Chapter 149: The First Battle of Destiny

In the imperial study of the Zijin Royal Court, Emperor Zi Qiankun, Prince Zi Haochu, Governor Song Wuji of Nanyan, and Master Wuying had gathered together.

Dozens of messaging jade slips on the desk vibrated incessantly, transmitting the latest reports back one after another. Every single man present felt his heart ache with grief.

"Hold back! Your Majesty, we must hold back right now!"

"That rascal sent word to Wuying before he left, stating clearly that he must weather this tribulation by himself. None of us are allowed to interfere in the slightest!"

"Wuying, you too. No matter what happens, you must endure it!"

"Indeed, Wuying. At this point, we must trust him—we have no choice but to trust him."

"And Your Majesty, Yao'er's marriage... Give the order; it must be canceled."

Knowing that Gu the Chubby could refine spiritual artifacts, Zi Qiankun was even more convinced that his judgment of character was correct. At the same time, he knew all too well that the humble and frail Zijin Royal Court was truly powerless to intervene, not even by a fraction. Any interference would spell unimaginable catastrophe for the Zijin Royal Court, and its complete annihilation overnight would be effortlessly achieved.

Therefore, no matter how unbearable the pain, he forced himself to issue an imperial decree across the realm, revoking the title of imperial son-in-law from Gu the Chubby and completely severing all ties with him from that moment on.

Wuying, who had remained silent all along, trembled violently from head to toe, old tears silently streaming down his face. Had Song Wuji not held him back with all his might, he would have disregarded all consequences and rushed to the battlefield to offer his aid.

...

"Brother Tian, what do we do? Are we just going to sit here and wait?!"

"Our lives were saved by the Pavilion Master, and my breakthrough to the late Golden Core realm in such a short time was entirely a gift from the Big Brother! No matter what the rest of you think, I cannot wait any longer. I must go, I have to help our boss!"

"Damn it! You lot, pin this bastard down!"

Vice Pavilion Master Sun Tian, Hall Masters Zhuge Yun, Duan Heng, and the others wore expressions as dark as ink. Yet, they were still able to maintain a sliver of composure. Looking at the thorn in their side before them, they felt as though their hearts were being pierced and slashed by swords.

They also understood deeply that the veteran core members of the Heavenly Pavilion must not interfere in this matter by the slightest margin. Otherwise, the instant destruction of the Heavenly Pavilion would be no child's play. If that day truly came, they would truly have failed their Big Brother, the Pavilion Master.

The reason their Big Brother, the Pavilion Master, had sent them a jade slip message in advance with such instructions was precisely to prevent them from acting on impulse and marching to their deaths.

...

Countless assassins from the Southern Domain were also filled with anxiety for Gu the Chubby.

In the very center of the Central Domain, within the Supreme Palace.

"Palace Master, this brat has already slaughtered hundreds of our Supreme Palace elites. Should we—?"

"Do these even count as elites?! Compared to that kid, they aren't even worth a speck of dust."

"Let them all be wiped out cleanly, save for losing our dignity in front of countless factions."

"What about that Gu Changqing?"

"What else can we do? Subdue him with all our might. If that fails, kill him!"

Through the condensed projection of the secret art, Palace Master Ba watched the entire process with an expression that remained entirely unchanged. To determine another's life and death with a single word—such was his demeanor.

At this moment, countless factions across the various domains of the continent felt the exact same way. The more astonishing Gu the Chubby's performance, the more highly they valued him; if he could not be made to serve them, then he must die!

...

In the northernmost part of the continent, within a vast and desolate land.

"Patriarch, no wonder Xue'er would rather die than demand our rescue. This boy is truly worthy!"

"Indeed, who would have thought that such a figure would emerge from the barren Southern Domain?"

"Miss Xue'er stayed in the obscure Misty Sect for two years, yet possessed the discerning eye to discover such an extraordinary talent. Your second uncle must express his admiration."

"However, Xue girl, you are already betrothed. Making friends with him in the future is acceptable, and we would be happy to see it, but if you were to bestow your heart upon him, it might well spell absolute disaster for him. You must ponder this matter carefully."

Quietly seated behind her father, watching the fierce battle unfolding within the projection mirror, Xia Xue'er felt a piercing pain in her heart, yet remained entirely silent.

However, how could the subtle changes in her expression escape the notice of the wise and experienced elders and powerhouses? Seeing this, the elders either shook their heads or sighed.

...

Returning to the Endless Forest, Gu the Chubby was fighting with the frenzy of a madman.

After all, the strength of a single person was limited. Amidst Gu the Chubby's continuous, reckless slaughter, countless mystical beasts in the distance were still struck down by blades and swords, roaring up to the heavens as they tore their opponents apart before collapsing to the ground in death, their crimson blood staining the earth without mercy.

Baili, who was strapped to Gu the Chubby's back, also had red eyes and sliding tears. Within a remarkably short span of time, Gu the Chubby had shielded her from dozens of direct attacks, and her white robes had long been soaked and dyed red by his warm blood.

Yet another massive handful of various spiritual pills was swallowed down like a cow chewing peonies, while numerous other pills were casually scattered by his hand before the heavily injured mystical beasts. Without a shred of doubt, the beasts immediately opened their jaws and swallowed them whole.

"Kill!"

Gu the Chubby let out another roar and charged forward once more to slaughter.

At this moment, Gu the Chubby was covered entirely in blood—some of it his own, but the vast majority belonging to his enemies.

During this time, Gu the Chubby had broken through his limits of exhaustion several times, forcefully enduring through each one. By now, the number of enemies he had personally slain exceeded three thousand, every single one of them in the Nascent Soul realm. As for the Golden Core cultivators who perished as collateral damage, they were countless.

This completely shattered the understanding that countless human cultivators held regarding defying the heavens in combat strength.

Defying the heavens to cross a single minor realm was commonplace; defying two minor realms was one in ten thousand; defying an entire major realm made one the absolute pinnacle of the entire Wind God Continent.

As for someone like Gu the Chubby, who could defy two major realms and multiple minor realms simultaneously—it was unheard of and unseen. Only now, having thoroughly enraged and maddened Gu the Chubby, did they deeply comprehend what a true genius truly was. Compared to him, what were they? Utterly insignificant scum.

The eight spiritual pills within Gu the Chubby's body shone with brilliant golden light, and the spiritual power transforming into crystalline energy was being rapidly drawn out. At the same time, his speed of absorbing spiritual energy from the outside world was dozens of times faster than that of ordinary people, with faint vortices of spiritual energy closely trailing his sides.

A vast and boundless sea of bloody murderous aura filled Gu the Chubby's mind and body. The madness gripping him at this moment was certainly not something that could be feigned deliberately.

After fighting for another cup of tea's time, Gu the Chubby's consciousness drifted near the brink of loss as the aura around him shifted once again. His eight golden cores grew even larger. Awakened by old man Qin's secret guidance, he knew that he had passively stepped into the middle Golden Core realm.

"He—he... he broke through in the middle of battle?!"

"How can this be? How is that even possible?!"

Countless people cried out in astonishment at the sight, letting out frantic, piercing screams.

Consequently, in the subsequent slaughter, Gu the Chubby's might multiplied several times over compared to before. Dealing with peak Nascent Soul powerhouses no longer required the slightest waste of effort; a single strike could directly cripple the opponent as he forged forward with even greater speed.

"Brother Rat! Ah... You murderers, pay with your lives for our Clan Chief!"

"Little ones, tear them to shreds!"

"Aunt Xue, hurry and save Elder Elephant!"

"Roar! My horn! You are dead! You're all dead!"

...

Across the entire Endless Forest region of the Southern Domain, the corpses of humans and mystical beasts littered the landscape everywhere, and boundless streams of blood dyed the entire area crimson.

Further away, countless mystical beasts were still rushing toward this location at breakneck speed, for they knew that for every fraction of a minute they delayed, countless more of their beastly brethren might perish here.

"Die! Die! Die!..."

A crazed Gu the Chubby continued to roar at the top of his lungs along the way. Every single word that fell represented the demise of a peak Nascent Soul, or at the very least, a late Nascent Soul human powerhouse falling by his hand.

"Little Pang, watch the northwest!"

"Hmm?"

Baili, strapped quietly to his back, had remained silent until she suddenly issued a warning, immediately catching the attention of the frantic Gu the Chubby.

Far off to his right, two exceptionally striking figures were continuously harvesting the lives of the mystical beasts.

One of them was a middle-aged man wearing attire made of material similar to Baili's, standing at the middle Nascent Soul realm.

Not far from him stood a lean youth dressed entirely in black, with a scar across his brow. He was about Gu the Chubby's age and at the peak Golden Core realm.

As Gu the Chubby looked over toward him, the other youth seemed to sense it. Wielding a large saber, he cleaved a fourth-tier mid-stage mystical beast to death with a single strike, then turned his head to look back at Gu the Chubby as well.

Without needing Baili to explain, Gu the Chubby already knew the approximate identity of the other party: Baili's senior martial brother and the fated person chosen by him.

They say enemies are bound to cross paths, and the scorching, tragic battlefield left no room for Gu the Chubby to slow down by even a fraction. Yet, his destined rival had indeed appeared, and was continuously slaughtering the mystical beasts.

This completely caused the small volcano within Gu the Chubby's heart to erupt entirely.

At Baili's request, Gu the Chubby untied the cloth straps and released her, as she had recovered sufficiently.

The two of them shot forth simultaneously toward the pair in the distance.

Baili intercepted her senior brother directly, preventing him from participating in the battle.

Meanwhile, Gu the Chubby charged straight at the black-clad youth with lethal intent.

"Junior sister, long time no see."

"Indeed, Senior Brother, long time no see. I never expected that you, too, would bring your destined person running to the Southern Domain."

"No choice, he insisted upon it, and it wasn't my place to stop him."

"However, Junior Sister, do you really think that brat can win?"

"Mm! He will definitely win!"

"Hahahaha, good! It's rare for you to be so confident for once. As you wish, Senior Brother will not interfere, and will sit back and watch how the brat you chose gets defeated, haha."

True to his status as a fated individual, the black-clad youth was at merely the peak Golden Core realm, yet slaughtered fourth-tier mid-stage beasts as if cutting down dogs. His combat strength was exceptionally formidable.

Yet this only succeeded in provoking Gu the Chubby's endless killing intent. Elevating the might of his middle Golden Core realm to its absolute maximum, empty-handed, he plunged into fierce combat with his opponent.

Outside the Endless Forest, countless factions and countless individuals found their spirits soaring, eagerly speculating and guessing which of these two destined rivals meeting for the first time would emerge victorious.

Even the Misty Sect was no exception, filled with both conjecture and anxiety.

However, all of them guessed wrong. For Gu the Chubby at this moment, there was no concept of who would emerge superior; there was only who would live and who would die.

Given the premise that the black-clad youth had just slaughtered so many mystical beasts, Gu the Chubby would never allow him to leave this place alive.

At the same time, what neither of them knew was that far, far away from the Endless Forest of the Southern Domain, several other similar pairs of companions were likewise closely watching this very first duel between destined rivals!