She Has the Bearing of an Empress — Better Keep an Eye Out First
She Has the Bearing of an Empress — Better Keep an Eye Out First
The father and son talked here for a long time, about some of the plans going forward, and Gu Lintian also asked whether Gu Changge had run into any problems in his recent cultivation — truly attentive in every possible way.
Gu Changge felt too embarrassed to say that his cultivation nowadays relied on cheating with point allocation. Looking at his father’s warm, gentle expression, he figured he should still put his heart into improving his strength.
Although his current strength was already plenty strong.
But people are always greedy.
The feeling of growing stronger, of holding everything in the palm of his hand — how could “wonderful” even begin to describe it?
It was simply indescribably marvelous.
Before leaving the palace, Gu Lintian brought up a few other matters with Gu Changge.
“Your mother has been missing you a bit lately too. When you have time, drop by the Primal Celestial Temple to see her.”
Gu Changge nodded. “Understood, Father.”
At the mention of his mother, a string of memories surfaced in Gu Changge’s mind. The previous Saintess of the Primal Celestial Temple — and his maternal grandfather was the most powerful Grand Elder of the Primal Celestial Temple.
And the Primal Celestial Temple had been on friendly terms with the Gu Family for generations.
It was an ancient great sect in its own right, standing immortal across multiple epochs, its status in no way inferior to the ordinary Supreme Dao Lineages.
Thinking of this, Gu Changge couldn’t help but click his tongue.
With a terrifying second-generation background like his, even if he were a complete waste in the Beyond, he’d still be the kind no one dared provoke. And his mother was famously protective of her own.
Not going around bullying men and terrorizing women would honestly be a waste.
Of course, anyone who thought like this was obviously a veteran villain.
“In a while, that girl Mingkong will be coming with her Imperial Father to discuss the marriage between you two. This time, don’t be as cold to her as you used to be. She is your future wife, after all.”
Finally, Gu Lintian seemed to suddenly remember this matter, and his expression turned slightly serious. “You always used to complain that her methods weren’t impressive enough, but what she’s done over the past half year is truly admirable. She has the bearing of an Empress.”
“Mingkong is a good girl. Your mother and I are both very satisfied with her. If she assists you in the future, then no matter how vast this world is, won’t it all be yours for the taking?”
“Rest assured, Father.”
Hearing this, Gu Changge couldn’t help but pause slightly, then nodded.
A dreamlike, breathtakingly beautiful celestial face surfaced in his mind.
His fiancée, huh.
Yue Mingkong, the Fourth Princess of the Unrivaled Celestial Dynasty.
His expression suddenly turned somewhat intriguing.
A fiancée — this standard-issue setup — could it be related to the new Daughter of Fortuity the System had hinted at earlier?
He searched his memories of this fiancée of his.
By the standards of the Beyond, the Fourth Princess of the Unrivaled Celestial Dynasty was a bona fide rich, beautiful noble — and of the very top tier at that. Whether in looks, talent, or background, few women could compare.
But based on his memories, he truly held no affection for her — he was cold and polite, nothing like how one should treat a fiancée.
He had simply felt that Yue Mingkong, as a princess of a Celestial Dynasty, had a weak personality and lacked cunning methods.
Beyond that, he hadn’t done anything to her, nor offended her — there didn’t seem to be any problem.
And since she was coming to discuss the marriage, this presumably had nothing to do with that clichéd broken-engagement trope.
Thinking of this, Gu Changge grew somewhat puzzled. By his reasoning, a Daughter of Fortuity of the Beyond couldn’t possibly be a simple character.
Whether in background or methods, she would surely far surpass the Fortuitous Ones of the Overworld.
Delivering such a perfect wife to his door — wasn’t that treatment reserved for the Fortuitous One?
Going by the usual tropes of web novels from his past life, this kind of possibility wasn’t impossible either.
The System wouldn’t tell him outright who the new Daughter of Fortuity was, and he had no way of knowing — he could only rely on the various tropes he knew from his past life to guess.
Of course, he’d probably be close enough either way.
And even if he guessed wrong, it didn’t matter.
So Gu Changge decided to keep an eye out regarding his fiancée — when they met, a little probing would tell him everything.
After leaving, Gu Changge headed straight back to the Godly Island where he usually resided. Along the way, he sensed many terrifying auras, their pressure utterly dreadful.
These were all wisps of aura accidentally released by clan members during their usual cultivation.
Every Godly Island had its own protective Array Patterns to prevent spying, but how could the commotion of the powerful cultivating possibly be concealed?
Looking into the distance, figures swallowing starlight and drawing down moonlight were a common sight.
Deeper in, chaos surged and mist shrouded everything, with numerous palaces rising and sinking within.
Deeper still — that was where the ancestral grounds lay.
In the countless years since the Gu Family established itself in the Beyond, whenever a great enemy came knocking, they would dig up the ancestral grounds, unearthing ancestors from who-knows-what era to come hold the line.
No matter what kind of enemy it was, they could handle it.
Over time, the Gu Family became an extremely mysterious existence in the Beyond — even their own people didn’t know how deep their foundations ran.
Outsiders had even less chance of knowing.
Of course, digging up the ancestral grounds and excavating ancestral graves — no one dared do such a thing on ordinary days.
......
News of Gu Changge’s return to the family caused quite a stir within a certain small circle.
Many clan members knew he had gone to the Overworld, but didn’t know his true destination, didn’t know the exact spatial coordinates, and certainly didn’t know what his goal was.
His every move had, in fact, always been under someone’s watch. The Gu Family presented a united front to the outside, but internally it was far from peaceful — there were quite a few entangled interests.
Gu Changge was the Young Master, but that didn’t make him the definite future family head. That matter still required the joint decision of the many clan elders.
As a colossal Family of Immortals with countless Godly Islands and immortal mountains, the relationships between its various branches were intricate and complex.
Including the main branch Gu Changge currently belonged to, there were actually four other main branches — and that didn’t even count the one branch that had already declined.
Every branch coveted the position of family head, to command all directions and rule over endless territories.
The other branches likewise had geniuses of astonishing talent, all eyeing the position of future family head like tigers watching their prey.
Of course, amid such struggles, rules existed — one must not take the life of a fellow clan member.
The elders rather enjoyed watching the younger generation’s struggles. Precisely because of this, the family maintained its vitality, avoiding becoming a pool of stagnant water.
Over a decade ago, one of the branches rapidly declined, suppressed by Gu Lintian’s current branch. This matter had caused no small amount of waves among the Gu Family’s upper echelons.
At this moment, on the main peak of another branch of the Gu Family.
Grand palaces stood in rows, ancient courtyards stretched in clusters, ancient trees reached for the sky, and radiant light dazzled.
Several elders with powerful auras were discussing matters.
“Ever since that boy Changge returned from the Overworld, his aura has grown even stronger. He’s faintly reached the peak of the Honoured Lord Realm. I’m afraid none of the geniuses of the various branches are his match now,” an old woman said somewhat helplessly, strands of golden light flickering in her eyes, divine radiance hidden within.
She was one of the current clan elders of the Gu Family, her strength terrifying.
“Setting aside Changge’s other aspects, his talent in cultivation alone is truly rare in this world. The title of heaven-sent prodigy isn’t for nothing. I’m afraid it won’t be more than a few years before he breaks through to the Enlightenment Realm.”
The elder beside her couldn’t help but agree. Though they weren’t of the same branch as Gu Changge, he had nothing but praise for the boy’s talent.
Having a powerful genius in the clan was naturally a good thing.
“It seems the position of the next family head will fall to their branch again. Three generations of family heads, all from one branch...” another elder shook his head as he spoke.
“What a pity for Old Thirteen’s branch. Suppressed as they are now, aside from that branch’s ancestor in the ancestral grounds — who knows whether he’s in seclusion or has already passed away in meditation — I’m afraid there’s no one left who can prop them up...”
At this, another person suddenly spoke up.
These words immediately made the expressions of those present shift slightly, somewhat apprehensive, unwilling to discuss it further.
The events of over a decade ago were taboo in the Gu Family, involving the slaughter of one’s own kin. Fortunately, only the upper echelons knew of it.
Otherwise, if word got out, it would inevitably shake all sides and cost them enormous face.
A Family of Immortals, yet such a disgraceful thing had happened — and on the current main branch, no less. It was truly indefensible, enough to make countless Cultivators sneer and turn them into a laughingstock.
“Even if the few ancestors of Old Thirteen’s branch awaken and learn of this, they presumably won’t say much. Judging by Changge’s current talent, his future is bound to be extraordinary — he might even surpass the current family head.”
“Speaking of which, Old Thirteen’s branch is pitiful too. Their clansmen were exiled outside, their might long since diminished. But recently, I’ve heard some rumors unfavorable to our Gu Family.”
“They seem to be related to Changge...”
“Oh? What is it?”
“That little girl from Old Thirteen’s branch back then — she didn’t die. We all misjudged her back then. Who would’ve thought her talent simply hadn’t manifested.”
“A pitiful child indeed. Ah — if only we’d protected her better, none of this would have happened. How old was Gu Changge back then? So young, yet his heart was already so cold and vicious, striking at his own little sister... If he leads our Gu Family in the future, what will become of us?”
One clan elder sighed repeatedly, clearly still unable to let go of what happened back then.
Of course, with the clan decree in place, kin could not kill kin.
But that branch had still been exiled to the outside world.
“The Land of Abandoned Celestials... recently there seem to be rumors of that child... We owe her a debt in this matter. Let’s not let the family head learn of her whereabouts.”
......
Within a magnificent, resplendent palace.
Lin Qiuhan and Su Qingge stood quietly.
What to do in the Gu Family, what rules to follow, which places they could go and which they couldn’t — they were already clear on all these rules.
Gu Changge nodded slightly.
There wasn’t much to say to them. Their status issues had already been resolved.
Bringing them up to the Beyond — naturally, he didn’t intend for them to be mere decorative vases.
Lin Qiuhan possessed terrifying talent in the Dao of Alchemy; sooner or later he would send her to the Guild of Alchemy.
As for Su Qingge, keeping her by his side as a serving girl was no problem either.
As the number one beauty of the Overworld’s Eastern Barren, she was easy on the eyes — even in the boundless Beyond, her looks were rarely matched.
Though given her cleverness, it was somewhat of a waste.
Moreover, her Fortuity points were even higher than those of the Gu Family’s young geniuses.
That already spoke volumes.
She was not as simple as she appeared on the surface.
For now, keeping someone as powerful as Yan Ji by his side was enough.
“Qingge, what are your plans? Weren’t you always yearning for the Beyond? Now that you’re here, you’ve gone quiet instead?” Gu Changge looked at her, the urge to tease her rising again.
Su Qingge looked at him, her voice very low. “Qingge knows she can hardly win Gongzi’s favor. Does Gongzi not want me anymore?”
Though she prided herself on her cleverness, having come to the Beyond she had no kin or connections — unlike Lin Qiuhan, who at least had a Founding Ancestor here.
If Gu Changge didn’t want her, she didn’t know what kind of situation she would face next.
Even a powerhouse like Ming Lao, upon coming to the Beyond, could only be sent by those great sects to mine.
Her looks were decent, but her fate would likely be even more miserable than a mine slave’s.