Gu Changge Is Actually Cold Outside but Warm Inside—One Day She Will Tear Off His Disguise
Gu Changge Is Actually Cold Outside but Warm Inside—One Day She Will Tear Off His Disguise
On this day, before Skyward Ancient City, every last expert of the Ancient Sea Palace was utterly annihilated.
Between heaven and earth, only scattered wreckage of Ancient Battleships lay strewn about, along with lingering traces of terrifying aura, narrating the horror of that great battle.
The news spread rapidly, like a boulder crashing into the deep sea, stirring up enormous waves.
The Cultivators who had witnessed everything that day had spent these past days so shaken their scalps went numb; even recalling it afterward, they still felt chills all over their bodies.
As mighty as the Ancient Sea Palace was, in the end it gained no advantage whatsoever. Instead, it thoroughly offended the Longevity Gu Family—even, in certain respects, tearing all pretense of civility to shreds.
Many Cultivators even had a premonition that the situation in Boundless Heaven would soon undergo a dreadful transformation.
That day, the Golden Decree had blanketed the sky, its divine might as vast as punishment descending from the heavens.
Even when the Sea King’s phantom of the Ancient Sea Palace personally appeared, it could change nothing. In the end, even his decree was smashed to ash by the Gu Family’s Ancestor.
The Longevity Gu Family had shown everyone its terror and its dominance.
It would not tolerate the slightest insult!
And in the period that followed, this matter fermented rapidly, spreading from Skyward Ancient City toward every region.
No Cultivator or orthodoxy could sit still; all were profoundly shaken.
No one had expected that such a hidden chapter of the past would ultimately be dragged into the light.
Whether it was what Gu Changge had said that day, or Gu Xianer’s origins and her tragic childhood experiences, all of it shocked countless people.
The sensation caused by this matter was no smaller than the recent appearance of the Successor of Demonic Arts, who had slain numerous Young Prodigies.
Some even felt that Gu Changge’s ruthlessness in certain respects could rival that of the Successor of Demonic Arts.
However, such claims were quickly drowned out amid the flood of all kinds of voices.
Because of this childhood bone-digging incident, Gu Changge’s reputation did indeed take a considerable hit, and the perfect image he held in the hearts of many of the younger generation was now stained with a blemish.
This left many of the younger generation unable to believe it, unable to accept it—yet the facts were the facts. Gu Changge had done it with his own hands, spoken it with his own mouth, and in the end had even dug out his Daoist Bone, the phenomenon shaking all eight directions.
That said, Gu Changge’s courage in confessing the past before the entire world also earned the admiration of many. From another perspective, in the eyes of quite a few people, his actions were even entirely reasonable.
Does a truly perfect person exist in this world?
Impossible.
No one is perfect—even a true sage could not achieve such a degree.
That Gu Changge bore a stain that could never be erased—wasn’t that the most normal thing in the world?
From this angle, quite a few young women who already admired Gu Changge immensely even felt that this version of him was more real, and their admiration for him did not diminish in the slightest.
This Gu Changge was no longer like before—transcendent and otherworldly, like an immortal beyond the nine heavens, untouched by a single speck of dust.
It made them feel that the distance between this Gu Changge and themselves was no longer so far.
Besides, no one is a sage—who can be free of fault? Gu Changge had already confessed openly before the entire world.
Wasn’t this, in itself, a demonstration of his guilt and his desire to make amends? He would make up for his past wrongs, compensating for what he owed Gu Xianer.
Why couldn’t they choose to forgive him?
After all, those words had been spoken by Gu Changge before the eyes of the entire world—how could that not be convincing?
For a time, there were actually even more voices of praise, feeling that Gu Changge’s frankness this time demonstrated an indescribable boldness of spirit.
Who else could do what he did—admit the wrongs of the past, and before the entire world, dig out his own Daoist Bone to repay the debt of that year?
During this period, all manner of discussion could be heard—praise, curses, lamentation, mockery...
Especially among the younger generation, such discussions never ceased for a moment.
The many Young Prodigies who had been at Skyward Ancient City that day and witnessed everything with their own eyes were deeply struck by this matter.
Even after digging out his Great Dao Bone, Gu Changge’s strength remained boundlessly powerful, completely unaffected.
For them to surpass Gu Changge now was simply impossible. The cultivation Gu Changge had currently revealed was already at the late stage of the Partial-Enlightened Realm.
The other Young Prodigies had only just begun to touch the threshold of the Partial-Enlightened Realm. The gap was far too great—so great that many fell into despair.
He was a great mountain pressing down upon his entire generation, impossible to cross, impossible to climb over.
At least up until now, no young being had ever been seen who, like Gu Changge, could be crowned with the title of Walking Taboo.
As for that mysterious and ruthless Successor of Demonic Arts, Ye Ling—though he had now vanished without a trace, no Cultivator had forgotten his power. After all, he was a formidable figure who had managed to escape from Gu Changge’s own hands.
The Celestial Ancient Continent could be called the perfect breeding ground for the Successor of Demonic Arts. Who knew to what terrifying degree his cultivation had skyrocketed in there?
On the other hand, quite a few Cultivators began to ponder, having noticed the contradictions hidden within this secret.
Why had Gu Changge chosen to dig out his own cousin’s Daoist Bone back then? What was he after? Was he after Gu Xianer’s talent, to make himself stronger?
And why now, before Gu Xianer’s face, before everyone’s eyes, had he dug out the bone and returned it to her?
Could it be that the Great Dao Bone no longer held any use for Gu Changge?
The whole affair seemed far too strange—simply riddled with suspicious points.
Some speculated that this matter stemmed from pressure within the Longevity Gu Family. As the Young Master of the Longevity Gu Family, Gu Changge’s every word and action represented the current Longevity Gu Family.
If this matter were not resolved properly, it would be exposed sooner or later. Thus, Gu Changge had ultimately been forced to do this—to acknowledge Gu Xianer’s identity.
But even more people felt that what lay hidden beneath this secret was merely the tip of the iceberg.
...
As this matter spread rapidly.
At the same time, at Supreme Peak.
Mountain winds blew, clouds and mist coiled like jade belts, winding around every corner.
The scenery, already breathtakingly beautiful, now resembled an immortal realm even more.
Immortal blossoms bloomed, sacred flowers dazzled, clear springs flowed, tinkling melodiously.
“If you have something to say, say it quickly.”
Gu Changge stood at the mountain’s summit with his hands clasped behind his back, his robes fluttering, his expression unfathomable.
He spoke calmly, his back turned to Gu Xianer, whose expression was complicated and conflicted, momentarily at a loss for what to say.
At present, not the slightest trace of injury could be seen on Gu Changge; even his aura had not changed in the least.
Digging out the Great Dao Bone had had no effect on Gu Changge whatsoever.
However, to match the current scene, his complexion still appeared slightly pale.
This was the third day since he had made the truth public.
After Gu Nanshan had annihilated every living being of the Ancient Sea Palace that day, Gu Changge had ordered the experts of the Primal Celestial Temple to clean up the battlefield.
He himself had returned to Supreme Peak, and in the time since, he had not spoken a single word to Gu Xianer—naturally, nor had he had any interaction with her.
He and Gu Xianer seemed to have become complete strangers in an instant.
Cyan skirt hems fluttered.
Three thousand strands of dark hair spilled loose, blown by the mountain wind.
Gu Xianer’s small face was dazed as she looked at Gu Changge, all sorts of thoughts churning in her heart.
She pinched the corner of her skirt, her heart far less calm than her surface suggested—even her slender fingers had turned somewhat white from the pressure.
These three days had been exactly as Gu Changge had shown.
At first, Gu Xianer had thought Gu Changge would explain the events of that year to her, and her heart had been full of anticipation.
In her view, since Gu Changge had explained the matter of the past before the entire world and spoken words of compensating her—
Wasn’t that a demonstration of Gu Changge’s apologetic attitude?
Moreover, he had even gone so far as to damage his Source, dig out the Daoist Bone to return to her, and declared that no one else was permitted to harm her.
To speak thus before so many orthodoxies and great sects had truly shocked everyone.
That domineering and cold attitude had made Gu Xianer’s head buzz at the time, filling her with an unprecedented sense of security.
Although Gu Changge was so black-hearted and wicked, having an older brother like this... seemed pretty nice, actually.
So she had decided to grudgingly forgive Gu Changge, to let bygones be bygones for what he had done over a decade ago.
From then on, the grievances between the two of them would be written off in one stroke, neither owing the other anything.
But Gu Xianer never expected that after that day, Gu Changge would act as if he had forgotten her entirely—let alone explain anything to her, he didn’t even spare her a glance.
His cold attitude was exactly like how she had refused to acknowledge Gu Changge at the very beginning.
It left her completely dumbfounded, utterly unable to comprehend it.
She had thought Gu Changge truly felt guilty over the bone-digging incident of that year and wanted to make amends—it was just that he had yet to speak of that unknown hidden matter.
But why was the reality now so different from what she had imagined?
It was as if... Gu Changge appearing in person to shield her from the Ancient Sea Palace’s retaliation, doing all of this, was merely to acknowledge her identity, merely to give her the justice she was owed from that year.
Or perhaps it was only to silence the mouths of the clan members.
After returning that bone to her, it was as if there was no longer any relationship between the two of them.
Their grievances were settled in one stroke, and they were now strangers to each other.
That superficial sibling relationship, naturally, seemed to have no need to be maintained either.
Gu Xianer refused to believe this outcome, and she was unwilling to simply accept it.
She felt that Gu Changge must be hiding some unknown secret, deliberately putting on this act—he was deliberately treating her this way right now.
This attitude of Gu Changge’s was only because he didn’t want her to understand him!
And so, Gu Xianer took the initiative to come to his door, arriving at Supreme Peak to find Gu Changge, intending to ask him about the whole story from beginning to end.
Now, hearing Gu Changge say this, Gu Xianer took a deep breath and restored her usual calm and cool expression.
“Gu Changge, what exactly was your purpose in doing all that three days ago?” Her voice was incomparably calm, her small face utterly serious.
Gu Xianer felt it was necessary to tear off that layer of disguise on Gu Changge’s face.
If there was some unspeakable difficulty, couldn’t he just say it? Did he have to hide it all alone?
Gu Changge had clearly treated her so well before—she refused to believe all of it had been an act.
Gu Changge was actually someone cold on the outside but warm on the inside.
“What purpose? Gu Xianer, this is what you came running to ask me about? I thought it was something important.”
“You disappoint me greatly.”
“Rather than wasting this time, wouldn’t it be better spent cultivating? Or do you think that from now on, I can no longer suppress you? That you’ve lost your motivation to cultivate?”
Hearing this, Gu Changge seemed to pause slightly.
Then he turned around, looked at her, and spoke with a derisive laugh in his voice.
As if he were looking at some kind of fool.
Gu Xianer was infuriated by his casual, dismissive attitude. Her delicate nose wrinkled, and she said in a cool, indifferent voice, “Gu Changge, stop putting on an act. Don’t think you can hide it from me like this.”
All this time, Gu Changge had been using every means possible to force her to cultivate diligently, so that she could surpass him.
Even now, that goal had never changed.
With such an obvious flaw, did Gu Changge really think she wouldn’t notice it?
Gu Xianer stared into Gu Changge’s eyes, as if trying to see straight through him.
“Oh, putting on an act. How interesting.”
“Gu Xianer, did you really think that after I said those words and swore on my Dao Heart, I wouldn’t lay a hand on you? It’s been a while since I last beat you, and your nerve has certainly grown.”
Gu Changge looked at her with a derisive chuckle. “Don’t try to provoke me, or I really will toss you into a latrine pit and suppress you there for three to five years.”
“Gu Changge...”
Hearing this, Gu Xianer’s voice suddenly rose, fury burning in her eyes as she glared at him. “I’ve already forgiven you, and you still want to treat me like this?”
Even though she knew perfectly well that Gu Changge was deliberately provoking her.
Gu Xianer just couldn’t help getting angry.
Gu Changge said indifferently, “You forgave me? Last time I handed my life to you, and you were the one who didn’t take it. So we owe each other nothing anymore.”
“You...” Gu Xianer’s expression froze. Gu Changge was right—back then, the grudge between the two of them had indeed been settled.
But how could something like this simply be wiped clean just by saying so, erasing every trace of it?
“But you clearly said those words, and you even dug out the Daoist Bone and returned it to me.”
Gu Xianer refused to give up. If she weren’t unable to beat Gu Changge, she would really love to give this stubborn-mouthed guy a vicious beating right now.
At a time like this, what was he still being so proud about? Wouldn’t it be better to just confess everything?
“At this point, you don’t seriously believe that what I said was true, do you?”
“Haven’t you heard of a self-inflicted suffering ploy? As for those words—Gu Xianer, how can you be this foolish and naive? Don’t tell me you were actually moved?”
“That was merely said for the world to hear, to maintain my image, and at the same time to give the family an explanation.”
His expression carried a casual, offhand air.
As if he were narrating something that had nothing to do with him.
But the words he spoke carried a deep coldness.
Gu Xianer’s face turned pale.
The more Gu Changge explained it this way, the less she believed him.
There was clearly something guilty in his heart!
Why was Gu Changge always like this, never understanding other people’s good intentions?
“Can’t you understand my good intentions?” Gu Xianer gritted her teeth, wanting to cut open Gu Changge’s heart to see what exactly was hidden inside.
Otherwise, she simply couldn’t fathom what Gu Changge was thinking.
“Good intentions? Not needed. Someone like me doesn’t need anyone’s good intentions.” Gu Changge shook his head.
“Do you still not understand this by now? Is there any need to ask again?”
His face carried a faint mockery, completely lacking the expression he’d had when protecting Gu Xianer earlier.
“Gu Changge, you...” Gu Xianer was so angered by his words that she gnashed her teeth.
What did he mean, he didn’t need good intentions? He made it sound like he was shouldering some deep, bitter vendetta.
If she didn’t know he was doing it on purpose, she would definitely explode right now.
She swore she would tear off this hypocritical mask of Gu Changge’s.
“What do you mean, ’you’? Don’t you understand seniority?”
Gu Changge looked at her coldly, then suddenly waved his sleeve—hong long long—a giant palm print of void appeared, instantly smacking Gu Xianer off the mountain peak.
“Gu Changge, you’ve gone too far! One day I will definitely suppress you!”
“I’ll expose your secrets and find the truth...”
Gu Xianer’s cold, angry voice came from far away, her teeth itching with rage, but in an instant Gu Changge’s slap had sent her flying out of sight.
“Then this elder brother of yours will wait for you to come find that truth.”
The mountain wind blew in gusts, robes billowing.
The coldness on Gu Changge’s face vanished, replaced by an expression of keen interest.
His words just now had been half true, half false.
But for Gu Xianer, that was already enough.
......
During this period, the atmosphere throughout the entire Boundless Heaven grew heavy, carrying the feeling of a storm about to break.
Many Cultivators and living beings didn’t dare show themselves outside casually.
And most importantly, the Successor of Demonic Arts, who had vanished for a long time, had appeared in the world once again.
This time, the ones to suffer were the most elite experts of the various races!
Among the great immortal orthodoxies and supreme sects beyond the Boundless Heaven, things were far from calm either...
“To think that Daoxiong Changge was hiding such a past—truly unexpected!”
“What a pity I couldn’t witness his grandeur in person that day. Digging out the bone to return to his sister, rebuking the Ancient Sea Palace with a slap—such boldness truly befits the number one of the current younger generation!”
Within a palace of the Ancient Ye Family.
Ye Langtian, his entire body radiant, his crystalline hair seeming to burn like fire, resembling a divine son of the sun.
Hearing this news, he was now sighing in admiration, his eyes full of awe for Gu Changge.
In his mouth, Gu Changge was fully worthy of the title of number one of the younger generation—at least for now, no Young Prodigy could be found to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.
Only the ever-mysterious Yue Mingkong, whenever she took action, made Ye Langtian feel that she might have the ability to fight Gu Changge.
But the two of them were engaged—how could they possibly fight each other?
And any private sparring between them could never be known to the world.
“What exactly is Daoxiong Changge’s own talent? Since the Great Dao Bone never originally belonged to him, could it be a space-type Divine Talent?”
Ye Langtian narrowed his eyes, feeling that Gu Changge’s hidden talent should be related to space.
In the few battles where Gu Changge had taken action, the speed he displayed left everyone dumbfounded and incredulous.
If one said he was traversing through the void, that would make sense.
As for the bone-digging incident?
Actually, quite a few Young Prodigies, Ye Langtian included, didn’t care about it at all.
This was a world where the strong preyed on the weak—devouring the weak to strengthen oneself was the law of nature.
He himself was no saint either, so he considered Gu Changge’s bone-digging in his early years completely understandable.
After all, he was young and ignorant back then; making such a choice was nothing worth criticizing.
That Gu Changge could confess everything had already far exceeded his expectations.
If it were him, he would absolutely never have the guts to do such a thing.
“So there’s such a grudge between Gu Changge and Gu Xianer. But for someone like Gu Changge to actually dig out the bone and return it to his sister—truly unexpected.”
Beside Ye Langtian, a breathtakingly beautiful girl in a purple dress was equally shocked.
It was none other than Ye Liuli.
When Gu Changge was mentioned, she once again recalled the scene in the Overworld where Gu Changge had forced her to apologize. As for her memories of Ye Chen, only a few blurry fragments remained now.
She only remembered that Ye Chen had provoked and offended Gu Changge, and although she had wanted to help, in the end, it had been of no use.
Ye Chen was killed by Gu Changge.
Beyond that, in her eyes, Ye Chen was just an insignificant nobody.
Not worth caring about.
Instead, she would often involuntarily think of Gu Changge, which troubled her greatly.
If she harbored any disrespectful emotions toward Gu Changge, she would feel as if she were facing the majestic might of heaven itself.
“Brother, do you think the Ancient Sea Palace will really go to war with the Longevity Gu Family? I feel the Longevity Gu Family’s foundation is unfathomable, but the Ancient Sea Palace shouldn’t be underestimated either—they’ve ruled the boundless sea races for so many years, and their lineage has never been broken...”
Ye Liuli asked. In her view, this matter could even affect the coming situation of the entire Boundless Heaven.
“This battle is impossible. The Ancient Sea Palace wouldn’t dare.” Ye Langtian said with a strange smile on his face.
......
Meanwhile, at the end of a great marsh lay a sea of black, deep-blue water.
Upon this sea drifted warships of black bone, and one could see an enormous golden sun sunken in the ocean’s depths.
At this moment, the sounds of slaughter shook the heavens, mingled with furious roars.
Wave after wave of sea race beings rushed in from all directions—all of them commanders stationed across the regions by the Ancient Sea Palace, along with numerous vassal forces.
A Grand Commander sent to the Skyward Schloss to demand justice, tens of thousands of sea race members, and even a Commandment from the current Sea King himself—all annihilated by the Ancestor of the Longevity Gu Family.
This matter naturally enraged all the sea race forces of the boundless sea, who gathered together, determined to wash away this humiliation.
At this moment, thick fog billowed skyward.
The Ancient Sea Palace was built beneath the sea.
There, immortal qi swirled and auspicious radiance interwove. A heaven-supporting ancient tree pushed apart all the seawater, forming a boundless world of its own.
Here, sun, moon, and stars all existed, and the laws of heaven and earth were intact.
As far as the eye could see, mountains and rivers, pavilions and buildings, cities and palaces stood row upon row, like a complete great world.
In the ancient palace at the very center, the Sea King, wearing a crown of Immortal Gold and holding the King Celestial Dao Sword, had a gloomy expression as he growled, “The Longevity Gu Family has gone too far! My Ancient Sea Palace has dominated for countless ages, and this is the first time we’ve suffered such humiliation!”
He still clearly remembered how, not long after his manifested figure had appeared, a rusty kitchen knife had come chopping down at his forehead.
Had that phantom not been so solid, refined by him over a long time, that single slash would have reduced it to ashes.
What the Sea King found most unbearable was the Longevity Gu Family’s unyielding, domineering attitude.
It looked as if... the Ancient Sea Palace was afraid of the Longevity Gu Family!
“My King, are we fighting this battle or not? If we fight, we shall immediately assemble all the elite of the sea race and charge at the Longevity Gu Family together, to let them know we are not to be trifled with.”
At this, a creature with a turtle shell on its back, its mung-bean-like eyes swiveling, spoke thus.
In his view, with the sea race’s practically inexhaustible numbers, no matter how deep the Longevity Gu Family’s foundation, they couldn’t possibly outlast them.
After all, the vastest and most expansive region of the Beyond was the ocean!
The sea race’s strength might not lie in branching out and forming their own clans like the Ancient Myriad Races, but they excelled in numbers!
Hearing this, the Sea King’s expression shifted rapidly.
But in the end, he couldn’t help but deflate.
“This King is no match for that Gu Family Ancestor. If we really go to war with the Gu Family over this... it isn’t worth it. The Longevity Gu Family has endured countless wars and has always stood firm. Unless we also had reinforcements...”
“Gu Changge is merely a junior—why does he wield such enormous influence?”
The Sea King roared in low fury, deeply unwilling, but all he could do was vent his anger here.
The assembled high-ranking members of the Ancient Sea Palace below were all silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to utter a word.
However, just then, all of their expressions changed—they sensed a terrifying aura descending from the sky above the undersea palace.
The seawater surged, and the heavens trembled!
“It’s that Gu Family Ancestor!”
The Sea King’s expression changed drastically. He never expected Gu Nanshan to have chased him all the way here.
Quickly, he stepped out, his aura skyrocketing and overwhelming, divine chains of law shooting into the heavens as he instantly charged toward the palace outside to fight.
At a time like this, he naturally could not retreat!
......
The Unrivaled Celestial Dynasty, the Celestial Court.
Within a resplendent, ancient, and grand hall.
Yue Mingkong, who had departed from the Celestial Ancient Continent and intercepted Yin Mei along the way to intimidate her, now sat upright upon the imperial throne.
Dressed in a wide imperial robe, she was reviewing memorials, her delicate brows furrowing from time to time.
Within her cold, profound phoenix eyes, various emotions flickered, finally settling into calm.
“Crown Heir, this is everything that happened in Skyward Ancient City that day.”
Below her, a female official respectfully reported.
......
PS: I slipped and fell in the shower, sprained my wrist, and just got back after applying medicine. The next update will probably be very late—sorry...