Translator: Fate Translation Checker: Silavin As an lively, energetic old man walked into the palace in his swaying garments, it was visible that he once lived a youthful life of grace and class. He carried an extraordinary aura, as though he was one with nature and one with the Great Dao. As he walked, the world seemed to come together with each breath. Seeing that, even the smoking, farmer-like Ancestor stood up with reverence all over his face. “Greetings, Ancestor.” In the middle of the palace, Gu Lintian, despite being unaware of the identity of the visiting Ancestor, respectfully bowed to him. Other than Gu Lintian, the Elders from different branches of the Gu Family in the palace, whose cultivation levels were at least in the Sacred King Realm, were discussing matters related to Purple Mansion. Although, to them, this was a trivial, unimportant matter. In fact, they wouldn’t have bothered themselves with it if it weren’t for Gu Changge’s involvement. “Greetings, Ancestor.” The rest of the Elders also bowed. Simultaneously, they were already guessing the identity of the Ancestor, but due to the tremendous number of Ancestors in the Gu Family, it was most likely impossible. Similarly, the Elders most likely had little to no chances of meeting an Ancestor even once, despite having cultivated for millions of years. The Ancestor before them was one perfect example. Nevertheless, they didn’t dare to be disrespectful even though he was a stranger to them. In fact, given how the Elders, who were in the Sacred Emperor Realm, were shaking with astoundment as they had the instinctive urge to worship the Ancestor, it just showed how immeasurable this Ancestor’s cultivation was. “My name is Gu Lang.” While the crowd was making their guesses, the Ancestor suddenly introduced himself. There was even Chaos Mist wafting between his hair, as if he just crawled out from his tomb. He sounded rather amicable, and he seemed satisfied after taking a good look at his Juniors. “Ah! Ancestor Lang, the legend who almost shattered Sky Emperor Shen’s Dao Heart…” Hearing that, the Elders of the Gu Family, including Gu Lintian subconsciously gasped. Coming to his senses, Gu Lintian immediately replied with a fist-and-palm salute, “Honoured to meet you, Eighteenth Ancestor! I am the current Head of the Gu Family.” In spite of his identity as the Head of the family, he appeared notably humbler than before. Gu Lang, inferior to no one, was an Ancestor of his branch. His age had already been lost track of, and there was no telling what era he was from. In fact, his only record of battle, was his encounter with Sky Emperor Shen from Sky Emperor Mountain. Back when Sky Emperor Shen ruled the world and the Ancient Immortal Races, his ambitions grew out of control. He travelled using radiant golden light from the Great Dao, and arrived at the territory of the Immortal Gu Family. He had attempted to provoke the family, intending to take a peek at their unfathomable secrets. Ultimately, before he could even set his foot through the gate, he was sent flying away with a palm by an Ancestor, who happened to be taking a stroll near the gates. Since the incident was so major that it shocked the world, and had been recorded down, it indubitably became a permanent stain in Sky Emperor Shen’s history. However, as time went by, the forces that witnessed the incident were engulfed in the River of Time. And now, hardly a handful of them still remembered the event. Even so, in the Gu Family, anyone who studied the true history would know about it. But of course, those from Sky Emperor Mountain were also aware of it. Otherwise, Ying Yu wouldn’t have come to the Gu Family Residence to visit Gu Changge, only to wait outside the gates for half a month without getting to meet him and eventually left out of vexation. As a matter of fact, no Immortal Sect or Immortal Family would instil this much fear in the daughter of Sky Emperor Ying except for the Immortal Gu Family. “Not bad, not bad. But Eighteenth Ancestor? It’s been a long time since I last heard that. With how I’ve been slacking off when cultivating, I’m afraid that I won’t make it to ‘Twentieth Ancestor.'” Pleased, Gu Lang shook his head and responded with a smile. He sensed the energy of his branch from Gu Lintian, and judging by the latter’s cultivation level, he was quite close to achieving the Great Dao. As such, Gu Lang felt gratified as the Head of the Gu Family of this generation had reached such a high cultivation level. A level which other Heads in the past had not reached, which just indicated how excellent Gu Lintian’s Talents were. Upon those words, the Elders in the palace were puzzled. [What does he mean by slacking off from cultivating? That he won’t make it to becoming the Twentieth Ancestor? He wants the other Ancestors to surpass him?] The reason Gu Lang was referred to as Eighteenth Ancestor was because, in terms of strength, he was the eighteenth most powerful among the Ancestors of the Gu Family. However, this variable ranking was something created in the past, since none could tell what cultivation level he had achieved by now. As noted before, the Ancestors of the Immortal Gu Family rarely showed themselves in the outside world. Leaving aside those that had left for the Immortal World, his existence in the Upper Realm was enough to baffle the entire Gu Family. “I was informed of the matter pertaining to Purple Mansion. Nature’s judgments are inevitable, but men will never survive their own misdeeds, so don’t worry about it. Though, I must admit that I am quite interested in the next Successor of our family.” While the crowd were still pondering over what he said, Gu Lang suddenly spoke. His eyes deepened as terrifying scenes, the disintegration and devastation of worlds, surged in them. It was as if his gaze pierced through layers of space, landing on the territory of Purple Mansion. His words were so direct they were overflowing with his indifference towards Purple Mansion. On his way from his tomb to the palace, he already figured out everything that happened to the Immortal Gu Family during his retreat, but he wasn’t at all fascinated by any of the matters. This was regardless of their significance since they were all neatly tended to by the Juniors of this prosperous family. However, he was very much interested in the problematic Successor, Gu Changge. The Junior of his branch was certainly extremely ruthless, seizing the Dao Bone of his own cousin as a child. Although his attempt at mending their relationship wasn’t exactly smart, he managed to thoroughly settle the conflict in the end. When Gu Zesheng heard of it, he was suddenly tempted to meet Gu Changge, not to reprimand him but solely out of interest, After all, conflicts between Juniors were something they had to deal with on their own.. “Changge is now in the Black Tortoise Empire, intending to fight against Purple Mansion. If you wish to see him, I shall order him to return right away. The battle with Purple Mansion shouldn’t take him much time,” Gu Lintian stated in response. After all, the odds of an Ancestor venturing to the outside world were one in a million, and if one managed to gain his liking, they might receive some reward from him. Furthermore, even the smallest reward could be extremely useful for the Juniors. Although Gu Changge possessed daunting Talents, he was merely a young man. Nonetheless, rumours and stories of him even reached back to the family. Truthfully, when he heard Gu Changge had fought against someone in the Sacred King Realm, Gu Lintian was utterly dumbfounded. The latter did not expect such alarming strength from him, but of course, he was delighted and reassured by that at the same time. Lately, Gu Changge laid out his plans in the Communication Rune quite clearly, claiming that the Immortal Gu Family’s involvement in his fight with Purple Mansion was not needed, as he could easily subdue his enemy on his own. Besides, he had Gu Qingyi with him, whose cultivation level was a fearsome warning to the ancient beings intending to attack Gu Changge. Thus, Gu Lintian wasn’t that concerned about his son. [Judging by Qingyi’s message, Changge has bumped into quite a number of opportunities and his cultivation level is rapidly growing. The battle with Purple Mansion may be good training for himl.] Moreover, Gu Lintian was also impressed by Gu Qingyi, who he regarded as his own sister. He could no longer perceive her cultivation level. He could still remember back when Gu Qingyi came to the outside world, she was merely a little girl around the age of seven, but in the blink of an eye, her cultivation level was no longer measurable, putting him, the ‘older brother’, to shame. “Ah, if that’s the case, there’s no need to bother him. I suppose I could go and see a few old friends of mine since I won’t be returning to retreat for a while. In the meantime, I shall await the boy’s response.” Hearing that, Gu Lang simply waved his hand with a faint smile as he didn’t want Gu Changge to return solely for him. Essentially, that might interrupt Gu Changge’s plans, and since Gu Lang appreciated such a valorant, relentless Junior, he didn’t want to bother him. After saying that, he spoke no further and instantaneously blinked out of the palace. Given his cultivation level, he could teleport to a location an infinite distance away at will, and it wouldn’t take him a second to reach the border of the world. “The personality of Eighteenth Ancestor is truly as written in the archives. Although he doesn’t seem interested, he must be on his way to Purple Mansion. If Purple Mansion doesn’t have a card up their sleeves, they will surely be overwhelmed by Changge’s army…” An Elder remarked with a bitter grin after Gu Lang disappeared. “To think Eighteenth Ancestor is planning to get involve… If he join Gu Changge, Purple Mansion certainly stands no chance.” The Elders then started to discuss, expressing their astonishment towards Gu Lang. From his speech today, they could tell that he took a liking to Gu Changge. With that in mind, the Elders turned to Gu Lintian and eagerly asked, “We should send five experts in the Nirvana Realm and ten in the Sacred Emperor Realm to assist in the battle against Purple Mansion. What do you say?” Prior to this, they all heard Gu Changge’s message and were told that he didn’t need the intervention of the Immortal Gu Family, as he wished to take the opportunity to train his army from the Celestial Ancient Continent. Nonetheless, now that their Eighteenth Ancestor was on his way to the battlefield, the rest of the family couldn’t just idle by the sidelines while their Ancestor was risking his own life. Therefore, Gu Lintian nodded and answered, “So be it. Though, Sky Emperor Mountain, Ancient Ye Family, and Endless Fire Kingdom are en route to the battlefield. I believe all we can do by then is intimidate Purple Mansion.” More precisely, among the five cultivators in the ‘Nirvana Realm’, only two were actually in the Nirvana Realm, while the other three were in the Quasi-Nirvana Realm. Those that broke through past the Peak of the Sacred Emperor Realm were categorised as beings of the Nirvana Realm. Those that just entered or were at the start of the ‘Nirvana Realm’ were collectively regarded as cultivators who had reached the Quasi-Nirvana Realm. After entering the Quasi-Nirvana Realm, cultivators would commence the Path of Nirvana. Only those who complete the Path of Nirvana would reach the Nirvana Realm. Those that reached this realm would also be referred to as True Daoists. Those in the Nirvana Realm could easily obliterate the world, and it would be virtually impossible for them to find a worthy rival in the entire world. In the Lower Realms that heavily depended on the Upper Realm, only those with complete Heavenly Paths could produce a Symbol of it. A Symbol of the Heavenly Path was required for a cultivator in the Lower Realms to ascend to the Nirvana Realm. These cultivators would need to undergo the process of fusing with the Symbol first before attempting their breakthrough. Meanwhile, cultivators in the Upper Realm weren’t limited by such restrictions. Its completed Heavenly Path included those from the countless Lower Realms attached to it. Thus, all cultivators needed to do was break through the Quasi-Nirvana Realm, complete the Path of Nirvana and straightforwardly reach the Nirvana Realm. Therefore, there would be many instances of young prodigies achieving the Great Dao in the same generation, and in order to accurately differentiate between those who achieved the Great Dao and those who did not, factions came up with the term ‘Quasi-Nirvana Realm’. Mortal Realm, Enlightenment Realm, Sacred Realm, Sacred Emperor Realm, Nirvana Realm, and at the top, Immortal Realm. These were the Six Major Realms recognised by the Upper Realm. After the command was delivered, the world was shocked as the higher-ups of the Gu Family started assigning their formidable expert to engage Purple Mansion. “Purple Mansion’s time is over!” On the Mystic Mountains, formidable cultivators with frightening strength coldly snorted. They donned armours as their murderous intent rose to the sky, forming the shape of a True Dragon. At the same time, ancient trumpets made from the horns of terrifying beasts were blown, and their resonating sounds signalled the arrival of the Immortal Guards from the Gu Family. Boom! All of a sudden, blindingly glowing doors appeared amid reverberating heavenly sounds and whirling celestial energy, as if the doors were connected to another world. From within, Immortal Guards riding on pure-blooded beasts appeared. Their overwhelming murderous aura caused the sky to tremble. Each member of the Immortal Guards were in godly armour. As though they had experienced numberless wars, their gazes were sharp enough to pierce the sky and quake the air. Unquestionably, these men were the most powerful army of the Immortal Gu Family. On usual days, they would cultivate in another world and sharpen their strength. Whenever a war erupted, they would be the first to charge into the frontlines. In the meantime, numerous doors also opened up in other directions, emitting godly lights and deafening sounds as soldiers stormed out of the doors on their beasts, resembling an army of thousands of cavalry. Out of nowhere, the sky trembled as domain-breaking ancient battleships appeared from different worlds. On their bodies, there were traces of blood as Chaos Energy and heavenly mists were drifting around them, making them absolutely intimidating. “Heed the order, and seek the fall of Purple Mansion!” Forces near the vast territory of the Immortal Gu Family also got influenced as they, without hesitation, started amassing their military forces, bearing utmost confidence in the power of the Immortal Gu Family. And so, the gathering of battleships and war beasts formed a terrorizing power under the stars, and such power was simply immeasurable. At once, the sudden change in the Immortal Gu Family startled the different forces that were paying close attention to the war, and they were all very curious about the true power of the Immortal Gu Family, as well as their attitude towards the war. Essentially, Sky Emperor Mountain, Endless Fire Kingdom and the rest of the forces had arrived at the territory of Purple Mansion. Yet, the Immortal Gu Family had yet to show any response. As such, many started to think that the Immortal Gu Family had no intentions to dirty their hands on the matter. However, the great disturbance left everyone dumbfounded as a number of domain-breaking ancient battleships with the size of a continent were taking off from the territory of the Immortal Gu Family. Each carried dense Chaos Energy and heavenly mists. They broke through the barriers of space with thundering noise that shook the sky. “For the fall of Purple Mansion! All hail the might of Young Master Gu!” Frightening chanting echoed through the sky, as if it could cause it to collapse. Seeing this, forces that were initially skeptical were left speechless and stupefied. Needless to say, the aura of this mighty army alone was enough to strike fear in the other forces, as they were a hundred times more terrorizing than Sky Emperor Mountain and Endless Fire Kingdom. Many spies had also noticed that the Immortal Gu Family had sent at least ten experts in the Sacred Emperor Realm, whose aura was so overbearing one would kneel upon being exposed to it. As a matter of fact, Sky Emperor Mountain and the Ancient Ye Family each sent three experts in the Sacred Emperor Realm. In many factions, those in the Sacred Emperor Realm were regarded as peerless beings, and there were too few of them in the world. The number of known Elders in the Sacred Emperors Realm inside the Immortal Academy was a little over ten. However, the Immortal Gu Family had easily sent out ten of them to the battlefield, clearly reflecting their attitude to this situation. ‘Since Purple Mansion had sent just one Sacred Emperor Realm Master to rescue their Successor, we, the Immortal Gu Family, shall send ten!’ At once, forces were scared to their bones. They were aware that the unfathomable terror of the Immortal Gu Family had persisted since the earliest era of the Celestial Domain. And now, these forces were questioning themselves, whether they could withstand such a mighty force were it to charge towards their territories. Perhaps, the only ones that could take on such a ferocious force, were Sects and Families that stood since the Forbidden Epoch. With that in mind, they felt chills go down their spine. Previously, many forces were trying to guess why the Immortal Gu Family had stood the test of time, existing since records began. Now, they finally found out the reason! One by one, domain-breaking battleships covered in Chaos Energy and heavenly mists crashed into the sky. Above these ships were peerless ancient experts, still with blood on them. As the glowing doors opened up, up to millions of cavalry and footmen stormed out of them in their gleaming armours that indicated their fathomless experience in battles. “Charge!” “For the fall of Purple Mansion!” “All hail the might of the Young Master Gu!” Such overwhelming power could not even be comprehended. They immediately suppressed those weaker cultivators, as they would uncontrollably fall to their knees. Those present noticed that apart from those in the Sacred Emperor Realm, the Immortal Gu Family had also sent those in the Nirvana Realm as well! These were peerless individuals, who could each annihilate anyone if they willed it to be so. After all, there was no one who reached the Immortal Realm still in the Upper Realm. Thus, the Nirvana Realm basically signified absolute power. At once, everyone present was left on edge. After the Immortal Gu Family dispatched their army, somewhere far away in the territory of Primal Celestial Temple, ancient battleships started soaring into the skies, carrying the great aura of death, which left the sky shaking. In that instant, all eyes in the Upper Realm were drawn to the war, as formidable cultivators of numerous forces made haste to Purple Mansion. Although they didn’t participate in the war, they certainly didn’t want to miss out on what was to come, wondering how Purple Mansion would retaliate against such overwhelming pressure. Sadly, also because of that, Gu Changge, who was in Black Tortoise Empire, grew bored, given how the attention of the cultivators were all being directed to Purple Mansion. Since the number of eyes on him had diminished, he felt as though he went overboard with his plans. [I barely need to do anything. This gathering of armies is more than enough to drown Purple Mansion, Heck, can they even defend themselves against this?] As such, his chance to test out his military forces from the Celestial Ancient Continent was gone. With Purple Mansion being set as an example, no other force would ever dare to oppose him again. At that moment, in a courtyard, amid a forest of bamboo, Ji Qingxuan was milling ink beside Gu Changge, who was in his pristine clothes, while he was immersed in writing. Meanwhile, Tang Wan, donning a plain-coloured robe, was as beguiling as ever. Without any makeup, she, blessed with a slender figure, was standing in front of him, seemingly respectful. However she wasn’t feeling as calm as she appeared to be. The more she knew about Gu Changge, the more terrifying she found him to be. Previously, Tang Wan read some ancient archives and inferred that Gu Changge was the Successor of Demonic Arts, and apparently, her inference was proven correct. While the entire Upper Realm was in such a substantial commotion over Purple Mansion, which was facing a siege from countless other forces, he was indulging in calligraphy. He was quietly enjoying his pastime without caring about anything else. Upon such indifference, Tang Wan’s heart shivered as she grew incredibly fearful. “It’s done. This word is quite hard to write.” Revealing a smile, Gu Changge put down the brush in his hand. “Your writing is beautiful, Young Master.” Ji Qingxuan’s eyes glistened. ‘Kill (杀)’ a word that was supposedly filled with such murderous intensity. Yet, as though Gu Changge’s strokes were all filled with Celestial Energy, instead of murder, this word seemed like justification of an action to end more tragedies. Nonetheless, upon a careful look, one would notice the profoundness of the word, as if the writing of ‘kill’ could float out of the paper any time, and turn into a devastating weapon. Ji Qingxuan was astounded by this. “What a bootlicker, you are!” Hearing that, Gu Changge chuckled before turning to Tang Wan, who had been waiting for him for a long time. “Greetings, Master.” In that instant, standing before Gu Changge, Tang Wan was no longer as resilient and rebellious as before. Instead, she was frantic with fear and distress, worried that upon Purple Mansion’s destruction, the Tang Family would be the next to fall. Although Purple Mansion had yet to go down, its ruination was pretty much nearing. On the other hand, even if Chu Hao were to become the Sect Master of Supreme Cave Heaven, he would still die if he faced off against Gu Changge. Forget Gu Changge’s hidden strength, the methods he displayed on the surface was enough to traumatise anyone. Although Tang Wan had known of might of the Immortal Gu Family, she never expected it to be this terrorizing. After all, the situation of the entire Upper Realm was drastically changed by the military force sent by the Immortal Gu Family alone. “Lately, Chu Hao still seems to be scheming against me. I have previously stated that as long as he stays out of my way, I’ll never go out of my way to engage him. Killing him would prove much more effortless than destroying Purple Mansion.” Gu Changge turned to Tang Wan with a grin, retaining the ever so leisurely look on his face. Upon those words, Tang Wan’s face blanched as dread arose in her heart, uncertain how Gu Changge obtained the information. Though he wasn’t mistaken as Chu Hao, indeed, didn’t heed her warning. Instead, he was still planning to take down Gu Changge, insistent on exacting revenge for the humiliation he was treated with. As Tang Wan was unable to repress her fear, her voice uncontrollably trembled. “I’ve warned him before. Master, please allow me some more time…” Silavin: Honestly, this chapter is extremely fluffed up. It’s bloody hard to actually handle so much bloat… Do note, Sacred Emperor Realm and Sacred King Realm are like a pair. Think of Sacred King Realm as Quasi-Sacred Emperor Realm.