Even after he finished speaking, Gu Xuanji did not dare raise his head to look at the enraged Gu Tianrong.
More than half of the Eighteen Black-Scaled Riders had fallen. Even he had never anticipated such an outcome.
Although he was a core disciple of the Gu Household, his standing was still far below that of a Golden Core Stage elder. Moreover, Gu Tianrong was at the middle Golden Core Stage and held considerable power even among the household's many elders.
Only after three full breaths did Gu Tianrong's imposing aura slowly dissipate, his furious expression returning to calm.
He glanced impassively at Gu Xuanji, then said softly, "Once this matter is settled, your punishment will be a journey into the Netherworld Domain. Only by clearing ten trials on the Netherworld Road can you retain your status as a core disciple of the household."
Gu Tianrong spoke at an unhurried pace, appearing as serene as drifting clouds in a light breeze. Yet to Gu Xuanji, his words struck like thunder, making his entire body tremble.
Only household disciples who committed grave offenses were exiled to the Netherworld Domain. Usually, they could return to the household after surviving there for thirty years.
Over the past ten thousand years, the Gu Household had exiled nearly a thousand cultivators to the Netherworld Ghost Domain. Fewer than thirty percent had survived thirty years and returned.
Of those nearly thousand cultivators, more than fifty had been punished by being sent to challenge the Netherworld Road. Only three had cleared ten trials and emerged. All the rest had perished on that road.
The Netherworld Road had thirty-six trials in total, and no one from the Gu Household had cleared them all in ten thousand years. Even the terrifying Gu Household cultivator whose bloodline had undergone ancestral