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Translator: Fate
Translation Checker: Silavin
Gu Changge stood with his hands behind his back on the cliff at the shore of Boundary Marker Sea. With his slender figure dressed in pure white, he looked as extraordinary and refined as an Immortal. Despite his elegant demeanour, he sported an abnormally indifferent expression.
As he rolled up his sleeves, stars seemed to fall from the sky. Flames spawned from the sky, hurricanes appeared on the ground, and black Grand Runes flooded the place one after another. They were vast and endless with no sign of the edge.
It was a force so tremendous even the oldest runes would be difficult to make up such a terrifying scene.
Countless in this universe were frightened from the bottom of their hearts as if they were facing a world-destroying Demon. Amidst the whistling, there seemed to be hundreds of millions of roaring Sky Demons that swept in like a grey fog, engulfing every corner of the world. This was a fog that came in out of nowhere.
In that instant, only the unending greyness, intertwined with various complex, chaotic, and maddening energy remained. This wasn’t the kind of energy ordinary Cultivators could dwell in. Even Sacred Emperor Realm experts, who had cultivated for tens of millions of years felt fear, and their palpitating Dao Hearts were soaked in the Demonic Energy.
“The untraceable, legendary Morphing Demonic Domain is one of the Nine Wonders of the World. It is said that any living being that falls into the Demonic Domain will eventually lose their way. However, cultivators from the Morphing Demonic Domain have only been spotted a handful of times from ancient times to the present. I always thought that the Morphing Demonic Domain was a mysterious space from the legends. Maybe even a lie. It turns out that this is your hidden identity. Seems like I was careless.”
Sky Deer Goddess was looking at the grey fog that covered the sky when she spoke in a soft voice. As her expression changed slightly, she quickly calmed down when a sense of Zen and Buddha aura manifested from her body. She soon let out a sigh and began to chant an Ancient Scripture as a light surged from her face.
Runes began to take shape one after another under her fragrant, clear skin. They were similar to ancient Immortal Scriptures that shone bright, or even Buddhist candlelights in the dark. It was a majestic treasure whose brilliance shouldn’t be underestimated. Even though it could drive away the grey fog, it seemed fairly useless and helpless now. Like a candle in the dark abyss, she only managed to illuminate a small area around her.
Seeing this, Sky Deer Goddess frowned and grew cautious. She then sat cross-legged on the same spot. Every rune, each containing the supreme power of the gods, was imprinted in the void as they resisted the power.
At this point, she had already given up her plan to attack. She knew that she currently had no chance against Gu Changge. She had come to this realisation the moment he exposed his true identity. Gu Changge’s hidden abilities was beyond imagination, such that she could no longer understand him by common sense. Normal cultivators could never dream of being his equal.
Gu Changge raised a sleek brow when he heard her words, but still, his expression remained impassive. “I’m surprised. You have a good eye. You actually recognized the Morphing Demonic Domain.”
*Buzz!*
At the very next moment, hundreds of millions of jet-black rays of beams condensed in his palm and crushed forward as if they could cover the world. In the torrential grey fog, there were also black and white, which represented life and death, mixed in. As the black and white swept across, they turned into terrifyingly destructive millstones that rolled down from all directions.
In the Morphing Demonic Domain, Gu Changge was the absolute master. Not even True Daoists could perceive the World Principles and traces of the Great Dao here. Likewise, they could not activate any power.
The fearsomeness of this kind of power lay in the fact that it had the ability to devour the strength, life, Source, and cultivation of those trapped inside. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that it was pervasive, and completely irresistible once trapped.
Many clueless cultivators had always regarded the Morphing Demonic Domain as something as incredible as the Eternal Overcast. What they didn’t know was that this was just an ability born from the Forbidden Demonic Arts. Moreover, the Morphing Demonic Domain displayed by the other Successors of Demonic Arts was only a prototype. It couldn’t even be compared with what Gu Changge displayed, regardless of power or effectiveness.
*Clank!*
Immediately, a dazzling brilliance erupted here as an overwhelming momentum shook the sky. All the thick fog started devouring the Sky Deer Goddess, who was sitting cross-legged. The fog was going to drag her into the abyss beyond redemption.
The terrifying devouring power wasn’t the only thing in the Morphing Demonic Domain. There were also all kinds of evil intentions in this domain that tainted every corner it could reach. Even the most solid Dao Hearts could hardly stand against it.
“How much longer can you hold on?” Gu Changge was standing in the distance as he only looked at her indifferently. He wasn’t in a rush to kill Sky Deer Goddess off. Instead of eliminating her, it was more useful to keep her alive.
After all, she had been guarding the Boundary of Sky Deer City for generations. Therefore, if Gu Changge wanted to open up the city and shut down the Array Core, he had to start by dealing with Sky Deer Goddess.
“You can’t faze my Dao Heart,” the Goddess hissed. Her complexion had turned slightly pale, but her expression was still calm. She was very confident in her Dao Heart as she had been cultivating for countless years. She knew that the world was ever-changing, and everything was merely passing clouds.
*Whoosh!* The void began to tremble and groan as the Buddha aura and Dao Energy intertwined, and endless rays of light soon emerged. The illuminated runes in the void around her were constantly burning, trying to wipe out the thick fog that was engulfing her.
It seemed that stars were constantly falling. They would eventually collide and explode. The fluctuation felt too vast and majestic; it was as though the sky had fallen.
No one other than the True Daoists could bear it. Even she couldn’t stop shaking as she turned pale.
“Is your so-called Dao Heart really that strong?” Gu Changge said, emotionless. However, he suddenly appeared right in front of her in the blink of an eye. As he raised his palm to press it forward, it was as if an ancient universe had erupted from between his palms before it fell with a rumble.
It was a terrifying energy that kept obliterating the runes around Sky Deer Goddess, dimming their brilliance and swiftly shattering them.
Faintly, there seemed to be hundreds of millions of Sky Demons howling as they tried to pass through her body and soul, to her Spiritual Palace and her Dao Heart.
“Ergh!” Sky Deer Goddess’ expression remained unchanged, and she simply replied to Gu Changge’s words with another question. “How can we trek forward along the path to the Great Dao if we do not have our Dao Heart?” She then displayed another set of divine abilities.
The blur lights in her sleeves turned into thousands of Swords, each of them sharp enough to cut the sky apart. The moment the thousands of swords fell at the same time, he could feel a brilliant and indestructible power ready to fight him. At the same time, a peaceful and holy brilliance emerged above her head.
It was an eye-catching lotus with nine golden petals, and it was abstruse and imperceivable. The Golden Lotus was obviously some kind of treasure because of its complex patterns and runes. The Dao Energy turned into chains, and moved as though intending to strike down the demon in front of her. They made a rustling sound as they pierced through the air.
But at this moment, wisps of black air could clearly be seen around her face. Still, she bit the bullet and held it in. The longer she stayed in the Morphing Demonic Domain, the more serious the corruption of demonic energy became. Even with her physique, she was bound to be heavily affected with time. If she couldn’t get out, she would definitely be in a life-and-death crisis. Furthermore, Gu Changge had never made the first move to attack from the beginning to now. All he did was watch her resist. Sky Deer Goddess couldn’t help feeling disheartened upon realising this.
*Boom!*
“Now I’m curious to see how long your Dao Heart can last” Gu Changge hummed. At a wave of his robe, he shot out divine lights. Whether those rays looked like divine swords, Heavenly Blades, or Heavenly Tribulation, they all shone with the most powerful divine brilliance as they fell in the Sky Deer Goddess’ direction.
The runes around her rapidly dimmed, and her Dao Swords and chains were sliced apart. Not only that, the light surrounding her body was quickly fading away.
“I refuse to believe that you can maintain the Morphing Demonic Domain forever.” Her eyes were on him the whole time as she calmly gazed at him like an ancient monk who had entered into a meditative state.
“But you’re not faring too well. How much longer can you last?” Gu Changge striked again.
Behind him was a mighty grey fog that moved to completely enveloped her. As if falling into boundless darkness, her Buddha aura collapsed as the world fell silent.
An unknown force was trying to drag her in.
However, she didn’t stop resisting. Hundreds of millions of Golden Lotuses began to appear behind her at this moment. The Buddha aura shone again, seeming to want to dispel the darkness of this place.
The Golden Lotuses surrounding her were amazing to look at. All of them seemed to be rooted in every corner of the wide universe. For a moment, the area around her seemed to turn into a Buddhist Kingdom in which heaven and earth resonated, with a Buddha image behind her.
[I have to admit. She is certainly skilled. As expected of a veteran True Daoist. She might have entered a higher realm by now if it wasn’t because of the shackles of the world. She’s still managing to resist and use powerful abilities while in the Morphing Demonic Domain. Truly praiseworthy.]
As those thought ran through Gu Changge’s mind, he calmly shook his head and thrusted a hand at her again. “I’m surprised, but what is the point of persevering for no reason?”
He didn’t use other abilities this time. Instead, there was a radiant light which turned into a crystal clear mirror in the palm of his hand. This mirror enlarged in a matter of seconds, and an image was reflected in the void.
“What!?” Sky Deer Goddess’ face immediately fell when she saw the image. At the moment her composure was sharken, all the Demonic Energy in this place swept away violently. She finally couldn’t hold back from coughing up a mouthful of blood that dyed her white dress red. The Buddha’s image that had manifested behind her also cracked, before it became powder. Her body trembled when the black air grew thick and covered her entire face. It looked so dark and heavy that it was as if she was poisoned.
But if one looked closely, one could see wisps of black air weaving around her body. With how her vision turned blurry, she could no longer see what was ahead.
“You!” The calm on her face was finally replaced by visible rage as she glared daggers at Gu Changge.
Seeing that, he couldn’t help laughing without letting the smile reach his eyes. “What’s the matter?”
He chuckled. “Is this not how it would have always turned out?”
“Despicable!” Her eyes were filled with cold fury. The image in front of her was of Lin Wu, Lu Luo and others that she rescued with great effort. However, Lin Wu and the others were not in good condition now. Some of them were injured, while the others were dead. Lin Wu, especially, was seriously injured with a wound that almost tore him apart on the front of his torso. She could also see sadness, shock, anger, and disbelief on his face. And Lu Luo, whom she painstakingly saved, had become another woman with an unfamiliar face.
‘Lu Luo’ was sneering as she held a long sword that pierced through Lin Wu’s body.
Sky Deer Goddess couldn’t understand how she had brought an imposter with her when she saved Lu Luo back then. Gu Changge didn’t even bring the real Lu Luo out. There was no way she could have known whether or not Lu Luo was even alive at this point.
She didn’t expect Gu Changge to be such an insidious and despicable man, and neither did she spare any thought when she went to save Lu Luo. However, it would be hard to notice anything off even if she had her suspicions. Judging from how he acted and pressured her, it was absolutely impossible for her to notice anything out of the usual. In the end, all her efforts were in vain. Not only did she fail to kill Gu Changge, but she also involved herself, Lin Wu and others in this.
“Look at you. How are you going to keep fighting me?” Gu Changge’s words were devoid of emotion, but at this moment, it seemed that more than a hundred million Demons in the sky and on earth were rushing towards Sky Deer Goddess.
She thought she could see hell in front of her.
Sky Demons and other Demons raged and charged into her city to kill like there was no tomorrow. The once prosperous and historical Sky Deer City had fallen into ruins. There were dead bodies and burning flames everywhere in the city where the walls were cracked, and the pavilions had turned into ashes.
Her disciple had died tragically with a pool of blood under her. Her lifeless body was covered with scars. When the unceasing war swept over, her army was annihilated, and the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains had fallen. The ancient city, territories, and living beings that she once protected had been reduced to ashes because of the war. She even saw that she opened the barrier of Sky Deer City with her own hands, thus causing its downfall.
This was the last thing she would ever want to see. Even though she knew that the image was but an illusion and none of what she saw was happening had happened, she couldn’t help being filled with regret and pain. It was as if Gu Changge had helped show what would happen in the future.
“T-This is impossible.” She shook her head and denied it in a way that sounded like she was trying to convince herself. “That’s all fake. I’m still trapped in the Morphing Demonic Domain. This is just another one of your tricks.”
However, her face was thick with black air. The glow on her body was also gradually dimming, and as it entwined with black air, the chanting around her finally fell silent.
“Reality and illusions are only separated by a thin line. How are you so sure what you see isn’t part of the future? Your so-called Dao Heart is flawed.” Gu Changge’s eyes were still cold when his palm fell, and the rune and Buddha aura around her broke and quickly collapsed.
As countless grey fogs enveloped her from all directions, she looked as if she had turned into a giant black cocoon. Strands of Principles were hanging, black runes were rumbling and Demonic Energy was permeating.
She dazedly lifted her chin, and her vision started getting clearer then. However, the Golden Lotuses behind her suddenly turned pitch black as an aura of wickedness filled them.
The Demonic Energy had gotten into her body! But unlike a Heart Demon, she was possessed by the Heart-Possessing Demon. Although there was only a one-word difference between the two, they were completely different things. The Heart Demon was a result of external factors, and whoever was possessed by it could be controlled by others. The Heart-Possessing Demon, however, was when the owner of the body allowed for the possession to happen, which meant that this went even deeper than that of Heart Demons.
Gu Changge looked at the woman whose aura was polar opposites from the previous Sky Deer Goddess, and he commented with some interest, “Seems like you’ve come to terms with it.”
The previous Goddess gave off a holy aura that felt as though she was detached and free from vulgarity, that she was untainted by the darkness of her surroundings like a Buddha Lotus that grew from a muddy pond.
Currently, she bore an evil nature. She was more like a Demon Lotus which took root and grew in places where Demonic Energy filled the air.
The Goddess nodded as her eyes returned to the previous calm. “You are right. How can I be so certain what I see isn’t part of the future? In order to prevent all this from happening, the only way is to surrender Sky Deer City and minimise the casualties.”
Gu Changge wouldn’t have believed that she had changed if it wasn’t for the dark energy oozing out of her.
Hearing that, Gu Changge looked at her deeply, as if he wanted to see through her completely, and then let out a small smile.
“But I don’t believe you,” he commented.
Sky Deer Goddess was also looking back at him with a stillness in both her eyes and on her flawless face. “I will prove it to you with my actions.”
“Is that so?” Gu Changge smiled and ordered, “If you want to prove it to me, go and open the barrier of Sky Deer City now. And tell me the correct Aether Abyss route. How am I supposed to believe you otherwise?”
“No problem.” Her eyes fell on his face. As soon as she heard his words, she didn’t hesitate or resist, but nodded solemnly.
Gu Changge was surprised by her reply, but he kept that smile on his face. He still didn’t trust her despite her answer. “How am I supposed to believe you when you agree so quickly? Do you think I would just let you leave when I’ve finally caught you?”
Even if she was influenced by the Demonic Energy, it was impossible for her to change so quickly. All his hard work would be in vain if he let her go. As for controlling her, just how effective would Demonic Energy be on a True Daoist?
The Sky Deer Goddess’ Dao Heart might be enchanted by the Heart-Possessing Demon, and she might be acting very different from her previous self, but her starting stance should remained the same: she wanted to stop the invasion of the Upper Realm, and protect Sky Deer City and the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains.
His reply put a frown on the Goddess’ face, but she swiftly calmed down and mulled over the problem. “What should I do to get you to believe me?”
“That’s not something I want to think about. Shouldn’t you be the one who does something to get me to trust you?” Gu Changge raised his eyebrows before he reached out to tilt her delicate chin. He then bent down and stared into her eyes.
When he saw how her face remained unchanged, and neither did she resist him, he laughed out loud. “You’re not even trying to put up a fight now. This is exactly why my distrust for you deepens.”
After saying that, he let go of her, and as he rolled up his sleeves, the monstrous grey fog covering the universe dissipated as if all this was just an illusion. As the sky and earth were clear again, another rumble came from the shore of the Boundary Marker Sea not too far away.
The fluctuating battle here had alarmed many people. However, before they could enter this place, they were killed by Ah Da as per Gu Changge’s order, lest they disturbed him.
Sky Deer Goddess also seemed to be lost in thought as she thought about Gu Changge’s words. Soon, she opened her mouth again and proposed her plan. “I will persuade those in Sky Deer City to stop resisting and surrender to the Upper Realm. But I need your guarantee that you won’t hurt them, and would try to minimise the casualties.”
Gu Changge continued to smile when he heard that, but the words he spoke next were laced with ridicule. “Do you think that’s possible?”
“Nothing is impossible when the city is falling to ruins.”
He pulled his eyebrows together and glanced at her with cold eyes. “You can say whatever you want, but I know that the only thing you want now is for me to let you leave. You’d better forget about it if you don’t gain my trust first. If you try to escape, I’ll just kill you.”
The frown on Sky Deer Goddess’ face only deepened when she heard his threat born from his distrust in her. “Why don’t you believe me?”
After all, she was his prisoner now.
It was only a matter of time before Sky Deer City was seized. Unless a miracle happened, what she saw in the mirror might turn out to be the future. She knew that sacrifices were necessary if she wanted to save the residents of the city.
“I don’t even need you to help me invade Sky Deer City,” he nonchalantly informed her. According to his plan, he could make Lin Wu submit even if she was out of the picture, as long as Lu Luo was in his hands. Having the Goddess was equivalent to having one more bargaining chip in his hand.
As a Fortuitous One, Lin Wu must be able to touch the Array Core in Sky Deer City. When the time came, it actually wasn’t difficult to guess what Lin Wu’s choice would be.
Most Fortuitous Ones often showed their loyalty to themselves and those related to them. However, the life and death of those other than the people they cared about were irrelevant to them.
Also, Gu Changge could already gauge Lin Wu’s temperament from the way that he would hand over the Immortal-Killing Gourd to save Lu Luo. None of the other forces came to rescue Lu Luo this time. They all chose to stand on the sidelines and remain uninvolved.
Lin Wu might not say anything about their indifference, but he definitely wasn’t happy with them.
Silavin: The first part of this chapter is just full of bull. So much fluff for nothing but word count.
Same thoughts exactly, Silavin