Chapter 498: Opening the Immortal Vein

The drop of Extinction Source Ancestral Poison hovered directly above the mass of flesh, like its heart.

Gu Yuan looked at the ugly chunk of flesh, his eyes showing no trace of pity.

He extended his hand and gently pressed it onto the flesh.

"Dust returns to dust, earth returns to earth."

Golden light burst forth.

The black mass, bathed in the benevolent golden light, did not even have time to struggle; like ice under scorching sun, it swiftly melted and purified, ultimately turning into the purest, untainted force of the world's primal source.

Gu Yuan opened his mouth and gently inhaled.

This colossal world source, capable of bursting any true immortal on the spot, was greedily swallowed by him.

Boom!

Inside Gu Yuan, it seemed as if billions of volcanoes erupted simultaneously!

The world source purified from an entire top‑tier mid‑thousand world was of such vast grandeur!

It surged like an endless celestial river, flooding Gu Yuan's limbs and bones, flowing into the inner world deep within his dantian.

Hum—

The World Tree of the inner world, as if it had taken a supreme tonic, thickened its trunk at a visible speed, its branches wildly grew upward, and multicolored sunrise light illuminated the entire Divine Kingdom.

The Heavenly Dao World hanging above the canopy saw the rotation of stars suddenly accelerate, new stars were born in the void, evolving into more complex, more perfect star systems.

The Underground Yellow Springs rooted beneath the earth, whose previously vague Reincarnation Path solidified at this moment; six black holes emitting distinct auras slowly formed, subtly shaping a complete prototype of the Six Realms of Rebirth.

And on the Human Continent seated at the center, the Ancient Primordial Emperor Seal, once riddled with cracks, had its fissures swiftly healed by the torrent of primal source, unleashing an even more domineering, grandiose human imperial aura.

The entire inner world was undergoing a cataclysmic transformation.

As the vessel for all this, Gu Yuan's own body also reached a critical point.

His cultivation had long lingered at the pinnacle of Supreme Saint, his foundation honed to extreme solidity.

At this moment, propelled by the massive source, the barrier leading to higher realms, as flimsy as paper, was easily shattered!

True Immortal Realm!

A terrifying aura, far surpassing any before, erupted from Gu Yuan.

Yet Gu Yuan did not immediately begin condensing a Dao Fruit or opening an immortal vein.

He forcibly suppressed the energy about to run rampant within, closed his eyes, and sank his mind into the deepest level of insight.

Before him lay two paths.

The first was to walk his own "Divine Kingdom Great Way".

By making himself the Divine Kingdom and the Kingdom his self, he would completely refine this inner world into his own Dao Fruit. Once achieved, he would become the sole ruler of this world, his words law, unshaken by ten thousand eons. This path holds the greatest potential, but also the longest duration, with an unknown road and no experience to draw upon.

The second was to follow the mainstream "Immortal Vein Path" of the Ancient Immortal Realm.

Condensing a true immortal Dao Fruit, within which one carves multiple immortal veins bearing one's own Dao. The more veins opened, the stronger the power. This road is mature, stable, backed by countless predecessors' experience; from true immortal to immortal king, then to titan, each step is crystal clear.

"Only children make choices."

A thought flickered in Gu Yuan's mind.

"My inner world is already a complete embryonic universe, encompassing all phenomena. Why not incorporate the Immortal Vein Path into my Divine Kingdom system?"

A bolder, crazier idea took shape in his heart.

He would base it on his inner world, use the boundless world source as sustenance, and forcibly carve within his body a… Immortal Vein Path unlike any before or after!

"Condense!"

Gu Yuan whispered a low command in his heart.

The massive world source inside him, guided by his will, began to compress and condense wildly.

Finally, within his dantian's Qi Sea, it coalesced into a perfectly round Dao Fruit, its surface radiating the brilliance of three thousand great Dao, its interior seemingly containing an entire universe…!

This Dao Fruit was entirely different from those of ordinary true immortals.

An ordinary true immortal's Dao Fruit is the condensation of their lifelong cultivation and Dao.

And Gu Yuan's Dao Fruit is essentially a… projection of his inner world!

The moment the Dao Fruit formed.

Gu Yuan did not hesitate and immediately proceeded to the second step.

Opening the immortal vein!

"First: Spacetime Great Way!"

With a thought, a strand within the Dao Fruit, containing profound spacetime law, was forcibly opened.

This strand linked one end to the Dao Fruit's core, the other directly rooted in the inner world's Heavenly Dao World, resonating deeply with the rotating sun, moon, and stars.

"Second: Reincarnation Great Way!"

Another strand formed, rooted in the Underground Yellow Springs.

"Third: Human Emperor Great Way!"

The third strand connected with the Ancient Primordial Emperor Seal.

"Fourth: Killing Great Way!"

"Fifth: Life Great Way!"

"Sixth: Destruction Great Way!"

…

One!

Ten!

Fifty!

Supported by the massive world source, Gu Yuan's speed of opening immortal veins became outrageously swift.

Even an ordinary Heavenly Proud—let alone beings like Lei Qianjue or Hun Yuan Xue—needs years or even decades of painstaking effort to carve a celestial vein, proceeding gingerly as on thin ice, fearing that any slip would damage the Dao fruit.

But Gu Yuan, as if pruning branches in his own backyard, does it at will, picking them up effortlessly.

It takes only a few hours.

When the ninety‑eighth celestial vein is completed, Gu Yuan's aura has firmly entered the ranks of the supreme True Immortal, on par with the still‑living Lei Qianjue, Feng Lingyun and others.

Ninety‑nine!

One hundred!

At the moment the hundredth celestial vein—the "Perfect Way" vein that symbolizes the limit of a True Immortal—is successfully carved,

Gu Yuan's Dao fruit emits a crisp hum, and a perfectly flawless, almost Dao‑like breath spreads from his body.

One hundred celestial veins!

This is, in the history of the Primeval Immortal Realm, the universally acknowledged limit of the True Immortal Realm for all Heavenly Proud.

One step further, and one ignites the Immortal King Dao Fire, striking toward the lofty Immortal King Realm.

Logically, Gu Yuan's breakthrough should end here.

However, Gu Yuan feels the vast sea‑like World Origin within him has been tapped by less than thirty percent, and his brows lift slightly.

"Is that all?"

He can sense that his body, his Dao fruit, his inner world—all still crave more.

Those hundred celestial veins are powerful, yet for his Dao fruit, which is founded on an entire world, they are like a hundred tiny streams, incapable of perfectly channeling all its power.

"One hundred is their limit, but not mine."

A flash of arrogance flickers in Gu Yuan's eyes.

"If so, then… continue!"

"One hundred and one, Chaotic Great Way!"