Telling a Monstrous Lie, Master and Disciple Tear Off the Mask
Telling a Monstrous Lie, Master and Disciple Tear Off the Mask
The Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being truly did not disappoint Gu Changge.
The moment he mentioned that Practice Ground, Gu Changge knew he intended to lure him there.
So what came next was simple—he merely had to play dumb and go along with whatever the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being said.
It just so happened that he was extremely interested in the secrets the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being had been hiding all this time.
Making a move against the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being in this universe would not only cause enormous commotion, but could also bring about all sorts of unnecessary trouble.
The Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being wanted to find a remote place to finish off Gu Changge, but as far as Gu Changge was concerned, did he not also want to find a place to finish off the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being?
This matter could be said to fall right into Gu Changge’s hands.
After that, once the two had come to an agreement, they quickly set off from the Divine City, tearing through this universe and heading toward the remote regions.
The Beyond’s territories were incomparably vast, and the many Immortal Daoist Traditions and great sects were all established in the central regions of the Beyond.
The borderlands held too many unknown risks and great terrors, and resources were extremely scarce as well.
So the various Daoist Traditions and powers were not particularly interested in those surrounding domains—they had not even sent experts to occupy them.
In those regions, it was mostly starfield bandits and marauders who operated, specializing in dark and filthy deeds—either intercepting merchant caravans passing through, or specifically targeting Cultivators who came to those areas for training.
Of course, in those desolate regions, the most common things were Space Rifts, connecting to other universes.
To cross those unstable Space Rifts, one either needed a powerful Physique, or had to possess numerous protective artifacts capable of withstanding spatial turbulence and the various exploding storms of rules.
Ordinary Cultivators would never do such a thing, and True Daoists were even less likely to take such enormous risks to travel to other universes.
In other universes, one might sometimes encounter reclusive clans whose foundations were in no way inferior to the Immortal Daoist Traditions.
If a great battle broke out in those universes, even True Daoists ran the risk of perishing.
“Actually, your disciple is quite curious—why is the Practice Ground Shifu chose located so far from the Beyond?”
With Gu Changge and the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being’s current cultivation, they naturally had no need to worry about the various dangers encountered when tearing through universal tunnels.
Along the way, Gu Changge could not help but ask with great interest.
The Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being thought Gu Changge had grown suspicious. His eyes narrowed slightly, and then he smiled, “It’s mainly to avoid the central regions of the Beyond. Your master worries that while in seclusion, someone might find the Practice Ground and launch a sneak attack. On the path of cultivation, there are always too many unpredictable accidents.”
“Just as even now, your master cannot be certain whether the enemies or old friends from my era have survived to this day.”
“If an old enemy were to find my Practice Ground, wouldn’t I be in great danger while in seclusion?”
His explanation sounded reasonable enough.
However, Gu Changge clearly did not believe it. All along this journey, the path the two had traveled grew more and more remote, having long since left the territories known to the Beyond.
Just like now—the two stood at the edge of a withered universe, with boundless Chaos Energy surging toward them from ahead, raging and tumultuous.
Countless shattered stars collided within it, exploding into sky-filling dust.
Here, one could barely sense any vitality at all—there were not even traces of any living beings ever having existed.
Yet the Practice Ground the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being was heading to was still very far from this place, with who knows how many universes in between.
The Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being definitely had an enormous scheme; otherwise, he would not have chosen such a remote location.
Those universes were likely even more ancient, completely cut off from the center of the Beyond, without the slightest possibility of connection.
Gu Changge narrowed his eyes, countless thoughts flashing through his mind, and suddenly he had a bold guess.
Could it be that the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being treated these ancient universes as his own private back gardens?
That way, apart from himself, no one else would know anything about them, nor would anyone notice.
Within those back gardens, whatever the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being wanted to do, basically no one could stop him.
His strength was even more terrifying than that of the Remnant Immortals.
The farther a universe was from the center of the Beyond, the more broken and incomplete its rules and order became, and the harder it was to break through to higher realms.
In those universes, the birth of a single True Daoist might exhaust the entire era’s foundation and Fortuity.
“If I were the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being, I would indeed choose to do the same—using those universes to accumulate foundation and Fortuity for myself.”
Gu Changge felt a sudden wave of enlightenment in his heart, and suddenly understood somewhat.
Although he still did not know by what method the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being accumulated foundation and Fortuity, he had guessed a good part of it.
Over the following days, the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being continued traveling with Gu Changge, tearing through one universe after another, while secretly taking action to conceal his own aura and traces.
He was very cautious, worried that Gu Changge might leave something behind along the way that would allow the experts of the Longevity Gu Family to detect it and track them down.
Finally, after the two passed through several more broken, lifeless, desolate universes, they finally arrived at a universe brimming with vitality.
This universe was vast and ancient, with living races existing in every starfield.
However, when Gu Changge swept his divine sense across it, he found no aura of a True Daoist—he could not even sense traces of a True Daoist ever having existed.
“It seems the foundation of these universes is still insufficient to support the birth of a True Daoist. Or perhaps... one was born once, but was harvested by someone.”
Gu Changge fell into thoughtful contemplation. He had always wanted to find suitable ancient universes to plant the Tree of Epoch in, so as to set up a scheme to trap and slaughter the Beyond.
In these ancient universes, he saw an opportunity.
The Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being truly had not disappointed him.
He wanted more and more to kill the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being and uncover the secrets he had been hiding all along.
These universes were simply too far from the center of the Beyond. Their Daoist inheritances had even been severed at times, spiritual energy was scarce, and the rules were broken—it was already very difficult for True Daoists to be born.
Seeing Gu Changge examining this universe, the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being assumed he was puzzled and could not help but begin explaining.
Of course, as for why this ancient universe had never produced a True Daoist, the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being knew perfectly well in his heart.
After setting up the secret of becoming a Celestial, he had deliberately left behind a Dharma Body behind that Celestial Gate, to harvest the Dao Fruits of the True Daoists born in these ancient universes over the long ages.
This secret, he would certainly never tell Gu Changge.
Because it concerned the opportunity for him to achieve the Dao Fruit of an Immortal King when the Beyond’s environment underwent drastic change and the Celestial Path emerged.
Back then in the Absolute Yin Heaven, the Origin Ancestor Artifact runes obtained after slaying the Six Great Ancestors were, in the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being’s view, also connected to a heaven-shaking great secret.
“What a pity. Such an ancient universe, yet it can hardly produce a True Daoist.”
“Though if it accumulates for another tens of millions of years, perhaps it could still give birth to one or two True Daoists.”
Hearing this, Gu Changge acted as if he had not noticed the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being’s intentions at all, shaking his head gently with great regret.
Even if it never reached that point, that did not mean the living beings of this universe could be looked down upon.
Gu Changge smiled and said, “I imagine Shifu would not choose to establish his Practice Ground here either.”
The Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being nodded, waved his great sleeve, and continued tearing through the universal barrier, heading toward yet another universe.
Along the way, the two saw more and more ancient universes.
Every universe had abundant vitality, yet none had the aura of a True Daoist presiding over it.
In some ancient universes, although there were traces of True Daoists having existed, those traces had long since nearly dissipated. Even the Imperial Weapons left behind had lost their divinity, no longer possessing the might to shake a universe.
After witnessing all this with his own eyes, Gu Changge became increasingly clear about the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being’s true objective.
Presumably, the true True Daoists once born in these universes had long since been murdered by him, and even their traces had been thoroughly erased.
While passing through a certain universe, a heaven-shaking, terrifying great battle was taking place within it.
The entire universe was swept up in it. Countless stars, and a vast, mighty army had descended upon every corner of the starry sky, seemingly intent on fighting their way into some region.
When the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being sensed all this, his expression changed slightly, a flash of annoyance and regret passing through his eyes, but he quickly returned to normal.
He had not expected that, by sheer coincidence along their journey, Gu Changge would stumble upon the scene before them.
He had not divined this beforehand either, and had not noticed that this universe had already reached the time for harvest.
“Something seems to be happening here.”
Gu Changge understood perfectly in his heart, but on his face he showed a somewhat puzzled, surprised expression, standing at the edge of the universe and stopping to watch.
The Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being’s face was expressionless as he shook his head and said, “Your master does not know either.”
The great universe before them was collapsing, its rules and order fracturing.
Within it, cries of slaughter shook the heavens, battle intent surging skyward.
Many supreme experts whose blood qi tore through the firmament let out despairing roars, battling an unspeakable figure from some unknown dimension. Swathes of figures fell and crumbled, turning into sky-filling mists of blood.
“Kill! Kill this terrifying monster!”
They roared, blooming with boundless light, the auras of True Daoists on full display.
This battle was far too tragic. Beneath this shattered sky,
all the experts and living beings roared, their entire bodies burning, wreathed in light,
illuminating the whole firmament as they fought that figure standing in the unknown dimension.
But that figure was far too enormous, its entire body seemingly cast from Immortal Divine Gold, standing at the end of heaven and earth.
Golden and resplendent, its face was blurred, its features indiscernible.
Only a pair of cold, emotionless eyes could be seen, revealing an icy indifference that regarded all living things as mere straw dogs.
It looked very much like a Human, yet it had three heads and six arms.
Each head was different, resembling dragons and phoenixes; its six arms were long, wielding various divine weapons, covered in long fur of various colors that made one’s heart tremble.
With a mere downward sweep, the entire universe collapsed and crumbled, shattering to pieces.
Countless experts roared as they burst apart, body and soul annihilated, vanishing into smoke.
Yet even so, there were still people who charged forward without regard for their lives.
Even if they could only inflict a single insignificant wound upon this terrifying monster, they would not hesitate.
It was as if their hearts held only one thought—to destroy this terrifying monster.
The True Daoists charging at the very front attacked with Imperial Weapons in hand, but before they could even touch that dreadful monster, their entire bodies exploded.
In terms of cultivation, they were actually only at the early stage of the True Daoist realm—nowhere near comparable to a Remnant Immortal.
The gap between the two sides was simply too great; there was not the slightest possibility of resistance.
“So that’s how it is. This monster is actually the guardian watching over the Celestial Gate, treating this universe’s True Daoists as food to be devoured.”
“When did the secret of becoming a Celestial begin spreading through these universes—that behind the Celestial Gate lies the Celestial Path?”
“Truly a monstrous lie, making everyone charge forward heedless of death in pursuit of the Celestial Dao.”
Gu Changge watched this tragic battle with great interest, then swept out his divine sense and instantly saw through everything.
Seeing this, the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being’s expression did not change, as if he had not heard Gu Changge’s words at all.
He also knew there was no way to stop Gu Changge from seeing through the truth.
After all, Gu Changge’s strength had also reached this realm. With just a slight sweep and deduction of his divine sense, he could naturally understand everything.
At this point, since Gu Changge had discovered this secret, there was naturally no need for him to keep hiding it any longer.
“Many things, my disciple, you really don’t need to understand so clearly.”
The Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being said indifferently, no longer wearing his earlier amiability, his dagger now showing as the map unrolled.
Gu Changge also smiled faintly and said, “Shifu speaks this way—does that mean, at this point, you no longer plan to take your disciple to the Practice Ground? What a pity. Your disciple still wanted to see what treasures are hidden within Shifu’s Practice Ground.”
“It seems everything you said before was just you playing along with your master?”
“You truly did have other schemes all along.”
The Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being narrowed his eyes, naturally hearing the mockery in Gu Changge’s words.
He suddenly felt that he seemed to have underestimated Gu Changge—he had not noticed that the latter had actually been scheming all along.
Gu Changge was far less greedy than he had imagined—or rather, far less simple than he had imagined.
All along this journey, had the lie of the Celestial Gate not been exposed just now, he would probably still have been kept in the dark by Gu Changge, never knowing that the latter had been playing along with his act of feigned ignorance.
All of a sudden, a chill crept up the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being’s back.
If, from the very beginning—when he noticed something wrong with those Absolute Yin Heaven Origin Ancestor Artifact runes—Gu Changge had been deliberately playing along with him...
Then did that not mean that from that moment on, he had been the one being schemed against by Gu Changge?
Had he been used by Gu Changge as a mere tool all along? Including appearing in the Divine City to build up prestige for Gu Changge? Resolving the Absolute Yin Heaven calamity for him?
“You truly are worthy of being your master’s good disciple—to have been scheming against me from the very start.” The Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being’s expression was rather ugly.
“It seems Shifu has realized it a bit too late.”
“Though I must thank you for resolving so many matters for your disciple, and even bringing your disciple all the way here.”
Gu Changge smiled faintly. He had originally planned to wait until the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being revealed his own hand—or made his move—before exposing his own intentions.
But now was not too early either. This place was truly immeasurably far from the center of the Beyond, with who knows how many withered universes in between.
If the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being perished here, it would not cause any ripples or suspicion whatsoever.