A Feeling That Something Big Is About to Happen — Gu Changge Heads to the Heavenly Star Realm
A Feeling That Something Big Is About to Happen — Gu Changge Heads to the Heavenly Star Realm
“Brother, what exactly is going on with you lately? Quite a few of the clan elders are very disappointed in you. They think you’ve cultivated yourself stupid.”
Inside the Sky Emperor Palace, while Ying Shuang was pondering various countermeasures—
At the palace gates.
A silver-haired, breathtakingly beautiful girl appeared, her entire body flowing with radiant light, looking exceptionally divine. It was none other than Ying Yu.
She frowned as she spoke, her face written with dissatisfaction and confusion.
“I have my own reasons for this matter. You needn’t concern yourself with it.”
Hearing this, Ying Shuang’s expression remained perfectly calm as he turned back and replied indifferently.
In front of Ying Yu, his authority as the elder brother still worked quite well.
This counted as the one small comfort in his currently miserable situation.
His sister Ying Yu, though she seemed forceful, was still very obedient before him.
When he had insisted on returning to the mountain, Ying Yu had been a hundred times unwilling, but in the end he had called her back using the reasoning that an elder brother is like a father.
Right now, Ying Yu was the only one by his side who could help him.
As for the subordinates his father had left behind, he had no impression of them whatsoever. He needed to carefully figure them out before daring to give them orders.
“Since Brother says so, then I won’t ask any more. Right now, the outside world is all saying that you’re afraid of Gu Changge, that you don’t dare confront him face to face, and don’t dare clear your name either...”
“After all, this matter really does need to be approached through Gu Changge. If he were to speak up, clearing your name would become much easier, Brother. I don’t know what your deeper meaning is.”
“But our Sky Emperor Mountain cannot be slandered for no reason—especially with the hat of ’Successor of Demonic Arts’ being pinned on us.”
At this point, a flash of disappointment toward Ying Shuang passed through Ying Yu’s eyes as she spoke flatly.
Hearing this, Ying Shuang’s expression shifted slightly. He understood what Ying Yu meant.
She intended to set out herself to find Gu Changge and confront him, to clear Sky Emperor Mountain of the suspicion of harboring the Successor of Demonic Arts.
“No. That Gu Changge harbors sinister motives. How can his words be trusted? You are not allowed to go.”
Ying Shuang’s face darkened as unease rose in his heart.
He wasn’t sure whether Gu Changge actually knew his secret, but one crucial point was certain—Gu Changge was absolutely no good person!
Ying Yu was so innocent. Who knew whether something would go wrong on this trip of hers?
“Why not? Brother, what exactly are you so wary of about Gu Changge?”
“His strength may be great, and his power now reaches the heavens, but he is ultimately of the younger generation. And in the contests of the younger generation, the greatest taboo is cowardice... Brother, you are Father’s most valued son. Now that you’ve been slandered, you don’t even have the courage to go confront him.”
“Honestly, I’m very disappointed in you. Compared to how you used to be, you’re practically a different person.”
Ying Yu frowned, her voice crisp, cold, and entirely unceremonious, pouring out everything that had been on her mind lately.
Hearing this, Ying Shuang’s face paled slightly, feeling as though his hidden thoughts had been struck dead-on.
But he forced himself to stay calm, then revealed a somewhat bitter smile. “Ying Yu, you’ve misunderstood me. I actually have my own difficulties.”
“What difficulties?”
Ying Yu’s gaze turned somewhat suspicious. The way Ying Shuang put it did sound somewhat convincing.
Ying Shuang looked at her, suddenly took a deep breath, glanced outside the hall, and then, under her doubtful gaze, lowered his voice. “During this period, in the course of my cultivation, I accidentally severed away some things...”
“What?!”
Hearing this, Ying Yu’s eyes snapped wide open in disbelief.
“Brother, is what you said true?”
She asked once more, wanting to confirm whether it was real.
“Absolutely true. I’ve only told this to you, the one I trust most.”
Ying Shuang sighed, speaking with some helplessness.
In truth, this had long been part of his plan. After all, no matter how he disguised himself, people would eventually find flaws and inconsistencies.
So he might as well come clean, inventing the story that he had accidentally severed away part of his memories during cultivation.
He believed Ying Yu would believe it, because his soul aura had not changed—even the weapon within his soul had detected nothing abnormal.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
Ying Yu’s gaze grew very complicated.
Being rather innocent, though she felt something was a bit strange, she didn’t overthink it.
If anything, she now somewhat understood why Ying Shuang’s behavior lately had differed so much from before.
“During this time, I’ve been trying to recover those memories, so I didn’t tell you.”
Ying Shuang answered, while inwardly letting out a sigh of relief. It seemed this explanation had fooled Ying Yu for now.
“It’s fine. Since Brother’s cultivation ran into trouble, then focus on cultivating here in the palace and see whether you can recover those memories. Leave the matter of clearing away the suspicion of the Successor of Demonic Arts to me.”
After a moment of silence, Ying Yu spoke again, her tone resolute and brooking no refusal.
At this, Ying Shuang’s expression shifted slightly. He wanted to say something to stop her, but found he couldn’t come up with any reason.
Stopping her further would instead arouse Ying Yu’s suspicion.
“Fine. But you must be on guard against that Gu Changge. Judging by how he slandered Sky Emperor Mountain, he’s likely no good person. You must be careful...”
Ying Shuang sighed softly on the surface, but inwardly his heart clenched, thick unease welling up.
He kept feeling that something big would happen on Ying Yu’s trip.
He could only hope Ying Yu wouldn’t easily believe Gu Changge’s words.
Otherwise, a great deal of trouble would arise.
“I know. Brother, rest assured.”
Ying Yu answered flatly, then left the great hall and began summoning her many subordinates, preparing to leave the mountain to confront Gu Changge.
......
Outside the mountain gates of the Violet Supreme Alchemy Sect.
Gu Changge stood with his hands clasped behind his back, only Ming Lao and a few others behind him. With his current status and power, there was no need to bring extra people.
No matter where he went, no one dared to slight him.
“Compared to the last time I came, this Violet Supreme Alchemy Sect’s Fortuity seems somewhat more prosperous. It seems the incense offerings have flourished in recent years.”
Gu Changge nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the vast and magnificent mountain ranges before him.
The scenery within grew ever more grand and wondrous.
In the high sky, radiant light shone brilliantly, and streams of alchemy aura interweaved continuously, reflecting all manner of extraordinary phenomena.
Magnificent mountains and rivers, palaces and pavilions—everything one could imagine.
Just as various thoughts flashed through Gu Changge’s mind—
“Young Master Changge, please wait a moment. The Sect Master and the others are on their way.”
Soon, the disciple who had gone to report came hurrying back, his face full of trepidation.
After all, the person standing before the mountain gate was Gu Changge!
The most terrifyingly powerful young man in the entire Beyond!
No matter who saw him, none could likely remain calm.
And now, hearing that Gu Changge was coming to visit, the entire Violet Supreme Alchemy Sect had been stirred into a commotion. Every elder hastily set aside whatever they were doing and came to welcome him.
Hearing this, Gu Changge nodded slightly, in no hurry over this short wait.
“Young Master Changge gracing us with his presence is truly an honor for our Violet Supreme Alchemy Sect.”
Boom!
Several divine rainbows descended!
Accompanied by a gentle voice, a beautiful woman in palace robes arrived in grand fashion with numerous elders of the Violet Supreme Alchemy Sect.
It was none other than the current Sovereign of the Violet Supreme Alchemy Sect, Zi Yan.
Behind her followed the Raging Flame Elder and others.
Among them was also a beautiful, gentle-as-water woman in a blue dress, her eyes toward Gu Changge brimming with deep delight.
It was Lin Qiuhan, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time.
Her cultivation had now reached the Honoured King Realm. Though it couldn’t compare to the various Young Prodigies, it was countless times stronger than when she had been in the Overworld.
Of course, the most important thing was her alchemy cultivation—she could already refine Enlightenment-Grade Pills.
The so-called Enlightenment-Grade Pills corresponded to the needs of Enlightenment Realm cultivators. Partial-Enlightened, True Enlightened Realm, Enlightened Noble Realm, Enlightened King Realm—all were Enlightenment Realm, merely general terms.
She even had a decent chance of refining Quasi-Sacred Realm pills with the elders assisting at her side.
From this, her formidable alchemy talent was plain to see.
At her age, other alchemists were still fiddling with medicinal ingredients, at most refining some simple pills.
To refine Enlightenment Realm pills would normally require thousands, even tens of thousands of years of honing.
“Sovereign Zi Yan! I’ve come to see Qiuhan.”
Gu Changge nodded slightly, a warm smile on his face.
Then he looked toward Lin Qiuhan in the crowd, his smile unchanging. “Qiuhan, long time no see. It seems your cultivation has improved considerably.”
“Young Master.”
Lin Qiuhan gazed at him tenderly, overjoyed. She had never imagined Gu Changge would personally come to the Violet Supreme Alchemy Sect.
It left her somewhat overwhelmed by the favor. She had thought Gu Changge had forgotten her.
Ordinarily she had even wallowed in self-pity, feeling she couldn’t help Gu Changge, that she was useless to him.
Now that Gu Changge had come to see her in person, all those speculations were instantly dispelled.
It seemed Gu Changge hadn’t forgotten her after all—he simply had too many matters, was too busy, and couldn’t spare the time to come.
“Young Master Changge, please!”
Sovereign Zi Yan revealed a smile and stepped forward to lead the way for Gu Changge. The last time Gu Changge came, only a single elder had gone to receive him.
But now she led the way herself, with the entire sect turning out together—enough to illustrate the world of difference in Gu Changge’s power and status.
During this period, Gu Changge’s limelight had practically eclipsed the entire Beyond.
However, her smile was somewhat forced.
In Sovereign Zi Yan’s view, Lin Qiuhan had been sent over by Gu Changge, and everyone knew full well what purpose he had harbored at the time.
Yet Lin Qiuhan’s alchemy talent was so strong that they couldn’t refuse.
They had originally thought that after nurturing Lin Qiuhan for a few years, she would develop feelings for the sect.
But Sovereign Zi Yan later discovered their thinking had been utterly wrong. In Lin Qiuhan’s heart, Gu Changge always came first—even her master and the sect could only rank second.
This left them speechless.
No wonder Gu Changge had so confidently sent Lin Qiuhan over back then. It turned out he had already fed her the love potion, so to speak.
This left the elders of the Violet Supreme Alchemy Sect helpless. In the end, they could only pinch their noses and accept it.
They had all hoped Gu Changge would forget Lin Qiuhan, so that Lin Qiuhan would understand Gu Changge was no good man and place her heart with the sect instead.
Every one of them wished Gu Changge would never come.
Yet when he did come, they still had to put on an extremely welcoming, courteous appearance.
This made the elders of the Violet Supreme Alchemy Sect feel miserable and stifled to death inside.
“During this time, I must thank Sovereign Zi Yan and all the elders for your care and concern for my Qiuhan.”
“Gu is endlessly grateful.”
On the way toward the depths of the Violet Supreme Alchemy Sect, Gu Changge couldn’t help but speak with a smile.
He could naturally see what the many elders were thinking, and he didn’t mind twisting the knife a little further.
Beside Gu Changge, hearing the words “my Qiuhan,” Lin Qiuhan’s face instantly turned rosy red, and her head went dizzy.
Many of the things she had wanted to say to Gu Changge went buzz and dissolved into a jumbled mess.
“Young Master Changge is too kind. Qiuhan is, after all, the successor of our Violet Supreme Alchemy Sect. Caring for her is only proper.”
One elder spoke with a slightly unnatural expression, nearly cursing Gu Changge for his shamelessness out loud.
Thus he deliberately placed heavy emphasis on the words about Lin Qiuhan belonging to their Violet Supreme Alchemy Sect.
Otherwise, if Lin Qiuhan—whom they had spent enormous effort and resources nurturing—were to be sweet-talked away by Gu Changge in the blink of an eye, wouldn’t they die of frustration?
The expressions of the other elders were also quite unnatural, no longer the picture of enthusiastic welcome they had shown at the start.
Gu Changge smiled unconcernedly, chatting and catching up with Lin Qiuhan at his side on his own, asking with concern about her recent days.
Lin Qiuhan, now the successor of the Violet Supreme Alchemy Sect, held a status utterly incomparable to before.
But in Gu Changge’s eyes, she still seemed the same as back then, not much different.
A few words from him and her head spun until she couldn’t tell north from south.
Silly and simple, yet truly innocent.
This scene fell into the eyes of the Violet Supreme Alchemy Sect’s elders, making them sigh inwardly. Though, if it were any other woman being cared for and questioned like this by Gu Changge, she would probably also be unable to hold herself together...
Soon, the Violet Supreme Alchemy Sect held a pill banquet for Gu Changge’s sudden visit.
Called a pill banquet, it was actually a simple alchemy competition.
This was a customary form of hospitality among the alchemy lineage.
Outstanding disciples of the younger generation all made appearances, displaying their respective alchemy cultivation.
For a time, the sky was filled with brilliant radiance and pervading Pill Qi.
Though Lin Qiuhan was young, in terms of alchemy cultivation she was the undisputed eldest senior sister of the current generation, unmatched by anyone.
She had quite a few admirers, but before Gu Changge, they all felt ashamed of their inferiority, not even daring to lift their heads.
Soon, the pill banquet concluded.
Gu Changge sat at the seat of honor, robes fluttering, refined and gentle. After some thought, he bestowed several fairly precious artifacts upon the top three as prizes.
This move drew the envy of the younger generation. Such lavish wealth—truly worthy of the rumored Young Master of the Gu Family!
Quite a few even entertained thoughts of following him, then inwardly weighed whether they had the qualifications.
Afterward, they returned to the resting hall.
Lin Qiuhan finally had the chance to speak with Gu Changge alone, pouring out many of her experiences during this period.
Gu Changge responded with smiles, showing his concern, and only then did he state the purpose of his visit.
“Violet Supreme Alchemy Pill?”
Lin Qiuhan’s expression was somewhat puzzled. She had never heard of the pill Gu Changge suddenly asked about.
Judging by the name, it seemed related to the Violet Supreme Alchemy Sect.
But she had cultivated here for some time and had never heard this name at all.
“It’s nothing. Since you’re cultivating at the Violet Supreme Alchemy Sect, just keep an eye out for me in the future.” Gu Changge smiled, explaining nothing.
After all, the Violet Supreme Alchemy Pill was only a rumor. Whether it was real or fake still awaited investigation and verification.
Besides, he had another matter to entrust to Lin Qiuhan.
Then, Gu Changge took out from his robes an ancient-looking pill formula, upon which was recorded the many refinement methods of a mysterious ancient pill.
“Didn’t you say you always felt useless to me? Then I’ll find you something to do now.”
“So you won’t keep belittling yourself like this.”
Gu Changge smiled and handed the ancient pill formula to Lin Qiuhan.
“What ancient pill is this? Looking at it, aside from the refinement being a bit troublesome, there doesn’t seem to be anything remarkable about it! Young Master, even if you’re trying to comfort me, you should at least bring out a more challenging formula.”
When it came to the field of alchemy, Lin Qiuhan’s demeanor changed at once.
She studied the ancient formula and found that, apart from taking some time, there was really nothing very difficult about it.
She felt this was something Gu Changge had casually brought out to comfort her.
Such an ancient pill could be refined by quite a few alchemists.
Gu Changge had no need to specifically seek her out.
This moved Lin Qiuhan somewhat, while she also blamed herself inwardly. During this time she had actually thought Gu Changge had forgotten her, and had felt rather resentful.
How could someone as thoughtful as Gu Changge be as she had imagined?
She had misunderstood Gu Changge!
“This ancient pill isn’t easy to refine. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come to you.” Gu Changge smiled casually, explaining nothing.
After all, a control secret art like the Demonic Manipulation Urn required exactly this kind of ancient pill as a medium. He would then plant runes within, and it could be successfully refined.
That was why he needed Lin Qiuhan to refine these ancient pills for him.
He had great use for them.
Being at the Violet Supreme Alchemy Sect also saved him the troublesome process of gathering materials.
“Young Master, rest assured.”
Hearing Gu Changge trust her so, Lin Qiuhan immediately promised with a face full of earnestness.
After that, Gu Changge stayed at the Violet Supreme Alchemy Sect for a few days.
Only then did he depart with his entourage, amid the relieved expressions of Sovereign Zi Yan and the elders, and Lin Qiuhan’s reluctant, lingering gaze.
His destination this time was the Heavenly Star Realm, where Yue Mingkong had already gone.
However, since it involved the matter of the Reincarnation of the Mortal One, Gu Changge didn’t intend to be too conspicuous, to avoid unnecessary trouble.
So Gu Changge planned to go alone.
The word to the outside was that he was in secluded cultivation at the Longevity Gu Family, on the verge of a breakthrough, and would see no outsiders.
As a result, Ying Yu—who had rushed over from Sky Emperor Mountain with many powerful ancient subordinates, intending to confront Gu Changge—was met with a closed door.
She was stopped at the mountain gate of the Longevity Gu Family.
Ying Yu was rather stubborn, though. She led her host of subordinates and waited a full half month at the mountain gate, yet Gu Changge never appeared.
This left Ying Yu unwilling to accept it. As the blood daughter of Sky Emperor Ying, her status was supremely noble throughout the entire Beyond, unmatched by anyone.
Yet in the end, she couldn’t even get a single meeting with Gu Changge.
At the mountain gate of the Longevity Gu Family, she didn’t dare act presumptuously either, and in the end could only leave with her resentment.
During this period, it was instead Sky Emperor Mountain behind her that was increasingly believed to be deeply connected to the Successor of Demonic Arts.
For there were rumors that another emerged Successor of Mortal Palace had stopped outside Sky Emperor Mountain, stood there for a long time, and finally chose to withdraw.
As for the reason, there were all sorts of speculations. The one that gained acceptance in the end was that something was wrong with Sky Emperor Mountain, and the Successor of Mortal Palace had sensed danger in advance.
This claim made the faces of many of Sky Emperor Mountain’s higher-ups turn green.
At the time, they too had no idea why the Successor of Mortal Palace, after revealing the Mortal Token, would ultimately depart silently from outside the mountain gate without a word.
All these various events made the Beyond grow ever more restless.
And the Sikong Family, skilled in divination, released news during this period that the Absolute Yin Heaven was reappearing in the world!
For a time, the higher-ups of every Dao lineage and great sect changed color in unison and began discussing solutions.
In the end, many Supreme Dao Lineages, Cults of Immortality, and Longevity Families unanimously decided to establish the True Immortal Academy.
Once this news spread, it immediately set off monstrous waves, and the powers of every heaven were thrown into an uproar.
Meanwhile, in an Overworld an endless distance away from the Inner Domain of the Beyond.
Above a certain region of the Heavenly Star Realm.
A divine light suddenly pierced through, as if tearing the firmament apart.