Everlasting Immortal Firmament

Chapter 167 Book 2: 101: Golden Core Realm

Book 2: Chapter 101: Golden Core Realm

No one in the death puzzle’s world expected the situation to change so suddenly, stunning everyone.

Gu Hai should have been beaten to death. How did he successfully sneak-attack Li Haoran?

“Are we dreaming?” Countless cultivators rubbed their eyes.

However, facts were as such. Gu Hai stood before Li Haoran, clad in armor that gave off a metallic sheen. He dual-wielded a crimson saber and a bone saber as he charged at Li Haoran.

Li Haoran’s right hand reached for Gu Hai while two golden Go stones flew in the air nearby.

At this moment, neither had time to grab the two golden Go stones. They first had to deal with each other.

Boom!

Gu Hai’s two sabers clashed with Li Haoran’s right palm. The horrifying force from the clash pulverized the rocks under their feet.

“What?” Li Haoran’s expression changed.

The bone saber had cut Li Haoran’s left palm earlier, resulting in a large amount of black energy entering. Many tiny skulls frantically gnawed his left hand as if trying to devour his entire body.

When Li Haoran’s palm strike failed to knock Gu Hai away, Li Haoran grew increasingly anxious, as his left arm could no longer move.

“Break!” Li Haoran shouted with a ferocious expression.

Buzz!

Li Haoran’s left arm immediately turned golden. Then, his golden left arm trembled as a crack appeared. Finally, his left arm separated from his body, flying away.

Rumble…!

Black energy immediately surged to cover that left arm, reducing it to a pile of dry bones in the blink of an eye. Then, the black energy returned to the bone saber, no longer continuing to devour Li Haoran.

Gu Hai’s expression turned stiff. “Cutting your losses, abandoning your left arm so decisively?”

The crimson saber infused all its energy into Gu Hai as he swung his two sabers at Li Haoran. However, he could not cut Li Haoran’s right arm at all. Li Haoran’s right arm had already turned golden. Li Haoran’s body brimmed with glistening golden energy.

The two remained in a stalemate as the two golden Go stones landed at the side. However, neither could spare time to retrieve the golden Go stones.

“Battalion Commander!” the Divine Strategy Battalion disciples exclaimed.

The moment Venerable Liu Nian and Long Wanqing struggled free, they charged at Li Haoran.

Boom!

A loud sound rang out. Everyone was blocked outside the protective barrier.

“What? There is still a protective barrier?” Everyone’s expression changed.

The golden Go stones actually still recognized Gu Hai and Li Haoran as players. The defensive barrier remained; the people outside could not enter at all.

Countless cultivators quickly surrounded the two, wanting to help.

However, the Divine Strategy Battalion disciples felt stupefied. At this moment, everyone around them was eyeing them with hatred and hostility. Since these cultivators could not help Gu Hai, they would put all their effort into killing the Divine Strategy Battalion disciples.

“Don’t come over! You are all crazy! The battalion commander will not spare you!” one of the Divine Strategy Battalion disciples exclaimed.

“He was never going to spare us anyway. If not for you bunch of lackeys, we would not be in such a miserable state!”

“Kill them! Kill them!”

“Kill!”

The battle outside the barrier turned chaotic.

Long Wanqing and her servants supported Venerable Liu Nian as they looked into the defensive barrier, worried about Gu Hai.

“How? How? How did you appear in my hand?” Li Haoran demanded with hatred and sadness while showing a ferocious expression.

However, Gu Hai revealed a mocking smile as he said, “You forgot already? Back when Meng Tai and Wei Yang dealt with Fu Xue, Fu Xue did not retaliate. It was not that he did not retaliate but that he could not. He did not have that ability. The black Go stones and white Go stones are material, but the transparent Go stones are illusory. We can only defend but not attack.”

“Then, why were you so calm earlier? Why were you so confident? You can’t even attack. What is the point of your confidence?!” Li Haoran roared, feeling depressed.

“This is the empty city stratagem. If I did not appear confident, how would you fall for my trap? How would you let me into your defensive barrier?” Gu Hai sneered.

“Long Wanqing, her servants, and Venerable Liu Nian? Them? You used them to trick me? They are my Go stones. No, that’s not right. You used my Go stones to trick me? You intended to send the golden Go stone to me in the first place?” Li Haoran glowered at Gu Hai as he spoke.

“One would not treasure a freebie. You would treasure only what you earned through your schemes and effort, holding it tightly in your hand. Isn’t that so? If I tossed it to you at the start, you would definitely destroy it immediately. However, since you obtained it through your schemes, you dropped your guard, didn’t you? Li Haoran, what you obtain might not always be a good thing, right?” Gu Hai sneered.

“Excellent! Excellent! Very excellent! You insignificant thing, making everyone your Go stone? You used others as Go stones to trick me? So what if you entered? So what if you managed to infiltrate my defensive barrier? You will still die. You are only an Innate Realm cultivator. Just the Innate Realm!” Li Haoran shouted with a ferocious expression.

“Hah!” Gu Hai roared while driving all the energy in his body.

“That crimson saber…indeed, that crimson saber can push your strength to the Nascent Soul Realm. However, do you know that there are differences within the Nascent Soul Realm? I already have three nascent souls. With three nascent souls, even if I lose an arm, you are no match for me. Only death awaits you here. You are only an Innate Realm cultivator. Even with the crimson saber raising your strength, your limit is only so much. You are no match for me. I will show you that smart people do not live long. Hahahaha!” Li Haoran said with a ferocious expression.

Rumble…!

Li Haoran’s body emanated golden light as he slowly pressed towards Gu Hai. A horrifying force bore down on Gu Hai’s two sabers. Gu Hai’s entire body trembled as sweat covered his forehead, appearing to be at the limit.

“Hahahahaha! You can’t keep it up, right? Unless you reach the Golden Core Realm, your crimson saber cannot infuse more power into you. You have no way to defeat me. Die! Hahahahaha!”

Li Haoran guffawed as he forced the crimson saber back towards Gu Hai’s neck.

Although Gu Hai pushed his strength to the limit, he could not stop Li Haoran’s even more ferocious strength.

“An Innate Realm cultivator is just an Innate Realm cultivator. Now, you will never reach the Golden Core Realm! Just give up!” Li Haoran said coldly.

Whoosh!

Just at this moment, a strong wind suddenly blew in from nowhere. Beams of golden light appeared and instantly entered Gu Hai’s body.

“Huh? Providence? Where did this providence come from?”

“Haha! Hahahaha! The Zhao Nation has received the emergency relief. This is the gratitude of the Zhao Nation’s citizens. This is the boundless beneficence from the Zhao Nation, the providence from the Zhao Nation. Providence! This providence is very timely!” Gu Hai guffawed.

Boom!

A loud sound suddenly rang out around Gu Hai.

The dragon-shaped Veritable Energy in Gu Hai’s dantian dug into the Veritable Essence ball. The energy from killing thirty thousand-odd spirit-assimilated cultivators condensed quickly. All the Veritable Energy turned into Veritable Essence, and the tornado in his dantian turned liquid, becoming a whirlpool instead as it transformed all the Veritable Energy in his body into Veritable Essence.

Surging Veritable Essence filled every part of Gu Hai’s body, instantly gushing through all his meridians.

Gurgle…!

As the Veritable Essence circulated in the meridians, it merged everything into one. All of Gu Hai’s pores instantly opened, and his aura suddenly changed.

“All my Veritable Essence integrated everything. The person becomes the core; I am the golden core. A fully integrated golden core? The Golden Core Realm? This is the Golden Core Realm? Hahahahaha!” Gu Hai’s carefree laughter rang out.

Buzz!

Suddenly, the crimson saber infused even more energy into Gu Hai’s body. Gu Hai’s aura grew more than ten times stronger.

“What?” Li Haoran’s expression suddenly changed.

Boom!

A loud sound rang out when Gu Hai erupted. When he used his full power, a beam of crimson light suddenly dyed the world red, and he immediately drove Li Haoran into the ground.

Whoosh!

Li Haoran’s right arm flew off.

The Life Ender Saber sliced that arm, and surging black energy immediately encased it.

Blargh!

Lying in a large pit, Li Haoran vomited a mouthful of blood. He was missing his arms, and his head was cleaved in two, exposing his brain. However, he still had not died, demonstrating a strong lifeforce. Extreme disbelief flashed in his eyes.

“No! That’s impossible. How…how did you break through?” Li Haoran said weakly, unable to believe this.

The battle was going well. How did Gu Hai suddenly break through to the Golden Core Realm? This is cheating! Cheating! How could it be like this?!

“The Golden Core Realm’s first layer!” Gu Hai said after taking a deep breath.

Then, Gu Hai slowly made his way over to the two golden Go stones and picked them up.

At that moment, the battle outside turned silent. Everyone goggled, showing disbelief on their face.

Gu Hai won?

“Gu Hai, you won!” Long Wanqing was the first to cry out joyfully.

The sixty thousand-odd cultivators immediately gave a wild cheer, many of them shouting excitedly.

“Beat him to death! Kill Li Haoran!”

“Mister Gu won! Mister Gu won!”

“We are saved!”

Countless cultivators cheered, looking excitedly at the victorious Gu Hai inside the defensive barrier.

Gu Hai held the bone saber in one hand and the crimson saber in the other as he coldly eyed Li Haoran.

Despite all the damage, Li Haoran did not die. He only seemed incapable of moving as he gazed at Gu Hai in horror.

“Battalion Commander! Battalion Commander!” the surviving Divine Strategy Battalion disciples exclaimed.

“Beat this bunch of lackeys to death!” Sixty thousand-odd agitated cultivators charged at the Divine Strategy Battalion disciples.

Joyful cheers and chaos filled the death puzzle’s world.

——

The countless cultivators outside also felt shocked. Although they could not see the others, they had clearly seen the battle between Gu Hai and Li Haoran. They had witnessed Gu Hai defeat Li Haoran.

That was the Divine Strategy Battalion Commander!

Gu Hai broke into the Innate Realm just a year ago, right? To think that he managed to defeat someone as incredible as the Divine Strategy Battalion Commander in such a short time! Previously, Li Haoran was very powerful, practically undefeatable. No matter who it was, he would settle the battle with one arrow.

Nevertheless, such a ferocious person lost to Gu Hai’s saber.

Everyone had only one thought.

This Gu Hai cannot be offended. He is a rising star that cannot be stopped. Anyone in his way will go down in flames.

While everyone felt shocked, Gu Qin and the evil men felt excited. Then, a figure suddenly soared up.

“Robes that are black on one side and white on the other? The Unborn Man? I saw him at the Innate Puzzle World!” someone suddenly exclaimed.

“The Unborn Man? What? The Unborn Man was hiding by that tree?” another person exclaimed.

The surrounding cultivators appeared confused.

Gu Qin also saw the Unborn Man flying over.

“The Gu Residence’s Gu Qin greets Senior Unborn Man!” Gu Qin bowed politely despite his surprise.

However, the Unborn Man ignored Gu Qin. Instead, he took a step forward and entered the death puzzle.

“Huh? Why did the Unborn Man not form a Go stone clone when he entered?” someone exclaimed in surprise.

Everyone felt confused.

After entering the death puzzle’s world, the Unborn Man arrived near Gu Hai in the blink of an eye.

“The Unborn Man?” Venerable Liu Nian felt shocked at the Unborn Man’s arrival as he pressed his hands on his wounds.