Chapter 1074: The Hard-Headed Guiyuan Heavenly Venerate

"Immortal, is there any use to this box?"

"Of course not. If it were useful, why would the Time Immortal bother burying it?"

"He simply felt the box was rather useless, yet it would be a shame to destroy it, so he placed it somewhere no one could reach. See, didn't he set up numerous restrictions in that secret realm?"

"Then our Founder, he was..."

"Probably just stubborn and reckless, charging blindly into the secret realm, breaking the restrictions, triggering some hidden trap, and getting sucked into the box."

"..."

Lu Yang's expression grew peculiar. He had heard from his Eldest Senior Sister that Heaven-Reaching Exalted One Gui Yuan had vanished without a trace one day over eighty thousand years ago. As it turned out, relying on his formidable prowess, he had insisted on forcing his way into the secret realm and ended up locked away?

...

"Who goes there!" Lord of Thunder peered warily at the burly man stepping out of the celestial gold box.

To withstand the divine thunder with only the tips of his hair singed—this person's strength was by no means simple!

"You strike me with lightning and then dare to ask who I am?" Exalted One Gui Yuan instantly flared up with rage.

He had been trapped in that wretched box for over two hundred years. He thought he had finally escaped, only to be struck by lightning the moment he took a step out. It was a good thing his body was durable; anyone else would have been reduced to ashes!

"You are the Heaven-Reaching Exalted One Gui Yuan of the Seeking Dao Sect!" Lord of Thunder remembered. The appearances of the three Founders of the Seeking Dao Sect were no secret, as their statues were brought out for veneration during the sect's grand celebrations.

He was likewise a Half-Immortal, highly active during the late Yu Dynasty. After the establishment of the Great Xia, he became one of the creators of the five great immortal sects, holding a status no lower than his own.

"What is your relationship with the Time Immortal, and why were you locked in the box!"

"Where does all this nonsense come from? Stand still and take a punch from me first!" Exalted One Gui Yuan cared nothing for Lord of Thunder's identity, nor did he care about the current situation.

His logic was simple: I was caught off guard and struck by your lightning, so you stand still and take a punch from me; once we are even, we can talk about other things.

With that, Exalted One Gui Yuan moved like a flood dragon, soaring through the sky to smash a fist toward Lord of Thunder. His fist seemed to burn, erupting with boundless, radiant glow!

How could Lord of Thunder possibly stand still and take the beating? Boundless grayish-white lightning emanated from his palm as he thrust it forward, shattering space in a flash of lightning.

Fist clashed with palm. With a resounding crash, the lightning was smashed to pieces, transforming into a scorching blaze, and Lord of Thunder was sent flying backward through the flames!

Lord of Thunder was shocked. The moment he touched Exalted One Gui Yuan's fist, he knew he had underestimated his opponent. The man's body was terrifyingly hard, completely beyond his ability to confront head-on!

Even a body cultivator at the peak of the Tribulation Transmutation stage shouldn't possess such a physique. How did he achieve this? Was it the power of his embryonic Dao Fruit!

"Immortal, what is the story with Founder Gui Yuan?" Lu Yang asked.

According to Lord of Morning's confession, the Grand Qian Dynasty had used the power of faith to create four embryonic Dao Fruits corresponding to the four ancient Immortals.

Lord of Morning and Lord of Thunder were two of them. Lord of Thunder possessed the embryonic Dao Fruit of Tribulation, and even without it, he was still at the peak of the Tribulation Transmutation stage.

How could such a person be sent flying by a single punch from Founder Gui Yuan?

What exactly was Founder Gui Yuan's embryonic Dao Fruit?

"If I had known we would encounter Founder Gui Yuan, I would have asked Eldest Senior Sister about his embryonic Dao Fruit," Lu Yang lamented with some regret.

"I actually happen to have heard our family's old ancestor mention Founder Gui Yuan's embryonic Dao Fruit," Meng Jingzhou chimed in as he leaned closer.

"What is it?"

"The Embryonic Dao Fruit of Unity. Its ability is to fuse any things together into a single entity."

"That explains it." After hearing Meng Jingzhou's description, the Immortal of Immortals' train of thought became clear.

"This deity already suspected that this kid's body was a bit strange. It turns out he fused his physical body with celestial gold. It seems that is the power of the embryonic Dao Fruit of Unity."

Fusing flesh and celestial gold into one—anyone could imagine to what terrifying extremes Exalted One Gui Yuan's physical body would be strengthened.

Lu Yang gasped. No wonder Founder Gui Yuan was so stubborn; he truly possessed the capabilities to back it up.

"You still dare to block!" Exalted One Gui Yuan grumbled, displeased. This person was far too unreasonable. You struck me and didn't even say sorry, and now when I hit you back, you actually try to block.

Where was the sense of justice?

From Lord of Thunder's perspective, Exalted One Gui Yuan was practically a lunatic. You are hitting me, so how could I not block?

The two tangled in combat once more.

Taking advantage of the gap while the two were locked in battle, Supreme Elder Jin Wenzhang dissolved his Law-Phenomenon Heaven-and-Earth form, reverting to his original shape to slip away.

"Grandmaster, are you all right?" Sect Master Kong hurriedly stepped forward to support the Supreme Elder, helping him back into the Library of Scriptures. Having been struck by lightning in the sky for so long, the elder could barely stand steady now.

The sect disciples had already been evacuated under Sect Master Kong's guidance.

The Library of Scriptures possessed a defensive formation, making it the safest place in the sect.

Fang Jin, Lu Yang, and Meng Jingzhou were all deeply concerned about the Supreme Elder's condition as well.

"I am fine, it is just that my consumption earlier was too great. I will be well after a brief rest." Saying this, the Supreme Elder stuffed a medicinal pill into his mouth.

Catching his breath, the Supreme Elder began to reflect on how all these events had unfolded: "What exactly is going on? How did two Half-Immortals suddenly appear, one of whom is even Exalted One Gui Yuan? Our sect will have to be rebuilt entirely."

Looking at the cratered, utterly ruined grounds of the sect, the Supreme Elder felt immense heartache. As the guardian of the sect, failing to protect it was a tremendous dereliction of duty.

"Grandmaster, do not panic, our sect purchased insurance in advance."

"Insurance? Who bought it?" The Supreme Elder blanked, though this was indeed good news.

"It was Little Jin who foresaw this and purchased the insurance beforehand."

"Well done." Learning that insurance had been bought, the Supreme Elder's mood noticeably improved. He turned to ask Fang Jin, "How did you think to buy insurance?"

In the twenty thousand years since their sect's founding, nothing had ever gone wrong. Under normal circumstances, buying insurance for the sect was a pure waste of resources.

"Wait a moment, the battle between two Half-Immortals in our sect—isn't it precisely because of the celestial gold box you brought back, brat?"

The Supreme Elder suddenly realized that whether it was Lord of Thunder or Exalted One Gui Yuan, both were connected to the celestial gold box.

Fang Jin did not know what expression to make. He had bought insurance, and then he himself had brought the celestial gold box back to the sect, triggering a battle of Half-Immortals.

How did this sound so wrong no matter how one looked at it?

"Tell me in detail, how did this box come to be?"

Fang Jin truthfully recounted how he had taken Lu Yang and the other along on his trip hoping to resolve their conflict, only to accidentally gather the pieces of an ancient map and find the celestial gold box.

"So it sounds like your finding the celestial gold box was a matter of pure coincidence?"

The Supreme Elder believed it to be a coincidence. Setting aside that Fang Jin had no reason to plot against the sect, simply finding the celestial gold box was an incredibly lucky fluke.

Fang Jin's mind drifted into a daze. Could it be that Dai Bufan had mastered the art of divination, and through the letter sent over, he could foresee that Fang Jin would attract misfortune, which was why he suggested buying insurance?

In the sky, Exalted One Gui Yuan continued to battle Lord of Thunder.

Knowing he was no match for Exalted One Gui Yuan in a head-on clash of physical strength, Lord of Thunder pulled away to widen the distance between them.

"Tough body, is it? I would like to see just how tough your body can be!"

Thick, five-colored divine thunder pierced through the heavens and earth, shattering the void like falling giant stars. The heavens tilted and the earth warped, with tremors felt across a radius of ten thousand miles!

Crack—

A stray bolt of lightning struck the Library of Scriptures, and the grand formation of the Library instantly cracked. It was uncertain how many more hits it could withstand.

The Supreme Elder's eyelid twitched at the sight. If that stray bolt had hit him, he feared his chances of survival would be bleak.

"You think being able to summon lightning makes you special!" Exalted One Gui Yuan sneered.

The very moment the five-colored divine thunder descended, Exalted One Gui Yuan activated his embryonic Dao Fruit of Unity, completely fusing a hundred miles of space surrounding the five-colored divine thunder together!

This equated to the five-colored divine thunder being distributed evenly across this hundred-mile space, so that the lightning strike landing upon the Guiyuan Heavenly Venerate was next to nothing!