This Pot Must Be Carried Firmly — She Actually Knows Ye Ling
This Pot Must Be Carried Firmly — She Actually Knows Ye Ling
Gu Xianer’s mind buzzed. All the true disciples were congratulating Gu Changge.
But she alone, as if dumbstruck, remained rooted in place.
When she finally snapped out of it, Gu Xianer glanced behind her — Gu Changge’s figure had already walked over to the viewing seats.
He hadn’t even spared her an extra glance, let alone spoken to her. Naturally, he hadn’t come up to her like usual, wearing that infuriating expression that made her flare up in anger.
Now Gu Xianer felt a strange sense of loss and gain.
Logically speaking, Gu Changge had willingly taken her blade, endured the pain, had many of his bones broken, and even nearly lost his life.
He had already repaid part of the suffering he owed her.
What more could she expect from him?
After all, in this world there was never truly anyone who would be good to another for no reason. Gu Changge wanted to atone for the evil he had committed in the past, and he had paid the price for it.
Though the two of them couldn’t be called even, much of the hatred between them should have been dissolved.
Her branch of the clan had already been brought back by people Gu Changge sent, and even the imprisoned clan members had been released.
Gu Changge had shown her goodwill from the very beginning — it was just that back then, she felt he was condescending, looking down on her with ulterior motives, so she refused to accept any of it.
Her various shifu had taught her to keep her guard up when out in the world, so she approached many things with suspicion.
It was precisely because of this that she had mistakenly wounded Gu Changge.
So now, she was simply unwilling to accept it...
She had put in so much effort, cultivated bitterly for so long, carried years of hatred in her heart — how could it be dissolved so easily by Gu Changge?
She hadn’t even properly defeated him yet, so how could he act as if everything was already fine?
Acting as if she were a stranger, a passerby, not even worth counting as an enemy?
Thinking of all this, Gu Xianer fell silent, momentarily caught between loss and gain, at a complete loss.
Soon after, the Canonization Ceremony concluded smoothly.
Gu Changge departed directly from the high platform and arrived at the viewing seats, chatting and laughing with the various Young Prodigies. The Great Elder and the other elders all vanished one after another, leaving the grounds to the younger generation.
For a time, many Young Prodigies came forward to congratulate Gu Changge.
After all, the position of Skyward Schloss’s successor was not one easily obtained.
Moreover, Gu Changge’s other identity was the Young Master of the Longevity Gu Family — no less prestigious than that of Skyward Schloss’s successor.
That being the case, among the various heavens of the Beyond’s Inner Domain, Young Prodigies like Gu Changge who bore multiple identities at once were exceedingly rare.
Simply put, his status was noble beyond words.
And his fiancée was the future Empress of the Unrivaled Celestial Dynasty.
With such a background, as long as no accidents occurred and he didn’t fall, he would absolutely stand at the very pinnacle of the world in the future, holding power over the life and death of countless living beings and Dimensional Worlds — his authority reaching the utmost extreme.
This point was clear to everyone.
“Congratulations, Brother Gu. Brother Gu’s strength is truly unfathomable! Seeing it today, you are truly a model for us all. Now you’ve even taken on the identity of Skyward Schloss’s successor — it fills us with envy.”
The one speaking was Peng Fei, the successor of the Golden-Winged Roc Clan. His hair was entirely golden, golden light flowing over his whole body. Though he was usually unruly and arrogant, looking down on everything and mostly showing people his nostrils,
before Gu Changge he had reined himself in considerably, and these words now came from genuine sincerity.
These words drew agreement from many Young Prodigies, who sighed in assent.
Even Peng Fei, who had always been wild and untamable, considering himself invincible among his peers, had curbed his temper before Gu Changge and spoken such friendly words — one could see just how much deterrence Gu Changge commanded.
Of course, such words didn’t mean they feared Gu Changge.
If it truly came to a clash, a real battle, they certainly wouldn’t be afraid.
But none of them were fools — why offend someone for no good reason? He wasn’t some background-less nobody whom anyone could jump out to mock and slap in the face, was he?
That was impossible.
Hearing these words, Gu Changge smiled faintly and said, “Fellow Daoists are too kind.”
This was the benefit of status. Everyone being on the same level, no one would do anything that lowered their own dignity or intelligence.
Though the lack of face-slapping incidents made things a bit dull.
For Gu Changge, though, this was a good thing. At least up to now, he hadn’t encountered any idiot jumping out to question him and get slapped in the face.
If anything, he was usually the one provoking others.
Speaking of which, these days the trope of trash rising up to slap faces just wasn’t appealing anymore.
Trash before them, without a big enough cheat, could only end up being trampled.
At this thought, Gu Changge once again recalled Ye Ling, who was currently carrying the pot for him.
A perfectly good Fortuitous One, bearing the inheritance of the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being from the Celestial Ancient Times, originally destined to rise triumphantly from weakness, slapping the faces of a whole crowd of Young Prodigies, writing a glorious legend, and achieving supremacy.
Yet now he had become a rat crossing the street that everyone wanted to beat — just one step short of full confirmation and becoming the enemy of the entire world.
Regarding this, besides showing a meaningful smile, Gu Changge couldn’t find anything to say.
Afterward, he chatted and laughed freely with the crowd of Young Prodigies, his expression relaxed and at ease, his gaze occasionally sweeping toward the somewhat dejected and lost Gu Xianer in the distance.
Outwardly unconcerned, inwardly he chuckled lightly.
He could naturally guess all of Gu Xianer’s current thoughts.
After all, all of this had been deliberately and subtly orchestrated by him. No matter how heaven-defying Gu Xianer’s Fortuity was, no matter how powerful and mysterious the shifu guiding her were, she was ultimately just a simple-natured, soft-hearted little girl.
How could she possibly match someone as shrewd as Gu Changge in playing schemes? He could leave her hundreds of streets behind.
So right now, Gu Changge wasn’t anxious in the slightest. Everything was proceeding in the direction he had planned.
Next, he just needed to find the right opportunity...
“I wonder what Brother Gu thinks of the recent matter of the Successor of Demonic Arts?”
At that moment, a clear, crisp female voice suddenly rang out.
Hearing this, Gu Changge’s smile remained unchanged as he looked up.
The speaker before him was a somewhat petite girl who looked only thirteen or fourteen years old, wearing a five-colored feathered robe.
Her features were snow-white and exquisite, her black hair like silk, gleaming with luster as it fell straight to her shoulders, exuding an air of cold pride.
It was none other than Chi Ling, the successor of the Vermilion Bird Clan.
In his previous life’s terms, she was a textbook legal loli.
“The Successor of Demonic Arts is someone everyone has the right to execute. Why does Gifted Lady Chi Ling ask?” Gu Changge looked at her and said with a smile.
Hearing this, the other Young Prodigies all showed strange expressions.
Recently, the matter of the Successor of Demonic Arts had caused a huge sensation, throwing the long-peaceful Beyond into turmoil once again.
Many Cultivators were gripped by fear and unease. Even the Young Master of the White Tiger Clan had met a cruel end, and his followers were implicated, suffering the White Tiger Clan’s retaliation.
The Ancient Royal Families were incomparably powerful, their influence extending into countless corners of the Inner Domain’s various heavens, the Middle Domain’s various lands, and the Outer Domain’s various states — their roots intertwined and deep.
The branches of the Ancient Royal Families were even more vast, involving many ancient primordial races. They had once produced Emperor Grade existences — though among them, such beings were called Ancient Emperors.
Among the Ancient Royal Families, there were also races like the Ancient Ye Family, whose ancestral Ancient Emperor had become an immortal. They were venerated as Ancient Immortal Races, even more esteemed than the Ancient Royal Families.
Of course, the main thing was that the Ancient Royal Families were simply too numerous. Once they united,
that power would be incomparably terrifying — every race and every orthodoxy would have to treat it with utmost seriousness.
Clans like the White Tiger and the Vermilion Bird had ancestors who were beings close to immortals, their status in no way inferior to the Ancient Immortal Races.
“Don’t you think the exposure of the Successor of Demonic Arts was a bit too hasty and accidental?”
Hearing Gu Changge’s words, Chi Ling furrowed her delicate brows and said, “Looking across the ages, every time a Successor of Demonic Arts was exposed, it shook all the heavens and triggered a grand crusade by all orthodoxies. The successor’s strength was always unbelievably powerful.”
“But isn’t this current Successor of Demonic Arts a bit too weak? It’s said he hasn’t even reached the Honoured King Realm. How could he have killed Bai Lie, who had all sorts of life-saving means?”
This was the suspicious point she had discovered. Although everything pointed to Ye Ling being the Successor of Demonic Arts,
and the White Tiger Clan had declared they would hunt down Ye Ling to avenge their Young Master,
recently even sending out many experts bearing powerful treasures that could force Cultivators to reveal their true forms,
she still didn’t believe it — because she knew Ye Ling.
They had once met in a secret realm, and her impression of him was quite good — he had the heart of a strong person seeking the Dao.
He was a resolute and clever man. Though his methods of seizing opportunities weren’t exactly honorable, he lacked the cruelty and coldness of a Successor of Demonic Arts.
Moreover, she knew that Ye Ling’s mysterious inheritance was more like that of some ancient Supreme Being.
So how had it now become tied to the identity of the Successor of Demonic Arts?
“Indeed. Ye Ling hasn’t reached the Honoured King Realm, so how did he kill Brother Bai Lie? Actually, this is something I’ve been somewhat doubtful about recently as well.”
“Brother Bai Lie, as the Young Master of the White Tiger Clan, carried countless life-saving items. I dare say that among all you fellow Daoists, hidden trump cards are hardly few. How could he have been silently killed?”
“This Ye Ling — though I’ve never met him, I’ve heard Brother Ye mention him. He knows some bizarre techniques, and despite having few resources, his cultivation improved very quickly.”
“Moreover, recently quite a few talented prodigies from various factions have mysteriously gone missing. With the Successor of Demonic Arts reappearing in the world, one can’t help but connect the two matters.”
“To be honest, when I was catching up with Brother Ye some time ago, I also had my suspicions about this collateral clansman he spoke of.”
Hearing her words, Gu Changge put on a thoughtful expression, nodded, and voiced some of the “doubts” he knew of.
Then he analyzed the matter in detail.
No matter what, at a time like this, he naturally had to “stand” on Ye Ling’s side.
Although Ye Ling had declared he would challenge him, this was exactly the moment to display his magnanimity.
In everyone’s eyes, how much intersection could he and Ye Ling possibly have? The two of them were people from entirely different worlds.
Hearing these words, Chi Ling showed an expression of agreement, a smile appearing on her coldly proud face as she said, “It seems Brother Gu’s view is actually the same as mine.”
She had always heard that Gu Changge was a cold, perverse, and unapproachable person, but meeting him today, she found the rumors truly didn’t match.
Presumably, those were rumors fabricated by people who wanted to smear him.
When talking with Gu Changge, one could feel a natural warmth like a spring breeze — his expression gentle, his bearing divine as jade, transcendent and otherworldly.
If this was all an act, then Gu Changge would be truly terrifying.
Chi Ling would rather believe this was simply Gu Changge’s nature.
As for the rumors of him covering the sky with one hand in Skyward Schloss — in Chi Ling’s view, that was merely the result of his overwhelming power and strength, leaving no one daring to provoke him lightly.
At this moment, hearing Gu Changge’s words, many Young Prodigies nodded, showing various expressions, finding considerable sense in them.
However, at that moment,
Ye Langtian, his body shrouded in divine rings and radiating brilliance, stood up. He glanced at Chi Ling, his face darkening slightly as he said, “The appearance of the Successor of Demonic Arts demands our serious attention — it’s not a question of belief or disbelief. Moreover, when Brother Gu and I talked some time ago, we touched on this very point.”
Seeing everyone’s confusion, he laid out the doubts he had long held, which also confirmed that Gu Changge’s earlier analysis was indeed accurate.
Ye Ling, as a collateral clansman without vast cultivation resources backing him — how could he compare to a successor like himself?
Yet some time ago, Ye Ling’s cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds, and he had left the family for a long stretch. No one knew where he had been training during that time.
Furthermore, no one had heard of Ye Ling joining any orthodoxy or sect.
These many suspicious points were not without substance.
“Ye Ling is a member of my Ye Family. For him to do such a thing, my Ye Family will definitely give all orthodoxies an explanation.”
Ye Langtian continued. He had already reported this matter to the clan’s ancestral elders, and it had now been placed entirely under his authority.
Recently, he had been constantly devising ways to track down Ye Ling’s whereabouts.
Originally, he had planned to use Ye Ling’s branch of the clan to force him out, but Ye Ling had been mocked and ostracized since childhood — he presumably wouldn’t care about his clansmen’s lives or deaths.
That method clearly wouldn’t work.
Ye Ling’s birth father had also died of illness some time ago, and Ye Ling’s mother had remarried long ago, when Ye Ling was still small.
That was why he believed Ye Ling’s upbringing had shaped his character.
“Brother Ye does have a point, but to conclude that Ye Ling is the Successor of Demonic Arts based on just these few points — isn’t that too arbitrary?” Hearing this, Chi Ling frowned and said.
She didn’t know why Ye Langtian bore such malice toward Ye Ling, practically convicting him as the Successor of Demonic Arts outright.
But she couldn’t possibly say that Ye Ling’s inheritance came from some Ancient Supreme Being — never mind whether everyone would believe it.
For one thing, how would she explain knowing it so clearly?
Moreover, the allure of an Ancient Supreme Being’s inheritance was far greater than that of the Demonic Arts inheritance.
It would only attract even more Cultivators to hunt for Ye Ling’s whereabouts.
Once such a secret was exposed, Ye Ling’s situation wouldn’t improve in the slightest — it would only grow worse.
“If Ye Ling is the Successor of Demonic Arts, then how could his surface-level strength be something we’d all know about? Killing Bai Lie would be as easy as lifting a finger.” At that moment, a Young Prodigy spoke up, his whole body seemingly shrouded in mist, with only a pair of eyes visible, exuding profound depth.
The Young Prodigy of the Immortal Wang Family — Wang Wushuang.
“Has anyone actually witnessed Ye Ling’s strength? Isn’t all of this just speculation? We can’t wrong an innocent person...” Chi Ling’s brows knitted tightly, displeasure showing on her coldly proud, exquisite face.
She wanted to defend Ye Ling further, but the other Young Prodigies were now frowning as well.
Chi Ling defending Ye Ling again and again — what was her reason?
“Innocent? Why don’t you go say that to the White Tiger Clan, Chi Ling?” Peng Fei, the successor of the Golden-Winged Roc Clan, couldn’t help but sneer.
Ye Langtian’s expression wasn’t looking too good either. He said, “While investigating Ye Ling, I discovered that when he was training in a certain secret realm, Gifted Lady Chi Ling happened to be there as well. Could it be that you know Ye Ling, and that’s why you’re defending him so much?”
At these words, the atmosphere instantly turned somewhat delicate.
Chi Ling’s expression shifted slightly. Right now, Ye Ling bore the title of Successor of Demonic Arts — being connected to him brought nothing but harm.
Even as the successor of the Vermilion Bird Clan, caught in the middle, she was powerless — it might even affect the family behind her.
Chi Ling fell silent.
“Brother Ye, let’s set this matter aside for now. Gifted Lady Chi Ling is surely just worried we might wrong an innocent person — otherwise, with every Cultivator out hunting Ye Ling, the true Successor of Demonic Arts might slip away.”
“That would be a catastrophe of boundless proportions! This matter demands caution and cannot be taken lightly.”
“She’s thinking of all living beings — there’s nothing wrong with that. Let’s not dwell on this matter.”
At that moment, Gu Changge waved his hand and said with a smile.
His smile, however, was somewhat meaningful.
From Ye Langtian’s words — so this Chi Ling actually knew Ye Ling. No wonder she had spoken so much on his behalf.
Before this, he truly hadn’t known.