Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Gu Dongliu was seen standing on top of those steps, and he was clad all over in celestial light.
“If there is to be a fight among the saints, allow me,” Gu Dongliu said. He knew that he had been taken into the Celestial Gate by the clan leader of the Jiang Clan and that there was definitely a lot of criticism circulating.
In truth, despite having trained for all that time, he was nonetheless able to sense a lot going on with the outside world.
He felt as if he had been in a very long dream all that while, and reality was somehow intertwined with that dream.
He felt that he had even lived several lives.
One of those memories that left the most impression on him was that of his grandfather—Gu Tianxing—as well as that of his father—Gu Jiangnan.
The memories of the figures of two past generations left an extremely significant impact on him.
His grandfather—Gu Tianxing—was a man of honor, standing tall with the burden of the Celestial Gate resting on his shoulders. He had been creating peerless methods of the mystical ways to break the binds of the heavenly path.
His father—Gu Jiangnan—was a genius like none other, yet he was unfortunate enough to die an early death.
Gu Dongliu had wondered why he had been wandering alone outside in the past, but time washed away all those thoughts, and he could now let them go.
However, everything began anew again.
He shouldered the will of two of his predecessors and entered the Celestial Gate of Vast Heaven again.
Everything would have begun anew.
“Very well.” Jiang Taichu, who was below, turned around to look at Gu Dongliu above, before walking up the steps. If there were to be a fight between the saints, he would have left it to Gu Dongliu.
Everyone understood what was going on. Countless pairs of eyes looked at Gu Dongliu, knowing that he needed to fight.
Countless below looked at the ones who emerged, and they deemed that Gu Dongliu would have been the more appropriate candidate for the fight.
When Wang Yanbing paid a visit to Qin He, he talked about the matter with Gu Dongliu. If the Wang Clan were to rejoin the Celestial Gate, it would have affected Gu Dongliu directly.
As such, with Gu Dongliu emerging to fight, he was actually fighting to determine his destiny.
Wang Yanbing looked up at that figure. He had not expected Gu Dongliu to emerge out of isolation at such a time or that Gu Dongliu had become a Holiness of Nirvana right away. Wang Yanbing became truly impressed with Gu Tianxing, who had been going against the mandate of heaven, so much so that he had even managed to break the rules of the world of cultivators, enabling Gu Dongliu to actually be able to advance in such a short period of time.
But then again, that would have had a lot of variables at play, and Gu Tianxing alone would not have been able to pull it all off. That man tapped into the will of the Demon Monarch, devouring everything within the Origin Mountains into a single divine matrix before passing it all onto Gu Dongliu. He had even left his will to Gu Dongliu.
The grandfather gave the grandson everything.
Gu Dongliu, at the moment, had inherited everything that had belonged to Gu Tianxing. He had even inherited the Laws of Origin.
However, even so, Wang Yanbing’s expression remained as pointed as always. There was not even a single hint of doubt on his face.
Jiang Taichu was, too, a legendary figure and of a stable plane. He had long made it into the plane of Holiness of Nirvana and was known as the number one below the Renhuang in the Celestial Gate of Vast Heaven.
Despite all that he had inherited, he had nonetheless skipped planes to get to where he was at now, and his plane was necessarily as stable as Jiang Taichu’s. Wang Yanbing wondered if it had been the right thing to do for Gu Dongliu, fighting him as soon as he emerged out of isolation.
Regardless of who was the one standing before him, Wang Yanbing deemed that there was no stopping the Wang Clan from rejoining the Celestial Gate.
Even if said person was Gu Dongliu.
Furthermore, he deemed that to be a better turn of events. If Gu Dongliu were to be the one fighting, then there was no doubt that it would have proven the words he said that day.
Wang Yanbing stated that the Celestial Gate of Vast Heaven should not have taken Gu Dongliu into their fold.
“Let’s have the Renhuang do battle,” that elder at the Celestial Gate of Vast Heaven announced at that moment. If the Renhuang of the Wang Clan were to be able to win in the fight, then there would have no need for the saints to fight, as the Wang Clan would have been able to get into the Celestial Gate and become one of the ruling clans of the place.
The two Renhuangs stepped out and took to the air.
They eyed each other, and they had yet to fully burst with their aura, yet the crowd throughout that vast place sensed all that stifling pressure nonetheless. It was as if there were two wills of Renhuang coming down at the same time, which felt like pressure coming down from the heavens.
The robes of the two fighters billowed as their eyes met. It was as if the clash of wills had already begun. Terrifying aura formed around them as if their auras had been compressed to the extreme.
Swoop, swoop… High pitched noises were heard, and terrifying aura formed around the vicinity of those two fighters. It was as if a formless storm of the great path had been compressed to an extremely small area, preventing the effects from hitting the others.
Renhuangs were just as eerily impeccable at controlling their powers, and they were known to be at the top when it came to control. They all had absolute control of their own powers and would definitely keep those powers in check as they fought, as fights between Renhuangs could only be done at very, very high altitudes.
Even without unleashing their powers fully, the crowd sensed that the area where the two were had been rendered as no man’s land. If anyone were to step into it without care, said person would definitely be torn to shreds right away, leaving nothing behind.
The robes of the two Renhuang continued to billow, and high pitched noises continued to be heard. However, the Renhuang of the Celestial Gate of Vast Heaven stepped back for a bit at that moment. Shrill cutting noises were heard, and many cuts were seen on his robe.
On the other side, that Renhuang from the Wang Clan grunted, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. What was even more terrifying was how even his eyes bled, making the scene look harrowing.
It was obvious that the Renhuang was injured.
That stifling pressure dissipated, and the Renhuang from the Celestial Gate cupped his hands and said, “It has been an honor.”
The Renhuang of the Wang clan bowed slightly before retreating, not saying a word as he did so.
That battle had not rattled the minds of the spectators much, especially those of the Wang Clan. There were two pinnacle forces in the Celestial Gate, and they had deployed their strongest fighter. It was completely normal for the Wang Clan to end up losing. They had long anticipated that happening in the battle, and as such, they never had too much hope about it.
The true battle lied with Wang Yanbing.
That number one cultivator below the Renhuang plane from Haotian City, on the other hand, was one who had truly been able to beat top figures from the Celestial Gate.
Wang Yanbing was of equal renown to Jiang Taichu and Hua Qingyun.
“Wang Yanbing.” A voice was heard saying at that moment. The clan leader of the Wang Clan looked at him and said, “It’s up to you now.”
At that moment, all of the mighty ones from the Wang Clan looked at him. There were high expectations in every single pair of eyes.
That solemn atmosphere had even affected the others. At that moment, many had even sympathized with the Wang Clan, hoping that they would be able to rejoin the Celestial Gate again.
After enduring all that humiliation for over a millennium, they had pinned all those high hopes onto one person. Many had been incapable of relating to said hopes before, yet at that moment, all of them seemed to have understood all that hope was placed onto one man.
In the Wang Clan’s perspective, it was a battle that they could not afford to lose.
If they were to lose, such a chance would not come again for the next hundred or thousand years.
If Wang Yanbing were to end up being beaten, there would have been no telling when another equal to him would emerge.
As such, the Wang Clan had to win.
If they were to miss that opportunity, the wait would be forever. The Wang Clan would not be able to wash away all the humiliation they endured all those years ago, and they would never be able to rejoin the Celestial Gate ever again.
Wang Yanbing, having sensed the hopes in all those eyes, stepped forward. He walked tall and proud, like a sword drawn from its scabbard and thrust forward.
“I’m not going home if we are not able to get into the Celestial Gate.”
An extremely shrill voice was heard throughout the air. Such was Wang Yanbing’s resolve.
“I’m not going home if we are not able to get into the Celestial Gate.”
The weight in those words was obvious.
Wang Yanbing took one step after another forward, with every step howling with the will of divine arms, shooting at Gu Dongliu above.
Gu Dongliu stepped out after seeing Wang Yanbing move, heading down the steps.
Wang Yanbing shouldered the thousand-year-old hopes of his clan, while Gu Dongliu shouldered the wills of both Gu Tianxing and Gu Jiangnan, who were both legendary figures.
Neither of them could afford to lose in that battle.
Not Wang Yanbing, not Gu Dongliu.
Countless held their breath as they sensed that solemn air about them, fixing their gaze on the battlefield. That vast space was unusually silent.
That battle seemed like it would have been more eye-catching than the one fought between the Renhuangs prior.
Boom. Wang Yanbing stepped out and walked up the steps of the Celestial Gate. He was determined not to go home until he succeeded as he made his steps forward.
He did not suppress the burst of his aura. There were many Renhuangs around. Regardless of how formidable their auras were, there would have been Renhuangs standing guard nonetheless. As such, there was no need for the saints to hold themselves back.
In that instant, many mighty ones, who wore divine arms behind the scene, felt their divine arms rattling and ringing. Their swords struggled to shoot out of their scabbards while spears intended to fly forward.
Frightening aura was conjured around Wang Yanbing’s body. The power of the great path coalesced in the sky above. Such was the way of the divine arms.
Howling was heard, and swords were conjured, ringing angrily in the sky. The weapons shot forward and appeared right above Gu Dongliu’s head.
In that instant, there seemed to have been a Divine Arms Diagram appearing in the air.
Boom. Wang Yanbing continued to burst up the steps. Weapons rained down as he charged at Gu Dongliu.
Gu Dongliu lowered his head and looked below him. He stood around like a mystical figure, looking dashing and unfettered.
The light of the Nine Symbols circled around his body, causing a frightening aura to appear around his body.
He then pointed at the sky with one finger, and a huge ancient symbol emerged.
“Lin!”
The symbol shot downwards, and the air shook with a stifled tremble. The air seemed to have been placed in a lockdown. All raging attacks were stopped immediately.
The scene with massive amounts of divine arms raining down was unbelievably terrifying, yet Gu Dongliu had simply pointed his finger upward, and a Lin symbol went on to shroud the sky in its entirely. The strokes of the symbol stood at the center of the myriad of ancient symbols, shrouding everything within.
Countless had their eyes fixed on that huge symbol. Everyone paid close attention to that battle, and it was more than just Wang Yanbing making his way into the Celestial Gate; it was also the first time Gu Dongliu was seen fighting.
That legendary figure that Gu Tianxing had created with methods that shocked the mystical regions, everyone wondered how he would have fared.
Boom. Wang Yanbing remained unfazed at all. He stepped forward again. Mystical light circled around him, and his Life Spirit appeared behind him. That Life Spirit was a symbol as well.
Bing.
It constituted of the mystical ways that the Wang Clan—the Art of Yanbing.
That was where the name “Wang Yanbing” came from, and it was obvious that the Wang Clan had indeed pinned all their hopes onto him.
The Life Spirit appeared, and celestial light flowed. The thousands of divine arms whipped up a terrifying storm, turning into a maelstrom of divine arms, tearing the Lin seal apart with peerless combative powers.
Multiple divine arms appeared behind Wang Yanbing as well. All of them were in the form of swords. Many claimed that swords were the king of all weapons, and they were able to break through everything.
Boom.
Wang Yanbing continued to step out, bringing that terrifying, all-shredding storm of divine arms at Gu Dongliu. The swords all around him shot forth in an instant.
Furthermore, all divine arms that emerged from him seemed to be even sharper than true divine weapons. The divine arms all glittered with brilliant light as they resonated with their surroundings, making them able to bring down everything they struck.
No one was allowed to stand in his way on that day.
It was all the same, even if the one were to be Gu Dongliu.
