Demon Slaying, Gaining 60 Years of Cultivation From the Start

Forbidden weapons, unlike true magical artifacts and spirit treasures, are somewhat "crudely" made, but contain powerful energy. They are specially crafted by individuals of great power or even holy masters to protect their disciples or chosen successors.

Each forbidden weapon is terrifyingly powerful because it is designed for a one-time explosive burst, aiming for a kill with a single strike.

At this moment, the middle-aged man from the Jiuying Clan was no match for Gu Chen. Having been slain thrice over, he could no longer contain himself and resorted to his trump card.

This was a piece of black talisman paper, covered in various patterns belonging to one of the Jiuying Clan's Great Powers. Due to the restrictions of this secret realm's laws, the power of this forbidden weapon exceeded that of top-tier magical artifacts, yet fell just short of spirit treasures.

Right now, the talisman paper hovered in midair, igniting from the bottom and unleashing astonishing fluctuations, resembling a black sun suspended in the sky.

All the onlookers were shocked at this sight, their livers and gallbladders turning cold with panic as they frantically ran away to avoid being collateral damage.

For with their level of power, if they were implicated, they would be reduced to ash in less than a breath's time.

However, such tactics were ultimately useless against Gu Chen.

Amid the horrified stares of the crowd, Gu Chen was surrounded by a dazzling radiance. The black talisman paper—the so-called forbidden weapon—was fixed in midair, creating an extremely odd scene where even the flames seemed to come to a standstill.

"You..." The middle-aged man from the Jiuying Clan's face was filled with horror, unbelieving of what he was seeing Gu Chen do, unsure of how he had rendered the forbidden weapon ineffective.

"If you have any more tricks up your sleeve, use them all now so that you won't die with regrets," Gu Chen said.

Hearing Gu Chen's words, the crowd was in an uproar. Such arrogance, but given his power, everyone felt it was justified.

At this moment, the middle-aged man from the Jiuying Clan was extremely frustrated, almost to the point of spitting blood. His formidable strength was being thoroughly crushed by his opponent, and now even the forbidden weapon he had pinned his hopes on had become useless. What more could he do?

Indeed, he was at his wit's end.

Gu Chen had also noticed this. He reached out and effortlessly took the black talisman paper suspended in midair into his hand, extinguishing the flames in an instant.

The onlookers were astounded to see how easily he subdued a forbidden weapon.

But Gu Chen was indifferent, as if he had just done something trivial.

And in fact, that was exactly the case.

After unlocking the divine treasures of the body, with all the apertures opened, and the unique sanctuary's power surging, although the forbidden weapon was extraordinary, Gu Chen could still easily contend with it.

Pfft!

In the next instant, with a simple tap of his finger, a blood hole appeared at the brow of the middle-aged man from the Jiuying Clan.

Now, he was down to his last life.

On the other side, the remaining Cave Heaven Realm cultivators from the Jiuying Clan, upon seeing this, clenched their teeth tightly and, after hesitating for a long time, ultimately did not dare to step forward.

"I..."

Shortly, the middle-aged man from the Jiuying Clan was resurrected; this was his last chance. His face filled with panic, he wanted to plead for his life but it was already too late.

"Don't kill..."

He had only gotten halfway through his words when Gu Chen made his move. The man's head exploded, and he lay in a pool of blood, dead once and for all.

"He really is hard to kill," Gu Chen frowned slightly.

Those who were watching muttered helplessly to themselves, thinking sarcastically, "Just casually flicking a finger to kill such a powerful cultivator, and it's called 'hard to kill'?"

Seeing that the situation was dire, the remaining Cave Heaven Realm members from the Jiuying Clan tried to flee.

"Eh..."

They had just begun to make a move when their bodies stiffened, a line of blood emerged at their necks, and with a spluttering sound, blood spurted out and they were decapitated and dead.

To prevent them from being resurrected again and again, Gu Chen flicked his finger, emitting pale golden solar true fire that enveloped their bodies and incinerated them to ashes.

"Hiss!"

Witnessing this scene, everyone trembled, their eyes filled with deep fear, silently noting Gu Chen's ruthless methods.

"Now, Gu Jiuge has completely turned against the Jiuying Clan!" they all silently thought to themselves.

The Jiuying Clan didn't have many Cave Heaven Realm cultivators who had entered this secret realm; now that four of them were killed, including their strongest protector, it was a significant blow. It would undoubtedly put the Jiuying Clan at a disadvantage in the battle for supremacy in this secret realm.

At the same time, this battle had revealed to them the extent of Gu Chen's decisiveness. After all, this was the Jiuying Clan, which stood at the top of the Gray Domain. Yet he had killed them without hesitation or mercy.

"Once out of the secret realm, the Jiuying Clan will surely unleash their fury. If the lineage behind Gu Jiuge isn't powerful enough, then there will be trouble," many of them thought.

The Jiuying Clan was notoriously ferocious by nature; it was engraved in their bones and impossible to change. In the ancient times, the progenitor of the Jiuying Clan caused incalculable slaughter and countless members of the Human Clan died tragically, devoured by it.

Boom!

Suddenly, just after Gu Chen had slain the members of the Jiuying Clan, at a place not far from the herb garden, intense light surged into the sky, accompanied by fierce sword radiance.

"Is that... Fu Ling, the Holy Son of the Vault of Sky Sword Sect?!" An observant martial artist recognized the figure within the sharp sword light.

"Has this Son achieved a breakthrough in the martial way and reached the Cave Heaven Realm?!" Someone identified the energy fluctuation, exclaimed in shock.

After all, across the Gray Domain now, even if including Gu Chen, there are less than ten individuals from the younger generation who have made the breakthrough to the Cave Heaven Realm.

And Fu Ling, following prodigies like Gu Chen, was the first to break through, the first one among all the Holy Sons of the Gray Domain.

"It seems that the talent of this Vault of Sky Sword Sect's Holy Son is indeed much stronger than those of the Holy Sons from the Five Elements Sect, Pure Yang Martial Sect, Mount Tianzhu, and Burning Heaven Valley." Many people sighed at this.

At this moment, far in the sky, Fu Ling was suspended in the air, sitting cross-legged amidst a bundle of sharp sword light. His expression was solemn, and the power of heaven and earth constantly surged around him, flowing into him through the pores all over his body.

Without a doubt, he was constructing his spiritual veins!

Meanwhile, during this period, all the protectors of the Vault of Sky Sword Sect were guarding by Fu Ling's side, their expressions were extremely cautious, and sword energy overflowed from their bodies, fearing that someone might disturb them at this time and cause Fu Ling's efforts to fall short.

"Twenty-four spiritual veins." Gu Chen's pupils briefly flashed with profound runes, instantly penetrating all of Fu Ling's secrets and seeing through him completely.

To be able to condense twenty-four spiritual veins at the initial breakthrough to the Cave Heaven Realm, Fu Ling, as a Son, was indeed quite extraordinary.

After all, condensing spiritual veins is very difficult.

Normally speaking, even for some geniuses who have just broken through to the Cave Heaven Realm, being able to condense ten spiritual veins is already quite good.

The Ninth Prince of the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty, Gu Yan, despite his high talent and ranking among the top figures in the Gray Domain, only managed to condense forty-nine spiritual veins.

Because the refinement of spiritual veins is very difficult, such an achievement by Gu Yan shook the Gray Domain, astonishing countless people.

Afterward, Gu Chen withdrew his gaze and no longer paid attention to Fu Ling, but quietly pulled up his panel to look at the merit point value on it.

Slaying six Jiuying Clan's Cave Heaven Realm members had brought him several thousand merit points, which could be described as a rich harvest.

Subsequently, he approached the somewhat complex-faced Emperor of Da Xia, and upon seeing this legendary figure of an ancient Emperor who once pacified the troubles in Han State, Gu Chen couldn't help feeling a bit excited.

"Greetings, senior." Gu Chen gave a fist salute.

The Emperor of Da Xia frowned slightly, looking puzzled at Gu Chen, and asked, "Do you know me?"

Gu Chen smiled faintly but did not speak aloud. Instead, he used telepathy to communicate with the Emperor, saying, "I am an acquaintance of Miss Gu Qingyan, the Holy Maiden of the Frost Soul Sect, and have heard about your legendary deeds from her."

The Emperor's expression became somewhat enlightened upon hearing this. He, of course, knew there was a woman with the Yin Body from the Frost Soul Sect, who hailed from Han State and was the sister of the one who quelled all the chaos in Han State.

Being from Han State himself, the Emperor was very concerned about anything related to Han State.

Moreover, Gu Qingyan was possessed of the Yin Body and extraordinary talent, and also had quite a reputation in the Gray Domain.

As for Gu Chen in front of him, the Emperor of course had heard of his renown, knowing he had appeared in Han State and had a good relationship with the Frost Soul Sect.

But for some reason, he still had a hint of doubt in his heart, looking at the young man before him. The Emperor thought about it but ultimately did not ask out loud.

"I greatly admire the deeds senior achieved while in Han State," Gu Chen continued via telepathy, not wanting to expose his own identity, thus he could only use these words to try to reduce some of the Emperor's wariness.

If possible, he truly wanted to help the Emperor because Gu Chen could see that the Emperor was a solo cultivator who hadn't joined any factions, and therefore, this secret realm could be said to be the Emperor's biggest chance.

Upon hearing this, the Emperor gently shook his head and said, "Those are all things of the past, let's not speak of them."

The two conversed a bit, and after having faced the Jiuying Clan together, and witnessing Gu Chen's recent actions and words, the Emperor truly did reduce much of his wariness towards him.

Afterward, the two searched the medicinal garden together, looking for their fortunes.

This place was vast and occupied a large area, with many spiritual herbs and medicines. However, some were only useful to martial practitioners, and were of no use to cultivators in the Cave Heaven Realm like Gu Chen and the Emperor.

At this time, the Emperor took the initiative to introduce, "The most precious treasure in this medicinal garden is a spiritual medicine that has grown for thousands of years. It's extremely rare and greatly beneficial to a cultivator's cultivation, even able to extend one's life for over a thousand years!"

Gu Chen nodded slightly upon hearing this; this was also his objective for this trip, though he felt a little regret that it was not a ten-thousand-year-old medicine.

The difference between spiritual medicines under ten thousand years and those above is huge.

It can be said that ten thousand years is a watershed. Once the age of a spiritual medicine exceeds ten thousand years, even those Great Powers and Saints would be envious.

Even for the mightiest figures, such medicines would be of considerable use.

However, such high-level spiritual medicines are exceedingly rare. The entire Gray Domain had not produced many, and once they appeared, it would inevitably lead to contention from all sides.

This secret realm was used by a top-notch faction in the previous era for their disciples' training. Although there were many treasures, it was unlikely that there would be any ten thousand-year-old spiritual medicines.

"I've been a bit too greedy," Gu Chen laughed inwardly.

Mainly because he had obtained too many good things, so unconsciously, his standards had risen quite a bit.

"What is the name of this spiritual medicine?" Gu Chen asked the Emperor.

"Nine Thousand Years!" the Emperor slowly stated each word with a deep voice.