Volume 1, Chapter 52: What on Earth Is the Gu Family Playing At?

"What is this nonsense! Senior Sister Gu Ying of the Northern Underworld Demonic Sea tore apart the 'Myriad Soul Banner', which she had refined using the souls of countless heavenly demons, and turned it into a scratching post for her pet cat! It is said that her Dao of slaughter has sublimated as a result, reaching the realm of being ruthless and selfless!"

"The internal competition is too fierce! It's too fierce! I... I don't have any formidable magic treasures to bring out, what should I do? I know! I'll chisel out my own Dao bones, which I've cultivated for thirty epochs, and use them as bedding for the old yellow dog that guards my gate. That should suffice!"

For a time, across the heavens and myriad realms, countless factions on good terms with the Gu family were dumbfounded to discover that those malevolent stars of the Gu family seemed to have gone mad.

They no longer went out on conquests, no longer secluded themselves for bitter cultivation. Instead, they rushed home one after another, swarming around their respective pets and doing the most bizarre things. Innate spiritual treasures and Primordial supreme treasures—things that would normally be considered extravagant just to glance at—were now being stuffed into dog houses, cat nests, and bird cages like mere trash...

This bizarre spectacle sent a deep chill through the hearts of all the factions watching the Gu family.

What on earth was the Gu family up to?

Was this a new method of cultivation, or a collective deviation into demonic obsession?

Meanwhile, in the distant depths of the Chaos Sea, where even light could not reach, a massive mobile fortress constructed from the wreckage of countless civilizations and the skeletons of gods and demons was slowly sailing.

This was the lair of the "God-Eater Civilization".

On the core throne of the fortress, a figure shrouded in shadows was listening to a subordinate's report.

"Great Sovereign, according to our monitoring of the [Myriad Realms Heavenly Heart Seal] which has lasted for nine epochs, just moments ago, its aura... completely vanished." A God-Eater with a dry voice like grinding metal knelt on one knee, his tone laced with incredulous horror.

"Vanished?" The shadow on the throne rippled for the first time.

The [Myriad Realms Heavenly Heart Seal] was their greatest hesitation when launching an all-out war. That object was the condensation point of order across the entire heavens and myriad realms, the symbol of the Gu family's power. As long as it existed, the Gu family could mobilize the origin power of the entire universe, rendering them practically invincible.

Yet now, it was gone.

Not hidden, not sealed, but completely and utterly erased from the conceptual level.

"There are two possibilities," analyzed another God-Eater with an icy voice. "First, a drastic upheaval occurred within the Gu family, causing the Heavenly Heart Seal to be destroyed, or rendering them too weak to maintain its existence. Second, the Gu family's power has surpassed our understanding, reaching the realm of 'Dao manifesting invisibly', making external objects like the Heavenly Heart Seal unnecessary."

"I lean toward the first possibility," the initial reporter said. "Our scouts report that a ridiculous cultivation method called the 'Bedding Dao' is circulating within the Gu family. Countless clan members are using their natal magic treasures as pet bedding. Their actions are frantic and akin to madness! This is undoubtedly a sign of decline and chaos!"

The shadow on the throne fell silent.

After a long while, his emotionless will resounded throughout the fortress.

"Send out a 'Karmic Probe' to the ancestral land of the Gu family, the mortal realm."

"Do not alert anyone. I need to know what is truly happening there."

"As you command, my Lord!"

Following the command, at the base of the fortress, an imperceptible phantom—one that seemed not to exist in this dimension—quietly detached, melted into the endless chaos, and silently slipped toward the coordinates marked as the ultimate forbidden zone on the cosmic star map.

Its target was none other than the Gu family courtyard.

And inside the Gu family courtyard at this very moment.

The culprit behind it all, Gu Changsheng, was lounging comfortably on a recliner.

Having resolved the eyesore of the dog house, he felt the entire world had become peaceful.

The sunlight was just right, and the breeze was gentle.

Perfect.

The only drawback was that it was a bit boring.

He once again began to reminisce about the smartphones and cola of his past life.

"Sigh..."

He let out a faint sigh, his gaze sweeping around the courtyard to find something to do.

Finally, his eyes landed on a few half-dead wild flowers in the corner of the wall.

These flowers had originally grown in the courtyard. Steward Fu had considered them ordinary and wanted to pull them up to replace them with celestial flora and divine herbs. But Gu Changsheng thought they were quite nice, possessing a certain "rustic charm," so he had allowed them to stay.

Yet now, these wild flowers were drooping lifelessly, completely devoid of spirit, and their colors were far too drab.

"Steward Fu."

"This old servant is here."

"These flowers look too ugly," Gu Changsheng said, curling his lip. "Not vibrant at all."

Hearing this, Steward Fu felt his heart skip a beat.

Could the Young Master be dissatisfied with the lack of burgeoning vitality in the courtyard?

Was this... the beginning of the evolution of the "Dao of Creation"?

Steward Fu instantly imagined ten thousand possibilities in his mind, yet his expression remained calm as he respectfully asked, "What are the Young Master's instructions?"

"Get some fertilizer and fertilize them. Pour some water too, and see if they can be salvaged."

Gu Changsheng said lazily, in a tone that suggested treating a dead horse as a living one.

He figured this was probably the only "simulation/breeding" game with a sense of participation he could find right now.

"Fertilizer... water..." Steward Fu's eyes lit up, and he immediately understood.

How could the "fertilizer" desired by the Primordial Ancestor be anything ordinary? It must undoubtedly be the soil of creation imbued with endless vitality!

And how could the "water" desired by the Primordial Ancestor be ordinary water? It must undoubtedly be the divine spring of life capable of nourishing all things!

Steward Fu bowed in acknowledgment and was just about to head to the family treasury when Gu Changsheng called out to stop him.

"Forget it, forget it. Don't bother." Gu Changsheng stood up lazily from the recliner. "I'll do it myself."

He was simply too bored, and such a trivial chore was just right for passing the time.

With that, he walked over to the corner of the courtyard, squatted down, and casually scooped up a handful of dirt from the base of the wall.

That wall was the perimeter wall of the Gu family estate. It appeared to be built of cyan bricks, but in truth, it was a dimensional barrier isolating the myriad realms. And the soil at the base of the wall was no ordinary dirt either. For countless epochs, it had been a wisp of "Primordial Origin Dust" that had inadvertently seeped out from the supreme "Land of Primordial Origin."

Gu Changsheng gave it a disdainful sniff. Sensing no strange odor, he casually sprinkled this handful of "dirt" over the roots of those wild flowers.

Having done that, he walked over to the stone table and picked up the purple clay teapot resting on it.

Inside this teapot was the "water" Steward Fu routinely prepared for him to rinse his mouth.

This water was drawn from the "Epoch Divine Spring" deep within the Gu family's forbidden grounds; a single drop of it could trigger a spiritual Qi revival and cause all things to evolve in a mortal world.

Gu Changsheng lifted the teapot and poured it in a rush directly over the wild flowers that had just been "fertilized."

When it was all done, he clapped his hands, walked back to the recliner with satisfaction, and lay down again.

"There, that should do. Whether they live or die depends on their own fortune."

He closed his eyes, ready to continue his "grand enterprise of lying flat."

He did not see it.

Behind him, those few drooping, utterly unremarkable wild flowers, having been nourished by the Primordial Dust and the Epoch Divine Spring, began to exhibit faint, profound, and virtually invisible Dao patterns upon their petals.

Their aura was undergoing a qualitative transformation at a terrifying speed.

From mortal objects to spiritual objects, to sacred objects, and then to... something unknowable, beyond even the realm of definition.

And at that very moment, in the endless void outside the mortal realm, an almost imperceptible phantom—the "Karmic Probe" from the God-Eater Civilization—had quietly arrived.

It hovered in the void, its icy will sweeping across the entire realm.