Chapter 244: Was it him who killed?

During relocation there will be loss; at least one‑tenth of the origin evaporates in cross‑world transmission. But it's enough.

Gu Yuan's gaze turned toward the northern horizon,

"Grandfather said Zhenyuan came on his own, without reporting to the Immortal Realm, which means the Immortal Realm won't know he died in the short term."

"How long can we keep it hidden?"

"It depends on luck—anywhere from three days to three months." Gu Yuan turned and walked toward the altar, "So we must hurry."

He had just taken two steps when his foot stumbled.

It wasn't hesitation, it wasn't a pause.

It was a karma thread entwined around the Myriad Dao Time Lamp inside his body—it had snapped.

That karma thread was extremely fine, too fine to normally sense its existence.

It was connected to the Zhenyuan Immortal King.

It wasn't the residual karma on this half‑body before him.

It was the other half.

The half that Gu Cangsheng had let go.

Gu Yuan's pupils contracted slightly.

When his grandfather crushed the Zhenyuan Immortal King's Dao Fruit, he casually planted a wisp of karma aura on the opponent through the Myriad Dao Time Lamp.

It wasn't for tracking.

It was to confirm the opponent was still alive.

For a living person, the karma thread persists, even if it's so weak it's almost imperceptible.

For a dead person, the karma thread breaks.

It breaks cleanly.

Just like now.

Gu Yuan stood where he was, silent for three breaths.

Gu Lin Tian noticed his abnormality.

"What's wrong?"

"The Zhenyuan Immortal King is dead."

Gu Lin Tian froze for a moment.

"What do you mean? Didn't your grandfather let half of him go?"

"Right. Grandfather released his lower half and part of his origin, letting him flee back to the Immortal Realm with his remnant body."

Gu Yuan's voice was flat, "But he didn't make it back."

"He died on the way."

The hall fell silent for an instant.

Gu Zhan stopped pacing, Gu Xuan Ce lifted his head, and Gu Lingjiang's hand holding tea hovered in midair.

"Who killed him?" Gu Lin Tian voiced everyone's question.

Gu Yuan didn't answer right away. He closed his eyes and carefully sensed the broken end of the karma thread on the Myriad Dao Time Lamp.

The break in the karma thread was clean.

It wasn't corroded by chaotic force—that's Grandfather's method, which leaves a gray‑purple chaotic residue at the break.

It wasn't torn apart by brute force—that kind of break would have jagged law fragments like burrs.

This break was like being sliced in one stroke by an extremely sharp blade.

The cut surface was smooth, with no extra marks.

Only one kind of power can achieve this level of clean precision.

A sword.

Gu Yuan opened his eyes.

"Li Hentian."

The two words hit the floor, and the hall's temperature plunged.

Gu Lin Tian's brows furrowed.

"The Sword King of Hatred? Isn't he in seclusion healing on Burial Sword Mountain? His clone was cut off by his father, his true body took a Crimson Sky strike head‑on, and his Natal Divine Sword is shattered—he couldn't recover without a hundred thousand years."

"He really hasn't recovered." Gu Yuan walked back to the Grand Tutor's chair and sat, his fingers unconsciously tapping the armrest,

"but killing a Zhenyuan Immortal King whose Dao Fruit is shattered and who has only half a body left doesn't require recovery."

Gu Lingjiang set down his tea cup: "Young Master, do you mean Li Hentian has been secretly monitoring the movements of the Three Thousand Provinces?"

"Not just monitoring." Gu Yuan's gaze darkened, "He's waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

"Waiting for someone to do his dirty work for him."

Gu Yuan rose and walked to the Three Thousand Provinces Jade Disc.

"The Zhenyuan Immortal King descended into the Three Thousand Provinces without reporting to the Immortal Realm. Grandfather struck him down to half a body; he fled with severe injuries, his Dao Fruit ruptured, and the cross‑world passage was severed."

Gu Yuan's finger swept from Sword Province toward the north pole, drawing an arc.

"If the Zhenyuan Immortal King's escape route had been pre‑calculated by that Li Hentian…… a gravely wounded Immortal King, bearing a wound infused with chaotic aura, passing by his doorstep……"

"That Li Hentian bears a grudge against my Gu family; the Zhenyuan Immortal King carries Grandfather's chaotic aura, information about the Three Thousand Provinces' origin anchored to him, and our Gu family's secrets—all things Li Hentian dreams of obtaining."

"And a half‑dead Zhenyuan Immortal King is the perfect information carrier."

"Kill him, search his soul, and all that information will be ours."

"Then we'll pin Zhenyuan's death on us."

Gu Yuan's voice wasn't loud, but every word struck everyone present in the heart.

Gu Zhan cursed a profanity.

"This Li is more sinister than a snake!"

Gu Lin Tian's expression grew solemn.

"If Li Hentian searched Zhenyuan's soul, then what he knows now——"

"A lot."

Gu Yuan nodded,

"Grandfather's true strength, our plan to relocate to Sanqian Zhou, the layout of the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Qian Yin Formation, and possibly even the existence of the World Tree inside me."

Silence fell in the hall for five breaths.

Gu Cangsheng's voice came from the Tongxin Immortal Talisman, this time without the frivolous tone.

"Yuan'er, are you sure it's Li Hentian?"

"The break in the causality thread was cut by Sword Intent; anywhere near Sanqian Zhou, only he could cut an Immortal King‑level causality thread with Sword Intent."

The immortal talisman fell silent for a moment.

"I have miscalculated."

Gu Cangsheng's voice sank, "We shouldn't have let that half go."

"Don't blame grandfather."

Gu Yuan shook his head, "Letting him go was right; we need to pour Zhenyuan Immortal King's origin into the Great Array, keeping a whole corpse would be troublesome. Who would have thought that old dog Li Hentian, injured as he is, could still lurk on the road and kill people?"

"What should we do now?" Gu Lin Tian asked.

Gu Yuan picked up the tea cup on the table and took a sip. The spiritual tea refined by Wanyao Shenjun had gone cold, but he didn't mind.

"Two possibilities."

"First, Li Hentian obtained the information and chose to keep it for himself. He is naturally greedy; perhaps by not acting he could still refine half of Zhenyuan Immortal King's Immortal King origin… In that case, he will wait until his injuries heal before coming to us, and we have time."

"Second, after obtaining the information, he discovered our strength exceeded his expectations, chose to report to the Immortal Realm and borrow a knife to kill. In that case……"

Gu Yuan set down the tea cup.

"Our time, from three days to three months, has been shortened to possibly only a few days."