It wasn't just the Beast-Man Gu Immortal who was horrified. Every Heavenly Court Gu Immortal who witnessed the scene felt a chill crawl up their spine.
"Demon! A demon!"
"This Specter has become completely paranoid. There may be objective factors behind it, but his heart is thoroughly steeped in demonic nature. He believes nothing is unworthy of slaughter, that the greatest pleasure lies in killing, and that the very core of the Heavenly Dao is destruction!"
"No wonder he could become a Demon Venerable and bring the most devastating carnage upon the world! Even the agony of having his soul torn apart felt exquisite to him. He may seem calm and rational, but he descended into utter madness long ago. No one can save him — he is beyond all remedy!"
"I have to admit — an invincible heart is the foundation of an invincible body. His cognition is nothing short of a demonic barrier, but because of it, his mind is absolutely unshakable. Everything in existence only reinforces the most twisted convictions in his heart!"
"Myriad Tribulation Ash Heart may not be enough to restrain him. Even now, when he is no longer a Demon Venerable and cannot achieve an 'invincible body,' his heart remains invincible!"
Heavenly Court Gu Immortals chattered among themselves, their faces painted with anxiety, fear, contempt, and hatred.
Cheep-cheep, cheep-cheep…
At that moment, from the vast expanse of the sky, a crisp and melodious birdsong rang out.
The immortals of the Heavenly Court looked up in unison, and their faces lit up with elation.
"Myriad Tribulation!"
"Another Myriad Tribulation!"
"The Myriad Tribulation Ash Memory hasn't even been weathered, and now another Myriad Tribulation is already bearing down."
"The Specter Demon Venerable defies the heavens. If he is reborn, it will mean untold suffering for all living beings. Heaven will absolutely not permit it, and so it has descended a tribulation of unparalleled magnitude. He cannot possibly succeed!"
The birdsong grew louder and denser.
A brilliant jade-green radiance burst across the sky.
A massive flock of birds formed into formation and dove downward.
"Myriad Tribulation — Supreme Void Clearing." Among the Heavenly Court Gu Immortals, someone identified the technique.
They appeared to be birds, but they were in truth the incomprehensible power of the Dao of Space. Wherever the birds passed, heaven and earth were wiped clean — nothing remained. The terror of this power defied belief.
"So this is the Supreme Void Clearing? In history, a Northern Plains senior once failed to weather this tribulation but barely survived. Moved by the experience, he created the Immortal killing move Three-Winged Azure Bird. Later generations wielded it to dominate the Northern Plains."
"That's right — this is exactly that tribulation!"
Amid the eager anticipation of the Heavenly Court Gu Immortals, the jade-green birds descended and began circling around the mountain-sized Demon Venerable Specter, swooping and dancing around him.
Wherever the birds passed, they carved into him like razors, leaving long and deep wounds.
Wounds crisscrossed his entire body, and before long, the Demon Venerable Specter was a gruesome sight from head to toe.
Yet the Demon Venerable Specter showed no reaction at all, which drove Ying Wu Xie — the shadowy figure on the ground below — to shout himself hoarse.
The Immortal Zombie Bo Qing wore an equally tense expression.
Grey mist coiled around the Demon Venerable Specter, and it seemed to be this power that immersed him in the visions of the past.
Countless plumes of colored smoke churned a thousand zhang high in the air, rolling across a hundred li in every direction. Innumerable images surged forth one after another, rising and falling, revealing to the world the vast, ocean-rich life of the Specter Demon Venerable.
Suddenly, behind the Demon Venerable Specter's head, the colored smoke violently expanded, forming a colossal screen that pushed all surrounding images aside.
Within the screen, green light flooded the scene — this was the Green Heaven fragment world among the Primordial Nine Heavens!
A group of Gu Masters were locked in fierce battle with a host of Feathered People Gu Immortals.
The Specter — still a Gu Immortal at the time — was among them. Clad in black robes with black hair streaming in the wind, he swept across the battlefield, brimming with killing intent.
"Humans, you push too far!" the leader of the Feathered People Gu Immortals roared, hurling forth a Immortal Gu House.
It was none other than the Feather Saint City.
Over a dozen Feathered People Gu Immortals flew into the Immortal Gu House, and the Feather Saint City erupted with a blinding pillar of light.
The human Gu Immortals were overwhelmed and routed in short order.
The Specter Gu Immortal could not withstand the might of the Immortal Gu House either, sustaining grievous injuries and narrowly escaping death.
In a moment, the great screen dissolved, breaking apart into countless fragmentary images. Tens of thousands of scenes orbited above, below, and around the Demon Venerable Specter, enveloping him so tightly that virtually no gap remained.
Every experience from his lifetime — so long as it carried an emotional surge — manifested in this moment, leaving the onlookers dizzy and unable to take it all in.
The Specter's entire life seemed to be infinitely condensed into this single instant.
The observers could see him venturing ever deeper along the Demonic Path, his thirst for slaughter growing heavier, his cultivation ever higher.
A great screen suddenly unfurled, pushing aside the surrounding images.
This one appeared at the position beside the Demon Venerable Specter's left leg.
Having witnessed to this degree, the immortals gained a measure of understanding: the grander the scenes depicted by the colored smoke, the more they reflected the Specter Demon Venerable's turbulent emotions at that time.
Therefore, when this screen opened, it instantly drew every eye.
It was a silvery-white space.
This was none other than the location of the Dao Tian True Inheritance.
The Specter Gu Immortal had broken in alone, an air of arrogance written across his brow. He murmured to himself, "Dao Tian, you may have been a Demon Venerable, but you are long dead. You left behind a legacy — I shall take it all."
However, the Dao Tian True Inheritance was meant for an outsider from beyond the sky.
The Specter Gu Immortal was clearly no such outsider, and he had no right to inherit the legacy.
He exhausted every trick at his disposal — coughing up mouthfuls of blood, his face deathly pale — only to retreat in defeat.
...
When the Specter ascended to the rank of Demon Venerable, dominating heaven and earth and slaughtering all living beings.
He stood at the pinnacle, both temples frosted white with age.