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Translator: Fate
Translation Checker: Silavin
Clouds tumbled, and slivers of heavenly light lingered within the palace as many divine, powerful treasures hung on the walls.
Luckily, there wasn’t anyone else around the palace, or their eyes would widen with incredulity, having a hard time believing that Jiang Chuchu was still their saintly, perfect, goddess-like Saintess.
*XOXO* Gu Changge moved, not thinking he was taking advantage of Jiang Chuchu at all.
Aggrieved, the young woman widened her eyes and tried to shove him away, but her strength was no match for him at all.
Gradually, her knees went weak, and she nearly dropped to the floor, making her livid with humiliation. Despite knowing full well that Gu Changge wouldn’t keep his promise, she still held onto hope and wanted to trust him.
However, Gu Changge’s actions were beyond outrageous. Sure, he was verbally sincere, but he behaved otherwise.
Finally, the man let go of her and said with a smile after putting some distance between them, “Alright, stop dreaming all the time. Use your head a little, dummy.”
“You bastard! I won’t trust you ever again!” Jiang Chuchu’s flushed face matched her alluringly glowing red lips, and she glared exasperatedly at the man, having never felt as mortified and livid as this moment.
She felt incredibly aggrieved and realised she was truly a fool to have still believed this bastard after being bullied repeatedly?!
However, Gu Changge smiled and made nothing of it. “Who knows what the future will hold, and who was it who said she’d never consider my advice again?”
Jiang Chuchu snorted disdainfully, then forced herself to calm down. There was never a time she wouldn’t be emotionally stirred when she was with Gu Changge, and like this day, she would be bullied to his heart’s content.
That said, Gu Changge stopped bullying her after that and instead seriously helped her devise a plan to deal with the great demons from the Demon-Burying Abyss.
For a moment, she reeled in bewilderment and glanced judgingly at him a few times. [Has he turned over a new leaf? To think he is so considerate this time…]
Joy came to her as the thought crossed her mind, and it no longer seemed that she had suffered that much.
“Why are you suddenly so nice?” She thought the man standing before her was different from the Gu Changge she knew.
In the past, the man would never have bothered himself with anyone that didn’t concern him. He was the epitome of selfishness and heartlessness, but now, he was actually devising a plan to annihilate the great demons at the Demon-Burying Abyss and cleanse the Upper Realm of dangers!? [Am I the reason!?]
“I’m naturally obligated to fight the great demons of Demon-Burying Abyss as someone of the Upper Realm, so what more when I’m the Mortal One now? Isn’t it my job to protect the safety and harmony of the world?” Gu Changge couldn’t help shaking his head in righteousness, then sighed, “Besides, how can I relax after knowing a dumb girl like you still wants to head over there despite knowing full well how dangerous it is?”
With the Demon-Burying Abyss chaos and the demoness in red emerging soon, he needed a reason to head over. His identity as the Mortal One now became the perfect excuse, or many forces would draw the connection to him if anything happened to him when he rushed towards the Demon-Burying Abyss at this time. However, with him being the Mortal One as the reason, the nature of things would become different.
Meanwhile, Jiang Chuchu bore her brilliant gaze into Gu Changge after being stumped for a split-second, believing the only thing true in that entire bull was the latter part. After all, there was no way someone like him would care about the well-being of others, much less the world.
“Got it. I’ll try not to go to those dangerous places anymore.” Jiang Chuchu nodded gravely, seemingly promising him.
Right then, she felt all warm and fuzzy. Although Gu Changge said he wouldn’t give a damn about her, he would still show up every time she was in deep trouble, and it hadn’t happened only once or twice.
“No need for that. You do you. I won’t stop you, much less blame you for anything. If you’re asked not to save a dying man, given your nature, you’d probably feel bad even if you agreed to ignore the man.”
To her surprise, Gu Changge sympathised with her instead of chastising or ridiculing her, and it led her to gaze stupefyingly at him until he looked at her. She drooped her eyelids and hummed a response softly.
“I-If you… you know, ever want to bully me again… just give me a heads-up. I actually won’t turn you down,” said Jiang Chuchu as she looked up at him again, seemingly having mustered up all her courage.
The next second, redness tinted her fair face, and her heart pounded wildly as her head spun. She couldn’t believe she was daring enough to say something like that to Gu Changge.
“Bully you?” Her words stumped Gu Changge for a moment, but very quickly, he grinned with great interest, “Which kind are you talking about?”
The man was naturally asking knowingly. He was already very surprised that a bashful young woman like her would say something like that.
“I don’t know,” Jiang Chuchu replied with a quivering voice while quickly turning her head away, unable to stand his gaze anymore. [You bastard! How can you still knowingly ask when it took me everything to say that out loud?!]
“If you don’t know, then it’ll be my call, isn’t it?” Gu Changge teased, causing Jiang Chuchu to blush again. She had a feeling Gu Changge would chuck her into his Inner World again. After all, she said it herself—she wouldn’t turn him down. Thus, she hurriedly stood up and ran away, and the way her dress fluttered along her movements looked exceptionally alluring.
Meanwhile, a chuckle escaped Gu Changge as he watched the young woman disappear from the main hall.
Very quickly, news of Gu Changge being at the Mortal Palace spread, shocking many in Mortal Palace, who all later went to meet him. After all, he was the Mortal One. As for whether the fact stood true or not, it didn’t matter. What was important was that he could sort out their current dilemma.
Many guessed that Jiang Chuchu played a major part in Gu Changge’s visit to Mortal Palace, and she acquiesced to their guess as she couldn’t really explain anything.
Never had she thought that she would one day betray the Mortal Palace and even have the very person who killed the Mortal One pose as the Mortal One.
Thus, mixed emotions surged within her as she looked at all the deferential Mortal Palace cultivators. However, it was what it was now.
Just as Gu Changge had said, what the Mortal Palace needed wasn’t the person himself but a figure. Anybody could be the Mortal One as long as they could properly hold the position. As for where the true Mortal One was, it was no longer an issue those in Mortal Palace would concern themselves with after it was declared.
“We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for helping us deal with the Demon-Burying Abyss chaos.”
“We have nothing to worry about now that we have Young Master Changge.”
“Many forces had suffered greatly after being attacked by the great demons, and now, many Buddhas from the Buddhist Mountain have gone to annihilate the demons. No doubt the issue will be dealt with very quickly if you join in as well, Young Master Changge. Peace will be restored in no time!”
“That’s right, Young Master Changge. With you around, we have nothing to worry about.”
Many from Mortal Palace sighed with relief as they buttered up to Gu Changge.
If the older generation went to eliminate the great demons, they would certainly miss out on the battle against the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains. Thus, their hands were completely tied.
Gu Changge, on the other hand, intended to head to the Demon-Burying Abyss in the first place, so he naturally wouldn’t turn them down. Furthermore, those from Mortal Palace could prove that he was heading there to slay the great demons and restore peace to the world.
As for whether the demoness in red’s emergence later would leave the Upper Realm in a blood bath, it would have nothing to do with him, and no one would suspect him either.
According to the prediction given to him, the demoness in red would only break the seal and return to the world half a year later, but he couldn’t wait anymore and planned on releasing her prematurely. Hence, he could already forsee what would happen followingly around the Demon-Burying Abyss.
Subsequently, Gu Changge stayed in Mortal Palace for a few days instead of rushing towards the Demon-Burying Abyss.
During this time, Jiang Chuchu showed him around, visiting all the historical sites and buildings, like the many Mortal Palace’s libraries and the heritages, to name a few.
However, Gu Changge wasn’t interested in any of it. Plus, because he had already devoured the Mortal One Soul, so he knew many of the Mortal Palace’s secrets and the Mortal Palace’s method of inheritance, which involved the new generation to eat the Dao Fruit of those with powerful cultivation levels, to quickly breakthrough.
Of course, such a process was already rare in this era, and no one was so generous as to give every ounce of their life’s cultivation to someone else willingly unless they were an Elder who was on their last legs.
But apart from all that, what piqued Gu Changge’s interest the most was the Power of Faith.
[The most valuable thing in Mortal Palace is still the Power of Faith. It’s the accumulation of people’s beliefs and, at the same time, their Fortuity and prayers…] Thus, Gu Changge decided to probe into it.
He placed the Golden Fortuity Cauldron in the main hall of the Mortal Palace so that it could draw in the Power of Faith that gathered from all across the Upper Realm.
Just like that, threads of silver glow drifted over from all directions and poured into the Golden Fortuity Cauldron like the galaxy.
For a moment, a golden glow surrounded the cauldron as the threads gathered, and right then, a plethora of divine light, where every word was laced with great history, collected and formed inside his head.
It formed a cultivation scripture for a Faith Dharma Body, but it required immense support from the Power of Faith and not just about anybody could cultivate it.
[So this is the Power of Faith… Maybe I can try a different method. ‘Those who chant my true name shall gain eternal life during reincarnation’ – how about that? It’s worth a try.] With that, Gu Changge closed his eyes and sat cross-legged on the spot.
Then, as his mind shifted, terrifyingly immense silver Power of Faith surged and gathered towards him.
*Rumble!*
The sky shook, and rumbling noises came from outside the palace.
As immensely terrifying noises surged, the stars shook violently, looking as though they would fall any second.
Meanwhile, many people, from as far as the Middle Domain, turned grim when they sensed the terrifying force, and they couldn’t help wanting to kneel and worship. Everyone felt as though they were confronting a mighty power, and so did Jiang Chuchu, who was shocked by what she saw after arriving at the main hall.
Inside, Gu Changge’s figure became obscure and incredibly long, and his hair twinkled. As a brilliant aura enveloped him, a Mist of Chaos surrounded him, and right next to him, the silver Power of Faith burned like godly flames, reflecting countless Principles and Divinity as it danced, looking unfathomable and mystical.
It was an astonishing sight. Every bit of the flame floating in the surrounding space as though they were chanting and worshipping Gu Changge. Furthermore, every flame was like a vast and ancient world that could accommodate everything.
“People are chanting my name out there…” Gu Changge sensed all the worship coming from all across the universe as he sat in the middle of all those flames.
Right then, the feeling was especially intense in a certain area, and it belonged to a devoted follower whose image appeared before Gu Changge’s eyes.
…
At the same time, worlds away from the Mortal Palace lay a black, silent sea in a great desert near the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains outside of the Boundary Marker Sea.
Despite looking quiet, murderous malice lurked beneath it as the waves surged like the world was spinning.
Even an expert in the Nirvana Realm would have a hard time crossing it.
Death lingered in the black sea water that washed up the shores of the Boundary Marker Sea, and a black battleship made of bony material drifted while a plethora of other uniquely designed battleships, all from the Upper Realm, traversed the sea.
Meanwhile, above the Boundary Marker Sea rested a massive, terrifying mist that stretched across the horizon in the sky.
Fury and immensely powerful auras enveloped many cultivators from the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains, as they ran out of the mist and gathered outside of the Boundary Marker Sea.
A brutal battle was breaking out in the great desert far away.
Vanguards of both parties were fighting, while blurred silhouettes of supreme experts from the Upper Realm watched from inside a terrifying black mist.
Though they couldn’t travel over, they could still appear as silhouettes with the help of the younger generation through various artifacts to intimidate the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains.
Likewise, supreme experts of the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains had also shown up. However, their numbers and cultivation were evidently weaker than those of the Upper Realm, and it made many from the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains grim and worried.
That said, the supreme experts didn’t duel. If anything, it was a battle between the young ones, and both parties would bring forward a young prodigy to fight.
Such a battle was exceptionally brutal, and it called for grave casualties.
The young prodigies of the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains were clearly no match for the ones from the Upper Realm, as none of them could defeat even one young prodigy from the Upper Realm in a tag team battle to the death.
“Number Eight! Who’s next?” a Yaksha looking man sneered on the battlefield as a terrifying malicious aura shrouded him.
The second after he extended his spear forward, the void exploded, and glorious blood-red runes intertwined as he slashed his spear downwards.
Instantly, a young prodigy from the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains blew up while screaming, obliterated for good. This further made the young prodigies of the Upper Realm hot-blooded.
Everyone exulted and cheered. Even the supreme experts nodded with recognition within the mist.
In contrast, those at the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains were devastated. Many of the older generation looked grim, while the young ones looked ghastly pale with fear.
Eight of them had stepped into the battlefield, but none of them was a match for that youth from the Upper Realm. The speed that they were being killed stupefied everyone, and such a gap left them devastated.
“Those from the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains are as useless as ever. Eight people, but none of them were a match for me. What else can you people do other than hide behind the Boundary Marker Sea? Why betray us when you know it will eventually come to this!? Since you have betrayed us, then you should bear the sin for eternity and die,” sneered the Yaksha looking man with disdain as he stood in the middle of the battlefield with a spear in hand.
“Who knew what exactly went on back then!? Don’t you dare behave so outrageously! If our real young prodigies are here, they’ll surely wipe all of you out! You won’t be smug for long. They will certainly kill you to avenge my fellow people!” The eyes of many youths from the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains turned bloodshot, livid with rage as they couldn’t stand such humiliation, especially when their fighting spirits were driven to the ground.
The older cultivators frothed at the mouth even more so as they gnashed their teeth.
“Real young prodigies?” The Yaksha looking man snorted with disdain in response. “You will only feel hopeless and lose the will to fight if you know what a real prodigy is. If my Master is here with us today, one palm strike is all he needs to wipe all of you out! Your so-called young prodigies are not even worthy of being vermins in front of my Master!”
Instantly, the cultivators of the Upper Realm, even those hidden in the mist had complicated expressions. Nonetheless, most wore reverence on many of their faces.
The Yaksha like man who had spoken was the loyal follower of that man, and they knew he wasn’t exaggerating at all.
