If Oaths Actually Worked, What a Huge Haul
If Oaths Actually Worked, What a Huge Haul
Ye Liuli’s plan was simple.
She couldn’t just stand by and let Gu Changge kill Ye Chen, nor could she agree to any outrageous conditions from him.
She was still mulling over how to resolve this.
It just so happened that Gu Changge proposed she open her Knowledge Sea and accept a Slave Mark.
The moment she heard those words, she was naturally furious.
Fortunately, she quickly realized—with the Ye Family’s Primordial Spirit Path, breaking a mere Slave Mark would be child’s play.
To keep Gu Changge from noticing anything amiss, she deliberately put on a show of reluctance and struggle, lest the scheming Gu Changge sense something was off.
After all, fooling someone like Gu Changge required a certain amount of effort and craftiness.
Hearing Ye Liuli’s words, Ye Chen was deeply moved, and then guilt and self-reproach washed over him.
Just moments ago, out of fear of death, he had deliberately put on that unyielding act to deceive her.
Once the Slave Mark was planted, wouldn’t Ye Liuli become Gu Changge’s slave?
At this thought, Ye Chen’s heart ached unbearably.
He didn’t want to see this happen either.
After all, who would want to see their childhood sweetheart, a cousin they shared deep feelings with, become an enemy’s slave?
Unless there was something wrong with their head.
“You agreed rather surprisingly readily. As the little princess of the Ye Family, you’re actually willing to open your Knowledge Sea for the sake of this Ye Chen...”
“If I were your father, I might just slap you dead on the spot.”
Gu Changge spoke casually, with some mockery, but he still had no intention of letting Ye Chen go.
“That’s none of your concern. I’ll agree to open my Knowledge Sea, but you must swear upon your Dao Heart that you will never again secretly harm Ye Chen-gege, much less kill him. If you break this oath, may heavenly demons devour your heart and may you fall into demonic madness in seclusion.”
Ye Liuli looked at Gu Changge as she spoke. She would only open her Knowledge Sea after seeing him make the oath.
At this moment, she couldn’t retreat half a step. Who knew whether Gu Changge would pull some trick midway?
After all, the Knowledge Sea was a cultivator’s most vital place. A shattered Dantian could still possibly be repaired, but damage to the Knowledge Sea was extremely serious—it could even endanger one’s life.
Most importantly, a cultivator’s Knowledge Sea was the most mysterious place, hiding many of one’s secrets.
Opening the Knowledge Sea meant exposing quite a few of those secrets to the public.
Ye Liuli had no other choice; she could only resort to this desperate measure.
She couldn’t possibly watch Ye Chen be killed alive by Gu Changge.
“You want me to swear an oath? Fine.”
Gu Changge’s expression was quite calm, and he repeated after Ye Liuli’s words, “If I break this, may heavenly demons devour my heart and may I fall into demonic madness in seclusion.”
Everything was going too smoothly.
At this, Ye Liuli furrowed her brows, unable to fathom what Gu Changge was thinking.
She felt a bit uneasy.
Could it be that she was simply overthinking things?
Would someone as cunning and clever as Gu Changge really fall for the trap?
“I’ve finished my oath. Now, shouldn’t you open your Knowledge Sea?”
Gu Changge asked indifferently, his expression as if he truly had no other intentions.
Ye Liuli couldn’t figure out what could be wrong.
She gritted her silver teeth and closed her eyes.
Knowledge Sea—open!
Weng!
In an instant, deep within Gu Changge’s eyes, a pitch-black light flashed, faintly forming a Grand Flask gleaming with dark radiance.
This flask, like a rune, swept through the void and swiftly sank into the depths of Ye Liuli’s Knowledge Sea.
So fast that she didn’t even have time to react.
“What is this?” Ye Liuli frowned. Something felt strange, but she couldn’t pinpoint what.
Wasn’t planting a Slave Mark supposed to involve forming seals?
Why hadn’t she seen Gu Changge make a single move?
What kind of technique was this? She sensed not the slightest restraint or seal within her Knowledge Sea—she didn’t even know whether a Slave Mark had actually been planted on her.
And why did she feel an irresistible urge to submit to Gu Changge?
She suddenly felt a pang of panic. Had she fallen into his trap instead?
“Naturally, it’s the Slave Mark you agreed to.”
At this, a peculiar smile finally appeared at the corner of Gu Changge’s mouth.
Ye Liuli frowned. “Why don’t I feel anything?”
Gu Changge looked at her and said with amusement, “Well then, tell me—what would you like to feel?”
Ye Liuli’s expression turned ugly, her heart sinking, and she fell silent.
Things seemed to have gone beyond her expectations.
She actually couldn’t bring herself to hate Gu Changge now?
Although refining a Demonic Manipulation Urn had been quite difficult for Gu Changge, using it on Ye Liuli didn’t feel like any loss to him.
This was a conversion art recorded in the Taboo Inheritance, the Immortal-Devouring Demonic Art.
Only, in Gu Changge’s hands, it had become a demonic conversion method. For ease of use, he had condensed it directly into a rune resembling a Grand Flask.
Though the condensation process was troublesome, its advantage was that it required no casting process—as long as the target opened their Knowledge Sea and let their guard down, it could be planted.
A Slave Mark? What kind of low-grade trash was that?
Gu Changge’s Demonic Manipulation Urn was hundreds of times more advanced than a Slave Mark—they weren’t even on the same level.
How could Gu Changge possibly fail to guess what Ye Liuli had been planning?
The Ye Family was, after all, one of the Ancient Immortal Races, with an ancient and long-standing heritage. Breaking a Slave Mark would pose no difficulty whatsoever.
He said what he did precisely to make Ye Liuli fall for the trap.
The cleverness she prided herself on was, in Gu Changge’s eyes, utterly childish.
“Once the Demonic Manipulation Urn is planted, she will gradually forget about today’s events. As long as no supreme powerhouse probes her Knowledge Sea, there should be no mishaps—it’s impossible for anyone to discover...”
“Given enough time, she will naturally become one of my demonic servants.”
Thinking this, Gu Changge was quite satisfied.
Today’s scheming had truly earned him a huge profit.
“Gu Changge, now you should release Ye Chen-gege, right?” Ye Liuli spoke again, staring at Gu Changge. Having detected no trace of a Slave Mark, her unease only grew.
“What should you be calling me?”
Gu Changge glanced at her.
Ye Liuli felt her head buzz as if it were about to explode. In a daze, she saw a strange, ancient deity looking down upon her.
She couldn’t help but feel a wave of dread.
“Master...”
The moment those words left her mouth, she was completely dumbfounded. Why had she blurted that out instinctively?
Those were clearly not the words she wanted to say.
Ye Liuli’s expression was somewhat dazed.
“Gu Changge, what did you do to Liuli?”
Watching all this, Ye Chen panicked, his face deathly pale, unable to believe any of this was real.
His cousin was really calling Gu Changge “Master”?
What on earth was going on?
He couldn’t accept any of this, his head buzzing.
“A dead man asks too many questions.”
Gu Changge swept a glance at Ye Chen. In his mind, the System had already notified him that Ye Chen’s Fortuity points had dropped to the minimum.
The Zero Fortuity Drop Rule had been triggered.
Pu!
So he didn’t hesitate in the slightest.
The giant black hand closed.
“Liuli, save me...”
In terror, despair, and disbelief, Ye Chen’s eyes went wide as Gu Changge crushed him to death.
Even in death, he couldn’t understand.
Why did Gu Changge dare to kill him after swearing an oath? Wasn’t he afraid of heavenly demons devouring his heart, of falling into demonic madness in seclusion?
Of course, Gu Changge feared no oath.
Heavenly demons? What were those? Nourishment delivered right to his door.
As for seclusion?
He didn’t need it at all—just add points and cultivate, thank you very much.
Why would he spare a perfectly good Fortuitous One and let the rewards slip away before his eyes?
After all this effort, wouldn’t it all have been for nothing?
Gu Changge never did business at a loss.
“Gu Changge, you...” Ye Liuli was also stunned by the scene before her, frozen in place, unable to come back to her senses for a long while.
Going back on his word, breaking his promise?
She no longer even knew how to curse Gu Changge.
“I want to avenge Ye Chen-gege...” But at this thought, she couldn’t help feeling lost. Why couldn’t she muster any killing intent toward Gu Changge?
It must be because of that Slave Mark just now!
Ye Liuli felt a chill, somewhat frightened. Although she could understand the cause of it all, her actions were no longer under her own control.
As for Yan Ji, who watched all of this, she had nothing to say about it. In her view, Gu Changge had the makings of a ruthless overlord—before sufficient profit, what did an oath even count for?
Besides, Ye Chen had been scheming to kill Gu Changge.
Was she supposed to persuade Gu Changge to spare Ye Chen? That was something she could never do.
Gu Changge naturally didn’t care about Ye Liuli’s opinion of him. The Demonic Manipulation Urn had been planted; opinions no longer mattered in the slightest.
At that moment, the System’s notification sounded in his mind.
<*Ding!* Fortuitous One Ye Chen has been killed, triggering the Zero Fortuity Drop Rule. Calculating...>
“Congratulations, Master, on receiving an additional Heavenly Gift Treasure Chest, two hundred bonus Fortuity points, and one thousand Fatums.”
“Use the System Reward Crit Talisman,” Gu Changge said, locating the item in his storage. Perfect timing to use it.
<*Ding!* System Reward Crit Talisman used successfully. Congratulations, Master, on obtaining a fivefold crit rate.>
“The multiplier has been automatically applied to the current calculation...”
“Final calculation complete: one thousand Fortuity points, five thousand Fatums.”
Gu Changge said, “Open the bonus Heavenly Gift Treasure Chest.”
He was quite curious about what would come out this time. Last time, the Fated Villain aura had resolved his Fortuity gap—the Negative Fortuity problem.
What would it be this time?
He was rather looking forward to it.
As a golden light flashed before his eyes, the chest opened with a bang!
“Ding, congratulations, Master, on obtaining One-third Fragment of the World Seed ×1, and Void Marrow ×1,” the System announced.
Gu Changge raised an eyebrow slightly.
Another fragmented World Seed. But now that all three pieces were gathered, it seemed they could be combined into one complete World Seed.
As for the Void Marrow—what was that?
He quickly checked its description, and soon Gu Changge’s eyes lit up.
“The marrow Source of a Void Physique, containing the Force of the Void, granting control over the power of the void...”
“Truly a good thing—much better than last time’s Supreme Heart,” Gu Changge couldn’t help but praise.
Soon, he directly chose to fuse it. A familiar warm sensation washed over him, his entire body and limbs feeling as if immersed in a boundless, vast void.
The process didn’t last long. When Gu Changge opened his eyes again, he immediately felt a sense of kinship and harmony between himself and the void before him.
“The void—an attribute that combines offense, escape, and divine speed all in one.”
Then, Gu Changge summoned his current status interface.
This time, his Fortuity points and Fatums could be said to have skyrocketed.
Master: Gu Changge.
Aura: Fated Villain.
Identity: True Disciple of Skyward Schloss.
Physique/Bloodline: Demonic Heart, Daoist Bone.
Cultivation: Late Honoured Lord Realm.
Arts and Spells: Skyward Ascension (Seventh Layer, 75% progress), Demonization (Talent), Nature God’s Chant (Talent), Immortal-Devouring Demonic Art...
Fatums: Nine thousand.
Fortuity Points: One thousand eight hundred eighty (Black).
System Shop: Open.
Storage: Domain-Shattering Talisman ×1, One-third Fragment of the World Seed ×3, Fortuity Plundering Talisman ×3.
