Cultivation: I Have a Skill Level Panel

Just as a scarlet light flickered in Yan Hu’s eyes, making him look like a soul-reaping specter, he chanted a Divine Profound Technique and formed a Profound Mysterious Seal with his hands. The Talisman—shimmering with a hazy, blood-red light, covered in writhing, profound runes, and circulating a terrifying Red Sun Dao Rhythm—floated into the air. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a colossal red sun that blotted out the sky, its crimson light radiating for miles, creating what looked like an Endless Fire Domain!

The terrifying power sent a wave of panic through Guangping City. People were petrified, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

"Is... is that the sun?" someone in Guangping City stammered, their voice trembling as they endured the searing glare to look at the colossal red sun radiating boundless light.

"The sun is falling... The world will go silent... We’re... we’re doomed!" another person despaired, their heart sinking into an abyss of terror, all hope extinguished.

But at this moment,

suspended in mid-air with his dark red robes fluttering and black hair whipping about, Yan Hu’s scarlet eyes blazed with an unprecedented madness.

"Half-Step Tongxuan? So what?!"

"Today, I will slay a god!"

"Red Sun, go!!"

Following Yan Hu’s world-shaking roar, the blazing sun suspended in mid-air—containing the Red Sun Dao Rhythm and a power capable of silencing the heavens and earth—unleashed its vast Divine Power. It seared through layer after layer of space as it hurtled violently toward the colossal hand of thunderous Celestial Punishment that was hundreds of miles wide, blotting out the sky as it bore down!

BOOM!!

The terrifying sun slammed into the incomparably tyrannical hand of thunderous Celestial Punishment, triggering a world-shaking explosion. Vast swaths of space shattered, revealing a pitch-black abyss. A terrifying chaotic energy surged forth like a primeval beast, and the faintest wisp of its escaping aura was enough to incite utter horror!

THUMP THUMP!!

At that moment, the entire world seemed to become a boundless, raging tsunami, shuddering violently as if struck by a magnitude-10 earthquake.

BANG!

The sky-searing red sun and the colossal hand of thunderous Celestial Punishment clashed in a frenzy. The gleam of fire and the glint of lightning intertwined, and their boundless radiance blanketed every corner of the heavens and earth.

In the very instant the two terrifying attacks collided, Gu Yun seized the opening.

He took a single step forward, the force of it shattering the space around him, and then his figure vanished.

’My master’s Red Sun Strike... That fellow is only at the Half-Step Tongxuan Realm. There’s no way he can withstand it!’

’And that fateful opportunity held by this descendant of the Great Dream Daoist’s lineage... it will finally be mine.’

’Then, I might just be able to glimpse the Heaven-Reaching opportunity that led to the Great Dream Daoist’s rise. Breaking through to Tongxuan and becoming a True Monarch will happen overnight!’

Yan Hu could already see Gu Yun’s inevitable fall. Victory was beckoning to him. The corners of his mouth curled into a slight smile as he indulged in daydreams of becoming a True Monarch.

Meanwhile,

the void behind Yan Hu suddenly rippled like the surface of water. A moment later, a figure emerged, hovering in the air.

A cold light flashed in Gu Yun’s eyes.

’When I want you dead, not even a True Monarch can save you.’

’I’ve let you live long enough. It’s time for you to rest!’

Then, Gu Yun raised his hand and clenched his fingers into a fist. Arcs of gnarled, dancing lightning erupted around it. With the might of a thunderclap, his fist whistled through the void, tearing space itself as it shot straight toward Yan Hu’s back!

"Huh?!"

Yan Hu’s pupils contracted. He sensed something, and an overwhelming sense of crisis washed over him. An infinite pressure bore down on his back, feeling as if Mount Tai were crashing down upon him, as if Celestial Punishment itself had descended. It was as if the Death God was beckoning.

"Not good!!" Yan Hu’s expression changed drastically. A flicker of panic crossed his eyes, and all traces of his former calm, his confidence in a promising future, and the certainty of his prize were gone.

Yan Hu was about to react, to try to escape, but it was too late. In the next instant, the impossibly fast Thunder Fist pierced through his back and shattered his heart. The terrifying power of thunder instantly spread, coursing through his entire body.

"You... you..." Yan Hu’s eyes went wide. He choked on his words, and his head slowly slumped forward. All signs of life vanished.

"Is... is it over?" The crowd stared in disbelief. The True Disciple of the Red Moon Divine Palace had been struck down by the young man in the white Profound Robe in just a few moves.

Gu Yun pulled his hand from Yan Hu’s back. Blood instantly dyed his arm red, dripping to the ground.

With a flick of his arm, Gu Yun slung the blood off, leaving his skin pristine once more. He then opened his hand, and with a wisp of True Yuan, pulled the crimson Spatial Ring from Yan Hu’s finger into his own palm.

...

A disaster that could have annihilated the Wang Family—one they had seen as inescapable—was resolved with little more than a flick of Gu Yun’s wrist.

After a brief cleanup of the area, everyone returned to the Wang Family estate.

"Are you sure you want to give this to me?" Inside the spacious and magnificent main hall of the Wang Family estate, adorned with carved beams and painted rafters, a purple metal sphere covered in runes floated above Gu Yun’s palm. He looked at Wang Zhenlong with a hint of doubt in his eyes.

"Yes. If Your Excellency had not intervened, the Wang Family would have been wiped from existence."

"Besides, for a thousand years, the Wang Family has tried countless ways to unlock its secrets, to no avail. It has only brought us trouble, and our family’s power has steadily declined. It’s useless to us. We would rather gift it to Your Excellency to repay the debt of saving our family." A look of relief, of liberation, was in Wang Zhenlong’s eyes.

A short while earlier, Wang Zhenlong had revealed his family’s history to Gu Yun. About a thousand years ago, their ancestor had been a Steward in the household of the Great Dream Daoist, Ouyang Ke. That ancestor’s own Cultivation had reached the True Martial Realm Ninth Layer Peak.