Chapter 16: Reward in Hand

Missing a… mount to pull the cart?

The moment Gu Xue Dao spoke these words,

The whole world fell silent.

In the Dark Ancient Emperor's hollow eye sockets,

Two clusters of soul fire jumped wildly, as if they would burst out of the eye sockets.

He doubted he had misheard.

He, the mighty Dark Ancient Emperor,

the supreme ruler of the previous era,

now someone actually says he should… become a mount?

What humiliation this is!

"You… seek… death!"

Each word, as if squeezed from between his teeth, contained endless fury and killing intent.

Boom!

A dark aura, several times more terrifying than before,

exploded from within him!

The entire Bury-Heaven Ancient Land, all the deathly and resentful qi,

at this moment, as if summoned,

madly converged upon his body!

His body began to swell, the withered flesh and blood becoming full again,

jet-black demonic patterns appeared on his body, emanating an ominous and destructive aura.

"This Emperor will tear you into ten thousand pieces!"

The Dark Ancient Emperor roared to the heavens, his voice shaking the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.

However, facing his desperate posture, Gu Xue Dao merely curled his lip in disdain.

"Oh? You're angry?"

"Perfect, I haven't had enough of fighting yet!"

He twisted his neck,

making a crisp clicking sound,

in his eyes, brighter than the sun, his fighting spirit rose ever higher.

"Let you see what true power really is!"

Gu Xue Dao bellowed, upon his myriad-zhang Dharma body,

golden qi-and-blood flames shot up to the heavens,

directly burning a huge hole in the Heavenly Dome!

He swung his fist again,

this time, his fist was wrapped with divine chains condensed from law,

each chain seemed to contain a supreme fist intent!

Overbearing! Rigid! One force breaks myriad laws!

"Get down!"

Boom!

This punch directly shattered spacetime and eroded the Great Dao!

The Dark Ancient Emperor's pupils contracted sharply,

He felt from this punch,

a death threat that made his very soul tremble!

He tried to dodge, but found the surrounding space,

already completely locked down by that terrifying fist intent, with nowhere to escape!

"No——!"

He could only let out a desperate howl,

gathering all his dark origin power before him,

forming an immensely heavy Dark Divine Shield!

However, all this was in vain.

Crack!

That Dark Divine Shield, capable of blocking a full strike from an ordinary supreme,

could not even withstand a breath before Gu Xue Dao's fist, shattering instantly!

The golden fist advanced straight in,

solidly imprinting upon the Dark Ancient Emperor's chest.

"Pfft——"

The Dark Ancient Emperor spat out another mouthful of black blood,

his entire chest, along with the bones and organs inside,

were completely reduced to nothing by this punch!

His body plowed the already shattered earth of the Bury-Heaven Ancient Land,

carving out a massive, bottomless chasm.

This time, he couldn't get up again.

He lay at the abyss's end, with only half his body left,

His breath waned to the extreme, and those twin azure soul flames flickered uncertainly, as if they might go out at any moment.

He had lost.

He lost utterly and completely, without any suspense.

From start to finish, he hadn't even managed to touch the corner of his opponent's robe.

"Why… why…"

"We're both Quasi-Emperors… why is the gap… so huge…"

The Dark Ancient Emperor muttered to himself,

His voice filled with reluctance and confusion.

Gu Xue Dao's ten‑thousand‑zhang Dharma body took a step forward,

In an instant he arrived above the abyss, lowered his head to look down at him, and sneered:

"Quasi-Emperor? You're just a Saint Realm cultivator—who says you're on par with a Quasi-Emperor?"

"I am a Supreme! A legitimate eighteenth‑level Supreme!"

"You, who rely on devouring the world's origin and took a shortcut to become a false emperor, dare to compare yourself with me?"

"It's only because this broken place lacks complete laws, suppressing ninety percent of my power; otherwise, you couldn't even block a single finger of mine!"

Gu Xue Dao's words struck like a heavy hammer, slamming hard into the Dark Ancient Emperor's heart.

"Supreme? Eighteenth level?"

"What realms are these?"

He only knew that the Quasi-Emperor Realm he inhabited,

was already the pinnacle of cultivation in this world,

and going higher lay the legendary immortals!

Could it be… that the realm divisions of the Immortal Realm are completely different from here?

That thought sent a bone‑chilling shiver through him.

"Enough, stop playing dead."

Gu Xue Dao stretched out his big hand,

like grabbing a tiny bug, he seized the Dark Ancient Emperor's broken body,

and pulled it out from the abyss.

"I'll give you two choices."

"One, reveal your true form now and obediently become my young master's mount; you'll eat well and drink well, and maybe even follow him to longevity."

"Two, I'll crush you to death right now, extract your origin, and refine it into a great pill."

"Choose for yourself."

Gu Xue Dao's voice carried no emotion.

The Dark Ancient Emperor fell silent.

The remaining half of his body trembled slightly in Gu Xue Dao's hand.

"Dignity?"

In the face of absolute power and death,

what is dignity worth?

For longevity, he could slash himself, fall into darkness, and linger for countless ages.

Now, a chance to survive—and perhaps even achieve true longevity—lay before him.

Did he still have a choice?

"I… I choose one…"

A hoarse, humiliating voice issued from the Dark Ancient Emperor's mouth.

"Smart move!"

Gu Xue Dao nodded satisfactorily.

All that could be seen was the Dark Ancient Emperor's shattered humanoid form,

beginning to twist and change violently.

Finally, after a blinding flash of light,

a massive creature appeared, its body covered in black scale armor, bearing a single horn on its head and twin wings on its back, resembling a qilin,

yet even more ferocious and domineering—a strange beast—manifested in midair.

This was the Dark Ancient Emperor's true form—an ancient dark qilin!

But at this moment, this dark qilin that once shook an era,

had lost all trace of arrogance in its eyes,

leaving only endless humiliation… and a hint of bewilderment about the future.

"Hmm, not bad—looks pretty imposing."

Gu Xue Dao gave it a once‑over,

then casually laid dozens of seals upon it,

completely taking control of its life and death.

After doing all that, he then lifted this newly acquired mount,

returned before the Nine Dragons Agarwood Palanquin, and with a look of presenting a treasure, shouted at Gu Yuan inside the carriage:

「Yuan'er, look, what do you think of this mount that Third Uncle caught for you? 」

「From now on when you go out, just let it pull the carriage—it's far more imposing than those nine long worms! 」

Inside the carriage, Gu Yuan set down the jade cup in his hand,

He looked somewhat speechlessly at that dark qilin with a face of utter hopelessness.

「Third Uncle, I already have the Nine Dragon Agarwood Carriage; getting another mount—isn't that a bit excessive? 」

「Not excessive at all! 」

Gu Xue Dao patted his chest until it made a bang-bang sound,

「This is a supreme-sage-level mount; although we have a few at home, this kind of variant qilin is still rare. 」

Just then, in Gu Yuan's mind,

Suddenly, a long-unheard voice sounded.

【Detected main quest 2: Slay a Dark Supreme (changed)—'Witness the fall of a Dark Supreme' completed.】

【Detected ultimate quest: End this turmoil (changed)—'Witness the end of this turmoil' completed.】

【Distributing quest rewards……】

【Reward 'Great Emperor Origin (complete)*1' distributed to system space!】

【Reward 'Random Immortal Body Origin (one portion)' distributed to system space!】

【Reward 'Chaos Immortal Bell' distributed to system space!】

【Novice tasks all completed, Myriad Heavens Migrant Worker System officially renamed to 'Myriad Heavens Vacation System', system sprite 'Xiao Ai', wholeheartedly at your service!】

【138】 【Esteemed host, may I ask what service you need now? Would you like Xiao Ai to play a BGM for you?】

【Dear host, may I ask what service you need now? Would you like Xiao Ai to play a BGM for you?】