Chapter 547

Heavenly Court, treasure vault.

Gu Yuan was reclining on a rocking chair carved from a whole piece of "Sun God Crystal", leisurely flipping through a jade scroll.

The jade scroll recorded that, in recent days, Emperor Jun, in the name of the Heavenly Emperor, had gathered and exchanged various heavenly treasures and earthly riches from the myriad tribes of the Wasteland to cure him.

"Mm, 'Nine Heavens Sweet Dew' one bottle, containing the innate essence of yin wood, can nourish the primordial spirit—not bad, I'll take it."

"Three taels of 'Earth Vein Dragon Marrow', the condensed essence of earth's origin, can stabilize the Dao foundation—also acceptable, I'll take it."

"'Stellar Yuan-Magnetic Divine Sand' one dan... this is useless, but it sparkles and looks fun to play with, so I'll reluctantly take it."

Gu Yuan, while looking, sorted these treasures into categories and then shamelessly allocated ninety percent of them to his own private account as Donghuang.

Later, they can be used to continue settling task two for the system.

【Host, your behavior of lining your own pockets is something I, Xiao Ai, truly can't afford.】

Xiao Ai's voice sounded weakly in his mind, carrying a hint of reproach.

"What does 'lining one's own pockets' mean?" Gu Yuan didn't even lift his eyelids, "I'm doing this to relieve my elder brother's worries and to screen and safeguard the most important strategic supplies for the demon tribe."

"These things, if left in the vault, would just gather dust. Only here can they receive the utmost care and unleash their maximum effect at the most critical moment."

【But you just took that bottle of the 'Spring of Life' that can raise the dead and flesh white bones and used it to water flowers…】

"'That was to study its medicinal properties—a necessary scientific experiment.' Gu Yuan's tone was matter-of-fact, 'You, a mere system, wouldn't understand the affairs of cultivators.'"

【...】

"Alright, let's get down to business." Gu Yuan set down the jade scroll, "Any new developments from the Wu tribe?"

【According to the latest intelligence, the Twelve Ancestral Wu have issued an order for all their tribes to fully promote the blood sacrifice method; new Ancestral Wu temples are sprouting up across the Wasteland.】

【They seem intent on using the most extreme means to turn the entire Wasteland into a domain of turbid slaughter qi, thereby forcing the demon tribe into a decisive battle.】

"Oh?" Gu Yuan raised his eyebrows, "Are they cornered? It looks like my earlier guess was correct."

He understood clearly in his heart.

The Wu tribe, a bunch of muscle-brains, after discovering their scheme had been "seen through," could think of no other way and could only escalate the confrontation with this most brutal method.

This exactly suited his intentions.

The chessboard, the more chaotic the better.

The water, the murkier the better.

Only then could he see clearly who had made the final move.

That blood sacrifice Great Array…

Gu Yuan actually had a way.

The Merit Golden Wheel he had extorted from the system was precisely the bane of such filthy, evil things.

As long as he wished, he could at any time activate the wheel to purify the blood pool of the Myriad Bone Cavern, together with those twelve Ancestral Wu stone pillars, until they were spotless.

But he did not do so.

Because, he felt something was off.

This situation is too simple.

The Wu tribe set a trap, the demon tribe happened to see through it, and then he, like a savior, produced a countermeasure and perfectly resolved the problem.

This script is too smooth.

So smooth it's as if someone had written it ahead of time and handed it to him.

Gu Yuan didn't like this feeling.

He would rather believe that there lay a deeper plot behind this.

That so-called blood sacrifice Great Array might not even be the Wu tribe's true killing move.

It is merely a target set out in the open, a bait to draw the demon tribe's attention.

The real killing intent lies hidden deeper.

Until he fully understands it, he will not lightly use his trump card.

"How about the elder brother's side?"

【Heavenly Emperor Emperor Jun is in seclusion, wholeheartedly refining the Heavenly Stars Banner. Xi Huang Fuxi and the demon master Kunpeng are leading a host of demon gods, sorting out heavenly regulations and ennobling star lords; the entire Heavenly Court is preparing for the "closed‑door isolation" strategy.】

Gu Yuan nodded in satisfaction.

"With the Heavenly Court sequestered above the Nine Heavens, refining the banner and enforcing closed‑door isolation, the Wu tribe's blood sacrifice Great Array on the ground cannot accelerate its formation by devouring war and slaughter."

"Those few hot‑tempered Ancestral Wu of the Wu tribe will definitely not be able to hold back."

"They will surely take the initiative to find excuses to stir up trouble and force the Heavenly Court to act."

Gu Yuan tapped his fingers lightly on his knee, the corner of his mouth curling into a playful arc:

"I expect it won't be long before some unlucky soul runs straight into the gun barrel."

……

As Gu Yuan had expected, the peace of the Wasteland did not last long.

In the central Wasteland, the myriad mountain ancestral vein—eight hundred li south of Shouyang Mountain—is Luoxia Valley.

This place is an extremely renowned extreme‑yang blessed land in the Wasteland; deep underground lies a rare "Taiyi Nine‑Yang Golden‑Killer ore vein," accompanied by vast expanses of extraterrestrial stellar refined gold.

At this moment, demonic qi roils above Luoxia Valley, obscuring the sky and blotting out the sun.

Nine colossal fire dragons, as huge as mountain ranges, pull a crimson‑gold emperor's chariot that hovers in the clouds; tens of thousands of demon heavenly troops clad in golden armor and wielding divine halberds stand in formation, tightly sealing off the entire valley.

At the valley's center, violent earth‑fire and golden‑killer qi erupt.

A middle‑aged Daoist clad in a purple‑gold crane cloak, with a stern and composed visage, sits cross‑legged in midair atop a massive yin‑yang eight‑trigram diagram.

The Daoist's eyes flash like lightning; above his head hovers a huge phantom of an ancient bronze bell, and his body is encircled by three hundred sixty‑five brilliant star‑rays.

This person is none other than one of the Ten Great Demon Commanders of the demon tribe—the Demon Saint Shangyang!

Shangyang is an ancient exotic beast who attained the Dao, innately versed in heavenly timing and rain, moreover capable of foresight; in the demon tribe's Heavenly Court he is renowned for his strategy and steadiness, and is deeply trusted by Emperor Jun and Fuxi.

This time he obeyed the Heavenly Emperor's edict, personally leading thirty thousand elite troops of the Yao Court and under his command eight great demons of the Taiyi Golden Immortal Realm, secretly descending to the lower realm to Luoxia Valley, in order to mine this place's accumulated countless aeons of "Taiyi Nine Yang Golden Killer" and "Stellar Essence Gold".

These two divine objects are the indispensable core main material for refining the Zhou Tian Xingchen Banner.

"Speed up your actions!"

Shang Yang swept his long sleeve, a strand of azure divine light fell into the earth veins, forcibly calming the raging earth fire, and he shouted in a deep voice to the thousands of demon generals below who were desperately digging the ore veins:

"Your Majesty's secluded refinement of the banner has reached a critical moment; this batch of essence gold concerns the foundation of our Yao Clan's Zhou Tian Xingdou Great Array, allowing no margin for error! Within three days, we must completely mine the core of the main vein, and follow this commander back to the Heavenly Court to report!"

"We solemnly obey the Yao Saint's edict!"

The demon troops below responded in unison, the divine light of their magic tools flickering, and the mining speed increased somewhat again.

Chunk after chunk of top-grade ore the size of small hills, emitting blinding golden light and stellar radiance, was continuously fed into the storage treasure.

However, Shang Yang, seated cross-legged in the void, felt his brows furrow ever tighter.

In his eyes, which could perceive the good and ill of heavenly secrets, a hazy blood-red mist faintly appeared.

As an expert skilled in divining fortune and misfortune, from the moment he stepped into Luoxia Valley, the warning in his heart never ceased.

"Something's off……"

Shang Yang suddenly rose to his feet, with one hand forming a seal, the Great Dao runes on his fingertips wildly shifting as he attempted to divine the heavenly secrets.

However, what appeared in his sea of consciousness was nothing but extreme chaos and a viscid blood slaughter!

The originally clear heavenly dao principles were now as if covered by a thick layer of black blood, making nothing visible or calculable!

"The heavenly secrets have been completely obscured?!"

Shang Yang's face changed dramatically.

To suppress the heavenly secret perception of a peak Da Luo Golden Immortal expert to this extent is absolutely beyond the capability of an ordinary cultivator!

"Not good! There's deceit!"

Shang Yang hesitated not, made a decisive decision, and let out a piercing long howl toward the heavens:

"Convey my order! Cease work immediately! Everyone, abandon the ore veins, form the Zhou Tian Xingyun Avoid Demon Array, and follow this commander swiftly back to the Nine Heavens!"