Chapter 353: Lingxiao City, the Bloodfall Plan

Chapter 353: Chapter 188: Lingxiao City, the Bloodfall Plan

The sky was a stark crimson, as if it had stained the very heavens and earth. High in the primordial Void Celestial, arcs of thunder flickered ceaselessly through the clouds, bathing them in a crimson glow. These scarlet thunder arcs pulsed with an absolutely astonishing power.

In the void, a white-robed figure stood as straight and unyielding as a pine. His robes billowed without a wind to stir them, and his long hair danced freely. Scarlet thunder arcs coiled around his body, unleashing a terrifying aura that made the very heavens and earth tremble.

A flicker of joy passed through Gu Yun’s deep eyes. He hadn’t expected the energy from refining the Vermilion Bird Heaven-Burning Thunder to push his Cultivation straight through to the Tongxuan Realm Middle Stage. His foundation was exceptionally solid, with no signs of instability whatsoever.

‘Tongxuan Realm Middle Stage! This has saved me years, even decades, of arduous Cultivation!’

An ordinary Tongxuan Realm Cultivator would have to spend untold time polishing and condensing their Magical Power, attuning themselves to the world, and expending vast resources just to break through a single minor realm. The hardships involved were beyond what any outsider could possibly imagine.

‘Cultivation truly is a matter of fortune,’ he thought. ‘Sometimes, a single opportunity is worth decades, or even a century, of painstaking effort.’

It could even provide a Heaven-Defying, fate-altering miracle—something that arduous, secluded Cultivation could never hope to match.

Gu Yun raised his jade-white arm mid-air and opened his hand. An utterly terrifying bolt of crimson Thunder instantly erupted from his palm. The ambient temperature shot up as if he had summoned a cosmic forge, searing the very space around him. At its core, the power was even greater, imbued with the savage and ferocious Divine Power of Thunder Punishment!

“This trip to the Southern Wilderness was more than worth it!” A smile touched Gu Yun’s handsome face.

After the Inner Sect competition, he could have chosen to cultivate in the Sect’s luxurious, Spiritual Qi-rich environment. Instead, he had resolutely embarked on a quest to the Southern Wilderness in search of a Divine Thunder. His journey was fraught with setbacks, ultimately leading him to this godforsaken place, the Silent Extinction Abyss.

He had begun to think finding a Divine Thunder was a fool’s dream, but in the end, his persistence paid off. He had finally managed to subdue the Vermilion Bird Heaven-Burning Thunder.

Then, Gu Yun lifted his head slightly. Tendrils of lightning flickered in his deep eyes, his gaze seeming to pierce through layer upon layer of space, beyond the bounds of the Secret Realm itself, as if reaching straight into the vast, starry cosmos.

For some reason, the warning his senior brother, Ye Xuantian, had given him before departing surfaced in his mind.

“Central Earth… an extradimensional invasion.”

If Celestial Essence were to fall,

how could anyone survive?

‘And I doubt my own fate would be any better.’

‘Besides, in a war of worldly invasion, a mere Tongxuan Realm Cultivator would be less than a ripple in the tide. Only a powerhouse at the level of a Unity Realm giant could play a truly strategic role!’

‘Unity… Unity… to merge one’s body with the Dao,’

‘Besides, ‘Ling’ once told me that when I reach the Unity Realm, I can go find him at the Holy Origin Seven-Star Tower.’

“The Unity Realm… a heavy burden and a long road ahead!” Gu Yun sighed, then pushed the thought from his mind.

His figure flickered, sending out ripples through the air like waves on water, and then he vanished without a trace.

…

「Three days later.」

White clouds drifted by like foals.

The sky was a pale blue, and the sun cast down its boundless radiance.

Southern Wilderness, Sea Continent, Lingxiao City.

The city walls were dark, thick, and ancient, towering majestically. A web of gnarled cracks marred their surface, only adding to their imposing, martial grandeur.

Lingxiao City was the most famous Immortal City in the Sea Continent, home to tens of millions of people.

WHOOSH!

High in the sky, True Martial Realm Cultivators on Flying Swords would occasionally streak past, leaving behind the whistling sound of Powerful Qi tearing through the air.

The city below spanned thousands of miles, its end nowhere in sight. Its countless pavilions and towers rose and fell in undulating waves, a magnificent, sprawling cityscape like a turbulent sea.

CLACK CLACK!

Throngs of people bustled back and forth, their footsteps creating a crisp rhythm, punctuated by the unending, loud calls of vendors hawking their wares from the sidelines.

Gu Yun walked among the throng of millions.

By now, Gu Yun had long since left the Silent Extinction Abyss, traveling eastward until he reached Lingxiao City in the Sea Continent.

With each step he took, Gu Yun’s figure seemed to use the Shrinking Inches technique, weaving silently and unnoticed through the dense crowd.

He was like a god walking among mortals; no one could perceive his presence as he experienced the joys, angers, sorrows, and happiness of the common folk.

The aura of the mortal world billowed around him. The emotions and ideas of the masses were reflected within his Divine Thought, allowing him to clearly hear every spoken word, and even their innermost thoughts.

“There are five hundred Low Grade Spirit Stones hidden under the big tree five hundred meters from the Wang Family estate.”

“I hope I can find some Celestial Spirit Gold Stone at the Lingxiao City trade meet.”

“The young lady of the Wu Family is having an affair with a cultivator from another family. No one’s found out yet, she’s really something…”

As Gu Yun walked among mortals, he not only heard their innermost thoughts but also witnessed the scenes of daily life: children playing and crying, the elderly walking with faltering steps, merchants hawking their goods… All these moments unfolded before him. He felt the joys and sorrows that emanated from the surface of this mortal world, a convergence of emotions that transformed into a roiling tide of worldly aura, blanketing the earth.

This was a profound experience of the mortal world, something he could never have perceived while soaring at high altitudes.

At times, Gu Yun would even let his form become visible to play a game of chess with an old man by the roadside, simply to experience mortal life.

Time flew by like a galloping foal, the days passing like a weaver’s shuttle.

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed since Gu Yun’s arrival in Lingxiao City.

At this moment,

In a private room of an inn, Gu Yun sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion. The Spirit Light in his eyes was even brighter than it had been half a month prior. Deep within his sea of consciousness, his Divine Sense was brimming, as if it had shed a coarse outer layer to reveal its perfectly smooth and flawless true nature.

Gu Yun’s rate of advancement in his Cultivation was undeniably swift, yet his foundation was exceptionally solid. He practiced the Nine Tribulations Thunder Gang Decision and had trained many of his Techniques to the Realm of Perfection, giving him combat prowess that far surpassed others at his level.

And yet, despite all this, Gu Yun still had one unavoidable weakness: his mental fortitude.

Compared to other Tongxuan Realm Cultivators, the number of years Gu Yun had been cultivating was likely just a fraction of theirs.