Chapter 223: Has a New Immortal King Arrived at the Gu Family?

When Gu Yuan stepped through the golden gate, his gaze once again met the familiar sky of the Primordial Immortal Realm.

The defensive Great Array of the Gu Family's Divine Island automatically withdrew, to welcome the return of this sovereign.

Outside the Divine Island, the various bigwigs who had been reddening their faces over the "quota of immortal tombs", even calculating how many ancestral leg hairs they could offer for bidding, fell silent the instant the golden light gate opened.

The sky of the Primordial Immortal Realm was again forced down a hundred zhang by that unreasonable oppressive pressure.

Ji Tian You, the Dragon Emperor, and the newly rescued Old Ancestor Kumu, the three newly ascended True Immortals who had been stabilizing the Gu Family's realms, now all opened their eyes in unison, their terror unmistakable.

They had become Immortals, their vision broadened, yet they found their understanding of that height grew even more desperate.

"Is that… the Gu Family Young Master returning?"

The Dragon Emperor's freshly forged True Immortal dragon body involuntarily curled.

From the void fissure he sensed a vitality that made his very essence want to kneel, alongside a dense, impenetrable stench of rotting death.

The golden radiance faded.

Gu Yuan, clad in white as pure snow, expression unchanged, held in his hand a Ten-Thousand Path Time Lamp flickering with a faint flame.

Trailing behind, Gu Lin Tian merged his three bodies into one, heroic and extraordinary; finally came Gu Cangsheng, looking like an old farmer, hands clasped behind his back, strolling on the void steps, casually pulling a handful of fresh melon seeds from his sleeve, the shells clacking "pat‑pat".

"Quite lively," Gu Yuan said, looking at Gu Lin Tian. "Father, is our family holding a temple fair?"

Gu Lin Tian smoothed his collar, gazing at the terrified lords of the Dao traditions, his expression solemn:

"They've come to deliver money. Since Yuan'er has returned, the main act should now begin."

Gu Cangsheng cleared his throat; his voice was soft yet struck like a heavy hammer, precisely hitting each person's heart:

"I have been in seclusion here for years, and by chance attained an Immortal King. Returning home today, I hoped for peace, but given your generous hospitality, let's hold an Immortal King Grand Banquet three days from now."

He paused, and a chillingly playful glint crossed the old ancestor's eyes:

"If you come empty‑handed, don't even enter. After all, my path to Immortal King has been hard; I need some heavenly materials and earthly treasures to replenish my qi and blood, wouldn't you agree?"

One stone stirred a thousand ripples.

The Dao traditions that had just been celebrating having a True Immortal among them now felt every organ ache.

The Immortal King Grand Banquet is not a simple dinner; it's clearly the Gu Family brazenly conducting a second great harvest across the entire Immortal Realm.

And this time, you must attend and prepare a gift that will make the Immortal King nod.

The most important thing is…

We just held one not long ago!

"Dragon Emperor, doesn't your ancestral dragon nest still have a few decent Immortal King dragon bones?"

Wan You True Immortal looked at the Dragon Emperor with a hint of bitterness.

The Dragon Emperor's aged face twitched twice, he held back for a moment, then spat out a sentence:

"I intend to dig up all the boundary foundations of the dragon nest; I can't bear to leave them, lest the entire clan be summoned by the old ancestor for tea."

Gu Yuan was too lazy to bother with the thoughts of the various Dao traditions.

What he cared about most now was how many treasures he could obtain this time.

For his next plan.

Behind the Divine Island.

Wan Yao Divine Lord also returned to the Gu Family.

At this moment, he presented a turquoise token with both hands.

The token recorded the core asset distribution of the entire Wan Yao Great World.

"Young Master, aside from the portion offered to the family, I have privately kept a few Primeval Longevity Herbs that can defy fate. These herbs, born in chaos and grown in the primordial void, provide irreplaceable nourishment to your cultivation foundation."

Wan Yao Divine Lord was very tactful; he knew whose hands his fate now rested in.

Gu Yuan took the token, his divine thought sinking into it; those rare herbs with ages of hundreds of thousands of years, capable of sparking a realm‑wide war, appeared to him as nothing more than rows of cold numbers.

"Senior, you're thoughtful."

Gu Yuan looked at Gu Cangsheng beside him,

"Grandfather, the layout of the Primordial Immortal Realm is still too small."

Gu Cangsheng cracked a walnut, his eyes tinged with weariness: "You intend to bring Sanqian Zhou over as well?"

"The relocation plan has been stalled for far too long."

Gu Yuan stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the flowing light beyond the Divine Island,

"Before, our strength was insufficient; we feared we couldn't move it or hold it. Now, Grandfather, you are the Jue Dian Immortal King, with seniors like Wan Yao and a dual mastery of array and alchemy at your command. Since those two Immortal Kings dared to snatch food right under our noses, wouldn't it make the Gu Family look easy to bully if we don't seize that place completely?"

Sanqian Zhou is not just a vast world, but a gigantic chessboard.

The karmic threads Gu Yuan left there have not yet been reaped.

Gu Lin Tian, listening nearby, felt his blood boil.

As an ambitious family head, his favorite thing is continual expansion.

"Move! Must move!"

Gu Lin Tian slapped the table and rose,

"Elder Xuan Ce's Zhou Tian Xing Dou Qian Yin Formation is now perfected. Coupled with the power of the Boundary Heart, and with Grandfather and Senior Wan Yao's Immortal King‑level might, the Immortal King Grand Banquet three days from now is an excellent opportunity."

……

……

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

During those three days, the entire Primordial Immortal Realm fell into unprecedented turmoil.

Countless ancient mines that had slumbered for ten thousand years were forcibly excavated, and some secret realms regarded as a sect's lifeblood were even directly dismantled.

All the Dao traditions were scrambling, their heads in a mess, over that gift.

The feeling was both strange and ironic.

It was clearly our own family's blood‑sweat, yet we had to joyfully deliver it to that colossal being looming overhead.

And being late, we also had to worry about the Gu Family's murderous Third Elder, the true immortal Gu Xue Dao, coming with a knife to the door.

……

……

Gu Family Divine Island, Main Hall.

Ten thousand auspicious qi dripped from the top of the hall, and faintly in the void ancient divine spirits chanted sutras; this was Grand Ancestor Gu Cangsheng forcibly altering the Dao laws of this place with his Immortal King realm.

The sect leaders, supreme overlords, and even the rarely‑emerging true immortals who had gathered from all corners now stood on the plaza's sides like schoolchildren lining up for candy, orderly and proper.

Ji Family led the way.

Ji Tianyou, leading two quasi‑true immortals, bore a heavy jade box filled with Nine Heavens Mystic Crystals, his steps heavy.

"Ji Family, congratulations to Grand Ancestor on attaining the Immortal King, we present ten‑thousand‑jin of Nine Heavens Mystic Crystals, three ten‑thousand‑year immortal lotus, wishing the Gu Family eternal dominion over the heavens!" Ji Tianyou's voice rang across the four directions.

Next came Ancestor Dragon Nest, Hall of Ten Thousand Gods…

Primeval Divine Lord's already sallow face now looked even worse than crying.

He stared at his treasure vault emptied by more than half, gaining only the qualification to enter the main hall for a cup of tea; the bitterness in his heart threatened to drown him.

Even these resources, if squeezed, could forge another true immortal for them!

Yet he still had to smile, still had to shout the tribute list that made his heart bleed.

"Dragon Nest presents five bottles of Ancestor Dragon marrow, ten stems of Dragon Emperor Grass!"

"Hall of Ten Thousand Gods presents five thousand jin of Sun True Gold, one million jin of Divine Source!"

Gu Yuan sat at the head of the main hall, leaning sideways, idly twirling the Heart of the Ten Thousand Medicine Realm in his hand, not even glancing at those priceless treasures.

He was waiting for someone.

When the last Patriarch of the Dao Tradition trembled and handed over the tribute list, the atmosphere in the hall reached a strange equilibrium.

Everyone was waiting for Gu Cangsheng to appear.

At that moment, a Sword Intent that froze every soul rose abruptly from the depths of the hall.

This Sword Intent was extremely ancient, bearing a rotting aura that drew all things toward withering and end.

The temperature in the hall dropped sharply; the spirit fruits on the tables instantly withered and blackened, as if a thousand years had passed in a single breath.

"Who?!"

Dragon Emperor sprang up, true immortal Dragon Might instantly released, but the instant it touched that aura, it melted away like lingering snow under a scorching sun, vanishing without a trace.

The void twisted, and a figure clad in tattered golden‑red battle armor, surrounded by apocalyptic fire, stepped slowly into the hall.

Faceless, withered, desperate.

Immortal King's pressure fully unleashed, a crushing force from the very level of life that left those supreme sect leaders instantly limp on the ground, unable to lift their heads.

Even a true immortal like Ji Tianyou had to lean on a nearby stone pillar just to barely maintain a standing posture.

"Is that… the Immortal King?"

Ji Tianyou's voice trembled; she could clearly feel on that husk the apocalyptic law that ushered all things into dusk and made time completely wither.

It was the source of life many levels above a true immortal.

Even though the opponent had already retracted the aura, merely walking in the void of the Primordial Immortal Realm caused the surrounding space to continuously collapse and re‑form.

"Is… the Immortal King?" someone cried out in surprise.

Could it be coming to annihilate the Gu Family?