Under Heaven and Earth, I Am the Greatest; My Temperament Has Always Been Gentle, and I Dislike Slaughtering the Innocent
Under Heaven and Earth, I Am the Greatest; My Temperament Has Always Been Gentle, and I Dislike Slaughtering the Innocent
Even the Sacred King Realm Ancestor had no means of resisting Gu Changge.
This scene plunged every member of the Black Hawk Clan into despair.
No one wanted to become a slave-like existence. They had grown accustomed to standing high above others, and they could never allow someone to stand above their heads.
That was why, when Ye Ling, the successor of the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being, had appeared, the first thing they did was not to welcome him, but to find a way to kill him and eliminate future trouble.
Before Gu Changge, the suppression they suffered was even more terrifying than a Slave Mark.
A Slave Mark could only suppress their cultivation, making it difficult for them to act against Ye Ling.
But Gu Changge directly controlled their very lives. Even the Sacred King Realm Ancestor had no way to resolve it.
The Ancestor had just walked out from the depths, only for a single thought from Gu Changge to suppress him.
Such an eerie method left them utterly horrified.
“How is this possible? This isn’t the Absolute Being... but why does he have that kind of aura...”
Hei Ming, who had rushed over, was now staring at everything in shock.
He did not know Gu Changge’s identity.
It was just that, on Gu Changge, he faintly sensed the same feeling he had when facing that mysterious Absolute Being back then.
His expression instantly turned incomparably shaken.
Subconsciously, he assumed that Gu Changge, like himself, was someone valued by the Absolute Being.
At that moment, Gu Changge also swept a glance at Hei Ming, an inexplicable smile at the corner of his mouth.
This chess piece was quite valuable. He would have to make good use of it.
“Young Master Gu, please.”
From deep within the mountain range, after a moment of silence, a white-robed elder appeared—his face withered and gaunt, yet his spirit vigorous.
His eye sockets were sunken, his expression incomparably shaken.
A terrifying Sacred King Realm aura surged around him, then quickly settled down.
He was another Ancestor of the Black Hawk Clan. The other one, who had just been suppressed by Gu Changge’s single thought, had yet to show himself.
Gu Changge nodded, hands clasped behind his back, appearing perfectly at ease.
With a step, the void blurred abruptly beneath his feet.
The Ancestor led the way ahead.
A short while later, in the central divine hall of the Black Hawk Clan.
Under the reverent and fearful gazes of the Black Hawk clansmen, Gu Changge arrived.
All the upper echelons of the Black Hawk Clan had come—whether they had been in the middle of cultivation or handling important affairs.
At the first moment, they had all rushed here, their expressions fearful, trembling, not daring to speak.
Outside the palace, there were also many of the younger generation of the Black Hawk Clan.
They actually did not know what had happened. They had only heard that Gu Changge had seemingly appeared and come to their clan grounds.
Moreover, even the Ancestors had been alarmed, personally extending an invitation.
This shocked them.
Gu Changge was the enemy of all the Celestial Ancient Races! Why treat him with such courtesy? Were they afraid of him?
No one explained the reason to them. It was too complicated, and many people, themselves included, had yet to recover from the shock.
Only Hei Yanyu and Hei Ming, due to their special status, were permitted to enter the great hall.
“Young Master Gu, please take the seat of honor.”
The other disheveled Sacred King Realm expert also arrived in the great hall.
She was a sinister old crone bearing the very obvious traits of the Black Hawk Clan—enormous wings that seemed capable of blotting out the sky and sun.
Now, the gaze she directed at Gu Changge still carried thick fear and terror.
In her long years of cultivation, this was the first time she had encountered something so bizarre.
Back then, she had only felt a thought explode in her mind, and even her Sacred King Realm Primordial Spirit felt like it would split apart and scatter into ash.
That feeling was simply too terrifying.
Gu Changge was just a young man. Why did he possess such dreadful methods?
Gu Changge sat quite naturally in the seat of honor in the great hall, his expression carrying amusement as he looked down at everyone below.
A dead silence, as if everyone were chilled into muteness.
Even the various Sacred Realm clan elders had cold sweat covering their foreheads at this moment, not daring to open their mouths.
Who knew what Gu Changge intended?
What if they accidentally provoked him? Wouldn’t they die on the spot?
This feeling of life and death resting entirely within a single thought of the other party was like having a sword hanging over one’s head, walking with closed eyes along the edge of an abyss.
One careless slip, and they would lose their lives.
“Yanyu, serve tea to Young Master Gu,” the Sacred King Realm Ancestor who had spoken instructed, glancing at Hei Yanyu at the side.
“Yes, Ancestor.” Hei Yanyu’s heart was filled with dread toward Gu Changge.
After guessing Gu Changge’s true identity, this feeling had only grown stronger.
But she dared not disobey the Ancestor’s command.
Hearing this, her jade hands trembled slightly as she carried the tea before Gu Changge.
Although she usually conducted herself with grace and poise before her clansmen,
she was, in the end, still just a woman in her twenties.
At this moment, she naturally feared death as well.
“Young Master Gu... Master, please have some tea.”
Hei Yanyu had been about to address him as Young Master Gu, but remembering Gu Changge’s temperament,
she hastily corrected herself, addressing him as Master.
If she lost her life over a mere form of address, that would be far too unlucky.
Besides, her reasoning was simple.
Even the Sacred King Realm Ancestors could do nothing about this matter.
The Black Hawk Clan’s submission to Gu Changge was absolutely set in stone, impossible to change.
So she might as well directly show Gu Changge her willingness to submit.
This scene left many of the Black Hawk Clan’s upper echelons with complicated feelings, sighing silently.
Hei Yanyu’s thinking was no different from their own. At this point, they could only accept their fate.
At this moment, Gu Changge actually gave Hei Yanyu a serious once-over.
She looked no older than seventeen or eighteen, with exquisite features.
Her raven hair flowed like clouds, pinned with a Nine-Phoenix Hairpin. She wore a gorgeous robe of embroidered rivers and mountains woven with jade threads, holy as a divine lotus, her beauty unmatched.
Her looks were quite good, and her conduct was clever—she knew how to read the times.
She had even guessed his true identity earlier.
“What’s your name?”
Gu Changge accepted the tea and asked casually.
Though the question was only asked in passing.
He knew Hei Yanyu’s name, her identity, and even what she was thinking.
It was just that Gu Changge did not want the Black Hawk clansmen to realize that he could see through all their thoughts.
After all, that would inevitably make them feel like walking corpses, like puppets on strings.
What Gu Changge wanted was a clan that would work for him.
Not a group of puppets who obeyed his orders and would only act when instructed on everything.
In that case, he might as well just refine and devour them all.
Moreover, given the current demands of the Immortal-Devouring Demonic Art, such a clan would likely not even let him break through to the true Sacred Realm.
At most, he would reach the Intermediate Quasi-Sacred Realm.
Two Sacred King Realm slaves—to just devour them like that would honestly be far too wasteful.
“Reporting to Master, I am called Hei Yanyu.” Hearing this, a trace of delight flashed across Hei Yanyu’s face, and she hurriedly answered.
Back when Long Teng had taken an interest in her, she had still harbored thoughts of resistance, unwilling to submit, and had schemed for it.
She had possessed her own powerful ambitions.
Now, her life and death were no longer her own.
Although Hei Yanyu deeply disliked this state of affairs, there was nothing she could do.
Gu Changge nodded and said nothing more.
His gaze swept over those below.
“We greet our Master!”
With Hei Yanyu taking the lead, many of the Black Hawk Clan’s upper echelons also changed their forms of address at this moment, to demonstrate their loyalty to Gu Changge.
For a time, the great hall was filled with such cries.
“I know you all hate me. You’d love nothing more than to kill me.” Gu Changge took a sip of tea and smiled lightly.
“So...”
As he spoke, he pointed a finger.
“You...”
“You...”
“And you...”
The faces of those who were pointed at changed drastically, filled with boundless terror.
Then, with a bang, they exploded where they stood, blood mist scattering, body and soul annihilated.
“Do not harbor even a shred of hatred toward me. Because I will know,” Gu Changge said with a smile.
“You only need to remember my words: under heaven and earth, I am the greatest. Those who defy me—these people are the best example of what happens.”
Gu Changge’s words were simple, spoken in a breezy, casual tone.
Yet they carried an iron-blooded meaning of “defy me and I’ll kill you.”
Weng!
Seeing this scene, everyone in the great hall turned cold-faced, their scalps feeling like they would explode.
Sudden, without the slightest warning.
Those people were dead, just like that.
Gu Changge’s methods were truly too astonishing, too terrifying. He seemed able to sense their hatred.
Thinking of this, many people’s faces turned even paler, completely and utterly cowed.
The two Sacred King Realm Ancestors also changed expressions drastically, hastily saying, “We beg Master to quell his anger. Our clan is willing to surrender to Master.”
They had lived long; even their eyelashes were hollow with cunning. Naturally, they did not wish to die here.
Even ants cling to life.
Let alone humans?
Moreover, long ago, their ancestors had submitted to the Reincarnation Supreme Being for this very reason.
Now, for these juniors to submit to Gu Changge was not something unacceptable.
As long as they served Gu Changge dutifully, presumably he would not kill without reason.
“I do like people who know what’s good for them.”
Gu Changge still smiled as he stood with his hands behind his back. “Be sensible, and fewer people die. Why not?”
But this smile of his made everyone shudder with dread.
“We understand, Master.”
At this moment, everyone in the great hall spoke in unison, not daring to harbor any second thoughts.
Gu Changge sensed the hatred in their hearts rapidly vanish without a trace, and nodded in satisfaction.
He liked this kind of clean, efficient method of subjugation.
It saved time and was effortless.
Of course, Gu Changge had no intention of telling them by what means he controlled their lives and deaths.
Fear of unknown origin was the greatest deterrent.
How could the existence of the Entanglement Immortal Spell be easily exposed?
“You can also rest assured. I, Gu, have a gentle temperament. The thing I dislike doing most in life is slaughtering the innocent.”
“As long as you serve me dutifully, I can also let you annex the other Celestial Ancient Races and dominate the Celestial Ancient Continent in one fell swoop. That is not impossible either.”
Gu Changge then spoke with a beaming smile, applying both kindness and severity.
Although he had no intention whatsoever of actually granting this kindness.
Making a verbal promise cost him nothing.
“Thank you, Master!”
Hearing this, the Black Hawk clansmen all put on appearances of profound gratitude, overcome with emotion.
Of course, whether this display was genuine or fake, only they themselves knew. Gu Changge did not expose it.
As the Young Master of the Longevity Gu Family and the Successor of Skyward Schloss,
such words spoken from this identity did carry considerable credibility—at least countless times more believable than if someone like Ye Ling had said them.
Many people were actually willing to believe it.
Afterward, one of the Sacred King Realm Ancestors stepped forward and announced the matter to all the Black Hawk clansmen.
The Black Hawk Clan would pledge allegiance to Gu Changge, honor him as their Master, follow at his side, and obey his commands.
Once this clan decree spread, the entire Black Hawk Clan was shaken and in an uproar.
Many clansmen expressed their incomprehension, and there were quite a few voices of resistance.
No matter what, Gu Changge was only of the younger generation, wasn’t he?
What virtue or ability did he have? On what grounds could he make the Black Hawk Clan follow him?
Their ancestors were beings whose spread wings could blacken the heavens, who had even stood invincible at the absolute peak of Humanity.
The invincible bloodline of their ancestors flowed in their bodies. How could they easily submit to another?
In response, the methods of the Black Hawk Clan’s Ancestor were simple: forceful suppression. All resisters were expelled from the clan.
Gu Changge’s methods were ruthless and merciless; he would absolutely not spare those who resisted. Therefore, this Ancestor acted with extreme forcefulness.
And very quickly, all voices of resistance within the Black Hawk Clan were dealt with.
This speed left Gu Changge somewhat satisfied.
One could see the Black Hawk Clan’s overwhelming will to survive!
“You seem rather clever. From now on, you’ll help me gather prodigies possessing various Sources.”
“Any race will do. After this, the Celestial Ancient Continent will no longer be sealed off...”
“This place will become an excellent breeding ground.”
“Do well, and I will reward you handsomely.”
Meanwhile, on the way to the depths of the Black Hawk Clan’s territory to retrieve the Stage of Reincarnation Enlightenment,
Gu Changge, his face carrying an expression of keen interest, spoke to Hei Yanyu, who accompanied him carefully from behind.
Hearing this, Hei Yanyu was stunned, then her body trembled and she hurriedly said, “Master, please rest assured. I will absolutely complete this task.”
She had not expected Gu Changge to suddenly speak to her like this.
He had even assigned her such a task.
Gather prodigies possessing various Sources?
Her back went cold. The meaning behind the word “gather” was actually quite obvious.
Gu Changge did not elaborate, but she understood perfectly well.
This counted as mutual tacit understanding between them? No—it was merely that Gu Changge could not be bothered to lay his cards on the table...
And Hei Yanyu happened to be no fool. She understood that some things were best left to rot in one’s stomach forever.
The matter of the Successor of Demonic Arts was far too terrifying, and moreover, it was Gu Changge’s hidden identity.
Everyone under heaven was currently being deceived and toyed with in the palm of his hand.
Just thinking about it made her scalp tingle and her whole body go cold.
The word “terrifying” was already far from sufficient to describe this young man.
Soon, passing through numerous mountain ranges, towers, and palaces,
Gu Changge saw the Stage of Reincarnation Enlightenment forged from Reincarnation Stone.
It was said that during the Celestial Ancient Times, the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being had left behind and forged this Platform when preaching to all living beings of heaven and earth.
Upon it were many imprints of the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being.
“Master, this is where the Stage of Reincarnation Enlightenment is located. Ordinarily, only clan elders with profound cultivation may approach this place to sense the profundities of the Principles of Reincarnation,” Hei Yanyu said respectfully.
At this point, only she alone was guiding Gu Changge. Everyone else had been casually dismissed by him.
Although the Stage of Reincarnation Enlightenment was precious, compared to the lives of the entire clan, it was not worth mentioning.
However, Hei Yanyu felt that once the Stage of Reincarnation Enlightenment was refined by Gu Changge,
the Ancient Serpent and Divine Crocodile Clans and the others would inevitably be enraged and take notice.
Because the various clans had left imprints on the Stage of Reincarnation Enlightenment precisely out of fear that someone guarding it would steal it for themselves.
“The Stage of Reincarnation Enlightenment...”
Gu Changge stood atop the cliff, looking up with narrowed eyes.
Amid layers of cloud and mist, a hazy high platform loomed faintly.
Weng!
At this moment, black and white divine light burst forth from his eyes, transforming into peerless immortal swords that rang out with a zheng-zheng, slashing toward that high platform.
“This is... the Power of Reincarnation...”
Hei Yanyu was stunned. It seemed her guess had been entirely correct.
The true successor of the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being had already been killed by Gu Changge.
That was why Gu Changge could possess the many methods of the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being.
Hong!
Accompanied by a grand, resounding boom,
radiance suddenly bloomed ahead, immortal rain drifting down in all directions.
That hazy Platform was manifesting, towering like a divine mountain, incomparably tall.
Ancient characters emerged in the void, silver hooks and iron strokes, the brushwork like dancing dragons and serpents.
Brilliant as little suns, yet carrying an air of ancient vicissitude.
Gu Changge activated it, then took a step forward, his figure landing upon it.
It was a magnificent Platform.
Its entire body displayed the misty hues of immortal stone, divine light surging forth, auspicious radiance interweaving, filled with the charm and mysteries of the Dao.
Hazy black and white divine light cascaded down, containing astonishing profundities of reincarnation.
Gu Changge began to sit cross-legged there.
Time began to flow.
No one dared disturb him.
Hei Yanyu watched this scene from afar, shaken to the extreme.
The Principles of Reincarnation that they used for comprehension and absorption...
Gu Changge was actually using them for devouring and refining!
Such audacity made her heart tremble.
Weng!
Gu Changge’s figure remained as motionless as a bell.
One after another, pitch-black Grand Runes branded themselves into the void, condensing and emerging, then forming a Grand Flask that devoured the black and white divine light!
Hong long long...
In an instant, this place was submerged in boundless divine light.
It was as if an Astral River had come crashing down, its might terrifying to the extreme.
Gu Changge refined these energies, his mastery over the Power of Reincarnation advancing by leaps and bounds.
Finally, a Symbol of Reincarnation, composed of countless black and white runes, rapidly condensed.
In the end, it was branded into his Nature God’s Chant.
“The Symbol of Reincarnation can count as an extra life. Even if my Original Soul is destroyed, I can reappear in the mortal world from within this Symbol of Reincarnation...”
“With this, I have one more life-saving measure.”
At this moment, Gu Changge opened his eyes, black and white divine light flickering faintly within his pupils.
He even felt that he had faintly touched the threshold of the domain of time.
The Power of Reincarnation encompassed many aspects, but the most important were life, death, and time.
Afterward, Gu Changge took a step and returned to where he had been.
This Platform, now devoid of its reincarnation profundities, was of no further use to him.
Even for artifact forging, its material was inferior to many kinds of Immortal Gold.
“Congratulations, Master.”
Seeing that Gu Changge had actually refined all these Principles of Reincarnation,
the shock in Hei Yanyu’s eyes had yet to fade.
She hurried forward to offer her congratulations.
“Let’s go to your clan’s treasury grounds...”
Gu Changge said as he left the place.
The Black Hawk Clan had, after all, been passed down for so long; there should be quite a few good things. Upholding his fine habit of not taking even a needle or thread, he naturally had to go take a look around.
And while Gu Changge was refining the many Principles of Reincarnation on the Stage of Reincarnation Enlightenment,
great upheavals also occurred among the other major clans, including the Ancient Serpent and Divine Crocodile Clans.
“What is the Black Hawk Clan doing? Why has the imprint my clan left on the Stage of Reincarnation Enlightenment been touched...” An elder with narrow, elongated eyes, holding a serpent-headed cane, spoke coldly.
In his senses, the imprint on the Stage of Reincarnation Enlightenment had been disturbed, though the disturbance was not obvious—clearly, the Stage had not been taken away.
This matter bred considerable wariness in him toward the Black Hawk Clan.
Anyone was capable of stealing what they were entrusted to guard; it only required the ability to pull it off.
“The Celestial Ancient Races are now in turmoil, and the orthodoxies of the outside world intend to descend. Our clan must find a way to survive in the cracks.”
As he spoke, he summoned a group of clansmen; there were matters to discuss.
At this time, outside the Celestial Ancient Continent, the Boundless Heaven was also bustling with excitement.
The prodigies of the various clans had transmitted word of what had happened within—the Celestial Ancient Races had thrown all scruples to the wind, slaughtering wantonly.
This news immediately provoked the fury of the orthodoxies behind them, who dispatched powerful experts at the first opportunity.
The matter caused an enormous sensation.
Even the Great Elder, who had once made promises with several of the most ancient existences of the Celestial Ancient Continent, wore a complicated expression and could not help but shake his head.
This matter was simply beyond his ability to stop.
Hong long long!
The sky grew hazy as terrifying divine light crushed down from every corner of the heavens.
There were ancient warships, enormous flying vessels, floating divine mountains...
Upon all of these appeared cultivators with powerful auras.
Vast divine senses swept across, leaving the cultivators and living beings in the many ancient cities trembling in terror.
This training expedition was about to erupt into a major incident!