Light of the Ancient Clan

Gu Fang circulated his Dou Qi at full force and unleashed the first seal of the Emperor Seal Art...

Mountain Splitting Seal!

Gu Fang had never felt such ease before. He had been able to use it in the past, but by the end, he would always find himself short of Dou Qi.

Using an Earth Rank Dou Skill with the strength of a Dou Master—even if it was only the first seal—was truly far too draining!

But now... it was smooth, incredibly smooth!

The Dou Qi within him was abundant. Every bit of Dou Qi consumed by the Mountain Splitting Seal was replenished by his bloodline.

After fourteen years of accumulation, the Emperor Bloodline had stored endless Dou Qi, allowing Gu Fang to spend it without restraint!

A phantom hand seal slowly emerged before Gu Fang. It was the first of the Emperor Seal Art's five seals,

Mountain Splitting Seal!

The instant it fully took shape, a peculiar ripple spread outward. The movements of everyone else taking the test stalled in unison,

Then... everyone else accelerated once more!

But even so, no one paid attention to them anymore. Every gaze was fixed on Gu Fang, on the Mountain Splitting Seal before him!

Gu Fang raised his eyes and glanced at the light figure before him. The Mountain Splitting Seal was less than halfway formed,

Without hesitation, he slowly thrust his palm forward,

The phantom hand seal carried terrifying fluctuations of power as it pressed down upon the golden figure before him!

Bang!

With a deafening boom, the golden figure shattered!

And with that boom, everyone's impression of Gu Fang completely changed. Only strength was the best way to crush doubt.

Gu Fang drew in a light breath. As he inhaled...

He was surprised to discover that his Three-star Dou Master strength, already at its peak, had suddenly begun to fluctuate. With the energy replenishment from his Bloodline Power, it was naturally not due to excessive depletion,

This fluctuation...

Was a sign of a breakthrough!

While Gu Fang hesitated, booming sounds rang out one after another. The others had also completed the condensation of their Mountain Splitting Seals.

It sounded slow, as though much time had passed, but in truth, since Gu Fang had unleashed the Mountain Splitting Seal...

Less than half a breath had passed!

As Gu Qingyang, Gu Xing, Gu Yao, and the others watched the golden figures before them shatter, they all turned their gazes toward Gu Fang,

The speed at which Gu Fang had used his Dou Skill earlier was already enough to make them take this "weak" opponent seriously!

Gu Yao flicked his two-toned hair and watched Gu Fang with flashing eyes. When he saw Gu Fang standing still without preparing another Dou Skill,

A trace of mockery flashed through his eyes.

A Dou Master was still a Dou Master. No matter how proficient he was with Dou Skills, it was useless without sufficient Dou Qi.

The test did not merely assess proficiency. It also had a quantity requirement!

Gu Qingyang sighed softly and shook his head. Gu Hua and Gu Xing, standing beside him, swept their gazes over Gu Fang, their eyes now carrying a degree of admiration,

For someone with the strength of a Dou Master to use the Emperor Seal Art to such an extent was absolutely something to be proud of,

But unfortunately, the strength of a Dou Master...

Was indeed insufficient!

"What is going on?"

Elder Tong Xuan frowned in confusion. As a Half-Saint and the overseer of the inheritance ceremony, even with the light barrier in the way, he could still sense Gu Fang's condition,

Naturally, he knew Gu Fang had not reached his limit and was still capable of using another Dou Skill,

But the problem was...

What was that inexplicable fluctuation around Gu Fang? It seemed like a sign of a breakthrough, but how could that be possible?

It was already fortunate if a Dou Master did not exhaust himself using an Earth Rank Dou Skill. How could he possibly break through after using one?

Merit Reversal?

An unfamiliar term suddenly surfaced in Elder Tong Xuan's mind. Merit Reversal was a special state reached when one's Dou Qi was exhausted to its limit. In that state, one could squeeze out more Dou Qi from an already exhausted body,

But such squeezing was not harmless. It would inflict tremendous damage upon the body. If it was not stopped in time...

It could even cause permanent damage!

At that thought, Elder Tong Xuan was about to step in...

Gu Fang was the clan leader's son. If he were injured before him, the overseer, he would absolutely not escape blame,

Even as a Half-Saint, he would certainly not avoid punishment!

Just as Elder Tong Xuan was about to move, a phantom figure slowly appeared, as though he had been standing there all along,

He raised a hand, and the spatial passage Elder Tong Xuan had just formed instantly shattered!

Elder Tong Xuan's expression hardened when he sensed the person appear beside him and felt the spatial passage he had created collapse.

To arrive beside him without a sound and destroy his spatial passage with a wave of the hand,

This person was stronger than him—far, far stronger!

A Dou Saint, and not an ordinary Dou Saint!

At the level of the clan leader or the supreme elders!

How could this be?

Elder Tong Xuan was filled with astonishment, but when he truly saw the face of the newcomer, his astonishment completely turned into terror!!

That aged face, coarse cloth robe, those bright and piercing eyes—an incomparably familiar figure known only through the tales of others,

The Ancient Clan's final trump card...

One of the Ancient Clan's Three Immortals,

Gu Dao!

Late Seven-star Battle Saint!

"Tong Xuan, is it? Step down. Let the three of us old fellows oversee the rest of the ceremony!" As Elder Tong Xuan stood frozen in horror, Gu Dao's refined voice slowly sounded!

"This..."

Hearing such words from Gu Dao, one of the Three Immortals, the horror on Elder Tong Xuan's face became almost tangible. Even his voice trembled...

What was going on? What in the world was happening?

Elder Gu Dao, one of the Three Immortals, was here to oversee the ceremony?

No...

Elder Tong Xuan recalled Gu Dao's words, and his body suddenly trembled—not one person. Gu Dao had not said he alone would oversee it, but three people, all three of them together!!!

The Ancient Clan's Three Immortals were the true trump cards of the Ancient Clan. If the three joined forces, they could fight even Gu Yuan, a Nine-star Battle Saint. Why would figures like them willingly come out to oversee such a ceremony?

The clan leader could not have ordered them to do so, which meant they had come willingly?

Why?

Who was it for? Gu Qingyang?

That fellow had reached the strength of a Seven-star Dou Emperor and possessed around eighth-grade Bloodline Power, but even so, it should not have been enough to bring all Three Immortals here!

While Elder Tong Xuan was still stunned, two phantom figures appeared before Gu Dao—the other two of the Three Immortals!

At this moment...

The Three Immortals had gathered!

Tong Xuan took half a step back. Just as he retreated in confusion and prepared to yield the position of overseer, a pair of hands suddenly rested upon his shoulders from behind,

The instant those hands touched him, Tong Xuan felt that his Half-Saint strength was no more than that of an ant,

That person only needed to exert the slightest force, and he would turn to ash!

Another one? Who could this be?

Elder Tong Xuan felt completely numb. He had once believed his Half-Saint strength was powerful enough, a level that stood near the very peak of the continent, but now...

He suddenly felt that a Half-Saint was nothing much. It was time to cultivate properly again and improve his strength.

The Three Immortals seemed to sense something. Then Gu Dao's teasing voice sounded, "Clan Leader Gu Yuan, no wonder you allowed little Fang to participate in the inheritance ceremony. You hid him deeply enough!"

"You flatter me." The voice rang out. Tong Xuan felt the hands pressing against his back disappear. Then that person vanished, followed by...

A man appearing beside the Three Immortals,

He wore a coarse cloth robe, yet he was one of the world's strongest experts,

Like a child, Tong Xuan muttered that man's name in stunned disbelief!

Gu Yuan!

Gu Fang's father, but also a Peak Nine-star Battle Saint, the clan leader of the Ancient Clan, one of the greatest figures on the Dou Qi Continent.

"It is Clan Leader Gu Yuan... thank goodness!"

Elder Tong Xuan muttered inwardly, and his numbness eased slightly. With Gu Yuan's strength, let alone a Half-Saint like himself, even someone who had truly entered the Dou Saint realm...

Would probably be nothing more than a slightly larger ant in Gu Yuan's eyes, right?

As Elder Tong Xuan marveled inwardly, Gu Dao's words to Clan Leader Gu Yuan suddenly surfaced in his mind—"Clan Leader Gu Yuan, no wonder you allowed little Fang to participate in the inheritance ceremony. You hid him deeply enough!"—

"Little Fang? Gu Fang?!!"

Elder Tong Xuan's eyes widened abruptly. He swept his gaze across the testing platform and landed on Gu Fang...

Gu Fang's Dou Master strength stood out glaringly among the surrounding Dou Wangs and Dou Emperors. If his father were not Clan Leader Gu Yuan, he definitely would not have had the chance to participate in this inheritance ceremony,

Yet their conversation clearly showed that the Three Immortals had come because of Gu Fang,

And that their praise had also been for Gu Fang!

The Three Immortals had no need to flatter the clan leader. That meant...

Gu Fang was not simple. He was far from the useless Dou Master he appeared to be!

Tong Xuan swallowed lightly at that thought. As he took another half-step back, he focused all his senses on Gu Fang. The instant his senses fully settled on Gu Fang...

Elder Tong Xuan actually felt a sense of pressure!

It was naturally not pressure from strength, but from bloodline—from the level of his bloodline!

Tong Xuan could guarantee that he had absolutely not felt this before when he sensed Gu Fang... Combined with the conversation between the clan leader and the others,

An answer burst forth like ice breaking apart!

Gu Fang's Bloodline Power had been sealed and hidden before. In other words... everything he had sensed before had been wrong. What he sensed now was Gu Fang's true bloodline grade.

"My own Bloodline Power is eighth-grade. If he can make me feel pressure, even accounting for the gap in strength, then Gu Fang's Bloodline Power is..." ninth-grade peak, or even Divine Grade!

Tong Xuan muttered this far, but the rest caught in his throat, and he could no longer speak!

He did not dare say it. He absolutely did not dare!

He had overseen countless ceremonies, so he naturally knew what reaching ninth-grade peak at this age meant...

Once his bloodline matured, he would inevitably reach Divine Grade.

And with a Divine Grade bloodline, reaching Peak Nine-star Battle Saint would encounter no obstacles at all!

If he was already Divine Grade now, then with the future growth and nurturing of the Dou Di bloodline, he might even...

Challenge that realm!

Dou Di!

No matter which possibility it was, they all pointed to one thing...

Once Gu Fang grew up, the Ancient Clan would without question ascend to the ranks of the strongest clans!

Having reached this conclusion, Elder Tong Xuan completely understood why beings like the Three Immortals had come to oversee the ceremony.

If it were him, he would come running over eagerly too,

Because...

Gu Fang at this moment...

Was the true light of the Ancient Clan!