Even so, Ancestral Patriarch Lieyin still hoped You Di would die in the Ancient Ruins.
The reason was simple.
If You Di died, even though the chance for their Purple Cloud Immortal Realm to ascend as the True Lord of Original Sin was minuscule, minuscule did not mean no chance at all. There was still some opportunity. What if the Purple Cloud Immortal Realm got lucky and someone truly did ascend as the True Lord of Original Sin in the end? That wasn't impossible.
But if You Di didn't die, their Purple Cloud Immortal Realm would have absolutely no chance of ascending as the True Lord of Original Sin—not even the slightest bit.
There was another reason: if You Di died, the various major powers might fight fiercely over Original Sin. No matter who ultimately ascended as the True Lord of Original Sin, they couldn't act willfully, nor could they bring calamity upon all living beings. The Purple Cloud Immortal Realm would not perish.
But if You Di ultimately ascended as the True Lord of Original Sin, and he acted willfully, who could stop him?
In the Ancient Era, he dared to burn the Nine Heavens. In the Present Era, he dared to disregard all beings in heaven and earth. It was unimaginable what terrifying things he might do if he ascended as the True Lord of Original Sin.
This was how the Purple Cloud Immortal Realm thought. The Feather Transcendence Immortal Realm, the Haolei Clan, including the Shangqing Sect, and indeed all the major powers of the Great Wasteland and the Cave-Heavens and Blessed Lands thought the same.
In the distance, the Black Pig Monster King looked at the gazes of the many major power Ancestral Patriarchs present. He clearly understood the thoughts in their hearts and dared to affirm that these major power Ancestral Patriarchs were definitely eyeing Gu Qingfeng with covetous intent.
In his view, none of these major power Ancestral Patriarchs were good eggs; every last one of them was a troublesome character.
The Black Pig Monster King originally wanted to offer a reminder, but seeing Gu Qingfeng's utterly indifferent demeanor, he didn't know whether he should speak up.
Right at that moment, as a chaotic vortex in the air changed once more, a group of several dozen people jumped in from who-knows-which Ancient Ruin.
When they saw these people, the expressions of those present shifted subtly once again.
They all recognized these people. They were none other than a group of Ancestral Patriarchs from Loulan.
If one asked what Loulan was,
The answer: one of the Seventy-Two Blessed Lands, and moreover, one of the more famous ones among them.
Speaking of which, Loulan truly lived up to being one of the Seventy-Two Blessed Lands. Major Great Wasteland powers like Purple Cloud and Feather Transcendence, while they had also brought many Ancestral Patriarchs this time, had split up for various reasons. For instance, the Purple Cloud Immortal Realm was searching for Tian Kui, while the Feather Transcendence Immortal Realm split up to search for treasures more quickly. If all their Ancestral Patriarchs stayed together, it would be safe, but then if treasures appeared in other Ancient Ruins, they simply wouldn't know and would miss out.
Acting in groups of ten to twenty people ensured both safety and the ability to disperse in search of secret treasures.
For a renowned Seventy-Two Blessed Land like Loulan, with its vast family and business, its number of powerful Ancestral Patriarchs naturally exceeded those of the Great Wasteland's major powers. Add to that the fact that many Ancestral Patriarchs who had been slumbering since the Present Era were gradually awakening, and the Ancient Ruins were an unmissable opportunity, the number of Ancestral Patriarchs coming from the Thirty-Six Cave-Heavens and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands was surely countless.
However.
Seeing Loulan arrive with a full forty to fifty Ancestral Patriarchs at once, those present were still profoundly shocked.
Was that all?
Of course not.
Besides the forty to fifty Ancestral Patriarchs, there were also five Great Dao Star Lords, two Great Dao Thrones, and the leader was a Great Dao Monarch.
In the Great Wasteland, a few sayings had always circulated.
The first: More than half of all Great Dao Heavenly Destinies belong to the Cave-Heavens and Blessed Lands.
The second: The Cave-Heavens and Blessed Lands hold up half the sky of Great Dao Heavenly Destiny.
The third: Heavenly Destinies in the Cave-Heavens and Blessed Lands are as common as dogs.
These three sayings all meant the same thing: the Thirty-Six Cave-Heavens and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands possessed a great many Great Dao Heavenly Destinies, so many that they accounted for half of all Heavenly Destinies. This was true for Present Era Heavenly Destiny Star Lords, Ancient Era Heavenly Destiny Thrones, Primordial Era Heavenly Destiny Emperor Seals, and Ancient Era Heavenly Destiny Imperial Authority. It had been this way since time immemorial, across all dynasties and eras.
This was no exaggeration at all, but fact.
Not to mention others, just the lineup Loulan displayed this time was enough to see it: five Great Dao Star Lords, two Great Dao Thrones, one Great Dao Monarch. Many major Great Wasteland powers might not even have this many Great Dao Heavenly Destinies if you counted them all.
And this was just one of Loulan's teams, with so many Heavenly Destinies. Who knew how many teams Loulan had split into for this operation, or how many Heavenly Destinies they had in total.
The five Great Dao Star Lords might have only ascended recently in the Present Era, so not many knew of them. But those two Great Dao Thrones were each renowned far and wide. Just like the Feather Transcendence Immortal Realm's Immortal King Kunwu, they had long since integrated their Heavenly Destiny into themselves and had also nurtured Heavenly Destiny Hearts, Heavenly Destiny Spirits, Heavenly Destiny Souls, and Heavenly Destiny Aspects. They were truly deserving Great Dao Thrones.
Especially the leading man.
His Dao title was Qingli.
He was a Great Dao Monarch.
A Monarch, as the name implied, had ascended to both the Great Dao Throne and the Great Dao Star Lord—one could say he possessed a peerless Heavenly Destiny.
This Monarch Qingli had already nurtured a Heavenly Destiny Aspect as early as the mid-Ancient Era. His strength was extremely formidable, one of the most famous and powerful Great Dao Thrones of that time. Although only a Great Dao Throne, he possessed strength comparable to a Great Dao Emperor Seal. Back then, he had even beaten a Ghost Emperor until he fled using a blood escape technique. That battle also propelled Monarch Qingli to the peak of the Great Dao Thrones, his fame immense for a time. Later, for unknown reasons, he suddenly went into seclusion. Everyone thought he would fade into obscurity.
No one expected that when the Present Era first began, he would ascend to a Heavenly Destiny Star Lord again. It was said that in merely ten thousand years, he had cultivated a Star Lord Aspect.
To this day, how powerful his strength truly was, probably no Human know.
Gazing at Loulan's group of over fifty people, the joy in everyone's hearts far outweighed their surprise.
If they were exploring elsewhere and discovered treasures, encountering such a powerful lineup from the Loulan Blessed Land would likely make them admit bad luck. With Loulan bringing so many experts at once, they definitely wouldn't be a match and couldn't compete. Not to mention others, just Monarch Qingli's strength alone would be enough to give them a hard time. Even if the major powers' Ancestral Patriarchs didn't want to admit it, they had to acknowledge this fact. They could only admit their misfortune; there was no other way.
The key point was that this wasn't elsewhere; this was the Ancient Ruins.
Here, there was not only a Heavenly Demon, but also a mysterious and eerie demoness. Most importantly, there was the universally feared and dreaded You Di.
No one was unaware of how terrifying Gu Qingfeng's strength had been back in the Lingluo Heavenly Domain. Even if they hadn't seen it, they had absolutely heard of it.
Facing You Di, regardless of whether they were famous noble clans, prosperous sects, or major Great Wasteland powers, and regardless of whether they were major power Ancestral Patriarchs, Great Dao Heavenly Destinies, or Heavenly Immortals—every single one, forget about taking action, didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
Now that the Loulan Blessed Land had brought so many experts, even if combined they might still not be Gu Qingfeng's match, at least everyone could huddle together for warmth, and their hearts wouldn't be so afraid.
Just as everyone was still immersed in secret joy, more people jumped down from a chaotic vortex in the air.
This time, not many jumped down—only about seven or eight.
When they recognized the identities of these seven or eight people, the joy in their hearts completely overflowed onto their faces.