Then Your Shifu Will Dig Her Up to Keep You Company — I Simply Can't Stand That Holier-Than-Thou Look
Then Your Shifu Will Dig Her Up to Keep You Company — I Simply Can’t Stand That Holier-Than-Thou Look
With this thought, Gu Changge sat down cross-legged, simultaneously communicating with the System, planning to attempt the refinement using Fatums afterward.
Weng!!
Above his head, black light began to emerge at that moment, wisps of dark radiance cascading down.
Grand Runes interwove one after another, then descended toward the black matter.
The Grand Flask began to rise and fall, like a black hole of utmost terror, before devouring downward.
Its initiative far exceeded anything before.
Gu Changge had underestimated its craving for this black matter. Even when it devoured the Mortal One’s Symbol of Reincarnation, it had never felt like this.
“Looks like I won’t need the Fatums after all.”
Gu Changge sat quietly in the void, a jade-like dark luster appearing on his face, giving him an unexpectedly solemn and majestic air.
Ancient sacrificial chants of a bygone world seemed to echo faintly through this place.
Behind him, demonic qi billowed skyward, and a peerless Demon Lord faintly emerged, its gaze cold and merciless, intimidating All of Heaven and Its Thousand Worlds!
At that moment, deep within Gu Changge’s mind, something seemed to crack with a kacha, beginning to fracture.
Some of the deepest memories surfaced.
Before a mountain peak, clouds and mist churned. A simple thatched hut stood to one side.
Upon a bluestone, a little girl in red practiced her swordplay, sleeves fluttering, sword light like silver, spilling across heaven and earth.
Before the hut, he stood with hands clasped behind his back, his crimson robe billowing, silver hair flying.
Everything in this world seemed to shift and transform with the sword in her hand.
The practice ended.
The little girl in red ran over to him joyfully.
“Shifu, today I ran into disciples from Nine Skies Mountain. They stole my things and said my talent was mediocre, that I’d reach the Enlightenment Realm at best in this lifetime.”
“But I beat them all, one sword against the lot of them.”
“Who told you to defeat them?” His expression was calm, his voice without the slightest ripple.
The little girl in red’s smile froze, and she lowered her head. “I was wrong, Shifu.”
“The sword I taught you is not for defeating enemies.” His voice remained utterly unchanged.
The little girl in red went down the mountain. When she returned, her body was covered in wounds, and in her hand she carried a string of heads.
“Shifu, I’m back.”
Though injured, she was very happy.
“This is your favorite roast chicken.” He patted her head. “Nine Skies Mountain, along with the Nine Skies Continent, ceased to exist as of today.”
“No one may bully my disciple.”
“Shifu, I made a friend down the mountain this time.”
“Oh? A boy or a girl?”
“A girl, but she’s not human.”
“Then what is she?”
“She’s a little Peach Tree.”
He smiled. “Then your Shifu will dig her up to keep you company.”
After that, a slender, pristine little Peach Tree appeared atop the mountain peak.
The memory ended abruptly.
Gu Changge fell into deep thought.
......
In the blink of an eye, several days passed. In the outside world—
“The Yin Spirits and the Yin Qi are both drastically decreasing. Could Gu Changge really have a way to stop all of this?”
Wang Zijin stared somewhat astonished at the Sky Abyss in the heavens.
In her perception, the monstrous gray mist within the Sky Abyss had grown far thinner compared to the beginning.
What did this mean?
It meant Gu Changge’s venture inside was truly backed by confidence.
The Yin Qi that had proven so intractable for every ancient existence—Gu Changge had actually resolved it. It was simply the stuff of fantasy.
“Didn’t they say that since ancient times, only the Mortal One had a way to deal with the Absolute Yin Heaven...”
“Gu Changge couldn’t possibly be the Reincarnation of the Mortal One, could he?”
Wang Zijin was somewhat puzzled.
She glanced at Jiang Chuchu beside her, but not the slightest abnormality showed on Jiang Chuchu’s face.
Calm and composed—apart from tranquility, no other emotion could be seen.
Over these past few days, Jiang Chuchu’s injuries had mostly healed.
Apart from her initial worry, once she noticed the Yin Qi decreasing, she understood that Gu Changge was in no real danger within.
And so she set her mind at ease.
Moreover, the Yin Qi that was so thorny for all living beings—Gu Changge could actually resolve it.
If she didn’t already know that the Mortal One had fallen victim to Gu Changge’s treachery,
even she would suspect that Gu Changge was the Reincarnation of the Mortal One.
At that moment, Jiang Chuchu suddenly recalled what Gu Changge had once said: what the Mortal Palace lacked was never the Mortal One as a person, but the identity of the Mortal One.
Now that the Mortal One was dead, no matter what, if the Mortal Palace wished to remain standing, it had to find the Reincarnation of the Mortal One.
Could it be that they truly had to find someone to impersonate the Mortal One now?
Jiang Chuchu had never considered this matter before—after all, doing so would mean betraying her sect.
But at this moment, she couldn’t stop herself from thinking in that direction.
“Jiang Chuchu, confess honestly—what exactly happened between you and Gu Changge?”
At that moment, Wang Zijin suddenly spoke, asking the question that had concerned her most these past days.
Jiang Chuchu had already regained her composure by now, so naturally she could not tell Wang Zijin any of it.
Tell her that Gu Changge was actually the Successor of Demonic Arts, and that the current Prince Ying was just an unlucky scapegoat?
And then tell her that Gu Changge had actually imprisoned her for a long time? That the previous Successor of Mortal Palace was a fraud?
Though all of this was true, given Wang Zijin’s temperament, she definitely wouldn’t believe it.
On the contrary, she would wonder—why hadn’t Gu Changge killed her, knowing she held these secrets?
So Jiang Chuchu merely said calmly, “You needn’t concern yourself with these things. Gu Changge is not a good person. You should stay far away from him.”
“That’s it?”
Hearing this, Wang Zijin rolled her eyes. “And here I treated you as my best friend, yet you won’t even tell me this much.”
“Of course I know Gu Changge isn’t a good person.”
She felt that the current Jiang Chuchu had developed little secrets of her own.
In the past, whenever men were brought up, she would be utterly disgusted, practically wearing her aloof disdain on her face.
Nothing like how she was now.
“Gu Changge is truly dangerous. You’d best not get too close to him...”
Jiang Chuchu sighed softly, her calm tone carrying a meaning only she herself understood.
“Fine, don’t tell me then. I actually had quite a good impression of Gu Changge, but since you two have some indescribable, unclear relationship, I’ll just drop it now...”
Wang Zijin sighed at this point, putting on a somewhat sorrowful look.
Hearing this, Jiang Chuchu stiffened slightly.
What did she mean, she and Gu Changge had an indescribable, unclear relationship?
And Wang Zijin said she had a good impression of Gu Changge?
“You don’t?”
Wang Zijin watched her expression and smiled ambiguously. “That’s good, then.”
It was at that very moment that the long-quiet Sky Abyss stirred once more.
Immediately after, Gu Changge’s figure walked out from within. On the surface, he looked no different from before.
Jiang Chuchu and Wang Zijin both looked over, their gazes carrying entirely different expressions.
“Are you alright, Gu-xiong?”
Jiang Chuchu had intended to ask, but Wang Zijin beat her to it.
She glanced at Gu Changge, her lips moved, then she lowered her head and swallowed back the words she had meant to say.
“I’m fine.”
“The matter of the Absolute Yin Heaven here is temporarily resolved, though with my abilities, this is the most I can do...”
Gu Changge shook his head, giving the two of them a somewhat peculiar look, and said nothing more.
He had indeed refined the Source of the Eternal Overcast here.
Not only could he now control the Power of Yin, but even the Grand Flask had gained a mysterious new transformation.
However, Gu Changge did not intend to let anyone notice these things so quickly, so he had not completely eliminated the remaining Yin Qi.
With the experience gained here, when he found new Sources of the Eternal Overcast later, he would surely refine them even faster.
“Gu-xiong, sometimes I really suspect you’re the Reincarnation of the Mortal One. What no one else could accomplish, you alone managed.”
Wang Zijin said half-jokingly, her bright eyes brimming with mirth.
“What Reincarnation of the Mortal One? I wouldn’t know. An existence like the Mortal One is not something a mere little Cultivator like me could presume to discuss.”
“As for this Yin Qi, it was nothing but sheer luck...”
“Next time I encounter it, I probably won’t have such good fortune.”
Gu Changge sighed lightly, seemingly no longer concealing anything at this point.
With a chi sound, his sleeve split open.
Then, from his arm upward, wisps of gray mist began to seep out. His bones and flesh all showed signs of corrosion—a truly horrifying sight.
Blood-curdling!
Of course, this injury was deliberately self-inflicted, not sustained within the abyss.
“This...”
At the sight, Wang Zijin’s expression couldn’t help but change, startled by the ghastly wound. “Gu-xiong, you’ve been corroded by the Yin Qi?”
“Let me see.”
As she spoke, she disregarded the propriety between men and women, and feared not the corrosion of the Yin Qi, grabbing Gu Changge’s arm to examine the injury.
Jiang Chuchu’s expression also shifted slightly at this, worry creeping in.
But she could only stand aside, like an outsider.
When clearly, Gu Changge’s injuries had been sustained because of her.
This filled her heart with guilt and discomfort.
And Gu Changge didn’t even glance at her—just as he’d said before, as if she were an eyesore.
“Gu-xiong, this injury... it looks like it was caused by some creature, doesn’t it? Ordinary Yin Qi wouldn’t carry Sacred Principles within it...”
Wang Zijin said with tightly furrowed brows after examining the wound.
As she spoke, brilliant Celestial Spirit light emerged from her palm, containing astonishing vitality.
Chi...
The moment this Celestial Spirit light touched the Yin Qi, it emitted sizzling sounds, exactly like water poured onto boiling oil.
Gu Changge couldn’t help but frown, yet he remained silent, as if forcibly enduring the pain.
“This injury was indeed my own carelessness—I was ambushed by a Sacred Noble Realm creature. I just never expected it would be so hard to expel...”
As he spoke, his face grew several shades paler, though his expression remained composed.
“Gu Changge...”
Seeing him like this, Jiang Chuchu felt a pang of discomfort and wanted to say something.
But after calling out his name, she didn’t know what to say.
It seemed that apart from cursing him as despicable, shameless, and a bastard, she had never once spoken properly with him.
“Chuchu Saintess, is something the matter?”
Hearing her, Gu Changge glanced at her and asked casually, making no mention of anything from before.
Sensing the coldness in his tone, a wave of grievance rose in Jiang Chuchu’s heart.
But on the surface, she maintained perfect composure.
“Thank you for saving me before.”
“Since you’re alright, I’ll take my leave first.”
“I’m quite fine, so there’s no need to trouble Chuchu Saintess with concern. With this time, you’d do better to worry about the safety of all living beings under heaven.”
“Otherwise, even more lives will fall victim to the Successor of Demonic Arts.”
Gu Changge’s tone carried utter indifference.
Hearing this, Jiang Chuchu’s face paled slightly.
Still, she said nothing more.
Then, after glancing at Wang Zijin, she transformed into a divine rainbow and was the first to leave this place.
“Gu-xiong, do you and Chuchu have some kind of conflict?”
Seeing this, Wang Zijin asked with keen interest.
“Nothing much—I simply can’t stand that holier-than-thou act of hers, holding all living beings above everything else...”
Gu Changge shook his head and said offhandedly.
After that, the two of them also departed, not lingering.
The drastic reduction of Yin Qi and Yin Spirits in this Eternal Overcast Battlefield did attract the attention of quite a few Cultivators.
However, the depths of that place were like a Life Forbidden Area to everyone—no one dared casually investigate, so not many paid it excessive mind.
Neither Wang Zijin nor Jiang Chuchu liked making matters known to all.
Gu Changge, even more so, wished to keep such things low-key. At present, the Absolute Yin Heaven had yet to truly enter the eyes of certain old monsters. If they learned he had a way to deal with the Yin Qi,
they would certainly come looking for him.
This was a matter concerning the entire Beyond—even as the Young Master of the Longevity Gu Family, he would be forcibly drafted at a time like this, made to accompany them deep into the Absolute Yin Heaven.
Gu Changge naturally wanted no such thing. It was far too troublesome.
Afterward, having parted ways with Wang Zijin, he returned to his temporary residence in the Southern Flourishing Heaven.
Gu Changge took the opportunity to sense the strangeness of the Power of Yin. Comparing it within his Inner Universe, he found this power possessed an especially strong devouring and enveloping quality toward space.
Array Patterns and runes in particular were like paper before it, casually corroded away.
Although he had currently refined only one piece of the Source of the Eternal Overcast,
the power of this single piece was enough to envelop a territory of a hundred thousand li in every direction!
In other words, Gu Changge now controlled an Absolute Yin Heaven spanning a hundred thousand li.
A hundred thousand li was already enough to blanket some of the smaller life-bearing stars.
During this time, Gu Changge also received word back from Yan Ji—there were leads on the matter he had asked her to investigate.
“So she’s really no longer at the Primal Demonic Temple?”
Gu Changge murmured softly, somewhat understanding.
He had sent Yan Ji to the Primal Demonic Temple to inquire about Su Qingge.
Both of them came from the Overworld, so Yan Ji was naturally no stranger to her.
The answer that came back was that Su Qingge had already left the Primal Demonic Temple some time ago.
Regarding Su Qingge’s condition of Two Souls in One Body,
Gu Changge had actually been paying attention all along, because Su Qingge’s Fortuity points were not fixed.
According to her own confession, every so often, memories of the Beyond would surface in her mind.
Gu Changge had noticed back then that whenever Su Qingge’s memories awakened, her Fortuity points would rise.
There was a significant connection between the two. He had also investigated the matter of Su Qingge’s other soul, even asking his mother to look into it.
But in the end, nothing was found.
So Gu Changge had left Su Qingge at the Primal Demonic Temple, having his mother instruct her in passing.
“Though it’s still just speculation. To confirm it, I’ll need to find Su Qingge’s whereabouts first.”
Gu Changge then issued orders for his subordinates to watch the movements of the various Eternal Overcast Battlefields across the Southern Flourishing Heaven.
If Su Qingge was the mysterious Successor of Demonic Arts that the Ye Langtian siblings spoke of, then she would certainly come to the Southern Flourishing Heaven during this period.
The existence of the True Immortal Academy was, naturally, the perfect breeding ground for a true Successor of Demonic Arts.
Not to mention the Southern Flourishing Heaven was now in chaos, with Prince Ying wearing the hat of the Successor of Demonic Arts.
For her, this was the perfect opportunity to fish in troubled waters.
With Gu Changge’s current network of informants, finding someone who wasn’t deliberately hiding was all too easy.
“If it really is Su Qingge, then she ought to thank me properly. At least up to now, the only ones who know there’s a second Successor of Demonic Arts are Ye Langtian and Ye Liuli.”
“Though speaking of which, would she covet my Source?”
At this thought, Gu Changge’s expression turned rather intrigued.
Back in the Overworld, Su Qingge had displayed intelligence and rationality beyond ordinary people. At first, she had submitted to him out of fear of Gu Changge.
But as time went on, whether her heart had changed—who could say?
It wasn’t that Gu Changge didn’t trust Su Qingge; he simply didn’t trust her other soul.
Without that other soul, he didn’t believe Su Qingge could have inherited the Taboo Demonic Arts.
Soon, several more days passed, and Gu Changge received news of Su Qingge.
Just as he had predicted,
she had indeed come to the Southern Flourishing Heaven.