Just as the old patriarch forced me to my death, I achieved the unity of Dao and fruition.

Over the next month, the two major sects of the Western Wilderness fought even more fiercely in the Broken Cloud Mountains, at least that's how it appeared to outsiders.

Xuan Yang Sect won the first victory. Gu Changjin took command at the front line and launched a surprise attack, breaking through two more affiliated sects, seizing mines, plundering herb gardens, and moving treasure troves. Battle reports were sent to Xuan Yang Sect one after another.

Then the Crimson Cloud Sect launched a counterattack, and Li Chenyuan angrily took action. The Crimson Cloud Sect's army pressed forward, and the Xuan Yang Sect retreated again and again. The northern ridge of the Broken Cloud Mountains was lost, and several small sects that relied on the Xuan Yang Sect were also beaten and cried for their mothers.

The two sides went back and forth, fighting with great enthusiasm.

But they didn't miss out on anything they were truly entitled to.

When the Xuan Yang Sect conquered the Chi Xiao Sect's affiliated forces, Gu Changjin retrieved the remaining resources from the treasury.

When the Crimson Cloud Sect launched its counterattack against the Xuan Yang Sect's affiliated forces, the spirit stones, pills, and spiritual materials that should have been transferred in advance had already been arranged clearly.

The people below were fighting with great enthusiasm, while those above had their storage bags overflowing.

Gradually, the battle was brought back into balance.

The outside world only saw the Xuan Yang Sect and the Chi Xiao Sect fighting like mad.

But no one knew that the two Nascent Soul Grandmasters who should have been bloodthirsty were sitting on a solitary peak in the Broken Cloud Mountains, drinking and splitting the bill.

Clouds and mist shrouded the mountains, and a light drizzle fell.

On the solitary stone table, the spirit wine was warm.

Li Chenyuan watched Gu Changjin pack up a batch of resources and smiled with satisfaction.

"Brother Gu, this past month has been more comfortable than the last ten years I've had."

Gu Changjin weighed the storage bag in his hand and smiled calmly.

"Brother Li's methods are not bad either."

"If it weren't for your cooperation, the Xuan Yang Sect wouldn't have been able to win one victory after another, yet still manage to survive the defeats."

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Everyone understands.

The play needs to be entertaining.

But we can't actually flip the table; after all, we still need to eat.

Li Chenyuan poured himself a glass of wine and suddenly said, "By the way, Brother Gu asked me to keep an eye on that Gu Qingxiao, and I have indeed found out something."

Gu Changjin paused.

"Oh?"

Li Chenyuan squinted and smiled, "That kid is acting strangely."

"I'm just too lucky."

Gu Changjin didn't reply, he just looked at him quietly.

Li Chenyuan continued, "Of course, who among those who have cultivated to our level hasn't had good fortune and opportunities?"

"But Gu Qingxiao's opportunity seems to be quite extraordinary."

"A few days ago, Pei Xuan was chasing after him and that Gu Xiaolou."

"I heard that when they chased them to a desolate mountain in the northern border of the Western Wilderness, the two accidentally entered a secret realm."

"That secret realm is extraordinary; it's suspected to be a legacy site left behind by a Nascent Soul cultivator."

Gu Changjin's eyebrows twitched slightly.

The inheritance of divine transformation.

If this news gets out, it will likely cause a huge uproar in the Western Wilderness.

After all, even a Nascent Soul cultivator can be recognized as an ancestor in the Western Wilderness.

The Nascent Soul stage is more like a mountain pressing down on the heads of all Nascent Soul cultivators.

Seeing his reaction, Li Chenyuan's smile deepened.

"Many sects and rogue cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage have already gone there."

"Everyone is crouching outside the secret chamber, waiting for the people inside to come out."

Pei Xuandu stood guard outside, his face as black as the bottom of a pot.

Gu Changjin said calmly, "That's his business."

"Since Gu Qingxiao has the ability to go in, whether he can come out alive depends on his own fate."

"If he really comes to me, I will intervene later."

Upon hearing this, Li Chenyuan couldn't help but laugh.

"Brother Gu, don't think this has nothing to do with you."

"Pei Xuan has already made his statement. He said that since Gu Qingxiao and Gu Xiaolou are of the Gu family bloodline, he would like to invite you, the Gu family patriarch, to go outside the secret realm to discuss the Dao with him."

"The location is outside that mysterious realm of transformation."

As he said this, his tone carried a hint of schadenfreude.

"And he also specifically pointed out your relationship with the two of them."

"Now, many people throughout the Western Wilderness know about it."

"After the Gu family was wiped out, there were still two direct descendants outside, one Gu Qingxiao and the other Gu Xiaolou, both of whom had offended Pei Xuandu."

Gu Changjin remained silent for a moment.

Then he laughed.

Seeing his smile, Li Chenyuan immediately became interested.

"Brother Gu, you're not angry?"

"Does getting angry help?"

Gu Changjin picked up his wine glass and slowly took a sip.

"If Pei Xuan wants to discuss the Dao, then let them discuss it."

Li Chenyuan raised an eyebrow and asked, somewhat surprised.

"Are you really going?"

Gu Changjin spoke gently.

"Since they've come all the way to invite me, the old patriarch, it's not good to let outsiders think the Gu family has no one to rely on."

Li Chenyuan clicked his tongue, but his words were full of disbelief. "Do you think I don't know who you are?"

"Brother Gu, what you say makes perfect sense."

Gu Changjin simply smiled without saying a word.

He certainly wouldn't go now.

Pei Xuandu is in the mid-Nascent Soul stage and has long been famous in the Western Wilderness.

If it were just Gu Changjin as he is now, he could be dealt with, but there's no need to take the risk.

He was just about to enter the next phase of himself.

Blackwater Serpent.

A powerful demon that has reached the critical point of transforming into a dragon.

If he returns safely from this trip, his true form will be able to take at least another big step forward.

They might even begin to truly cross the threshold of the Divine Transformation stage.

At that time, a rogue cultivator in the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm might want to discuss the Dao with him?

Gu Changjin was eager to see how interesting Pei Xuandu's face would be.

Seeing his expression, Li Chenyuan suddenly felt sorry for Pei Xuandu.

But it's only a little bit.

He's a rogue cultivator.

If you're not a supreme leader of a major sect, then you're dead.

……

Upon returning to the main tent at the front line of the Xuan Yang Sect, Gu Changjin immediately sealed off the formation.

This round of revenue sharing has yielded considerable profits.

In addition to the resources intercepted from the front lines over the past month, and the "sincerity" that Li Chenyuan sent several times, it was enough for him to vigorously stimulate the growth of the Innate Thunder Spirit Wood once again.

A small pot was placed in front of him, and pieces of top-grade spirit stones were thrown into it.

The pot trembled, and the emerald green liquid dripped down little by little.

Gu Changjin took out the remnant root of the Innate Thunder Spirit Wood.

The spiritual liquid fell, lightning danced, and innate energy slowly dissipated.

The Dao Fruit resonated deep within his soul.

A wisp.

Two strands.

Three strands.

The innate Qi that had been refined was transformed into the Dao Yuan and returned to Gu Changjin's control.

After a long while, the small pot quieted down.

The vitality of the Thunder Spirit Tree has also temporarily stabilized.

Gu Changjin closed his eyes to sense it.

Ninety strands.

Now he holds a total of ninety strands of the Dao Yuan.

enough.

This time, it should be enough for him to enter that demon race.

Gu Changjin is not a reckless man.

When he last glimpsed that black water serpent, he knew something was wrong.

That great demon was already on the verge of transforming into a dragon.

Transforming into a dragon inevitably brings calamity.

Moreover, it is a calamity for the demon race.

If he didn't have enough Dao Yuan to suppress him, he was really afraid that he would be struck out by lightning as soon as he entered, before he could even see the situation clearly.

That would be such a waste.

Gu Changjin sat down cross-legged.

The Dao Fruit slowly unfolded deep within the soul, with countless Dao traces rising and falling.

One of them carried an aura of coldness, dampness, wildness, and eeriness.

Gu Changjin became engrossed in it.

next moment.

The world has changed.

It was a vast, abyss shrouded in a deathly mist year-round.

The black waters stretch endlessly, and white bones float on the islands.

The decaying remains of the monster were half-submerged and half-floating, while huge bubbles rose from the depths of the swamp, bursting open and releasing a pungent, fishy stench.

Deep within the great marshland lies a cold pool.

In the icy pool, a giant snake, two hundred feet long, was coiled up.

Its entire body was covered in cold, black scales, with two fleshy bulges on its head and its abdomen swollen as if sharp claws were about to burst through its skin.

Half of the old scales had fallen off, and new scales had not yet grown; dark golden lightning roamed across the enormous snake's body.

It was no ordinary demon snake, but a great demon that had reached the critical point of transforming into a dragon, just one step away from shedding its mortal body and undergoing tribulation to become a dragon.

Blackwater Serpent.

Gu Changjin's consciousness descended.

The next instant, the giant snake slowly opened its eyes.

Those vertical pupils were cold and dark, reflecting the churning clouds of calamity in the sky.

Gu Changjin had just taken over this enormous demon body and hadn't had time to sort out its memories.

boom!

A bolt of dark golden lightning tore through the mist and struck directly at the icy pool.

The entire abyss was bathed in a ghastly white light.

Gu Changjin's pupils suddenly contracted.

"no."

"You just arrived and you're already chopping things up?"

Lightning has arrived.

The enormous snake instinctively raised its head and let out a roar that shook the entire swamp.

The next instant, the heavenly tribulation crashed down.