[Yama's Notice (Active)]
[Description: When Yama decrees your death at the third watch, who dares keep you till the fifth? Designate a target to apply "Yama's Notice." During its duration, the target's instant-death rate from all attacks continuously increases. At the same time, it opens the passage to the Nine Nether Yellow Springs, transporting you to the bottom of the Yellow Springs and summoning vengeful ghosts to pursue and attack the target. Neither side may return until one party perishes.]
Gu Fangchen had previously been chased by the Ancestress herself and had to preserve this skill as a last resort, so that he could use it to teleport away if necessary.
This skill, if used solely to kill, was far inferior to the Emperor's Power of Life and Death, less efficient than the Assassin's One Strike to Kill, and even weaker than the Merchant's All-In Gamble. But when used to escape, it was a peerless divine skill.
If used for killing, the price afterward was far too high for most.
The Nine Nether Yellow Springs was no good place, anyone with slightly lower cultivation would face certain death.
Even Gu Fangchen, when he entered the Nine Nether last time at sixth-rank cultivation, had only narrowly survived by clinging to life.
But when you reverse your thinking, treating this skill as an escape tool, with killing as a mere bonus, it became an absolute god-tier technique.
Almost zero-cost, ultra-long-distance teleportation. As long as the opponent couldn't transcend the barrier between worlds, it was an unsolvable escape.
At such times, even the Nine Nether didn't seem that dangerous anymore.
After all, when you had to use this skill to flee, it usually meant you'd die in the next second.
If you could cling to life in the Nine Nether and return later, wasn't that safer than staying behind to die?
Unfortunately, he had met someone like the Ancestress, a bug-level super powerhouse.
Even a god-tier escape skill had to bow in defeat.
But now, at least, someone else was taking that burden for him.
The moment Gu Fangchen activated the skill, he left behind a teleportation anchor at the spot. His divine sense and body merged as one, and both vanished instantly.
...
At the same time.
With the dragon vein that spanned all of Jiangnan revealing itself, the rebel forces fighting Gu Yuye's Xuanhuang Army were utterly crushed, fleeing in total disarray.
Gu Yuye, who had come to suppress the uprising, achieved a resounding victory. Several combined rebel forces were slaughtered and routed, scattered like frightened rats.
Of course, all this had been carefully arranged by the Demonic Sect in advance.
The spectacle, atmosphere, everything was dialed to perfection.
Gu Yuye stood right atop the dragon vein, wrapped in golden radiance and scales of light, like a sovereign touched by heaven.
Anyone who saw him could not help but exclaim, "Truly, the one favored by destiny!"
The other rebel leaders present, upon witnessing this, dropped their weapons and knelt, pledging allegiance.
A vice general immediately knelt, cupping his fists, shouting excitedly:
"The dragon vein's appearance marks the true lord! The realm is in chaos, the people cry in despair, Your Highness, this is the Mandate of Heaven itself!"
The Xuanhuang Army followed, their chant echoing like thunder:
"Mandate of Heaven!"
"Mandate of Heaven!"
The scene was exaggerated, but undeniably effective.
Within mere moments, the Du Gu Clan would spread the news across Jiangnan, and soon, throughout all of Great Wei.
Gu Yuye stood with hands clasped behind his back, beside him the severed head of Zhuang Pengju, the infamous rebel who had dominated the three Jiangnan provinces and united multiple uprisings.
Originally, Zhuang Pengju's name wasn't meant to carry such weight. Among his ranks were not only rebels but cultivators from several immortal sects, none of them weak.
Gu Yuye didn't have many troops stationed in Jiangnan, and transferring forces from Shuo Bei took time.
Nor did he dare weaken his northern front too much, lest he risk losing both ends.
Thus, this battle hadn't been easy.
Seeing the results match their plans, Gu Yuye finally exhaled. The lingering sense of foreboding in his heart faded at last.
Ever since Gu Fangchen's repeated meddling, he'd developed a deep-rooted anxiety, constantly fearing that brat would show up again at the most critical moment.
"Fortunately... that wretch should now be suppressed beneath the Wenwu Tower by the academy's great scholars. Soon, there will be no way out for him but death."
Gazing toward the distance, though Jiangling River couldn't be seen from here, Gu Yuye trusted that with the Heart Saint's intervention, there would be no suspense.
He had once refrained from striking at Gu Fangchen directly, out of regard for Emperor Yong'an and the National Preceptor. But now, the Emperor was far, and the heavens wide,
Even if the academy hadn't acted, he would have killed that brat himself.
Now, it merely happened that the academy got the credit.
That he couldn't kill Gu Fangchen with his own hands was his only regret.
But as long as Gu Fangchen died, his obsession could rest.
Still, his cooperation with the academy was temporary. After today, once the phrase "Mandate of Heaven" spread across the land, many Confucian cultivators would become his enemies.
Yet some, he had already won over. Emperor Yong'an had long played political balance, even striking at the Confucians before.
Gu Yuye had long since allied with those dissenters in secret. With military power in his hands, his prestige after today would reach its peak, he would no longer fear the academy.
"Come, rise. If you all kneel like this, what am I to do with you?"
Gu Yuye sighed, then began his performance, helping the vice general up, though the shouts around him only grew louder.
Feigning sternness, he ordered silence, then spoke solemnly under the golden light:
"This was never my intention..."
He was just about to say a few more elegant words to seal his image as Heaven's chosen ruler,
when suddenly, his expression froze.
A cold realization struck him: one of his avatars was in danger!
That avatar had been stationed near Huangtian City. When Gu Fangchen left, Gu Yuye had activated the one here in Gushu, keeping the Huangtian avatar on standby to monitor the Purple Extremity Hall.
But now, around that avatar, a rift to the Nine Nether had opened,
and countless vengeful ghosts poured out, swarming madly toward him.
That avatar possessed third-rank strength, but as a martial cultivator, he lacked the means to counter such entities. It would be a nightmare to deal with.
Gu Yuye's eyes darkened instantly.
For something like this to happen now, he didn't need to guess. It was Gu Fangchen!
Though the ghosts posed only moderate trouble, the key issue was that Gu Fangchen knew where his avatar was!
The change in his expression did not escape the nearby vice general, who blinked, hesitating:
"Your Highness..."
Gu Yuye's facial muscles twitched. He could feel the endless tide of ghosts closing in, and amidst them, a terrifying sense of danger surged, his heart even skipped a beat!
Out of caution, he immediately commanded his avatar to avoid contact, to focus on retreat, and dispatched trusted subordinates for reinforcement.
It would be safest for him to go personally.
But now, with the army watching, he couldn't move without consequence.
Drawing a deep breath, Gu Yuye gestured calmly to his troops, forcing composure, continuing his act.
Yet that ominous feeling returned, growing thicker by the moment.
He looked at the golden light flooding the sky, and only then did his heart ease a little.
As long as the dragon vein was his, he was the one chosen by Heaven.
No one could stop him now.
...
Practice makes perfect.
Gu Fangchen's second entry into the Nine Nether Yellow Springs was far smoother than his first.
This time, he had already advanced to the Refined-Heart Realm (Fifth Rank). His body formed a complete spiritual cycle, external conditions had little effect unless his spiritual energy ran dry.
Now, with class buffs increasing his recovery rate, he had no reason to worry.
At the very least... his clothes would stay intact. No more streaking through the underworld.
Only, this time, it wasn't night,
so the moment he dropped in, he was immediately noticed by a swarm of ghosts.
"Human?!"
"Flesh... flesh... delicious flesh!"
A horde of vengeful spirits rushed toward him.
Gu Fangchen was ready. He raised the Wheel of the Sea of Calamity, fixed his gaze on the leading ghost, stood tall with hands behind his back, and said coldly:
"Impudent! Have you forgotten the pact with the Lord of Calamity?"
"I come under his command. Take me to the ruler of the Central Nether Prison!"
The leading ghost cackled, jaws opening wide as it prepared to attack, but froze at his words, halting abruptly.