A net woven together—won't Miss Ruoxi show herself?
A net woven together—won’t Miss Ruoxi show herself?
“You’re grown now. There are many things I could advise you on, but I doubt you’d listen. You have your own ideas.”
“But you must understand—this matter is of grave importance. I have a feeling that even Her Majesty the Empress is merely a pawn being used in all this. The one who truly wants to move against Jun Bufan... is actually Gu Changge.”
“So you must think carefully about the terrifying consequences... Once you’re caught in a whirlpool like this, you could be... ground to dust at any moment.”
The Grand Tutor sighed, knowing he couldn’t dissuade her. But as her father, there were things he had to make clear to her—he worried she would act on a moment of... impulse and come to regret it.
“I know, Father. Rest assured, I know my limits.”
Song Youwei nodded with a heavy expression.
From the very first time she met Gu Changge, she had felt that the perfection he displayed was simply unreal.
How could there be such a perfect person in this world? That so-called perfection was naturally just a facade he showed to outsiders. What the real Gu Changge was like—no one knew.
Soon after, Song Youwei hurriedly departed the Imperial Capital, rushing toward the agreed location based on the message Jun Fan had left behind.
However, in the forested hills outside the Imperial Capital, she encountered a figure that surprised her.
She had already been deliberately avoiding the main roads of the capital, taking remote mountain paths—how could she run into an acquaintance here?
Judging by the other’s appearance, she also seemed to be hiding from something, her face full of worry.
Thinking this, Song Youwei took the initiative to reveal herself, walking toward the woman and calling out, “Jun Yao-jie, what are you doing here?”
This person was none other than Jun Fan’s second elder sister, Jun Yao. Song Youwei was fairly familiar with her.
Jun Yao clearly hadn’t expected to see Song Youwei here. Startled at first, her face then lit up with joy, and she hurriedly said, “Youwei, why are you here too? Do you know what happened in the Imperial Capital? I heard rumors that my father and the others were all thrown into the Heavenly Prison... What on earth is going on?”
Hearing this, Song Youwei was first taken aback, then sighed inwardly. It seemed that when the incident occurred, Jun Yao hadn’t been in the capital—which was how she escaped disaster.
Having heard the news from the capital, she didn’t dare show herself and could only hide in the deep mountains and ancient forests, where Song Youwei happened to run into her.
“I don’t know what happened either. Her Majesty the Empress seems furious about it, but as for the specifics, I don’t know. Oh right—why are you here?”
Song Youwei sighed, pointing to a pavilion not far away. “Let’s go over there and talk in detail.”
Jun Yao’s face darkened with grief. “I don’t know what’s going on either. I left the capital planning to search for a type of floral tea, and on my way back, I heard about this... Everything was fine—how did it come to this? I don’t even know how little Fan is doing now.”
Song Youwei felt a pang of sympathy. Jun Yao was a pitiful soul too.
But she hesitated—should she tell her the truth of the matter?
“Forget it. I’ll let her ask Jun Fan about this herself. I’m an outsider; it’s not my place to interfere.”
With that thought, she chose to keep it hidden.
Afterward, Song Youwei only told Jun Yao that Jun Fan had invited her to explore some ruins, saying nothing of the rest. But upon hearing this, Jun Yao hesitated for a moment before deciding to go with her to find Jun Fan.
Naturally, Song Youwei had no reason to refuse.
The two quickly set off.
And after watching their figures gradually disappear into the distance, a figure in dark robes stepped out from the void.
“I knew it—someone with as many Fortuity Points as Song Youwei couldn’t possibly be an irrelevant bystander...”
“I just wonder what role she’ll play in this affair.”
Gu Changge was rather intrigued. Things had already developed to this stage.
He had already woven and cast an invisible net—now he only needed to wait for the final moment to draw it in.
He had already placed his pieces on the great chessboard of the Demon World. How would the Six Demon Overlords respond...?
Meanwhile, over a million li away from the Imperial Capital, Jun Fan stood in a desolate region of towering mountains and crisscrossing ravines.
The aura of this place was extremely strange. Black gales howled through the air.
Boundless black winds swept forth, mist churning dark and vast, blotting out heaven and earth. The sky was dim, devoid of any other color.
No one knew what substance these black winds were made of—perhaps laws, perhaps fragments of broken divinity.
The aura was deeply eerie, alternating between bone-chilling cold and searing heat, seeping into everything.
“Just as Father said—the laws of heaven and earth ahead have changed, completely different from the laws native to the Demon World.”
Jun Fan murmured to himself. As he strode forward, his body rumbled with thunderous sounds, using a secret treasure to resist the aura, the noise deafening.
He believed the Death Ground was here.
The Demon World had many perilous lands, and this place was once known as a land of certain death for the living. Even the soil carried a crimson, blood-like hue, black clouds roiled overhead—a horrifying sight.
Rumor had it that this place was formed long ago when a being from the mysterious Nine Gloom Desolate Land fell here.
“Where Skullflowers grow, the Death Qi is dense...”
“The Gates of Death are most likely here.”
However, Jun Fan did not rashly venture in.
For this place was filled with vicious arrays and runes. A Perfect Prodigy had once attempted to enter this place to break through to a higher realm, only to become lost within.
When he was finally found, he had already become a pile of withered bones.
He planned to wait for Song Youwei to arrive, since she had considerable expertise in... these matters. She had even received the inheritance of a Mighty-Transcendent of the Demon World.
That Mighty-Transcendent of the Demon World... had once laid down a Godly Spirit Array, slaying Quasi-Emperor level beings who had pursued him from the Beyond.
Apart from Jun Fan, very few people knew of this.
“If Youwei makes it here, things should go much more smoothly.”
Jun Fan’s eyes flickered. He knew where the key his sister Jun Ruoxi had spoken of was now hidden.
It was inside his Knowledge Sea! Back then, his father had passed it to him along with the Solar Heavenly Blade—he simply hadn’t mentioned the key, because the time had not yet come.
These past few days, Jun Fan had entered his Knowledge Sea again to search, and found the unremarkable key tucked away in a corner.
“Are you really that certain what your sister spoke of is here?”
In the void, a wisp of deep black smoke drifted past, then took the form of Bai Lian’er.
As a Mirage Demon, her true body was precisely this kind of smoke-like substance—ethereal and elusive, impossible to track.
At this moment, she gazed at the crimson land before them and asked indifferently.
Jun Fan glanced at her and smiled. “It can’t be wrong.”
There were other reasons he didn’t elaborate on—because of that key, he could sense the uniqueness of this place.
But just then, Jun Fan’s expression suddenly changed. A Communication Rune in his robes lit up.
He sent his divine sense into it. After reading the message, he was first shocked, then his face rapidly darkened.
“What is it?”
Bai Lian’er noticed his change and asked, as if she didn’t already know.
Jun Fan stared at her coldly. “You betrayed me?”
Bai Lian’er gave a cold laugh, then looked at him indifferently. “I was never one of your people to begin with. How can there be talk of betrayal?”
“You...”
Fury surged in Jun Fan’s heart, his fists clenching tight. He never imagined that his childhood sweetheart would pull something like this on him at a time like this.
Even less had he imagined that during his absence, everyone in the Quelling Chaos King’s residence had been thrown into prison.
If not for the informants he had planted outside the Imperial Capital, he might not even have known something this big had happened.
Since the failed assassination last time, Empress Yao Xi had conducted a massive purge inside and outside the capital. Many of his informants had been rooted out, so he hadn’t learned of events in the capital right away.
In Jun Fan’s view, this happening meant Empress Yao Xi had definitely learned his true identity—and had ample proof.
And the one who could have provided that proof to Empress Yao Xi... apart from the Bai Lian’er before him, he could think of no one else.
“Did Yao Xi order you to do this?”
Jun Fan’s expression was ugly. He was on high alert, various life-saving trump cards ready to be unleashed at any moment to fight Bai Lian’er to the death.
Bai Lian’er didn’t answer. She merely looked at him with pity. “Even at this point, you still don’t know who’s really directing me? You truly are pitiful.”
“It’s Gu Changge!”
Jun Fan realized, practically gnashing his teeth. Toward this man who had ruined his plans time and again, his hatred ran... bone-deep.
“So you’re not completely stupid. Relax—I have no intention of fighting you to the death, so put away those little tricks of yours. Of all people, you just had to offend someone you shouldn’t have. Jun Bufan—I really look forward to the scene of Gu Changge killing you in the end...”
Bang!! The next moment, accompanied by a blood-curdling laugh, Bai Lian’er’s figure dissolved into a wisp of deep black mist, vanishing from the spot without a trace.
“Damn it. I won’t let you get away with this.”
Jun Fan’s face was dark, fists clenched tight.
A pale golden page, covered in dense, flowing divine runes containing unparalleled divine might, was hidden within his sleeve, ready to be unleashed at any moment.
If Bai Lian’er hadn’t left just now, he would have already struck.
This was one of his trump cards. Even though Bai Lian’er’s cultivation was unfathomable, he was confident he could fight her to the death.
“When Bai Lian’er delivered the Brocade Bag to me, she had ill intentions. That... Brocade Bag may well have been tampered with by Gu Changge. Even if he couldn’t open it, if he left some kind of mark on it, he could track my location...”
Jun Fan was extremely cautious. He began finding ways to purge the various auras from his body, while using numerous secret treasures to conceal his tracks.
Now that his identity was exposed, Empress Yao Xi would never let him go. Once his location was confirmed, she would surely send troops to hunt him down.
Of this, he was absolutely certain.
Then, Jun Fan transformed into a divine rainbow, speeding through the crimson land, intending to scout the location of the Death Ground while waiting for Song Youwei’s arrival.
Although he had told Song Youwei his whereabouts, he trusted that given her character and integrity, she would never expose him.
In the entire vast Demon World, there were few people he could trust so completely—but Song Youwei was definitely one of them!
“Big sister is in danger now. Since Gu Changge is the mastermind behind all this, he must already know about the Gates of Life. All I can do now is hope that big sister has some means of hiding her location so Gu Changge can’t find her.”
Yet at this moment, another matter weighed on Jun Fan’s heart, filling him with anxiety and worry...
“The location of the Gates of Life truly is extraordinary. The moment an ordinary person steps into this place, they’re affected by the great momentum of the land...”
At the same time, atop a mountain peak, Gu Changge stood, divine light blazing in his eyes as if billions of runes were evolving within them, gazing at the scene deep within.
Behind him were Jiang Luoshen, Tian Ze, and the many other experts he had brought from the Beyond.
This was a boundless, flourishing ancient forest, thick with mist, colorful clouds coiling and billowing in many places.
Countless gnarled trees stood like mountain ridges, blotting out the sky. Spiritual herbs and fruits could be seen everywhere, flying springs and waterfalls, deep thickets—vast and boundless.
This was the secluded dwelling of Jun Bufan’s sister, Jun Ruoxi.
“Something is definitely hidden here. It seems the changes in the Demon World’s Fortuity are closely tied to the disappearance of the Six Demon Overlords. All these years, they’ve been... deceiving everyone’s eyes and ears—the news of their deaths wasn’t real...”
Jiang Luoshen’s delicate brows furrowed, light flowing in her eyes as she used the methods of the Godly Illusion Clan to probe this place.
“Princess, I think we could simply search this place inch by inch. I refuse to believe we can’t find that... mysterious location even if we turn the whole place over.”
Behind Jiang Luoshen, an expert of the Godly Illusion Clan spoke up, feeling that this ancient, vast mountain range couldn’t stop them.
Jiang Luoshen said indifferently, “If it were that simple, Gu Changge would have acted long ago. Why would he wait until now?”
Hearing this, Gu Changge withdrew his gaze and glanced at her. “It really isn’t that simple. What a pity I didn’t capture that fellow Jiang Chen—otherwise, with him here, things would be much easier.”
He was... telling the truth. With his current abilities, he could at most detect the unusual nature of this place.
Every inch of land here was laid with ancient Godly Spirit Arrays, their divine might vast, runes flickering in and out of sight, containing terrifying, peerless power.
At a time like this, what was missing was naturally a treasure-hunting rat to scout the path.
Unfortunately, Jiang Chen was currently fleeing for his life in the Beyond—otherwise Gu Changge would have loved to drag him here to lead the way.
“I don’t believe you have no way.”
Jiang Luoshen glanced at him. “I feel like you just find it troublesome...”
Gu Changge chuckled. “It seems you... understand me quite well. I do indeed have a way. After all, you’re right here—if it comes to it, I’ll just toss you over there. Wherever there are arrays, I’ll see it all at a glance.”
Jiang Luoshen stared at him coldly. If looks could kill, she would have already killed Gu Changge countless times over.
Weng!! Just then, waves of fluctuation came from the void, which then blurred as a deep black mist spread forth.
Bai Lian’er’s figure stepped out from within.
“So Jun Bufan knows now?”
Gu Changge glanced at her and asked casually.
“He knows.”
Bai Lian’er said indifferently.
“Good. Then lead the way.”
Gu Changge nodded. He did indeed have a way to find the path. Back then, Bai Lian’er had entered this place together with Jun Bufan. Though the many Array Patterns made it hard to pinpoint the exact location...
As long as he had a general direction, he could gradually narrow the range and still find where they were hiding.
Hearing this, Bai Lian’er wasted no words. Her figure moved, and with a bang she dissolved into mist, spreading through the void as she headed forward.
Gu Changge followed behind, runes blazing in his eyes, transforming into black-and-white radiance like that of reincarnation, probing the changes in the Array Patterns all around.
“Since that well is where the Gates of Life lie, it must naturally be a convergence point of life force. That being the case, it’s actually not that hard to find...”
Under the manifestation of reincarnation, every sight in this place was laid out clearly.
The laws of heaven and earth, the flow of the terrain, the currents of Fortuity, the convergence of life force...
Gu Changge’s pace was unhurried as he followed behind Bai Lian’er.
But he could feel that as he advanced, the aura of this place was constantly shifting. The other party had likely already sensed his arrival and was trying to obstruct him while concealing her own presence.
“If someone rashly barged into this place, they would absolutely become lost.”
Jiang Luoshen noticed this change, her brows knitting slightly.
Gu Changge paid her no mind.
He had already sensed the location of the well.
On a low hill, within an ancient well flowing with rosy light, endless life force surged forth, immortal qi steaming upward.
As the most elusive of the Demon World’s “Gates of Life,” this place now showed many unusual signs. Wisps of dawn light emerged from within, shifting and weaving through the void.
A white-haired woman sat quietly in meditation within the ancient well, her white hair cascading like a waterfall, veiling her face.
She had never moved. Her entire being carried an immortal grace, ethereal and otherworldly, as if carved from flawless ivory.
Even her long dress was pure as snow, without a single trace of blemish.
It was none other than Jun Ruoxi.
At this moment, Jun Ruoxi’s brows were tightly furrowed, her eyes seemingly about to open. She sensed a terrifying aura steadily approaching this place.
She couldn’t make out the other’s appearance—only that he was extremely terrifying. That aura was incomparably chaotic and vast, yet carried a heart-palpitating, infinite order. Beneath that majestic, resplendent pressure, she actually felt the illusion of being... an ant.
This was the first time she had ever felt such a thing. Even trying to conceal this place’s aura and block the other’s advance was utterly impossible.
Weng!! Her tightly shut eyes finally opened, attempting to see the other’s face clearly.
“Gu has come from billions of li away—won’t Miss Ruoxi show herself for a meeting?”
But at that moment, a voice suddenly rang out above the ancient well, causing Jun Ruoxi’s calm expression to change, a bone-deep chill surging up her back.