Cultivating with Bragging System

Chapter 737 374 Heavenly Venerable Gou Chen_1

Meanwhile.

In the Yi Ancestral Grounds.

The place was ancient and magnificent, with countless colossal buildings towering under the sunlight, all exuding a desolate and solemn, grayish-white luster. A portal materialized in the void, and a figure staggered out. He appeared quite young, yet his hair was streaked with white, and his entire being was saturated with an aura of decay.

"Ancestor!"

In an instant, the members of the Yi Clan were all shaken. Innumerable powerful presences converged from all directions, surrounding the figure in a flustered and concerned swarm.

Wasn't the Ancestor ordered by that personage to seek revenge on the Painting Immortal? He even took the Day Chasing Bow with him. It should have been a surefire success! How did he end up like this?

"Ancestor, what happened to you?" one of the clan elders asked, completely baffled.

"Everyone, prepare to evacuate!" the Yi Clan Ancestor commanded directly, his expression grave, offering no further explanation.

"Evacuate? To where?"

"To the Pivot of Heaven Realm!"

The Yi Clan Ancestor's complexion grew increasingly grim as he clutched his chest, a boundless energy surging within him. He was already a Quasi-Emperor Supreme. There were very few in the entire Nine Heavens who could injure him. But that Human Race youth who had suddenly appeared had successfully completed the Uniting with the Dao. His final strike contained the might of the Heavenly Dao. It was so terrifyingly boundless that even he could hardly withstand it, and it had wounded his very origin.

"The Pivot of Heaven Realm?"

Hearing his words, the other powerful experts of the Yi Clan paled. This was their ancestral land, cultivated for countless years, where their roots had been for generations. Now they had to abandon it. They were naturally reluctant. But the Yi Clan Ancestor's expression was solemn, and he was clearly not joking. They didn't dare to object and hurried to make preparations.

The area soon emptied as every member of the Yi Clan busied themselves.

The Yi Clan Ancestor sat on the open ground, circulating Ancient Methods to suppress the turbulent energy within him. A look of lingering fear still filled his eyes.

So close! If I hadn't summoned the hidden energy within the Day Chasing Bow at the critical moment to block that fatal strike, I'm afraid I wouldn't have made it back alive. This time, our Yi Clan's action was a desperate gamble, a life-or-death struggle for a grand future and the clan's destiny. Had we succeeded, regaining our past glory wouldn't have been impossible. But now, the plan has failed. Not only will I be unable to answer to the Human Teacher, but once the Holy Lands are free to act, the Yi Clan will be facing a dead end anyway. So... we must leave!

Who on earth is that person? His eyes were a vast expanse of uncertainty as he recalled the young man who had suddenly appeared, taking Wu Daozong's place in Uniting with the Dao. This whole affair is filled with strangeness. To think there's someone in the world whose attainments in the Dao of Painting surpass even Wu Daozong's, and we knew nothing about him. After all, for Wu Daozong to reach his current heights, he was a peerless genius who dominated a generation of prodigies. And yet, that young man was completely unknown.

At their cultivation level, one naturally didn't judge a person by their face alone. But the aura of that young man and the power of the Laws he commanded were both utterly unfamiliar, as if he had materialized out of thin air.

He was deep in thought when, suddenly, a young man dressed in black appeared before him. It was truly sudden. The Yi Clan Ancestor hadn't felt the slightest ripple in the void, yet a person now stood before him.

He looked up and saw that the black-clad youth was also looking at him, his gaze calm, indifferent, and even carrying a hint of condescension.

"Do you think you can escape?" the young man in black asked.

The Yi Clan Ancestor furrowed his brow, an uneasy premonition stirring in his heart. "Who are you?"

"The one who has come to save you!" the young man replied.

"Save me?" The Yi Clan Ancestor looked as though he had heard a joke. The corners of his lips curled into a smirk, but the smile quickly vanished from his face.

The young man in black stared at him, his expression unchanging. "The moment you leave the Yaoguang Domain, the Human Teacher will take your life!"

Hearing the words "Human Teacher," the Ancestor's pupils shrank abruptly. A dangerous aura erupted from him, and the oppressive might of his powerful realm washed out like a sea in all directions, surging toward the young man.

But for some reason, the young man remained unmoved, a hint of mockery even touching his lips. "He originally intended for both of you to die together. I didn't expect… that you would actually escape!"

The Yi Clan Ancestor stared at him and demanded, "Who exactly are you?"

The young man slowly answered, "My name, for now, is Ye Guhong."

***

The waters of the Nine Heavens run deep.

This phrase typically described beings like the Yi Clan Ancestor, an existence that had lived for endless ages and represented the foundation of an Ancient Clan. But now, he suddenly felt this world was very unfamiliar. It bore no resemblance to the one he knew.

He gazed at Ye Guhong and cautiously asked, "For now? What about before?"

Ye Guhong clasped his hands behind his back and looked toward the sky, his eyes filled with reminiscence and a quiet sigh. "Before, they all called me Heavenly Venerable Gou Chen!"

At these words, the Yi Clan Ancestor's pupils constricted, his face contorted in horror, and his voice trembled. "You… you are…"

A Heavenly Venerate stood at the pinnacle of the Supreme realm. To earn such a title and bear its karmic weight, one not only needed a world-shaking cultivation level and had to have passed the thirty-five layers of Heavenly Tribulation, but one also had to shoulder the destiny of all living beings.

Each one was supremely powerful. Each one presided over an era. When no Great Emperor was present, a Heavenly Venerate was the pinnacle of the mortal world.

But this Heavenly Venerable Gou Chen was different from the others. The era he belonged to was a glorious grand age rarely seen throughout the eons, an era that boasted four other Heavenly Venerates alongside him.

And these five Heavenly Venerates were all figures from one hundred thousand years ago, who jointly guarded the last Great Emperor of the Human Race—the Human Emperor!

One hundred thousand years ago, the Human Emperor fought the Great Emperor of the Demon Race in the Boundless Sea of Suffering. He ultimately secured a narrow victory, but at the cost of shattering the void, which allowed the Abyss of the Demon Realm to threaten its spread to the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.

To protect the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, the Human Emperor burned his Great Emperor's body. His body and Dao perished as he transformed into a Celestial Court to suppress the Sea of Suffering. This act ushered in the countless years of prosperity the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths had since enjoyed.

The Heavenly Venerate retainers under his command faithfully followed the Human Emperor's final decree, stationing themselves in the Celestial Court, which they named Long Han. Together with the major Holy Lands, they nurtured the core strength of all races within the Nine Heavens.

During that period, although the Human Race had lost its Great Emperor, it was exceptionally prosperous, suppressing the Demon Race so completely that they couldn't even raise their heads.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last. A sudden and unforeseen calamity led to internal strife within the Celestial Court. All five great Heavenly Venerates vanished, their whereabouts unknown.

The once-glorious Long Han Celestial Court was like a night-blooming cereus—a fleeting blossom that vanished into the long river of time in the blink of an eye.

***

The Yi Clan Ancestor instantly understood the source of his intense unease. He stared at Ye Guhong, a burgeoning fear in his eyes. "You… you've actually returned!"

Ye Guhong's gaze was indifferent as he said, "It seems you already know why I've come for you."

The Yi Clan Ancestor gritted his teeth. "Regarding that matter from the past, my Yi Clan was helpless! We were coerced by others and had no choice! We were not the masterminds!"

"Of course, I know," Ye Guhong said calmly. "Debts must be settled one by one. I'm starting with yours!"

He lifted his hand and made a grasping motion. The void twisted, morphing into a war spear the color of Ink Jade. His entire presence became immeasurably powerful and awe-inspiring.

The Yi Clan Ancestor slowly rose to his feet, a crazed look flickering in his eyes. "Don't you fucking try to scare me! You're not the man you once were! I might not lose! To think you can annihilate my Yi Clan… it won't be that simple!"

Ye Guhong slowly raised his other hand. He took out a treasure flask.

And crushed it with a squeeze.

Two drops of golden blood slowly rose into the air, containing a divine and majestic energy. They gradually merged into the space between Ye Guhong's eyebrows.

At that moment, Ye Guhong's silhouette seemed to grow immeasurably vast. The stars in the Nine Heavens swayed for him, and thousands of beams of light cascaded down as if paying fealty.

The Ancestor's madness rapidly faded, replaced by a profound terror and bone-chilling cold.