Gu Longyu’s face turned dark after he realized he could not find Yinian. He had considered many possibilities, such as Yinian possessing a teleportation talisman or him entering some immortal grotto, but he could not find any telltale signs.

  Although teleportation talismans were rare, immortal lords could create them, but unlike talismans created by immortal monarchs who mastered the Law of Space, such talismans would leave behind obvious signs of spatial disturbances. And according to the records of the Rising Dragon Sect, no space immortal monarchs had been born on Dragonsleep Planet.

  At least, no one publicly admitted it. Even so, Gu Longyu didn’t think an immortal monarch who mastered the Law of Space would hide themselves. Although he did not have access to information about the major powers of Dragonsleep Planet, he could estimate the overall and peak power. The strongest cultivator on Dragonsleep Planet should be no more than a peak monarch. There would be no point for a space monarch to hide themselves. Even a peak monarch could do nothing to an early space monarch. If they weren’t prepared, they might not be able to deal with an immortal lord who specialized in the Law of Space.

  Gu Longyu thought that the more likely reason was that Yinian had an immortal grotto—and a mobile immortal grotto at that. He just didn’t know what grade it was. In his early years, he had also obtained a mobile immortal grotto. It was thanks to the immortal grotto that he was able to successfully grow up and realize his potential. Because of this, Gu Longyu was clear that mobile immortal grottos often signified a powerful inheritance.

  Naturally formed immortal grottos existed, but they were too rare.

  If Yinian had a mobile immortal grotto, it would explain many of the problems. According to Gu Longyu’s guess, the immortal grotto should have originally been in Tianyi’s possession. That would explain the source of the sword talismans and maybe even the origins of Daoyi’s soul techniques. Before that fateful battle, Tianyi must have given the immortal grotto to Yinian since he was unsure if he could survive.

  Gu Longyu regretted hiding his saber intent so much. Perhaps if he had not been so stingy, he would have already noticed the clues ahead of time.

  That didn’t mean immortal grottos were undiscoverable. It was niche information that Gu Longyu had discovered after forming his saber intent. Mobile immortal grottos might be able to hide from spiritual and even immortal senses, but they were more vulnerable to intent.

  Yet, no matter how Gu Longyu scoured the surroundings, he could not find a mobile immortal grotto. And he didn’t discover any clues of Yinian fleeing farther away. Otherwise, he would have been able to sense the disruptions formed from the sword talismans.

  This failure gave Gu Longyu a sense of unease. It was as if a fog had appeared before him, rendering his sight useless. The unease that had left when he had slain Tianyi reappeared. Only this time, it was even more ominous.

  However, Gu Longyu showed no fear. He even had a hint of anticipation. He had never taken anyone seriously, not even his clones, but Yinian might prove a worthy rival. That didn’t mean he would give himself a handicap.

  Gu Longyu retreated to the Dragon Spine Mountain Range. He had failed to find Yinian, but he didn’t think this would be the last he would see of him. Until then, Gu Longyu needed to increase his power.

  He was still polishing his martial body, and he did not plan on breaking through to the World Merging Realm, but his Nascent Soul Realm cultivation was a different story. He underwent the Unity Heavenly Tribulation, successfully passing and transforming into a venerable from a grandmaster.

  His success sent ripples through Dragonsleep Planet. A unity venerable less than a hundred years old! This was the youngest recorded venerable in the planet’s entire history. Many of the geniuses who once challenged Gu Longyu could only back down. If someone was only slightly stronger than you, you might feel determination to surpass them, but if someone was too superior, you would only feel admiration and envy.

  Of course, this was only for the geniuses. The geniuses several generations apart all focused their gaze on Gu Longyu. His rivals had changed from those who had yet to tap their potential to those who had already transformed that potential into power but had not yet undergone their Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation.

  Many people said his eventual immortal ascension was only a matter of time. If he could not become immortal, no one could. Those weaker disciples and loose cultivators took these words seriously, but those one step away from immortality and those who had already transcended did not.

  Gu Longyu also scoffed at those words. It was true that transcending his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation was only a matter of time, but not because he cultivated so fast.

  It was also the reason why he was not worried that Yinian would suddenly transcend his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation and attack him one day. And even if Yinian did, Gu Longyu had the confidence to escape alive.

  Time passed, and he soon reached the Transcending Mortality Realm. There was no heavenly tribulation. After all, the Transcending Mortality Realm was just another name for the peak of the Unity Realm. During this time, he raised his martial cultivation but did not place too much focus on it. Rather, he was seeking out his clones to increase his potential.

  It was for this reason that Gu Longyu participated in the exploration of an immortal grotto jointly opened by the top forces. He had no desire for the resources inside since he knew they weren’t related to true dragons, but he came anyway. Such a grand exploration consisted not only of members from top forces but also many loose cultivators.

  Gu Longyu hoped to discover a clone and eliminate him inside the immortal grotto.

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  He was lucky. Gu Longyu actually discovered one of his clones. Unlike Tianyi, the clone bore a complete resemblance—face and all. To his further fortune, the clone was actually a loose cultivator, meaning that Gu Longyu didn’t need to consider much if he wanted to kill him.

  When the clone entered, Gu Longyu also entered. Because it was his clone, he knew best how to entice him. So he forced out a drop of blood and amplified its aura. Others might not notice, but it held a terrible allure for those who practiced the Dragon Emperor Fist.

  His clone didn’t suspect anything and split away from the group, chasing after the aura. Hook, line, and sinker.

  Gu Longyu took action. His movements were swift and clean. Even if the clone had the exact same face, he showed no mercy. With a swing of his blade, the clone’s head separated from his body.

  The clone’s eyes widened in bewilderment. One moment he was still looking for the source of the calling, and the next moment, the world flipped around. His consciousness was also growing hazy. No matter how hard he tried to fight off the sleepiness, it was unstoppable. The last thing he saw was someone with the exact same face, holding an ivory-white saber.

  Gu Longyu inhaled. It was just his imagination, but he felt his body become energized with each breath he took. It was as if each individual cell had been cleansed of its impurities while evolving. Just as he was enjoying the sensation, the sense of death exploded in his mind.

  Disregarding everything, Gu Longyu did everything in his power to dodge.

  It wasn’t enough.

  Pain surged as Gu Longyu felt a blade slice into the back of his chest and up, cleaving a fissure in his torso. Blood spurted out, but it was soon cut off as his meticulous control over his body took over. He didn’t care and swiftly turned around to catch a glimpse of his attacker.

  He only had enough time to see Yinian’s head merge into space itself, disappearing completely.

  Him?! Gu Longyu thought in disbelief. It wasn’t just because Yinian attacked him out of nowhere but because of the concept contained in the sword. From it, he could sense concepts pertaining to the Law of Space.

  How long had it been? Not even ten years had passed since their last encounter, and Yinian was already able to elevate his once pitiful understanding to such a high level. Even among true immortals, such understanding would not be weak.

  However, Gu Longyu did not let the shock stun him. His body never stopped, and the Dragonbone Saber appeared in his hand, slashing toward the space where Yinian had once stood. He was confident that his saber would slash Yinian, even if the latter used the concepts under the Law of Space. Yet, except for a momentary slowness, his saber struck nothing.

  Gu Longyu released his saber intent as a field. Thanks to reaching the Transcending Mortality Realm, he was able to sustain it much more easily. He narrowed his eyes. “Found you.”

  He rushed forward, dragon scales appearing all over his body as he underwent dragon transformation, and slashed at an empty space. The space trembled, folding as if it were a piece of parchment. Once sliced, it revealed Yinian, who deflected the saber.

  Yinian did not disappear again. Although that was the case, his presence became incredibly thin. Gu Longyu’s spiritual sense could not detect him at all. The only thing he could rely on was his five senses. Not even his sixth sense could help him. And for cultivators—even the reborn Dragon Emperor—their sixth sense was something they relied on immensely. Thankfully, his saber intent could still catch faint traces of Yinian.

  The two engaged in a duel of saber and sword once more.

  After clashing, Gu Longyu detected something strange. He noticed that all of Yinian’s mastery of the concepts under the Law of Space was concentrated in his swordplay. Although his body also displayed mastery, it was a far cry from the concepts contained in his sword. It was a strange sense of dissociation, as if the sword was the cultivator, while the body was only a puppet used solely for the sake of swinging the sword.

  Although Yinian had become stronger, Gu Longyu felt that the latter was still lacking. Yinian had no holes in his defense, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be induced. Just as he saw a chance and was prepared to capitalize on the chink in the defense, Gu Longyu felt something slicing his shoulder.

  He kicked Yinian away and glanced at his shoulder. Several scales had been broken, along with a shallow cut.

  Gu Longyu didn’t have time to ponder how he was wounded and engaged with Yinian once more. Although he didn’t induce another hole in Yinian’s defense, Gu Longyu felt another attack on his body. Compared to the power in Yinian’s sword, it was less than a tenth of the power contained, but it unmistakably carried Yinian’s handiwork.

  Soon, more and more wounds covered Gu Longyu’s body. Even if he stopped the bleeding, the blood that leaked out from when the wound initially appeared covered his golden scales, turning them scarlet.

  “I finally figured it out,” Gu Longyu suddenly said. “You’ve not only comprehended the concepts under the Law of Space but also concepts under the Law of Time. Specifically, concepts that allow you to send attacks into the future.”

  Yinian said nothing and continued attacking. For Gu Longyu, his silence only confirmed his conjecture. He had long noticed that some of Yinian’s attacks were strange. Although they were all aimed at him, they felt off, like he was attacking something else. Now it was confirmed.

  Compared to the Law of Space, those who could comprehend the Law of Time were even rarer. For every ten immortals who comprehended the Law of Space, not even one might comprehend the Law of Time.

  Now that he had figured out the tricks, Gu Longyu redoubled his effort. Yinian’s first strike had caught him off guard, weakening him, but it was not enough to prevent him from suppressing the latter. However, Gu Longyu was not satisfied with that. He wanted to kill Yinian and cut the grass by the roots.

  Unfortunately, Yinian had a change of heart. He fled.

  Gu Longyu did not let his guard down and stared warily around him. Suddenly, his saber intent caught the latter’s presence and attacked that location. To his befuddlement, his saber passed harmlessly through where Yinian should have been.

  After investigating, Gu Longyu discovered that his sixth sense also caught Yinian’s presence, while his spiritual sense still detected nothing. Yinian’s presence constantly changed, as if he were still present, but no matter how he attacked, his saber hit nothing.

  After a few attempts, Gu Longyu figured out why Yinian could hide his presence so well. Just like his attacks, he had sent it into the future. Unless Gu Longyu could sense the future, he would not be able to detect Yinian’s presence.

  The discovery of this meant that Yinian had likely already escaped. Gu Longyu realized that he was helpless. Yinian had already grown to the point where he could attack and retreat as he willed.

  Gu Longyu couldn’t help but feel a heavy pressure. The first time he fought Yinian, the latter was helpless under his assault despite his superior cultivation base. At their second fight, he had closed the gap.

  “I can’t continue like this. I’ll have to speed up.”

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