For some reason, the disguised man gave Gu Longyu a sense of familiarity beyond their connection to the Dragon Emperor. He chalked it up to finally seeing another clone after years.

  Gu Longyu wanted to find out the clone’s cultivation base, but with so many cultivators present, carelessly releasing his spiritual sense could be volatile at best. Scanning someone else, especially one of equal or higher cultivation, was seen as offensive. Though it might not lead to an outright fight, the possibility was still there.

  It didn’t take long for Gu Longyu to discover his clone’s cultivation realm because he watched the clone enter the Dragon Grave Grotto. The immortal grotto’s entrance could only accommodate master-level cultivators, meaning that his clone was either a core formation master or an acupoint opening master.

  It was perfect.

  Thanks to their connection, Gu Longyu had the confidence to sense his clone once he entered the Dragon Grave Grotto. There was an additional benefit: his clone would essentially be scouting ahead for him. Once he absorbed the clone, he would obtain all the latter’s memories, not to mention his spoils.

  As for whether his clone would fall, although the possibility existed, he didn’t think the chances were high. His inexplicable confidence came from the clone’s origin. Even though the clone did not have the memories, he was still a copy of the Dragon Emperor. No matter how hard the situation became, he would always prevail.

  There was something else of note. The pregnant woman also entered the Dragon Grave Grotto. This either meant she was foolish or the couple was confident they could protect themselves. Gu Longyu confidently believed in the latter.

  And so, Gu Longyu waited. Eight months later, the entrance’s restriction loosened, allowing grandmaster-level cultivators to enter. It had to be said that just because the seal loosened did not mean Gu Longyu could immediately enter.

  Only those in the early Nascent Soul Realm or Soul Nourishing Realm could enter. Although Gu Longyu was also an early nascent soul grandmaster, his martial body was too strong, making the seal classify him as a mid nascent soul grandmaster.

  Although annoyed, the seal only delayed him by a few more months. Immediately after entering, Gu Longyu cast a spell. He had already tested it outside. Even when he had not entered, he could vaguely sense his clone’s location. Now inside, the induction technique gave an even clearer direction.

  Gu Longyu separated from the rest of the grandmasters from the Rising Dragon Sect. Many grandmasters had the same idea as him or split into teams. If they moved in too large of a group, they would not be able to hide their spoils, but many did not have the confidence to survive alone, so they joined small teams of people they trusted. This way, their additional gains could be kept secret.

  Two hours after splitting, Gu Longyu came to a halt. He cast an indifferent glance behind him, hand resting on the saber sheathed at his waist. “Come out, or do you want me to take action?”

  For a moment, silence answered him. He sighed, knowing that they had no intention of listening to him. Granted, it would not change their end even if they did.

  He gripped the saber and unsheathed it, unleashing several powerful saber lights. His action was too fast, too practiced, and before anyone knew it, the saber lights already reached their destination. Several screams rang in the air.

  Gu Longyu stared coldly as several grandmasters fell to the ground, either dying or dead. Although the Dragon Grave Grotto considered him a mid nascent soul grandmaster, his actual combat level far exceeded his apparent cultivation base.

  However, a few tailing him didn’t die, though they all sported varying degrees of injuries.

  “Do you want to incur public outrage? How dare you attack us when we've done nothing wrong!” a man clutching his shoulder shouted in anger.

  Gu Longyu sneered. “Nothing wrong? Just the fact that you’ve been secretly following me is reason enough for me to take action.”

  In reality, most loose cultivators would not take action against members of powerful sects. If they were discovered, a hunting order would be passed down. Even if they escaped the sect’s influence, there would still be a bounty on their heads that would tempt many. Those who hunted the disciples or members of powerful sects were often from their rival sects.

  It was different in a sealed immortal grotto. The sealed state provided excellent coverage, allowing many opportunities to take action. Without fear of retaliation, these loose cultivators naturally became braver. Unfortunately, they kicked an iron plate with spikes.

  “Stop talking nonsense,” a cultivator with narrow eyes hissed out. “No one’s a fool. We thought a scion under an immortal alchemist would be weak, but we were wrong. Since the truth has already been exposed, the only way to survive is to kill him!”

  The snake-eyed man’s words made the surviving grandmasters more resolute. So, they attacked.

  Gu Longyu stared at the charging loose cultivators with mocking eyes. Unnoticed by the charging grandmasters, the snake-eyed grandmaster who rallied them had actually fled, intending to use them as distractions to save his life. Although he would enjoy the anger and curses these cannon fodder would shout, they weren’t important compared to his goal.

  He slashed out, imbuing a hint of saber intent into his weapon, and unleashed a powerful crescent formed out of saber light. Although it was only a hint of saber intent, the power of the saber light increased by ten times. It easily cleaved through the grandmaster in its path into two. It continued and struck the snake-eyed grandmaster, killing him instantly.

  Gu Longyu’s actions caused shivers to crawl up all the charging cultivators’ spines. Without hesitation, they all turned around and fled, no longer considering silencing Gu Longyu. Even if they were hunted down, it was infinitely better than perishing now.

  After finishing the last one, Gu Longyu took all their spatial rings and destroyed their bodies. Although he didn’t think these loose cultivators would have anything that interested him, who knew? Perhaps one of the cultivators might be holding a treasure, not knowing its worth and treating it like junk.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  He didn’t sort his spoils; he had bigger fish to fry.

  Relying on the induction technique, Gu Longyu came closer and closer to his target. After a certain point, he didn’t even need the induction method because he could sense a dense dragon qi pervading the environment. The closer to the source, the more powerful the qi. Any clone of the Dragon Emperor worth their salt would delve deep into the area in order to monopolize the resources.

  Before reaching his destination, Donghai Longzi stared at the sky. Immortal grottos had skies, but they did not reflect the sky of the greater world. The only time the sky in an immortal grotto and the sky outside would sync was when someone transcended the heavenly tribulation. Only the strongest of immortal grottos would not exhibit such phenomena. In such cases, the cultivator would have to leave the immortal grotto before undergoing their heavenly tribulation.

  For the clone to undergo heavenly tribulation now, it meant they must have had substantial gains, but Gu Longyu didn’t show much anger. Although it was troublesome, he could just refine the clone’s body into resources for himself. Because it had already been processed, the absorption rate might even be better.

  Gu Longyu sped up. He didn’t plan to interfere, as that would direct the tribulation lightning at him, but he could observe and see the strength of his clone. It was only when he saw his clone that he realized the clone was undergoing the Soul Nourishing Heavenly Tribulation.

  Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation and Soul Nourishing Heavenly Tribulation could not be differentiated at a glance. Observers would have to see how the tribulation lightning struck the target to know. The same went for the Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation and Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation.

  When Gu Longyu arrived, the clone was already in the process of being struck by the tribulation lightning. His clone sat there, unmoving, as the tribulation lightning hit his body, exploding and shrouding it in a layer. Gu Longyu narrowed his eyes.

  Although this was only one of the first few bolts of tribulation lightning, most martial cultivators could withstand it as easily as his clone. The more tribulation lightning a martial cultivator withstands physically, the more powerful their martial body will become after successfully crossing the heavenly tribulation, but it wasn’t something anybody could withstand. Most acupoint opening masters would abandon such a plan after withstanding the first bolt. Their martial bodies simply couldn’t withstand continuous lightning strikes.

  Gu Longyu’s expression turned solemn the longer he watched. As the heavenly tribulation continued, the clone still didn’t take action, allowing his martial body to absorb everything. He wondered how powerful the Supreme Dragon Martial Body the clone possessed was. Was it perfected or further improved through some fortuitous encounter?

  He doubted that even he could withstand the same amount of lightning without doing anything after perfecting the Supreme Dragon Martial Body.

  All of Gu Longyu’s questions were answered once the Soul Nourishing Heavenly Tribulation progressed. As he correctly suspected, the clone was disguised, but the true face only shared ninety-five percent similarity to his original one. He could never forget those eyes, especially since the owner was the one who caused his only failure in his second life.

  “Tian! Yi!” Gu Longyu softly growled out.

  If the clone was Tianyi, many things could be explained. Why could his Supreme Dragon Martial Body withstand so many tribulation lightning bolts? Alone, it could never absorb so much, but he possessed the mutated heavenly lightning spiritual root. And the strengthened blood connection he felt was because Tianyi now cultivated the Dragon Emperor Fist.

  If a regular person cultivated the Dragon Emperor Fist, Gu Longyu would not feel anything, but that changed when a clone embarked on the path. The stronger the cultivation, the more apparent each clone would become to the others. It was like they became a beacon emitting a signal that only their fellow clones could sense.

  Gu Longyu gripped his saber, waiting for the heavenly tribulation to end. He did not doubt that Tianyi could succeed. If he couldn’t, how would that reflect on him, who had failed to kill him all those years back?

  When the last bolt of tribulation lightning descended and the black clouds started dispersing, Gu Longyu took action. The departure of the Heavenly Dao’s presence meant the heavenly tribulation had ended, and anyone entering its sphere of influence would not trigger an even stronger reaction.

  Tianyi leaped away. He didn’t want to clash. His body was still evolving after transcending the Soul Nourishing Heavenly Tribulation.

  Arguably, Gu Longyu could reap the most benefits if he allowed Tianyi to fully upgrade his martial body first, but that also increased the risk. If it were a new Dragon Emperor clone, he would have waited, but he didn’t want to take the chance with Tianyi. Perhaps he had not noticed it himself, but he had unconsciously raised Tianyi to almost the same level as himself.

  Although Tianyi dodged the first strike, he could not dodge continuously forever, especially since Gu Longyu was imbuing saber intent into each of his attacks. Although saber intent was strong, it placed a great strain on the willpower of those below the Immortal Realm. So even if a genius comprehended a special intent before becoming a true immortal, they would not easily unleash it.

  He reached into his sleeve and pulled out three talismans. One of them lit up and transformed into a sword-shaped qi that flew toward Gu Longyu.

  Feeling a familiar sensation, Gu Longyu knew that it was the same talisman Tianyi had used against him all those years ago. He roared and slashed out, destroying the sword qi, but his arms became numb from the force. The attack was the same but stronger. He guessed it was because Tianyi had officially stepped into the Soul Nourishing Realm. Although he was still upgrading, his qi had strengthened.

  Gu Longyu didn’t have time to think as Tianyi activated the second talisman. He roared and counterattacked, destroying the sword qi. Before he even destroyed the second sword qi, Tianyi had already activated the third talisman.

  Once he finished destroying the third talisman, Gu Longyu roared, “I’m going to skin you al—”

  He never had a chance to finish, as Tianyi pulled out the fourth talisman. This time, a sword qi more intense than the previous three combined manifested, which required Gu Longyu to use all his might to defend. When the sword qi disappeared, Gu Longyu stood in the air in a disheveled state. Blood dripped from his right arm, which gripped the saber. He had already lost all feeling in that arm, and it was even bent at an awkward angle.

  If Tianyi used another talisman on the same level, he could block it, but the injuries would force him to flee.

  Luckily, Tianyi chose this time to flee. Gu Longyu could still sense him. And if he used the induction technique, he could likely catch up, but he didn’t. After weighing the pros and cons, he decided it would be better to fight after regaining his strength and healing his injuries. Who knew whether Tianyi had more talismans like that?

  Although Gu Longyu’s father was a true immortal, he could not create talismans like the ones in Tianyi’s possession. Idly, Gu Longyu wondered where Tianyi had found them. Maybe the inheritance of an immortal. Although he had also found some immortal graves, they did not contain offensive treasures like talismans, not even an immortal-rank artifact.

  Gu Longyu put the thoughts in the back of his mind and studied the skeleton. Before, he was too focused on Tianyi to pay attention. The skeleton was not completely composed of only a portion of the dragon’s body. Gu Longyu was excited because he sensed that these were true dragon bones. With them, he could perfect his Supreme Dragon Martial Body and undergo the Soul Nourishing Heavenly Tribulation.

  If he were a soul nourishing grandmaster and not a nascent soul grandmaster, Tianyi would never have been able to escape his clutches.

  After some surveying, Gu Longyu discovered that the remaining dragon bones and energy were only enough for him to perfect his martial body and little else. He gritted his teeth in regret. He should have disregarded everything and killed Tianyi. “That bastard.”

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