Chapter 1294: Ancient Zhu the Old Man

"Oh?" Far in the back, Qianye Ying'er's golden eyes glinted faintly as she watched the white spatial vortex and the movement of the Moon-Stealing Immortal Palace.

"It seems they are preparing to escape into the God Realm of Absolute Beginning," Gu Zhu said.

"Naïve," Qianye Ying'er said with a faint, unreadable smile. "However, they have chosen a good place for me."

"They have caught up," Gu Zhu suddenly stated.

His words clearly startled Qianye Ying'er. "They?"

Gu Zhu used the words "caught up," implying that not only were people pursuing them, but they were also moving faster than them.

"Heaven Smiting and Heavenly Wolf," Gu Zhu slowly replied.

"..." Qianye Ying'er's golden brows furrowed slightly. "Heaven Smiting is truly doting on that boy, to actually pursue him all the way here."

"No," Gu Zhu said. "She must have sensed the Mistress's movements and guessed that the Mistress would act against him, which is why she pursued them here without hesitation."

"Leave those two to you," Qianye Ying'er said coldly, her gaze and divine sense still fixed on the Moon-Stealing Immortal Palace.

Gu Zhu said nothing but began to slow down.

Only upon drawing closer did they realize the pale spatial vortex was incredibly vast, nearly the size of a continent. Yet, despite being a spatial vortex, it strangely exerted no tearing force, appearing instead like a tranquil mass of illusory light.

The Moon-Stealing Immortal Palace swiftly approached, and the moment it touched the pale vortex, it vanished completely... Its aura also disappeared without a trace, imperceptible even to the world's most acute spiritual senses, as if it had been entirely erased from existence.

Not long after, Qianye Ying'er's figure also flew swiftly forward and plunged into the pale vortex.

Gu Zhu, however, stopped at that moment. With his back to the pale vortex, he silently gazed into the dark, boundless void, his aged eyes, filled with countless years of vicissitude and dust, appeared turbid, showing not the slightest ripple of emotion.

The stillness of space did not last long. A storm-like tearing sound approached from afar... Two equally petite and slender figures appeared, one with blood-red hair, the other with a flowing, colorful dress.

Jasmine and Caizhi.

They had traveled directly from the Star God Realm to the Moon God Realm, and then pursued their target from there to this location.

Among the Twelve Star Gods, Jasmine possessed the greatest speed. Even if Caizhi's Heavenly Wolf divine power were fully awakened, she would still be far from matching it, so Jasmine had kept her in tow throughout their journey.

Further ahead lay the God Realm of Absolute Beginning. The auras of the Moon-Stealing Immortal Palace and Qianye Ying'er had successively vanished completely from her perception. This complete disappearance had only one possible explanation: they had entered the God Realm of Absolute Beginning.

At that moment, Jasmine swiftly stopped, pulling Caizhi with her. Her eyes stared coldly forward, and a crimson light reflected deep within her pupils.

A gray-robed elder stood silently there. His body was short and hunched, his face withered. His modest gray robes appeared exceptionally loose on him, making him seem nothing more than skin and bones. Even his half-open eyes were as cloudy as those of a corpse.

Yet, his presence made Jasmine feel as though an insurmountable mountain stood before her, making further advancement impossible.

"Who are you?" Jasmine asked coldly. She had absolutely no recollection of someone so terrifying, even without releasing their aura.

Gu Zhu did not answer. From his mouth came an obscure, extremely unpleasant sound. "Heaven Smiting Star God, Heavenly Wolf Star God, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Caizhi stepped forward, suppressing her anxiety, and demanded aggressively, "Since you know who we are, why don't you get out of our way quickly?"

"Caizhi, step back!" The Heaven Smiting Sword in Jasmine's hand reflected a cold, blood-tinged light. "You are not his match."

"Huh?" Caizhi froze, her face filled with disbelief. But seeing her sister's incredibly cold and grim expression, her heart and soul grew utterly solemn... With a flash of blue light, the Heavenly Wolf Sacred Sword was already in her hand.

Gu Zhu remained still.

Jasmine and Caizhi also remained motionless for a long time. The space became incredibly oppressive, every particle ceasing to move.

"So that's it," Jasmine suddenly murmured. "You are Gu Zhu!"

That name finally brought a slight change to Gu Zhu's gaze. "Heh heh, as expected of the Heaven Smiting Star God, your intuition is terrifyingly keen. No wonder the Mistress is so wary of you."

He seemed to be smiling, but there was no trace of a smile on his face.

"Heh," Jasmine sneered mockingly. "To think that Elder Gu Zhu, who once awed the world, lived with absolute freedom, and feared not even the King Realms, would become a dog at Qianye Ying'er's side. No wonder you hide away, ashamed to face others, despite still being alive."

Gu Zhu showed no anger, not even a trace of emotional fluctuation. "That this old man can cling to life to this day is a gift from the Brahma Monarch God Realm. What's wrong with being the Mistress's dog?"

Jasmine: "..."

"Elder Gu Zhu?" Caizhi's lips parted wide. "Didn't he die many... many... many years ago?"

Searching through her memories, she found the name "Elder Gu Zhu" only within the fragmented memories left behind by the former, former, former Heavenly Wolf Star God.

"While I don't know how you've survived until now," Jasmine's gaze grew colder and colder. As she released her killing intent, the Heaven Smiting Sword in her hand faintly exuded a pungent, bloody aura. "But if you dare to obstruct me today, this princess will ensure you die without an intact corpse!"

Gu Zhu slowly clasped his hands together in front of him. He slowly said, "No intact corpse ever remains under the Heaven Smiting Star God's blade. This old man has long been destined to die; if I can die by the Heaven Smiting Star God's Heaven Smiting Sword, then this life will not have been lived in vain."

As his gray robes billowed, a faint, silent aura vortex appeared around him. Instantly, the already oppressive space suddenly grew several times heavier.

"Caizhi, I will try to suppress him. Find an opportunity and enter the God Realm of Absolute Beginning immediately!" Jasmine transmitted mentally.

Her utterance of "try to suppress" clearly indicated her complete lack of confidence under Gu Zhu's silent pressure.

"Okay!" Caizhi could only agree. Qianye Ying'er had already pursued them into the God Realm of Absolute Beginning; they could not afford any hesitation now.

"Since you've already admitted to being nothing more than a dog by Qianye's side, you shouldn't mind if this princess calls you 'Old Dog Gu Zhu,' right?" Jasmine's eyes narrowed into thin slits, but the light within her pupils became extremely dangerous at that moment, and a chillingly cruel smile stretched across her lips.

Perhaps influenced by Yun Che, she had become far more sharp-tongued than before, and had even "learned" to provoke her opponent before engaging in battle.

As her cold voice fell, the Heaven Smiting Sword suddenly flashed with cold light... But at that very instant, her gaze sharply shifted to the side.

On the other side, Gu Zhu's aged eyes also flickered, turning in the same direction as Jasmine.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Caizhi asked.

"Someone's coming," Jasmine whispered, her heart sinking sharply.

From the direction they had come, an aura was rapidly approaching.

This aura was incredibly cold and immensely powerful. Gu Zhu's reaction clearly indicated that he too was surprised by its appearance.

Friend or foe?!

"Who is it?" Caizhi asked anxiously.

"..." Jasmine did not answer, her brows furrowing tighter and tighter, because this aura was completely unknown to her.

Warriors who could reach her level were extremely rare in the entire God Realm. Those who could surpass her were even fewer. Every one of them possessed a world-shaking reputation, and she knew each of them clearly.

The Gu Zhu before her was already an anomaly, someone who should have long ceased to exist. Yet, she could still discern his identity based on her incredibly keen senses and intuition.

But now, this aura rapidly approaching, no less powerful than Gu Zhu's, was utterly unfamiliar to her!

It was as if someone who had never existed had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Who could it be? And why were they here?

The Brahma Monarch God Realm secretly harbored Gu Zhu, a man long presumed dead. Could this be another individual "secretly harbored" by the Brahma Monarch God Realm?

As Jasmine's mind tensed, a faint profound light finally illuminated the empty world, then rapidly drew closer in the next instant... It was an ice-blue shadow, completely enveloped in an incredibly dense ice-blue radiance, its face and figure indiscernible.

It seemed to hold a slender sword, but even this sword was covered by the blue light, its form and appearance impossible to discern.

As the ice-blue figure approached, a bone-chilling cold that pierced the soul swept over them.

Ice profound energy? Jasmine's brows furrowed further. There was absolutely no one in the Eastern Divine Region who could wield ice profound energy to such a degree. This person... was not from the Eastern Divine Region!

The blue shadow arrived without stopping or even slowing down. Instead, it trailed a fleeting ice-phantom, its sword thrusting directly at Gu Zhu.

In that instant, the silent space transformed completely into an icy hell.

The attack was too sudden and as swift as a fleeting meteor. With a burst of blue light, Gu Zhu was instantly pushed back dozens of miles. Strange light flickered in his eyes, and a storm of power swirled around him, enveloping the ice-blue figure.

The ice-blue figure, however, neither defended nor evaded. Instead, it charged directly into the center of the storm... Amidst an ice-blue glow thousands of times brighter than the aurora, this storm, capable of shaking stars, rapidly solidified into an expanse of ice.

Bang!!

The ice formed by the storm shattered, creating a blizzard of ice shards that stretched for thousands of miles. The ice-blue figure pierced through layers of broken ice, and an icy sword light struck Gu Zhu's front, repelling him another hundred miles.

"Huh?" Caizhi stared, slightly stunned, at the figure enveloped entirely in ice-blue light, a soft exclamation escaping her lips.

"Go!"

Jasmine paid no mind to who the ice-blue figure was. She grabbed Caizhi's arm, her speed instantly bursting to its maximum, and surged straight toward the God Realm of Absolute Beginning, quickly vanishing into the vast, endless pale vortex.

Ooom—

With a muffled tremor that shook thousands of miles of space, Gu Zhu and the ice-blue figure were each thrown far apart.

Gu Zhu's aura remained as steady as a distant mountain, but his withered old hands were covered in a layer of chilling blue light that stubbornly refused to dissipate, his fingers trembling slightly. He gazed at the figure completely enveloped in icy radiance, not revealing an inch, and slowly said, "Throughout the world, only the 'Azure Dragon Emperor' and the 'Ice Qilin Realm King' can cultivate ice profound energy to such a level."

The ice-blue figure: "..."

"And you, without using profound arts, can contend with this old man using only ice profound energy, and you appear to be a woman." A strange light flashed in Gu Zhu's eyes. "You are the 'Azure Dragon Emperor' from the Western Divine Region!"

In terms of experience and breadth of knowledge, few in the God Realm could compare to him.

The ice-blue figure: "..."

"Alas," Gu Zhu rarely sighed. "This Yun Che truly has an extraordinary connection with your Dragon God Race. It seems the Mistress was a bit too hasty this time."

Clearly, he had already concluded that the ice-blue figure was undoubtedly the Azure Dragon Emperor, for in his knowledge, there was no other possibility in this world.

The ice-blue figure remained silent, pointing its sword forward. Blue light pulsed, weaving a sky-obscuring curtain of ice, and its soul-piercingly cold aura locked firmly onto Gu Zhu...