In the Ancient Realm, inside the Gu Clan Great Hall.
Gu Yuan, the clan leader, was sitting in the seat of honor, his expression filled with fury.
Just moments ago, through his soul perception, he had discovered that his daughter Xiao Xun'er had actually lost her virginity. There was even a faint fluctuation of life being nurtured within her. Could she be pregnant?
Bastard!
Gu Yuan slammed his palm onto the armrest beside him, making the entire hall tremble. Seeing his furious state, the Gu Clan Elders present all wore ugly expressions as well.
"Clan Leader, how could Miss Xun'er, in a little place like the Jia Ma Empire..."
One elder stopped halfway through his sentence, clearly finding this unbelievable as well. Gu Yuan remained silent, his face dark, but the anger in his eyes said everything.
To think that his daughter, the precious daughter of the Gu Clan, a genius girl bearing a divine-grade bloodline, had actually lost her virginity to someone in that tiny Jia Ma Empire. If word of this spread, where would the entire Gu Clan put its face?
"Clan Leader, we cannot simply let this matter go," Elder Gu Yang spoke first, his tone carrying a measure of anger.
"The young lady must have been deceived. Otherwise, with her discernment and temperament, how could she possibly take a fancy to someone from such a little place?"
Elder Gu Dao nodded beside him. "Exactly. In a place like the Jia Ma Empire, even a Dou Emperor counts as a top expert. What worthy figures could there be? I think it is most likely because the young lady has little experience of the world. Having spent all these years in a place like the Xiao Clan, she would inevitably be taken in by people with ulterior motives."
The other elders voiced their agreement as well. Could the young lady have been deceived by someone? After all, as the esteemed daughter of the Gu Clan, she had seen countless geniuses since childhood.
Moreover, outstanding talents among the younger generation were everywhere within the Ancient Eight Clans. How could she possibly take a fancy to someone from a little place like the Jia Ma Empire?
The more the elders present thought about it, the angrier they became. They all felt that they should find the person who had taken the young lady's virginity and kill him outright.
"Clan Leader, I suggest sending someone to the Jia Ma Empire immediately to bring the young lady back, then disposing of that fool who knows nothing of life and death, lest he disgrace the Gu Clan."
"Exactly. Leaving someone like that alive will only bring trouble. He must be eliminated."
After a brief silence, just as Gu Yuan was about to speak, he noticed a screen of light appear in the empty space above the hall. A line of golden text emerged upon it, and it even gave off an ancient, mysterious presence. He had no idea what this thing was.
The next second, everyone froze and looked up at the screen of light that had suddenly appeared.
"What is this thing? Why did it suddenly appear here?"
Puzzlement appeared on the elders' faces. Even Gu Yuan narrowed his eyes as he studied the flickering screen of light.
The text slowly emerged upon the screen, displaying information about a certain person. Gu Yuan and the elders fixed their gazes on it at the same time, their expressions changing little by little.
Their previously angry expressions gradually turned somewhat shocked, for the information displayed on that screen was simply too hard to believe. It stated that this person came from the Jia Ma Empire and was only around twenty years old.
Twenty years old?
The elders present exchanged glances. In a place like the Jia Ma Empire, a twenty-year-old would at most be a Dou Zhe or Dou Shi. Yet the information that followed left them completely stunned. To think that this person's strength had actually reached Nine-Star Dou Sheng?
The entire hall fell silent. Elder Gu Yang's mouth hung slightly open, Elder Gu Dao's eyes widened, and the other elders' faces were filled with disbelief. How was that possible?
After all, in a small, declining empire like that, even a Dou Emperor would count among its greatest fighting forces, would they not? How could a Nine-Star Dou Sheng appear there, and at only twenty years of age?
Even the very finest geniuses of the Ancient Eight Clans could never reach the heights of a Nine-Star Dou Sheng at this age!
"This... this is impossible! How could a place like the Jia Ma Empire have a Nine-Star Dou Sheng expert? There must be some mistake. A twenty-year-old Nine-Star Dou Sheng-even Xiao Xuan back then did not progress that quickly, did he?"
Yet information continued to appear on the screen. It stated with perfect clarity that this person not only possessed the strength of a Nine-Star Dou Sheng, but had even mastered a Heaven Class Dou Technique?
Heaven Class Dou Technique!
When they saw those words, the shock on the elders' faces in the hall was beyond description. They knew very well just how rare Heaven Class Dou Techniques were on the Dou Qi Continent. Basically, only the ancient clans possessed them. Even the Gu Clan's Heaven Class Dou Techniques could be counted on one hand.
A young man from the insignificant Jia Ma Empire, a twenty-year-old Nine-Star Dou Sheng, and he even possessed a Heaven Class Dou Technique? Just what sort of monster was this?!
Before they could recover from their shock, new information emerged on the screen.
This person was actually also a Ninth-Grade Grandmaster Alchemist.
What? A Ninth-Grade Grandmaster Alchemist? When the elders saw those words, their expressions had gone completely numb.
A Ninth-Grade Grandmaster Alchemist stood at the very pinnacle of alchemy across the entire continent. Even among the old monsters of the Pill Tower, few had reached the level of Ninth-Grade Grandmaster Alchemist.
A twenty-year-old Nine-Star Dou Sheng, plus a Ninth-Grade Grandmaster Alchemist, plus a Heaven Class Dou Technique-no matter how they thought about it, none of this made sense.
Cultivating to Nine-Star Dou Sheng required an immense accumulation of Dou Qi, while becoming a Ninth-Grade Grandmaster Alchemist required countless experiences in alchemy and the tempering of soul power. Either one required a long stretch of time to achieve. How could those possibly be heights a twenty-year-old could reach?
"Clan Leader, could the information on this heavenly screen be false? After all, how could a twenty-year-old possibly become both a Nine-Star Dou Sheng and a Ninth-Grade Grandmaster Alchemist?"
This time, however, Gu Yuan did not answer immediately. He stared at the screen for a long time, his expression gradually turning shocked.
As a Peak Nine-Star Dou Saint expert, he could sense that the presence emanating from the screen was far from ordinary. It did not seem like something artificially created, either, did it?
Moreover, being able to project information into the Gu Clan Great Hall without a sound proved in itself that the other party was no ordinary person. Could Xun'er's loss of virginity have something to do with this person?
If it really was this person, then it would make sense. Besides, a twenty-year-old Nine-Star Dou Sheng was barely qualified to be a match for his daughter.
Still, Gu Yuan felt somewhat displeased. No matter what, she was his daughter. Now that someone had taken her virginity under such unclear circumstances, as her father, he could not feel comfortable with it no matter how he thought about it.
The hall remained silent for quite some time as the elders digested the information they had just seen.
Then Elder Gu Yang and Elder Gu Dao exchanged a glance, immediately seeing shock and complicated feelings in each other's eyes.
Just now, they had been talking about sending someone to the Jia Ma Empire to kill that fool who knew nothing of life and death. But now that they saw he was a Nine-Star Dou Sheng as well as a Ninth-Grade Grandmaster Alchemist, how could they still utter those words?
Go and kill a Nine-Star Dou Sheng? Even for the Gu Clan, killing a Nine-Star Dou Sheng probably would not be so easy, would it?
What was more, he was also a Ninth-Grade Grandmaster Alchemist. Someone like that had a network of connections spanning the continent. If they truly offended such a person, the consequences would be unthinkable.
"Let me think this matter over. Do not act rashly for now. First, send someone to the Jia Ma Empire to investigate the situation and find out exactly where this person comes from."
The elders nodded, and no one mentioned killing him again.
After displaying all the information, the screen of light in the hall slowly dissipated, as though it had never appeared. Yet towering waves were surging in the hearts of everyone in the hall!
At that moment, Elder Gu Yang muttered inwardly, Just who is this twenty-year-old Nine-Star Dou Sheng on the heavenly screen, and why would he appear in a place like the Jia Ma Empire?
Elder Gu Dao, meanwhile, was thinking about the Heaven Class Dou Technique. Although the Gu Clan also had Heaven Class Dou Techniques, there were extremely few of them. But where exactly had this person obtained his Heaven Class Dou Technique?
Gu Yuan sat silently in the seat of honor for a long time, his fingers gently tapping the armrest. No one knew what he was thinking. Only after quite a while did he raise his head and glance at the elders in the hall, who were still reeling from shock.
"You may all withdraw for now. Whatever else there is can wait until tomorrow."
Hearing this, the elders bowed and took their leave, though they were still quietly discussing what had just happened as they walked out of the hall.
Once everyone had left, Gu Yuan was alone in the hall. He leaned against the back of his chair and let out a long breath.
A twenty-year-old Nine-Star Dou Sheng, also a Ninth-Grade Grandmaster Alchemist, with mastery of a Heaven Class Dou Technique... just what is this person's background?