The Unbearable Fury

The mere pressure from their aura severely injured two people!

The Gu family’s grandfather and grandson paled in shock, their hearts pounding like drums as they simultaneously raised their heads in terror.

“Th-this can’t be! Our ancestor was a perfected Innate Sage! No one could possibly walk through the Star-Scattered Chess Formation so effortlessly!”

Their eyes locked in disbelief.

The bizarre figures who had earlier seemed like a circus troupe—dogs, centipedes, giant bears, and even that frail-looking spectral figure in black robes—now strode forward with ease, as if traversing flat ground.

Several dark shadows blotted out the sky, dimming the surrounding starlight!

The skeletal leader was even more terrifying. Wherever it passed, the starlight recoiled as if fleeing from something dreadful!

Thud!

Gu Taiyuan’s pupils constricted, his heart seizing with dread.

In that instant, a preposterous realization struck him.

These beings… they might be beyond the Sage realm!

The Gu family’s ancestor had been a peerless genius, attaining sainthood through enlightenment in the art of chess and mastering formations. A perfected Sage revered as a deity for tens of thousands of years, his legacy had sustained the Gu family’s prominence to this day.

To the world, such a figure was already a legend.

Yet the newcomers before him had surpassed even the Gu ancestor—surpassed a being of legend! The glory Gu Taiyuan had worshipped as divine was now being trampled upon with contemptuous ease!

In that moment, Gu Taiyuan’s Dao Heart shattered. A sweet, metallic taste surged in his throat as fear took root.

The skeletal figure now stood before him, just a step away from leaving the plaza.

Its gaze was indifferent, as if regarding mere ants.

“A perfected Sage? What worthless trash! How dare you even mention such a thing before this deity!”

Deity!

Hearing this, Gu Taiyuan’s eyes trembled violently.

Staring at the figure mere feet away, his aged face cycled between ashen and flushed. After a dazed pause, he burst into maddened laughter, his expression twisted with hysteria.

“A… deity?!”

“You claim to be a deity?! Hahahaha!!!”

“Your Excellency’s cultivation is indeed profound, and this old man admits defeat! But to spout such fantastical nonsense to intimidate me—do you take me for a three-year-old child?!”

His snarling face contorted like a wailing, centuries-old withered tree.

Yet no matter how he ranted or probed, no matter what mind-disrupting tactics he employed, there was no response. It was as if all his tricks had become utterly meaningless.

The skeletal figure—Leng Benwei—extended a single finger, its expression icy and detached.

Whoosh!!!

The starlight vanished, and the earth cleared.

That single finger unleashed an unfathomable, profound power. The Dao’s might was instantly devoured, and even the faintest wisp of its aura sent tremors through the soul. Everything dissolved into nothingness…

A seemingly simple motion, yet in the blink of an eye, it stripped all life away. Even inanimate objects were annihilated. Everything in the surroundings was reduced to dust in an instant.

The plaza turned to scorched earth. The towering pillars crumbled into powder!

The ancestral formation that had been the Gu family’s pride—the very foundation of their ancient clan’s glory—

Was obliterated in an instant!!!

Witnessing this horror, Gu Taiyuan’s face turned deathly pale. He raised his hands to the sky and wailed in despair.

“No! NO!!!”

At last, terror took hold of his heart, spreading relentlessly until his Dao Heart collapsed entirely.

“Pfft—!!!”

A mist of blood sprayed from his lips as his eyes quivered uncontrollably.

His body seemed to deflate like a punctured ball, aging decades in seconds. His white hair hung loose, and his cracked lips trembled uncontrollably.

Staring at the skeletal figure now just an arm’s length away, he dared not make another sound. It was as if he stood before Death itself, his very soul locked in place by those hollow, abyssal eye sockets.

In that moment, Gu Taiyuan despaired.

At last, he had witnessed the wrath he had once longed to provoke—only to realize that neither he nor the entire Gu family could withstand the fury of such an existence!

Before absolute power, all schemes were nothing but suicidal folly!

As despair consumed him, Gu Taiyuan’s trembling face twisted into a ghastly smile.

“Deity… deity…”

He muttered incessantly, his eyes glazing over.

Beside him, the current family head, Gu Daohai, had been utterly petrified. Seeing the patriarch in such a state, he dropped to his knees, kowtowing frantically as he begged for mercy.

“Esteemed ones! Esteemed ones! Spare this lowly one’s life! I beg you, have mercy on the Gu family!!!”

His pleas echoed unanswered.

The Gu family’s sacred grounds were shrouded in dark clouds. The casual flick of that finger had also dispersed toward the heavens, its aftershocks rippling across thousands of miles without end!

……

Six thousand miles away.

Several powerful auras tore through the void, arriving with Su Jie and an elderly man at the forefront. Bai Piaopiao followed closely behind. The group of seven represented the pinnacle combatants of the Tianxia Society—all Sages!

They had received word that a demonic entity had emerged here before vanishing inexplicably. Traveling from this region toward the demonic realm was the optimal path to gather intelligence.

With humanity’s fate at stake, their expressions were grave.

Yet the moment they set foot in this domain—before they could even act—they sensed an indescribably terrifying power lingering in the air.

Even the faintest wisp of it, though thousands of miles distant, forced the Sages to retract their divine senses in alarm!

The elderly leader’s face twisted in shock, his eyes brimming with wariness.

“This trace of power… it’s too horrifying. I’ve never encountered such an existence in this world.”

Su Jie’s gaze hardened, pressure evident in his cold eyes.

“From what we sensed earlier, it seems to originate from the Gu family’s sacred grounds. Could the demonic forces have attacked the Gu family…?”

Despite her hostility toward the Gu family, Bai Piaopiao spoke resolutely for the greater good: “We came to investigate the demons. We cannot ignore this.”

After a silent exchange, the Sages nodded in unison.

No matter how overwhelming the pressure, it could not shake their righteous resolve. In an instant, led by the elder, they stepped forward—covering thousands of miles in a single breath.

Moments later.

The seven Sages materialized mid-air. Cautious, they observed from a distant mountaintop, refraining from extending their divine senses.

Yet what they saw with their own eyes was far more shocking than any divine sense could perceive!

Deep within the sprawling complex of palaces.

The Gu family’s ancestral burial grounds.

The vast plaza had been reduced to scorched earth. An old man sat slumped, his expression vacant, while a middle-aged man kowtowed ceaselessly, his soul seemingly shattered by terror!

Before them stood several eerie shadowy figures, led by a skeletal being. They watched coldly, unmoved by the spectacle.

After a few seconds of staring at the groveling man’s face, Su Jie’s brows furrowed in recognition.

“Isn’t that… Gu Daohai, the current head of the Gu family?”

Beside him, the elder gripped his horsetail whisk tightly, his breathing ragged.

“And the other one… that’s the Gu family’s patriarch, Gu Taiyuan!”

Whoosh!

The Sages whipped their heads around in unison, stunned.

The Gu family was a renowned ancient clan even in Yunxing! The patriarch and family head’s cultivation and status were beyond the imagination of ordinary folk, nearly on par with their own.

Yet here they were—one driven to madness, the other begging for his life like a broken man!

What kind of being could wield such power?

Could it be the demonic entity?

A profound sense of unease spread among them. For the sake of humanity, they cast aside caution and unleashed their divine senses to investigate.

But to their shock—

There was no trace of demonic energy. This seemed to be… merely a personal grudge.

Yet if not demons, then who—or what—could reduce the core of an ancient clan to such ruin?

Their bewilderment only deepened!

Although they were of the same human race as the Gu family, they had a crucial mission at hand, and the newcomer's cultivation was terrifyingly profound. Thus, they could not intervene and had no choice but to observe quietly.

Suddenly—

In their line of sight, Gu Daohai seemed to have gone mad, kowtowing even more violently until blood seeped from his forehead!

This was beyond exaggerated…

After all, a Saint’s physique was far from ordinary. For blood to appear, the entire plaza must have been enveloped in overwhelming force—proof of just how terrified Gu Daohai was!

Witnessing such an absurd scene, Bai Piaopiao and Su Jie couldn’t help but exchange a glance, their eyes filled with shock and disbelief.

They could hardly imagine that the once-glorious ancient Gu family would be intimidated to such an extent. The wariness in their gazes grew even thicker…

Even the several Saints observing from behind the towering peaks felt an oppressive dread.

All eyes were locked onto that seemingly ordinary skull, fear and reverence rising in the hearts of the Saints. Suspicion festered, yet none dared act recklessly!

Under their watchful gazes—

The skeletal figure stretched out a hand, its pale-white bones chilling to behold, and gently clenched its fingers in the air!

A simple, almost mundane motion, yet none of the Saints could comprehend its meaning.

Just as confusion set in, a tempestuous wind erupted!

"BOOM!!!"

A deafening roar shook the heavens as terrifying power surged outward like shockwaves, sweeping across the land. Even the Saints were forced back by the aftershocks!

Only by channeling their Dao energy could they barely steady themselves.

Despite their formidable strength, the seven Saints now swayed like lone boats in a stormy sea!

Yet, even in the face of such might, they ignored their own peril, their eyes wide, breaths caught in their throats—

Before them—

The once-majestic sacred mountain, a land of immortal splendor, had vanished into nothingness…

Mountains, rivers, trees.

Palaces, towers, pavilions.

Even the entire mist-shrouded immortal island had disappeared from the world in an instant!

It was as if it had all been a dream.

The seven Saints were drenched in cold sweat, trembling like mortals. Though the scene before them had vanished, the unprecedented shock left them unsettled for a long time.

In their minds, the ghastly visage of that skeletal reaper was seared indelibly—an image they would never forget.