Playing Little Tricks? What Do You Think You Are?
Playing Little Tricks? What Do You Think You Are?
The dark gold page, as if forged from Immortal Divine Gold, floated in the void accompanied by a rustling sound.
Every character shone brilliantly, as if each had transformed into a peerless divine sword, every strand of sword light enough to annihilate everything and shatter all laws.
“This is absolutely a supreme sword technique...”
“Just this fluctuation alone is enough to make one’s heart palpitate.”
Inside the Stone Gathering Square, everyone’s breathing grew rapid as they stared fixedly at the page.
Some of the Young Prodigies in particular immediately employed techniques like the Heaven Peering Eye, attempting to memorize the characters written upon it.
But the characters on it were simply too bizarre.
Every stroke seemed condensed from Sword Qi; the moment it slashed out, it could pierce through any living being.
Those with slightly weaker cultivation found tears streaming from their eyes, stinging unbearably, not daring to look at it any longer.
No matter who it was, at this moment, none could suppress the burning desire rising within them.
“A sword technique that makes even beings like us feel palpitations—could it be an Immortal Art surpassing even Emperor Techniques?”
“This is a heaven-sent fortune!”
“Who would have thought such a thing could be cut out of a stone!”
Quite a few old fossils felt greed sprouting in their hearts.
Even knowing this item had been cut out by Gu Xianer, they found it hard to suppress such feelings.
However, they didn’t dare make a move to snatch it. Instead, they each sealed off the surrounding space, lest the page tear through the void and escape.
Many felt regret—had they known that raw stone contained such a treasure, they would have bought it long ago.
“This level... it surpasses ordinary Emperor Techniques at the very least...”
The King of Six Crowns, the Young Holy King, the Phoenix Lady, and the others all grew solemn in expression.
Every Emperor Technique was a priceless treasure, containing supreme profundities and mysteries that could benefit a Cultivator for their entire life.
Only those Cults of Immortality and Supreme Dao Lineages possessed Emperor Technique inheritances.
They could already imagine that the value contained in this item had long since exceeded anything measurable in Spiritual Stones.
“Trying to escape?”
Gu Xianer’s brows furrowed tightly. Clearly, she hadn’t expected this raw stone to conceal a sword technique within.
The thing was sentient—it directly slashed out several terrifying strands of black Sword Qi, pulverizing the golden vines she had sent forth into ash, and even this stretch of space collapsed.
The methods of the others proved equally futile, unable to stop its escape.
This gave her a bit of a headache. Ordinary methods clearly couldn’t subdue this thing.
Even an old Sacred Emperor Realm expert had just been wounded by a strand of Sword Qi, black blood lingering in the wound, impossible to purge for quite some time.
Then, with a wave of her slender hand, a crimson Primeval True Feather appeared, like translucent red jade, crystalline and dazzling. It transformed directly into a sheet of crimson radiance that flew out, aiming to strike the dark gold page down.
This was the Primeval True Feather Gu Changge had given her, its power rivaling a Dao Artifact.
Though with her current strength she couldn’t fully activate it, its might still far exceeded other artifacts.
Boom!!
The Primeval True Feather flew forth like a crimson Astral River, sweeping over to envelop the dark gold page.
An incomparable fluctuation erupted here. Had the Sect Masters of the other great sects not noticed something wrong and hurriedly acted to block the shockwave, the aftershock alone would have destroyed this place.
Then, tens of millions of Sword Qi strands burst forth, like tens of millions of divine swords reviving, annihilating everything that approached.
Even the Primeval True Feather rang out with clanging sounds, divine chains of order erupting from it, crimson radiance splashing in all directions.
“It still can’t be subdued...” Gu Xianer’s delicate brows furrowed even tighter.
She hadn’t expected that even the Primeval True Feather would struggle to knock it down.
“You can try communicating with it using Hidden Celestial Characters...”
Seeing this scene, An Xi, standing off to the side, shifted her gaze slightly and spoke to Niu Tian behind her.
She had already discerned that this item was definitely connected to that Hidden Celestial of their lineage. The characters on it came from the Veiled Immortal Clan, and she happened to recognize them.
However, she didn’t possess the Hidden Celestial Bloodline, so it would likely be difficult for her to resonate with it.
Niu Tian was different—he bore the true Hidden Celestial Bloodline.
If anyone here could resonate with this page, it could only be Niu Tian.
Hearing this, Niu Tian nodded. Without wasting words, pale-cyan runes flickered within his eyes.
Then he began to chant. One strange character after another, pale cyan in color, emerged and floated around him, shaped like True Dragons, Celestial Phoenixes, Qilins, Black Tortoises, and other divine beasts—yet every single character contained terrifying divine might.
Everyone in the Stone Gathering Square felt a strange sensation suddenly descend upon them.
Those characters seemed to come alive, actually beginning to writhe and manifest, shining brilliantly, incomparably crystalline and resplendent.
“What is this?”
“They’re actually of the same origin as those characters?”
Many watched this scene in shock. The numerous Sect Masters hiding in the shadows also narrowed their eyes, all of them fixing their gazes upon Niu Tian.
From this burly man, they sensed an aura of the same origin as that dark gold page.
There was only one possibility.
This burly man possessed the bloodline of the being who had left behind this sword technique!
“Someone from the An Clan? We’ve never heard of them having such a figure before.”
“Could he be another ancient freak?”
Many began speculating about Niu Tian’s origins, feeling his bloodline couldn’t be simple—he could actually resonate with that dark gold page.
Buzz!!
In that instant, the dark gold page in the void trembled lightly, as if it had sensed something.
The sound of sword cries echoed in all directions, and faintly, everyone glimpsed within it a murky yellow, filthy river that had buried all living beings.
A look of joy surfaced on Niu Tian’s face as well. He indeed sensed spirituality and a feeling of closeness from the dark gold page.
“I can subdue it.”
He spoke in a deep voice, his gaze burning. A cyan radiance spread out from his body, dazzling and brilliant, resonating with the page.
One Hidden Celestial Character after another seemed to come alive.
Huala-la!!
The page unfurled, emitting a sound like ocean waves, retracting those terrifying sword lights, then transforming into a streak of light that flew toward Niu Tian.
Everyone watched this scene in shock.
Never would they have imagined that this page, whose ferocious might had been so intimidating just moments ago, would display such a docile side, flying toward Niu Tian of its own accord.
“A supreme sword technique...”
Watching the dark gold page fall into his own hands, Niu Tian revealed a somewhat excited smile, unable to conceal his burning eagerness.
“Wonderful.”
“It seems my guess was correct.”
A smile also appeared at the corners of An Xi’s mouth as she nodded gently.
“But that’s something I cut out...”
Gu Xianer clearly hadn’t expected that the divine object she had cut out would end up in someone else’s hands.
This made her delicate brows knit tightly, her heart filled with displeasure.
However, she didn’t show it on her face. She also figured the Hidden An Clan wouldn’t dare snatch her things in front of everyone.
“Xianer xiaojie, this item has a great connection to one of my An Clan’s ancestors. I believe you and everyone here have seen that.”
At this moment, An Xi, who had remained silent in the corner all this time, suddenly stepped forward on her own initiative. Wearing a poised and gracious smile, she addressed Gu Xianer.
“What do you mean by that?”
Gu Xianer looked at her coldly, her features exuding an icy, detached aloofness.
An Xi paid no mind to Gu Xianer’s expression and continued smiling as she spoke at her own pace.
“This is a relic belonging to my An Clan’s ancestors.”
“With your status and position, you surely wouldn’t do something like forcibly taking another’s possession. So why not let it return to its rightful owner? As long as you say the word, my An Clan is willing to pay a great price to buy it back.”
“Such kindness, my An Clan will remember for a lifetime.”
“Of course, if you mind, I’ll have my clansman hand it over to you right away.”
Hearing these words, the eyes of everyone present flickered slightly. They felt this An Clan young lady was quite a character.
Her speech was measured and well-paced, advancing and retreating with perfect method. In just a few sentences, she had made her purpose clear while occupying an extremely advantageous position.
Her words were beautifully crafted—first establishing that the item was left behind by their ancestors.
Then she elevated Gu Xianer to a high pedestal, making people feel that, given her status, forcibly keeping another clan’s ancestral relic would be somewhat unjustifiable.
Next, she offered to pay to buy it back, showing she had no intention of snatching it whatsoever.
If Gu Xianer refused, she would immediately return it.
So whether Gu Xianer agreed or refused, neither she nor the An Clan’s actions were improper in any way—they stood on absolutely favorable ground.
If Gu Xianer agreed, all would be well. But if she refused, people would inevitably feel she was being a bit excessive, unreasonable in terms of sentiment and logic—after all, such an act amounted to forcibly keeping another clan’s ancestral relic.
Many of the older generation present were shrewd old foxes, and they analyzed An Xi’s intentions almost instantly.
“Playing mind games over this matter—the Gu Family’s little princess probably can’t outplay her.”
“At the end of the day, she’s just a young girl. How would she bother studying such schemes... In terms of cunning and tactics, she can’t match this An Clan young lady.”
This gave them the mood to enjoy the show, and they watched Gu Xianer with great interest.
Gu Xianer naturally could hear An Xi’s intentions.
Her expression didn’t change in the slightest; she had never intended to care about others’ opinions in the first place.
“This is something I cut out.”
She said indifferently, “As for returning it to its rightful owner—I think you should be returning it to me.”
“I know, but this is also a relic of my clan’s ancestors...”
An Xi’s face still wore a faint smile, as if she had Gu Xianer completely figured out.
“So you’re planning to rob me?”
Gu Xianer raised her cold, clear eyes and glanced at her, speaking in a flat, unbothered tone.
An Xi smiled and shook her head. “Xianer xiaojie, what are you saying? How would I have the audacity to rob you? Since you mind, how about this—let me first translate the characters on it for you. Otherwise, once it’s in your hands, you won’t be able to recognize the characters on it anyway, and it would be of no use to you.”
“What do you think?”
Everyone could see that An Xi had been employing a strategy of retreating in order to advance all along. On the surface she seemed to be considering Gu Xianer’s interests, but in truth she still didn’t want to return the page to her.
And the meaning behind her words was already quite obvious—apart from the Veiled Immortal Clan, no one else could recognize the characters on it.
So even if Gu Xianer got her hands on it, it would be useless to her.
In terms of both sentiment and reason, there was nothing improper about her approach.
However, from the perspective of the person involved, it was rather stifling and passive.
Gu Xianer’s delicate brows knit slightly. She could sense An Xi’s ill intentions.
So what if she couldn’t recognize the characters on it?
Could the mighty Gu Family fail to find a way to decipher these characters?
Moreover, if An Xi translated it once, wouldn’t that mean An Xi would also obtain the sword technique on it?
This was plainly taking advantage of her, an unwillingness to simply return the page to her.
However, before Gu Xianer could speak, a faint voice suddenly drifted in from outside the Stone Gathering Square.
“That won’t be necessary. Even if she can’t recognize it, it’s still my Xianer’s property.”
“Even if she throws it into a fire pit and burns it, that’s her business. What do you think you are? Since when was it your place to make decisions for her?”
Hearing these words, the expressions of everyone in the Stone Gathering Square changed in unison.
The many older-generation figures and Sect Masters hidden in the shadows also grew solemn, looking toward the outside of the pavilion.
The King of Six Crowns, the Phoenix Lady, the Young Holy King, and the others were also quite shaken.
“Gu Changge—he’s actually in Kunwu City too? When did he arrive?”
As the voice fell, a young man walked in from beyond the pavilion, his black robes fluttering, embroidered with patterns of Celestial Phoenixes, True Dragons, and the stars of the heavens, appearing incomparably mysterious and noble.
Numerous powerful experts followed behind him, heart-palpitating pressure radiating from their bodies.
The Cultivators and beings in front changed expression slightly, all stepping aside to clear a path, appearing quite fearful and respectful.