A Self-Directed, Self-Acted Hero Saving the Beauty—Who Do You Think You Are?
A Self-Directed, Self-Acted Hero Saving the Beauty—Who Do You Think You Are?
The moment those words fell.
Immediately after, surging purple energy, like a vast Astral River, came billowing forth from that place.
A colossal purple hand, like one that could prop up the heavens, descended and covered everything, like the hand of the firmament itself, carrying terrifying Sacred Principles.
It slammed down toward the ground below, seemingly intent on crushing everything!
All the Transcendent techniques and moves, beneath this single palm, instantly turned to dust and dissipated outright, utterly unable to resist for even a breath.
Such terror!
With a pu sound!
“Not good...”
“It’s Heavenly Monarch Ziyang—why is he here?”
Song Fan and the others’ expressions changed drastically, unable to believe it.
Struck directly by this palm, Song Fan instantly spat out a mouthful of blood, then was sent flying backward, smashing through numerous buildings.
His expression changed even more violently, filled with boundless shock and horror, deathly pale, as if he had encountered some terrifying existence.
His voice and body both began trembling uncontrollably.
The next moment, the giant palm’s momentum did not cease, landing upon them and making them scream and vomit blood once more, in an utterly wretched state.
The shockwave of the collision here instantly exploded outward, uprooting countless ancient trees and splitting the earth with terrifying fissures.
Many mountain peaks and buildings collapsed, becoming a stretch of ruins.
This scene left Gu Xianer, who had been in the middle of attacking, momentarily stunned, though her delicate brows remained tightly furrowed as she stared at Song Fan and the others, her gaze ice-cold.
“Had I not happened to pass by this place, I fear I would never have stumbled upon you bullying a newly admitted junior sister.”
“This is simply a violation of the True Immortal Academy’s rules, a disgrace to the face of its disciples.”
Along with these words, a fluctuation came from high in the sky.
Immediately after, a purple-robed man wreathed in purple energy emerged from within it.
His figure was tall, his features handsome, and a purple crack marked the space between his brows, adding three parts more martial might to his bearing.
It was none other than Heavenly Monarch Ziyang!
At this moment, his face was cold, his brows tightly knit as he stared down at Song Fan and the others coughing up blood below, and he said icily, “If I ever catch you bullying others again, I will show no mercy.”
“The status of a True Immortal Academy disciple is not for you to abuse the weak with your strength.”
“We wouldn’t dare, we wouldn’t dare. We’ll never dare again...”
“Please spare us, Heavenly Monarch Ziyang!”
“Heavenly Monarch Ziyang, spare us! We know we were wrong, we’ll never bully anyone again, never abuse the weak again...”
Song Fan and the others, in an utterly wretched state, hurriedly cried out.
At this moment, none of their earlier dominance and arrogance remained; their expressions were filled with boundless terror and fear, their faces trembling.
It was as if the one before them was no ordinary person, but a terrifying existence that inspired dread.
“Good that you know.”
Heavenly Monarch Ziyang nodded, seemingly satisfied at last, then coldly barked, “Why haven’t you hurried up and apologized to this junior sister?”
With that, his gaze turned toward Gu Xianer.
His expression was perfectly natural as he asked, with the natural concern one would show an ordinary junior brother or sister, “Is this junior sister unharmed?”
“I’m fine.”
Gu Xianer shook her head, her expression easing slightly, and gave the purple-robed man before her a somewhat puzzled look.
Heavenly Monarch Ziyang?
That name sounded somewhat familiar.
Before coming to the True Immortal Academy, she seemed to have heard of him.
He was an extremely powerful ancient freak, and also a Ranked Disciple.
“However, this matter did not require your intervention. I could have handled it myself.”
Gu Xianer spoke again, feeling that today’s events were somewhat inexplicable.
Hearing this, Heavenly Monarch Ziyang seemed momentarily taken aback.
But in his heart, he wore an expression of “just as expected”—this proud temperament was truly exactly the same as back then.
Then, he smiled faintly and said, “It seems my intervention was rather superfluous. This junior sister is so confident, she must have had a way to deal with them.”
“I am Ziyang, the successor of the Purple Mansion, known as Heavenly Monarch Ziyang. May I ask how this junior sister is called? With such strength, you are surely no nameless nobody.”
He asked again, most appropriately and naturally.
At this moment, even the others nearby would not find anything strange about it.
Hearing this, Gu Xianer was slightly taken aback, her gaze somewhat puzzled, and she did not speak.
For some reason, she kept feeling that today’s events were strange.
Although one doesn’t strike a smiling face, and the other party had even intervened—counting as a hero saving the beauty, conveniently helping her deal with these few eyesores and detestable fellows before her—
this kind of action gave her an unnatural feeling.
Seeing that Gu Xianer did not speak, Heavenly Monarch Ziyang did not seem to mind, his face still bearing a composed and calm smile.
He turned instead to look down at Song Fan and the others, still kneeling prostrate and trembling, and said indifferently,
“Had I not happened to pass by here today, you would not have gotten off so easily. This junior sister’s strength is not something the likes of you, with your meager abilities, could provoke.”
“Truly courting death without knowing it.”
“We understand now. Thank you, Heavenly Monarch Ziyang. We’ll never dare again!”
Song Fan and the others all spoke up, as if utterly terrified.
Hearing Heavenly Monarch Ziyang’s words, Gu Xianer was taken aback once more, her brows furrowing even tighter.
In truth, she did not know whether Heavenly Monarch Ziyang’s temperament was simply like this, or whether he had some ulterior motive.
But she had not expected this ancient freak to say such words—did he think so highly of her? Did he think these people were no match for her?
Could it be that he had seen through her methods and trump cards?
Before this, Gu Xianer had only heard some news about Heavenly Monarch Ziyang, knowing that he had seemingly once been number one in the Beyond, suppressing an entire era, his strength incomparably powerful.
But the two of them had never met before this.
She felt that Heavenly Monarch Ziyang’s claim of passing by, while somewhat coincidental, was not worth pondering too deeply.
Could it be that this ancient freak would specifically wait here for her?
“Why haven’t you hurried up and apologized and made amends?”
Heavenly Monarch Ziyang snorted coldly once more, quite displeased.
Hearing Heavenly Monarch Ziyang’s words, Song Fan and the others turned even paler, hastily apologizing to Gu Xianer, in boundless wretchedness and terror, seemingly in great fear of Heavenly Monarch Ziyang.
Seeing this, Gu Xianer’s brows furrowed tightly, but she did not pursue the matter further.
After all, she was not the type to bite down and never let go. The other party was already heavily injured, had paid the due price, and had apologized.
Naturally, she could not blame them further.
“Then let today’s matter end here. You may scram. Don’t continue being an eyesore here...”
Seeing this, Heavenly Monarch Ziyang finally nodded in satisfaction, waving his hand for Song Fan and the others to hurry up and scram.
Today’s arranged drama of a hero saving the beauty, though clichéd—
as his first meeting with Gu Xianer in this life, he was quite satisfied with it.
Only this way did it seem reasonable and natural, carrying just the right touch of coincidence.
Moreover, very few people knew that Song Fan was actually his follower.
So Heavenly Monarch Ziyang was not afraid of Gu Xianer detecting that all of this had been arranged by him, directed and acted by himself.
Hearing this, Song Fan and the others breathed sighs of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted, and made to leave.
“Hold it.”
However, at that moment, an indifferent voice suddenly rang out.
In the void, a blurry fluctuation spread, and a white-robed man with an indifferent expression stepped forth.
“Did Gu allow you to leave?”
Gu Changge’s figure appeared here.
His voice, as always, held little fluctuation.
He did not look at Gu Xianer beside him, who was somewhat startled, her beautiful eyes slightly wide, but instead looked at Song Fan and the others kneeling prostrate below.
His gaze appeared exceedingly cold.
Wang Zhongyong at the mountain gate had actually already notified him when Gu Xianer arrived.
Gu Changge had originally been too lazy to come over, but considering this girl’s temperament, if he didn’t come, she would insist on running over to sulk and provoke him.
As a result, when he came, he saw this scene.
This Heavenly Monarch Ziyang was truly tired of living.
Directing and acting in his own hero-saves-the-beauty drama, and this blockheaded girl still hadn’t realized it, thinking the other party meant well for her?
Those few old monsters had clearly taught her for nothing—if they saw this scene, they’d probably be angered half to death.
Gu Changge wanted to crack open that head of hers and see what was inside.
However, he hadn’t paid attention to this Heavenly Monarch Ziyang before, but now, looking at him, he was actually someone of great Fortuity, even carrying a faint feeling of a Fortuitous One.
“Gu Changge...”
At this moment, Heavenly Monarch Ziyang’s expression changed slightly, feeling in his heart that things were taking a bad turn, exceeding his control.
But on the surface, he still wore a somewhat surprised look, as if he had not expected Gu Changge’s figure to appear here.
“Young Master Changge, why have you come here?”
He asked with some surprise, as if he did not know of the relationship between Gu Xianer and Gu Changge.
“Gu Changge...”
A flash of delight crossed Gu Xianer’s face, but it quickly returned to coldness, and she snorted coldly, “What are you doing here?”
“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t come to receive me?”
However, Gu Changge simply paid her no mind. His expression was cold as he looked down upon Song Fan and the others below.
And Song Fan and the others, the instant Gu Changge appeared, their faces turned snow-white, losing all color.
If their earlier expressions of fear had been feigned, then their expressions now were genuine, true terror.
Even their divine souls could not help but tremble.
Under Gu Changge’s gaze, they felt their very souls freeze and crack, as if they were lowly ants—or even less than that.
The fear Gu Changge brought them far exceeded anyone else’s!
Subconsciously, they wanted to cast their gazes toward Heavenly Monarch Ziyang, but they did not dare.
After all, doing so would be tantamount to exposing Heavenly Monarch Ziyang’s plan, and the consequences of that would be equally dreadful.
At this moment, Gu Changge spoke again, asking indifferently, “Do you recognize Gu?”
His gaze fell upon Song Fan and the others, his expression without the slightest ripple.
“W-we recognize... we recognize...”
Song Fan and the others felt their scalps go numb, their skulls nearly splitting open, their whole bodies ice-cold, terrified to the extreme, their voices trembling as they replied.
In the True Immortal Academy, who did not know Gu Changge?
“Good that you recognize me.” Gu Changge nodded, his tone still casual. “Then do you recognize her?”
He pointed at Gu Xianer, who was glaring at him from the side.
The expressions of Song Fan and the others grew even more terrified; at this moment, there was even despair in them.
“We recognize her now...”
They steeled themselves, only daring to say this much.
“You recognize her now? Then it’s not too late.”
Gu Changge said indifferently, “However, Gu once said that apart from me, no one in this world may bully her. So... how would you like to die now?”
Hearing the word “die,” Song Fan and the others could not help but shudder, their divine souls trembling, even more terrified and despairing.
The “death” in Gu Changge’s mouth was no joke to them.
For a moment, everyone was so frightened they shook, unable to even speak complete sentences, nearly kowtowing and weeping bitterly.
“Young Master Changge, spare us! Before this, we truly didn’t know she was your sister!”
“Yes! Young Master Changge, spare us! We’ll never dare again, please spare our lives! This was all a misunderstanding!”
“If we had known, even with ten thousand more guts, we wouldn’t have dared do this...”
Song Fan, at this moment, was also scared out of his wits, filled with terror and despair, pleading incessantly.
“Gu Changge, you go too far—what do you mean only you can bully me...”
Gu Xianer was displeased, nearly smashing her jade fist into him in indignation.
Though she also knew that Gu Changge was venting anger on her behalf—she had just entered the mountain gate and encountered such a thing.
Although the other party had apologized, she was likewise holding in a bellyful of stifled resentment.
Of course, the “death” Gu Changge spoke of, in her view, was also somewhat excessive—after all, this crime did not warrant death.
However, given Gu Changge’s temperament, this was exactly his style, which left Gu Xianer both moved and helpless.
Gu Changge’s care was something ordinary people truly dared not accept.
“Young Master Changge, isn’t this punishment a bit too much? Though these few spoke out of turn, they did not actually cause Fairy Xianer any harm. Moreover, those who do not know are not guilty—before this, they did not know that the Fairy Xianer before them was your sister.”
At this moment, Heavenly Monarch Ziyang had no choice but to speak up, his brows furrowing as he tried to dissuade him.
Gu Changge’s ruthless temperament left him somewhat helpless—killing at the drop of a hat.
He had never imagined things would develop to this point.
The moment Gu Changge appeared, he shattered all his plans and expectations.
However, Heavenly Monarch Ziyang still felt that Gu Changge would, more or less, give him some face.
After all, they were both Ranked Disciples, and he had already spoken up to plead.
“The punishment is too much?”
Hearing this, Gu Changge merely raised an eyebrow slightly.
Then he said casually, “I don’t think so. Letting them die like this—I actually feel it’s letting them off easy. This girl Xianer may be a bit stupid, but she is not someone just anyone can scheme against.”
“Dare to scheme against her, and one must pay the due price.”
“In my eyes, the few of them combined are not worth a single strand of this silly girl’s hair.”
“A member of my Gu Family—especially Gu Changge’s sister—how could she be bullied by any random Tom, Dick, or Harry?”
Hearing this, Gu Xianer froze, looking at Gu Changge with some suspicion—she had been schemed against?
Could it be that all of this was directed and acted by Heavenly Monarch Ziyang himself?
What was his goal?
After all, before this, the two of them had never even met.
But soon, she registered Gu Changge’s next words, and felt her head buzz, going blank all at once.
Her face burned hot.
Out of nowhere, why would he suddenly say something like that?
What did he mean, the few of them combined weren’t worth a single strand of her hair?
Who praises people like that?
It was simply sickeningly sweet.
This Gu Changge fellow had indeed become even more detestable.
“Young Master Changge, why not give me some face? For today’s matter, these few will give Fairy Xianer a satisfactory apology. We are all disciples of the True Immortal Academy...”
Seeing Gu Xianer’s expression, a gloom flashed across Heavenly Monarch Ziyang’s face for an instant, but he quickly recovered.
He spoke again, quite calmly, in a deep voice.
“Give you face? Who do you think you are?”
But before his words were finished, Gu Changge cut him off directly.
Gu Changge’s expression was cold as ever, without the slightest ripple.
“If I gave you face, would you dare take it?”
Weng!!
Hearing these words, this place instantly fell silent, so quiet one could hear a pin drop.
Song Fan and the others were horrified to the extreme, trembling incessantly, their divine souls seized with terror.
And as Gu Changge’s words fell, he struck directly, incomparably domineering.
Accompanied by five-colored divine light, a palm reached down from the sky, divine light surging, like a Great Millstone of World Destruction—just like Heavenly Monarch Ziyang’s move earlier.
But its terrifying aura made one’s skin feel as if it would burst, one’s divine soul as if it would shatter.
“Gu Changge, you...”
Heavenly Monarch Ziyang’s expression was gloomy and ugly to the extreme, his fists clenched tight.
He had never imagined Gu Changge would say such a thing, giving him no face whatsoever.
Moreover, he was even more domineering, about to slap the few people before him to death.
Even so, he forcibly endured it.
“Heavenly Monarch Ziyang, save us...”
“We don’t want to die!”
Facing this sky-blotting giant palm, Song Fan and the others despaired to the extreme, their divine souls on the verge of collapse, wanting to resist.
But they were suppressed by the terrifying aura, unable to even move.
“All of this was arranged by Heavenly Monarch Ziyang! It has nothing to do with us!”
Seeing that Heavenly Monarch Ziyang did not act, forcibly enduring it, at this moment their last hope was gone, and they could not help but cry out, wanting to reveal the truth.
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
“I kindly saved you all...”
Heavenly Monarch Ziyang’s expression also changed slightly, then turned very cold. “At a time like this, you dare sling mud at me.”
Puchi!
However, Gu Changge did not give Song Fan and the others the chance to say more. He understood that Heavenly Monarch Ziyang had already abandoned their lives and would naturally never admit to any of this.
As this palm descended, the few of them instantly collapsed and burst apart, blood mist scattering, body and soul utterly annihilated.
This place fell silent.
