Chapter 179: Myriad Paths

Before Gu Cangsheng's words finished, that chaotic domain had already undergone a dramatic change.

The World Tree, which had been merely a phantom, now seemed rooted in the void; each leaf frantically inhaled and exhaled chaotic Qi, and as its branches swayed, a grand Daoic resonance rang out.

It was not the ordinary Law rumble, but a primordial rhythm akin to the first wind sweeping a cliff and the first rain falling into the vast sea when Heaven and Earth first opened.

Gu Yuan sat cross‑legged at the center, eyes tightly shut, his golden immortal king bone markings shining through his body, resonating marvelously with the World Tree.

He did not rush to expand the domain; instead, he compressed it.

He forced the chaotic circle of a hundred zhang back inward.

Hundred zhang, fifty zhang, ten zhang…

Until finally it shrank to a three‑zhang radius, pressed tightly against his surface.

Yet that three‑zhang space weighed as much as billions of jun.

The void could not bear such mass, began to collapse in large areas, revealing pitch‑black emptiness; but the moment that emptiness touched the three‑zhang domain, it was forcibly assimilated, becoming fuel for the domain's operation.

"What is he doing?" Gu Lin Tian watched, his heart pounding; even a true immortal's divine thought could not penetrate the three‑zhang space. "Compressing the domain? Isn't that cutting off his own path?"

Usually, cultivators who break through the Ninth Realm strive to spread their domain as wide as possible; the larger the domain, the stronger the borrowed Heaven‑and‑Earth power.

Gu Yuan's contrary approach truly baffles people.

"Superficial." Gu Cangsheng stood with hands behind his back, a flash of brilliance exploding in his eyes, yet his mouth could not suppress the smug curve at the corner.

"Lin Tian, look closely. When this fist is thrown, is it an open palm that hurts, or a clenched fist that crushes?"

Gu Lin Tian was startled, then his pupils contracted sharply.

Within that three‑zhang domain, three thousand great Daoic Laws were no longer free; the World Tree forcibly kneaded them together, weaving a dense great net.

Gold, wood, water, fire, and earth construct the land and rivers; wind and thunder shape the heavens; yin and yang set the order; time and space build the framework.

This is not borrowing Heaven‑and‑Earth's power.

It is… creating a new source!

"Give me… open it!"

Amid the chaos, Gu Yuan snapped his eyes open.

In those eyes there was no sclera or pupil, only two slowly rotating gray vortices—left eye alive, right eye dead.

Boom—!

The three‑zhang domain exploded instantly!

It did not expand outward but collapsed inward, then generated a terrifyingly unparalleled suction.

Surrounding fragments of Law from the shattered immortal realm, stray spiritual Qi, even the mineral vein essence deep underground, all at that moment boiled uncontrollably, turning into a raging torrent that surged toward Gu Yuan.

Devour!

This is no breakthrough; it's clearly an ancient Taotie devouring!

The Ten Thousand Paths Time Lamp inside Gu Yuan ignited, its wick bursting into flame that shot skyward, instantly refining the surging chaotic energy into the purest nourishment, pouring it into the World Tree and the chaotic singularity.

Crack!

A crisp cracking sound rang inside Gu Yuan.

It wasn't bone breaking, but the sound of some shackles being shattered.

Ninth Realm, Domain Realm, achieved!

But his Domain Realm is vastly different.

Ordinary domains are either blazing flames or sword Qi sweeping across.

Gu Yuan's domain, however, is a grayish chaos where vague silhouettes of mountains, rivers, and even sun, moon, and stars drift within the chaotic Qi.

Myriad Hongmeng Domain!

"Huh…"

Gu Yuan exhaled a long breath of foul Qi; the stream burst outward, turning into a white ribbon that pierced straight through a floating mountain a thousand zhang high ahead.

He stood up, stretching his muscles and bones.

Clatter—

A thunderous explosion resonated within his body; every inch of muscle cheered, every cell roared.

That sense of mastering everything was unprecedentedly clear.

Within this domain, he is the absolute ruler.

Even a true immortal entering, without hard‑core resistance from the source, would likely be suppressed by thirty percent of combat power!

"Grandfather, father, I will not disgrace the mission."

Gu Yuan grinned, sealing the terrifying phenomenon, reverting to the red‑lipped, white‑toothed, harmless‑looking youth.

Only a faint golden vertical line appeared at his brow, exuding a heart‑pounding majesty.

Gu Cangsheng flashed forward, slapping Gu Yuan's shoulder heavily, shaking the void itself.

"Good kid! What a Myriad Hongmeng!"

The old man laughed so broadly his mouth could not close, his eyes brighter than when he saw his ancestral tomb emit green smoke, "With such foundation, not only can you refine this shattered immortal realm, even a corner of the true celestial realm would be a bite for you!"

Gu Lin Tian also came forward; though he strained to uphold the patriarch's dignity, his slightly trembling fingers betrayed his inner excitement.

"The Ninth Realm… is the ultimate realm."

He sighed, "Yuan'er, the path you walk, I as father can no longer comprehend. Yet that does not stop me from being proud of you."

"Enough, stop the melodrama."

Gu Cangsheng waved his hand to cut off his son's sentiment, his gaze suddenly sharp as he looked at the vast ground beneath his feet.

"Since the bowls and chopsticks are ready, let the feast begin!"

"Yuan'er, just eat heartily; if this world dares to rebel, Grandfather will suppress it for you!"

Gu Yuan nodded, curbing his smile, his expression turning solemn.

The true challenge has only just begun.

He sat cross-legged again, forming a strange seal with both hands.

That is the Heaven‑Swallowing Dharma Seal recorded in the Primordial Immortal Classic, used specifically to plunder the creation of heaven and earth.

"Myriad Dao Primordial Chaos, open!"

A low shout.

The domain that had just been retracted unfolded once again.

This time it was no longer three zhang, but three hundred zhang, three thousand zhang, thirty thousand zhang…

It was like a greedy maw, frantically expanding outward until it completely engulfed the core region within a radius of one hundred thousand li.

"Devour!"

Hum—

The entire broken immortal realm shuddered violently.

The earth split open, mountains crumbled.

Countless thick earth‑vein dragon qi were forcibly extracted, transformed into roaring giant dragons that struggled as they were dragged into Gu Yuan's domain.

It was a spectacle as magnificent as it was brutal.

Gu Yuan was like a merciless bandit, not only looting this world's treasures but also tearing out its foundations, pillars, and tiles, carrying everything away!

"Roar—!"

The will of the broken immortal realm seemed to have been enraged.

Although it was already dead, that instinctive rejection still triggered a terrifying celestial phenomenon.

Above the Heavenly Dome, blood clouds thickened, black lightning poured down like a waterfall, each bolt as thick as a mountain, carrying the lethal stillness of annihilation, striking fiercely at the ant that dared to defile the world.

"Hmph, even dead it won't rest!"

Gu Cangsheng snorted coldly, and the aura of a half‑step Immortal King exploded outward.

He used no divine abilities, simply raising one hand and gripping fiercely at the Heavenly Dome.

"Scatter… for this old man!"

Crack!

That sky‑filling black lightning, together with the heavy blood clouds, was actually crushed by that invisible giant hand!

The shattered lightning turned into specks of light, which instead became nourishment for Gu Yuan.

This is the overbearing might of a half‑step Immortal King.

Before absolute power, so‑called heavenly punishment is nothing but a joke.

"Continue!"

Gu Cangsheng's robes fluttered like a divine needle that stabilizes the sea, firmly planted beside Gu Yuan, "With this old man here, the heavens cannot be overturned!"