In a side chamber of the Hall of Mental Cultivation...
Gu Qingfeng sat alone on a meditation cushion, facing a massive, radiant alchemical cauldron. The room was cluttered with bottles and jars—this side chamber had been repurposed into an alchemy workshop.
As he stared at the cauldron, his mind raced for a way to turn the tables.
Though the Hall of Mental Cultivation was heavily guarded and reinforced with formidable arrays, none of it fazed Gu Qingfeng. His Eyes of Truth could dismantle the arrays effortlessly, and with the Heaven-tier spiritual artifact, the Fox God’s Eye, he could tear through space itself to escape.
Even two peak Dragon Transformation experts were no threat—with the Fox God’s Eye and his Shadow Step technique, a single night was all he needed to slip past them.
In short, leaving was never the issue.
But he hadn’t come here to flee like a coward—he’d come to become a prince!
"Damn it, guess it’s time to drop my master’s name and scare them straight," Gu Qingfeng muttered.
Back when he’d posed as a deity, he’d planted countless seeds for this very moment—so he could one day wield the authority of a god to act... righteously!
He’d planned to keep a low profile, but these people had pushed him too far, treating him like some helpless weakling.
If they wanted to play dirty, he’d call in reinforcements.
His mind was made up—but he wouldn’t reveal his hand just yet. If he did now, they’d spin his imprisonment as "protective measures for alchemy."
No, he’d wait until the Ageless Pill was complete. If they still dared to detain him then, he’d unveil his identity and rightfully demand... compensation for his troubles.
Heh heh heh...
The thought made his grin widen.
He had zero doubts about the weight of a god’s name. In this godless era, divinity was synonymous with invincibility.
Even the emperor, for all his arrogance, wouldn’t dare provoke a true deity. After all, who could stop a god’s wrath?
But then, a flicker of worry crossed his mind—what if the emperor, overjoyed by the Ageless Pill, simply let him go?
...Surely not. No emperor could be that foolish.
Shaking his head, Gu Qingfeng dismissed the thought.
His gaze returned to the cauldron. Alchemy was tedious, and he didn’t even need to actually refine anything—but appearances had to be maintained.
So what to do now?
His little corpse spirit companion wasn’t around...
After a moment’s thought, he decided: cultivation.
The disrespect from Situ Kong and that young eunuch still rankled—all because his strength hadn’t been enough.
He hated people who looked down on others just because they were powerful.
(Unless, of course, he was the one doing the looking down.)
So, strength was the answer.
With no demons nearby to fuel his growth, he’d have to rely on his own efforts.
His biggest weakness right now was his cultivation realm. He was already at the eighth layer of the Qi Gathering Realm—just one step away from the Internal Qi Realm, where his system could finally boost his progress.
If he reached the Dragon Transformation Realm... just how powerful would he become?
The path to ascension was right before him. Eagerly, Gu Qingfeng retrieved a Rising Origin Pill from his dimensional storage and swallowed it.
He avoided consuming the newly acquired spiritual herbs directly—ingesting them raw wasted most of their potency. Alchemy was the way.
As the pill dissolved, his eighth-layer Qi Gathering cultivation erupted. Vast medicinal energy surged through his meridians, flooding his limbs and bones with pure heaven-and-earth essence.
Most of it was absorbed by his physique—his cultivation was still too low to fully utilize it—but even the fraction that remained in his dantian and meridians was enough.
Focusing his mind, Gu Qingfeng sank his qi into his dantian and activated the Dragon God Art. His inky-black qi twisted into a dark-scaled draconic form, rampaging through his meridians, devouring the medicinal energy to grow stronger.
Through inner vision, he watched the transformation with surprise.
This had to be an evolution caused by his Black Dragon Immortal Body advancing—his qi’s purity and density had reached new heights.
Time blurred as he cultivated. An hour passed in the blink of an eye.
His qi hit a critical threshold. The Dragon God Art roared—and a faint draconic cry echoed within him.
His aura skyrocketed.
Ninth layer of the Qi Gathering Realm!
Breaking through in just an hour would’ve elated even someone as composed as Gu Qingfeng.
But he didn’t stop.
No complacency. No pride. Like a diligent farmer, he kept working, step by step.
If cultivation had a progress bar, his was skyrocketing.
Soon—100%. Peak Qi Gathering Realm! Half a step from the next major realm: the Internal Qi Realm!
The Internal Qi Realm was fundamentally different. Qi Gathering focused on absorbing external qi to strengthen the body, while Internal Qi involved refining the internal organs—unlocking the body’s latent potential, drawing out its innate life essence, and fusing it with heaven-and-earth qi to form a new, personalized energy: internal qi.
Internal qi was far more potent and controllable than raw gathered qi, as it harmonized with the cultivator’s own vitality.
Now, Gu Qingfeng needed to channel his peak Qi Gathering qi into his organs, ignite his life essence, and forge his internal qi.
One smooth process, and the realm would be his.
Gritting his teeth, he flooded his organs with qi.
But the moment it entered—
Nothing.
His qi vanished into the abyss of his organs, swallowed without a trace. Not a wisp of life essence stirred.
"What the hell?!" Gu Qingfeng stared in disbelief. "After eating all that qi, the least you could do is spit something back!"
th】 【No prior gaming knowledge required】【The First Cultivation + Game Design Novel on the Platform】 In a world where the righteous path dominates and crushes the demonic sects, Lu Ze unlocks the "Son of the Demon Path" system. Killing righteous cultivators now grants him power-ups. Wait—deaths in illusions count too? As a former game designer, Lu Ze decides to give the cultivators of this world a little—no, a massive—shock... Sect Elders: "What is this 'Escape from the Demon Sect' game? Why have all our disciples abandoned cultivation to play it??" Elite Disciples: "You're saying... mastering 'Demon Slayer' can help us counter demonic schemes?" Reclusive Masters: "Why did I leave seclusion? Ask that backstabbing rat who ambushed me in 'Eternal Strife' yesterday!" Rogue Cultivators & Civilians: "'Immortal Abyss Action' is addictive! You can even earn spirit stones by loot-running..." Sect Prodigy: "My Dao heart is unshakable... except for that cursed black hammer." Royal Scions: "Can skins have stat boosts? I’ll pay 10,000 spirit stones for one!!" Sect Leader: "WHO IS CORRUPTING MY DISCIPLES?!!!"
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
ey change clothes. Li Chuan contributed all his possessions, only to find that things were not as they seemed. Almost a year after joining, he hadn’t managed to get a single Daoist consort. Thinking he had been deceived, he was approached by a stunning senior fellow disciple who asked if he would like to form a spiritual bond. For those who don’t practice cultivation, they might not know what “forming a spiritual bond” is. Let me put it this way: A long-term relationship is called a “Daoist consort,” while a short-term relationship is known as “forming a spiritual bond.” From then on, Li Chuan discovered the true way to interact with the Yin-Yang Sect’s Daoist consorts. As long as he had enough spirit stones, he could form a spiritual bond with anyone, Whether it’s Senior Sisters, aunts, Daoist consorts of aunts, female elders, Daoist consorts of elders, or even the Daoist consort of the sect leader, anyone can form a spiritual bond as long as there are enough spirit stones.” I've already joined the Yin-Yang Sect, and you're telling me to focus on cultivation? Do you even know what the Yin-Yang Sect is all about?
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
