My little sect, which disappeared a thousand years ago, has become a sacred site!

The sudden turn of events stunned all the Heavenly Demon Sect disciples who were poised to attack. They froze on the spot, their faces filled with bewilderment, and their hands instinctively stopped moving.

They all looked up at the black-clad man who had suddenly appeared in the center of the open space.

He is not...an enemy.

The moment this thought crossed her mind, the female cultivator felt a sudden sense of relief, followed by immense joy at having escaped a desperate situation.

She immediately stopped, quickly stepped forward, bowed deeply, and her voice trembled slightly with excitement:

"Thank you for saving me, senior."

I am Fang Ranlan, an inner disciple of the Heavenly Demon Sect. I was leading a team back from a mission in the human realm when we were ambushed in this area.

"If it weren't for your divine power descending upon us, we would likely be in grave danger today!"

After she finished speaking, the dozen or so surviving disciples behind her struggled to their feet, ignoring their injuries, and bowed in unison.

Some even secretly glanced at this "senior," their eyes filled with both relief at surviving the ordeal and awe and curiosity about his terrifying strength.

Gu Changyuan nodded slightly, which was considered his agreement.

With another wave of his right hand, all three energies were extracted from the shattered remains of the demon race.

Three streams of air swirled and converged in the air before accurately flying toward the black gourds at the waists of each Heavenly Demon Sect disciple present.

"Buzz—"

More than ten Three Qi Returning to Origin gourds simultaneously lit up with mysterious dark golden patterns, absorbing the surging three energies without leaving a single drop.

This scene shocked the disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect even more than when Gu Changyuan had instantly killed all the ghosts!

Their eyes widened, their mouths gaped open enough to fit a fist, their eyes filled with disbelief and astonishment, and their bodies trembled slightly.

In terms of strength, they had all witnessed the terrifying power of the ten patriarchs of the Heavenly Demon Sect. Although they were in awe of Gu Changyuan's instant kill of these low-level ghosts, they were not too shocked.

After all, there are quite a few in the Heavenly Demon Sect who can easily crush these ghosts.

He can control the three energies with ease and accurately guide them into the Three Energy Returning to Origin Gourd. Even ten patriarchs might not be able to do such a thing.

All they knew was that the Three Qi Returning to Origin Gourd was a treasure left behind by the founding sect leader of the Heavenly Demon Sect, and it was a tool used by all three sects.

Only those who pass the examinations of the Heavenly Demon Sect, the Heavenly Human Holy Land, and the Heavenly Demon Pavilion and become formal disciples can activate and use it.

Even if the gourd is stolen by an outsider, and the person is not a disciple of one of the three sects, they will not be able to activate it even slightly.

That's right. After Gu Changyuan left the Celestial Holy Land and the Heavenly Demon Pavilion, he passed on the method of refining the Three Qi Returning to Origin Gourd to the ten founding disciples of the three major sects.

Over the years, after the disciples of the three major sects came together, they achieved in-depth cooperation in various aspects, sharing resources and helping each other.

One of the most crucial collaborations involved the Celestial Sacred Land and the Heavenly Demon Pavilion, who also helped the Heavenly Demon Sect collect the Three Qi.

Therefore, the three parties agreed that when disciples of the Celestial Sacred Land and the Heavenly Demon Pavilion went out to carry out missions, they would be accompanied by team leaders or core disciples.

They would all carry a Three Qi Returning to Origin Gourd with them, and when they encountered three energies, they would collect them and bring them back to their sect before handing them over to the Heavenly Demon Sect.

As for resource allocation, you'll find information above about participating in missions and heading to secret realms.

Resources related to human cultivation belong to the Heavenly Human Holy Land, while resources related to demon cultivation belong to the Heavenly Demon Pavilion.

The three energies absorbed by the dead belong to the Heavenly Demon Sect.

This pattern is exactly what these senior disciples learned from Gu Changyuan's style of doing things back then, and they've all mastered it perfectly.

There was no other way; Gu Changyuan was really too poor back then. He had so many founding disciples to take care of, and many new ones to join later, so naturally he had to be careful with his money.

Unlike now, where storage space is plentiful and there's no such thing as resource scarcity.

......

However, Gu Changyuan's spellcasting did not end there.

At the very moment when all three-colored streams of energy disappeared into the gourds at the waists of the disciples, a wisp of pale green spiritual energy precisely entered the body of each Heavenly Demon Sect disciple.

The moment the green energy entered their bodies, there was no rejection whatsoever; it transformed into the purest, most refined demonic energy, directly flowing into the disciples' meridians.

All the disciples' still-bleeding, gruesome wounds were healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The junior disciples who were almost completely exhausted and needed the support of their fellow disciples to even stand up have now recovered most of their strength.

The next second, an even more spectacular scene unfolded, changing the very fabric of the world.

Gu Changyuan slowly raised his left hand.

His gaze calmly turned towards the depths of the forest, in the direction from which the demon army had come from their ambush.

When he casually crushed those ants, he had already thoroughly searched their memories through those easily retractable fragments of their souls.

There is no need for interrogation, no need for confirmation.

Knowing is enough.

His left hand's five fingers were pressed together, like a knife.

Then--

I gently waved my hand towards the distant horizon.

A jet-black sword aura, condensed to the point of being almost tangible, burst forth from his fingertips.

The sword energy was initially inconspicuous, but it suddenly expanded the moment it left his fingertips.

It tore through the air, tore through the demonic mist, tore through all the mountains, forests, and rivers that blocked its path, and slashed straight toward the distant mountains at the end of the horizon.

"boom--!!!"

A massive fissure, originating from Gu Changyuan's feet and extending for miles to the target community, stretched across the land.

One sword strike, a hundred miles away.

One sword, and the entire clan is wiped out.

The disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect even forgot to breathe.

Gu Changyuan withdrew his left hand.

He lowered his eyes and glanced at the young disciples who stood there like wooden figures, his eyebrows twitching almost imperceptibly.

—What, is it so strange that you wiped out a clan while saving your disciple's life?

He offered no explanation, nor did he wait for them to come to their senses.

With a casual wave of his right hand, a surge of spiritual energy swept up more than a dozen disciples who were still in a state of "Who am I? Where am I? Did I just see a miracle?", as if packing a small bag of luggage to be shipped.

"Let's go."

Then, a flash of light appeared, and Gu Changyuan led them away together.

He was incredibly fast; in less than half an incense stick's time, a huge black coffin appeared before his eyes.

The Heavenly Demon Sect is right in front of us.