Chapter 438: Who's Next?

Even if we retreat ten thousand steps, what does it matter if he killed him? On the battlefield of true immortals, life and death are each's fate; if your skill is inferior, dying is deserved!

Hun Yuan Xue's temper was explosively furious to the extreme.

She already disliked Yao Chi's arrogant, self-righteous attitude; moreover, Gu Yuan was now her strongest trump card, her greatest reliance in the fight for the Supreme Head Dao Fruit.

To have her hand over her chief enforcer for a soul search? That's harder to bear than a slap to her face!

"Hun Yuan Xue, dare you shelter the killer?!"

Yao Qinglian's eyes blazed with killing intent, the light of her Eight Trigrams Treasure Mirror growing ever more blinding,

"By order of the Holy Lord, those who obstruct the investigation are deemed accomplices and shall be killed without mercy! I give you one last chance—step aside!"

"I'll step aside, you bastard!"

Hun Yuan Xue was also thoroughly enraged; her ninety-nine immortal meridians erupted, a massive fire phoenix phantom coalesced behind her, and the Southern Brightness Fire blazed through the void,

"Anyone who wants to move against this young lady must first ask if my fire phoenix agrees! All who belong to Chaotic Heaven, prepare to meet battle!"

Swords drawn, bows taut!

The air was thick with the strong smell of gunpowder.

Just as both sides were about to clash, a pale, slender hand, yet suffused with an eerie gray-black hue, lightly rested on Hun Yuan Xue's shoulder.

Miss, such dirty work—how could it soil your hands?

A hoarse, icy voice, as if from the netherworld's depths, echoed in Hun Yuan Xue's ear.

Gu Yuan slowly stepped past Hun Yuan Xue and walked to the very front of the group.

He slightly lifted his gaze; his originally pitch-black pupils had now turned completely gray-black, deep within them flickering demonic flames of destruction and annihilation.

He gazed upon Yao Qinglian, high above on the Heavenly Dome, and the dozens of Jade Pool True Immortals, the corner of his mouth curling into an arc of extreme cruelty.

"You say you want to… extract my soul and refine my spirit?"

Gu Yuan tilted his head, his bones emitting a grating sound that made teeth ache.

"Insolent! A mere native of the lower realms dares to look upon this Holy Maiden with such eyes!"

Yao Qinglian felt an inexplicable chill in her heart from Gu Yuan's gaze, then flared with shame and anger: 'Seize him! Alive or dead, it doesn't matter!'

"Yes, sir!"

Three late-stage True Immortal experts from the Jade Pool Holy Land shouted coldly and struck simultaneously.

The three formed identical hand seals, and three chains of pure Immortal Essence, glazed and gleaming, shot through the void like venomous snakes, fiercely locking onto Gu Yuan's shoulder blades. These chains could not only bind the flesh but also directly seal a True Immortal's Dao Fruit, overbearing beyond compare.

However, facing this thunderous strike, Gu Yuan didn't even make a dodging motion.

He simply stood still, letting the three glazed chains tightly coil around his shoulders and neck.

"Hmph, an ignorant fool who thinks he's strong."

A Jade Pool True Immortal who had struck sneered, yanking the chain hard: 'Kneel!'

Not a twitch.

Gu Yuan's body was like an immovable primordial divine mountain; the immense force capable of moving stars could not bend his knee even a fraction.

"What?!" The three True Immortals' faces twitched.

"With just this bit of strength, you want to capture me?"

Gu Yuan's hoarse voice sounded. The next instant, he thrust out both hands, left and right, seizing the glazed chains wrapped around him.

Boom!

A surge of gray-black power, brimming with corrupting terror, erupted from his body without reservation!

The gray-black demonic qi spread along his hands like a bone-eating parasite, wildly creeping onto the glazed chains.

Only the sound of 'hiss—hiss' of corrosion was heard; the vaunted indestructible Immortal Dao chain, under the erosion of the Source-Extinguishing Power, melted like ice meeting flame, dripping away as pools of black water.

"What… what kind of evil sorcery is this?!"

The three Jade Pool True Immortals were shocked, feeling that the gray-black power, following the chains' causal links, frenziedly spread toward their true selves; wherever it passed, their Immortal Essence was being assimilated and polluted!

"Retreat!"

The three made a snap decision, seeking to sever their Immortal Essence.

"You want to leave now? Too late."

Gu Yuan gave a feral grin, the terrifying bodily power of his Primeval Sacred Body fully erupting at this moment.

He jerked his hands outward, and the three late-stage True Immortal experts let out a miserable scream, being irresistibly hauled down from midair and smashed hard onto the white jade floor before him.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The earth trembled.

Before the three could even get up, Gu Yuan stepped forward and appeared before one of them.

He used no immortal arts, no weapons.

He merely lifted his right foot, imbued with rich gray-black Source-Extinguishing qi, and stomped down hard on that True Immortal's head!

"No——!"

Pfft!

Like stepping on a watermelon.

That late-stage True Immortal expert, together with his protective immortal light and True Immortal Dao Fruit, shattered explosively under that foot!

Red-and-white filth splattered everywhere, but in an instant it was devoured clean by the gray-black demonic qi.

One foot, and a late-stage True Immortal was trampled to death!

The entire place fell dead silent.

Even Lei Qianjue and the others on the Heaven-Reaching Vine felt their pupils contract sharply and their scalps go numb.

They knew this native was strong, but never imagined he could be this brutal!

"Junior Martial Brother!"

The other two Yaochi true immortals' eyes seemed about to split, their grief and anger mingling, "Demonic heretic, meet your death!"

The two simultaneously brandished their life‑bound celestial swords, which transformed into two world‑shaking rainbows, striking straight at Gu Yuan's chest.

"Demonic?"

In Gu Yuan's eyes, demonic light flared intensely,

"Then let me show you what true demons are!"

He did not retreat but advanced, meeting those two sword beams capable of cleaving the Milky Way, and directly extended his large hands covered with gray‑black demonic patterns.

Bang! Bang!

The clash of metal rang through the heavens.

Under the horrified gazes of everyone, Gu Yuan astonishingly used his flesh hands to grasp the two top‑grade true immortal‑level celestial swords!

The sharp blades cut his palms yet left not even a white mark, only a spray of dazzling sparks.

"Shatter for me!"

Gu Yuan let out a feral roar, his arm muscles bulging, as source‑eradication power poured in wildly.

Crack! Crack!

The two life‑bound celestial swords, which had accompanied their master for tens of thousands of years, emitted a mournful wail under the crushing force of the ancient holy body and the corrosion of source‑eradication power, and he brutally snapped them into two pieces!

"Puff!" With their life‑bound artifacts destroyed, the two true immortals each spewed a mouthful of fresh blood, their aura waning.

Gu Yuan gave them no chance to breathe. He flashed like a phantom, appearing directly between the two. His hands reached out, clamping their Heavenly Spirit Covers like iron tongs.

"All Transformations Return to Origin!"

He let out a low growl, and the Supreme Demonic Art of Zang Tian Ge surged at full power.

"Aaaah—!"

The two true immortals let out screams of extreme anguish.

In terror they realized that their celestial essence, refined blood, even the very source of their divine souls were rapidly draining away, flowing through Gu Yuan's hands into his own body.

In just three breaths,

The two once vigorous true immortal masters turned into two withered skeletons, drifting away with the wind.

Yet the gray‑black demonic aura surrounding Gu Yuan grew denser, his presence rising again, even exuding a pressure that made a half‑step celestial king's heart race.

"So exhilarating!"

Gu Yuan howled toward the heavens, his voice tinged with a pathological madness and bloodlust.

He turned his head, those gray‑black eyes fixed on Yao Qinglian on the Heavenly Dome and the remaining Yaochi Tianjiao.

"Who's next?"