Uru Tan He stood up from the table, and as he did, all of his Clansmen immediately stopped in their tracks.
Uru Tan He, slowly lifted himself towards the skies, his body shining in vibrant colors of the rainbow.
Elegancy and power were transmitted as he shone like the morning sun or the Immemorial 9 Heavens.
Le Tu and over a hundred Immortals that were nearby bowed before him.
Several Rank 6 and 7 littered the zone; only Rank 8 Gu Masters were lacking.
But it could not be helped; such beings were the top dogs in the Immortal World, and they could not leave easily, or else their organizations would be unprotected.
From a distance, the mortal Gu Masters who had not yet been allowed to approach also observed reverently.
During their lifetime, they had heard only vague rumors about the supposed Immortals; many did not even believe them to exist.
And yet ahead of them stood a man who was not only an Immortal, but was a king among them
The intensity of his aura was breathtaking; the might of such a legendary being was such that most among the Mortal Gu Masters could not even see him for too long before having a headache.
Even the Immortals understood deeply the gap between their strengths and his, this was a blatant show of power.
Amidst the Immortals, the one who felt the most threatened was Hui Gui Yu, who almost gulped at the sight.
"Can Crimson Soul truly take someone this strong? Maybe I should look for a way out…" They thought before shaking their heads.
They were in too deep to give up now.
Besides, for Crimson Soul's plan to commence, their actions were critical.
They had already infected 34 Immortals; they only needed to find the remaining groups, and the plan could begin in earnest.
All they had to do was not act suspiciously.
As if noticing them for a fraction of a second, Uru Tan He's gaze fell upon them.
"That woman is rather curious. I can feel that there are two souls inside her. The one of a woman, and the one of a man." Uru Tan He, thought to himself.
Just to ensure that everything went smoothly, he secretly employed over 20 Investigative Killer Moves to inspect the guests and the environment, to ensure nothing went amiss this day.
Of course, he only employed the most discreet methods to achieve this.
And he also purposefully made that show of lights to conceal this aspect.
Which is why nobody among the present, including Le Tu, realized this.
"All of you. I am so grateful that all of you could come here."
His gaze turned towards the horde of mortals.
"Especially towards you." His voice resonated, and every single mortal heard it.
"How difficult it is to travel a thousand miles to meet me? For an Immortal, that much is just tedium, a willingness in whether they want to do it or not.
For their descendants and people connected to them, it was still relatively easy as long as they could find somebody to bring them along.
But to the rest of you? It was a compromise.
Whether you walked a thousand miles on foot, for days or weeks.
Or whether you flew towards the skies, whilst avoiding the myriad threats, or simply if you joined of the caravans or one of the Gu Houses.
I am certain that there are many among you who have even become servants to get the chance to get here.
To all of you, I want to say.
You will not regret it.
Even if you do not win.
I will make the most absolutely certain that this will be an unforgettable experience, and I will also share the wisdom I have accrued for several centuries."
As he spoke those words.
Everybody felt a chilling sensation.
[You are blue]
A blue aura suddenly appeared and surrounded their bodies, like a piece of clothing.
And their weights suddenly became null.
No.
Negative.
All the mortals were pushed towards the skies in unison.
Whereas the Immortals do not fall behind, whilst he did not do such a thing to them, they merely followed the group around.
They ascended over 5 kilometers above the ground.
Several Mortal Gu Masters moved and kicked; they were utterly bewildered by this bizarre experience.
But the more experienced ones, or those who had already practiced flight, remained mostly unmoved, at most frightened at the ease with which they were moved.
Uru Tan He waited for around 30 seconds until they regained their composure.
Until he finally clapped.
"Have you all set your affairs in order?"
"Well. Let me present myself. As I am sure most of you know, my name is Uru Tan He, and I am the Supreme Leader of the Uru Clan. A Rank 8 Cultivator specialized in Rule Path."
"And while I could stand here and listen for hours to all my achievements, I do not think this is quite why you are here. Right?"
Uru Tan He laughed heartily.
"Let us set the mood. For the next three hours, I will be showing not only to you but to anybody who enters into Treasure Yellow Heaven what can be accomplished in Rule Path."
Those same words were spread widely across Treasure Yellow Heaven.
This was a surprise he had arranged some time before.
His offer was incredibly generous and extended not only towards a few people, but towards the whole world itself.
Kao Dao Ji's will itself rapidly began to record everything to share it with his main body later.
(Whilst Kao Dao Ji would have loved to hear it, that troublesome 21 to 1 time ratio would have made hearing anything that the man had to say maddening.)
"Let us begin with what is 'Rule' Path."
"Rule Path is related to the manipulation of the properties, and laws that objects follow.
As well as the descriptive qualities that such objects do possess.
Some people are clever, some people are dumb, some people are strong, some people are weak.
For every possible iteration and comparison therein lies the potential of a Gu.
Big, Small, Up, Left, Down, Right, those are all Gu Worms used by Rule Path Gu Masters.
However, that is only the beginning of the possibilities.
With words, we can describe what is dead or what is alive; we can also describe an object's beauty, with words we make sense of the world around us, and in turn, Rule Path reflects this principle.
In my case, I delved into several Gu's, 'I', 'Am', 'You', 'Are' are among my most used Gu Worms.
The power of those Gu's is that they enable me to select the target of each Gu I employ freely.
Just like I am doing now.
Not only that, but I also specialize in colors, and in color, one can find meaning and beauty.
Red is associated with blood, but is also associated with…"
Uru Tan He explained in full detail all of his insights; everybody was flabbergasted not by the depth of the knowledge he knew but by the fact that he so freely gave it away.
"Old man. Are you truly going to such an extent for a Rank 7 Gu?" Uru Hong Jing thought to himself.
…
Inside Kao Dao Ji's aperture.
Another event took place.
Several Feathermen stood side by side.
Standing in a massive ceremony.
Excitement took place, and the smell of a certain powder stretched around the whole area, as well as the sounds of explosions coming from time to time.
Kao Qian Hangse stood solemnly.
"Our grand lord has been working tirelessly for years, trying to carve his way, our way towards the surface. With the belief that one day the Featherman shall be free!"
"But in his journey, he realized that a person's ability is limited, that one cannot do things alone."
"In his pursuit for freedom and justice, he realized that not only was his strength necessary, but the strength of all of us.
With such a righteous, burning desire, he created the initiative of the Freedom Fighters.
We were born to-"
"Can you shut up already and get this over with?" A grumpy old Featherman spoke with his mouth reeking of booze.
Kao Qian Hangse narrowed his eyes slightly after a long pause.
He sighed.
"Fine."
"Boys, bring it on."
Several armed Featherman walked steadily and calmly amidst the clouds.
Their bodies were completely uniform as if they were one; they were marching, and the sound of their footsteps was loud.
"Men, fire." A stern-looking Featherman spoke.
And the dozens of Featherman suddenly aimed at a hardened cloud.
All of the bullets reached the target, piercing through it effortlessly.
And this was not easy feet, it may not look like it, but those hardened clouds were as hard to pierce through as solid ground, and yet, in mere instants, they were crushed.
The tiny shards of the 'cloud' exploded in all directions like a mirror after being hit by a hammer.
Countless Feathermen who were observing this were suddenly shocked.
Before showing deep elation.
"Oh, so strong!"
"Beautiful." "Beautiful."
"Give me one."
They shouted one after the other.
"Is fine, you will all get your hands in one of them by the end of the day. Of course, do not forget that you will need to use gunpowder to feed them daily. And do not forget to give them some maintenance." Kao Qian Hangse spoke plainly, not putting on any airs like before.
"Oho!" One of the Featherman, immediately upon getting his firearm, grew elated.
Immediately, he aimed at the skies above and shot carefreely.
Upon seeing this.
Kao Qian Hangse expression hardened.
"Seize the weapon of that fool."
Two buff men suddenly jumped and arrested the gunmen.
Whereas Kao Dao Ji turned his gaze.
He took a deep breath and sighed.
Already expecting such an outcome, commanding the power of clouds, he forcefully stopped the bullets before they descended and killed somebody.
He palmed.
"To be honest. I'd rather not give those weapons to them so willy-nilly; at most, I would save them for more…Responsible ones. But it's not like I have any other choice, SC is already coming for me.
And I need something to defend myself, of course, they may not amount to much now, but who knows what they may do in the future.
Also. My Refinement experts were getting tired of building so many guns and yet stockpiling them pointlessly. So, in the end, I had to do it."
He sighed.
His gaze regained its focus on his current main project.
"Anyway. Is there a way to go further?" He muttered.
"While my progress was good at first, once I surpassed the 65 Kilometer Mark, it became increasingly harder to expand my reach further.
At this point, the level of my Killer Move may not even reach the 80-kilometer mark."
While it was not that bad, and at its current iteration was already 'usable' for Kao Dao Ji's original purpose, he did not feel satisfied by it.
There was so much potential to be found.
"For example. With my current iteration, I could put that Gu inside a person's aperture, and once the going gets tough, if it is not too far from me, I can directly establish a connection between both sides and teleport them to my aperture.
But its usability is rather limited, I mean, there are not exactly many things that are within an 80-kilometer range of me.
Only if I learn how to move my aperture will this ability be meaningful."
Still, there was one other possibility that made Kao Dao Ji's heart pound with excitement.
"I could also use it to cheat blatantly during inheritance trials."
Many Gu Masters, before their death,s would choose to let an inheritor acquire their skills, to not let their legacies die with them.
But those Gu Masters often did not want to merely give away their efforts to their peers, but wanted to nurture the next generations of Gu Masters.
Very often, even Rank 8 Gu Masters would create inheritances for Rank 5 Gu Masters and below.
Yet. Kao Dao Ji had a wondrous idea.
What if he made use of the connection he established to blatantly cheat in one of those tests, before taking away the Gu Master and the Gu's they stole with them, before the Land Spirit had the time to retaliate?
There was even a place that a rather generous Venerable had made in the past ,the 88 True Yang Building.
"I wonder if Le Tu would be for it? I mean, I cannot imagine that guy stealing, but…Y'know.
Is Giant Sun. Is it really immoral to steal from him?"
He touched his chin.
"Now that I think about it, I could also bring him to meet me directly if the situation ever arose. (Doubt that he would accept, though)."
"Or maybe I could also try to teach this method to another Land Spirit, whilst they are a bit dull, they are the only ones who meet the criteria to master this method.
I don't know many, but there's Shung Mia Yin, who's always beside Le Tu."
His eyes shone lightly.
"That is right. I could use her and Le Tu as my backup in case I ever get trapped; I could go to their side of the world. And I doubt even SC could predict something like that."
Of course, it all hinged on one possibility.
That he finished that damned Killer Move.