sinovels Chapter 682 The Gu Woman Has Arrived!
Chapter 682 The Gu Woman Has Arrived!
The speed of that light was even faster than Wuyan's. At first, it was just a tiny dark green dot of light, but in the blink of an eye, it had reached the sky above the tribe.
As the light faded, a slender figure landed on the open ground in the center of the tribe.
The newcomer was a woman dressed in a dark green gauze dress, her face so exquisite it was almost unreal.
Her eyebrows were like distant mountains, her eyes like autumn water, and she walked barefoot on the grass, with a string of tiny silver bells tied around her ankles, making a crisp tinkling sound with each step.
It was the Gu woman.
She didn't use her charm as usual; she simply stood there quietly, looking at Chen Fan with a hint of surprise and an inexplicable sense of relief in her dark green eyes.
Batu saw the Gu woman from afar, and his legs went weak again.
Although he didn't know who the woman was, any cultivator who could descend from the sky riding on light was someone who could wipe out an entire tribe with a flick of their wrist.
He glanced in Chen Fan's direction and saw that his expression remained calm, which reassured him somewhat.
Chen Fan turned around, faced the Gu woman, and bowed respectfully, saying, "Gu woman, how have you been?"
The Gu woman looked at him, her gaze lingering on his face for a moment before sweeping over the simple tents and sheepfold behind him. Suddenly, she sighed softly.
"Master Chen, you really are here." The Gu woman's voice was still that soft, seductive tone, but with a hint of helplessness. "A year ago, Wang Zhenyue chased you across the grasslands for three days and three nights, after which you vanished without a trace. Do you know how much has happened in the past year?"
Chen Fan didn't respond, but simply waited quietly for what would happen next.
"After you disappeared, the Zhao Kingdom assumed you died at the hands of Wang Zhenyue. Zhao Yan was furious and petitioned the king for an explanation from the Wang family. The Wang family naturally denied it, claiming you had offended a Gu cultivator at the Hundred Sects Assembly, and that it was most likely the Gu cultivator who had secretly done it. Both sides held their own version of events, and the Zhao court was in an uproar. Zhao Yan and Zhao Yu were already at loggerheads, and this incident completely shattered their relationship." The Gu woman paused, then continued...
"At the same time, the Gu King emerged from seclusion and learned that the grassland Gu cultivators had been completely overwhelmed by you, an outsider cultivator, at the Hundred Sects Assembly. He was furious. Coincidentally, the Zhao Kingdom's border army was reinforcing its troops in the southern border region at this time. The Gu King used this as an excuse to order the thirty-seven grassland tribes to gather their forces and challenge the Zhao Kingdom."
As she spoke, a hint of weariness flashed in her eyes: "It started as a minor skirmish on the border, but it escalated into a full-blown conflict. The four border armies of Zhao Kingdom mobilized, along with the Fifth Prince of the East Sea, Zhao Ying; the Third Prince of the Southern Frontier, Zhao Jin; and the grassland border army, forming a three-way siege of the Great Desert Grassland. The demonic cultivators of the Boundless Sea also got involved, with Song Tianren leading a demonic cultivator force to attack the supply lines on the western side of the grassland. To make matters worse, the King of Zhao Kingdom personally intervened, rallying four first-level cultivation kingdoms—Da Yu, Da Yan, Da Chu, and Da Qi—to form a coalition and put pressure on the grassland. The one coming from Da Yu was none other than the Eighth Prince, Qin Zhan."
Chen Fan's brows twitched slightly when he heard Qin Zhan's name.
"With the four first-tier cultivation nations and the Zhao Kingdom joining forces against the grasslands, even the Gu King can't withstand it. More than ten of the thirty-seven grassland tribes have already been decimated, and the allied forces have pushed the border hundreds of miles forward. Although the Gu King has broken through to the half-step Void Refinement stage, the Zhao Kingdom's ancestor is also a Void Refinement cultivator. Neither side's top combat power is inferior to the other, and neither dares to act rashly. The real battle is between the Nascent Soul and Divine Transformation levels." The Gu woman gave a bitter smile. "This war, in the end, started because of you."
Chen Fan was silent for a moment, then said calmly, "The Gu woman didn't come here today just to tell us this, did she?"
The Gu woman looked at him and remained silent for a long time before speaking: "A few days ago, news reached Ten Thousand Gu City that a Nascent Soul cultivator was hiding in a remote tribe in the eastern part of the grasslands. He forced back three Foundation Establishment Gu cultivators with a single palm strike. I knew it was you as soon as I heard that."
She paused abruptly at this point.
When she landed from the streak of light, she still held onto a sliver of hope that the rumors were wrong.
But when she stood on this open space, looking at Chen Fan from several feet away, she sensed that aura again.
That wasn't the aura of a Nascent Soul cultivator at the Great Perfection stage, but rather the aura of a Deity Transformation cultivator.
"You've broken through to the Nascent Soul stage." The Gu woman stared into Chen Fan's eyes, her voice filled with disbelief. "A year ago when you left Ten Thousand Gu City, you were still at the Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul stage. Now, in just one year, you've already stepped into the Nascent Soul stage."
Chen Fan didn't hide anything and nodded slightly.
The Gu woman took a deep breath, slowly suppressing the horror in her heart.
She had lived for hundreds of years and seen countless geniuses, but she had never seen anyone break through from the Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul stage to the Divine Transformation stage within a year.
When Chen Fan was at the Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul stage, he was able to overpower all the heroes at the Hundred Sects Assembly. Now that he has stepped into the Divine Transformation stage, how terrifying will his strength be?
I'm afraid even those in the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm might not be his match.
"Lord Chen." The Gu woman stepped forward, her tone losing some of its former allure. "The grasslands and the Zhao Kingdom are currently locked in a fierce battle, both searching for you. The First Prince Zhao Yan has sent men everywhere to look for you, the Fourth Prince Zhao Yu has also sent men, and the Wang family has even offered a bounty of a million spirit stones for your head. On the grasslands side, although the Gu King lost face because of you, he has heard of your performance at the Hundred Sects Assembly and greatly admires you. I have come here on behalf of the Gu King to ask you once more: are you willing to stay on the grasslands?"
She paused, then said, word by word, "The Gu King said that if you are willing to stay, he will grant you the position of Imperial Preceptor, allow you to use the resources of the thirty-seven tribes at will, and impart all the secret Gu techniques to you. In addition, the Gu King is willing to give you three Nascent Soul Pills to help you advance further in the Nascent Soul realm. Venerable Chen, this is the third time the Gu King has extended an olive branch to you. You should at least give me an answer."
Chen Fan remained silent for a long time.
The wind on the grassland blew across the open space between the two, making the silver bells on the Gu woman's skirt tinkle.
He spoke, his voice as calm as still water: "I appreciate the Gu King's kindness. But I've already said that what I want isn't on the grasslands. Thank you for the Gu Maiden's three invitations, but I reiterate, I cannot agree."
The Gu woman looked at his stubborn and unyielding appearance and suddenly laughed.
There was a hint of helplessness in that laughter.
She pondered that she had invited this person out three times, and each time she was rejected.
The first time she thought this person was ungrateful, the second time she thought he was stubbornly annoying, but now, on the third time, she actually felt a bit of admiration for him.
"Very well." The Gu woman took out a dark green jade slip from her sleeve and casually tossed it to Chen Fan. "This is the complete inheritance of the Soul-Devouring Gu. It's not the incomplete embryonic cultivation method from last time, but the complete method from egg to adult, from Qi refining to Nascent Soul. It also includes the secret technique for refining the Soul-Devouring Gu's natal Gu, as well as several long-lost methods for cultivating Soul-Devouring Gu variants. Apart from the Gu King and me, no one else on Tiannan Star knows all the contents of this jade slip."