Long after, the dazzling white light gradually faded, and things became clear, as bright and clear as if renewed, and everyone's heart clenched.
"…Perished?"
The sky above was clear and bright. The one who should have faced tribulation was nowhere to be seen.
They looked around in panic, a mix of expectation and tension in their hearts.
"Gu Junshi—"
Danya, who had escaped from Mohe Zen Temple, Chenghong, who used his staff to create a mirror array to block the heavenly lightning, Wei Li with his seductive eyes and beautiful face in a tattered red robe, and the Human Emperor, his wedding attire torn and covered in wounds.
These four were all blocked by Gu Junshi's magical artifacts. Now that the artifacts had malfunctioned and fallen to the ground, turning to dust, they were no longer obstructed but stood frozen in place as if their souls had been snatched away, their expressions pale and stunned.
This was because the spot where the heavenly lightning had struck was already empty.
The sky was overcast, the clouds were dense. The heavenly lightning was like a fire dragon whose power had not yet dissipated, still spitting fiery tongues, and thin chains of purple lightning threaded through space.
"Impossible, she can't have died like this…" Wei Li, who had narrowly escaped from Chenghong, had bloodshot eyes, his lips almost bitten to the point of bleeding.
He now ignored his old enemy Danya, having no mind to attend to him.
Danya had also escaped from Mohe Zen Temple. He was not a person who followed rules and discipline. That day, he had accidentally overheard a conversation in the temple about Fengdu using a secret treasure. The abbot had advised Chenghong not to meddle in Gu Junshi's affairs.
But Chenghong insisted on going to Fengdu, even though the abbot had told him that he would face a great tribulation if he went, he was not deterred.
The thought of Gu Junshi made Danya feel as if he were tasting frozen plums, both cold and sour. He harbored a sense of defiance, unwillingness, and resentment in his heart.
He thought he would go and see her one last time, to see if she could successfully get married. He did not believe that the troublesome suitors she had attracted before would simply disappear. If necessary, he, being such an understanding person, would be happy to lend them a hand and ruin this wedding that was meant to be a sad affair for both the bride and groom.
Who would have thought that as soon as he arrived, he would witness the scene of her killing her husband to achieve enlightenment? At that moment, he felt a chill down his spine.
Liu Jiang Fusheng's life and death had nothing to do with him, nor did he think that Gu Junshi killing her husband was a grave offense. He just couldn't help but wonder, if he were to be Gu Junshi's husband, with only one life, would he be willing to sacrifice it just for her to play with.
Later, when he saw the heavenly lightning descend, the unprecedented power of the lightning, the number of heavenly lightning bolts far exceeding what an unparalleled genius could withstand, especially the final strike, he truly felt as if the ruler of this realm wanted to kill Gu Junshi at all costs.
Therefore, before his mind could fully comprehend "whether he was willing or not," his body had already flown out from his hidden position.
It wasn't until she blocked him and he watched the purple lightning, thicker than a giant python, fall upon her, that Danya finally admitted one thing.
Love arises from nowhere, and it goes deeply.
He was indeed willing.
Forty-nine bolts of heavenly lightning!
"Hahahaha—that demonic person has been annihilated by the mighty heavenly lightning. Truly, the heavens have eyes, and evil will perish under righteousness!"
"Ashes and smoke should be her fate!"
"Hmph, it's good that she died early. Heaven wanted to take her, otherwise, we would never have let her live!"
Just as everyone thought Gu Junshi had been struck to death by the heavenly lightning and was chattering happily, a burst of bright light cascaded down like sweet dew, refreshing their spirits. That sense of clarity reaching their spiritual platforms made them feel instantly fulfilled, and even their long-unmoved minds began to waver. Some cultivators who had reached a bottleneck even broke through a major realm on the spot.
What's going on?!
Their expressions instantly froze, and their hearts skipped a beat. They all looked up in surprise.
The sky seemed to have a large hole torn in it, revealing myriad rays of colored light, dispelling all the dark clouds. In the most concentrated area of the light, a figure gradually appeared from the void, from hazy to translucent.
"Wh-what is that?"
Someone stammered in fright.
"It's a person… no, it's an immortal."
As the golden light shone upon her, her bones, as if tempered by fire, were jade-colored, perfect and resilient. Her flesh and skin gradually healed, and her flowing robes were as bright as if poured with color. She had completely reshaped her golden body.
The auspicious colors representing auspicious clouds transformed into phoenixes and luan birds, and celestial music wafted, surrounding Gu Junshi like a dream. The almost suffocatingly powerful aura was understood by those who knew what this scene represented.
Everyone's jaws nearly dropped in shock.
"No, impossible! The heavenly gate has not opened, she cannot ascend!"
"The Heavenly Way is the most just and fair. Upon ascension, merits and karma are cleared. How can such an evil person who killed her husband ascend to the upper realm!"
But after the heavenly tribulation passed, the celestial energy surrounding the one who faced the tribulation dissipated, purifying the miasma of this realm. This fact was undeniable, like receiving sweet dew.
"How could this be? How could she have withstood the heavenly lightning so easily? And since she endured the seventy-seven bolts of heavenly lightning, it means she has forged an immortal body. Why is there no heavenly gate to receive her?"
Someone murmured in confusion.
"Although the heavenly gate is above the boundless sea, whenever someone from any realm can ascend, the heavenly gate will come to receive them!" someone exclaimed joyfully.
Others, not understanding the situation, asked, "Then, did she fail or succeed?!"
"Wait, look what she's doing! Something is very wrong with her."
Someone with sharp eyes stared for a moment, and the pupils of Qiu Ji Immortal Venerable widened. "She's not going to disperse her celestial energy, is she!"
"What?!"
No one would believe such absurd words, but what happened next confirmed Qiu Ji Immortal Venerable's statement.
The air, previously purified by her ascension, became more turbid and dense as if it were a backlash. The seven-colored auspicious clouds in the sky lost their color, and the heavens and earth became increasingly pale, as if drained, like ink being vomited, with dark vortices.
Now, no one could remain calm.
"She's not planning to ascend?! What exactly is she doing?"
Without celestial energy as a medium for reception, even if one's cultivation reached the immortal realm, they could not ascend to the upper realm. This was a fact known within all sects.
Gu Junshi raised her eyes, her long, curling eyelashes adorned with a layer of golden light. The corner of her lips curved, tinged with a light rosy hue.
"Ascend?"
She let out a low laugh, raised her hand, and reopened the "Yellow Springs Gate."
She stripped away her celestial energy bit by bit, then injected it all into the "Yellow Springs Gate." As the "Yellow Springs Gate" opened two-thirds of the way, boundless demonic energy from another realm continuously poured into this realm.
"The Heavenly Way regards me as an ant, a pawn, arranging my life and death at will. Why should I enter its immortal path? Is the demonic path not more unrestrained and free?"
Facing their shocked incomprehension, Gu Junshi wore a strange smile that no one could understand.
The wind blew her dark hair, and wisps of Yin energy billowed, accompanied by eerie ghostly cries and wails. At this moment, both her appearance and demeanor were shrouded in a dense mist of mystery. As the dazzling golden celestial energy surrounding her dissipated, her icy blue, cold aura returned.
Only the immortal seal emblem on her forehead clearly indicated that she had now achieved an immortal body.
Although she had not ascended, she was already the strongest and most revered existence in this realm.
"What exactly are you doing?" Everyone looked at her as if she were a madwoman.
The golden radiance scattered, and she appeared both righteous and evil. Blood-red mandara patterns gradually crawled across her fair, smooth face. She said faintly, "What am I doing? Liu Jiang Fusheng once asked me if there was anyone or anything I cared about in this realm."
She raised her head, thought for a moment, then lowered her head again to look at them.
"Perhaps there was before, but there is none now."
She met their trembling gazes, their expressions filled with fear and unease. "Therefore, what does it matter to me whether it is good or bad? On the contrary, the Heavenly Way does not tolerate me and is my enemy everywhere. If it wants to save, then I will destroy it. And today, you are fortunate enough to welcome the true demon with me."
It was only then that everyone finally understood what she intended to do.
Their terrified shouts almost overturned the entire Fengdu City.
"What did you say? You want to summon the true demon to this world! Gu Junshi, are you mad?!"
"No, we absolutely cannot let her succeed!"
The immortal sects, thinking of her insane actions, and knowing they were no match for her, disregarded their own safety and prepared to gather thousands of immortal sect experts to fight her to the death.
But then they saw a dark cloud approaching behind Gu Junshi. They probed with their divine sense and discovered that they were all cultivators of demons, devils, ghosts, and demonic beasts with low cultivation levels.
They stood before Gu Junshi in a protective stance, forming a solid and powerful barrier.
"Today, you will become the grand offering to the true lord demon for my lord. No one will be allowed to leave!"
The Cang Yu demon, clad in battle armor, menacingly gripped his spear and pointed it directly at the immortal sects.
"Kill!"
Gu Junshi's contracted subordinates replaced her to face the immortal sects. The two sides clashed, with thousands of cultivators fighting back and forth in the sky.
However, some of them were already around Gu Junshi. Their cultivation was not weak, and with a swift movement, they flashed to her surroundings.
"Gu Junshi, do you know what you are doing? Do you really intend to let these countless beings vanish?" Chenghong's voice thundered.
Gu Junshi's feathered robes danced. After becoming an immortal, although her features had not changed, her entire demeanor and aura were completely different from before.
Even if she did not rage or show any displeasure, every word, every glance, every movement would make people's hearts pound.
"To immortals, gods, and saints, how insignificant are the beings of a realm? Just like in human eyes, those ants crawling past their feet, suffering from floods, fires, or starvation, do humans care?"
Chenghong listened to her disregard for human life, his eyes showing disappointment. "But you were also human once. You should sympathize with your own kind and protect them. They are not the ants you speak of."
"Are they not?"
Gu Junshi murmured as if with some doubt, and then, before Chenghong could even see her movements, she had flashed behind him.
"Chenghong, you know perfectly well what kind of person I am. From the first life, I was someone who would do anything to achieve my goals. You clearly possess memories of the past, yet you don't think about how to eliminate me, a future threat, but instead, you think that an evil person will one day willingly lay down their butcher's knife and become a Buddha."