This Is Definitely Fishing—Everything Was Nothing but an Empty Dream
This Is Definitely Fishing—Everything Was Nothing but an Empty Dream
After the Hidden Experts charged into that Celestial Gate, the opening began to heal as well, continuously closing up, as if this Immortal Path was truly about to end completely, its grand curtain falling for good.
However, many who witnessed this scene felt their entire bodies tremble.
What exactly lay within the Celestial Gate?
Why had the first batch of Hidden Experts who entered it all let out roars of despair?
They had screamed in agony.
The people outside the Resplendence Universe simply could not see the scene within, and had absolutely no idea what had happened inside the Celestial Gate to drive those Hidden Experts to such despair.
The distance was simply too great. From where they stood, they had no way of knowing anything about what was happening inside the Resplendence Universe.
Moreover, that surging, peerless aura was far too terrifying—even a True Daoist who touched it would explode into dust in an instant.
Who would still dare to casually set foot in that universe?
Could this Celestial Gate be a conspiracy? The Lord of Gods’ Ruins had clearly been jointly annihilated by all the Hidden Experts, torn to pieces, body and soul destroyed.
So why was the Resplendence Universe still so dark, as if sunk into eternal deathly silence?
Without the slightest change.
Someone’s voice trembled. This was a True Daoist, a being who would normally remain unfazed even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, yet now he was filled with nothing but fear, shaking uncontrollably.
Because he had thought of a possibility—had all the Hidden Experts actually fallen into a trap?
What if that was not the real Celestial Gate at all?
If that Lord of Gods’ Ruins had not died, if his aura still lingered... this was simply unthinkable.
He was scheming against the entire Beyond!
Everyone grew horrified and uneasy, but the Hidden Experts at the rear had all charged in by now. Not a single one remained outside the Celestial Gate.
Even if someone now realized it, even if they guessed this possibility, what could they do about it?
Just moments ago, they had been just like those Hidden Experts—incomparably excited, even believing they could witness the grand spectacle of ascension with their own eyes.
The vast Resplendence Universe was once again shrouded in darkness.
A great fog from who-knows-where spread and swept through it, moving with astonishing speed, even billowing toward the territories beyond, blotting out the sky.
“Something really isn’t right. Good thing I held back just now. We can’t stay here long.”
“Still, what if there’s another shocking turn? Let’s wait a bit longer.”
Meanwhile, in another incomparably desolate and ruined universe, several terrifying figures shrouded in boundless chaos were watching the events unfolding in the Resplendence Universe with lingering fear.
They too were Hidden Experts, but they had been cautious to the extreme.
Even when the Celestial Gate had been blasted open earlier and the light of ascension had scattered forth, they had not gone. They had held back with all their might, suppressing themselves.
And now, as that Celestial Gate closed, the Flying Immortal light was vanishing too. Even the Life-Extending Matter that had appeared earlier was beginning to thin out.
This filled them with utter horror, and they instantly understood—there was definitely something wrong here.
If a true Immortal Path had descended, how could it be so fickle? The aura of ascension that had scattered out earlier was like bait, luring them to come.
And once the fish had all swum into the net, the bait was decisively withdrawn...
“That Lord of Gods’ Ruins is fishing. He’s definitely not dead. All of this is his handiwork.”
These Hidden Experts were shaken to the core, feeling profound dread. The Hidden Experts who had charged into the Celestial Gate numbered several dozen!
Those were the greatest accumulated foundations of the Beyond over countless years. If they all perished here because of this, it would absolutely turn the Beyond upside down, unleashing boundless upheaval.
“Amitabha. Many thanks to the Gifted Lady Jin Yang’s warning—that is what allowed this old monk to escape this calamity.”
Meanwhile, in another distant universe, Ancient Buddha Sha Na and the others, who had planned to leave earlier, were all drenched in cold sweat.
Just now, if the Gifted Lady Jin Yang had not pulled them back in time, they would not have held back.
Otherwise, the moment that Celestial Gate closed, they would have already charged over, nearly unable to resist rushing in like the rest of the Hidden Experts.
The reason they had not strayed far from the Resplendence Universe was, in truth, the obsession in their hearts. They had been unwilling to give up just like that, which was why they had kept watching from here.
But scene after scene now left their gall bladders frozen with fear, their entire bodies chilled, their very souls about to freeze and shatter.
Was it all a trap?
One Hidden Expert became utterly distraught, his face turning ashen in an instant.
There was no doubt about it—even if they knew the Tree of Epoch was in the hands of that Lord of Gods’ Ruins, what could they do?
Even wielding an Immortal Grade Artifact, they would still be suppressed within this universe and could not truly eliminate him. How could they possibly snatch the Opportunity to Become an Immortal from his hands?
This had been a death trap from the very start, designed and waiting for them to come and throw their lives away.
Perhaps the only fortunate thing was that their luck ran deep—they had not fallen into it, and still had a chance to flee back to the Beyond.
But if that Lord of Gods’ Ruins were to achieve Immortality at this point...
“Then we are all utterly finished. Someone this ruthless would never leave any of us alive.”
“If he becomes an Immortal, the entire Beyond will likely fall completely, with no one able to keep him in check.”
The Hidden Expert who had spoken earlier began to tremble, an indescribable sense of terror washing over him once more.
The faces of the Gifted Lady Jin Yang, Ancient Buddha Sha Na, and the others all sank, their hearts filled with gloom.
“Perhaps we’re overthinking it?” someone murmured.
However, no one agreed with those words.
The Resplendence Universe was perfectly calm. Two batches of Hidden Experts had entered one after another, yet there was not the slightest movement—like clay oxen sinking into the sea.
Such an ascension to Flying Immortal was far too placid, without the slightest ripple. It felt unreal.
Especially since screams of agony had come from there just moments ago—utterly horrifying.
“What exactly is inside that Celestial Gate?”
Within Gods’ Ruins, Empress Huang Yu had also been so frightened by those scenes that her feathers stood on end. At this moment, she could not help but ask Tao Yao.
“Beyond the Celestial Gate lies his world,” Tao Yao replied calmly. Sensing that the environment of heaven and earth was changing ever faster, she thought: Is Gu Changge about to truly become an Immortal now, to take that final step?
Despairing, unwilling screams rang out, yet they could never reach the real world.
Beyond the Celestial Gate, just as Tao Yao had said, lay a world—Gu Changge’s Inner Universe.
He had imitated the Ancient Heaven of Reincarnation, using the Celestial Gate as bait while his true body waited within, waiting for the crowd of Hidden Experts to fight until their strength was spent, then step inside and become nourishment for his ascension.
From beginning to end, Gu Changge had been inside his Inner Universe, watching the scenes outside, cold and indifferent.
Only when the first batch of Hidden Experts charged in did he finally make his move. The outcome was, naturally, predictable—within his Inner Universe, his will was the law of heaven and earth itself.
Although he had refined the Resplendence Universe, how could its compatibility compare to the Inner Universe he had evolved over so many years?
“Who exactly are you? Why must you scheme against us so relentlessly?”
Some Hidden Experts went mad. They had never imagined that after fighting their way through untold hardships to reach the Celestial Gate, after crossing that Sea of Worlds, they would see that Lord of Gods’ Ruins again here.
This ascension had been a flower in the mirror, a moon on the water—nothing but an illusion.
They roared, their eyes bloodshot, like cornered beasts fighting for their lives, teetering on the edge of despair, fallen from heaven into hell, understanding that everything had been empty joy, an empty wait.
Gu Changge sat cross-legged, his expression cold. He raised the Eight Wastelands Halberd and pointed it forward, and in an instant it was as if the most terrifying primordial beast since antiquity had emerged into the world.
A horrifying aura surged forward. The real world outside the Inner Universe nearly collapsed.
And in the outer territories, countless small stars directly exploded, reduced to dust—all destroyed beneath the force of this single wave.
The Hidden Experts who tried to charge at him exploded one after another, swept aside by the Eight Wastelands Halberd. A mere wisp of its aura was enough to shatter their Physiques.