Chapter 401: Stealing Heaven's scheme—feasible!

It was Gu Yuan, whose appearance and aura had been altered.

His appearance did not attract much attention.

Among this group of savage‑aura native powerhouses, his aura, restrained to the extreme, seemed rather ordinary.

Gu Yuan walked up to the Boundary Stele, raised his head, and glanced at the so‑called ancient demon ox.

In his spiritual sense, the demon ox's essence was merely a True Immortal‑level feral beast with a thin Taotie bloodline, its soul stripped away, leaving only a shell with defensive power.

"Interesting."

He flexed his wrist, then, under everyone's astonished gaze, simply threw a punch.

No earth‑shaking momentum, no dazzling brilliance.

Just such an ordinary punch, light and airy, landed on the stele.

"Moo——!!!"

A mournful cry to the extreme, like a painful howl from the primordial wilderness, burst forth from within the Boundary Stele!

The jet‑black stele, so indestructible that even a Supreme Peak could not move it an inch, trembled violently.

At the spot where Gu Yuan's fist landed, a crystal‑clear fist imprint, three inches deep, suddenly appeared!

Immediately, the numbers representing battle achievements on the stele began to jump wildly.

One hundred!

Five hundred!

One thousand!

Two thousand!

The whole world fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone stared blankly at the black‑clad youth standing before the stele, slowly retracting his fist, their minds empty.

Inside the main hall of the Immortal Vessel.

The silver‑armored commander Hundun, who had been resting with eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes.

His figure flickered, and he instantly appeared before the stele; in his usually indifferent eyes, shock appeared for the first time.

He fixed his gaze on the fist imprint on the stele, then glanced at Gu Yuan, whose aura remained ordinary, and his brows knit tightly.

"You… what is your name?"

Hundun's voice unconsciously carried a hint of gravity.

Gu Yuan lifted his eyes, looking at him with a gaze mixed with wildness, bewilderment, and a hint of expectation, and spoke hoarsely.

"They… call me, Yuan."

Yuan.

A simple word, yet it made Hundun's heart jump inexplicably.

He could sense that within this native youth before him lay a terrifying power that even he found shocking.

That power was primal and savage, full of destructiveness, yet tightly suppressed by a deeper will.

This is not a power that an ordinary Supreme Realm cultivator could possess.

A wild True Immortal?

The thought flashed through Hundun's mind.

Did one really appear?!

In the history of the Immortal Realm, such wild existences occasionally appear—beings who break free of the Immortal Realm system, rely on their own unique methods in certain special lower realms, and forcefully breakthrough to the True Immortal stage.

Such beings usually have mixed foundations, lack divine abilities, possess only brute strength, and are no match before a true Immortal Realm True Immortal.

But their talent is undeniable.

If they could be brought under one's command and given a little training, they would surpass most Immortal Realm True Immortals—definitely a useful blade.

Especially on the impending True Immortal battlefield.

Thinking this, the shock and apprehension in Hundun's eyes were quickly replaced by greed and calculation.

"Good."

He nodded, his dignified gaze sweeping over the entire field,

"From now on, you are the commander of this vanguard army."

As soon as he said that, the whole place erupted.

Those native powerhouses still shocked by Gu Yuan's punch looked at him, and their gazes instantly became complex.

There was awe, envy, but more so a sense of scrutiny and yearning.

Gu Yuan, meanwhile, displayed a look of startled favor, somewhat at a loss; he opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately just nodded heavily, expressing his compliance through action.

Hundun was very pleased with his reaction.

What he wanted was an obedient beast, not a wolf that would bite its master.

The selection continued, but everyone's mindset had changed.

Gu Yuan's world‑shaking punch was like a great mountain pressing on everyone's hearts, and it completely ignited their craving for power.

In the end, the thousand slots were filled, and Gu Yuan unsurprisingly took first place.

Hundun wasted no more time, directly ordering the Immortal Vessel to open, carrying these thousand natives whose hopes had addled their brains, as well as the harvest of Yuan Magnetic Mountain Lord and others stored as cargo in the violet‑gold gourd, turning into a stream of light that rushed into the immense golden curtain of Heavenly Dome.

……

Inside the Immortal Vessel, a self‑contained small world.

Pavilions and towers, immortal qi swirling, contrasted with the barren, blood‑stained wasteland outside—like two different worlds.

The thousand selected natives, upon stepping in, were hit by the thick immortal essence that left them dizzy and dazed.

They were like a bunch of country bumpkins entering a palace—everything looked novel, everything felt precious.

Someone even lay on the ground, disregarding their image, gulping down the sweet immortal essence in the air, their face showing an expression of intoxicated bliss.

Gu Yuan found an inconspicuous corner, sat cross-legged, appearing to meditate, but his divine sense had already sunk into his inner world.

"Interesting."

Just moments ago, when he became the commander of this vanguard army, the Primordial Human Emperor Seal in his inner world unexpectedly sent out a faint throb.

He could sense a barely perceptible thread of cause and effect extending from the Human Emperor Seal, silently connecting to the core formation of this immortal vessel.

This immortal vessel, as the mount of the Unlawful Immortal King, inherently bears the fate of his lineage.

And he, the commander personally appointed by the Immortal King's general, is like a key that opens a backdoor for siphoning off this fate.

Gu Yuan's thoughts stirred slightly; a minuscule strand of golden fate, following that cause-and-effect thread, was drawn in and slowly merged into the Human Emperor Seal.

Although this strand of fate was but a drop in the ocean for the vast Human Emperor Seal, it proved something to Gu Yuan.

His scheme to steal heaven is feasible!

Give him enough time… the Primordial Immortal Realm will be his!