Chapter 971: I've taken note of this grudge!

"I just don't know what Gu Yue Laozi is up to."

Upon hearing that, Qi Chun Jing said, "That Gu Yue Laozi has always been mysterious; even many people in Gu Origin Heaven have never seen his true form."

Everyone immediately turned to look at Fang Yuan beside them.

Fang Yuan's face seemed icy and empty; sinking into memory made her expression even colder, like a ten-thousand-year-old cold mountain. "Although Gu Yue Laozi once gave me many opportunities, I have never even seen him."

Everyone was somewhat curious.

Fang Yuan explained, "Gu Yue Laozi has always appeared through stone carvings; even in Gu Origin Heaven there are many stone carvings. His orders are all born of divine sense within the stone carvings."

She hates Gu Yue Laozi.

But she does not know who Gu Yue Laozi really is, whether male or female; just a single stone carving makes her hatred endless.

Moreover, she truly dislikes this feeling.

The feeling of a powerful expert lurking in the dark, gripping her fate in his hand!

She wants to break this fate!

Qi Chun Jing's gaze was deep; although he had never truly descended to Gu Origin Heaven, he had also heard of what Fang Yuan said.

After all, battles between Never-ending Heaven and the Gu Clan are not uncommon.

From their Sea of Divine Sense, one can somewhat glimpse the truth of Gu Origin Heaven.

And the truth is, rows of cold stone carvings stand upon Gu Origin Heaven.

That is, those seeking orders receive them from the stone carvings!

Qi Chun Jing has slain many Gu Clan members of the Dao Void Realm, yet their minds hold little impression of Gu Yue Laozi.

Only stone carvings!

One stone carving after another!

To the side, Xiao Yao Zi and Xiao Alang exchanged a glance, recalling that they had previously found the Gu Clan's hidden lair in the Lower Realm.

There, too, there is a stone carving of Gu Yue Laozi.

Once, power derived from that stone carving of Gu Yue Laozi clashed fiercely with Xiao Yao Zi, Xiao Alang, and the others.

At this moment, Fang Yuan continued, "Exactly, those stone carvings of Gu Yue Laozi look the same, but the divine sense each carries is vastly different. Some are utterly cold, like the lofty Heavenly Dao; others possess 'humanity,' complete with joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure."

Upon hearing this, Ji Fuyao and the others furrowed their brows.

How come the more we talk about Gu Yue Laozi, the more mysterious he seems?

Or perhaps he is not a single person!

But rather many people?

Yang Ling Er tilted her snow-white neck slightly, shook her head, and said, "What we must face first is not Gu Yue Laozi, but the World Tree's Dao Patterns. I must restore my peak strength; I need to reforge the Refining Dao Patterns."

Her crystal-clear jade palm opened.

Chi!

A damaged Dao Pattern appeared before everyone.

This Dao Pattern's source remains intact and radiates divine light, while the surrounding Dao Patterns are utterly damaged.

This Dao Pattern consists of three parts.

Source Dao Pattern, Refining Dao Pattern, and Communication Dao Pattern.

Currently, Yang Ling Er only possesses the first part, the Source Dao Pattern, which allows her to communicate with the World Tree's power near the stone carvings of the Never-ending Dynasty's lands.

Only by completing the Refining Dao Pattern can she absorb Dao Source Fruits to enhance her cultivation and the Great Dao, thereby finally completing the entire Communication Dao Pattern!

Now Never-ending Heaven is perilous; every moment, running the Starry Sky Grand Formation consumes vast amounts of Great Dao power.

Moreover, the Origin Ground of the Never-ending Dynasty must not encounter any problems!

Unless absolutely necessary, we must not absorb the Dao Source Fruits of this land, for doing so would be like draining a pond to fish or burning a forest to hunt, worsening the World Tree's withering.

If the World Tree truly collapses, it will play right into the hands of the Guile Hall and Gu Origin Heaven, and they will also lose their trump card to counter them.

A trace of weariness appeared on Qi Chun Jing's face: "This joint assault by the Guile Hall and Gu Origin Heaven is meant to force Your Majesty to absorb Never-ending Heaven's primal Great Dao, utterly draining the World Tree's power."

At this moment, Yang Xuan suddenly said, "Ling Er, can't we go to Clear Bright Heaven and Cloud Mist Heaven to secretly harvest Dao Source Fruits to help you reforge the Refining Dao Pattern?"

Qi Chun Jing replied, "It's possible, but it's risky. Given the current situation, we should stay still rather than act."

Yang Ling Er thought and said, "By now, we can only take the risk and try. Never-ending Heaven is our base; we cannot move it."

Qi Chun Jing said guiltily, "After Your Majesty departed, I failed to manage Never-ending Heaven. Over these endless ages, we have lost too much Great Dao Essence; otherwise, there would be no shortage of Dao Source Fruits for Your Majesty to recover."

Yang Ling Er said, "General Qi, you've done well enough. Without you, the Upper Realm might already have fallen into the hands of the Guile Hall and Gu Origin Heaven."

To the side, Ji Fuyao smiled charmingly: "Ling Er Junior Sister, let's enter Clear Bright Heaven. Perhaps they never expected us to enter, and we still have our Master. Have you considered that this is actually our Master's consideration for us?"

Upon hearing that, Ye Chen gave Ji Fuyao a thumbs-up and tapped his own forehead, "Makes sense! Ah… how did I not think of this?"

Still, Senior Sister understands our Master best!

Qing Qiu also nodded, "Our Master is surely testing us."

Ji Fuyao continued, "Think about it—when has our Master ever just handed us a great opportunity? Uh, aside from the treasures and techniques he gives us, most of the time he wants us to rise from desperate straits on our own, to temper ourselves between life and death. We also cannot disappoint his painstaking hopes."

Yang Ling Er reflected on her past experiences: "Indeed. In fact, our Master has long been in the Lower Realm, aware of my identity, but never took me as a disciple, merely waiting for the right moment."

Yang Xuan pondered and said, "Not bad!"

He too has fought in life-and-death battles, and only at the final moment did our Master intervene!

This is our Master's teaching philosophy.

Not to be a hothouse flower, but one who struggles against the current!

Soon, Yang Ling Er made up her mind: "General Qi, fetch a map of Clear Bright Heaven."

Qi Chun Jing saw that the Spirit Martial Emperor had already made her choice, and without urging, he took out an ancient jade slip and handed it to Yang Ling Er: "Your Majesty, please look. Although we have now sealed the realm, Clear Bright Heaven and Cloud Mist Heaven actually still belong to Never-ending Heaven, so we can still freely enter this domain."

"If danger arises, Your Majesty can use the pre‑inscribed Space Formation Pattern to return to my Never-ending Dynasty."

Yang Ling Er nodded, slapped her jade hand, and a star map of Clear Bright Heaven appeared before everyone.

Everyone began researching where to go to Qingming Heaven to harvest the Dao Source fruit?

…

Qingming Heaven.

Boom!

Crack!

Void Rending!

Space distorted!

From within the void rift, an extremely disheveled figure plummeted down, his breath faint, and he slammed directly into a star like a cannonball.

Boom!

Directly on the star, a huge pit appeared, and the surrounding land cracked like a spiderweb.

This person was none other than Sun Qinghou.

He lay in the deep pit, shouting furiously, "Zhang Liao, I fuck you, immortal! I'll remember this grudge!"

…