I Know Who You Are Now, the Utterly Despairing Mortal One
I Know Who You Are Now, the Utterly Despairing Mortal One
Within the vast, boundless body of the lotus, immense and abundant Chaos Energy cascaded down, as if one had arrived in an entirely new world.
Gu Changge sat cross-legged here, his gaze carrying a trace of keen interest as he looked down upon Jiang Yang, who had stepped into this place.
Starlight-like radiance flowed across his robes, exuding an incomparably terrifying might.
Mountains and seas roared, the sun and moon revolved, the heavens collapsed and the earth perished.
At this moment, every single cell of his seemed to have transformed into ancient, boundless universes, emitting heart-palpitating rumbling sounds of rotation.
By now, the World Purifying Green Lotus had been completely refined by him, contained within the embrace of his Demonic Heart.
None of the auras clashed or intermingled in chaos; instead, there was even a strange naturalness to it all.
No matter how the demonic qi around him surged to the heavens, he remained towering and unmoved.
Strands of world light emerged—unextinguished though the sky fell, imperishable though myriad ages crumbled—as if the power of his Physique alone could contend against the collapse of worlds and cosmos!
And all of this was the transformation the World Purifying Green Lotus had brought to his Physique.
Outside, wisps of chaotic mist drifted and interwove, sealing off all fluctuations of aura.
This made Jiang Yang’s hair stand on end all the more; a chill crept up his back, as if his scalp were about to be torn off.
He had even handed over his greatest reliance, the Celestial Seal, to Zhao Yi outside. In other words, right now, his only remaining means was the Symbol of Reincarnation.
Yet Gu Changge was waiting here, like a hunter waiting by a stump for the rabbit—waiting for him to walk in and deliver his own death.
This made Jiang Yang’s heart sink continuously, sinking all the way to the bottom.
In all his countless reincarnations, this was the first time he had encountered such a situation—and the most dangerous one at that.
Hadn’t Gu Changge perished in the Sky Pool of Death? In his calculations, he had been trapped and killed, without even a corpse left to find.
Who would have thought he would appear here safe and sound, even occupying the magpie’s nest—seizing the World Purifying Green Lotus that should have belonged to him.
And from the looks of it, he had been here for who knows how long.
Perhaps the phantom figure everyone outside had seen back then was Gu Changge’s deliberate doing—letting everyone see it, thereby deceiving the heavens and crossing the sea, fooling everyone, including him.
Jiang Yang was no fool; after all, he was someone who had lived through so many lifetimes.
Having experienced so much, he immediately sensed something was wrong.
He had been schemed against by Gu Changge—or more precisely, Gu Changge had turned his own scheme against him.
For all the years he had lived, he had actually been kept in the dark without even realizing it.
Soon, Jiang Yang forced himself to calm down, knowing that at a time like this, he could not fall into disarray.
“I’ve been waiting for you for a long time, Mortal One.”
But the next moment, as Gu Changge spoke with keen interest, Jiang Yang’s pupils shrank once more.
It was as if his skull had been pried open and ice water poured straight in; an even more terrifying chill swept through his limbs, nearly freezing his entire body, leaving him rooted to the spot.
“You know my identity... how is that possible...”
“Since when?”
His voice trembled faintly, his expression drastically changing.
Gu Changge had actually stated his identity outright, and even said he had been waiting for him for a long time!
His mind went boom, turning completely blank. That... meant Gu Changge had actually known his true identity very early on.
He had merely pretended not to know all along, never laying his cards on the table?
Before this, everything he had done—Gu Changge had seen it all clearly? Watched it all?
Thinking of this, Jiang Yang couldn’t stop trembling; he didn’t even notice his own hands shaking uncontrollably.
Why had he not detected the slightest abnormality before this?
He had only regarded Gu Changge as an ordinary visitor from the Beyond—someone with a few petty tricks at most, nothing to worry about.
Who would have known he was the one hiding the deepest of all.
“When? Does that matter?”
“What’s this? So surprised? I thought you already knew?”
“Mortal One, your performance truly disappoints me.”
“At a time like this, shouldn’t you be as disdainful and confident as before, looking down on everything?”
At this, Gu Changge spoke again, looking at the dumbstruck Jiang Yang with a smile, his words as nonchalant as ever.
He slowly rose to his feet.
A terrifying might swept forth like a tidal wave.
The monstrous grey fog beyond the sky let out sounds like mountains roaring and seas howling, terrifying to the extreme, making heaven and earth tremble.
The stars beyond the domain undulated like an ocean, all of them reduced to ash!
All changing with Gu Changge’s every breath!
“What happened in there? Why do I feel Jiang Yang’s aura changing, weakening?”
Yue Mingkong stared warily at the terrifying, sky-blotting grey fog above, her heart unwilling.
In her perception, Jiang Yang had vanished into the deepest depths—his target was undoubtedly that World Purifying Green Lotus.
But with that terrifying figure present, she could hardly intervene.
“Has something gone wrong for Jiang Yang? It seems he’s not having an easy time either. The weakening of his aura might be an accident...”
“Jiang Yang was so confident, having laid so many contingencies here, yet now things have slipped beyond his control.”
“Why does this look more and more like Changge’s handiwork... this strange sense of familiarity... did he really sneak down here in secret?”
Yue Mingkong frowned, only able to think as much. With a wave of her jade hand, she ordered the subordinates behind her to watch all directions, lest some small fry slip in at a time like this.
Meanwhile, hearing Gu Changge’s words, Jiang Yang’s expression turned faintly ugly. Compared to his initial contempt, this mockery now made him all the more furious.
Yet there was nothing he could do about it.
Back at Celestia Holy Land, he had assumed Gu Changge dared act that way because he didn’t know his identity.
But who would have thought that Gu Changge had actually known all along—merely pretending ignorance, toying with him in the palm of his hand.
“Who exactly are you?”
By now, Jiang Yang’s voice had calmed down. His state of mind was strong—after all, his greatest trump card, the Symbol of Reincarnation, was still in hand.
He refused to believe Gu Changge had any means to truly kill him.
At worst, all his efforts in this life would go down the drain.
But he could still reincarnate and return.
“Who I am doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re going to die today.”
“Before you die, I can give you a chance to say a few last words.”
Gu Changge smiled faintly, knowing exactly what Jiang Yang was thinking.
He didn’t mind driving Jiang Yang to despair first—after all, in a state of despair, the success rate of plundering Fortuity was much higher.
Since ancient times, villains die from talking too much?
That’s only because their methods weren’t thorough enough!
In Gu Changge’s eyes, the Mortal One’s Fortuity was draining away rapidly. In truth, it had already hit rock bottom back at the Sky Pool of Death, when he clashed with Yao Yao.
After all, falling out with Yao Yao—who should have stood on his side, helping him expand his territory—tearing off all pretenses, was enough to shatter Jiang Yang’s final reliance.
In the Heavenly Star Realm, all the contingencies he had arranged had now, under Gu Changge’s scheming, dissipated into nothing, reduced to bubbles.
How much Fortuity could Jiang Yang possibly have left?
He was even foolish enough to destroy his own fortress, Celestia Holy Land, smugly believing his contingencies within the Sky Pool of Death were flawless and could handle anything.
In the end, he was simply too arrogant and too stupid.
Utterly unworthy of all the lifetimes he had reincarnated through.
Still, Gu Changge had no intention of striking Jiang Yang down in front of Yao Yao and everyone outside—doing so would collapse his persona as her shifu.
When the time came, he could simply appear with the excuse of having been trapped inside. The timing would be perfect; he had calculated it precisely.
Moreover, Yue Mingkong was still outside the Sky Pool of Death, watching everything here intently.
So Gu Changge simply warned her off with his Nature God’s Chant, lest she barge in later and ruin his plan.
Most importantly, Gu Changge felt that with her methods, she might well suffer a great loss at the Mortal One’s hands inside the Sky Pool of Death.
Her part was already done. Now, Gu Changge only needed to close the net.
“Last words? You’re the first person who dares speak to me like this... Since you already know I am the Mortal One, you should understand—you cannot kill me.”
“No matter how many times I reincarnate, I will return again.”
Jiang Yang’s expression became incomparably calm as he spoke indifferently.
Knowing that all his means in this life were useless now, he gave up resisting.
Though this counted as a stain among his many reincarnations—never had he expected to suffer such a great loss at Gu Changge’s hands, to fall here.
But it no longer mattered. He was already planning to shatter the Symbol of Reincarnation and flee back into the cycle once more.
When the time came, when his memories of this life awakened, when he remembered all of this, he would make Gu Changge understand what regret meant.
His methods as the Mortal One were not something the likes of him could fathom.
“At death’s door, and still putting on airs.”
“Did you forget what I told you before? Young people should act less pretentious—especially in front of me.”
Hearing this, Gu Changge couldn’t help but let out a derisive laugh, not the least bit surprised.
Then his large hand reached forward, runes flickering, order and rules cascading down, instantly emitting sounds like roaring mountains and seas, transforming into an incomparably solid, sky-blotting giant hand that slammed down toward Jiang Yang.
With a pu!
“Damn it...” Jiang Yang’s brows furrowed as he tried to dodge backward, but there was no time at all.
The terrifying power smashed down. He immediately coughed up a mouthful of blood, his internal organs rupturing, half his body exploding apart.
Gu Changge controlled his strength—he had no intention of letting him die so easily.
So-called Fortuitous Ones always carried an inexplicable, innate confidence. And the Mortal One’s confidence was that Gu Changge couldn’t kill him?
Utterly laughable.
“Even if you kill me now, it’s useless. When it’s time for me to return, I will return. No one can stop it.”
“You can stop me for one lifetime, but you can’t stop me forever.”
Jiang Yang’s gaze was incomparably gloomy, his hair disheveled, his state wretched to the extreme.
At this moment, his whole body was covered in blood, sprawled on the ground unable to stand, yet he still held an unyielding pride that would not suffer humiliation.
“‘No matter how many times I reincarnate, I’ll return’—don’t you think that sounds awfully chuunibyou?”
Gu Changge smiled faintly, saying something Jiang Yang couldn’t understand—but it was clearly no compliment. His face darkening, Jiang Yang wanted to speak again; even if he couldn’t resist now, he would not yield verbally.
Rumble!!
However, Gu Changge gave him no chance to speak.
He reached out his large hand once more, covering him. This time it was even simpler—he directly grabbed Jiang Yang in his palm, like seizing a tiny ant trying to hop about.
“Give it up. Even if you annihilate my Original Soul, it won’t do anything.”
“My immortality lies in the fact that across All of Heaven and Its Thousand Worlds, there are people chanting my name!”
“Your methods are far too green to kill me!”
Jiang Yang assumed Gu Changge had flown into a rage from embarrassment and was about to crush him to death. Thinking this, a faint mockery even appeared on his face.
After all, this was the only confidence he could find in front of Gu Changge.
So what if he had been out-schemed?
So what if he was going to die in this life?
His proud bones endured; he would not yield!
“Right now, you’re simply like a fool.”
“Didn’t you want to know who I am?”
“At death’s door, yet still believing there’s a sliver of hope? Just how stupid can you be?”
The smile on Gu Changge’s face didn’t change, remaining as faint as ever.
As his words fell, Jiang Yang’s brows furrowed, the mocking words freezing in his mouth as he sensed something amiss.
He suddenly felt—had he been wrong?
At a time like this, Gu Changge was still so confident?
Could he really have a way... to kill him?
Jiang Yang refused to believe it.
Weng!!
But the next moment, his expression changed drastically, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets, his face rapidly turning deathly pale, filled with thick horror and disbelief.
Dense black light spread out, accompanied by heart-palpitating rules of the Great Dao, cascading down to form a waterfall-like, astonishing sight.
It was a Grand Flask bobbing up and down, held in Gu Changge’s palm.
As the black light flickered, it seemed as though the entire universe could be devoured into it!
“The Grand Flask...”
“How is this possible...”
“You’re actually the Successor of Demonic Arts?”
Jiang Yang couldn’t help but tremble.
His voice carried unconcealable shaking and terror—for the first time in his life, he felt fear.
That Grand Flask was all too familiar to him. Why did he seek out the Successor of Demonic Arts in every lifetime, purging the world for peace, returning to all living beings a stable environment for cultivation?
Because the Grand Flask was the bane of his reincarnation methods—and the only bane at that!
That was why he could not allow the Successor of Demonic Arts to grow and one day threaten him.
All that talk about caring for the living beings of the world? That was all bullshit!
He merely wanted to strangle any existence that threatened him in the cradle ahead of time!
“Now you know who I am...”
Gu Changge smiled as faintly as ever. With a weng, the Grand Flask bobbed and descended from the sky, enveloping Jiang Yang.
Terrifying aura surged, like dark divine light blotting out the universe.
“How is this possible... you’re actually the Successor of Demonic Arts...”
Jiang Yang’s face turned incomparably pale, full of shock.
No longer was there any of that earlier confidence, that belief he could return from reincarnation.
For the first time, he felt the threat of death. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined Gu Changge’s true identity was the Successor of Demonic Arts.
It seemed that terrifying figure outside was also Gu Changge’s doing—the means of his Demonization.
Now he understood why Gu Changge had schemed against him from the very beginning, wanting to kill him.
“Impossible... the Successor of Demonic Arts of this era couldn’t possibly be this powerful...”
Jiang Yang’s voice trembled slightly, still unable to believe it.
The Successors of Demonic Arts he had encountered before were never like Gu Changge—so powerful that even he couldn’t resist.
“No. You’re just too weak.”
Gu Changge’s voice remained breezy and light. One foot came down, stomping Jiang Yang beneath his sole.
“No... impossible, you can’t be the Successor of Demonic Arts...”
Jiang Yang was utterly unwilling to accept it. In those eyes, five-colored divine light suddenly burst forth.
Yet in his current state, let alone resisting, even speaking was a struggle.
Under the terrifying suppression, numerous divine lights cascaded from the Symbol of Reincarnation.
But as the Grand Flask pressed down, the Symbol of Reincarnation’s light began to dim, cracks even appearing on its surface, as if it were about to collapse.
“This is a real Grand Flask, not one condensed from a cultivation technique...”
“I understand now.”
“So that’s how it is.”
“So that’s how it is.”
“I know who you are now...”
Jiang Yang’s gaze fixed on the Grand Flask enveloping him, and he suddenly let out a miserable laugh, as if he had only just noticed.
Abruptly, his expression lost its earlier unwillingness and disbelief.
Everything seemed as it should be—so calm, so accepting of it all.
“As I thought, you never died.”
He laughed miserably, already in despair.
“Why would I die?”
Gu Changge raised an eyebrow slightly.
He paid no mind to Jiang Yang’s words, still smiling faintly.
Though he too was somewhat baffled, he knew the Grand Flask’s existence was tied to his own great origins.
After all, many of his memories had very likely been sealed away by his own hand in the past.
Even he didn’t know when or what might surface.
What the Mortal One said clearly showed he had recognized that the Grand Flask Gu Changge possessed was genuinely real—forged from endless divinity and immortal charm, a true condensation of the Great Dao.
At this point, Gu Changge naturally couldn’t be bothered to explain anything.
“It seems the Successor of Mortal Palace of this era has also fallen into your hands...” Jiang Yang was still laughing miserably, deep in despair.
He thought of everything that had happened after he was lured out of Celestia Holy Land.
The aura of the Mortal Palace’s secret arts he had sensed back then was clearly Gu Changge’s secret doing.
“Oh, you mean her?”
Hearing this, Gu Changge smiled faintly and waved his sleeve.
The space before him suddenly split open, and Jiang Chuchu’s figure tumbled out from what had already evolved into his Inner Universe.
She had been cultivating atop a bluestone slab.
During this time, her heart had been anxious and restless, unable to find peace, feeling that something had very likely gone wrong for the Reincarnation of the Mortal One.
But she couldn’t be sure.
Each passing day was like torture, countless complex emotions flashing through her heart, making her sigh, not knowing what the future would become.
Now, suddenly released from the Inner Universe by Gu Changge, Jiang Chuchu’s expression was still somewhat bewildered.
Her eyes, pure and beautiful as a lotus, turned to Gu Changge beside her with a questioning look.
Could it be that Gu Changge had truly shown great mercy and decided to let her out?
“Gu Changge...”
Jiang Chuchu was about to speak, to ask the reason.
Gu Changge had already spoken first, naturally wrapping an arm around her waist, smiling faintly. “Come meet the Mortal One you’ve most wanted to see. This will be the first time you see him—and also the last.”
“Don’t say I didn’t give you this chance.”
Hearing this, Jiang Chuchu’s expression froze, somewhat unable to believe it, as if needing to confirm it again.
Only then did she look toward the person suppressed beneath Gu Changge’s foot—covered in blood, his features unrecognizable—utterly unable to believe it.
This person being trampled by Gu Changge, wretched to the extreme, was the Reincarnation of the Mortal One?
“He... he’s the Mortal One...”
Jiang Chuchu’s voice trembled uncontrollably, completely unable to calm down.
In the teachings of the Mortal Palace, the Mortal One was such a magnificent being, his countless great deeds sung in praise by all living beings.
That portrait hanging in the Mortal Palace was still branded in the eyes of every Mortal Palace disciple.
That magnificent figure with his back to all living beings—as if no one in this world was worth him turning around for.
And now, such a person was being trampled underfoot by this great demon, unable to even lift his head?
But she was the Successor of Mortal Palace, cultivating the Mortal Palace’s techniques. The person before her was the Reincarnation of the Mortal One.
The aura couldn’t be wrong.
Jiang Chuchu felt her world collapsing.
She had thought that even if Gu Changge could gain the upper hand, the Mortal One wouldn’t be much weaker—after all, he had laid so many contingencies and had reincarnated who knows how many times.
In terms of strength and methods, how could Gu Changge be his match?
Yet reality was the exact opposite of her guess.
Gu Changge’s power was such that even the Mortal One was no match, crushed with overwhelming force.
“How is this possible...” Jiang Chuchu murmured, her face white as frost, as if struck by lightning.
She had thought of acting to save the Mortal One.
But if even the Mortal One was no match for Gu Changge, what could she possibly do?
Jiang Chuchu despaired too.
“Why is it impossible? A mere chicken-thieving, dog-stealing wretch—and now isn’t he being trampled beneath my foot?”
“The one your Mortal Palace believes in is right before your eyes.”
“But... do you dare save him?”
Gu Changge looked at her, smiling casually.
Jiang Chuchu’s face was pale, her body trembling. If not for Gu Changge’s arm around her, she would likely have collapsed to the ground.
And at this moment, Jiang Yang naturally saw Jiang Chuchu as well.
This was the true Successor of Mortal Palace!
Strictly speaking, she should have been the woman protecting his path in this life. Yet from the looks of her now, she had clearly long been suppressed by Gu Changge.
Perhaps no longer even intact.
This filled Jiang Yang with despair, humiliation, and hatred...
“You...” Before dying, he intended to curse him out viciously.
And it was at this very moment that Gu Changge’s eyes narrowed slightly, sensing the time was about right.
“There will be no next life. You won’t have the chance.” He smiled gently.
Weng!!
The next moment, the Grand Flask trembled and began to descend. Terrifying black light flooded down, instantly devouring Jiang Yang’s body.