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Translator: Fate
Proofreader: Silavin
The stone wall was obviously just an illusion, and Gu Changge was able to immediately see through it. As he walked through the wall, ripples began to appear and scatter in front of him. What appeared in front of his eyes afterward was an adequate-sized stone room with many ancient patterns carved all over its walls. They were very ancient and showed the scene of the Celestials praying to the sky.
From time to time, an ancient and vast scene would emerge, within a magnificent immortal nation, it showed countless subjects and living beings in prayer. All of them were kneeling reverently and bowing to the ground, producing a sound that would rock the entire world. In front of the most central stone wall stood an ancient gate, and within it, a doorway vaguely appeared. It reflectted an ancient and vast world inside. Amidst the swaying divine rain, wisps of immortal mist were revealed from the doorway.
[This is the Celestial Gate. It seems like Yue Mingkong found it a long time ago, but sadly, she couldn’t find a way to enter it.] Looking at the gate, Gu Changge couldn’t help but reveal a strange smile. Soon, he noticed that Yue Mingkong also followed him in from behind, so he withdrew the smile from his face and composed himself.
“Since you don’t believe me, you can just enter first after we open the Celestial Gate.” He then glanced at her and casually stated. “Of course, if you are still worried that I’ll stab you in the back, you can also choose to stay outside.”
His words seemed to imply that he didn’t care about what she said just now. However, from the change in his demeanour, she could feel that the way he looked at her had drastically changed. Before this, he would always smile whenever he spoke to her, but now, the emotions in his eyes were as cold as ice. This attitude of his made her even more upset than if he ignored her.
“I believe you.” Her voice was unctuously much softer.
With another glance at her, Gu Changge didn’t say much and just smiled. “Great.”
Her eyes still remained unchanged and cold. However, all of a sudden, she felt a tinge of pain inside her heart. It felt as if it had dropped a bit. He didn’t seem to take her words to heart, which was obvious from his attitude. Therefore, she started to regret what she said just now.
[Gu Changge’s usual nature is cold and arrogant. I’ve finally managed to reform him a little, but now, because of what I said, our relationship has been rolled back to the beginning. We have become even more distant than ever.] At this moment, Yue Mingkong was left regretting and dejected.
[There must be some other reason. Otherwise, Gu Changge wouldn’t be so sensitive with what I just said…] Suddenly, she became disinterested with the Celestial Gate in front of her. Her preparations for more than a month felt meaningless. She also came to an understanding that her biggest goal since her regression, wasn’t actually to exact her revenge on Gu Changge, but to obtain his heart.
However, at this moment, Gu Changge pretended to not know what she was thinking inside. He simply walked around in front of the Celestial Gate a few times with his hands clasped behind his back. He then started to remember all the information he knew.
[Currently, there are only two ways to open the Celestial Gate. I can either wait for its opening on its own accord, or forcefully open it using the Celestial Summoning Record… I don’t know when it will open by itself. Most likely, by then, the Celestial Ancient Continent is bound to be in chaos. It would easily draw the attention of many powerful cultivators.]
In a blink of an eye, Gu Changge had already come up with a plan inside his head. The Celestial Summoning Record was actually a Celestial writing during the Celestial Ancient Times. It was used for rituals, specifically for praying to the almighty immortals and reporting mortal affairs to them.
[There just so happens to be a Celestial Summoning Record on sale in the System Shop. The price is 18,000 Fatums though. Quite steep.] Even though he believes it to be expensive, without any hesitation, he quickly exchanged his Fatums for the Celestial Summoning Record.
*Hum!* A series of Celestial writings began to emerge inside his head like bright stars, shining brightly and emitting a golden ray. In the end, these ancient Celestial writings became clear and vast, evolving into a vague celestial shadow. Thus, the Celestial Summoning Record had appeared in his mind.
[I got it. The key.]
He then revealed a strange smile, but Yue Mingkong didn’t seem to have noticed it. She was in a tangle, thinking about how she was going to apologise to him to compensate for what she said just now. After all, she really didn’t wish for their relationship, which was beginning to look good for a change, to drop to a freezing point again because of this.
“I’m about to open the Celestial Gate. Do you want to enter first, or do you want to follow me from behind? We’ll deal with the Celestial Spirits inside by ourselves. What do you think?” Gu Changge soon opened his mouth once more and lightly asked.
After coming to her senses, she was a little surprised to find out that he was actually able to forcefully open the Celestial Gate. This gate had made her wait here pointlessly for a month. However, when she understood the meaning behind his words, she became even more hesitant.
[It doesn’t matter whether I enter first. Just for the Celestial Spirit, how long did I take to set this all up? It took me an entire month! For this one month, I’ve even used the energy from the Celestial Spirit here to cultivate. It has improved my cultivation by leap and bounds. To be honest, I am reluctant to just give it up.] However, after giving Gu Changge in front of her a glance, she finally made up her mind.
“I won’t be going in,” she answered. “I’ll stay outside to protect you. You don’t need to overthink it. I just want to apologise for what I said to you just now. I’ve misunderstood you. I won’t be fighting you for the Celestial Spirit. If this doesn’t prove my sincerity, you can kill me yourself. I promise I won’t fight back. Besides, I know I’m not a match for you even if I tried to resist” She calmly said.
In the end, she chose to give up on her own accord. Just like what she said, this was the only way she could think of to prove her sincerity to him. If he didn’t believe her words and decided to kill her, there was really nothing she could do. After all, he was too strong and she knew too many of his secrets.
However, her heart wasn’t as calm as the demeanour she displayed on the surface. After she thought of what she said and how he reacted, she was truly frightened… of losing Gu Changge forever.
Instead of becoming a pair of strangers, she would rather have Gu Changge kill her, just like what he did in her previous life, because that, to her, would be a fate worse than death.
“Are you really that determined?” At this point, Gu Changge was also slightly stunned after listening to her words. If he had to be honest, he never expected her to make such a decision. [She wants me to kill her myself?]
He thought of many possibilities before, even including her gritting her teeth and revealing a rare aggrieved look while apologising to him with teary eyes and pouting lips. However, he never expected such a determined outcome. [She would rather die if I don’t believe her? Just how stupid is this woman?]
In all honesty, he didn’t really care about her suspicions towards him. After all, it was all absolutely correct. He indeed harboured other intentions towards her, and for such a rational person like him, it would be difficult for anyone to move his heart. The only exception would be making him lust for one’s body. However, even that is for a fleeting moment. For any woman, it was impossible to truly conquer his heart.
“Silly girl.” He let out a faint sigh. “Why would I kill you?”
[This woman is so stupid that it’s starting to become a bit boring. I almost can’t bring myself to bully her anymore.]
What happened today might just be an insignificant play to him, but to Yue Mingkong, it was a matter of life or death.
This woman truly loved him more than her own life.
In his previous life, Gu Changge had seen such a plot in romance novels, but he never expected it to happen to him one day.
[Should I go up and gently take her into my arms? Should I softly comfort her with my words?]
However, he didn’t do any of it because it would be too fake. No matter how dense Yue Mingkong was, she was still clever enough to tell when he was lying. Thus, if he did so, it would disrupt the perfect plan he had laid out.
“Gu Changge, why wouldn’t you kill me?” She was stunned. She couldn’t understand what he was saying.
[Has he accepted my apology or not?] She was utterly confused.
“Why would I kill you? You are much more useful to me alive than dead.” He smiled lightly.
“You really are cruel,” she replied heartily.
Now, the only thing she wanted to do was to make sure what Gu Changge’s feelings for her really were. Everything else no longer mattered to her. She believed that everything happened for a reason, so she was determined to find the reason he was hiding.
As for Gu Changge, he left her aside and raised his hand. Suddenly, billions of rays of light burst out of his palm. They were blurry yet gorgeous, like immortal flowers, dropping down and rooting in all directions.
*Hum!* A series of ancient and mysterious texts emerged. He began to recite the Celestial Summoning Record. Suddenly, there were blurred figures everywhere, which were the ancient sages and Ancestors kneeling on the ground, praying and bowing to the immortals.
“Is he really about to open the Celestial Gate?” Yue Mingkong focused her eyes and stared at him.
These ancient and mysterious writings, as if attracted by a mysterious force, headed for the stone door ahead.
*Crack!* In the midst of her somewhat shocked gaze, there was a large and glorious rain of light rushing out!
The stone door was opened, and a path emerged!
Here, there was an immortal haze shooting up towards the sky with extremely dense celestial energy lingering around it. It contained an incredibly dense essence that was rich enough to form another solid mountain range. It was as if someone was about to break through the fetters of mortality and transform into an immortal. If not for the patterns and runes laid down by Yue Mingkong at the beginning that sealed every inch of the surrounding space, the energy exuded here would definitely penetrate the sky and shake the earth, drawing the attention of countless people.
In spite of all she did to contain the energy, the place they were in was still filled with a dense celestial energy in an instant.
After the Celestial Gate opened, the Celestial Path appeared.
In front of Gu Changge’s eyes, a blurred and hazy path ran through the Celestial Gate, as if it was connecting to another vast world. The trees over there were divine and tall, with radiant flowers and the fragrance of Sacred Herbs.
[I can’t believe he opened the Celestial Gate just like that. How did he do it? Is it because of what he chanted? Or was he also able to do so in his previous life?]
Yue Mingkong’s eyes darkened. Her dress fluttered in the wind while the divine rain engulfed her entire body. She felt that her body was filled with radiant immortal light, making every inch of her skin look divine and crystal clear. Just by standing here, she could feel a great change, but at the same time, there was a frightening energy lingering around with the power to crush all living beings.
The Celestial Path wasn’t something an ordinary cultivator could step onto. Yue Mingkong tried, and if she wanted to enter, she would have to pay a huge price. However, since she promised Gu Changge that she would protect him from the outside, she chose not to move.
[If any cultivators rush here later on, I can help him buy some time.] Just as she thought about it, Gu Changge, who was standing in front of the Celestial Gate, took a step forward and entered it.
One could see a black Grand Flask floating above his head as he walked straight into the Celestial Path with terrifying pressure. He transformed into a divine light shot into it.
[Based on my memory of the previous life, the Celestial Path will only be open for half a month. Half a month later, it will close by itself. Only someone at the peak of his power will be able to walk this path and find the secrets of becoming an immortal…]
Yue Mingkong furrowed her brows as she noticed that the energy here was concealed by the formations she laid down, covering a thousand kilometres in all directions. Unless a powerful cultivator arrived here, it would be impossible for anyone to detect.
[Gu Changge won’t have any problems for the time being. Seeing how careful he is, I don’t need to worry about him.]
She understood that they were both now operating in the dark, and once the Celestial Gate was detected by a powerful cultivator, it would cause a huge uproar in the entire Celestial Ancient Continent. Many Ancestor-level beings would get shocked and come rushing towards this place.
Soon, through the blurred Celestial Path in front of her, she could finally clearly see the scenery inside.
Inside the Celestial Gate was a vast world. Under the sky, there was a huge lake surrounded by celestial energy covering thousands of kilometres that appeared out of thin air. The huge lake was filled with haze, immortal light and a colourful Daoist energy that was incomparably divine. Inside the dense fog, there were ancient green lotuses that grew as tall as the sky.
That was where Gu Changge’s body appeared.
At the moment, he was staring at some of the light sources coming from the lake with a strange gaze.
Deep in the lake, there were green bright dots that seemed to be made out of ancient dense stars. These green bright dots would sink into the lake and float into the air from time to time, which was extremely mysterious and strange. However, both Gu Changge and Yue Mingkong knew clearly that they were the Celestial Spirits, better known as the Spirits of the Immortals!
To a cultivator of the Sacred King Realm, these items were extremely precious. Even a small piece would be enough to cause them to frantically fight for it, not hesitating to start a war with the others also in the Sacred King Realm!
At the moment, Gu Changge sat there with the frightening Grand Flask floating above his head. Then, the dark light started to descend like a waterfall, helping him to withstand the weight, which was as heavy as the world itself. Meanwhile, a blackhole-like energy was exuded and his cultivation of the Peak Enlightened King Realm was clearly at display!
As if they were alive, the green bright dots, which were birthed from the divine lake, were devoured frantically by Gu Changge’s Grand Flask. It was to the point where the inner world within his body welled up, while the Celestial energy kept on pouring in like crazy.
A vast and ancient holy energy emerged from within the world, and pieces of heavenly buildings were located above, just like the Heaven’s Gate of myths.
Gu Changge’s cultivation seemed to be the only vent by which all the energy could exit, as it kept on advancing at a rapid speed. Even though these Celestial Spirits appeared to be rare, every strand was exceptionally precious and contained the most authentic celestial energy.
All of a sudden, he broke through to the Early Quasi-Saint Realm from the Peak Enlightened King Realm!
Now, he had broken through to the Intermediate Quasi-Saint Realm!
…
“Are you saying that you are my Ancestor? Gu Nanshan?”
Meanwhile, under a tall ancient tree, after slaying a few natives, Gu Xianer was staring at the old man, who suddenly appeared in front of her with her gorgeous and doubtful eyes.
To be precise, he actually looked more like an old farmer with his hunched back and sloppy outfit. That dark face and yellow teeth covered with green leaves of his did not serve to help convince her. Even his rusty kitchen knife had a few kinks on it. With an appearance like this, no one would probably be willing to buy vegetables from him because of how dirty he looked.
However, he suddenly appeared out of nowhere and proclaimed himself to be her Ancestor. This almost frightened her. Due to her interactions with several of her old masters since childhood, she was more likely than others to accept such an unkempt powerful cultivator. Even so, she still found it difficult to relate the old farmer in front of her with being an Ancestor from her family.
“Xianer, he is really your Ancestor from your lineage.” Then, the Grand Elder walked out from the void and smiled with a kind face.
“Master.” She quickly greeted him since she respected the Grand Elder a lot for teaching her so much.
“I guess you should believe me now, right?” Gu Nanshan pulled his ears with a somewhat sarcastic face.
He was surprised to see that she didn’t trust him the moment they met. She even secretly held onto a forbidden weapon. Even though he was pleased with her vigilance, he also felt his heartache at the same time.
[It seems like this little girl has been wronged over these past few years. Without the protection of the family, she must have suffered a lot outside. She was destined since her birth to become the Princess of the Immortal Gu Family and be loved by everyone. However, Gu Changge dug up her Daoist Bone, sending her to exile which had led to all kinds of hardships. It must be difficult for her to get to this point.]
Gu Nanshan was now filled with mixed emotions and started to feel guilty towards her.
[I really am an unqualified Ancestor! If I hadn’t decided to come out recently for a walk after my long retreat, I wouldn’t have found a bastard like Gu Changge within the family. A bastard who is more than willing to harm his own family members.]
The matter infuriated him, but then, he realised that Gu Changge didn’t actually cross the final line. Thus, his anger subsided a little. Now, the person he felt most guilty about was his descendant, Gu Xianer.
“Greetings, Ancestor Nanshan.” Seeing the Grand Elder back up his claim, Gu Xianer finally believed that the old farmer in front of her was her Ancestor, so she obediently greeted him.
“What a clever and thoughtful girl.” Gu Nanshan nodded his head and chuckled. The more he looked at her, the more he liked her. [She is smart and well-behaved. Even though she is a young prodigy who lost her Daoist Bone, her cultivation isn’t any weaker than her peers. There are also marks left by many powerful people on her body. This little girl is definitely a fortuitous person.]
“Xianer, don’t worry. From now on, I have your back. No one will be able to kill you, including Gu Changge. Even though he is the Young Master of the family, he won’t be able to do anything to you with me around.” Gu Nanshan spoke up. He felt like he should help settle some of her problems as her Ancestor.
The only reason he arrived at the Celestial Ancient Continent was to provide Gu Xianer some support as he was worried that Gu Changge might secretly try to harm her.
“Erm, Ancestor Nanshan… Are you telling the truth?” Gu Xianer was suddenly stunned after listening to what he said. Blinking her beautiful eyes, she asked with a little excitement, “Including Gu Changge?”
“Don’t worry. With me around, Gu Changge won’t dare to kill you.” Gu Nanshan promised her.
“Is that it?” All of a sudden, she felt that this Ancestor of hers wasn’t reliable at all. The well-behaved expression faded away from her face and was replaced by disappointment.
“Huh?” Gu Nanshan was startled this time. “Do you really want me to help kill Gu Changge for you? Well, about that…”
If this was truly what she wished for, he would be placed in a difficult position. After all, as an Ancestor, he honestly wasn’t willing to kill someone in the family. Even if Gu Changge was not his direct descendant, he was still his descendant.
“I didn’t ask you to kill him.” Gu Xianer became a little anxious before revealing a small look of excitement appeared on her face. “Ancestor Nanshan, why don’t you help me suppress Gu Changge’s cultivation… It would be best if you can suppress him to the same realm as me… No… I think you should suppress him to a realm lower than mine…”
After much consideration, she realised that she might not have a chance of defeating Gu Changge even if they were in the same realm given how ridiculously powerful he was.
As for Gu Nanshan, he was completely dumbfounded by what he just heard as his eyes widened. [What is this? Shouldn’t she hate Gu Changge to her very core? Could it be? Is the information I received wrong?]
Looking at the situation, the Grand Elder smiled but did not say anything about it since he had anticipated this long ago. After all, he had been keeping an eye on everything that had happened in the Celestial Ancient Continent.
[I would be surprised if Gu Nanshan understands the grudges and ties between Gu Xianer and Gu Changge.]
I’m so weak rofl. 🤣
Many thanks
Had a good laugh x)