Chapter 145: Quasi‑Emperor Attacks?

These three words made the hearts of all the Holy Lords and Elders present skip a beat.

Who dares to have it?

Who still dares to have it?

They originally indeed had ideas.

But even a Half-Saint was blown apart by a single punch—how could these people still dare to have ideas?

For a moment, the entire place was so silent you could hear a pin drop.

Earlier they had been arguing, faces red, as if Gu Yuan was already theirs, a group of strong men.

Now each of them lowered their heads, wishing they could bury their heads in the ground, afraid of being singled out by this evil star.

The air was filled with a suffocating sense of oppression.

Gu Yuan watched their reaction, the corner of his mouth curling into an almost imperceptible arc.

Kill the chicken to scare the monkey.

If you don't beat them into fear and submission, this swarm of flies will keep buzzing around you, annoying beyond endurance.

"Since no one objects to his death, then this matter is just let go."

Hearing this, everyone present felt as if granted a great pardon, letting out a long sigh of relief in their hearts.

Over?

Great!

They still thought today would be a river of blood!

"Thank you, senior, for your mercy!"

"Senior, your benevolence and righteousness are admirable!"

For a moment, voices of flattery and thanks rose and fell, and every old face was filled with the joy of having survived a catastrophe.

However, they were happy too soon.

"But..."

Gu Yuan shifted his tone, and everyone's hearts leapt to their throats once again.

"The death penalty can be waived, but the living punishment is hard to forgive."

"If you don't want to die like those old fogeys, it depends on your sincerity."

Immediately, some quick‑reacting people stepped forward and respectfully bowed to Gu Yuan and Gu Cangsheng.

Gu Yuan recognized him—he seemed to be the Holy Lord of the Shaking Light Holy Land.

He only saw him speak cautiously:

"Two seniors, today's matter is that we were blind and offended your mighty prestige; I, the Shaking Light Holy Land, am willing to offer ten million catties of source and a five‑thousand‑year Medicine King as compensation, and hope you two seniors will be tolerant."

The Shaking Light Holy Lord lowered his posture and respectfully presented the divine source and a five‑thousand‑year Medicine King.

He knew that without doing this, today's matter could not possibly be settled so easily.

The other side could kill or cripple a Half‑Saint at will; their terrifying power and deep background were beyond their imagination.

If they didn't show enough sincerity to appease the other side, the entire Shaking Light Holy Land would likely find it hard to eat or sleep in peace.

Ten million catties of source! A five‑thousand‑year Medicine King!

Hearing that figure, the surrounding strongmen of other forces couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air.

That's a huge move!

Even for the Shaking Light Holy Land, which is an Ultimate Dao Holy Land, this is a massive fortune that would cause them great pain.

It seems the Shaking Light Holy Lord was truly frightened.

However, upon hearing the words "five‑thousand‑year Medicine King," Gu Yuan couldn't help but smile.

"A five‑thousand‑year Medicine King?"

His tone carried a hint of amusement; with a casual wave, three stalks of medicinal herbs exuding a rich fragrance appeared in midair.

"This is a thirty‑thousand‑year Purple Lingzhi, this is a fifty‑thousand‑year Blood Ginseng King, and this is a hundred‑thousand‑year Heaven Ginseng Medicine."

Gu Yuan pointed at the three medicinal herbs and said lightly:

"In my Gu Family's medicinal garden, ten thousand years counts only as ordinary herbs—how dare something under a hundred thousand years call itself a Medicine King?"

He shook his head; his contempt was plainly visible in his eyes.

As soon as he said that, the whole place erupted in an uproar.

Everyone widened their eyes, staring fixedly at the three medicinal herbs floating in midair.

The fragrance so rich it seemed almost tangible, that life force making souls tremble—it could not be faked!

This… this is truly a ten‑thousand‑year, even a hundred‑thousand‑year‑grade Medicine King!

They even felt that any random stalk here could rival the legendary immortal divine medicines found in the great forbidden zones!

Moreover, judging by this senior's tone, their family has so many of this grade of Medicine King they're as common as cabbage!

What kind of family is this?!

The Shaking Light Holy Lord's face alternated between green and white; he wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

He had just thought that producing a five‑thousand‑year Medicine King was already a massive loss.

As it turned out, the other party casually pulled out something starting at ten thousand years…

This gap is simply despair‑inducing.

"But..."

Just when everyone thought Gu Yuan would refuse their compensation, he shifted his tone.

"This source, however, is somewhat interesting."

Gu Yuan's gaze fell on the divine source glowing with a faint halo in the Shaking Light Holy Lord's hand, a flicker of curiosity passing through his eyes.

Beside him, Gu Cangsheng also glanced sideways, his deep eyes carefully examining that piece of divine source.

"Indeed, it's somewhat special."

Gu Cangsheng spoke slowly, a hint of surprise in his tone: "This thing contains a unique primordial force of heaven and earth; not only does it hold spiritual energy for cultivation, but it can also self-seal, delaying lifespan, similar to the effect of the undying soil in our family's forbidden grounds—worth studying."

Although the Gu family has now obtained the immortal substances of Lei Prefecture and Huo Prefecture.

In the short term, there's no need to worry about lifespan.

But in the long run, it's still necessary to have something that can seal oneself, thereby delaying the flow of lifespan, to be ready to suppress any upheaval the family might face.

The undying soil can achieve self-sealing, extending lifespan to eleven.

That is, a lifespan of one hundred thousand years entering the undying soil can be extended to one million years.

And this "source" can further slow it by another twenty or thirty percent on top of that.

That's not bad!

Upon hearing the old man beside that mysterious expert say this, everyone suddenly understood.

The Medicine King, they look down on.

But this source, they are interested in!

With the Yao Guang Holy Land taking the lead, other forces that had previously participated in the scramble also reacted in turn.

"My Jiang family is willing to offer ten million catties of source and a thousand pieces of divine source as compensation to the seniors!"

"My Ji family is willing to offer twenty million catties of source and two thousand pieces of divine source..."

For a moment, the major holy lands and clans spoke up, offering their own prices.

But this time, they wisely didn't mention the Medicine King again, instead all switching to source.

Watching this crowd eagerly presenting various source stones, Gu Yuan finally nodded in satisfaction.

"Considering you still show some sincerity, leave the things, you may go."

Upon hearing this, the experts of the major forces again felt as if granted a great pardon.

Although they lost a bit, being able to buy back a life with source is profitable no matter how you look at it.

They dared not be negligent in the slightest, hurriedly presenting the compensation they had promised.

Taken from their storage treasures, they respectfully piled them in the open space before Gu Yuan.

Soon, a small mountain piled from various divine sources and precious medicines appeared before everyone's eyes, rosy light radiating in all directions, precious aura shooting to the heavens.

Having done all this, they fled like avoiding snakes and scorpions, not looking back, riding divine rainbows at top speed away from this place of right and wrong.

In the blink of an eye, outside the originally crowded ancient forbidden land.

Only Gu Yuan and his grandson remained.

"Grandpa, do we count this as... collecting a wave of protection money?"

Gu Yuan looked at the radiant resource mountain before him and gave a hehe laugh.

"What protection money, saying it so harshly."

Gu Cangsheng blew on his beard and spoke solemnly:

"This is taking their money to handle their affairs."

"Later we'll kill those beasts that prolong human life by relying on blood traces; they'll still have to thank us."

Speaking, he flicked his sleeve, collecting that resource mountain together with the storage rings that had fallen from the corpse of the Taichu Elder.

"These things, you currently have no use for them; Grandfather will keep them for you first."

Gu Yuan: "..."

"Your old man's move, isn't it a bit too practiced?"

Just as the grandfather and grandson were preparing to leave, to find a place to properly study this world.

Suddenly, an anomaly arose!

"Boom!"

An aura far more terrifying than that of the previous Taichu Elder erupted from the horizon at an extremely distant place!

Immediately after, a beam of divine light, brilliant to the extreme, tore through the heavens and shot explosively toward the position where Gu Yuan and Gu Cangsheng stood!

"Hmm?"

Gu Cangsheng's face flashed with a hint of surprise.

He could feel that within that divine light lay a not-insubstantial power.

At least enough to sweep away roughly half of the indigenous experts present just now.

Roughly... about equivalent to the 17th realm before breaking into the Sovereign Realm of Gu Zhangfeng and Gu Yunlan.

It seems in this world it's called... a quasi-emperor?