The First Immortal Artifact Since the Creation of the World, the Man Beside the Master Is Very Dangerous
The First Immortal Artifact Since the Creation of the World, the Man Beside the Master Is Very Dangerous
After Gu Changge left with Hei Yanyu, Xiao Ruoyin led Jiang Chen, Niu Tian, Wang Ning, and the others to an open area.
Although there were patrolling guards all around, they paid the group no mind, treating them as invisible, as if they hadn’t seen them at all—clearly, they had already received Gu Changge’s instructions.
“Ruoyin, what exactly happened? Why did that white-robed man suddenly let us go?”
Now that they were here, Jiang Chen finally couldn’t hold back anymore and was the first to ask, his tone carrying inquiry and a hint of reproach.
Niu Tian and the others also wore puzzled expressions, waiting for Xiao Ruoyin to give them an explanation and an answer.
“Actually, it’s nothing much. After Young Master Gu took me away, he didn’t do anything to me. He just asked about our origins, and I told him the truth. Then he didn’t make things difficult for us. It was all just a misunderstanding. Young Master Gu is actually a very good person, and he bears us no ill will.”
Xiao Ruoyin took a deep breath and explained, recounting the whole sequence of events truthfully.
Hearing her say this, Niu Tian and the others breathed a sigh of relief and didn’t suspect anything.
Especially Wang Ning and the other girls—after all, the moment they first laid eyes on Gu Changge, they had felt that he couldn’t possibly be a bad person.
It wasn’t that a bad person couldn’t be that good-looking, but rather that Gu Changge’s temperament made it truly hard for anyone to feel malice toward him. Instead, he seemed like an immortal who dwelled far from the mortal world, sitting above the Nine Heavens watching the ages pass by.
However, Jiang Chen furrowed his brows, clearly unsatisfied with this answer.
He still remembered the pain and terror of feeling like his entire body, his very organs, were about to be crushed. And now Xiao Ruoyin was just saying it was a misunderstanding, that this so-called Young Master Gu actually bore them no ill will and was a good person?
How could he accept that?
“Jiang Chen, listen to my advice. Let what happened back then just pass. You’re fine now anyway. Otherwise, if you really offend Young Master Gu, I’m afraid I won’t be able to protect you.”
Seeing Jiang Chen’s expression, Xiao Ruoyin knew exactly what he was thinking and said with a sigh.
At this point, could he really expect Gu Changge to apologize to a nobody like Jiang Chen?
“Ruoyin, I...” Jiang Chen also sighed, full of helplessness.
He wasn’t an ungrateful fool either—he wasn’t stupid.
Offending Gu Changge right now would lead to nothing but a dead end, with practically no other possibility.
Xiao Ruoyin saying this was actually for his own good. But if he couldn’t vent this pent-up frustration, he truly couldn’t bear it.
“Right, Ruoyin, what happened afterward? Why did you even change your dress?”
Jiang Chen then asked. After saying this, his heart suddenly tensed up, worried he might hear something bad from Xiao Ruoyin’s mouth.
If things really were as Xiao Ruoyin said, then why had she changed into a new dress, why was her complexion so much better than before, and why had she been chatting and laughing with Gu Changge?
Hearing this, Xiao Ruoyin thought of the awkward situation back then, and her face reddened slightly, though she quickly recovered.
She explained, “Back then, Young Master Gu saw that I had been imprisoned for a long time and my clothes were somewhat tattered, so he ordered someone to take me to freshen up. It’s not as complicated as you’re imagining...”
Seeing her expression, Jiang Chen felt uncomfortable in his heart, but since Xiao Ruoyin had already explained it this way, if he still didn’t believe her, it would only push the two of them further apart. So he said nothing more.
Niu Tian and the others didn’t suspect anything either.
“I told you that you should trust Goddess Xiao’s character...” Niu Tian said quietly to Jiang Chen, also breathing a sigh of relief on his behalf.
“Then Ruoyin, what are your plans next? None of us can understand this world’s language...”
Jiang Chen stared at Xiao Ruoyin and asked somewhat nervously, his palms covered in cold sweat.
The implication was that he wanted Xiao Ruoyin to leave together with them.
Hearing this, everyone else also looked over, their faces full of expectation, hoping Xiao Ruoyin would look after them.
After all, they were all classmates. Having come to this strange world without even understanding its language, how they would survive after leaving this place was still a difficult question.
Hearing this, Xiao Ruoyin’s delicate brows furrowed slightly. She was clearly conflicted, unsure how to broach the subject.
But this matter—she still had to lay her cards on the table with Jiang Chen, Niu Tian, and the others.
She weighed her words and slowly spoke,
“Next, I’m going to stay by Young Master Gu’s side. I’m afraid I can’t leave together with you all...”
“What?”
Before she even finished speaking, Jiang Chen was shocked pale, hardly able to believe his own ears.
The others also widened their eyes, never expecting Xiao Ruoyin to want to stay.
“Ruoyin, is that Young Master Gu forcing you to stay?”
“He must have some designs on you.”
Jiang Chen’s expression was ugly, but he took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. In his view, there was no reason for Xiao Ruoyin to choose to stay.
She and that Young Master Gu had only just met for the first time!
So this was the only possibility.
“No, I want to stay of my own accord. Young Master Gu really is a good person. He’s my benefactor—what designs could he possibly have on me? You haven’t seen them, but the maids by Young Master Gu’s side are each more beautiful than a celestial fairy. How could he possibly have any designs on me?”
“You’re not allowed to speak of Young Master Gu that way.”
Xiao Ruoyin’s face showed some displeasure, but considering that Jiang Chen was worried about her, her tone softened considerably.
Hearing this, Jiang Chen couldn’t help but widen his eyes. He opened his mouth, then gave a bitter laugh and chose to shut it.
Niu Tian and the others beside him also sighed and tactfully shut their mouths.
“What kind of love potion did that Young Master Gu feed you? You’ve only met him once, and you’re already speaking up for him like this.” Jiang Chen felt his mouth go dry, his voice somewhat hoarse.
His heart hurt—a tearing, splitting pain!
“You wouldn’t understand. I have nothing but gratitude toward Young Master Gu, nothing else.”
Xiao Ruoyin’s voice returned to calm, and her expression once again became that of the aloof goddess of old, carrying detachment.
“Can you tell me the reason?” Jiang Chen asked.
“I... because I’m going to embark on the Path of Cultivation.”
Xiao Ruoyin hesitated for a moment, but still decided to tell them about this matter.
“The Path of Cultivation...”
Hearing this, everyone was stunned, and then, coming back to their senses, they were incomparably envious.
Before coming to this world, they hadn’t believed at all that immortals existed in this world.
Yet clearly, everything before their eyes was shattering their worldview. Immortals did exist in this world—riding clouds and mist, plucking stars and seizing the moon, omnipotent.
Thinking of this, they were even more envious of Xiao Ruoyin.
“So that’s how it is. Soon, you and I won’t be people of the same world anymore...”
Jiang Chen’s mouth was bitter. Having figured all this out, before long Xiao Ruoyin would become a lofty immortal like that white-robed man, regarding them as ants, no longer of the same world.
But soon, he remembered his own mysterious Bronze Flying Boat. Could he also cultivate?
Hope couldn’t help but ignite in Jiang Chen’s heart.
“Goddess Xiao, if you can cultivate, then can we cultivate too? We also want to embark on the Path of Cultivation.”
Niu Tian and the others all looked at Xiao Ruoyin in unison, asking with hopeful faces.
“The requirements for cultivation are very strict. I only managed it thanks to Young Master Gu’s help—otherwise, it would have been impossible for me to embark on the Path of Cultivation...”
Xiao Ruoyin said. Unable to bear it in her heart, she nonetheless told them the conditions for cultivation.
The first reaction of Jiang Chen, Niu Tian, Wang Ning, and the others upon hearing it was the same as hers had been before—they all stood frozen in place, sinking into despair.
“Talent and aptitude, cultivation techniques, cultivation resources...”
Jiang Chen muttered, a flame seemingly burning in his heart!
“Miss Xiao, the Young Master has prepared a banquet and invites you and your companions to attend together.”
Just then, a strange creature with a frightening appearance, its entire body covered in dense cyan scales, suddenly appeared and spoke to Xiao Ruoyin.
Everyone was startled, feeling as if their breathing would stop. The aura of this incredibly tall creature before them was truly too terrifying.
“I understand. We’ll come right away.”
Xiao Ruoyin steadied herself and answered with a smile.
Hearing this, the creature grinned widely, “Then we await Miss Xiao’s arrival.”
With that, it vanished directly. Whether intentionally or not, it left Jiang Chen, Niu Tian, and the others drenched in cold sweat.
“Ruoyin, what did it say?” Jiang Chen couldn’t help asking.
“It said Young Master Gu has prepared a banquet for us and told me to bring you all over,” Xiao Ruoyin explained.
“Young Master Gu actually prepared a banquet for us? That’s wonderful! We really are basking in Goddess Xiao’s glory!”
“This Young Master Gu really isn’t a bad person! Looks like he’s probably making up for the earlier misunderstanding.”
Hearing this, everyone couldn’t help but perk up, somewhat excited. They hadn’t yet tasted a banquet of this world—this was a perfect chance to broaden their horizons.
Jiang Chen, however, fell silent.
Soon, Xiao Ruoyin led them toward the banquet’s location. The many sights along the way left the group trembling with astonishment.
Especially upon seeing those magnificent palaces, like heavenly palaces themselves, they felt awe from the bottom of their hearts.
What kind of mighty power would it take to construct such grand buildings?
“I heard from Young Master Gu that we’re currently on an Ancient Battleship, not on the ground...” Xiao Ruoyin also said with admiration.
Along the way, many people wore fawning, ingratiating expressions and spoke up to Xiao Ruoyin one after another.
“Goddess Xiao, when you see that Young Master Gu in a bit, could you put in a few good words for us...”
“Yeah, for the sake of us being classmates, please help us out. We’re begging you.”
“This...”
Xiao Ruoyin’s delicate brows furrowed. She hesitated, also worried that too many requests would incur Gu Changge’s displeasure.
“I’ll do my best.”
But faced with these requests, she still couldn’t refuse.
Before long, the group arrived inside the hall.
All kinds of spirit fruits and delicacies were arranged in order, and even the wine exuded an enticing fragrance that whetted the appetite.
Various crystalline, translucent fruits radiated hazy halos of light, incomparably mysterious.
“You’re here?”
Gu Changge sat at the head seat, saying with a smile.
“Sorry to trouble you, Young Master Gu, arranging all this,” Xiao Ruoyin said, a little embarrassed.
“It’s nothing. Just a small token of my apology,” Gu Changge said with a smile.
“These companions of yours are mere mortals who have never cultivated. If they were to consume a banquet infused with spiritual qi, they might very well explode and die.”
“So I’ve prepared a separate table for them...”
As he spoke, he pointed to the side—not far from his own banquet table, but the food on it was comparatively much simpler, all food of the mortal world.
“Mm, thank you, Young Master Gu.”
Xiao Ruoyin didn’t think there was anything wrong with this and explained it to Jiang Chen, Niu Tian, and the others.
On the contrary, Gu Changge’s thoughtfulness moved her quite a bit—that he had even considered such a small matter.
Although Niu Tian and the others felt some regret at not being able to eat those spirit-qi-infused fruits, they also knew this was for their own good, and their goodwill toward Gu Changge grew considerably.
What Xiao Ruoyin had said before seemed, in their view, to be true after all.
Gu Changge bore them no ill will.
Soon, the banquet began.
Everyone took their seats in order.
Beside Gu Changge, apart from Hei Yanyu, Ji Qingxuan also appeared—one picking dishes for him, the other pouring his wine.
This scene made Niu Tian and the other men incomparably envious. Such devastatingly beautiful women, capable of toppling nations, were ones they could never have possibly seen before.
Even Goddess Xiao’s looks, compared to theirs, could at most be considered evenly matched.
Yet such peerless beauties could only serve as maids before that white-robed man.
This filled their hearts with envy and jealousy. No wonder Xiao Ruoyin had said earlier that Young Master Gu couldn’t possibly have any designs on her.
So this was the reason.
“Ah Chen, some things are fine to keep in your heart, but if you let them show...”
Niu Tian glanced at Jiang Chen, who had been drinking in gloomy silence, and sighed, knowing what was in his heart.
Jiang Chen looked up, teeth clenched tight.
At the banquet ahead, Xiao Ruoyin sat beside Gu Changge, her face slightly flushed, wearing a smile, seemingly chatting about something with him.
And Gu Changge’s face wore a breezy, carefree smile the whole time, seemingly entirely unconcerned, his gaze never once falling on their side from start to finish.
Jiang Chen didn’t know what Xiao Ruoyin was talking about with Gu Changge. He only knew that she had rarely ever shown such a smile before.
This feeling made his heart twist like a knife!
And just then, Jiang Chen suddenly felt a strange sensation within his body, as if something was about to burst forth, surging and churning continuously!
The Bronze Flying Boat!
In a trance, Jiang Chen saw before his eyes a Bronze Flying Boat, looking incomparably ancient, its surface mottled with rust, traversing a long river while universes collapsed around it and Fragments of Spacetime flew about.
He even saw many scenes of creation itself.
The mysteries of creation, the yellow and black of heaven and earth, the transformations of the primordial beginning, the impartiality of the Great Dao!
Incomparably miraculous!
A vast flood of inherited information suddenly poured into his mind!
This scene left Jiang Chen dumbstruck. He nearly jumped to his feet, but his powerful willpower held him back—only his body trembled, making others think he was unwell.
Niu Tian and the others glanced at Jiang Chen, not knowing what had happened.
They just assumed he couldn’t accept watching his goddess chatting and laughing with another man and was desperately restraining and enduring it.
“What are you? Why are you in my head?”
But soon, Jiang Chen calmed down, not having noticed the gaze Gu Changge had cast his way just moments ago.
Right now, he was communicating with the voice in his mind.
A miniature Bronze Flying Boat, radiating a faint light, had appeared in his mind.
“I am the Artifact Spirit. You are the vessel.”
“We are both the Celestial Boat of Creation.”
A rather childish voice rang out.
“Celestial Boat of Creation? What’s that?”
Jiang Chen was stunned and couldn’t help asking. He was communicating with this voice in his mind, so he wasn’t worried about anyone noticing anything unusual.
“The Celestial Boat of Creation is the first immortal artifact since the creation of the world. It can break reincarnation, reverse time, peer into the Heavenly Path, know all ages, and probe destiny... it is omnipotent.”
This somewhat childish voice spoke full of pride.
“Then can you help me become stronger?”
Jiang Chen was somewhat excited. He felt that what it said sounded pretty impressive, if a bit boastful—omnipotent.
But didn’t that mean it could make him stronger, let him survive in this world, and obtain everything he wanted?
“Naturally, I can. You and I are one to begin with.”
The voice rang out again, still full of pride.
However, perhaps because it had only just awakened, it soon sensed something was off.
“Your condition seems a bit wrong... how are you this weak, even your physique... but no matter. Sooner or later, I will forge you into the Sacred Physique of Creation, sweeping through the world, invincible in all the land.”
The voice said this with great confidence.
Hearing these words, Jiang Chen also grew excited, feeling his heart surge. The Sacred Physique of Creation—just the name sounded incredibly powerful!
Moreover, Jiang Chen discovered that he could suddenly understand the conversations of the creatures around him.
This discovery made him wild with joy, which he then desperately suppressed, afraid of anyone noticing anything unusual.
“I can just listen in on what Ruoyin and that Young Master Gu are talking about...”
Jiang Chen took a deep breath, calmed down, and focused completely, directing all his attention to his ears.
And at the head seat, Gu Changge—who had noticed something, his face still wearing that breezy smile—had a flash of keen interest pass through his eyes.
He suddenly asked Xiao Ruoyin beside him, “What is that young man’s relationship with you? I noticed he seems to have been watching you this whole time?”
Hearing this, Xiao Ruoyin was slightly surprised. Following Gu Changge’s gaze, she happened to see Jiang Chen, head lowered, drinking in gloom.
“His name is Jiang Chen. He used to be one of my suitors.”
She answered. For some reason, she didn’t want Gu Changge to misunderstand anything, so she was very direct about it.
Of course, Xiao Ruoyin wasn’t lying. In everyone’s eyes, she and Jiang Chen were a good match, but that was all.
She also knew Jiang Chen had feelings for her, but her heart held only the thought of searching for ruins and uncovering the truth.
To her, Jiang Chen could only be considered a suitor she was on decent terms with—or a friend, at most.
“Oh, I see.”
Gu Changge smiled. “No wonder he keeps watching you.”
And Jiang Chen, who had focused all his attention over there, naturally heard this sentence. His face couldn’t help but pale slightly, and then he felt the bitterness at the corners of his mouth.
He couldn’t refute anything. He really was just a suitor.
“That woman... she seems to be the Master! No way...”
Just as Jiang Chen’s heart was filled with bitterness, the somewhat childish voice in his mind rang out again.
But this time, it was full of shock, unease, trembling, and fear.
“The man beside the Master is very dangerous...”