Secretly Lending Another Hand, an Open Scheme Forcing Him Down a Dead End
Secretly Lending Another Hand, an Open Scheme Forcing Him Down a Dead End
“Ying Shuang’s Fortuity Points had already decayed to such a degree, yet they’ve actually risen again somewhat. Truly, just when one path darkens, another village appears.”
“As expected, that saying holds true—Heaven never seals off every road, let alone for a Child of Fortuity...”
Gu Changge’s expression turned somewhat peculiar, then grew intrigued.
On his way to where Ying Shuang and the others were located, he had been keeping an eye on Ying Shuang’s Fortuity Points, because the System had been continuously notifying him that Ying Shuang’s Fortuity Points were steadily decaying.
So he had been mulling over whether he should secretly lend Ying Shuang a hand when the time came, lest the boy get played to death too quickly.
He didn’t want Ying Shuang dying so early—after all, the scapegoat still needed to keep carrying the pot.
If he died just like that, Gu Changge would have to expend another round of effort finding the next pot-carrier.
Ying Shuang was too weak. If he had the means of the former Prince Ying, he wouldn’t be so passive.
Gu Changge could have saved himself some worry.
But very quickly, Gu Changge discovered that Ying Shuang’s Fortuity Points had actually risen somewhat, inexplicably.
He guessed it was because of the chain of changes triggered now that Ying Shuang was regarded by the world as the Successor of Demonic Arts.
Most likely, there really was an organization behind the Successor of Demonic Arts.
Ying Shuang had probably already caught their attention.
If he encountered mortal danger when the time came, the true organization of Demonic Arts might very well come to rescue Ying Shuang.
Since time immemorial, there had been quite a few Successors of Demonic Arts. Although only one person cultivated the Taboo Demonic Arts in each generation...
As long as they weren’t stupid, they were bound to leave behind some contingencies.
This actually saved Gu Changge some effort. At least for now, Ying Shuang couldn’t die. If someone rescued him, it would become even more impossible for him to clear his name.
This hat of Successor of Demonic Arts—he had to wear it until the day he died.
As for making the fake real, letting Ying Shuang gain another source of power...
Gu Changge wasn’t worried about that, because Ying Shuang fundamentally didn’t know the Taboo Demonic Arts.
Sooner or later, that organization would discover something was amiss.
“Following the normal trajectory, if such a Taboo Demonic Arts organization really exists, they should be looking for that mysterious person Ye Langtian mentioned—it doesn’t have much to do with Ying Shuang.”
“I just don’t know whether such an organization exists within the Eternal Overcast Battlefield. But even if it doesn’t, that’s fine.”
“I’ll lend you a hand myself.”
Thinking of this, Gu Changge’s smile couldn’t help but turn meaningful. His figure grew ever more blurred, and his speed in rushing over to watch the show increased.
In the eyes of the other Cultivators, this scene became a display of Gu Changge’s heart aching for the safety of all living beings, his anxiety showing through—which made them admire him all the more.
Shua shua shua!
Streaks of flowing light pierced across the sky as the prodigies and Cultivators of the various races all rushed over.
The news of the Successor of Demonic Arts appearing in the world had spread throughout the entire Eternal Overcast Battlefield these past few days, causing an enormous sensation.
“Gu-xiong is back—that’s wonderful. With him absent from the Eternal Overcast Battlefield these days, it was truly unsettling.”
“Indeed. With Gu-xiong here, that Successor of Demonic Arts probably wouldn’t dare act so arrogantly. I’d say he only dared to make his move because he knew Gu-xiong had left the Eternal Overcast Battlefield.”
“Back then, Gu-xiong was even kind enough to clear the siege for them. Gu-xiong probably never imagined so many things would happen these past few days.”
“Sigh, if the Successor of Mortal Palace had just directly struck down Prince Ying back then, none of this would be happening now.”
“But Prince Ying was probably feigning weakness back then, trying to deceive everyone...”
At this moment, Ye Langtian, Wang Wushuang, Chi Ling, and the others were also riding divine rainbows, speeding through the high skies toward the region where Sky Emperor Mountain was currently located.
They discussed among themselves, sighing with endless emotion, never once connecting this matter to Gu Changge.
In their view, among the younger generation today, aside from Gu Changge, the Successor of Mortal Palace, and a mere handful of others, practically no one could be a match for the Successor of Demonic Arts.
By now, the matter of Prince Ying being the Successor of Demonic Arts was practically set in stone. Even if he wanted to argue and deny it, no one would believe him.
So they couldn’t figure out what Prince Ying could possibly do at this point. Could he really intend to drag all of Sky Emperor Mountain down with him, making an enemy of the entire world?
And even if he wanted to, Sky Emperor Mountain probably wouldn’t go along with it.
Having been passed down for countless ages, Sky Emperor Mountain couldn’t possibly make such a foolish move at a time like this.
The most likely outcome was that Sky Emperor Mountain would choose to abandon Prince Ying. After all, Sky Emperor Mountain had existed for many years, and Sky Emperor Ying was merely one of its Sky Emperors.
The whole of Sky Emperor Mountain couldn’t possibly all be his subordinates.
The day Prince Ying accepted the Demonic Arts inheritance, he should have foreseen all of this.
And soon, Wang Wushuang, Ye Langtian, and the others also arrived at the region where Sky Emperor Mountain was currently located.
Only, what they saw before them truly shocked them, leaving them unable to recover their senses for a good while.
Radiance soared to the heavens, enough to drown all Cultivators below the Sacred Realm.
Even they couldn’t help but feel a palpitation of fear at this moment, as if in a dream.
“At this point, is Prince Ying really planning to slaughter everyone, making an enemy of the whole world?”
And so, their expressions quickly darkened, filled with boundless fury.
Wang Wushuang and the others even directly activated their respective Forbidden Weapons and secret treasures, staying on guard.
Before their eyes, a vast and mighty aura was emerging, as if an ancient deity was reviving.
That world-topping aura was truly too astonishing. Chains of law and order like an Astral River interwove and cascaded down there, and a golden bell rose and fell in the high sky.
That golden bell was enormous, like a mountain range spanning the horizon, blotting out everything.
Terrifying power of time flowed upon the golden bell, flaunting a supreme aura, as if it would return everything to Chaos.
The incomparably brilliant and terrifying golden divine light, like a mountain range, seemed to pierce through the universe and primordial wastes, shattering the firmament.
Even the Eternal Overcast Battlefield could hardly block that aura—the very dome of heaven burst apart.
This scene deeply shook everyone, leaving the newly arrived Ye Langtian and the others’ hearts palpitating.
As the successor of the Ancient Ye Family, Ye Langtian naturally recognized at first glance what this object was.
That was precisely why he couldn’t understand why Prince Ying would be so bold as to actually activate this thing—this was already the posture of making an enemy of all living beings.
“This is the Soul Suppressing Ancient Bell of Sky Emperor Ying from back then—no, it’s not Sky Emperor Ying’s own weapon, but it was personally refined by him, left specially for his own offspring.”
“It’s probably a Sacred Emperor Grade Artifact. The deity within it is like a supreme Sacred Emperor reviving—who could withstand it?”
“This Successor of Demonic Arts is truly too arrogant. Even now he still won’t admit it. Does he really think that with Sky Emperor Mountain behind him and Sky Emperor Ying as his father, he can do whatever he wants?”
“That young king of the Endless Fire Kingdom was reportedly accepted as a disciple by a Sacred Emperor. Now that she’s died here, that Sacred Emperor will probably be enraged and come rushing here.”
“When that happens, the Eternal Overcast Battlefield will no longer be peaceful, and it’ll be even more dangerous for us.”
Among the withered mountain ranges, many young Cultivators were discussing. Seeing this scene, all of them were furious, and then their expressions turned deeply worried.
At the end of their line of sight, a sky-piercing surge of blood qi could be seen rising.
That was a Supreme Saint letting out a furious roar—the Dao Protector of Qi Lin Zi.
When he struck at Ying Shuang, he had sensed something was wrong.
A world-topping aura erupted from within Ying Shuang’s body, nearly shattering his divine soul.
“The Successor of Demonic Arts—everyone has the right to put him to death!”
Even if you kill me, there will still be others who come to kill you.
At this moment, he roared in fury, his voice shaking heaven and earth.
Vast Sacred Principles surged forth, as if a crack had split open between heaven and earth, venting terror there.
Under such fluctuations, even an ordinary Sacred Realm being would change countenance—there was no way they could remain standing.
When a Supreme Saint rages, mountains and rivers change course, heaven and earth lose their color, and the cosmos is overturned.
If such a battle took place in the outer domains, countless living stars would burst apart, reduced to dust.
But now, he appeared incomparably humble and insignificant.
Beneath the pressure of a Sacred Emperor, he was like an ant—apart from letting out an unwilling roar, he could do nothing.
The next moment, golden divine light poured down, as if burning the very heavens and earth to collapse.
Endless Force of Law, with a pu, drowned this Supreme Saint. He didn’t even have time to scream before he instantly vanished into nothingness, body and soul annihilated.
“I already said I’m not the Successor of Demonic Arts—why won’t any of you believe me?”
Ying Shuang, the man at the center of it all, had a complexion at this moment uglier than anyone else’s.
He stood beneath the firmament, his crown gleaming crystalline and brilliant, divine light shining within, connecting to the Golden Ancient Bell high in the sky.
But this had nothing to do with him personally.
This Golden Ancient Bell had merely revived on its own when he faced mortal danger.
Ordinarily, he fundamentally couldn’t activate it at all.
Right now, Ying Shuang only felt that the black pot of “Successor of Demonic Arts” had been buckled tight over his head, impossible to pry off.
This left him incomparably furious, terrified, and uneasy.
Who exactly was framing him? Why did they keep pinning these hats on his head again and again?
“Young Master, please stop! The sea of bitterness has no bounds—turn back and the shore is at hand. As long as you abolish the Taboo Demonic Arts, there’s still a way out.”
“Otherwise, when the time comes, even the subordinates the Sky Emperor once left behind won’t be able to save you.”
“By doing this, you’re not only harming yourself—you’re harming all of Sky Emperor Mountain!”
“Young Master, acting like this, are you still worthy of the Sky Emperor? If the Sky Emperor were still here, he would not wish to see you become what you are today...”
Ying Yu, Ah Gu, and the rest of the Sky Emperor Mountain crowd all wore expressions of grief at this moment, speaking up one after another, urging Ying Shuang to turn back and stop being so obstinately deluded.
Suspicion was one thing. Now that the suspicion had been confirmed, it was another matter entirely.
This left them deeply worried, grieved, and uneasy...
Everything had been fine—why would Ying Shuang stray onto the wrong path?
As the Successor of Demonic Arts, no matter the era, death was the only outcome.
In the end, he would only implicate his kin, make an enemy of the whole world, and meet no good end.
Why couldn’t Ying Shuang understand this?
“I already said I’ve been wronged—I’m not the Successor of Demonic Arts. Why won’t any of you believe me...”
“Ying Yu, are you the same?”
Ying Shuang’s expression was incomparably furious as he stared at the Sky Emperor Mountain crowd, especially at Ying Yu.
Even his own sister didn’t believe him, believing he was the Successor of Demonic Arts.
This made his heart turn ice-cold, disappointed, chilled.
“At this point, Brother, why do you still persist in your delusion? Do you really intend to drag all of Sky Emperor Mountain down with you?”
“Had you known it would come to this, why did you make that choice back then?”
Ying Yu’s expression was full of pain, carrying struggle, sorrow, grief, and conflict...
She had imagined this day would come, but had always hoped it never would.
Yet now that it had truly arrived, her heart was lost and at a loss, not knowing what to do.
“Heh heh, do you even still regard me as your brother, doubting me like this...”
Hearing Ying Yu’s words, Ying Shuang’s expression abruptly turned cold.
His fists clenched tight, his body trembling.
But in truth, his heart was filled with fury, grievance, and dread to the extreme.
Ying Yu not believing him meant there was no one left to support him—he would face all his enemies alone.
At this moment, he would rather go back to feeding horses than encounter something like this.
Boom!
At this instant, the Golden Ancient Bell above Ying Shuang’s head suddenly erupted with abnormally brilliant and dazzling radiance, billions of strands of golden auspicious light swirling around it.
A terrifying pressure swept across heaven and earth, causing countless Cultivators to change color in fright.
Even Cultivators elsewhere in the Eternal Overcast Battlefield felt a deep unease and terror, a fear from the depths of their souls, unable to resist the urge to prostrate themselves.
“He’s planning to kill us all...”
“Fight him to the death! The Successor of Demonic Arts—everyone has the right to put him to death!”
Everyone’s gazes toward Ying Shuang were filled with fury, hatred, killing intent, and the like.
At this moment, even knowing full well they were no match for Ying Shuang, they showed no fear, preparing to charge forward and fight him to the death.
Ying Shuang was simply too arrogant—just now, before everyone’s eyes, he had forcefully brought out such a weapon and struck down a Supreme Saint.
“Brother, I truly don’t want to fight you. But don’t forget—the Golden Ancient Bell, I have one too.”
Ying Yu’s cold voice, laced with pain, resounded between heaven and earth.
Weng!!
The next moment, a large expanse of exceptionally brilliant radiance emerged at the spot between her brows, within which a supreme aura was rising.
A terrifying phantom abruptly solidified beneath the firmament.
It was likewise a Golden Ancient Bell, identical to Ying Shuang’s, also refined by Sky Emperor Ying back then.
Only, Ying Yu was activating hers through a secret technique—it had not revived on its own.
Its power was fundamentally different from the Golden Ancient Bell above Ying Shuang’s head.
“You want to kill me too?”
“Why? I’ve said all this, and you still won’t believe me?”
Seeing Ying Yu’s actions, Ying Shuang froze, his eyes widening to the extreme.
Then his expression turned somewhat incredulous, as if unwilling to believe that Ying Yu would actually strike at him in the end.
“You’ve already killed so many people. Stop this, quickly.”
Ying Yu’s voice carried grief and struggle.
As she spoke, brilliant auspicious light erupted from the crown of her head.
Seeing this, Ying Shuang knew that saying more was useless. This black pot had been buckled on him so tightly that he had nothing to say, no way to defend himself.
At this moment, the only thing he could do was find a way to survive!
And soon, the two Golden Ancient Bells clashed in the high sky. The resulting fluctuations surged like a boundless sea, the sight incomparably horrifying, as if about to shatter the very firmament.
Terrifying divine light of law and order, utterly chaotic, played out a heaven-opening spectacle there.
Even some stars in the outer domains were swept by this divine light and slashed down, turning to dust in midair.
Chaotic mist fell from the outer domains, submerging everything. Many living beings had no time to dodge and perished directly in the aftermath.
Like that Supreme Saint before, they didn’t even have time to scream before their bodies and souls were annihilated.
For a time, this place became a scene like a living hell on earth.
Many young beings were rushing over, but midway they were struck by the erupting divine light, instantly bursting apart into mists of blood.
“Run! Prince Ying has gone mad—he’s going to kill everyone! He intends to make an enemy of the whole world!”
“Hurry back and report to the clan—the Successor of Demonic Arts has appeared! He’s going to kill everyone!”
Everyone was terrified, fleeing desperately in all directions, utterly despairing, horrified, and enraged.
Judging by these actions, Prince Ying truly intended to exterminate them all, to bury everyone here.
Probably from this day forward, there would be no place left in this world for him.
So, thinking of this, Prince Ying intended to drag everyone down with him right now—after all, every extra person he could pull down as a cushion counted.
“Not good—we need to flee too! Prince Ying is planning to burn his boats. Even if he dies, he’s dragging us down with him!”
The expressions of Wang Wushuang, Ye Langtian, and the others changed drastically.
Although they had the Ancient Ye Family and the Longevity Wang Family behind them, they had no such astonishing means as Prince Ying.
A Sacred Emperor Grade Artifact—was that something an ordinary person could possess?
If they didn’t run now, they would only perish here like everyone else.
Weng!!
But the next moment, a strange fluctuation suddenly spread through heaven and earth, causing everyone’s expressions to change as they felt an eerie power envelop the eight directions.
“Jie jie... I’d like to see who dares to flee!”
“Even if the King of Heaven himself showed up, no one could save you!”
“Today, everyone dies here. Since time immemorial, it has always been us being hunted down.”
“Never thought there’d come a day like this. Truly, fortune’s wheel turns. This generation’s Successor has some guts.”
Accompanying the cold laughter.
Everyone fleeing toward the eight directions of heaven and earth was stunned, their whole bodies turning ice-cold, even their divine souls trembling.
From the void, three terrifying, sky-shaking figures suddenly stepped out.
They were shrouded in black robes, wreathed in Grey Fog, their eyes icy, exuding cruelty and bloodlust.
Their auras were unmistakably of the Sacred Lord Realm, Sacred Lord laws interweaving around them—powerful beyond measure, fully capable of easily crushing everyone present.
“This...”
“How is this possible!”
“This must be fake. How could there be Sacred Lords hidden in the shadows—and three of them! This is forcing everyone onto a dead end!”
Seeing this scene, everyone was dumbstruck. Then, coming back to their senses, their entire bodies went ice-cold.
Their faces turned pale, their divine souls trembled, despairing to the extreme.
In the shadows, there had actually been people hidden all along—and they had suddenly revealed themselves at this moment?
And three Sacred Lords, terrifying beyond measure, at that!
A casual palm strike from any of them could probably wipe out everyone here.
“Successor, rest assured—today, no one will leave this place alive.”
At this moment, before everyone’s despairing and horrified gazes, the three suddenly appeared Sacred Lords all bowed toward Ying Shuang in unison, their expressions most respectful.
“This...”
At this moment, Ying Shuang’s heart was also somewhat shocked—one might even say dumbfounded and bewildered.
And then came a burst of wild joy.
Truly, Heaven never seals off every road.
He even began to suspect whether the former Prince Ying really had been the Successor of Demonic Arts, only that after his Body Possession, he was unaware of that portion of memories.
“No—I’m not the Successor of Demonic Arts. I never was, from the very beginning. Someone is deliberately framing me!”
“And these three before me were sent by him—seemingly to help me, but in truth with another purpose: to make it impossible for me to ever clear my name!”
“Damn it, what a vicious heart!”
“It must be Gu Changge. During this period, aside from him, I’ve had no contact with anyone else. I knew he couldn’t have been that kind-hearted...”
But very quickly, Ying Shuang reacted, his whole body pierced by bone-deep cold, somewhat despairing and terrified.
Yet even having figured it out, what could he do?
The worst part was—he could understand all of this clearly, yet was completely unable to refuse it.
This was an open scheme, forcing him down a dead end!