Chapter 131: The Final Interpretation of Reversing the Ninth Layer Immortal

【You have poured substantial emotion into your heart.】

【You have finally realized that this is no phantom.】

【And above the mountains and rivers where Qilin roam the current northern lands, the gazes of countless Qilin turned in unison toward the man standing proudly above the firmament.】

【Qilin are proud.】

【Because their heritage is so ancient, so very ancient, that their history can even be traced back to the primordial era; these are noble bloodlines that no ordinary demon creature can compare to, and in the present world, they can be called ancient gods.】

【But today, their pride has hit a wall.】

【In their eyes, what has fallen upon Gu Nianmo is an Opportunity that ordinary humans would struggle to encounter in a hundred lifetimes, a kind of destiny, a tremendous benefit that could allow Gu Nianmo to transform from human to god.】

【As long as Gu Nianmo puts aside that unnecessary pride, he could be a part of the Qilin Clan and become the new god upon the Qilin Clan's throne.】

【However, he is unwilling.】

【And now, among the cowardly Human Race, someone has come to visit again, which is undoubtedly a total humiliation to the face of the Qilin Clan.】

【However, the pressure of the Spirit Qi overflowing from Gu Jiangming is simply too weak, far too weak; placed before the Qilin Clan, a special human is, after all, just a human.】

【A Qilin named Jin Qing carries a slight trace of disdain and mockery.】

【No matter how powerful a person is, or how special their ability, once they encounter absolute power, they will surely recognize the facts.】

【In his eyes, even if Gu Jiangming possesses strange abilities, placed before them, such a vast disparity in strength is still like throwing an egg against a rock, overestimating his own capabilities.】

【"Since that is the case, let this master see the capital you are so proud of." Jin Qing lifts his eyes slightly, staring at Gu Jiangming, who has transformed into a spirit body, "Reversing the Ninth Layer Immortal? I would like to see what kind of Immortal method this is?"】

【"Do not think that Qilin are of the same ilk as those common beasts."】

【Jin Qing's Demon Form is clearly far more prominent than that of the Green-Eyed White Tiger; he not only retains his post-transformation posture but also utilizes the characteristics of the Qilin as a form beyond his physical body to command.】

【A long saber appears before him; he taps it lightly, and the blade tilts. Following Jin Qing's will, the long saber flies over and instantly expands several times in size, but looking closely, the blade itself has not changed, only covered by an extremely powerful Spirit Qi.】

【And the degree of substance of this Spirit Qi is actually capable of such a lifelike effect, which shows the purity of the Spirit Qi.】

【Gu Jiangming starting with the Seventh Layer of Reversing the Ninth Layer Immortal is enough to prove his wariness of the Qilin Clan, and now, he seems to have underestimated the strength of the Qilin race.】

【Your combat experience tells you that the Seventh Layer of Reversing the Ninth Layer Immortal cannot truly turn into an advantage; if you continue to fight Jin Qing in this form, although you can hold a stalemate for a long time, the chances of victory are slim.】

【"Eighth Layer, open—"】

【The veins at your temples suddenly bulge, and under your roar, your body feels a heart-piercing pain as if it were suffering thousands of different hammer blows.】

【Immediately, a surge of Spirit Qi shooting straight into the clouds erupts from Gu Jiangming's body, constantly whipping up wind and clouds like a gathering storm, causing Heaven and Earth to change color.】

【Outside your light blue spirit body, a faint white mist seems to appear, and with the appearance of this mist, the aura containing terrifying power is sensed by Jin Qing with alarm.】

【Feeling this momentum constantly surging upward, Jin Qing feels that the person before him seems to be merging with Heaven and Earth; a flash of solemnity passes through his eyes, and he thinks to himself that he must absolutely not hold back.】

【Gu Jiangming exhales a long breath, feeling the Spirit Qi constantly pouring into his body, and realizes the special nature of his current form; the contemplation in his pitch-black eyes becomes profound once more.】

【"Jin Qing, stand down."】

【An aged voice rings out.】

【A Qilin with a pale silver luster all over its body slowly appears in Gu Jiangming's line of sight, "You are no longer his match now."】

【"Clan Leader?" Jin Qing's face shows disbelief, "I haven't yet..."】

【"Stand down." Zhou Kai's voice is unquestionable, "His body has completely merged with the Spirit Qi of Heaven and Earth; his current spirit body is a part of the Spirit Qi of Heaven and Earth. How could you have any chance of winning against him?"】

【Jin Qing, after hearing Zhou Kai's explanation, is even more incredulous, "There is such a secret technique in Heaven and Earth?"】

【"The vast world contains everything; Reversing the Ninth Layer Immortal, since it is named 'reversing', is to go against Heaven. If my guess is correct, from the moment you entered this form, it was already a dead end, was it not?" Zhou Kai's gaze is fixed on Gu Jiangming, no longer speaking to Jin Qing beside him.】

【"I admire your momentum."】

【"The last person I considered worthy of being called Human Emperor was a man surnamed Liu."】

【"However... although you have surpassed him in cultivation, your ambition still stops at the world of one person and one family, so this title of Human Emperor cannot rest upon your head."】

【"You are, however, a respectable opponent." Zhou Kai exudes a hearty fighting spirit, "I know this form of yours cannot last long, but these old bones of mine have not encountered a decent opponent for a long time."】

【"Let me see where your limit truly lies."】

【"Come—" Zhou Kai lets out a low growl. For a martial fanatic like him who has no hope of further cultivation advancement, the only interest in survival left is simple, brutal combat and finding a new continuation for the Qilin Clan.】

【He does not do things like taking advantage of others' precarious positions; furthermore, he only wants a good fight now.】

【Otherwise, he would not have personally taken out a drop of essence blood back then to give to that young man named Liu Junru, granting the other party a chance to challenge him again.】

【Gu Jiangming's light blue spirit body suddenly appears beside Zhou Kai. Amidst the horrified gazes of the surrounding Qilin, the surrounding space ripples with a light blue fist shadow, like a sea of Spirit Qi, crashing down.】

【Zhou Kai's reaction is extremely fast; he raises his palm to parry, but the terrifying force, carrying such unreasonable Spirit Qi, still sends Zhou Kai flying a thousand miles away.】

【Countless Qilin reveal dumbfounded expressions, watching their own ancestor get smashed away after taking a single punch, feeling it inconceivable, because they never imagined Zhou Kai could not withstand this heavy blow.】

【"Satisfying—" Zhou Kai laughs loudly: "Satisfying—"】

【"Finally, someone has made me feel some pain."】

【He naturally will not just accept such a passive situation. After laughing for a moment, his figure appears on the other side of Gu Jiangming, with equally astonishing speed and equally heaven-shaking force, but Zhou Kai's attack seems to pass through Gu Jiangming's body, dodged by Gu Jiangming.】

【"Oh?" Zhou Kai ponders, "You no longer have a physical body and have completely merged with the Spirit Qi?"】

【"Then this master will swallow you and the surrounding Spirit Qi in one gulp." Zhou Kai, having just thought of this, senses something wrong, "Impossible, if you have no physical body, how did that punch just now hit my body?"】

【"It is speed." Zhou Kai is surprised, "Is it because I cannot keep up with your speed that this situation occurred?"】

【Zhou Kai holds his breath and focuses; he lets out a long roar toward the sky, and a bright silver, armor-like protective shield emerges on his body. The next second, his size expands several times. Under his streamlined body, muscles are constantly bulging, and his entire figure is as rigid and peerless as the ultimate fighting will.】

The scene that suddenly occurs on the screen.

Liu Moran's expression immediately becomes heavy. Zhou Kai is absolutely an epoch-making character. In the late era of Demon Race rule, it was precisely the disappearance of Zhou Kai that caused the Qilin to lose their most important continuation, leading them into an irreversible period of decline, and even to the complete extinction of the Qilin in the Age of Gods.

However, in the situation before he disappeared, Zhou Kai's cultivation was at the absolute pinnacle, and he was also the only known legendary figure to have broken through the Ascension Realm.

Just feeling the oppressive sense of his fighting spirit rising layer by layer is enough to make one feel a sense of powerlessness. Even if one were in their peak state, in the eyes of the other party, one might be nothing more than an ant in the vast ocean.

Primarily, Liu Moran had not truly understood the Qilin Clan before, nor had she truly understood this past history.

The only thing she knew was that her grandfather, Liu Junru, had once challenged Zhou Kai in the capacity of Human Emperor, but ultimately it caused no ripples, and he died at the hands of the other party.

Of course, this also brought the Qilin Clan's heritage to the Liu Family.

And it was Zhou Kai's essence blood, which in a strict sense could be said to be the bloodline brought by the most noble Golden Family of the Qilin Clan.

In terms of bloodline relations, theoretically, all members of the Liu Family after Liu Junru are descendants of Zhou Kai, because they all carry the bloodline of Zhou Kai.

However, no one could have expected that under these circumstances, Zhou Kai's direct descendants would not show signs of atavism, but rather the descendants of the Liu Family would exhibit the atavism of the Qilin Divine Blood.

【"The Dao Seed appears!" Under Zhou Kai's voice, a phantom seemed to appear around its body, and its voice carried a reverberating sound wave.】

【"After ten thousand years, you have finally let me appear once again."】

【"It has been a long time since we fought side by side like this."】

【"However... letting me out just to face this Human Race boy, isn't that a bit extravagant? After all, the price you pay for me to wake up once is not small."】

【A phantom of a Qilin flickered beside Zhou Kai.】

The hesitation in Liu Moran's pupils slightly solidified. She had initially judged the existence of the Demon Seed to be caused by her own Inner Demon, but now it seemed that was not the case at all; rather, it was a product of the Kirin Bloodline acting up. In fact, looking at this posture, it was entirely a symbiotic relationship, and one in a state where they could communicate with each other... This was clearly not the same person, but rather like two independent existences that had been hitched together.

【"Ah."】

【"After all, to some extent, I can also be called the Lord of Qilin."】

【"No matter what, I must also uphold the dignity of the Qilin Clan."】

【Zhou Kai said with a helpless expression: "An external force like you is, after all, not my own power. What a detestable power of bloodline."】

【As the words fell, Zhou Kai's gaze rested on Gu Jiangming, "Since you have already reached the Eighth Layer, then bring out the changes of the Ninth Layer."】

【"This is my full-strength posture; even that boy has never truly witnessed it."】

【"In your current state, you cannot possibly be my opponent."】

【As the words fell, the phantom and Zhou Kai's true body suddenly overlapped. Its speed seemed to transcend the limitations of time and space; in the eyes of all the Qilin, they could only see a silver flash, charging directly to the foremost position.】

【And Gu Jiangming's pale blue spirit body, accompanied by that faint white mist, likewise transformed into a blue light shadow, colliding with Zhou Kai.】

【Above the firmament, everyone could only see light shadows constantly shuttling, constantly colliding, and constantly flying backward, but they could not see the true physical bodies of the two.】

【In such a battle, their eyes could no longer keep up with the frequency of the two's combat.】

【Because the gap was simply too great.】

【"Impossible," Jin Qing said with great effort, "Impossible, why is his combat experience so rich to this extent?"】

【From beginning to end, Jin Qing believed that Gu Jiangming was relying on some kind of external power, and this power was clearly beyond his own efforts.】

【To put it bluntly, Gu Jiangming's strength was unstable; it was not something he had improved bit by bit, but rather strength temporarily crossed into by relying on the uniqueness of a technique. In this situation, when driving strength that did not belong to his own level, no matter who it was, it would be very strenuous.】

【Because you cannot accurately estimate the strength of your own power; it is not that you cannot use it, but that you cannot understand how to use power of this intensity.】

【Being able to exert seventy percent of one's combat power could be called having an overly powerful combat instinct.】

【Yet Gu Jiangming, while relying on this external power, could still display such astonishing combat quality. Either he was already accustomed to power of this intensity and could easily drive this suddenly elevated strength, or his talent for battle had already surpassed everyone else.】

【But that is impossible.】

【Because Gu Jiangming's aura contained a sense of fragmentation amidst its power. This sense of fragmentation was enough to prove that the Reversing Ninth Layer Immortal was clearly not a technique with strong sustainability, but a life-risking method that might cost one's life after a single use. What kind of will, what kind of madman, could endure the state of his own physique collapsing at any moment, and still rely on obsession to calmly retaliate in a confrontation of this intensity?】

【"Ninth Layer—"】

【Gu Jiangming fell silent for a moment, then suddenly curled his fingers into a spell. Suddenly, he felt his six senses vanish abruptly.】

【That was endless darkness.】

【The entire Heaven and Earth seemed to have been parsed by him, and he, in the posture of a celestial god, looked down upon all living things.】

【When he regained consciousness, the Spirit Qi on his body had completely solidified into a kind of mist, protecting him all around.】

【This time, Gu Jiangming's body no longer had any sense of reality; he felt that his entire body had been vaporized, completely and thoroughly merging with the Spirit Qi of Heaven and Earth.】

【Your six souls are entirely lost.】

【And you clearly realize that in this state, your rounds of combat will be very few; you might only be able to strike one blow at most.】

【"Nian Mo, from now on, you must carry my will."】

【"Let this strike be my swan song!"】

【You mutter to yourself in your heart.】

【As the voice fell, Gu Jiangming's figure turned into a stream of light, charging straight at Zhou Kai like a meteor.】

【Under the gaze of countless nervous eyes, these two streams of light flashed across the sky at high speed.】

【Blood spilled across the sky; one could see a giant blood hole blasted into Zhou Kai's body, and with a loud bang, it flew backward toward the distance.】

【The power of this full-strength strike from Gu Jiangming was evident!】

【"In the present world, you can be considered the strongest of the Human Dao."】

【"But unfortunately, I am the Lord of Qilin; such a heavy injury is not enough to kill me."】

【Zhou Kai revealed a miserable smile, lying on the ground with blood gushing out. After choking once, it could only wait in place for its physical body to recover, but Gu Jiangming's figure had already appeared in the Qilin Ancestral Shrine, reaching out to embrace his son, Gu Nianmo.】

【Under the constant impact and reshaping, Gu Jiangming's body had long since suffered from broken and ruined backlash. Every step he took out of the Qilin Ancestral Shrine appeared staggering and powerless, but none of the surrounding Qilin dared to move again.】

【After all, even the Zhou Kai they revered had been heavily injured.】

【Gu Jiangming gently hugged the child in his arms.】

【"Remember... protect your mother well."】

【Under the eyes of everyone, he walked out of the Qilin Clan's gathering place just like that, constantly moving toward Liu Moran's position.】

【And it was at this moment that Gu Jiangming's body experienced a violent collapse and disintegration; from his hair to his ankles, from his fingertips to his palms, everything began to crumble into pieces.】

【The effect of Two Hearts Entwined was triggered.】

【As if she had a premonition, she ran continuously toward your location. Both of you moved toward each other, and when you met again, the hand Gu Jiangming reached out instantly turned into pale blue Spirit Qi.】

【Your obsession has vanished.】

【You lost the effect of Immortal and Indestructible, your physical body began to enter a stage of complete collapse, and your six souls were damaged in the battle, so the speed of your collapse accelerated.】

【"I broke my promise."】

【"Forgive me for not being able to accompany you to the end."】

【Gu Jiangming's physical body went from existence to nothingness; the pale blue spirit body shattered right in front of Liu Moran, transforming into Spirit Qi filling the sky like a bubble.】

The scene stalled once again.

【Congratulations, you have unlocked a brand-new character portrait skin—Long Night Without Self·Gu Jiangming.】

【At the same time, Gu Nianmo has received a new blessing and has therefore awakened a personal talent trait—"Peerless".】

【You have died; you are entering the spectator interface.】

【Please select your spectator perspective—Liu Moran, Wang Qinghe, Jiu Jiu, Long Xi.】

【When you select a spectator perspective, you can spectate the perspectives of characters related to them.】

【You have chosen to spectate the perspective of Liu Moran.】

【Thus, you can simultaneously view the life of Gu Nianmo.】

And on the other side.

Liu Moran watched everything that happened on the screen, remaining silent for a very, very long time; this time, she did not shed any tears, but the grief and indignation in her heart had already surpassed her remaining reason.

For her, her story had not yet ended; the revenge that belonged to her had only just begun.

"I will make all of you who once hunted us down perish along with your clans, one by one, leaving not a single blade of grass behind."

Beneath her cold voice, there remained only a forward-moving, unwavering resolve.

(End of this chapter)