Chapter 455: Enter the Pool First, Then Speak

"Sounds interesting."

Gu Yuan's duplicate hoarsely smiled,

"But why should I help you? If I devour this Hong Meng Dao Qi myself, wouldn't that be more enjoyable?"

"You can't swallow much."

Feng Lingyun said firmly,

"The source of Sheng Xian Chi is linked to the heavenly Dao here; as an outsider, the amount you can absorb is extremely limited. Moreover, if you don't cooperate with me, do you think you can live to leave the True Immortal battlefield?"

"Are you threatening me?"

Gu Yuan's duplicate's voice grew cold, and gray‑black demonic energy began to disperse uncontrollably.

"No, I'm pointing you toward a clear path."

Feng Lingyun remained unmoved, "Don't forget, you killed the Yaochi Saintess, and used Lei Qianjue, Mo Wuxin, and Jin Tuo Zi as nourishment. Do you really think Hun Yuan Xue and the Hun family behind her can truly protect you?"

She paused, her tone becoming slightly playful: "Yaochi Holy Land, Lei Emperor clan, Ten Thousand Demon Cave, Western Heaven Buddhist sect… none of these can be easily offended by the Hun family."

"Would the Hun Tian Immortal King become an enemy of half a celestial realm for you, an outsider? To Hun Yuan Xue now, you are not a meritorious official but a hot potato, a trouble that can be discarded at any time."

"The Hun family can't protect you, but I can."

Feng Lingyun's eyes glittered beneath the sheer veil, "I can protect you in the name of the Feng family, and as long as you can obtain the Heavenly Dao Furnace, I can petition Title: Ba Zhang Lao for you, making you a formal practitioner directly. I will use my battle order to exchange for what you need, helping you refine Dao fruit and break through the Immortal King. How does that sound?"

Gu Yuan's duplicate fell silent.

He could tell that the other was just making grand promises.

But… it's also an opportunity.

After a while, he coldly spat out a few words: "I can consider."

"A wise choice." Feng Lingyun satisfiedly cut off the transmission.

At this moment, Hun Yuan Xue beside them had grown impatient.

"Hurry up and get into the pool! If you keep dawdling, the Hong Meng Dao Qi will be sucked dry by others!"

She stared at the violet‑gold sea, already itching with impatience.

"Go!"

Hun Yuan Xue let out a delicate shout, leapt ahead like a horse, instantly turning into a streak of fiery red light, and with a "Splash!" she plunged into Sheng Xian Chi.

Feng Lingyun also gave Gu Yuan's duplicate a faint smile, her lotus steps light, her form like a feather, silently slipping into the pool without a ripple.

Gu Yuan's duplicate watched the surging Hong Meng Dao Qi, inhaled deeply, and likewise vaulted into it.

Boom!

The moment his body touched the liquid Hong Meng Dao Qi, an indescribable torrent of energy surged wildly through every pore, flooding his limbs and bones!

It was the jade‑like elixir formed from the most primal Hong Meng Qi and the Dao of Immortals, each drop containing terrifying power enough to transform a True Immortal.

Gu Yuan's duplicate's robust ancient holy body at that moment was like a sponge absorbing water, ravenously devouring the surrounding energy.

The Wan Hua Gui Yuan Jue within him automatically operated at its limit, using part of the incoming Hong Meng Dao Qi to temper his flesh, and converting the rest directly into the purest annihilating source power, causing his aura to climb step by step!

"Awesome! So awesome!" Gu Yuan's duplicate roared in his mind, feeling as if he were about to feather‑ascend.

However, just as he was immersed in the exhilaration of this power surge,

Buzz—!!!

The entire Sheng Xian Chi trembled violently without warning.

Immediately after, at the center of the pool, a terrifying vortex of unimaginable size suddenly appeared!

Endless Hong Meng Dao Qi, like countless rivers flowing into the sea, was driven by an irresistible devouring force, wildly converging toward the vortex's core!

Sheng Xian Chi's water level, astonishingly, dropped at a visible speed!

"Wha… what's happening?!"

Hun Yuan Xue and Feng Lingyun, meditating with eyes closed in the pool, were startled awake by the sudden anomaly, staring in horror at the massive vortex that seemed to devour heaven and earth, their faces full of disbelief.

At the very center of the vortex, a figure cloaked in a black mantle, seemingly merged with the void, sat quietly in meditation.

It was Gu Yuan himself!

He did not, like his duplicate, use his flesh to absorb bit by bit.

Instead, he directly rooted the World Tree of the inner world into the source of this Hong Meng Sea!

At this moment, the World Tree, already grown into a towering giant, burst forth unprecedented brilliant light, its three thousand leaves, formed from the great Dao principles, wildly fluttering!

The entire Di Wu Ceng 【True Transmission Realm】 trembled violently under this terrifying devouring force, as if this isolated ancient spacetime could not endure such barbaric plunder and was about to collapse.

"No—!"

Hun Yuan Xue could clearly feel that the Hong Meng Dao Qi, which had been gently nourishing her immortal veins, suddenly seemed drawn by a lethal attraction, wildly pulling away from her side and backflowing toward the massive vortex.

Not only could she no longer absorb any trace, but even the portion of the source she had just drawn in, not yet refined, showed a faint trend of being forcibly stripped away!

Is this cultivation? It's clearly being reverse‑blood‑sucked!

"You scoundrel! It's you again! Get out of my sight!" Hun Yuan Xue reacted instantly.

This style of plucking every feather, even the ground, besides the mysterious thief who looted all treasures on the first and second layers, causing the Heavenly Pride's chaotic battle, who else could it be?!

But she dared not say anything.

The opponent's strength far exceeded hers.

She had no choice; she could only absorb elsewhere far from Gu Yuan.

"How dare you snatch my opportunity; when you leave, Gu Yuan and Grandfather will give you a lesson!"

On the other side, Feng Lingyun's situation was equally grim.

Her pretty face turned deathly pale, the blue lotus platform beneath her dimmed, clearly also affected by this domineering devouring force.

But unlike the enraged Hun Yuan Xue, her eyes held more shock.

"He… what kind of person is he, able to absorb such colossal power?"

What made her even more fearful was that this Sheng Xian Chi is the core of the ancient Heavenly Court, its regulations are extremely strict, far surpassing the previous four layers.

But this thief here is so brazenly looting, and the puppet old man who is the guardian of this place actually shows no reaction!

Is it because all of this is within the other party's permissible range?