Gu Yuanqing had not actually wanted to clash directly with the old fossils of the Primordial Divine Sect too soon. After all, these remnant souls of True Gods, who survived by hiding in the Ancestor Hall, had mostly exhausted their room for growth, while his strength increased every day.
That was why, for all these years, he had always told the Qian Yuan Realm that he was in secluded cultivation.
In the past, he had preached the Dao in the Qian Yuan Realm almost once every century. Yet for nearly two hundred years now, he had never appeared at all, precisely because he did not want the Primordial Divine Sect to learn that Zhuo Ming's attempt to possess him had failed.
The Primordial Divine Sect had sent the people from the various sects back and stirred up rumors to shake the foundations of the Qian Yuan Divine Hall because they had sensed something amiss and were probing him. When he broke the restrictive seal on Lu Zeyu, they naturally confirmed the truth.
Of course, Gu Yuanqing could have chosen not to save Lu Zeyu. But even then, the Primordial Divine Sect would inevitably have continued probing him through other means, pressing him step by step until they were certain. It would merely have bought him a little more time.
He could not keep yielding forever, nor would that serve any purpose. Besides, he had cultivated all this way and become a Void Immortal precisely so he could live freely. How could he accept a life of stifled humiliation?
Standing atop the mountain, he used the Mountain Observation Technique and the grotto-heaven's power to merge with the entire Qian Yuan Realm, then followed its connections to the many Exquisite Worlds to gaze farther afield.
The many Exquisite Worlds were linked together