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Translator: Fate
Proofreader: Dhael Ligerkeys & Silavin
Ye Liuli’s thought process was rather simple. There was no way she would simply let Gu Changge kill Ye Chen or to agree to conditions that were too violating. She continued to ponder how to deal with the matter.
When Gu Changge told her to surrender her conscience and accept the Slave Mark, she was instantaneously tilted. Fortunately, she remembered the existence of the Primordial Spirits of the Ye Family, so breaking the Slave Mark wouldn’t require any effort. However, to prevent herself from being exposed, she proceeded to act reluctant as though she was struggling so Gu Changge wouldn’t sense something was up. After all, it would require specific methods and effort to hide one’s intention from a man like him.
Upon those words, Ye Chen was moved for a while before his heart was filled with remorse and guilt. Shortly before, out of fear, he even pretended to be relentless to deceive her, only to realize now that once the Slave Mark was imprinted, Ye Liuli would become Gu Changge’s slave.
With that in mind, Ye Chen felt agonized and devastated, unwilling to witness what he imagined. At the end of the day, no one with a sound mind would want to see someone who they held so dearly in their heart become an enemy’s slave.
“It’s quite a surprise for you to agree to it, and how you, as a princess of the Ye Family, was willing to surrender your conscience for someone lowly like Ye Chen. If I were your father, I’d have smacked you to death,” Gu Changge leisurely stated with a tinge of mockery. Though, his intention to take Ye Chen down remained.
“Don’t you worry about that. I’ve agreed to surrender my conscience, but you’ll have to keep your end of the deal as well. Do not hurt or even assassinate Chen. Betrayal shall bring forth the devastation and incarceration of the demons,” Ye Liuli said to Gu Changge, claiming that she would only surrender her conscience if Gu Changge swore an oath.
In that instant, she could not afford to give in as Gu Changge might resort to deceptions. Essentially, conscience is the most vital part of a cultivator. While a cultivator’s energy center could be fixed, their conscience—once marred—could lead to a life-threatening situation.
Most importantly, a cultivator’s conscience was a mysterious place that held countless private secrets. In other words, surrendering one’s conscience would mean exposing innumerable personal secrets to the world.
Having been left with no choice, Ye Liuli could only compromise as she couldn’t just let Ye Chen be killed by Gu Changge.
“You want an oath? As you wish.” Gu Changge was rather calm. He then repeated Ye Liuli’s words. “Betrayal shall bring forth the devastation and incarceration of the demons.”
[Things are just going too smoothly.]
With that, Ye Liuli revealed a glower, unable to figure out what Gu Changge was thinking. She felt restless. [Am I overthinking? Such a cunning man like Gu Changge actually fell for this?]
“I have sworn my oath. It’s time you surrender your conscience to me,” Gu Changge said blandly. There was no emotion on his face as though he hadn’t any ulterior motive.
Seeing no issue, Ye Liuli gritted her teeth and closed her eyes. [Conscience, release!]
*Whoosh!* Instantly, a black glow flashed across deep in Gu Changge’s pupils as a gleaming giant urn appeared. The urn, like runes, glimmered in the air and flew into Ye Liuli’s conscience with such a high speed that even she couldn’t react in time.
“What is this!?” Ye Liuli scowled as she felt an indescribable, strange sensation.
[Doesn’t a Slave Mark require imprinting? Why isn’t Gu Changge drawing his hands?]
The method was so uncanny that even she couldn’t feel any trace of confinement or sealing. She didn’t even know whether she was being given a Slave Mark. Oddly, she started to feel subservient toward Gu Changge. Immediately, she panicked, thinking that she might have been tricked.
“A Slave Mark, as per our agreement.” Gu Changge finally revealed a spine-chilling grin.
Ye Liuli frowned. “Why don’t I feel anything?”
Gu Changge gazed at her and mischievously countered, “Well, what did you expect?”
Ye Liuli was perturbed as her heart skipped a beat and stopped talking. Things had exceeded her expectations. For some reason, she no longer felt the resentment she bore for Gu Changge.
Although it took a great deal of effort for Gu Changge to have crafted the demonic urn, he thought it was worth it to use it on Ye Liuli. It was a human manipulation technique recorded in the forbidden legacy of Nommening. Though, once it reached Gu Changge’s hands, it became a demonic manipulation power. In order to use the power, he condensed it into runes that resembled a giant urn. Although the process of condensation was troublesome, using it didn’t require redundant steps as all it needed was for the target to surrender their conscience and while their mind was relaxed, the urn could easily be planted.
[A Slave Mark? What cheap tool is that? My Demonic Manipulation Urn is a hundred times better than a Slave Mark. It’s totally out a Slave Mark’s league!]
Unquestionably, Gu Change had already figured out Ye Liuli’s intentions earlier. Since she came from an Ancient Immortal Race that stood as long as history itself, breaking a Slave Mark wouldn’t even cause them to break a sweat. In fact, his words were only to deceive Ye Liuli. While she thought she was being smart, she was only a child compared to Gu Changge.
[Once the Demonic Manipulation Urn is planted, she’ll gradually forget what happened today. As long as her conscience isn’t checked by any powerful figures and kept away from any accidents, no one will be suspicious of her. And as time goes by, she’ll eventually be one of my demonic servants.]
Thinking that, Gu Changge was satisfied. [What I have obtained today is a big catch indeed!]
“Gu Changge, perhaps it’s time you let go of Chen,” Ye Liuli stated as she glared at Gu Changge. Unable to sense the presence of a Slave Mark, she felt absolutely anxious.
“Is that what you call your owner?” Gu Changge glanced at her.
Out of nowhere, Ye Liuli felt a violent ring in her mind as if it was about to explode. She could feel an ambiguously shaped ancient being glaring at her, of which she felt extremely terrified.
“Master…” Having said that, she was baffled, wondering why she would subconsciously say such a word. It was out of her will, and she was bewildered by it.
“Gu Changge, what did you do to Liuli!?” Witnessing everything, Ye Chen, too, grew nervous as his face blanched, unable to take in what he just saw. [Liuli is really referring to Gu Changge as ‘Master?’ What in the world is happening?] He couldn’t accept what happened as his mind rang.
“The dead shan’t speak.” Gu Changge shot Ye Chen a glance as the System notified him that the latter’s Fortuity reached its lowest.
<The Zero Fortuity Rule is in effect.>
[Pfft.] Without hesitation, Gu Changge put his ebony, huge palms together.
“Save me, Liuli…” Ye Chen opened his eyes wide out of fear, hopelessness and dismay as he was struck to death by Gu Changge. Even in death, he couldn’t fathom why Gu Changge, despite the promise he made, dared to kill him. [Is he not afraid of the devastation and incarceration of the demons?]
But of course, Gu Changge wasn’t at all worried about breaking his promise. [Demons? Do they want some supplements? Incarceration? Like I care! All I need is Fatums to enhance my strength. There’s no way I’d let a Fortuitous One off. I love my rewards too much to do that. What, am I just going to let so much effort go to waste? Not in any world will I ever do that!]
“Gu Changge, you…” Stunned by the incident, Ye Liuli stood still as if her soul left her body. Given how blatantly untrustworthy Gu Changge—going back on his own words—was, she was at loss for words to rebuke him.
[I must avenge Chen…] Thinking that, she was perplexed as to why she couldn’t feel any hostility against Gu Changge. [It must be the Slave Mark!]
Dazed, Ye Liuli trembled. Even though she could figure out the reason, she couldn’t control her own behavior.
On the other hand, Yan Ji, who witnessed the entire thing, had nothing to say. In her eyes, Gu Changge had always been ambitious, and as long as the situation benefited him, breaking his promises meant nothing to him. Furthermore, Ye Chen was the one who desired to kill Gu Changge, so she couldn’t get herself to beg Gu Changge for mercy in Ye Chen’s stead.
Naturally, Gu Changge had no interest in Ye Liuli’s perception of him. Now that the Demonic Manipulation Urn was planted in her, her opinions no longer mattered.
All of a sudden, the System sounded in his mind.
<*Ding!* Ye Chen is successfully killed. The Zero Fortuity Rule is in effect. Calculating… Congratulations! User is rewarded with a Heavenly Gift Treasure Chest, 200 Fortuity, and 1000 Fatums.>
[Activate System Reward Crit Talisman.] Gu Changge spoke in his mind as he searched for the item in the System Storage since he found it handy.
<*Ding!* System Reward Crit Talisman is successfully activated. Congratulations! User’s reward is multiplied by five times. Finalizing reward with multiplier… Calculation Finalized. User is rewarded with 1000 Fortuity and 5000 Fatums.>
Gu Changge stated, [Open the Heavenly Gift Treasure Chest.]
He was curious about the gift he would receive this time. Last time, he obtained the Fated Villain Aura Band, which solved the issue of the Fortuity difference between him and the Fortuitous One—Negative Fortuity. [What will it be now?] He was eager to see his reward.
As a golden glow shone before his eyes, the treasure chest suddenly opened.
<*Ding!* Congratulations! User obtains One-third Fragment of the World Seed*1, Void Marrow*1,> the System stated.
Gu Changge tensed his brows. [Yet another fragment of the World Seed, but I’ve gathered three of them, so it seems I can finally combine them into one complete World Seed. However, what’s this Void Marrow thing?]
Swiftly, he read about the Void Marrow’s introduction and his eyes quickly glistened.
[Marrow of a void physique. Contains the force of the void and allows one to control the power of the void. A good item, indeed. This is much better than the Supreme Heart I got back then,] Gu Changge subconsciously praised.
With that, he chose to fuse with the Void Marrow. A warm sensation then covered his body as if his limbs were floating in the endless void. Shortly after, once the sensation waned, he opened his eyes and felt some sort of resonance with the void before his eyes. [The void is an element that combines offense, retreat, and speed at once…]
Accordingly, Gu Changge summoned his virtual interface. This time around, he certainly earned an overly substantial amount of Fortuity and Fatums.
<User: Gu Changge
Aura Band: Fated Villain
Identity: Direct Disciple of Skyward Schloss
Bloodline: Demonic Heart, Daoist Bone
Level: Advanced Honoured Lord Realm
Spells: Skyward Ascension (Level 7, 75%), Demonization (Talent), Nature God’s Chant (Talent), Nommening…
Fatums: 9000
Fortuity: 1880 (Onyx)
System Shop: Unlocked
Storage: Domain Shattering Talisman*1, One-third Fragment of the World Seed*3, Fortuity Plundering Talisman*3.>
Many thanks!