Demon Slaying, Gaining 60 Years of Cultivation From the Start

"Gu Jiuge, how could Gu Jiuge appear here?"

"What, you're saying he is the very Gu Jiuge who holds the top spot among the young generation in the Gray Domain and oppressed all sorts of monsters at the Heavenly Pond?"

"Exactly."

From the moment Gu Chen arrived at this place, he had been recognized by many people, and by now, he could be considered famous far and wide.

"No wonder he made a move. The Jiuying Clan has a feud with him, and now they're in trouble," someone whispered secretly, ready to enjoy the show.

After all, the Jiuying Clan had been domineering in the Gray Domain not just for a year or two, and many found them objectionable.

By the Heavenly Pond, everyone in the secret realm knew about Gu Chen slaying the Cave Heaven Realm cultivator of the Jiuying Clan, after all, they noticed the changes in the secret realm at that moment.

"Gu Jiuge!"

Upon seeing Gu Chen, the expressions of the three Cave Heaven Realm cultivators from the Jiuying Clan changed, and their eyes became even more ferocious.

"Release us!"

The two Jiuying Clan cultivators, restrained by Gu Chen in mid-air, shouted angrily, struggling ceaselessly, but remained fixed in place, unable to move an inch.

"Sure enough, it's Gu Jiuge. It's said that at the Heavenly Pond, he successively oppressed Jiu Li from the Jiuying Clan, Jin Xu from the Tiankui Clan, as well as Xue Yu from the Blood Orchid Clan. Xue Yu even admitted in person that he was no match for Gu Jiuge and by far inferior."

"What do you guys know? Even Xue Ningshan, the heir of the hidden Ling Dao Mountain, suffered a loss at the hands of Gu Jiuge. Mount Tianzhu and Burning Heaven Valley, these two sacred places, were wiped out by him!"

"Had it not been for the protective talisman still being effective, Mount Tianzhu and Burning Heaven Valley would have been in a lot of trouble."

"You don't know, do you? When Gu Jiuge first entered the secret realm, he was treated as a small fry by the people from the Red Cloud Sect, tsk tsk..."

"What? There's such a secret story?"

Hearing this, everyone was extremely curious, while inwardly remarking on the pitiful fate of the Red Cloud Sect, who could have provoked anyone else but unfortunately provoked this monster.

At this moment, the Da Xia Human Emperor stood to the side with a slight frown on his brow, watching Gu Chen, unsure why he intervened despite having never met.

Was it merely because of a grudge with the Jiuying Clan? The Da Xia Human Emperor didn't think so.

Not far away, Ling Fei and Liao Yun of the Xuan Yi Sect also stopped their battle to watch Gu Chen.

As soon as Gu Chen appeared here, he immediately became the focus of everyone present. Such was his influence at the current stage.

Indeed, many were saying privately that Gu Jiuge was the number one among the young generation in the Gray Domain, and many people had accepted this fact.

After all, in terms of battle achievements, Gu Chen truly lived up to the title. Among the young talents and prodigies of the Gray Domain who made it onto the realm-wide golden list, almost all were suppressed by him.

"Release us, what sorcery have you used?!" The two Jiuying Clan Cave Heaven Realm cultivators continued to roar angrily, struggling mightily.

Bang!

The next moment, Gu Chen withdrew his power, and as the two were still exerting force, they instantly smashed into the ground from mid-air, looking extremely disheveled.

Seeing this scene, the watching crowd showed smiles, but due to the might of the Jiuying Clan, they could only hold it in.

"I'm going to kill you!" The two Jiuying Clan cultivators roared, nearly going mad.

As strong cultivators of the Cave Heaven Realm, transcending the realm of martial arts, when had they ever suffered such humiliation?

What's more, the one who humiliated them was a mere human youth of about twenty-six or twenty-seven, which made it even more unbearable for them.

"Don't be impulsive!"

But at that moment, the last Cave Heaven Realm cultivator, wounded by the Da Xia Human Emperor, gritted his teeth and shook his head, signaling them to stay calm.

"I refuse to believe that the combined strength of us three can't fight a young human brat like him!" Their bodies trembled with anger. Being so much older than Gu Chen yet being so humiliated by him, they found it truly hard to swallow their pride.

"Last time, you escaped. This time, you dare to show up again, you're truly asking for death!"

At that moment, a flash of light appeared in the sky, and the leading Cave Heaven Realm cultivator of the Jiuying Clan arrived, his eyes filled with maliciousness as he looked at Gu Chen.

He was very strong, counted among the notable figures of the Jiuying Clan's Cave Heaven Realm cultivators, only a bit older in age.

Nevertheless, he had reached his own limit in the Cave Heaven Realm, having opened a total of 318 Heavenly Veins within his body!

Bear in mind that in the Cave Heaven Realm, those who have more than 300 Heavenly Veins are regarded as having exceptional talent and would qualify as saint sons and daughters in sacred lands.

However, to create even one more vein beyond 300 is a major hurdle, with the difficulty exponentially increasing, and the further one goes, the less likely it becomes.

After all, the ultimate 365 Heavenly Veins of the Cave Heaven Realm is something that only the most top-tier prodigies and monsters in a domain can hope to achieve.

That this Jiuying Clan cultivator had condensed 318 Heavenly Veins within his body already marked him as incredibly extraordinary.

Of course, this was also thanks to the considerable opportunity he had found in the secret realm, where he had condensed eight additional Heavenly Veins.

However, no matter what, he also felt that he had reached his limit. If it weren't for the fact that breakthroughs were impossible in the secret realm, he would have already advanced to the God Transformation Realm.

"With me here, how dare a junior like you act so arrogantly!" The middle-aged man from the Jiuying Clan rebuked, "Kneel down, admit your wrongs, and kowtow to apologize to our young master. I might spare your life today. Otherwise, no matter what power you come from, offending our Jiuying Clan means death!"

His words declared his own dominance. The Jiuying Clan, as one of the top forces in the Gray Domain, could be paralleled with the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty, and was incredibly powerful, able to dominate one side.

Thus, being so arrogant with such a powerful backer was understandable.

Moreover, the Jiuying Clan had done even more haughty and overbearing things in the past.

All the major powers essentially follow the same pattern, from the original Red Cloud Sect and the subsequent Mount Tianzhu, Burning Heaven Valley, to the time of the Green-Scale Clan at Heavenly Pond. This could be observed.

In the Upper Realm, the survival of the fittest is truly developed to the extreme. Here, throughout the three thousand six hundred domains, a strong fist is the irrefutable truth.

Without strength, one is nothing, readily trampled underfoot by others, unable to turn over.

Thus, the people of the Jiuying Clan had grown accustomed to looking down on others. Even the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty, top-notch in the Gray Domain, those hermit Daoist traditions, and the other four great foreign clans dared not treat them in such a way. What virtues and abilities did Gu Jiuge possess, to dare to humiliate the Jiuying Clan like this?

Even if Gu Jiuge's backing power were to wage war, the Jiuying Clan wouldn't have a trace of fear.

This was also the confidence of the middle-aged man.

Moreover, in terms of individual strength, he also believed that he could easily suppress a young man like Gu Chen.

"A member of the Human Clan, twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, also wants to compare with me? He's far too naive!" he scoffed disdainfully.

At this moment, the Da Xia Human Emperor stood beside Gu Chen, seeing the most powerful practitioner of the Cave Heaven Realm from the Jiuying Clan appear, his expression also inevitably became more solemn.

On the leading person of the Jiuying Clan, he felt a heavy pressure.

"This matter has nothing to do with you; you'd better leave quickly," said the Da Xia Human Emperor. His voice was deep and steady, easily giving a sense of security.

Moreover, even when facing the people of the Jiuying Clan, Da Xia Human Emperor didn't change his expression. He even wanted to resist on his own, urging Gu Chen to leave as soon as possible.

This kind of demeanor, this broad-mindedness, truly befit a peerless emperor of the Nine Provinces. Gu Chen quietly approved.

"No harm; in my eyes, they are but a few worthless fish and shrimp," Gu Chen shook his head, insisting on facing them himself.

The Da Xia Human Emperor, seeing this, also had his gaze sharpen slightly. On this young man, he felt an extremely powerful self-confidence, a supreme belief of "I am invincible when present!"

This belief immediately moved him and made Da Xia Human Emperor recall his own past, his experiences in the world of Nine Provinces.

Back then, when he had consolidated his power, suppressed the Nine Provinces, and nearly attacked the holy lands, he was like Gu Chen, fearless with a strong belief supporting his chest.

He was convinced that he could solve all of Nine Provinces' troubles and break through to the Heavenly Human Realm to quell the chaos.

He didn't believe in fate, so when the Tower Supervisor used the Heavenly Human Gazing Skill to tell him just a few words, the Human Emperor didn't choose to comply with destiny.

"My fate should be grasped in my own hands. Destiny cannot be defied? I simply don't believe it!"

This was the bold and forceful speech made by the Da Xia Human Emperor when persuaded by the Tower Supervisor. Looking back on those days, he was full of vigor, suppressing all under heaven, with people all over the Nine Provinces chanting his name, his power and prestige reaching a pinnacle and being revered by all as a peerless emperor!

Latterly, to break through to the Heavenly Human Realm, he entered seclusion for more than twenty years, which demonstrated an astonishing willpower!

You should know, he was the Human Emperor, controlling the Nine Provinces, his word was law, his heavenly might unfathomable. At that time, if the Human Emperor wished, at the peak of his prestige, he could unify the Nine Provinces effortlessly.

Back then, had he so desired, he could have enjoyed decades, or even more years of glory and wealth without such desperate stakes.

But in the end, he chose to go into closed-door cultivation, vowing not to exit until he had broken through to the Heavenly Human Realm!

Eventually, he succeeded, but he also failed.

He became the first person since ancient times, amidst a fractured world, to reach the Heavenly Human Realm, turning the impossible into possible. It was an achievement great enough to be recorded in history, even considered astonishing in the Upper Realm.

But after the breakthrough, disaster struck. The heavenly tribulation descended; after he passed the ordeal, only then did he discover he had already left the Nine Provinces and arrived in another world.

Thereafter, worlds apart, all he wished to accomplish could no longer be achieved.

This was also the greatest regret of Da Xia Human Emperor's life. Fortunately, he later heard that a person countless times more outstanding than him appeared in the Nine Provinces, solving all the chaos. The Human Emperor truly wanted to meet him.

Regrettably, not long after, he heard that the connection between heaven and earth in the Nine Provinces was severed, and that genius would never have the opportunity to come to the Upper Realm.

This inevitably caused him to sigh deeply!

Now, as Da Xia Human Emperor looked at the Jiuying Clan before him, due to Gu Chen, the pride nearly ground away through solitary years in the Upper Realm once again emerged spontaneously from his chest.

He looked at the people from the Jiuying Clan, his expression growing colder, a mighty presence manifesting, as he declared, "Jiuying Clan, arrogant and presumptuous, I've long found you displeasing, relying on ancestral protection to act so wildly, trampling lives at will, do you truly regard yourselves as celestial beings, to scorn everything in the Gray Domain?!"

He didn't say "I," but used "we," evidently, the Human Emperor didn't really want to reveal his origins from the Nine Provinces.

Otherwise, with his qualifications, it was very likely he could join the top forces of the Gray Domain and be nurtured by them at any cost.

Alas, that wasn't what Da Xia Human Emperor wanted; like Gu Chen, he didn't wish to lean on anyone else.

Looking at Gu Chen, Da Xia Human Emperor seemed to be looking at a mirror, seeing himself when he was young, twenty or thirty years before, back in the Nine Provinces.

Gu Chen was somewhat taken aback; he didn't expect the Da Xia Human Emperor could make such a statement, and stand so firmly by his side, proving with actions what he intended to do.

However, this was indeed how Gu Chen imagined the Da Xia Human Emperor should be.

"That's right, Jiuying Clan? You're worth nothing but an insignificant fart!" Gu Chen sneered, echoing the Human Emperor and deriding the Jiuying Clan.

"You're courting death!"

The Jiuying Clan were enraged upon hearing this, their rage boiling to the point they wished to incinerate Gu Chen and Da Xia Human Emperor to ashes on the spot.

A grand battle had become inevitable, about to unfold right here.

"Little beast, I'll send you on your way first!" The leading practitioner of the Cave Heaven Realm from the Jiuying Clan's eyes flashed with cold light, preparing to deal with Gu Chen first.