Chapter 389: Divine Kingdom, Yellow Springs, Reincarnation

Gu Yuan listened quietly, after a while, he suddenly smiled.

"Not bad."

He patted Gu's shoulder, "You haven't disappointed me."

He raised his hand and lightly waved at the frozen space below.

Time began to flow again.

The several youths who had punched and kicked Third Uncle suddenly stiffened, and a piercing pain shot through their limbs.

"Ah—!"

Amid their shrill screams, their limbs snapped apart inch by inch at a strange angle.

Their cultivation was completely abolished at that moment, turning them into weaklings even worse than ordinary mortals.

"Get lost."

A bland word exploded in their seas of consciousness.

Several youths, as if pardoned, scrambled away from this place that would haunt them forever.

Meanwhile, Third Uncle, curled up on the ground, saw his wounds heal at a visible speed, but the deep-seated weakness and despair in his marrow did not lessen in the slightest.

He slowly raised his head and saw the two figures hovering in midair.

When he cleared his vision of Gu's familiar yet unfamiliar face, he was struck as if by lightning and stood frozen.

"Gu… is… is that you?" His voice trembled uncontrollably.

In the next instant, a huge surge of joy and hope welled up in his heart.

He was saved!

Gu has returned!

He struggled to his feet from the ground, crawling and stumbling toward Gu as he dropped to his knees, tears streaming as he cried out:

"Gu! My good child! You've finally come back! I knew you wouldn't abandon us! Hurry, hurry, save us, take us away from this damned place!"

While he cried out, he also tried to crawl toward Gu, wanting to hug his leg, like a drowning man clutching the last straw.

However, Gu merely looked down at him coldly from above.

That gaze was like looking at a complete stranger—no pity, no hatred, only dead silence.

"Us?" Gu finally spoke, his voice icy without a trace of warmth, "From the moment you poured me that drink, the word 'us' ceased to exist."

Third Uncle's body suddenly stiffened.

He looked into Gu's icy eyes, and the hope that had just ignited in his heart was doused by a bucket of cold water.

"No… no, Gu, hear me out—I back then…"

"No need." Gu Yuan's voice rang out, cutting off his excuse, "Your fate was already sealed."

He no longer paid attention to that pitiful yet hateful old man, but turned his gaze back to Gu.

"Gu,"

Gu Yuan's voice became solemn and imposing,

"Since you have already understood your own path, from today onward I will grant you a new life."

He extended his hand, and in his palm the Primordial Human Emperor Seal, which had absorbed the destiny of billions from the Profound Heaven Continent, slowly appeared.

"In the name of the Lord of the Divine Kingdom, I appoint you as the First Inspector of the Divine Kingdom, to patrol all realms on my behalf, oversee the populace, enforce punishment, and judge good and evil."

As his words fell, the Human Emperor Seal blazed with light.

A strand of pure golden divine light, condensed from the power of faith and the primal laws of the Divine Kingdom, shot from the Human Emperor Seal and sank directly into Gu's brow.

Boom—

Gu felt his soul, at that moment, as if thrown into a great furnace, being repeatedly forged and refined!

His cultivation, which had just entered the Seventeenth Stage, began to surge wildly once again!

Seventeenth Stage Mid-phase!

Seventeenth Stage Late-phase!

Seventeenth Stage Peak!

Crack!

A clear cracking sound.

The Supreme Bottleneck that had troubled countless heavenly prodigies through the ages shattered within his body at once.

A terrifying aura, far stronger than before by more than tenfold, erupted from his body!

Eighteenth Stage, Supreme!

A single step to heaven!

This isn't over yet.

As that golden divine light continually merged, behind Gu there slowly appeared a figure identical to him, yet more imposing and divine—a Supreme Dharma Form.

The Dharma Form wore a Heaven-leveling Crown and a Profound Gold Robe; in its hand was no longer the broken blade, but a scroll woven from the laws of the Divine Kingdom, radiating majestic heavenly might… the Book of Life and Death!

"All who enter my Divine Kingdom have their names recorded in this book; their merits and demerits will be judged accordingly."

Gu Yuan's voice, like a heavenly decree, was imprinted deep into Gu's soul.

Gu slowly opened his eyes, feeling the unprecedented vast power within his body, and the myriad profound mysteries of the Divine Kingdom's laws that had arisen in his mind.

He bowed deeply, deeply, before Gu Yuan.

This time, he bowed not to a benefactor, but to his sole master for life.

"Gu, receive the decree."

…

…

After the enthronement of Gu, Gu Yuan did not stay long in Wanggu City.

He would maintain the Divine Kingdom's order and guide the newborn populace's trivial matters, handing over full authority to this newly appointed inspector.

Gu also did not disappoint his expectations; this former guardian deity, after experiencing betrayal and rebirth, had already tempered his disposition to be as firm as a rock.

He held the scroll of the Register of Life and Death transformed from the Human Emperor's Seal, and with thunderous means swiftly established on this nascent land of the Twilight Divine Realm a new order of clear rewards and punishments, impartial and iron‑faced.

Those former traitors were not executed, but their names in the Register of Life and Death were branded with a gray mark representing 'sin'.

Their descendants, within three generations, may not enter the Divine Kingdom's core cultivation nor hold any official position.

And those who had once upheld justice or shown kindness to Gu received generous rewards.

Their names shone brightly in the Register of Life and Death, enjoying the blessings of the Divine Kingdom's fortune, their cultivation advancing a thousand miles a day.

Good begets good; evil begets evil.

In this nascent Divine Kingdom, the cycle of cause and effect is no longer an illusory heavenly doctrine but has been made concrete, becoming the Sword of Damocles hanging over each person's head.

Having done all this, Gu Yuan's figure vanished in the Twilight Divine Realm.

He returned to the Gu Family's Divine Island, to the cave dwelling specially opened for him, shrouded in layer upon layer of immortal formations.

This time, he will undertake a genuine, long‑term seclusion.

The incorporation of the Profound Heaven Continent and the Twilight Divine Realm brought earth‑shaking changes to his inner world, yet also left many aspects that needed him personally to sort out and perfect.

Within the cave dwelling, time passed silently.

Gu Yuan sat cross‑legged, his mind and spirit completely immersed in his inner world.

His divine soul transformed into a towering giant that stood atop the World Tree.

He reached out, drawing the last strand of Primordial Xuanhuang Qi from deep within the earth, and with supreme power evenly infused it into every inch of the Divine Kingdom's land.

Boom—

The entire land of the Divine Kingdom began a frenzied expansion.

One hundred thousand li, two hundred thousand li, five hundred thousand li, one million li……

Finally, when that strand of Primordial Xuanhuang Qi was completely refined and absorbed, his Divine Kingdom's territory had expanded to a terrifying degree.

Mountains rose from the earth, rivers surged without cease; the former Profound Heaven Continent and Twilight Divine Realm are now merely two neighboring provinces within this vast expanse.

Next, he turned his gaze toward the Yellow Springs, which had evolved from the Ultimate Yin meridian.

He projected the fragmentary Primeval Human Emperor Seal he had obtained from the Divine Dynasty of Great Yin, sinking it into the depths of the Yellow Springs.