Chapter 540: Four Gentries When the news of the 10,000 Year Vermilion Fruit spread, countless gazes were attracted. Various other news, real and fake, accompanied it. There was talk of an underground palace hidden beneath the Great Qian Ruins. There was talk of a medicinal field with countless treasures in the underground palace. There was talk of a cultivator obtaining an extremely powerful connate spirit weapon in the ruins... The entire North Region was shaken! The interest towards the Great Qian Ruins from the cultivation world of the North Region had gradually died down in the past 10,000 years. But now, with the massive spread of news one after another, it proved that there were possibly undiscovered secrets in the Great Qian Ruins! Furthermore, the allure of the 10,000 Year Vermilion Fruit was way too great for Golden Cores. Nobody could resist such a temptation. Cultivators from the four dynasties of the North Region started moving. The successors of multiple major sects and factions came out of seclusion, claiming boldly that they wanted to fight for the Vermilion Fruit. Even some of the reclusive cultivation gentry clans declared that they were sending their respective Golden Core paragons towards the Great Qian Ruins. Right away, the world was moving! In less than half a month, a storm gathered in the vicinity of the Great Qian Ruins with countless heroes. Instantly, the atmosphere turned tense and murderous! There was only one Vermilion Fruit. Who in the North Region could obtain it? 15 days later. Two cultivators arrived in the vicinity of the Great Qian Ruins, a man and a woman. The man had a face full of beard and rough facial appearances, striding widely while wearing heavy armor. The woman had extraordinary features and carried a long sword on her waist. Her black hair fell like a waterfall and her robes were white as snow, extremely graceful. They were Mu Dongqing and Bai Yuhan, leaders of the capital of Great Zhou’s Azure Falcon and White Hawk squads respectively. Both of them had already cultivated to perfected Golden Core realm and were here on the orders of the emperor. The Emperor of Great Zhou saw through the situation clearly and knew that the Great Qian Ruins would definitely be filled with paragons competing – the Great Zhou Dynasty did not stand a chance at all. That was the reason why the Great Zhou did not send any army of cultivators but instead, only Mu Dongqing and Bai Yuhan. They were not here for the Vermilion Fruit, merely to check out the secrets of the Great Qian Ruins and see if they could come across any opportunities. There were many sects and factions bearing the same thoughts. There were also a number of itinerant cultivators that headed over, wanting to take advantage of the chaos. All of those itinerant cultivators were not strong and would not have dared to venture into the Great Qian Ruins alone. Now that there were many paragons of various major sects and gentry families opening the path, the malevolent ghosts and otherworldly soldiers were not a threat at all! Those itinerant cultivators could also seize the chance to explore the Great Qian Ruins. Mu Dongqing and Bai Yuhan looked at the desolate, mysterious ruins ahead with hesitant expressions. Normally speaking, the two of them should enter and explore it first. But now, the situation at the Great Qian Ruins was overly chaotic and they had already witnessed much fighting along the way here. The closer they got to the Great Qian Ruins, the more tense the situation became! All of a sudden! Mu Dongqing’s expression changed and he pulled Bai Yuhan down to squat as the both of them hid in the wild grass around them that was taller than a man’s height. “Someone’s here!” Mu Dongqing whispered. Not long after he spoke, a series of figures appeared in the distant horizon. A single glance showed that there were more than a thousand of them and they were all floating on thin air – all of them were Golden Cores! Each of the Golden Cores wore heavy armor and bore cold expressions. They were in an orderly formation and were clearly disciplined. Bai Yuhan frowned slightly and whispered, “That seems to be the army of the Great You Dynasty.” “Yes.” Mu Dongqing nodded. “Someone leaked the news that the other three dynasties made their move as well. To think that the Great You Dynasty would send this many people.” “Their leader seems to be the Golden Core genius of the Great You Dynasty, Gu Luonan.” “It’s him!” Mu Dongqing had a stern expression. “By the looks of it, the Great You Dynasty seems to want to fight badly for the Vermilion Fruit.” Arriving before the Great Qian Ruins, Gu Luonan paused for a moment and waved his arm, leading the Golden Cores behind him to charge into the ruins. Thud! Thud! Thud! All of a sudden! A shuddering sound could be heard from the distant horizons, rumbling like thunder as though a massive army was arriving. Before long, dozens of ancient war chariots appeared, pulled by divine steeds prancing in the air. The chariots charged over with an endless killing intent! War flags flew everywhere, fluttering loudly. There were around three people on each chariot, all wearing battle armor and emitting a steely aura with sharp gazes. The arrival of the dozens of ancient chariots was majestic and instantly attracted countless gazes. The cultivators nearby the ruins could vaguely feel their hearts thumping. Two gigantic words were written on the war flags – Taba! “They’re from the Taba clan!” Mu Dongqing’s heart skipped a beat. Apart from the four dynasties, there were four gentry clans in the North Region – the Murong, Yuwen, Dugu and Taba clans. These four gentry clans existed at the establishment of the Great Qian Empire and had a long lineage. When the capital was destroyed overnight 10,000 years ago, leading to the split of the Great Qian Empire, the four gentry clans left the control of the Great Qian Empire one after another as well. The four gentry clans were cultivation clans with immense strength and deep foundations that even surpassed Great Zhou and the other three dynasties! “To think that even Golden Cores of the Taba would be here!” “I heard that paragons of the four gentry clans have arrived, wanting to claim the Vermilion Fruit and reign over the North Region!” “Their leader seems to be the peerless genius of the Taba clan, Taba Feng. With a nasty temper and a cruel character, he loves to fight!” There were other cultivators hiding nearby Mu Dongqing and Bai Yuhan, discussing in hushed whispers. Among the dozens of chariots, only one of them led by the front. Pulled by five extremely long divine steeds, the sounds of their neighs were shuddering. A single person stood on the chariot with a mighty figure and a haughty aura, letting off a feeling of savageness! When Gu Luonan of the Great You Dynasty caught sight of that person, his expression changed and he took a breath of air before revealing a faint smile, cupping his fists. “It’s you, Brother Taba. I’ve long heard of your great name.” This was a common pleasantry between cultivators but it attracted stifled laughter from the Taba clansmen. Taba Feng swept his gaze over and hollered, “Where did this ant come from? How dare you call me on equal terms!” His words showed no respect for Gu Luonan at all. Gu Luonan was also a top-tier expert of the Golden Core realm and had never endured such ridicule before. Instantly, his expression darkened. Upon seeing that, Taba Feng sneered, “Good, good! How dare you give me such an attitude! Don’t leave then! All of you shall stay here!” “Kill!” Slapping his storage bag, Taba Feng retrieved an extremely domineering halberd. Waving his arm with a holler, he whipped the ropes and his chariot charged over! The Taba clansmen behind him followed his orders and dozens of chariots moved at the same time. The war drums echoed deafeningly. The aura was so immense that it seemed like it could crush everything! “Prepare for battle!” Gu Luonan’s expression changed. He had not expected that a single statement from him would cause a huge battle to break out! Boom! The dozens of chariots charged into the Great You army murderously, tearing apart the Golden Core army that had more than a thousand people. That single charge caused nearly a hundred Golden Cores to be trampled into meat sludge by the chariots! At the front, Taba Feng was even more terrifying, standing at the front of the chariot waving his halberd with frightening strength – none of the Golden Cores could survive a single round against him. Everywhere the chariots passed, a trail of blood would appear! One after another, figures fell from the skies helplessly.