Zou Jiming was a very hated Star Ruler, especially since he was one of the Thirteen Heavens, which attracted even more hate.
Firstly, this was because Zou Jiming acted without scruples, and secondly, it was because his law blocked the paths of too many people.
Zou Jiming started his cultivation journey as a blademaster and walked to Star Ruler Realm step by step, yet he tried and failed to break through to Unified Dao Realm three times in a row, nearly injuring his foundation, and became the laughingstock back then.
Attempting to ascend to Unified Dao Realm was a very enviable matter, but if he kept failing, then he just became someone who overestimated his own capabilities.
In the face of such ridicule, Zou Jiming pondered the painful experience over a thousand years of secluded cultivation and finally realized that his own law didn't match his acknowledged path.
His Dao wasn't simply a blade; rather, it should be any weapon.
His blade, too, wasn't just a blade, but it could also be a sword, a spear, or any other type of weapon imaginable.
Thus, this genius blademaster who became famous at a young age resolutely chose to destroy his own foundation. Then he spent ten times as much time as he previously did to re-walk his entire path, once again reaching the edge of Unified Dao Realm and finally succeeding in claiming his great Dao in one fell swoop.
From a heaven-defying genius to a powerhouse who matured extremely slowly, Zou Jiming forcibly walked a path other people couldn't even finish in their entire lives twice, finally creating the legend known as Weapon Martial Heaven.
Of course, although his journey was legendary, like a huge, immovable mountain, Zou Jiming's ascension to Unified Dao practically blocked the paths of all swordsmen, blademasters, and martial arts cultivators, sharply increasing their difficulty in entering Unified Dao Realm.
This was also the biggest reason Zou Jiming attracted so much hate.
The day Xue Ren held the sword testing ceremony, Zou Jiming came to Void Grotto Heaven.
"He's not ready to enter Unified Dao yet. What exactly are you guys planning?" Zou Jiming stood in front of Yu Lian and asked rather rudely.
While others might not be able to tell whether Xue Ren was about to advance to Unified Dao, it was something that couldn't be concealed from the eyes of the Thirteen Heavens once Xue Ran revealed his powers.
Yu Lian didn't actually know what Xue Ren was planning either, but she plastered a faint smile on her face. "You'll know after watching."
Zou Jiming still wanted to say something, but then paused violently, his gaze landing on a certain small astral world in the Myriad Heavens with a slight frown. "Merely to help him? You guys are causing an excessively big fuss over a minor issue."
While continuing to maintain a profound, mysterious smile on her face, Yu Lian secretly but hurriedly focused her attention on that location and discovered an astonishing scene.
In an unfamiliar plane, countless grotesquely-shaped monsters were pouring out and forming an army, descending in batches to another astral world through a space passage created from some sort of strange power.
...
Under the sword testing platform, Rending Mountain Venerable was staring up at the platform blankly, wondering what just happened in Xue Ren and Wang Li's fight.
Unlike certain Star Rulers around him who also didn't understand yet still pretended they understood, Rending Mountain Venerable had always been very honest. He turned his head and asked a person beside him, "Daoist Friend…"
"Shhh!" The person next to him hurriedly shushed him and immediately closed his eyes in contemplation, as if he received astonishing enlightenment from the previous exchange.
No matter how straightforward Rending Mountain Venerable was, he still couldn't help casting this person a look of contempt. He was about to say something else when someone patted his shoulder.
He subconsciously turned his head and saw a familiar figure.
"Gu Nan?!" Rending Mountain Venerable recognized the person in front of him and spoke angrily, "You actually dare to appear in front of me? Last time, there was that scum Daoist White Bones to protect you, but let's see where you can run to this time!"
Rending Mountain Venerable was a Star Ruler who never knew fear. He wasn't even afraid of Daoist White Bones, so of course he didn't fear Gu Nan.
However, this was still Xue Ren's sword testing ceremony, so he didn't brazenly make a move. In the end, he still had some scruples.
But Gu Nan didn't have such scruples. He laughed in spite of himself and threw a kick at Rending Mountain Venerable.
Rending Mountain Venerable reacted very quickly and threw out a Mountain River Seal, as if a big mountain was pressing down on Gu Nan, but the result was completely unexpected.
This enormous mountain that fell from the sky couldn't even block Gu Nan's kick and was smashed to pieces.
"Impossible!" Rending Mountain Venerable blurted out, his mind so shocked that he didn't even think about dodging.
The last time he saw Gu Nan, the other party could only rely on some laws to barely stall him, but now Gu Nan could actually smash the Mountain River Seal with just his physical body alone?
What he didn't know was that now that Gu Nan advanced to Tier 7, he might even be able to fight Daoist White Bones to a tie, so how could a tiny Star Ruler like Rending Mountain Venerable resist?
But while Rending Mountain Venerable was frozen in shock, someone next to him couldn't bear to watch anymore.
"Amitabha. Today is the day Benefactor Xue attains Unified Dao. How can you be allowed to be this unbridled?" A large monk with a wide body next to him said, chanting the Buddha's name.
Although this monk said "Amitabha," his entire expression was fierce-looking, not containing an ounce of the Buddha's compassion.
His hand closed around something, holding up a monk's staff in front of Rending Mountain Venerable and blocking Gu Nan's kick.
Fortunately, this was just a casual kick cushioned by the earlier Mountain River Seal, or else this monk might not be able to block it.
"Gu Nan, you little thief, don't think that you can act wantonly just because you can force Daoist Monarch Wu Tian to lower his head." The great monk blocked with his staff and couldn't help sneering, "Can't you see what kind of place this is and how many Star Rulers are present!?"
Gu Nan didn't rush to attack and only asked, "Which astral world are you from?"
The monk figured that Xue Ran would never let Gu Nan go for making trouble right beneath the sword testing platform, so he wasn't scared at all and proudly answered, "This one controls Furious Buddha World. If you have the ability, then come find trouble for me!"
Gu Nan was now famous. The clamor on this side immediately attracted the attention of the surrounding Star Rulers.
"It's Gu Nan again."
"He likes to send people to some small astral worlds to wreak havoc. Who knows what his goal is?"
"What goal can he possibly have? He's just letting the power get to his head and running amok… I'm afraid he'll be attacked by an entire crowd the day his astral world's location is exposed."
"Haha, I can't wait to see that day."
This great monk's Buddhist name was Nuxin, a name he gave himself. He was a self-made genius. Hearing the surrounding discussion, Monk Nuxin's face became even more smug.
Although he looked simpleminded, in fact, his thoughts were very cunning. Other people were extremely afraid of Gu Nan, fearing his retaliation if they provoked him, but Monk Nuxin wasn't afraid.
He could see things very clearly. His own astral world was just starting out, so even if Gu Nan wreaked some havoc inside, he still wouldn't incur much damage.
On the contrary, he could take advantage of Gu Nan's current fame to make a big deal out of the matter, raising his own reputation and making it easier for him to recruit Void Cutter subordinates.
In the end, the overall strength of the astral world still depended on the number of Void Cutters inside.
Monk Nuxin managed to stop the joy from showing on his face with great difficulty, not the slightest bit afraid. Anyhow, this was Extreme Sword Heaven. As a guest invited by Xue Ren, the host couldn't simply stand by and do nothing as Gu Nan killed him.
"Give me some face. If you guys have a conflict, resolve it outside." True to his expectations, Xue Ren also noticed the situation here and immediately came over.
Monk Nuxin was confident his plan had gone off without a hitch and immediately bid goodbye to Xue Ren, preparing to return to his own astral world.
As long as he was in his own astral world, Monk Nuxin wasn't afraid of the other party. And Gu Nan's type of destruction that switched locations after merely firing one shot was just adding to his own reputation.
"No problem." Yet Gu Nan just nodded at Xue Ren, then grabbed Monk Nuxin's shoulder with one hand. "Come, let's sit down for a chat."
Then Gu Nan turned his head to Rending Mountain Venerable again. "You'll have to thank him."
Rending Mountain Venerable didn't understand. "Why?"
"His whole family died in place of yours."