Chapter Fifty-Nine: The Inferno on Earth (Request for First Subscription)

No wonder! No wonder you were always, intentionally or not, asking me about our ancestral grounds!
No wonder! No wonder you kept probing into the affairs of Ancestor Qiyu!
So it turns out, all of this was because you harbored ill intentions!
Gu Qing, who had been slumped on the ground, sprang up in agitation, her voice rising to a fevered pitch with each accusation.
The gentle and charming girl was gone; Gu Qing now seemed possessed, rushing at Chu Xingyun heedlessly, as if deranged.
Though Gu Qing's strength was feeble, her sudden action managed to block Chu Xingyun, who had originally intended to seize Gu Weiyu.
He pivoted easily, dodging her attack, and snorted coldly, "Madwoman!"
“I’ll fight you to the death!” Chu Xingyun’s ruthless indifference provoked Gu Qing once more.
She lunged wildly, only to fall to the floor, then crawled up again.
In that moment, it was as though a wild beast roared within her.
She could think of nothing else—if she did not act now, she felt she would explode where she stood!
A long sword appeared in Gu Qing’s hand; fearless, she brandished it and stabbed toward his back.
Disgust flickered across Chu Xingyun’s face. Before the sword could reach him, it twisted abruptly and pierced Gu Qing’s own chest with a sickening sound.
"Qing’er!"
"Tenth Sister!"
"Tenth Aunt!"
The Gu clan members in the hall, eyes red with grief, watched as Gu Hui rushed forward to embrace her tightly.
Scarlet blood spurted from Gu Qing’s chest, staining her vivid red bridal gown and streaming onto Gu Hui’s pale robes.
Gu Qing’s trembling hand covered the sword in her chest, her gaze lingering, unwilling, on Chu Xingyun. “You... you really never... never liked me, not even a little…”
Before she could finish, her breath caught and she was unable to speak again; her hand slipped lifelessly away.
“Tenth Sister…” Gu Hui’s heart ached as he witnessed it. “How could you be so foolish!”
The calamity unfolded in just an instant. As Gu Qing leapt up, Gu Jun and Gu Qingzhou moved in perfect unison.
Soon after, the other members of the Gu clan sprang into action.
So what if he was at the Core Formation stage? Even if their resistance was like eggs against a stone, so what?

To stand by helplessly as one’s kin died horribly before one’s eyes—how bitter a torment that was!
Four Gu family cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage surrounded Chu Xingyun, launching their strongest attacks at him.
“Hmph, overestimating yourselves!” Chu Xingyun paid them no heed.
Though severely wounded, his cultivation reduced to the early Core Formation stage, he was still far stronger than they.
A long sword appeared in his hand, its blade humming. He unleashed a sweeping attack against the four.
A force that swept away all opposition.
The four, struck by his sword, were hurled back in disarray; the weaker ones, the Tenth Grandmother and Fifth Grandfather, spat mouthfuls of blood and collapsed like broken dolls.
Gu Jun and Gu Qingzhou were also flung uncontrollably, landing in the corner where Gu Weiyu and the others were.
“Great Ancestor—” Gu Weiyu’s heart leapt into her throat; she hurried forward to support him.
A jade slip was quietly pressed into her palm, and at the same moment, a mysterious, ancient talisman was activated by the Great Ancestor.
Gu Weiyu was enveloped in a circle of earthy yellow light. In that instant, she felt as though she’d been stripped away to another world:
Her body could not move, nor could her voice be heard, yet she could still see and hear everything.
Chu Xingyun quickly noticed her strange condition, and at last his composure cracked.
He thought to himself, so this Gu clan actually possesses such a precious “Ten Thousand Miles No-Trace Talisman!”
His patience finally snapped, and his voice, cold as jade, rang throughout the Hall of Harmony, “You have forced my hand!”
She saw the Great Ancestor sent flying by Chu Xingyun’s palm. She heard the anguished, despairing cries of her kin. She watched, helpless, as one after another fell into pools of blood...
The hall, once festively adorned for a wedding, now seemed transformed into a living hell:
Countless small swords erupted from Chu Xingyun, shooting toward all corners of the hall. Though the Great Ancestor and others blocked most of them, many “escaped the net.”
Gu Qinghao looked down in disbelief—a sword embedded in his abdomen, his spiritual energy draining away. He gave a bitter smile:
Gu Qinghao, oh Gu Qinghao, what is the use of effort?
Even if you succeed and break through to the fifth level of Qi Refining, what does it matter?
In the end, is it not all for nothing?
Poor aptitude was not his fault, yet why was he the one abandoned?
He was clearly... clearly the closest to the head of the family, yet the one rescued was Gu Weilan.

Gu Qinghao’s vision blurred, resentment rising in his heart. He slowly closed his eyes...
A flying sword, gleaming with cold light, flashed toward Gu Weifang. Terrified, she shut her eyes tight, despairing within:
Why? Why did Cousin Xingyun change? Who is he really? Why must he doom the Gu family? And what is this mysterious pill recipe?
Her heart was filled with countless questions.
She loved glory, but in her bones flowed the blood of the Gu family, and deep down, she took pride in belonging to their clan.
The sound of swords piercing flesh echoed around her, yet the pain did not come.
A muffled groan reached her ears; she snapped her eyes open. A slender figure stood before her, shielding her.
A flying sword was lodged in her chest, crimson blood pouring out, blooming like red plum blossoms on her new red dress.
“Mother!” Gu Weifang’s anguished cry resounded through the hall.
Lady Lu’s face was deathly pale; she reached out, wanting to speak.
But the hall was already awash with screams, wails of despair and grief—her voice drowned and lost among them...
Gu Weifang clung to Lady Lu, sitting dazed and numb on the ground. Why? Why had it come to this?
The woman in red surrounded by the Gu clan soon took action as well. She glanced around with a slight, mocking smile, then produced a porcelain bottle from her sleeve.
A cloud of pink smoke swiftly spread through the hall; all who inhaled it became dull and vacuous, like walking corpses.
Though the pink haze seemed beautiful, it was a slow-acting poison that muddled the mind—if one breathed it in during battle...
Such a vile, underhanded trick!
Yet now, the Gu clan had fallen to this lowly scheme.
Gu Weiyu watched her revered Great Ancestor, struck again and again by flying swords, terrible wounds appearing all over his body, and she could do nothing...
Though everything happened in just a moment, to Gu Weiyu it felt as though a century had passed.
“A-Yu, take care of yourself!” The Great Ancestor’s voice sounded close in her ear, yet also distant as if from the heavens.
The scene before her blurred ever more; panic and despair seized her heart. No, she did not want to leave this place!