For any Star Ruler with ambitions of reaching Unified Dao, that realm was their ultimate goal.
And ultimate goal meant that once they reached this goal, they could at least have some breathing room. Gu Nan's experience at this time undoubtedly gave Immortal Empress Taisheng a considerable shock.
She was considered a junior in front of these Unified Dao existences, and it was the first time she saw a Unified Dao level life-and-death battle, so she couldn't help feeling some sorrow.
"Will Gu Nan die?" she couldn't help asking.
"No. A Unified Dao cultivator is not so easy to kill." Zi Luo Elder shook his head and explained, "But he committed too many murders, so he won't be able to avoid being sealed by Fa Kong."
Immortal Empress Taisheng was silent. The word "seal" didn't specify the length of time—he may be sealed for a while, or he may be sealed for tens of thousands of years.
When he saw Monk Fa Kong resolutely destroying his prayer beads, Zi Luo Elder understood that Gu Nan might not be able to avoid this tribulation.
That treasure was one of the trump cards accumulated by Three Buddha Heaven over tens of thousands of years. It was a divine weapon refined from the sarira left behind by six top-tier Buddhist Star Rulers after their deaths.
Fa Kong invested so many priceless resources, all to seal Gu Nan in the shortest possible time. This showed just how much pressure the latter put on him.
"To be able to oppose four Unified Dao enemies as soon as he ascended to Unified Dao, Gu Nan can stand proud," Zi Luo Elder remarked with some regret. "Perhaps not even these four expected to pay such a high price to seal him."
The golden glow in Imperial Glory Heaven gradually withdrew into itself, continuously converging towards the center. The ball of shadows had reached the point where it was unable to move, having been completely sealed by the prayer beads' fragments.
Like Zi Luo Elder said, neither Dream Immortal nor Song Fei, nor even the organizer—Monk Fa Kong—predicted that this battle would be so wretched.
The person who suffered the smallest loss in this battle was Huo Kui, who was just here as an extra. His physical body was only destroyed once, but at least he managed to deal some damage before he "died", so it wasn't much of a loss.
Song Fei was completely treated as a moving target and ended up taking two punches from Gu Nan, and all he had for show was merely stalling for some time. Not only did he suffer huge losses, but he also lost a lot of face.
Once the outcome of this battle became public, Song Fei would undoubtedly be regarded as the weakest among the five who participated in the Unified Dao battle.
Dream Immortal and Monk Fa Kong were the two who suffered the greatest losses. One was critically injured and over-exhausted her powers. Nobody knows how many years it would take her to recover. The other lost a supreme treasure he always carried with him, directly damaging his astral world's foundation.
Monk Fa Kong still had a compassionate expression, but whether his heart was actually bleeding from the loss, only he himself would know.
When the golden light converged and completely sealed the shadows, Monk Fa Kong chanted the Buddha's name, "Amitabha. The evil demon has been sealed. This humble monk expresses his gratitude to the three righteous Benefactors on behalf of all living beings in the Myriad Heavens."
Dream Immortal naturally wasn't interested in hearing such nonsense. She snorted coldly and turned around, returning to her astral world to recuperate in earnest.
Huo Kui had no friendship with Monk Fa Kong. He came purely to help Dream Immortal this time, so he naturally left after saying goodbye.
Song Fei, on the other hand, actually chatted with Monk Fa Kong for a little longer. In any case, after this battle, they could be regarded as comrades-in-arms. Sometimes, the friendship between Unified Dao cultivators was accumulated bit by bit, just like this.
...
News that six Unified Dao bigshots appeared in Imperial Glory Heaven and that Gu Nan was ambushed by four of them was like a depth charge that detonated in the Myriad Heavens immediately after the battle.
The Myriad Heavens had not seen a battle of this magnitude for many years, especially one with such a shocking outcome, ending with Gu Nan sealed and all four Unified Dao ambushers injured.
Some people firmly believe that a Unified Dao powerhouse would not die like this and that Gu Nan would definitely make a comeback, as evidenced by the fact that his astral world was still perfectly intact.
Others believed that although Gu Nan's astral world was unharmed, he himself would inevitably be trapped in Three Buddha Heaven for tens of thousands of years and become the most high-level evil demon sealed in Three Buddha Heaven.
At the same time, various rumors were also circulating.
Various conspiracy theories such as "Gu Nan was too strong and was able to fight four Unified Dao experts on equal ground right after he ascended, which made them feel threatened and led to the ambush", "The original Thirteen Heavens have joined forces to suppress the newly-ascended Unified Dao cultivator", etc., were simply unstoppable.
As for this battle, the current Sixteen Heavens all fell silent at the same time. Not a single one of them publicly expressed any opinions on it.
This strange silence further fueled speculation among people from all walks of life.
Clockwork Heaven.
"Gu Nan can't be dealt with so easily." Lu Wen seemed to have great confidence in Gu Nan. "If Fa Kong was smart, he'd hand Gu Nan over to the gods, or else he'll regret it sooner or later."
"Even you think so? But if Fa Kong had such decisiveness in the first place, he wouldn't have dared to attack Gu Nan," another person across from Lu Wen replied casually, calmly sipping tea.
This person was none other than Jiu Po, the one who previously invited Gu Nan to join forces.
Jiu Po was so mysterious that very few people even knew what he looked like, and even fewer people knew that he actually had contact with Lu Wen, and their relationship also seemed quite good.
"That's true." Lu Wen also chuckled.
Monk Fa Kong attacked Gu Nan because of his identity as a "Unified Dao level evil demon". But if he handed Gu Nan over to the gods, wouldn't all his previous "investment" be in vain?
This was especially true now that Gu Nan was trapped. It was unlikely that a Unified Dao grand monk would have so little confidence in himself.
...
Amidst all the explosive news, while other astral worlds were just watching the excitement, the people in Gu Nan's Divine Kingdom were naturally suffering the most.
"Has His Lordship… truly been sealed?" An Tiansheng's face was full of worry as he said through gritted teeth, "Damn it! If only we'd been more careful, we wouldn't have…"
He had already been resurrected by Gu Nan, but the ambush targeting his group was the trigger behind the whole incident.
Although An Tiansheng had a nasty personality, he also understood the principle of repaying kindness. It was entirely thanks to Gu Nan that he could be where he was today, so he blamed himself incessantly for this incident.
On the side, Red Tail interrupted with a wave of her hand, "The Divine Kingdom is unharmed, so His Lordship will naturally be alright. Let's wait for news from Xiaoxiao."
As the spirit of the Divine Kingdom, Yan Xiaoxiao naturally had the closest connection to Gu Nan. Right now, everyone was waiting for her to show up.
Red Tail was actually very nervous, but she knew that the more dire a situation, the less panic she could reveal. At least until enemies come knocking on their door, everything must remain as usual.
"Teacher is fine. He'll return soon," Yan Xiaoxiao finally appeared inside the Evil God Temple and brought the news everyone was most looking forward to.
Red Tail and the others breathed a collective sigh of relief. Xie Yun couldn't help asking, "The outside is saying that most of His Lordship's laws have been sealed. That's not true, right?"
Unified Dao cultivators merge with laws, so they themselves represent a part of those laws. It could even be said that they were composed of laws. This was consistent with the greater gods taking the Godheads as their foundation.
To have most of his laws sealed would mean that most of Gu Nan's power was sealed.
"It's true," Yan Xiaoxiao answered without hiding it. Everyone couldn't help quieting down as her words fell, not knowing what to say.
But she then added with a smile, "But they might have misunderstood something. Teacher's strength has never been his laws."