Chapter 320: Heaven's Gate, Heaven's Gate

When Gu Mo, Gu Chudong, and Hongyi arrived at the shores of Tiansheng Lake, the scene before them was like the end of the world.

Tiansheng Lake resembled a giant, boiling cauldron. Violent hurricanes swept up hundreds of massive waterspouts that roared skyward, connecting with the low-hanging, churning dark clouds, like colossal pillars supporting heaven and earth.

Deafening thunder boomed within the clouds, and stark white lightning bolts tore through the dim sky. Each flash illuminated the terrifying sight below: surging, turbulent waves emptying the lake.

The water level in the major rivers connected to Tiansheng Lake was rising at a visible and alarming rate. Turbid river water, laden with broken wood and stones, unleashed a dull, terrifying roar as it violently battered the embankments, causing the very earth to tremble slightly.

The air was thick with dense water vapor and a chilling aura of destruction.

"The grand formation has been activated! It's at the bottom of the lake!" Hongyi exclaimed.

"Wait here. I'll go down and check."

Without hesitation, Gu Mo's aura erupted. Like a falling meteor, he plunged straight into the violent heart of the lake. Although he didn't deliberately activate his Dragon God Art, his inherent draconic traits made him as agile in water as on land. Wherever he passed, the surging currents were forcefully parted, creating a clear path.

Submerging into the dark, frigid lakebed, his divine sense spread fully, like a precise probe scanning every inch of the lake floor.

Soon, a fissure, furiously devouring the lake water, appeared in his perception. Its powerful suction even began to distort the surrounding currents.

Gu Mo's figure flickered, and he plunged into the fissure without hesitation.

Beneath the fissure lay an underground palace on the verge of collapse.

Frigid lake water was pouring in furiously from all directions, creating a deafening roar.

Countless intricately suspended formation plates emitted a piercing hum, their lights flickering unsteadily like dying stars.

The entire underground palace groaned and warped, rubble constantly peeling from the ceiling as the water level rapidly rose.

Gu Mo immediately spotted Iron Head, along with over a dozen other individuals. Their condition was peculiar; though almost submerged, they paid no heed, continuing to adjust the magical formations.

"Puppetry!"

Gu Mo recognized at a glance that their spiritual senses were being controlled.

Instantly, Gu Mo moved to Iron Head and the others, deploying his primordial spirit energy, which split into threads and precisely pierced their spiritual seas. The Dao Heart Demonic Seed Art activated, and the mental imprints, like ice and snow meeting a scorching sun, were forcibly stripped away and shattered in an instant!

"Ugh..." Iron Head was the first to grunt. His vacant eyes instantly regained clarity, then his face turned ashen from the horrifying sight before him. "Gu... Great Hero Gu!"

"Go!"

Gu Mo bellowed. His powerful internal energy formed a soft shield, instantly enveloping all the blacksmiths who had just been freed from control. With one hand, he lifted the still dazed Iron Head, while with the other, he unleashed a mighty surge of energy, sweeping up the others. They transformed into a dazzling stream of light, fighting against the surging influx of lake water, forcefully breaching the underground palace's ceiling, and bursting out of the destructive vortex!

"Splash—!" Gu Mo and the group burst out of the water, landing steadily on a nearby mountain.

A fierce wind howled, making it almost impossible to stand firm.

Looking out, Tiansheng Lake seemed like a primeval beast unleashed, its surface rising at an terrifying speed. The connected great rivers churned with monstrous, turbid waves, roaring as they incessantly battered the embankments. Huge stones groaned under the impact of the massive waves, and cracks visibly spread across them.

Iron Head was still somewhat dazed, but upon seeing the upheaval at Tiansheng Lake, he quickly said, "Great Hero Gu, that person... he activated a grand formation. I don't know what kind it is, but we were controlled to do his bidding. That formation connects the entire lake and several major rivers. Now it seems he intends to gather the waters of those rivers here. The lake's embankment won't hold. If it collapses, Qingyang City will likely be completely submerged..."

"I know, don't panic." Gu Mo waved his hand, stepped forward, and flew directly through the air towards the embankment.

At that moment, Gu Chudong and Hongyi, who were on another mountaintop, also quickly flew over.

"Brother, can you break that formation?" Gu Chudong asked.

Gu Mo replied, "Breaking it is possible, but it won't make much difference, except perhaps to disrupt Wang Qingping's ascension. As for the water, the flow of those rivers has already been altered. Even if I break the formation, the river water will still come this way."

Gu Chudong said, "Well, disrupting Wang Qingping's ascension would still be a good thing!"

Gu Mo chuckled lightly. "Not necessarily."

"What do you mean?" Gu Chudong asked, puzzled.

Hongyi, standing nearby, explained, "What Lord means is likely to use Wang Qingping's ascension as an opportunity to see the Heavenly Gate and, at the same time, search for Bai Yujing."

"Precisely," Gu Mo affirmed. "I've always suspected something was off about ascension, not just regarding inner demons, but the Heavenly Gate itself. The Gate has been eluding me, and I haven't been able to find it, so today is the perfect chance to take a look. Furthermore, Wang Qingping is completely unaware that there's a restriction from Bai Yujing within his primordial spirit. According to Bai Yujing's rules, when someone attempts to ascend, it pulls them back to the mortal realm. This way, I can both observe the Heavenly Gate and locate Bai Yujing."

Gu Chudong suddenly understood. "So that's it! I suddenly feel really sorry for Wang Qingping. The Heavenly Gate has issues, Bai Yujing wants to take him away and erase his conscious restrictions, and you, Brother, want to kill him. Tsk tsk tsk, it's as if he's violated heavenly laws!"

Gu Mo let out a cold laugh. "One hundred and sixty years ago, he caused floods and devastation to countless lives by using the earth's ley lines to seal himself. Today, he's resorting to the same trick for his ascension. Saying he violated heavenly laws is an understatement."

As he spoke, Gu Mo took a step to the edge of the embankment. Facing the monstrous floodwaters about to breach the dam, he took a deep breath. The boundless, icy true qi within him circulated furiously, drawing upon the primordial yin and extreme cold energy of the world.

"Seal!"

Gu Mo slammed his palm onto the embankment beneath his feet!

"Ohm—!"

A visible, terrifying chill erupted from his palm like a silvery-white frost tide. Wherever the chill spread, the tumultuous lake water crashing against the embankment let out a sharp "crack" and instantly solidified.

A wall of profound ice, several zhang thick and harder than fine steel, rose instantaneously along the embankment like a mythical frost giant's barrier. As the lake water roared and rose, the ice wall simultaneously solidified and grew upwards at a frantic pace. The contest between ice and water formed a breathtaking spectacle before the embankment: on one side, a boiling, roaring monstrous flood threatening to overwhelm everything; on the other, a majestic, towering crystalline ice wall radiating an ancient chill.

In a very short time, Gu Mo, using his personal power, forged a defensive wall, preventing the embankment from collapsing and averting a flood.

Gu Chudong frowned, saying, "But this isn't a long-term solution. You can't stay here indefinitely!"

Gu Mo waved his hand. "Soon, once this matter is resolved, I'll inform the authorities to quickly dig ditches for drainage. I can gradually release the water from here, and they can also hire professionals to design and restore the flow of those rivers. It shouldn't cause too much trouble."

Just then, with a tremendous rumble, an unimaginably thick bolt of purple lightning tore through the sky, striking precisely into the vortex at the lake's center. Immediately after, a second, then a third... countless terrifying bolts of lightning, imbued with both destruction and new life, rained down like a celestial scourge, relentlessly pounding the same spot.

At the core of that lightning storm, a blurred figure rapidly ascended: it was Wang Qingping!

His eyes were tightly shut, his face contorted by unimaginable pain, yet the aura emanating from him surged and transformed wildly under the tempering of the lightning.

His physical body trembled violently in the lightning, his skin cracking inch by inch, only to rapidly heal and regenerate under the immense energy.

A phantom figure, identical to him yet more condensed, purer, and radiating immortal brilliance, was painstakingly struggling to emerge from his crown!

"Hoo... Aaaah—!" With a roar that seemed to emanate from the deepest part of his soul, the phantom finally broke free from the shackles of the physical body!

At this moment, Wang Qingping's primordial spirit fully materialized, radiating brilliant light and appearing as crystalline as glazed jade, while his physical body rapidly plummeted into the lake.

He hovered above the lightning and tumultuous waves, enveloped in shimmering colorful light and auspicious qi. An ethereal yet formidable pressure, transcending the mortal realm and belonging to an "immortal," swept across heaven and earth!

"I did it! Hahahahaha! I did it, I did it!"

Wang Qingping's primordial spirit let out a long, triumphant cry, full of youthful vigor and looking almost deranged.

He felt an irresistible guiding force pulling him out of the mortal realm.

He lowered his head, his gaze piercing through the storm, precisely locking onto the small figure on the embankment who, though diminutive, exuded an undeniable aura—Gu Mo.

A smile of extreme mockery and satisfaction curled his lips. His primordial spirit vibrated, and his voice clearly pierced through the wind and thunder, reaching Gu Mo's ears: "Gu Mo! Do you see this? This is ascension! All the mortal dust is but smoke and clouds! I'll await your ascension in the Celestial Realm. I hope by then you still retain some of today's arrogance. Don't disappoint me! Hahahahaha!"

Before his words fully faded, his brilliant primordial spirit became uncontrollable, transforming into a streak of light. Instead of simply ascending upwards, it was as if pulled by an invisible giant hand, instantly crossing spatial barriers and rapidly flying towards some unseen node high above the nine heavens.

"Heavenly Gate, Heavenly Gate, come see me!"

Wang Qingping's hysterical roar was like a thousand thunderbolts exploding, his entire being filled with triumphant vigor.

Concurrently, the immense water elemental energy accumulated in Tiansheng Lake and the major rivers, guided by the ascension formation's final surge, transformed into a colossal aquamarine pillar of light that pierced through heaven and earth, shooting straight into the sky!

Boom—! The sky seemed to have been pierced by a massive hole, jointly created by the light pillar and the primordial spirit's power!

Endless dark clouds spun wildly, forming a terrifying vortex that covered the entire firmament.

At the center of the vortex, the lightning and thunder abruptly subsided, replaced by a strange sight that was both tranquil and awe-inspiring.

Seven-colored iridescent light cascaded like a waterfall from the vortex's center, illuminating the dim world. Faint, ethereal celestial music drifted, seemingly from primordial times.

Countless golden runes flowed and flickered within the colorful light, outlining a massive, solemn, and eternally immortal-looking... phantom of the Heavenly Gate!

That Heavenly Gate was composed of pure energy, its doors tightly shut, engraved with obscure, unfathomable patterns that seemed to hold the ultimate mysteries of the universe.

Its mere phantom appearance caused all energy between heaven and earth to become docile, and even the raging floodwaters seemed to calm for a moment. A grand, sacred, and transcendent aura permeated the air.

"The Heavenly Gate! It's the Heavenly Gate! Hahahahaha! I, Wang Qingping, knock upon the Heavenly Gate today!!"

Bathed in the seven-colored light, Wang Qingping's primordial spirit was almost delirious with excitement, rushing towards the sacred and solemn phantom of the Heavenly Gate without hesitation, filled with endless ecstasy and anticipation, like a pilgrim leaping towards their final destination.

He stretched out his hand, reverently "knocking" upon the light-forged gate.

Ohm—! The Heavenly Gate opened in response to his "knock," and he rushed inside.

However, after passing through the light curtain, he was utterly terrified, for the perfect celestial realm he imagined—filled with immortal qi, jade palaces, and soaring cranes—did not appear.

The moment the gate swung open, an indescribable, cold, chaotic, viscous aura, filled with endless madness and malevolence, burst forth like a tangible torrent of filth, instantly tainting the sacred colorful light with a sinister darkness!

Behind the gate was not the Celestial Realm.

It was an indescribable, twisted, writhing dark void, and at its center, startlingly, hovered a colossal, bloodshot, pale white giant eye that completely filled the Heavenly Gate's view!

The eye was immense, its pupil depths seemingly swirling with countless shattered stars and fragments of deranged souls, while viscous, pus-like dark yellow fluid oozed from it. More horrifying still, from the dark void around the giant eye, countless slick, pale white tentacles, covered in suckers and bizarre patterns, instantly stretched out.

These tentacles writhed and danced, emitting a nauseating stench and a terrifying pressure capable of freezing the soul.

They seemed to have been waiting for a long time, and with ravenous hunger, they swiftly coiled around Wang Qingping's primordial spirit, which had just rushed into the Heavenly Gate.

"No—!! What the hell is this thing!!"

Wang Qingping's ecstasy instantly turned into boundless terror and a desperate shriek. His condensed, brilliant primordial spirit appeared so small and fragile before this giant eye and its tentacles. He struggled frantically, unleashing the full power of his ascension-realm primordial spirit, attempting to break free, but it was useless; instead, he was dragged forward.

At this critical moment!

A terrifying pulling force suddenly erupted from behind him. The source of this power was utterly unfamiliar, like ropes suddenly appearing within his body, overwhelmingly strong, intent on dragging him back to the mortal realm. It actually managed to snap several of the most tightly coiled tentacles!

In a trance, he saw a glimmer of a restriction deep within his primordial spirit.

It was an aura he had almost forgotten.

"Bai Yujing?!"

In his despair, Wang Qingping seized upon this sole chance of survival.

Had it been before this, if he had learned that Bai Yujing had placed a restriction in his primordial spirit, he would have hated Bai Yujing to death. But at this moment, he was profoundly grateful. He immediately yielded to the power of Bai Yujing's restriction, activating his primordial spirit energy, and managed to snap a few more tentacles.

However, the giant eye seemed to be enraged.

More tentacles, like endless nightmare serpents, surged wildly from the darkness, coiling around him layer upon layer. The severed tentacles spewed disgusting slime but instantly regenerated. Although Bai Yujing's restrictive pull was strong, it couldn't completely drag him back from this terrifying abyss!

"Roar—!" The giant eye let out a silent yet soul-shaking scream of terror. More tentacles coiled and tightened, intending to drag Wang Qingping completely into that eternal abyss of madness.

The Heavenly Gate began to close, intending to shut off this sacrilegious scene.

Just as the Heavenly Gate was about to completely close, and Wang Qingping's primordial spirit was on the verge of being entirely swallowed!

Whoosh—! A flash of blade light! A blade light, with towering demonic flames, cleaving through the chaotic colorful aura, appeared without any warning!

It did not come from within the Heavenly Gate, but from... the mortal realm! From outside the Heavenly Gate that was about to close!

That single strike was imbued with the world's purest destruction and tyrannical demonic nature. Black demonic energy surged like a tangible raging tide, and wherever the blade passed, space shattered inch by inch like fragile glass.

"Break!" Accompanied by a cold command, the demonic blade, seemingly capable of severing eternities, fiercely struck the Heavenly Gate, which was on the verge of fully closing!

Crack—! A colossal shattering sound! That sacred Heavenly Gate, forged from light and symbolizing eternal immortality, was actually cleaved open by this single strike from the mortal realm... producing a massive fissure burning with black demonic flames!

"Hiss—!" The giant eye behind the gate let out a painful and furious hiss.

The countless tentacles coiling around Wang Qingping, upon contact with the overwhelmingly tyrannical demonic blade intent, instantly snapped and melted away like ice and snow thrown into a furnace! The restraining force suddenly loosened.

Wang Qingping seized this one-in-ten-thousand chance, activated his primordial spirit energy, and transformed into a dim streak of light, scrambling back through the fissure cleaved by the demonic blade.

Still shaken, his primordial spirit became ethereal and unstable. He looked beyond the fissure, relieved to have escaped certain death.

He then saw Gu Mo standing before the cleaved Heavenly Gate fissure, holding a long blade blazing with fierce flames.

Demonic energy swirled around him like a demon god returned from the Nine Netherworlds. His gaze, cold as ice, pierced through the fissure, directly confronting the twisted, writhing darkness and the terrifying giant eye behind the gate.

Clearly, that astonishing strike that cleaved the Heavenly Gate and severed the evil god's tentacles had come from him!

At this moment, in Gu Mo's eyes, which seemed capable of seeing through all illusions, he clearly saw: the "thread" connecting to Bai Yujing on Wang Qingping's primordial spirit, and... behind the Heavenly Gate, that terrifying giant eye filled with chaos, madness, and greed, as well as an ancient and evil mark, composed of countless twisted runes, deep within the eye.

"So this is the Heavenly Gate!"

"Gu Mo!"

At this point, Wang Qingping was overcome with panic. With the sinister Heavenly Gate behind him and Gu Mo, who could harm the Heavenly Gate, in front of him, he was truly caught between a rock and a hard place. He quickly shouted, "We have no mortal enmity! Let's join forces to deal with that monster, I..."

"No need for that."

Gu Mo extended his hand, and streaks of demonic energy shot forth like chains. This was a martial art he had modified based on the Ten Thousand Leaves Flying Flower Style. In an instant, it bound Wang Qingping, and the demonic energy permeated his primordial spirit.

Wang Qingping roared in fury, "Gu Mo, are you insane? That monster is the Heavenly Gate, the Heavenly Gate! At a time like this, you're still doing this? Do you want us both to die? Do you still think you can face that monster alone?"

"Why not?" Gu Mo replied.

Wang Qingping cursed, "Who the hell do you think you are? What are you? That's the Heavenly Gate, existing since ancient times! You think you're so mighty, taking it on alone? Why don't you say it fled at the mere sight of you, you..."

"Bang!" Just then, the Heavenly Gate closed.

The damaged lintel, shattered by Gu Mo, was still swaying. Then, the Heavenly Gate transformed into a streak of light and simply fled.

It was clean, swift, and utterly decisive.

Wang Qingping: "???"