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Translator: Zenas
Proofreader: Dhael Ligerkeys & Silavin
Now that the matter of the next family head had been settled, the large group of people on the Main Peak left the place one by one. Many of them were also instructed to spread the information to other places.
There were countless divine and immortal mountains in the territory of the Gu Family, and one needed to at least be a higher-level member of a lineage, possessing great authority and power, if they wanted to be able to visit the Main Peak. The matter of Gu Changge becoming the next family head was naturally something that needed to be announced everywhere in the vast Gu Family, so that all the subordinate forces could know about it too!
This selection of their next family head was a matter great enough to cause a sensation in the Beyond, just as when the successor of the Cult of Immortality has been decided. Gu Changge had now truly become the Young Master of the Gu Family.
“Congratulations, Young Master!”
“Young Master will certainly lead the Gu Family to an even glorious future.”
A lot of Gu Family members immediately hurried over to say their greetings. No matter how they thought about him, it was an unchangeable fact that Gu Changge would be controlling the Gu Family in the future. Not to mention, they extremely admired him for the terrifying strength he had displayed on this day. Gu Changge’s strength and talent alone were enough to make him an unreachable existence, and he truly deserved his position as the Young Master of the family.
Gu Changge responded to them with a slight nod.
Everything from the start was within his expectations, other than the attitude of the elders that surprised and moved him. There was a reason that the immortal Gu Family was able to remain strong and immortal through the ages.
Even though some minor conflicts would happen within the family from time to time, the general mood had always been harmonious and peaceful. It was not like the webnovels he had read in his previous life where everyone was scheming against each other. People in those series would gladly kill each other just to get their hands on some insignificant fortuitous opportunity.
All the elders of the Gu Family were concerned about the interest of the entire Gu Family. Even when they were badly humiliated by one of their juniors, they only showed an unsightly expression and did not say much about his actions.
It was really something unexpected to Gu Changge. However, it made sense that if people were scheming against each other, there was no way that the family would continue to exist for so long and remain as strong as it was. It would have already become a thing of the past after so many ages.
Now that the future of the Gu Family had been handed over to him, he would naturally put in effort to make it even more glorious than it would have been. Nonetheless, he was only the Young Master at present, and the whole Gu Family was still in the control of his father.
“Changge, follow me.” Gu Lintian told Gu Changge with a warm expression once everyone left the place.
Right after, a divine rainbow expanded from his feet and he transformed into a great streak of light that stretched across the sky before landing at his palace far away where he usually cultivated.
“Yes, Father.” Gu Changge gave a nod and followed after his father. He knew that his father definitely had many questions for him, but there was nothing to worry about as he had his answers ready beforehand.
Very soon, they arrived inside the large palace where they stood face to face with each other.
“Changge, have you properly considered the decision you made today?” Gu Lintian asked warmly as he mulled over the questions that he wanted to ask.
He was obviously relieved now that the position of the Young Master had been decided. But he was clear about the fact that Gu Changge would not care about the position of the Young Master if it did not benefit him in some way. Therefore, he was wondering if Gu Changge had encountered some kind of problem that made him do all this to get the position for himself.
Gu Changge nodded in response, “Your child has given enough thought to it. I had to get the position of the Young Master without further delay.
“If the next question father wants to ask is about the lineage of the thirteenth grandfather that was banished long ago, I think that you’ve already guessed my intention in bringing them back. The incident back then happened because of me. As a result, many people in the family didn’t have a good impression of me and they wouldn’t easily accept me becoming the Young Master. So, by bringing the people of that lineage back, I gave face to the elders and eased the tension in the family. Now I am a perfectly legitimate Young Master. Besides, father had always felt guilty for what happened to the lineage of the thirteenth grandpa, right? One of the reasons I want to bring them back is so that you don’t have feel guilty anymore.” Gu Changge explained with a calm expression.
Of course, he did not mention that he wanted to bring them back so as to use them as a means of threat against Gu Xianer. It was fine only him being aware of it. He might have his selfish motive but his decision to bring them back would still be in the interest of the entire Gu Family after all.
Gu Lintian was taken aback when he heard Gu Changge’s words. He said with a faint smile, “Changge it’s good that you can think things through like this. I do feel sorry towards Brother Lin Xuan…
“But you don’t need to handle this issue alone. After all, your thirteenth uncle and other members of that lineage won’t be easily satisfied after what happened to them. Since it was me who kicked them out of the family, I won’t let them hurt you when they return back from the place they are trapped, even if I’ve to lose my honor to do so.”
The Gu Lin Xuan he mentioned was the biological father of Gu Xianer. They had fought over the position of the family head in the past and he had managed to eke out a slim victory.
Gu Changge could not help but feel touched upon listening to his words. He was moved to see that his father was willing to go to any length for his sake.
However, he replied while shaking his head, “Father, you don’t need to say all this. As the cause of this grudge that has formed between our lineages, I should be the one to take the responsibility for it. There’s no need to drag others into this matter. Not to mention, it was me who persuaded you to do what you did, and you only did it for my sake too…”
Gu Lintian fell silent with complicated feelings in his heart when he heard his words. Gu Changge had always been cold and emotionless, so it really made him experience complex feelings to hear him say such words. It would have been so great if he did not have the Demonic Heart back then.
“Changge, are you really saying these words from your heart?” Gu Linitian’s expression gradually became solemn as he stared at Gu Changge. A grand scene appeared within his eyes, showing the collapse of heaven and earth into eternal void. He was a great existence that stood at the peak of the world and had unfathomable attainments in cultivation. Now that he had become serious, the pressure he emitted was so great as if it could annihilate the whole universe!
“Father, you’re perhaps suspicious about me speaking such words.” Gu Changge nodded as he answered calmly.
Although the way he acted now might seem not much different from before in others’ eyes, his parent would still be able to feel a significant difference. So, he decided that he might as well mention the issue himself.
He immediately asked in a soft voice, “Father, you already know about my demonic nature, right?”
*Buzz!* The moment he said the words, his eyes turned pitch-black. They did not contain any emotion, like a devil looking at heaven and earth, and at the countless living beings with utter contempt.
“This Demonic Heart of yours indeed has a very severe demonic nature…” Gu Lintian sighed as he promptly sealed the bounds of the island where his place was located so as to prevent others from sensing the aura of the demonic heart.
He understood what Gu Changge was trying to say.
“I can now control this demonic nature a bit with the increase in my cultivation level…” Gu Changge said in a calm manner.
He was obviously making stuff up as he could control his demonic nature at all times now. He simply had decided to put all the blame for everything wrong with him on his demonic nature.
“Everything you did before was due to being possessed by the demonic nature, right?” Gu Lintian felt really sorry for Gu Changge when he heard his words. Having regained his senses, Gu Changge would now definitely feel deep remorse and blame himself for what he had done before. His conscience must be condemning him for doing those things.
But the Demonic Heart was really strange and even he could not find a way to do something about it. The fact that Gu Changge was gradually becoming capable of suppressing his demonic nature explained that he had been working on restraining it all these years. It was natural for him to have an unusual nature when he was being dominated by the demonic nature.
“Father, don’t worry about it. I’m no longer under the influence of the Demonic Heart now. Its existence has actually ended up becoming a fortune for me since it helped me temper my primordial spirit and will…” Gu Changge continued to casually put the blame of his actions in the past on the Demonic Heart.
“You had it really tough all these years.” Gu Lintian sighed in lamentation, but he felt more happy than sad. The thing he was always worried about had finally been dealt with.
Gu Changge then said his goodbye and left the place.
He was actually laden with anxiety on his way back. After all, he could not ignore the possibility that he had crossed over to this world much earlier than he realized and just did not realize it because of his mind being possessed by the demonic nature of the Demonic Heart since the moment he was born.
Was it the activation of the System some time ago that allowed him to awaken his memories?
[System, you crossed over here along with me, right?] Gu Changge asked the System in his mind.
<Yes, User.>
[“How long has it been since I crossed over?]
<Twenty-one years.>
Hearing the answer, he felt that his speculation was correct after all. He was indeed possessed by the Demonic Heart all this time.
[Then why did you not activate earlier? Why did you not awaken the memories of my previous life sooner? Things wouldn’t have become so troublesome if you did, you know?] Gu Changge raised another question.
<User, please forgive me. I exhausted all the energy while crossing over to this world, so I’ve been accumulating the required energy over the course of these twenty-one years. When I am activated, my function is determined based on the situation of the user. Therefore, please don’t worry about your identity as a villain. If the User had the identity of trash at that time when I got activated, I would have turned out to be a Counter Trash, Fate Reversal System. As the Demonic Heart was a hidden danger to the User, I took care of it as well when I finally got activated. You don’t need to worry about it, User.>
[I didn’t think there would be such a considerate system out there. Just what you’d expect from a product that comes with crossing across worlds…] Gu Changge could not help but say words of praise.
Now that he was clear about his background, he felt much more at ease. The hidden danger of the Demonic Heart had also been dealt with for the time being. Previously, his mind and memories were under the influence of the demonic nature, but it had also been taken care of after the activation of the System. As a result, his memories of his previous life were completely unaffected at the moment.
The memories of the time when he was under the influence of the demonic nature felt so detached as if he was watching a movie. He seemed cold, emotionless, and extremely cruel in those memories. However, he would still have to take the responsibility for the actions in his past as it was all done by his own body after all.
…
After returning to his palace, Gu Changge opened the virtual interface first just as usual.
<User: Gu Changge
Aura Band: Fated Villain
Weapon: Eight Barren Demon Halberd
Identity: Direct Disciple of Skyward Schloss, Young Master of Immortal Gu Family
Bloodline: Demonic Heart, Daoist Bone
Level: Early Honored Lord Realm
Spells: Skyward Ascension (Level 8), Demonization (Talent), Nature God’s Chant (Talent), Power of Void (Talent), Nommening, Endless Immortal Might…
Fatums: 1000
Fortuity: 1000 (Onyx)
System Shop: Unlocked
Storage: Domain Shattering Talisman*1, One-third Fragment of the World Seed*3 (Combination Possible), Fortuity Plundering Talisman*3>
There were various new things visible on the interface. The Endless Immortal Might was added to his spells, and his identity as the Young Master of the Immortal Gu Family was also reflected there.
“Even if I combine the seed fragments, it would be hard for me to make the World Seed show its true power with my current strength. Let’s save it for later.” Gu Changge decided to put the matter aside for the time being.
Then he took out the Divine-grade Soul Nurturing Jade.
“Yan Ji…”
Inside the jade, Yan Ji was wearing a red skirt and sitting in a cross-legged position to nourish her primordial spirit when she suddenly heard Gu Changge call for her.
She at once transformed into a wisp of crimson smoke and drifted out of the jade.
“Young Master…” Her chilly and pleasant voice sounded a bit confused.
Although the palace she had appeared inside was very unfamiliar to her, it was very obviously a majestic and vast place. Just by taking a look around her she could tell that the force this place belonged to had immeasurable resources and terrifying strength.
She had been cultivating and nurturing her primordial spirit inside the jade all this time, and as she could not perceive anything on the outside from inside the Soul Nurturing Jade, she did not know anything about Gu Changge returning back to the Beyond.
Gu Changge looked at her and said with a faint smile, “There’s something I need you to do.”
Many thanks