Dawn.
When the first rays of morning light pierced the horizon and reached this place, the flowers and grass were still damp with dew.
A Blood Thorn Snake had endured the bitterly cold night and now slithered out of its burrow, greedily soaking up the warmth of the sun.
Ordinary snakes were cold-blooded, but the Blood Thorn Snake was different — its blood was warm.
As its body temperature rose, it gradually recovered its usual agility. The snake stretched out its body, flicked its tongue, and began to hunt.
Today, it needed to catch enough food and digest it to prepare for the coming cold of the next night.
In this world, every living thing struggled, competing for every scrap of space in which to survive.
Don't let the Blood Thorn Snake's fearsome appearance fool you — it was actually quite mild-tempered and didn't eat meat. Its food was Blood Rose.
Its tongue flicked in and out, and before long, the Blood Thorn Snake found what it was looking for.
A Blood Rose — translucent, like a small rose-colored gemstone, hanging from the tip of a blade of grass. It was formed from dew among the plants, and under the first light of dawn, there was a certain probability it would transform into this.
If this Blood Rose managed to evade the Blood Thorn Snake's hunt and survive the cold night for seven consecutive days and seven nights, it would transform into a tiny First Transformation Blood Rose Gu.
The Blood Thorn Snake slithered toward it quickly.
Ssss, ssss, ssss, ssss…
The dense thicket of flowers and grass trembled continuously, a thin line tracing its passage. In just a few breaths, the Blood Thorn Snake covered a distance of over a thousand steps, arriving before the Blood Rose.
The snake raised its head, and just as it was about to open its jaws and swallow this delightful morsel, a tremendous roar suddenly echoed from beyond the horizon.
The Blood Thorn Snake's entire body shuddered in fright, going completely limp. Not a shred of strength remained in it.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The massive roar, like the beating of war drums, reverberated across the land and sky.
A colossal great hall pierced through the clouds and descended over the plains like the ruler of heaven and earth.
This great hall was magnificent in structure, grand in scale. Lightning serpents coiled around the building, and countless bolts of thunder rained down like a forest of spears, like a downpour of rain.
Inside the hall, Nuer Gu laughed heartily. "Zhalei Hall truly is incomparably powerful! With this hall anchoring our forces in this battle tournament, the Nuer family is sure to send our enemies fleeing in disarray. Hahaha!"
He was a famous Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal of the Righteous Path in the Northern Plains, specializing in the Dao of Sound. His battle record was impressive, and his combat power stood on par with Guan Chou of the Guan family, the Carefree Scholar among the rogue Demonic Path cultivators, and Pi Shuihan.
He had a small head and a large belly, grotesquely disproportionate. His eyes bulged outward, his limbs were thin as sticks, and his skin was pale as a sick man's, utterly devoid of color.
At this moment, Nuer Gu was manipulating Zhalei Hall, feeling the vast and abundant power of this Immortal Gu house.
It thrilled him!
Traveling alongside Nuer Gu were several Gu Immortals of the Nuer family.
Among them, a young girl frowned in displeasure, covered her ears, and shouted, "Enough, Nuer Gu. Stop stirring up all that thunder noise. It's far too loud. If you don't stop, I'll turn you into a toad."
Nuer Gu had been in high spirits, but upon hearing the girl's threat, his entire aura of confidence vanished without a trace.
"Auntie, I'm sorry!" He immediately turned, bowed at the waist, lowered his head, and apologized profusely.
The girl gave a faint "hmph" and waved her hand. "Little Gu, be good. In this martial tournament, our Nuer family shouldn't be the one sticking its neck out. The Yao family, the Guan family, and the Liu family — those three are the ones closest to the Chu and Baidu families. If we spend too much effort, we'll only be letting them reap the benefits without lifting a finger."
"Yes, Auntie is absolutely right. This time, Little Gu will follow your orders entirely." Nuer Gu hastily thumped his chest in assurance.
The other Nuer family Gu Immortals watched this scene and could barely hold back their laughter.
By bloodline seniority, this girl Gu Immortal was indeed Nuer Gu's great-aunt.
What was more critical was that the girl possessed formidable combat power and had a signature Immortal-level killer move. Ever since Nuer Gu was little, this great-aunt had been using him to test that very move. The psychological shadow Nuer Gu carried was enormous — he had long since been tormented into developing a fear of his great-aunt.
"Hmm? The Gong family's people are here too." The girl suddenly turned her head. Her gaze, amplified by the Zhalei Hall Immortal Gu house, easily pierced through ten thousand miles of distance and spotted another Immortal Gu house.
This Immortal Gu house was also a great hall — the Golden Dawn Hall of the Gong family, resplendent in gold and blazing with radiant light.
Nuer Gu saw a female Gu Immortal standing at the entrance of the Golden Dawn Hall and immediately furrowed his brow. "Why is it her?"
The woman appeared to be around sixteen. She wore an elaborate palace gown, its hem trailing along the ground. Her black hair was swept up high, adorned with jade pendants and golden hairpins that sparkled magnificently. Her skin was porcelain white, her eyebrows long and elegant, her gaze sharp and keen. Her figure was voluptuous and full, radiating an air of regal dignity that brooked no offense.
"Gong Wanting?" Nuer Qian, the girl of the Nuer family, let out a note of surprise and quickly instructed, "Come with me outside."
The Nuer family Gu Immortals immediately flew out of Zhalei Hall and landed at its entrance.
The girl led the way, offering a bow first and speaking warmly, "Sister Wanting, I trust you've been well."
Gong Wanting, the female Gu Immortal of the Gong family, offered a gentle smile. "So it's little sister Nuer Qian. The courtesy is returned."
The two Immortal Gu houses hovered in the sky above the Blood Battle Plains — a rare sight in the Northern Plains' Gu Immortal world.
However, what followed was the appearance of a third Immortal Gu house, which made the spectacle all the more magnificent.
Shenguang Hall!