Chapter 450

Hold onto it! This is the ultimate trial for you as a reserve apostle! As long as you complete this task, I guarantee you direct advancement to an official practitioner, and I will bestow upon you the Immortal King Dao Fruit!

However, faced with this drop of Yuan Du potent enough to make any Immortal Domain giant tremble at the mere mention, Gu Yuan's clone reacted in a way that completely defied Ba Zhang Lao's expectations.

He showed no fear, nor any fervor for the mission.

On the contrary, in Gu Yuan's clone's gray-black eyes burst forth an unprecedented greed and desire!

"Such pure power..."

Gu Yuan's clone licked his lips, not hiding his salivating,

"Old man, since this stuff is so powerful, what if... I just eat it myself? My cultivation should be able to break straight through to the Immortal King realm, right?"

"Are you crazy?!"

Ba Zhang Lao let out a shriek in the void, as if hearing the most absurd joke in the world,

"This is Yuan Du! It's used to contaminate the world's origin! You, a mere fleshly body, even if you had an ancient saintly physique, if you dare to swallow Yuan Du outright, you'll be corroded to nothing in an instant! Your soul will be utterly annihilated, never to reincarnate!"

"Is that so? I don't believe it." Gu Yuan's clone said with a teasing tone.

"You—! You ignorant fool!"

Ba Zhang Lao was practically going insane, how did he end up with such a disobedient lunatic?

"I warn you, this drop of Yuan Du is extremely precious; if you dare to ruin the matter..."

"Oh come on, enough, stop nagging. It's just poisoning, right? I got it."

Gu Yuan's clone impatiently interrupted him, about to agree, but then seemed to think of something and shifted his tone.

"No."

"What now?! You brat, what other tricks are you trying to pull?"

Ba Zhang Lao's voice already carried an uncontainable anger.

"Then in the Pool of Ascension, aren't there Hong Meng Dao Qi and the Immortal Dao origin?"

Gu Yuan's clone said matter-of-factly, his eyes greedier than ever,

"I intend to absorb and refine that stuff; after I put it in, how would I still absorb it?"

The will in the void stalled for a moment, as if choked by Gu Yuan's righteous yet shameless logic.

After a long while, Ba Zhang Lao's voice, suppressing surging fury and almost squeezed from between his teeth, sounded again:

"Then you won't first absorb it, wait until you've absorbed it, and then pour the Yuan Du in?!"

He almost roared the sentence, afraid that this brain‑addled madman wouldn't even grasp such simple logic.

"What if I end up absorbing it all?"

"You... just you?"

Ba Zhang Lao scoffed.

"That is the essence accumulated over hundreds of millions of years in the Heavenly Court."

"Not even one of you, let alone a hundred of you, could manage it!"

"After all, only a ceaseless flow of Hong Meng Dao Qi can inversely affect the heavens of the Primordial Immortal Domain!"

"If you really could absorb it and not die..."

Ba Zhang Lao, furious to the point of laughing bitterly, said harshly,

"Then count yourself as badass! From now on, I'll take a detour whenever I see you!"

Having said that, Ba Zhang Lao unilaterally severed the mental link, obviously quite angry.

The sea of consciousness returned to calm.

Gu Yuan's clone stood where he was, gazing at the dark‑purple Yuan Du droplet floating in his sea of consciousness, the corner of his mouth slowly curling into an extremely brilliant smile.

"This is what you said, after all."

……

……

At this moment, the Fourth Layer Continent had already fallen into chaos due to the descent of sixteen heaven‑chosen ones.

Although there were only four secret keys, in order to vie for the sole opportunity to reach the Fifth Layer and make contact with Hong Meng Dao Qi, the remaining heaven‑chosen ones had already launched a brutal slaughter.

Gu Yuan's clone, carrying Hun Yuan Xue, sped through mid‑air.

His vast divine sense swept the land below like a radar.

Suddenly, his gaze locked onto a sea of fire in the southern part of the continent.

There, an active volcano spewed Nanming Li fire.

Above the volcano's crater, the Western Heaven Buddhist Prince Jin Tuo Zi sat cross‑legged upon a golden lotus platform.

His whole body bathed in Buddha light, he clenched in his hand a jade key radiating crimson light, engraved with a Vermilion Bird totem.

And beneath Jin Tuo Zi, two heaven‑chosen ones from other Immortal King clans lay fallen in pools of blood, evidently just having endured a fierce battle.

"It's the Vermilion Bird secret key!" Hun Yuan Xue's eyes lit up, she pointed excitedly downward, "Yuan! Quick! Grab it! That's mine!"

She cultivates the Nanming Li Fire Technique, and this Vermilion Bird secret key holds a deadly allure for her.

"As you wish, Miss."

Gu Yuan's clone hesitated not at all; his form like a black meteor, accompanied by a piercing sonic boom, he plunged straight down toward Jin Tuo Zi above the volcano's mouth!

Jin Tuo Zi had just gone through a bitter struggle to seize the Vermilion Bird secret key; he hadn't even caught his breath when he felt a suffocating, terrifying pressure descending from above.

He looked up, and his soul nearly fled his body.

"Is it you?! That demon!"

Jin Tuo Zi recognized Gu Yuan's clone; the formerly solemn and dignified face instantly filled with terror. He had personally witnessed this monster in the Third Layer ripping true immortals apart and gulping down saintesses!

"Amitabha! Benefactor, lay down your slaughter blade and attain Buddhahood on the spot! This Vermilion Bird secret key is fated with me; if you forcibly seize it, you will surely incur heavenly retribution!"

Jin Tuo Zi frantically retreated while shouting with a fierce exterior but a cowardly interior, simultaneously throwing out his string of prayer beads, which transformed into eighteen golden‑bodied arhats, attempting to block Gu Yuan's clone's advance.

Buddha? Even before me, the Buddha would have to kneel!

Gu Yuan's clone let out a wild laugh, not dodging or evading at all.

He directly lifted the iron fist wrapped in exterminating-source power and unleashed a punch!

Boom—

Eighteen golden-bodied Arhats, capable of blocking a full-force strike from a late-stage True Immortal, shattered like paper under this punch, instantly exploding into a sky-full of golden light!

The punch's momentum did not wane, carrying destructive force capable of tearing apart rotting wood, and it smashed hard onto Jin Tuo Zi's protective Buddha light.

Crack!

Accompanied by a grating crack, Jin Tuo Zi's sixteen-foot golden body, said to be invulnerable to all laws, was actually driven in a huge dent. He spat out a mouthful of golden Buddha blood, his whole body flying backward like a severed kite, and the Vermilion Bird Secret Key in his hand flew free.

Gu Yuan's clone reached out and firmly grasped the Vermilion Bird Secret Key.

"You… you demon! The Buddha will not spare you!" Jin Tuo Zi fell at the edge of the volcano, pointing at Gu Yuan's clone, his face full of unwillingness and hatred.

I don't know if the Buddha will spare you, but today I will definitely not spare you.

Gu Yuan's clone stepped forward, instantly appearing before Jin Tuo Zi. Looking down on this Western Heaven Buddha Son, the gray-black demon light in his eyes flickered wildly.

Your Buddhist dharma origin also interests me.

No—!

In Jin Tuo Zi's desperate scream, Gu Yuan's clone again seized his skull. The Myriad Transformations Return to Origin Art activated, turning pure Buddhist dharma origin into a rolling torrent that surged into Gu Yuan's clone's body.

In just a few breaths, another top-tier heaven's pride turned into a desiccated corpse.

…… -> "……"

Outside, in the boundless void.

The Eighth Elder of the Burial Heaven Pavilion, who had been secretly observing the True Immortal battlefield, saw this scene and was so angry he nearly overturned the void table before him.

Damn it! Simply damn it!

The Eighth Elder burst out cursing,

I just told him to keep a low profile, I just told him to restrain himself! He turned around and sucked dry the Western Heaven Buddha Son?! Is this kid brain-damaged?! Does he really think he's invincible?!

He killed Lei Qianjue, he killed Mo Wuxin, and now he's killed Jin Tuo Zi! As one of the top ten lineages in the Taichu Immortal Domain, he's offended half of them by himself! If those bigwigs find out he's related to our Burial Heaven Pavilion, our layout in this star field will be completely ruined!

The Eighth Elder now regrets it to the point his intestines turn green.

Had I known this kid was such an uncontrollable mad dog, I shouldn't have given him that drop of source toxin!

Forget it, the situation can't change now; first let him help suppress it, then wait for Gu Yuan to pour in the source toxin!