Extreme Sword Heaven.
Xue Ren was still the same Xue Ren, and Qu Hongye was still the same Qu Hongye, but Gu Nan had changed bodies.
Now he was dressed in a silver robe, having arrived using the saint clone.
"Quite an interesting clone." Xue Ren couldn't help chuckling when he glanced at Gu Nan's saint clone. With his insight, it wasn't hard to discern some of the saint clone's origins.
"Someone said you came from that side. Looks like it's true." Xue Ren, who was familiar with the World of Gods, was able to glean even more information from the saint clone.
Since Qu Hongye wasn't here right now, this was the first time the two discussed matters related to the Heaven-God Alliance.
Gu Nan raised an eyebrow and asked, "Did Wu Gui tell you that?"
Xue Ren, however, shook his head. "I am acquainted with the Buddha of Ten Thousand Samsara, but we don't know each other well."
With the other party's status, he was unlikely to lie about such things. Thus, another person's name popped up in Gu Nan's mind. "Then it's Zi Dian?"
Sure enough, Xue Ren revealed a small smile. "More accurately, it was his mother, Zi Yi, who relayed this to me. That I was able to become a cultivator back then was also thanks to Senior Zi Yi."
Gu Nan frowned slightly, although his brain was already trying to sort out the relationship between all these Star Rulers… Forget it, the relationship was too complicated; he was too lazy to think.
But figuring out the approximate timeline was still pretty easy.
On Zuo Zuo's side, he was contemporaries with Zi Yi and Red. Xue Ren, on the other hand, was in almost the same generation as the Buddha of Ten Thousand Samsara, which meant they were both a bit younger than Zi Yi and the others.
As for how many generations of a gap existed between the two groups or how many tens of thousands of years the gap was, those were of no concern to Gu Nan.
"What did you want to see me for?" Gu Nan asked, changing the subject. He wasn't interested in elaborating on his own origins.
Let them guess. No one would guess it anyway.
Xue Ren's expression turned serious. "Since you've joined the Heaven-God Alliance, I must tell you the reason this organization was established."
Gu Nan also became slightly serious as well. Matters concerning the Heaven-God Alliance had always been of great interest to him.
"Simply put, the Heaven-God Alliance has only one goal, and that is to reach Unified Dao Realm." Xue Ren explained calmly, "To use the term over there, it's to ascend to a greater god."
Without waiting for Gu Nan to respond, Xue Ren added, "You should know that there are many paths in the world that lead straight to the great Dao, but only one person can take each path."
Gu Nan nodded. Of course he knew that. The vast majority of conflicts between the greater gods stemmed from this.
Because of this, the Beast God was even replaced multiple times.
There was no other way. Compared to other gods who could still become a greater god by taking a detour, there was only one path for every generation's Beast God who wanted to reach the top, which was to kill their predecessor.
The problem of overlapping fundamental laws wasn't so easily resolved by something as simple as just a slight deviation.
For example, if the God of Wind wanted to advance, but if there was already a God of Air among the greater gods, then it was bound to be extremely hard for the former to ascend.
"Among the Thirteen Heavens, there is one called Weapon Martial Heaven." Xue Ren's voice became somewhat heavy, "Weapon Martial Heaven's Zou Jiming controls all the weapons and martial arts in this world."
"All martial arts cultivators and weapon cultivators are subject to his influence when they attempt to break through to Unified Dao Realm, including me."
Gu Nan instantly understood what he meant and blurted out, "So you want to run to the World of Gods to enter Unified Dao Realm?"
"That's right." Xue Ren grinned. "The God of War on that side isn't in the same power system as us at all. At the very least, his influence would be far less than Zou Jiming."
Gu Nan laughed involuntarily. It had to be said that none of these famous Star Rulers were fools.
The two sides' respective differences and advantages had long been thoroughly analyzed by them, and they even thought of using such loopholes to strengthen themselves.
"So you're going to break through now?" Gu Nan asked in amusement.
With Gu Nan, something as momentous as becoming a greater god sounded as simple as eating a casual meal.
But Xue Ren didn't care. He just replied, "I'm not that fast… But it's true that someone is going to ascend, and you might even know this person."
"Who?"
"Rolensia."
...
Frontline plane, Heavenly Province World.
It wasn't the first time Gu Nan visited Heavenly Province World, so he was slightly familiar with it.
However, he didn't visit in his original body this time, but in an extremely well-hidden clone.
The saint clone was fully wrapped in a black robe, while a familiar silver mask covered his face. If he didn't attack, almost no one would recognize Gu Nan.
Gu Nan made this trip over to meet Rolensia.
The God of Luxuriant Blossoms Rolensia, a powerful Tier 10 god on the same level as Xue Ren, was unexpectedly preparing to ascend. This was very much out of Gu Nan's expectations.
Because Rolensia advancing to a greater god had never happened even once in his years of gaming history.
In other words, what caused Rolensia to make this choice was entirely due to the existence of the Myriad Heavens Universe.
It would be extremely difficult for her to advance in the World of Gods because among the twelve greater gods, there was one called the Goddess of Nature.
The Goddess of Nature controlled all natural living beings and was also known as the "God of Flowers and Leaves" in ancient times, which was in direct conflict with Rolensia's divine authority.
Although it wasn't so bad as to completely block Rolensia's path to advancement, it still made it much more difficult.
In contrast, coming to the Myriad Heavens Universe to advance was a good choice.
But with Rolensia's power and status, it wasn't an easy task to quietly enter the Myriad Heavens Universe.
As long as she made any abnormal movement, the greater gods would immediately become aware of it. And once she entered the Myriad Heavens Universe, she would also be noticed by the Thirteen Heavens.
Who knows if someone in the Thirteen Heavens would leak this information to the greater gods?
This was a matter of course. If Rolensia broke through to Unified Dao Realm inside the Myriad Heavens Universe, then wasn't that the same as stealing a limited spot from this side?
This matter could be said to be detrimental to the collective interests of the Myriad Heavens Universe, so only people who belonged to the same Heaven-God Alliance would be willing to help her.
Heavenly Province World was a highly modernized technology plane. Gu Nan was now sitting in a delicately furnished cafe. The drink in front of him was steaming hot but hadn't been touched.
Combined with his all-black robe, he really looked out of place.
But Gu Nan just sat there calmly until a man in a black suit hurriedly walked in and saw Gu Nan at a glance.
It couldn't be helped; Gu Nan's getup really was a bit flashy.
The corners of the man's mouth twitched slightly as he reluctantly walked up to Gu Nan and whispered, "Mr. Gu?"
"Mm." Gu Nan nodded, spoke a string of numbers, and gently scratched out a seal with his hand.
The man breathed a sigh of relief and also nodded slightly. This was the secret code the two sides agreed upon. The numbers and seal both had to match before he could hand over the item to the other party.
What Gu Nan received was a small box wrapped up in black cloth.
He stared down at it. It was hard to imagine that a powerful Tier 10 god was hidden inside this box, even if it was just a part of her.
"Where are the other two?" Gu Nan's gaze shifted slightly and landed on the man's face.
"With my companion. She'll be over soon… Damn it!" Halfway through the man's sentence, he suddenly paused, because voices were coming in continuously from his wireless headset.
A short while later, he looked at Gu Nan again and said, "I'm very sorry. There's a little situation on my companion's side, please—"
"It was robbed? Does someone know what you're transporting?"
"No, no." The man hastily waved his hand. "It should be a habitual bandit. Sometimes they don't even need to know what the cargo is. As long as it's something important, they can always sell it for a good price after snatching it."
Gu Nan's eyes narrowed as he said in a cold voice, "That makes sense… Take me there."
The man immediately revealed a troubled look and stood up. "Sir, the members and routes are our company's internal secrets."
Gu Nan looked up indifferently. That gaze was as if he was staring at a dead person.
A few moments later, Gu Nan walked out of the cafe, a shadowy figure leading the way in front of him, while the cafe was already dead silent. No sounds of life could be heard anymore.