The Reincarnation of the Mortal One's Alter Ego Secured — Grasshoppers on the Same Rope
The Reincarnation of the Mortal One’s Alter Ego Secured — Grasshoppers on the Same Rope
“You are the Successor of the Mortal Palace, upholding justice”
“And I am the demon who brings calamity upon the world”
“The two of us are destined to stand on opposite sides”
Jiang Chuchu’s eyes widened, these words buzzing and echoing through her mind.
Before this, she had actually only taken Gu Changge’s words as a joke, not something serious.
But now, thinking it over carefully, how could what he said not make sense?
Because Gu Changge’s identity would be exposed sooner or later — there was no way he could hide it forever.
The Successor of Demonic Arts brought chaos upon the world, and everyone had the right to execute him.
And when that time came, as the Saintess of the Mortal Palace, how was she supposed to conduct herself? Could she really raise her hand against him? Yet Gu Changge was not so evil as to be beyond saving.
After all, back then, when he could have easily killed her, he didn’t do it — and afterward, he even saved her time and time again.
And she knew Gu Changge’s greatest secret. How could she possibly do such a thing? For a moment, Jiang Chuchu fell into silence and inner struggle. When she came to find Gu Changge, she hadn’t considered any of this at all.
In her mind, she wanted to see Gu Changge, wanted him to pay her some attention — it was just that simple.
But after arriving at the palace, she discovered that Gu Changge hadn’t paid her intentions any mind at all — he didn’t even know why she had come to find him.
This made Jiang Chuchu feel somewhat hurt.
“Gu Changge, I can understand you. I know you’re actually not that bad”
“Although you did that sort of thing to me back then, I know I brought it upon myself. I don’t blame you anymore”
“Even though you killed the Mortal One, I know it wasn’t up to you. After all, your identity destined you and the Mortal One to stand on opposing sides — either he died or you perished”
Then, Jiang Chuchu took a deep breath and composed herself. Her face had returned to calm, her eyes watching Gu Changge as she spoke softly, as if explaining things to him.
Gu Changge waved a hand to interrupt her, smiling faintly. “Aren’t you overthinking this? I’m not as good as you imagine. Everything I did, I did with my own purposes”
Jiang Chuchu looked at him, sniffled, and wore an expression that said nice try, but I’m not buying it.
She continued, “Then explain this — why did you save me at the Eternal Overcast afterward, and resolve the Eternal Overcast calamity for me?”
Gu Changge picked up the tea beside him, sipping it unhurriedly, then said with perfect composure, “Do I need to explain to you whatever I want to do?”
“Gu Changge, why can’t you just admit these things?”
Jiang Chuchu frowned, feeling that Gu Changge was purely saving face, stubbornly arguing his case — that was why he couldn’t even be bothered to come up with an excuse.
Gu Changge quietly drank his tea and said nothing.
Jiang Chuchu spoke up again. This time she was even more direct — from the first time she met Gu Changge, to all the various matters of being imprisoned by him afterward, she recounted them all one by one, laying out everything she had been thinking during this period.
At the same time, she explained the reasons she believed Gu Changge had acted the way he did.
Of course, these were her own beautiful imaginings. Gu Changge very much wanted to cut in and interrupt her, to tell her she was overthinking it.
But on second thought, Jiang Chuchu thinking this way had no negative impact on him whatsoever.
“So that’s how it is?”
Gu Changge listened with great interest, though the further she went, the stranger his smile became.
Well then. So he really was a good person.
That was news even to him.
Gu Changge considered himself no one who did evil for evil’s sake, but nothing he did had anything to do with being a so-called good person either.
Before this, although he had deliberately led Jiang Chuchu to misunderstand him, he never expected the misunderstanding to run this deep — deep enough that Jiang Chuchu had reached the point of whitewashing his reputation for him.
But wasn’t this exactly what he wanted? “Actually, back when you persuaded me, I had already thought it through”
After saying all this, Jiang Chuchu let out a deep breath, as if setting down a burden in her heart.
Even her eyes seemed much brighter.
“Thought what through?”
Gu Changge asked with interest.
“Didn’t you persuade me not to kill myself back then?”
Jiang Chuchu looked at him quietly.
Gu Changge smiled. “How would I remember something like that? You didn’t actually take it seriously, did you?”
Jiang Chuchu paid no mind to the mockery in his words. Her eyes fixed on him as she said earnestly, “I still remember what you said back then. You asked me — did I really plan to live this life for the Mortal Palace?”
“Oh, is that so? I suppose I did say something like that”
Gu Changge nodded as if suddenly recalling.
“I’ve actually thought this matter through carefully. The Mortal One died at your hands long ago, but apart from you and me, no one knows of this.
But the Mortal Palace cannot go a single day without the Mortal One, and this world cannot go a single day without a leader to stand against the Absolute Yin Heaven”
When Jiang Chuchu said this, her voice was extraordinarily calm. One had to know — when she first learned of Gu Changge’s plan, how resistant she had been, refusing to even consider it.
But now, she took the initiative to bring it up with Gu Changge, to discuss once more the existence of the Mortal One.
“You mean to find someone to impersonate the Mortal One?”
Gu Changge raised an eyebrow. Although he had long anticipated she would agree to this matter, he still hadn’t expected Jiang Chuchu to suddenly bring it up at this moment.
“No. What I mean is — you should become the Mortal One”
Jiang Chuchu gazed at him boldly, then, unable to withstand Gu Changge’s gaze that seemed to see straight through her, lowered her eyes, her voice dropping as well. “That way, no one will ever suspect you of being connected to the Successor of Demonic Arts again”
“Jiang Chuchu, do you not understand what this means? From now on, you’ll effectively be betraying your sect and colluding with me. Are you truly willing?”
Gu Changge’s voice softened, as if he hadn’t expected her to say such a thing.
“There’s nothing to be unwilling about.
Long ago, I should have foreseen this day would come”
Looking at Gu Changge’s expression, Jiang Chuchu nodded. There was no regret or conflict on her face — she had thought all of this through before coming.
Coming to find Gu Changge today was simply the perfect opportunity to make everything clear.
Anyway, this day would come sooner or later.
“Jiang Chuchu, you really are foolish. After doing this, you’ll be doomed to eternal damnation alongside me”
Hearing this, Gu Changge shook his head slightly, his voice betraying little emotional change.
“I don’t care. I just want to live for myself once — to truly make one decision that belongs to me”
Jiang Chuchu’s face was calm, without the slightest ripple.
At this point,
her eyes suddenly fixed on Gu Changge, harboring a trace of expectation. “From now on, we’re grasshoppers tied to the same rope”
Mm — in other words, she was telling Gu Changge to stop bullying her and to pay her some attention.
Only, given her temperament, she could hardly bring herself to say such words outright.
“Mm. Grasshoppers on the same rope”
Gu Changge smiled, as if he knew exactly what she meant, a tender look appearing on his face.
He reached out and gently tucked the few strands of hair falling by her ear behind it, then pulled her into his embrace.
Jiang Chuchu broke free from his arms and fled the palace as if escaping, not daring to linger, her face burning hot, terrified that the disciples outside would notice something unusual about her.
The Reincarnation of the Mortal One... Watching Jiang Chuchu leave, the tenderness on Gu Changge’s face faded away, his eyes calm and waveless as he began pondering what came next.
Previously, he had indeed considered impersonating the Mortal One. But considering that Jiang Chuchu and Wang Zijin would be hard to deceive, he had temporarily set the idea aside.
But now, with Jiang Chuchu cooperating with him, things became much simpler.
When the time came, with him as the Mortal One, the Mortal Palace would naturally obey his command — an even greater boost to his subsequent plans, like adding wings to a tiger.
In the vast Beyond, who would still dare oppose him? After all, with the identity of the Mortal One, everything Gu Changge did could be done under the grand banner of acting for all living beings. Whoever dared obstruct him would be opposing all living beings themselves.
Why did the Mortal One establish the Mortal Palace back then? Wasn’t it so that throughout his cycles of reincarnation, he could more easily possess unparalleled might and reach the peak more quickly?
Only now, everything the Mortal One painstakingly built would end up benefiting Gu Changge.
After returning to her own cave dwelling, Jiang Chuchu was somewhat startled to see Wang Zijin inside, seemingly having waited for a long time.
“You went to see Gu Changge”
Wang Zijin spoke, her eyes gleaming — not as a question, but in a tone of certainty.
She stared intently at Jiang Chuchu, especially catching the joy between her brows.
So she didn’t even need to ask to know what she had gone to do.
After all, apart from cultivating, Jiang Chuchu never left her cave dwelling — and as for why she would leave it, Wang Zijin hardly needed to think.
Wang Zijin felt rather exasperated at her failure to live up to expectations.
Just a few days ago, she had told Jiang Chuchu that she couldn’t be too forward, that she needed to be reserved and aloof. Jiang Chuchu had agreed so nicely at the time — yet in the blink of an eye, she forgot it all completely.
The moment she learned Gu Changge had returned to the True Immortal Academy, Jiang Chuchu couldn’t wait to go find him.
And now, joy was practically flowing from between her brows.
Clearly, Gu Changge had said something sweet to her.
This left Wang Zijin not knowing what to say to her. Who was it, some time ago, whose whole face was sullen, as if she had a life-and-death feud with Gu Changge?
“None of your business”
“What are you doing in my cave dwelling?”
Jiang Chuchu was not polite with Wang Zijin at all, her words laced with coldness.
“I’m here because I have business with you, naturally”
“But really, Jiang Chuchu — where’s your reserve? You deserve to be devoured whole by Gu Changge and wiped clean with one swipe of his mouth. Who can you blame?”
Wang Zijin’s face was all smiles as she met her head-on.
Had Jiang Chuchu heard these words before, she would absolutely have gotten into a row with her.
But today she was very calm. Her brow arched slightly as she countered, “Are you throwing a tantrum?”
Wang Zijin clearly hadn’t expected her to say that. Her smile stiffened a little. “Who’s throwing a tantrum? I just care about you. I don’t want you getting fooled by that damned scumbag”
Jiang Chuchu shook her head slightly. “You don’t need to worry about these things. But there is one matter I must tell you”
After all, Wang Zijin was also a Saintess of the Mortal Palace.
Although she cared very little about the Mortal Palace’s affairs, at a time like this, she still had to be informed.
“What matter? Don’t tell me there’s news of the Reincarnation of the Mortal One?”
Wang Zijin smiled, wearing an expression of having long expected it yet not caring in the slightest. “I already told you, I have no interest in searching for the Reincarnation of the Mortal One. But if he’s been found, well, that’s fine too”
Jiang Chuchu glanced at her, nodded, and said in a calm voice, “The Reincarnation of the Mortal One is Gu Changge”
“What?”
Hearing these words, Wang Zijin was instantly stunned, her beautiful eyes going wide, hardly able to believe it.
Anyone could tell Gu Changge was no good person — how could he be the Reincarnation of the Mortal One? Though, if one really thought about it, among the current younger generation, there truly was no one who fit this identity better than Gu Changge. Heaven-defying talent, peerless strength, a terrifying background, and unmatched brilliance.
Him being the Reincarnation of the Mortal One did match the image of the Mortal One in everyone’s hearts. Yet why did she feel that something about this whole affair smelled fishy? Wang Zijin looked at Jiang Chuchu suspiciously. “Are you sure this isn’t something Gu Changge told you to tell me?”
She felt that Gu Changge was absolutely capable of pulling off something like impersonating the Reincarnation of the Mortal One.
Before this, there had not been the slightest news about the Reincarnation of the Mortal One. Yet today, after Jiang Chuchu went to see Gu Changge, she suddenly told her that Gu Changge was, in fact, the Reincarnation of the Mortal One.
Wang Zijin’s first reaction was, naturally, to doubt whether this was true or false.
“No.”
Jiang Chuchu shook her head and said calmly, “From now on, we won’t need to search for the Reincarnation of the Mortal One anymore. Gu Changge possesses the Nirvana World Green Lotus Body. That alone is proof enough.”
“The Nirvana World Green Lotus Body?”
Wang Zijin’s eyes still held some confusion.
She naturally knew of this thing—it was a divine object that could only form after the Nirvana World Green Lotus matured. As the Saintess of Mortal Palace, she had learned quite a bit about it.
A large part of the reason the Mortal One reincarnated at all was, in all likelihood, for this very object.
Since Gu Changge possessed the Nirvana World Green Lotus Body, his identity as the Reincarnation of the Mortal One was naturally beyond question.
Yet Wang Zijin still felt something was off. According to the records of the Mortal Palace and the rumors about the Mortal One circulating in the outside world, the Mortal One was a great, glorious, and righteous figure. How could he possibly be connected to someone as cold and heartless as Gu Changge?
“Jiang Chuchu, are you sure you haven’t conspired with Gu Changge to deceive me?”
Wang Zijin’s eyes fixed on her, as if trying to see straight through her.
Jiang Chuchu said calmly, “Do you think I’m that kind of person?”
Hearing this, Wang Zijin didn’t press further. She understood Jiang Chuchu’s character well enough—she was incapable of betraying the Mortal Palace.
It was just that the one she doubted wasn’t Jiang Chuchu, but Gu Changge.
“Could the Reincarnation of the Mortal One have been secretly done in by that guy Gu Changge, who’s now planning to take his place?”
Wang Zijin couldn’t help muttering under her breath. Of course, she was just saying it offhandedly and didn’t actually mean it.
But Jiang Chuchu’s heart skipped a beat, and she forced herself not to show the slightest abnormality.
“Fine, fine. Since you say Gu Changge is the Reincarnation of the Mortal One, then he is. I don’t dislike the guy anyway. Compared to seeing anyone else become the Mortal One, Gu Changge is actually easier on the eyes.”
As Wang Zijin spoke, she walked toward the exit of the cave dwelling. Although she felt this matter couldn’t be that simple, she couldn’t be bothered to meddle.
It was true that she was interested in Gu Changge, but right now Jiang Chuchu and Gu Changge were clearly on intimate terms.
Was she supposed to poach him from under Jiang Chuchu’s nose? That sort of thing she could certainly pull off, but it was obvious Gu Changge wasn’t particularly devoted to Jiang Chuchu.
A grade-A playboy like him didn’t even need her to do any poaching.
Thinking about all this, Wang Zijin’s mood grew inexplicably irritable, and she involuntarily took out a crystal-clear Jade Pendant from within her sleeve.
This was the Jade Pendant Gu Changge had carried on him back then outside the Eternal Overcast, which he had given to her—along with a promise that if she ever ran into trouble in the future, she could come find him.
“A thorough and complete scumbag, through and through.”
Wang Zijin really wanted to throw the Jade Pendant away, but after thinking about it, she still couldn’t bear to. She sighed softly.
He just can’t be seduced, huh.
Several days later, a piece of earth-shaking news suddenly spread from the True Immortal Academy, as if it had grown wings, flying swiftly to every corner and startling the entire Beyond.
Countless cults and forces were shaken by it.
The Reincarnation of the Mortal One of this generation had finally appeared.
And it was no one else—it was Gu Changge.
Once this news broke, it triggered a massive uproar, causing an earthquake of shock. Many Cultivators simply couldn’t believe it.
One had to know, the most dazzling figure in the Beyond right now was none other than Gu Changge.
And no one had expected that the Successor of Mortal Palace would suddenly announce such news.
Gu Changge was actually the Reincarnation of the Mortal One? Real or fake? Everyone’s hearts trembled. Just how brilliant and dazzling was Gu Changge? It could no longer be described in simple words.
Even the identity of the Reincarnation of the Mortal One was, at most, icing on the cake for him.
Then again, from another perspective, even if the Reincarnation of the Mortal One were someone else entirely, at this point no one could block the brilliance of Gu Changge’s radiance.
Gu Changge being the Reincarnation of the Mortal One seemed, in the eyes of many, to be a perfectly natural matter.
Of course, that was only what ordinary Cultivators thought. For the various cults and forces, this felt more like a collaboration between the Mortal Palace and Gu Changge.
After all, the Successor of Mortal Palace’s announcement of this news was far too sudden—before this, there hadn’t been the slightest whisper of it.
It was very likely that the Mortal Palace had failed to locate this generation’s Reincarnation of the Mortal One, but out of various considerations, planned to have Gu Changge temporarily assume the identity.
And there was no one more suitable than Gu Changge.
For Gu Changge, this wasn’t a losing deal either, so he simply reached an agreement with the Mortal Palace. Otherwise, how could such a coincidence exist in this world? The forces and cults harboring such thoughts were actually not few in number.
Of course, knowing was one thing; saying it out loud was another. The various cults understood this tacitly—no one would be stupid enough at a time like this to offend both Gu Changge and the Mortal Palace.
The True Immortal Academy was also thrown into an uproar over this matter.
“The Reincarnation of the Mortal One?”
“What are Gu Changge and the Mortal Palace playing at?”
The King of Six Crowns, Jun Yao, frowned. He didn’t believe Gu Changge had anything to do with the Reincarnation of the Mortal One.
In his view, this looked more like the Mortal Palace borrowing Gu Changge’s might to manifest its presence among the myriad spirits of the Beyond.
And Gu Changge, in turn, could make use of the Mortal Palace’s transcendent status.
It was a mutually beneficial arrangement.
After the incident with Heavenly Monarch Ziyang, Jun Yao knew full well that Gu Changge was no good person.
Nowadays, clashes among his peers were unavoidable, and with Gu Changge bearing the title of number one of the younger generation, the pressure on his heart was considerable.
Within the True Immortal Academy, the reactions of the many Young Prodigies were much the same as Jun Yao’s.
Meanwhile, upon learning this news, the group of Elders of the Mortal Palace also rushed to the True Immortal Academy with skeptical attitudes, intending to verify its authenticity.
Regarding this, Gu Changge naturally had nothing to hesitate about—he directly revealed the Nirvana World Green Lotus Body.
A vast and boundless life force surged skyward like a boundless ocean.
Amidst the shining divine radiance, a green lotus swayed within, connecting heaven and earth, with endless Chaos Qi cascading down.
The hearts of the Mortal Palace Elders trembled, and they no longer had anything to doubt.
Just as Gu Changge had said before, what the Mortal Palace needed now was not the Mortal One as a person, but the identity itself. Even if they had other thoughts, they would forcibly suppress them.
With this identity, there wasn’t much impact on Gu Changge either. The Mortal Palace had no shortage of resources, but resources were the thing he lacked least nowadays.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, half a month passed.
After devouring a considerable amount of Sacred Emperor Source, Gu Changge’s cultivation finally broke through to the Sacred King Realm.
Of the two hundred and six bones in his body, more than half had now transformed into Bones of Absolute Detachment.
Under his evolution, the Inner Universe within his body was also developing from an embryonic form toward the path of completeness—Qian and Xuan shifting, life endlessly generating, carrying quite an aura of the Six Paths of the myriad heavens.
During this period, quite a few things happened in the Beyond as well. The most shocking of them was that the thirteen bandits of the Chaotic Star Territory had been utterly annihilated, with no survivors.
Bandit Thirteen, who had run rampant across the Chaotic Star Territory for millions of years, could be called infamous.
Not only were they vicious and powerful, they were also extremely hard to hunt down, slippery as loaches.
Many cults and merchant caravans had suffered great losses at their hands.
Yet now, in less than half a month, a terrifying army had marched in and wiped them out with overwhelming force—blood soared to the heavens, the cries of slaughter shook the world, truly stunning countless people.
That battle was fought so fiercely that the Astral Rivers along the way were stained with blood, corpses piled up in heaps, Ancient Battleships shattered, fragments scattered in all directions—devastation everywhere the eye could see.
The heads of the thirteen bandits now hung outside the Chaotic Star Territory as a warning to others.
Afterward, Cultivators investigated the cause.
It turned out that some time ago, a secret treasure Gu Changge had sent to the Heavenly Arms Domain for refinement had emerged into the world. Because the phenomenon it caused was so astonishing, it caught the eye of the thirteen bandits, who sent people to attack and seize it.
And so, Bandit Thirteen offended Gu Changge, which brought this calamity upon them and got them thoroughly exterminated.
This matter left many Cultivators trembling in fear, yet at the same time they couldn’t help but clap and cheer.
At the end of the day, it was a case of reaping what you sow—why did the perfectly comfortable Bandit Thirteen have to go courting death? Of course, for Gu Changge, this matter was nothing more than an insignificant little episode.
After Bandit Thirteen was dealt with, the secret treasure he had sent to the Heavenly Arms Domain for refinement was also delivered to him.
He named it the Hongmeng Purple Mirror. From the outside, it looked like a page of an ancient scripture, simple and natural, its entire body wreathed in purple radiance. As Chaos Purple Qi cascaded down, it exuded astonishing Dao charm, interwoven with a profound aura like that of the Great Dao itself.
This was a deduction-type secret treasure.
The main refining materials were the Chaos Dao Bone, the Chaos Purple Qi Seed, and Heavenly Monarch Ziyang’s Foreseeing Eye.
Beyond that, the divine materials used were too numerous to count—extravagant beyond words.
Other than Gu Changge, no second person in the Beyond could be found with such audacity, to refine a secret treasure like this.
“Deducing a fragmentary glimpse of the future shouldn’t be difficult. Beyond that, it has other uses—it can obscure heavenly secrets and track karma.”
Gu Changge’s eyes narrowed slightly, wisps of golden divine light flickering as he refined the secret treasure.
The functions of this treasure surfaced in his mind.
Just as he had anticipated before—deducing the future, obscuring heavenly secrets, tracking karma, and even reversing the cosmos.
Soon, the refinement was complete, and Gu Changge began to test its functions. As hazy purple qi cascaded down, the Hongmeng Purple Mirror began to glow, circulating a profound and mysterious fluctuation.
Faintly, Gu Changge saw ripples spreading across the simple, natural page like the surface of a lake, then radiating outward.
Smooth as a mirror.
Immediately after, images began to emerge upon it.
Amidst a desolate, ruined star territory, massive and heavy continents floated, covered with countless star remains and fragments of Ancient Battleships.
Corpses littered the ground, thick blood-reek drifting across the sky—it was clear a terrifying great battle had just taken place here.
“This place is... the Chaotic Star Territory?”
Gu Changge narrowed his eyes. He had only tried to deduce the karma connected to himself.
Yet the Hongmeng Purple Mirror had shown him the scene of the Chaotic Star Territory.
Could it be that the karma connected to him lay in the Chaotic Star Territory? And just as Gu Changge was pondering this—
The scene within the Hongmeng Purple Mirror shifted. A blind middle-aged man in purple robes sat in a wheelchair, his lower limbs seemingly entirely crippled, being pushed along as he tore open the void and swiftly departed the Chaotic Star Territory.
Judging from the circumstances on the battlefield, this purple-robed middle-aged man should have been someone on Bandit Thirteen’s side, who had taken advantage of the chaos when the great battle erupted to flee the battlefield in haste, his whereabouts ultimately unknown.
“Who exactly is this person?”
Gu Changge narrowed his eyes. Soon, the images within the Hongmeng Purple Mirror faded away, as if...