An indescribable sense of comfort flowed through Xiao Lin's true body, spreading from head to toe.
Whenever an [Inheritor] achieved a breakthrough by cultivating the power he had bestowed, a record would be left in the Plane Core, and a certain amount of plane origin energy would be fed back to him.
This planar energy could not only infuse his avatars on the continent with more Dou Qi, but also support Xiao Lin as he continued fishing items out of the plane torrent, refining them, and sending them down!
The instant the stream of information flashed past, a gleam lit up Xiao Lin's eyes. An illusory giant hand appeared out of thin air, taking shape beyond the planar barrier!
The invisible barrier slowly tore open like a veil.
Outside, turbulent energy surged through the plane torrent. Countless fragments of energy from beyond collided and drifted through the chaos, while dazzling, dangerous bursts of light exploded constantly within the raging currents!
"That familiar feeling... the energy laws of the Tianxuan Continent again?"
A bone-piercing chill struck his hand. Controlling the giant hand, Xiao Lin instantly seized that roving power!
Dou Qi Continent, Jia Ma Empire, Tagor Desert.
A blue meteor streaked across the unbearably hot sky above the desert, bringing an unexpected wave of coolness.
Inside the Ancient Map Shop, an ancient, pale-blue rune descended, radiating a bone-deep chill as it hovered quietly before a white-haired old man.
"This is..."
The old man, startled awake by this sudden change, spoke in a rather hoarse voice. A sharp gleam shone in his eyes, while the ice Dou Qi gushing from his fingertips abruptly stopped.
At first, the old man was shocked by the object that had appeared so strangely before him. But as he sensed its icy aura, the Dou Qi that had long lain sealed within him suddenly began to stir!
An invisible, overwhelmingly powerful attraction drew him to stretch out his hand and touch the mysterious rune floating before him!
Hum!
The instant his fingertips touched the rune, the old man felt incomparably pure ice-attribute energy pouring endlessly into his body through his fingertips!
Crack!
In that instant, he seemed to hear something shatter faintly deep within him.
Then his body stiffened. He could clearly feel the vast Dou Qi that had been suppressed within him for years breaking through the sturdy seal in one stroke. Within just a few breaths, his strength seemed to have returned to its peak!
"This...! My power... my power is returning! The seal is broken!"
After a brief moment of stunned disbelief, wild joy flooded the old man's face.
As he felt the powerful energy within him continuing to climb even after the seal had broken, a fierce aura erupted uncontrollably around him.
Five-Star Dou Emperor... six-star... seven-star...
His powerful Dou Qi instantly shattered the building around him. A streak of blue light burst through the roof, then stopped in midair, beating its Dou Qi Wings.
"Hahaha! I, Ice Emperor Hai Bodong, have returned!"
"My lady, word has arrived from the clan."
Ling Ying's figure gradually solidified out of the darkness. His aged face bore a measure of gravity, and he kept his voice extremely low.
Inside Xun'er's room, the wisp of golden flame at the fingertips of the girl meditating cross-legged quietly went out.
"Go ahead."
"Regarding the Great Thousand World, the elders suspect it may be connected to those Dou Di who ascended in ancient times."
"Dou Di? Just as I thought..."
"To think Brother Xiao Tian's [Inheritance] is so terrifying."
A brief silence fell over the room. Xun'er's delicate little face looked somewhat troubled.
"The question is whether those people from the other ancient races have any connection to Dou Di. If someone from the Hun Clan becomes a Dou Di and turmoil sweeps the continent, our Gu Clan will surely bear the brunt!"
Thinking of the extreme methods those fellows from the Hun Clan employed, Xiao Xun'er could not help curling her fingers tightly, her brows drawing together.
"..."
"What is it, Elder Ling? Is there something else you want to tell me?"
Seeing the old man fall silent with his head lowered, Xun'er keenly sensed that something remained on his mind, unspoken.
"My lady..."
Ling Ying's voice sounded slightly hoarse, as though he was hesitating over whether what he had in mind would affect the girl before him.
But after a moment's deliberation, he chose not to conceal it.
"There is indeed a secret within the clan that seems to concern an [Inheritor]."
"..."
"Elder Ling, do you mean Gu Yue?"
Xun'er's eyes narrowed slightly, as though she had recalled something unpleasant.
"So you do know, my lady. Yes, him."
Ling Ying gave a soft sigh, his old face seeming to age several more years.
"Decades ago, Gu Yue, who came from the lower-ranked descendants, reached the Dou Zun Realm with only a second-grade bloodline. He was even eventually discovered to possess an extremely mysterious cicada-like insect..."
"Looking back now, he must have been an [Inheritor] born within our Gu Clan."
"Had he not wantonly slaughtered our clan's descendants and plundered their bloodline power, his Dou Zun cultivation alone would hardly have drawn the Gu Clan Elders' attention. Nor would they have discovered that he was hiding such an immense opportunity."
A thoughtful look crossed Xun'er's lovely face, and she nodded slightly. Ling Ying's account did not differ from what she knew, so she said softly:
"Unfortunately, because Gu Yue harmed his own clansmen, several elders led a force to hunt him down. During the encirclement, he detonated himself and died..."
"No."
In an exceedingly rare move, Ling Ying interrupted Xun'er, his expression visibly agitated.
"While making inquiries with the clan, I remembered your remark that our Gu Clan had no [Inheritor], my lady, so I paid particular attention to the matter..."
"Gu Yue may very well still be alive!"
"What!"
At those words, Xun'er's bright, dark eyes widened, and she stared at Ling Ying with disbelief written across her delicate face.
"How... how is that possible? After he detonated himself with all his might, even his soul could hardly have survived. It would have been even more impossible for him to escape alive right under a Dou Saint elder's nose..."
Faced with Xun'er's doubts, Ling Ying's face, weathered like withered wood, trembled slightly before he answered:
"According to the elders, the clan leader personally visited the site of Gu Yue's self-detonation afterward!"
"And he faintly sensed violent fluctuations in the space around that area. At the same time, the passage of time had become slightly halting, with changes even more pronounced than those within the Heavenly Tomb."
"In other words, Gu Yue's soul may very well have left the Ancient Realm, crossed the space of the Central Plains-and even time itself-and relocated elsewhere on the continent!"
"He may even have gone into the past or the future!"
As Xun'er listened to Ling Ying's account, her budding chest began to rise and fall as she struggled to digest the shock within her.
Since that was the judgment of Gu Yuan, a Peak Nine-Star Dou Saint, it was almost certainly true.
To give her a carefree, happy childhood, her father, the clan leader, had sent her to the Xiao Clan. But he had not told her much about the Gu Clan's secrets beforehand.
Still, after learning of the existence of [Inheritors], she did not find such bizarre events too difficult to accept.
As for one of her purposes in coming to the Xiao Clan-the Tou She Ancient God Jade-that was merely incidental.
After all, a mere declining Xiao Clan could never hope to hide anything from the Gu Clan.
"So the clan has also issued orders for this old servant to watch the surrounding northwestern region for anyone with similar abilities or any unusual beings..."
"Regardless of age."
"Especially anyone with the surname Gu!"
Before you continue