Demon Slaying, Gaining 60 Years of Cultivation From the Start
Chapter 1252 - 224: Re-encountering Gu Yan

Chapter 1252: Chapter 224: Re-encountering Gu Yan

In the realm of saints, the aura was ancient and the artistic conception was long, the spiritual energy was dense and majestic, and the heavens and the earth emitted strange lights; occasionally, one could even see strands of chaotic airflow spread and extend.

At this moment, on a high mountain, hundreds of young prodigies had gathered because of the Saint Yuan Fruit, among whom two stood out, confronting each other.

Chiyun Ming, the young master from the Chiyun Clan, which ranks within the top thirty clans in the upper realm, was powerful, at the late stage of the Integration Realm!

Gu Yan, the crown prince of the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty, dressed in black, had a cold demeanor and stood there without uttering a word.

Normally speaking, both being colossal forces, the Chiyun Clan was still much stronger than the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty.

Because, within the Chiyun Clan, there were no less than three supremely powerful beings in residence!

Whereas in the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty, only one was known, and as for that ancient ancestor, opinions were varied, making it hard to count among them.

When the two confronted each other, all the cultivators present felt that Gu Yan was overconfident and was courting death.

But contrary to expectation, when they clashed, no, when Gu Yan made his move, this notion changed, causing everyone to be taken aback.

"Gray Domain, an inconspicuous little corner of the upper realm, could actually have such a person who can rival Chiyun Ming, the young master of the Chiyun Clan, without falling behind?" a cultivator whispered in shock.

In comparison, for the vast and infinite upper realm, Gray Domain truly counted for little.

Among the 3,600 domains, Gray Domain could only barely be considered a middle to lower realm, far inferior to the East Profound Region.

And the realm where the Chiyun Clan was located could rank among the higher ones in the 3,600 domains, with several powerful clans standing tall and quite a few hidden sects of paths, equally extraordinary in strength.

Whether in terms of heritage or other aspects, Chiyun Ming should have crushed the opposition, but this was not the case now.

"Every iteration of the battle among the Ten Thousand Tribes has a few dark horses emerging, and it seems that this crown prince of the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty, Gu Yan, is one of this iteration’s dark horses," a cultivator said.

"This young master of the Chiyun Clan has truly met his match this time!" hundreds of cultivators watched intently.

At this moment, Chiyun Ming also frowned; not long ago, he had just killed the strongest prodigy from the Leyun Sparrow Clan, which ranked within the top fifty races of the upper realm, in a confident display of strength.

Unexpectedly, he now encountered a challenger, and from the insignificant Gray Domain no less.

In the upper realm, with countless tribes abounding, "ten thousand" is a figurative term; such a vast world, among 3,600 domains, it’s very hard to count all the races clearly.

Yet, the Chiyun Clan could rank within the top thirty among many races, which was indeed a remarkable achievement!

You must know, the closer to the top the rankings, there could be a huge disparity in strength between even just two or three positions, not to mention a clan ranking in the top thirty of the upper realm, which can only be described as glorious beyond compare!

And in contrast, even the previously defeated Leyun Sparrow Clan compared poorly to the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty. Now, this crown prince Gu Yan actually managed to match him in strength, even gaining a slight upper hand.

How could Chiyun Ming accept this?

"Are you really Gu Yan, the crown prince of the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty?" Chiyun Ming frowned, really finding it hard to believe.

Gu Yan had a cold expression, and upon hearing this, he just gave a cold smile and did not speak.

Compared to nearly three years ago, when Gu Chen had met Gu Yan in the Gray Domain, the current Gu Yan had really changed a lot, having made tremendous progress in strength with the help of demonic forces!

After all, once merged with the evil spirits, there were no more bottlenecks in his cultivation. He just needed to keep devouring living beings. During this period, Gu Yan’s realm had naturally advanced by leaps and bounds, almost on par with the top tier in the holy realm, reaching the late stage of the Unity Realm, no weaker than the young master of the Chiyun Clan, Chiyun Ming, standing before him!

"As long as I devour Chiyun Ming before me and gain some more fortunes, I shall step into the great perfection of Unity Realm and stand shoulder to shoulder with the strongest contemporary figures of the immortal level Dao lineages and the top ten races!" Gu Yan thought excitedly to himself.

For Gu Yan, Chiyun Ming before his eyes was merely a stepping stone.

"The Saint Yuan Fruit will allow my physical body to break through and advance further!" Gu Yan looked eagerly towards the mountain top.

Now, with his physical body at the fifth transformation, Gu Yan only hoped to reach the sixth transformation before breaking through to the Heaven Realm, which, even with the evil spirit, was still very difficult for him.

But in the holy realm, there was still some hope, and the Saint Yuan Fruit before him couldn’t be given up.

One could say that the power of the evil spirit had indeed helped him tremendously, causing Gu Yan to be intoxicated.

"It seems that today is destined to not end well. The Saint Yuan Fruit is also something I must obtain," Chiyun Ming said gravely.

"The Saint Yuan Fruit is destined to be mine, not even the king of heaven could take it away from me!" At that moment, a cold look flashed in Gu Yan’s eyes as he said coldly to Chiyun Ming.

Boom!

Chiyun Ming said no more and directly struck, and the two once again fought together.

"Netherworld Fire!" At that moment, Gu Yan, the prince of the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty clad in black, shouted loudly. An immensely chilling flame appeared between heaven and earth which grew with the wind and swallowed up the Chiyun Clan’s young master, Chiyun Ming.

"Chiyun Clamor!"

As the young master of the Chiyun Clan, who had witnessed countless grand scenes, Chiyun Ming kept his composure, unleashed a famous skill of the Chiyun Clan, and in an instant, the mountaintop was engulfed with rising winds and scudding clouds, with lightning flashing and thunder roaring.

Boom!

Their attacks collided, and this time, it was a draw.

Chiyun Ming fought with all his might. He dared not underestimate Gu Yan any longer, every move he made was incredibly serious, merging his body with heaven and earth, deploying his profound magical powers, and using several of his clan’s powerful techniques.

But Gu Yan was no ordinary opponent either. The Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty, inheriting traditions from a time immemorial, was in this respect hardly any less than the Chiyun Clan.

"Heaven Yin Finger!"

Gu Yan roared lowly, pointing a finger, black as ink, thick with rich forces of extreme Yin flowing over it.

Clang!

Chiyun Ming’s color slightly changed. The power of Gu Yan’s finger was formidable. He deployed an internal technique of the Chiyun Clan—Overturning Clouds and Rain—to just fend off the strike.

Bang bang bang!

The two then engaged in their most fierce battle, fighting from the ground all the way to the heavens. The earth shook, hurricanes swept through, and hundreds of cultivators could only keep retreating helplessly.

"Tianming God Palm!"

At that moment, in the turmoil above in the high skies, came Gu Yan’s fierce cry, followed closely by a burst of glaring blood light.

"Pfft!"

Chiyun Ming, the young master of the Chiyun Clan, was overpowered, spitting blood from his mouth as his body fell from the sky above. In his eyes, as he looked towards Gu Yan, the prince of the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty, was an extremely intense color of shock.

"You—" he stretched out his finger, pointing at Gu Yan, clearly having something to say.

However, Gu Yan merely let out a cold laugh and struck with severity; there was no way he would give Chiyun Ming a chance!

Moreover, each heavy strike contained traces of black qi that other cultivators would find hard to detect, penetrating into Chiyun Ming’s body.

"Master of the Storms!"

In extreme anger, Chiyun Ming could only use this move again, hoping for a breather to unveil Gu Yan’s true face.

Unfortunately, Gu Yan, ever so astute, saw through Chiyun Ming’s intention. He likely would not afford him that chance, and this time, he went for the kill.

"Die!"

Gu Yan roared explosively, his palm strike mixed rich with black qi veiled by Netherworld Fire, landing on Chiyun Ming’s chest.

"Pu!"

Chiyun Ming spit out fresh blood, his face as pale as gold paper. This move was akin to the combined assault of two top elites at the later stage of unity—it was too much for even him to withstand.

Especially so, as the demonic power was even stranger, subtly invading his body when he least expected it; otherwise, he would not have been defeated.

Of course, even if the struggle had continued for a long time, Chiyun Ming wouldn’t stand a chance, for his energy was not inexhaustible.

"You..."

Chiyun Ming’s mouth was filled with blood, staring in utter astonishment at Gu Yan before him, never expecting him to have merged with a demon and to be from the holy sect!

He opened his mouth, wanting to speak the truth, but no sound came out; he simply couldn’t express it.

And as the demonic power spread within his body, Chiyun Ming’s life force weakened increasingly until finally, the light in his pupils completely extinguished, and he died.

"Chiyun Ming... dead?!" From afar, hundreds of cultivators who had witnessed the battle were shocked, their eyes filled with disbelief.

Wasn’t this the young master of the Chiyun Clan, ranked among the top thirty in the upper realm, the strongest of the younger generation? To have been defeated and even killed?

Didn’t this imply that Gu Yan’s strength was significantly superior to Chiyun Ming’s? Otherwise, if Chiyun Ming couldn’t win, he still could have escaped.

"A dark horse, this is a true dark horse!" They looked at Gu Yan in shock, knowing that after he obtained these nine Saint Yuan Fruits, his power could grow even further.

"Could it be that he will rival the top twenty tribes, or even those monstrous geniuses of the immortal-level doctrines and the top ten tribes?!" hundreds of cultivators thought.

At this moment, upon defeating Chiyun Ming, a cold smile appeared on Gu Yan’s lips as he glanced over at the hundreds of cultivators from afar.

These people, none would escape, they would become his nourishment.

"The holy realm, truly can be said to be my lucky place, I will rise here and together with the young masters, suppress everything!" Gu Yan secretly delighted, a sinister smile appearing on his face.

Then, he glanced at the nine Saint Yuan Fruits at the mountaintop, his eyes flashed with fervor, and his figure flickered, intending to go pick them.

But at that moment, a voice suddenly thundered in the heavens and the earth, immensely loud, shaking the area.

"Gu Yan!"

Hearing his name being called, Gu Yan turned back to look, and when he saw that figure, his pupils suddenly constricted to the size of needle points!

At this moment, the hundreds of cultivators from a distance, seeing someone daring to challenge Gu Yan, were also shocked, showing immense interest as they looked up into the skies.

There, a tall figure in dark robes stood levitating, with sword-like eyebrows and piercing eyes, features sharp and breathtakingly handsome.

"Who is this person?" they wondered, admitting they had not seen him before.

But at this time, Gu Yan was greatly shaken, his heartbeat inadvertently beginning to race.

He had never expected to meet him here – it really felt almost like a dream.

"Gu Chen!" Gu Yan’s heart skipped a beat as he frowned and spoke.

"Gu Chen?"

"Who is this person?"

Hundreds of cultivators were curious, stating they had never heard this name among the numerous geniuses of the upper realm.

However, the mere fact that he appeared here, participating in the Ten Thousand Tribes battle, was proof enough of his strength, so no one dared to look down on him.

"You actually dare to appear in front of me?" Gu Yan raised his eyebrow, a trace of disdain flashing in his eyes.

Gu Chen maintained a calm demeanor, neither joyful nor sorrowful, merely standing in the sky, gazing at Gu Yan.

Under the insight of the Fifth Tier Heavenly Eye, every secret of Gu Yan could be seen clearly; he simply couldn’t hide anything.

After some time apart, his old rival had indeed improved quite a bit.

"This time, you’re not a spiritual body, and there’s no one to save you." Gu Chen said.

Merely this sentence caused Gu Yan’s expression to turn extremely grim as he said, "Luck has indeed kept you alive to see this day. If I had known, I would have strangled you the moment you set foot in the upper realm!"

"You never had that chance." Gu Chen spoke calmly.

In the past as in the present, Gu Yan could not kill him, nor did he have the opportunity.

"These two seem to have had grievances from long ago?" At that moment, the hundreds of onlookers realized some details.

"Although I don’t know who this Gu Chen is, his daring to show up after Gu Yan defeated Chiyun Ming – I admire his courage!"

As these words were spoken, many nodded in agreement.

Gu Chen naturally saw Chiyun Ming’s corpse not far off, but he paid it no mind.

To Gu Chen, no matter how strong Gu Yan was, he was nothing more than a local bully!