The Truth Behind the Retreat at the Peak; the Arrogant and Self-Assured Divine Son

"But fortunately, although there are few of them, they're almost all contemporary divine sons of our Gu Clan."

"Their talents rank among the very best in the entire Gu Clan of the Immortal Realm."

"And with us old fellows who ascended before the Desolate Ancient Era..."

"Although our Xuanhuan Branch has weakened somewhat, we're hardly in a weak position."

"At the very least, we're still among the top five of the Gu Clan's forty-three branches."

"Besides..."

"Now that we've been able to produce a monstrous talent like you..."

"It seems that after all these years of recuperation, we've finally made almost a full recovery."

Even though the young man was utterly indifferent,

his words carried a hint of delight when he spoke of these things.

Gu Xuanjin was somewhat surprised.

As he remembered it, the Gu Clan had always seemed this powerful.

When had it suffered such a severe blow?

But then again,

after the Gu Clan had dominated the Xuanhuan Great World in the Desolate Ancient Era,

it did seem to have suddenly become secretive and kept a low profile.

Gu Xuanjin frowned and asked,

"May I ask, Ancestor, what was that incident you mentioned...?"

Had it been anyone else, the young man wouldn't have bothered wasting his breath.

But before Gu Xuanjin, a junior who pleased him greatly,

the young man showed a little more patience.

He revealed the secret of what had happened back then.

"It was sometime after the end of the Desolate Ancient Era in the Xuanhuan Great World."

"Early in the Ancient Era."

"Someone from our Immortal Realm discovered a newly born great world."

"That world's Heavenly Dao had yet to fully take shape.

Everything was in a pristine state, untouched and undeveloped."

"Its resources were exceedingly abundant, its value immeasurable."

"After various major powers investigated it,"

"they finally confirmed that the world's overall strength was considerably weaker than that of the Immortal Realm."

"Although there were beings there comparable to those who had surpassed Immortal Emperors, they weren't as numerous as those in our Immortal Realm."

"So the many immortal clans, great sects, and Dao lineages of our Immortal Realm"

"joined forces and sent people to invade that world."

The young man raised his eyes and gazed into the vast whiteness in the distance.

He said no more,

seemingly giving Gu Xuanjin time to digest what he had just heard.

A flicker of something different passed through Gu Xuanjin's eyes.

He said nothing more,

quietly waiting for the young man to continue.

After a while,

the young man reached out to catch a few falling snowflakes

and continued calmly,

"Yet we never expected that"

"while all of our attention"

"was focused on the supreme beings of that world,"

"a native being comparable to an Immortal Emperor"

"would possess the body of one of our Gu Clan's juniors."

"He followed the others back to the Gu Clan"

"and slaughtered our Gu Clan's younger generation in a frenzy."

"He even destroyed several great worlds connected to our Gu Clan,"

"causing our Gu Clan considerable losses."

"Just as he was about to make a move against our Xuanhuan Great World,"

"several Immortal Emperors of our Gu Clan returned in time and joined forces to kill him."

"Only then were even greater losses prevented."

"And the junior whose body was possessed belonged to our Xuanhuan Branch."

"After matters in the primordial world were settled,"

"our Xuanhuan Branch was blamed by the people of the other branches."

"The experts of the other branches demanded that our Xuanhuan Branch rebuild the Gu Clan in those great worlds."

"We were to provide eighty percent of both the people and the providence!"

"Although our Xuanhuan Gu Clan had a vast family and a great enterprise, and could afford to provide that many people and that much providence,"

"we couldn't have borne the loss if we did."

"We might even have fallen into decline and withered away."

"So the many experts of our Xuanhuan Branch refused."

"Later, the matter grew more and more contentious, until an old ancestor came out of seclusion to negotiate."

"After a round of discussions,"

"the people of the other branches reluctantly agreed to let our Xuanhuan Branch provide fifty percent of the people and providence."

"Although we still felt that fifty percent was too excessive and were unwilling to agree,"

"the losses had been caused by our Xuanhuan Branch, after all, so we could only swallow the loss."

"After we sent fifty percent of our people and providence to rebuild the Gu Clan in the other worlds,"

"our Xuanhuan Branch fell into considerable decline."

"So..."

"after our Xuanhuan Gu Clan reached its peak during the Desolate Ancient Era,"

"it suddenly began to lie low and keep a low profile."

Looking at Gu Xuanjin,

a sharp glint flashed through the young man's eyes.

"However,"

"now that a great age has arrived,"

"our Xuanhuan Gu Clan has almost recovered, and it will shine brilliantly once more!"

After listening to the young man,

Gu Xuanjin nodded in understanding.

So this was the truth behind the Gu Clan's retreat from the raging current at its peak.

"I didn't expect such things to have happened in the Immortal Realm."

The young man chuckled softly.

"Things in the Immortal Realm are far more complicated than you imagine."

"You'll find out when you come up. It's hard to explain everything in a short time now."

Gu Xuanjin nodded slightly.

Amid the ice and snow,

neither of them spoke again.

The world seemed to grow even colder.

After a long while,

the young man broke the silence

and asked in a deep voice,

"Are you planning to use this Abyssal Blowing Snow of mine as your everyday weapon?"

Gu Xuanjin made no attempt to hide it. "You could say that."

The young man frowned slightly.

"Sometimes, being too confident isn't a good thing."

"Your talent is good, but your strength is too weak right now."

"You'd struggle even to wield an emperor weapon."

"Abyssal Blowing Snow is an immortal weapon, so you're even less capable of using it."

"You could use it as a trump card at a critical moment."

"But if you use it to fight enemies in ordinary battles,"

"I'm afraid you'll suffer a backlash before you can even hurt your enemy."

Gu Xuanjin remained calm and offered no further explanation. "I know my limits."

Seeing that Gu Xuanjin didn't seem arrogant without reason,

the young man stopped trying to dissuade him.

"In that case..."

"Let this ancestor of yours see whether you truly have what it takes to possess Abyssal Blowing Snow!"

In an instant,

the young man's imposing presence surged.

This stretch of heaven and earth transformed into boundless sword intent, surging like raging, towering waves.

"As your ancestor, I won't bully you. I wouldn't want anyone saying I preyed on a junior."

"You're currently at the Heaven-Reaching Realm Eighth Level."

"Then I'll fight you with my cultivation at the Heaven-Reaching Realm Eighth Level."

"If you win, Abyssal Blowing Snow is yours."

"If you lose,"

"you'll behave yourself and use a quasi-divine weapon suited to your current cultivation."

Gu Xuanjin, however, slowly shook his head, his expression serene and utterly indifferent.

"Lose?"

"Even if you were an unparalleled heavenly genius who shook the past and dazzled the present, Ancestor,"

"still,"

"even if you restricted your cultivation to the Quasi-Emperor Realm now, you might not be able to defeat me."

"You may think I'm far too arrogant, Ancestor, but that's the truth."

Gu Xuanjin demonstrated arrogance and disdain for everyone to the fullest.

The young man smiled, though his expression seemed to grow colder.

"It's been a long time since I met a junior as 'confident' as you."

"Then let's try."

With that,

the young man's cultivation surged all the way from the Heaven-Reaching Realm to the Peak Quasi-Emperor Realm.

In an instant,

the white snow drifting through the sky transformed into countless streams of Sword Qi.

A peerless sharpness flowed through the void, vast as an abyss and deep as a sea.

A heavy, terrifying pressure also rippled outward, filling this stretch of heaven and earth.