As the Villain's Father, He's Finally Getting It
As the Villain’s Father, He’s Finally Getting It
070 As the Villain’s Father, He’s Finally Getting It
The palace was grand and majestic, like an ancient celestial edifice descended upon the mortal world, with countless wondrous phenomena within.
The cosmos, the universe, heaven and earth, the profound and the yellow—all manifested at this moment.
A middle-aged man with a towering figure and blurred features sat there, his face bearing some resemblance to Gu Changge’s.
He sat cross-legged, chaotic mist swirling around him, while the faint sounds of world-hymns, sacrificial chants, and other grand echoes resounded beside him.
His aura suppressed all the heavens, like an ancient god from before the creation of the world.
The depth of his cultivation was terrifying beyond measure.
As Gu Changge entered,
he opened his eyes, revealing a gentle expression—one he would only ever show in Gu Changge’s presence.
Ordinarily, he was a cold and lofty deity, looking down upon all living beings.
Even when issuing decrees, it was merely a matter of a single divine thought; he rarely spoke aloud.
This was none other than Gu Changge’s father, the current head of the Gu Family, Gu Lintian.
He was also one of the most powerful and influential beings standing at the peak of the Beyond. Any casual decree issued from this palace could easily alter the situation of the entire Beyond, holding the life and death of countless beings in its grasp.
To put it bluntly, an existence like the head of a Family of Immortals was truly a colossus of heaven and earth, overlooking the unchanging ages.
“Father, I’ve returned.”
Gu Changge stood before his father, his manner respectful.
“Did everything go smoothly? During your trip to the Overworld, several clan elders from the other branches had quite a few complaints, prying into your whereabouts,” Gu Lintian said gently.
Very few people in the Gu Family knew about Gu Changge’s Demonic Heart. Aside from a few ancestors of his own branch,
only he and Gu Changge’s mother knew.
The matter of the Demonic Heart was of grave importance. In the countless years since the Beyond came into existence, Gu Changge was only the ninth known person to be born with a Demonic Heart.
The previous eight owners of the Demonic Heart, regardless of their origins, all eventually became fiends, Demon Lords, and Demon Masters who brought calamity upon the world, their slaughter reaching the heavens, provoking the combined assault of many orthodoxies and powers of the Beyond.
Those around them never met good ends.
The appearance of a Demonic Heart was an omen of Miasma. In the Beyond, while it might not mean becoming the enemy of the entire world, it would still cause cultivators to loathe and shun its bearer like a venomous snake.
Back when Gu Changge was born, seeing that he was accompanied by a Demonic Heart had left even Gu Lintian stunned for quite a while.
Fortunately, he reacted quickly and dealt with the clan members present at the time, so only his trusted confidants knew of the matter.
To say nothing of anything else, the mere existence of an ominous Demonic Heart meant Gu Changge could never take over the Gu Family in the future, no matter his talent, no matter his brilliance.
This held true both internally and externally.
The other branches of the Gu Family would never agree to it either.
Fortunately, at that time, there was a girl from another branch of the clan whose radiance was concealed, whom the young Gu Changge recognized as possessing a Great Dao Bone.
For Gu Changge’s future, Gu Lintian was decisive.
After some scheming,
he had the Daoist Bone dug out for Gu Changge, to conceal his Demonic Heart.
This concealment lasted a full dozen years, with no one detecting anything amiss.
By now, the clan elders of the Gu Family who knew of that incident had either been exiled or suppressed.
That once-flourishing branch had gradually withered away.
The matter seemed to have been buried beneath the dust of history.
Only occasionally, when he attempted divination, would he find that the little girl from back then had vanished without a trace, her whereabouts seemingly obscured.
Having failed to eliminate her back then, she had been taken away by the old folks of her branch, disappearing without a trace ever since.
Although he had been investigating all these years, it was hard to find anything—after all, it was a matter that couldn’t see the light of day, and the few ancestors of the clan turned a blind eye to it.
Moreover, although that branch had withered, he couldn’t be sure whether one or two old fossils of that branch were buried somewhere in the clan grounds.
The ancient existences of the Gu Family’s various branches all had this habit—unless you truly dug them out, you’d never know whether they were dead or in seclusion.
“Everything went very well,” Gu Changge answered. His parents truly treated him well, to the point of outright doting.
Just like in all those formulaic stories, the parents of a Fortuitous One never care about him and look down on him in every way, while the villain’s parents are the exact opposite, doting on him endlessly.
As the saying goes, beat the young one and the old one comes; the whole family delivers experience points together—that’s exactly the logic.
“Let me take a look for you. The weapon of the former Demon Lord—you likely can’t truly control it yet,” Gu Lintian said.
“Yes, Father.”
With that, Gu Changge’s mind stirred.
The Eight Barren Demon Halberd within the Arsenal suddenly vanished.
Weng!
The void trembled, and a terrifying killing intent seemed poised to shatter all heavens and worlds!
It appeared out of thin air in the void before Gu Changge.
However, its originally sky-shrouding demonic aura was now like a suppressed little flame.
Of course, in Gu Changge’s eyes, it was more like a tiny guttering candle in a violent storm, feeling the terrifying suppression and trembling in fear.
“Father, you’re scaring it,” Gu Changge said, somewhat helpless.
At the same time, he sent out a divine thought to soothe it, and only then did it gradually settle down.
Yet it remained deeply fearful, terrified of an existence like Gu Lintian.
It had only recently gained sentience and had thought itself quite powerful already.
But before the man before it, it was like a lone leaf of a boat in a vast ocean—far too insignificant.
“It seems you’ve had some other fortuitous encounters. This method of retrieving it from thin air—even I couldn’t sense it. That’s good. This way, your mother and I can rest easy, and she’ll stop nagging me about it all day.”
“Fortunately, this Demon Halberd bears you no ill will. Otherwise, its sentience would be unnecessary now—it could just obediently remain a mindless Artifact Spirit...”
Gu Lintian smiled, then nodded as he spoke, withdrawing his probing divine sense.
Although the Eight Barren Demon Halberd had an extraordinary origin, being the weapon of some peerless Demon Lord,
before an existence like him, even if it fully revived, a single thought could suppress it.
However, since this was Gu Changge’s own fortuitous encounter, he didn’t interfere further.
Gu Changge carried many secrets, and as his father, he wouldn’t pry too much—these were Gu Changge’s personal secrets.
But what needed protecting, he would absolutely protect. He would never allow anyone else to lay a hand on his child.
Gu Changge nodded. He wasn’t a heartless, ungrateful person; he could feel who truly treated him well.
Although his role was that of the villain, he wasn’t someone devoid of emotion and conscience—he just happened to stand on the opposite side of the Fortuitous Ones.
“Your cultivation has improved considerably during this trip to the Overworld. The Young Prodigies of the other branches will find it hard to surpass you now...”
He glanced over Gu Changge’s current cultivation and praised him with some satisfaction.
Back when he himself was Gu Changge’s age, he had only been at the Honoured Lord Realm.
But Gu Changge had already reached the peak of the Honoured Lord Realm, even half a step from entering the Honoured King Realm.
The Beyond had no shortage of Young Prodigies, but as for those who could reach Gu Changge’s level—even he didn’t know of any.
“You flatter me, Father.”
Gu Changge smiled, not bothering to deny it.
After all, on the journey back to the Beyond, he had spent a full five thousand Fatums to raise his cultivation to the peak of the Honoured Lord Realm.
Going by his true strength, he could casually crush even Partial-Enlightened Realm existences.
Of course, it was enough that Gu Changge knew this in his heart.
He had many secrets, including the Immortal-Devouring Demonic Art, which even his father didn’t know about.
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his father—rather, the fewer people who knew of such things, the better.
“The Eight Barren Demon Halberd is the weapon of the former Demon Lord. Although it’s difficult to connect you to it, until your position as head of the Family of Immortals is truly confirmed, try not to use it unless absolutely necessary...”
Gu Lintian then said to Gu Changge.
It wasn’t that he worried about Gu Changge’s weapon being seized—someone daring to rob the Gu Family had yet to be born in this world.
It was just that if anyone connected it to Gu Changge’s Demonic Heart, it would provoke criticism within the clan. Although he was currently the young master, his status as the future family head had yet to be finalized.
As fine as the weapon was, the position of the Gu Family’s future head was clearly more important.
Once it was settled, those old men would have no room for regret—even if Gu Changge possessed an ominous Demonic Heart, they would have to accept it.
Gu Lintian had, in fact, already planned out Gu Changge’s future in his heart, simply waiting for him to slowly take over the reins.
“Well now, it seems you’ve finally gotten it...”
Suddenly, he noticed the soul-nurturing jade Gu Changge carried and instantly sensed Yan Ji’s aura within it.
On Gu Lintian’s face appeared an expression at odds with his usual cold profundity—one of gratification.
“Father, you’ve misunderstood...”
Gu Changge paused briefly, then couldn’t help laughing, and casually explained Yan Ji’s origins.
Of course, he didn’t mention sowing discord between Ye Chen and Yan Ji. If not for finding it amusing and wanting to scheme for Fortuity points and Fatums, he wouldn’t have gone to such great lengths.
And of course, another reason was that doing it right in front of a Fortuitous One felt genuinely satisfying.
Now that he was back in the Beyond, how to deal with Yan Ji wasn’t actually important.
However, since she originally came from the Beyond, she should know quite a few hidden secrets and fortuitous opportunities.
“This is a race containing the innate fire Source of heaven and earth. I thought they had gone extinct, but since you like her, Changge, keeping her by your side is fine,”
Gu Lintian said, recognizing Yan Ji’s true form at a glance.
Among the innate gods, those containing the fire Source were once a supremely powerful race, born with formidable cultivation.
A pity they could no longer be found anywhere.
Judging by her age, she was equivalent to a human in her twenties. Gu Changge was young too; keeping her by his side, so long as she harbored no disloyalty, was no issue.
“At her peak, she should have had Sacred Lord Realm cultivation. Quite the extraordinary talent...”
Gu Lintian said.
“Sacred Lord Realm cultivation—no wonder her Fortuity points were so high. She’s someone who carries great Fortuity herself.”
Hearing this, Gu Changge understood somewhat.
At her prime, Yan Ji was a Sacred Lord Realm existence.
In the Beyond, such a being could roam freely, shatter stars with a palm, and traverse the starry skies with ease.
In the Gu Family, the Enlightened King Realm could be considered the backbone; only those who entered the Sacred Realm counted as true experts of the various branches; as for the Sacred Lord Realm, those were existences on the level of clan elders.
Thinking of it this way, he felt he had truly made a killing.
“When you have time, make a trip back to the Skyward Schloss. They’ve had quite a few complaints about your half-year disappearance. Besides, the matter of their successor should be settled soon...”
At this point, Gu Lintian spoke again, his eyes gradually deepening, within which countless terrifying scenes emerged—universes collapsing, heaven and earth splitting apart, stars perishing.
At this moment, he was an Absolute Being who ruled over the cosmos.
“Rest assured, Father. The position of Skyward Schloss successor—I am determined to have it,” Gu Changge said.
This father of his had great ambitions.
And so did he.
The Cult of Immortality, the Skyward Schloss—sooner or later, it would fall into the hands of father and son.
...
PS: As for the protagonist’s background and such, rest assured.
The protagonists in my books have always been like this—known or unknown, no one can compare.
As for killing his sister and such, don’t start that rumor train. I’ve been a wily old hand on Feilu for years; I know what deadly poison must never be touched.