Dao Equaling the Heavens
Chapter 154 - 122: The Family Heirloom Innate Divine Beast_2

Chapter 154: Chapter 122: The Family Heirloom Innate Divine Beast_2

"They can even set up an ambush in return."

Gu Wen asked, "Is that the truth?"

"Sure as fate." Jun Yan pointed to the seven-story staircase below and said, "I’ve never left this place, and as for the seventh floor, there are six people now, one of whom has just made a breakthrough in swordsmanship and came up. You can confirm it yourselves and continue downward before coming back to verify."

Without hesitation, Gu Wen turned and quickly walked towards the floor, and Chi Yu Zi followed behind, also curious if it was true.

-----------------

The two arrived at the seventh floor and naturally attracted everyone’s gaze, and Gu Wen saw a new face.

Nie Fan, thirteenth on the People’s List, the first from Heavenly Spring Mountain to take a life.

The somewhat youthful Nie Fan, upon seeing Gu Wen and his companion, quickly approached and cupped his fists, "Brother Hongchen, and ... Chi Yu Zi, ma’am."

The youth’s gaze unconsciously drifted to Chi Yu Zi, though she was naturally not some Joyful Union Sect female cultivator. She was dressed normally, with a head of clean and neat shoulder-length hair, lacking much of the soft femininity of a woman.

Instead, she looked like a young cheetah, full of aggression. But people are drawn to strength. Chi Yu Zi was not only easy on the eyes but also ranked third among Earth’s extraordinary women.

Chi Yu Zi gave him an unfriendly glare and said, "What are you staring at? Careful I’ll gouge your eyes out."

Nie Fan hurriedly bowed his head.

"Fellow Daoist Nie, have you made a breakthrough lately?"

Gu Wen started the conversation and after a few brief exchanges, the two continued down to the sixth floor, paused for a moment, and continued down the stairs until they reached the fourth floor and discovered two corpses in a corner.

An examination revealed that one had been killed by a spiritual sword, while the other died at the hands of another. Further investigation deduced that after dueling, the victor, exhausted, had been ambushed and slain by the spiritual sword.

As for their lifesaving magic treasures, both were broken; the depth of enmity that led to such a fight was unknown.

"Let’s head back."

Gu Wen and Chi Yu Zi returned the way they had come. The round trip took them about two hours, making it impossible for Jun Yan to guess by the time which floor they had reached.

Throughout, they never noticed they were under the surveillance of Divine Thought.

Back on the eighth floor, Jun Yan detailed everything they had encountered, the time they spent on each floor, and their discovery of the two bodies, leaving nothing out.

"To actually be able to avoid detection," Chi Yu Zi was astounded. "Is this the effect of the Heavenly Demon technique?"

Gu Wen was likewise amazed, feeling like he had stumbled upon a treasure.

It was like a full-spectrum sense of killing intent, with visibility up to a distance of 3.3 kilometers. And with diminishing damage over distance, attacking from three kilometers away might not be harmless, but it had nothing to do with a surprise attack.

The half-breath it took for the attack to fly was more than enough time to react.

Chi Yu Zi as a shield, Jun Yan providing vision, if they could get the nun to join in the fight, everything would be perfect.

Warmly, Gu Wen grasped Jun Yan’s hand with a beaming smile and said, "Brother Jun Yan, welcome to the fold."

Having decided to recruit him, Gu Wen naturally shared their plans with both of them to coordinate their actions after leaving.

"So you’re planning to head to Nanshui first rather than Fire Cloud Cave? Indeed, that’s not a bad idea, to do the opposite and avoid the gaze of many forces, eluding potential ambushes."

After hearing Gu Wen’s plan, Jun Yan after a moment of thought found the strategy very good, though not without flaws.

"Aren’t you worried about someone taking the Immortality Pill ahead of time?"

"If they could take it, they wouldn’t be focusing on us."

Gu Wen was aware of the risk, but in the world, nothing was without risk.

Compared to the risk of being trapped by a meticulously laid ambush, the possibility of the Immortality Pill being taken paled in significance.

"You decide, I don’t need the Immortality Pill anyway."

Jun Yan offered no more objections, and Gu Wen suddenly thought of another issue, "What if there’s a conflict between the sects backing us?"

It was a serious question. In the world beyond, there was no concept of a nation, just sects ruling vast territories. To most cultivators, the sect was even closer than a family bound by blood.

Even within families, divisions would happen, perhaps forgotten after decades, but a sect was a commitment for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

Chi Yu Zi hesitated for a moment, scratching her head as she replied, "If I choose to go with you, I reckon the sect will abandon me."

"Hmm?" Gu Wen was somewhat puzzled and said, "Is it really that serious? Even if you defy the sect’s wishes, should it really be like this?"

"Because of my sister, she is the founder of the Sword Control Sect. All my cultivation has been planned out; she needs me to cultivate a Nine Revolutions Golden Pill to use as a vessel," Chi Yu Zi countered, "Do you think my protector’s attitude is like that of a protector?"

"More like a jailer."

Gu Wen recalled the protector of the Sword Control Sect. He did not have much animosity towards him and even helped Ao Tang somewhat.

But speaking solely of attitude, it indeed seemed a bit too harsh, not like how one would treat a prodigy. Especially his stance on Chi Yu Zi participating in the alliance of prodigies; it was different from the protectors of other sects.

That very subtle sense of surveillance.

Chi Yu Zi clenched his fist, smiled, and said, "So you can trust me because I am definitely going to twist off the head of the Sword Control Sect founder."

Gu Wen understood; there was a reason they had come together. Birds of a feather flock together.

The other person was actually similar to his past self, used as nutrients for some existence. And Chi Yu Zi was even worse off; he was born handicapped and now had to be used as a vessel.

At that moment, Jun Yan said in a casual tone, "I have no father, no mother, no sect, no faction, and no master."

Another expert?

Gu Wen inexplicably looked towards Xiao Yunyi, who was holding his severed arm and said, "Compared to everyone, I am much better off; my sect has not made harsh demands of me, and I bear no grudges."

Therefore, he did not follow along, but in reality, he was pretty much the same as the others. Gu Wen felt that it was only a matter of time before Xiao Yunyi joined them because this guy was also abnormal.

Others were sword maniacs; he was the maniac in the sword.

He refused to reattach his arm after it was cut off by a spiritual sword, akin to not washing one’s hand for ten years after shaking hands with a goddess. Perhaps this was the ultimate heart of seeking the sword, treating the sword as everything.

Gu Wen returned to the Sword Pond and immediately submerged himself in the water without coming up again.

Xiao Yunyi continued to practice swordsmanship, Chi Yu Zi seemed to be collecting all the spiritual swords as he moved from one level to another, and Jun Yan was also using the Sword Pond to cultivate.

Like this, fifteen days flashed by, everyone busy with their own matters without interfering with each other.

[Imperial Ambrosia of One Hundred and Fifty Years]

The ancestral treasure emitted a faint glow, a thin layer of stone on its surface gently flaking off, revealing dense and numerous cracks.

Holding it in his hand, Gu Wen observed it closely. The Fate Diagram within his Qi Sea trembled slightly, yielding a specific value of the Imperial Ambrosia.

[Longevity Stone, imbued with Innate Divine Beasts, nurtured by generations of the Gu family, progress 98%]

"What?"

Gu Wen was stunned for a moment. He recognized the term Innate Divine Beasts.

Innate implied power; simply put, it means beings naturally endowed with Divine Skills, such as Ao Tang, who was also a Divine Beast.

But he did not expect the ancestral treasure to actually be a Divine Beast, and it seemed it was probably a loophole he had picked up; there was only a tiny bit of progress left until its full nurturing was complete.

At this moment, a new face appeared at the Sword Pond. Lan Yongning, dressed in a robe, climbed up to the eighth level and came to the edge of the pond, waving to Gu Wen and calling out:

"Brother Red Dust, please come over, I have something to tell you."

Gu Wen rose from the Sword Pond, lightly skipped across the surface of the water in a few bounds, and floated to Lan Yongning’s side, congratulating:

"Congratulations, Brother Lan, on the further refinement of your swordsmanship."

"It’s nothing compared to your True Sword Dao."

Lan Yongning shook his head slightly, then lowered his voice and said, "Brother Red Dust, you may be facing a great calamity. The sect’s protector has sent a message to me; currently, there are at least ten Mahayana outside, and at least three Venerable in secret, all of them coming after you guys."

"Who are they?"

"I don’t know, but at least our sect’s Venerable is among them."

"..."

Then why tell me?