all things. Without a Dantian, no matter how strong one’s cultivation, one cannot display one’s power. The Dantian of the strong is like a sea—with every breath, they take in all of heaven and earth.”
“The Dantian of the weak is like a bean...”
At this moment, atop a bluestone, Xiao Ruoyin was cultivating, faint rosy light emerging around her body.
Beside her, Gu Changge sipped his tea lightly, his gaze calm as he explained these things to her unhurriedly.
After this battle ended, the Gu Family’s Eighteenth Ancestor Gu Lang, along with the experts of the various Dao lineages who had been watching nearby, had all departed without lingering.
However, Gu Changge did not leave immediately.
Instead, he had Hei Yanyu collect the Source of the many cultivators who had perished in this battle.
For him, this was cultivation material not to be wasted—it might even allow him to break through to the Sacred King Realm.
In this battle, far too many cultivators had fallen. Sacred King Realm existences alone numbered several.
It was only a pity that Purple Mansion’s territory was too far from this place; otherwise, Gu Changge would have already sent people over.
Then again, things over in Purple Mansion’s territory were not exactly peaceful.
If he sent people there to collect Source, they might be noticed—it was not as safe as this place.
Right now, within a radius of a million miles, everyone was his people. No other cultivators or living beings would dare rashly approach at a time like this.