Call Me Uncle and Let Me Hear It

"The inheritance has concluded. Cease your reckless destruction of the Sword Tower's space. You may leave now."

The artifact spirit's icy voice rang out.

As soon as it finished speaking, a golden light enveloped Gu Qingfeng's body. By the time the radiance faded from his vision, he had already reappeared outside the Sword Tower.

There, Gu Qingfeng and Dugu Wei found themselves staring at each other in silence.

"Seriously, why are you all here again?" Gu Qingfeng sighed.

"Gu... Gu Junior Brother, did you defeat the Heavenly Emperor again?" Dugu Wei asked, his voice trembling slightly.

"Don’t make such a fuss. You’ve already seen this once before—it’s just routine. No need to overreact. Go about your business."

With that, Gu Qingfeng patted Dugu Wei on the shoulder and strode away, leaving behind a crowd frozen in shock.

After taking a few steps, he suddenly remembered something and paused. Without turning back, he said, "Oh, right—Old Wei, I happen to have some free time these days. Have all the Heaven’s Fourth experts in the sect come to me for their tribulation."

Dugu Wei: "..."

......

Over the next few days, Gu Qingfeng was visited by an endless stream of Sword Sect elders seeking his help in overcoming their tribulations.

Many of the sect’s elders were stuck at the Heavenly Human Realm, having long given up on further breakthroughs. Instead of pursuing cultivation, they had taken up administrative roles, wielding authority and managing sect affairs.

Most were advanced in age—simply put, they lacked the potential to advance further.

The majority of these elders were either ordinary Heavenly Humans or at the Heaven’s First or Second stages, their potential exhausted at that level. Knowing they couldn’t survive the next Heavenly Tribulation, they halted their cultivation, stalling for time to delay the inevitable.

Heaven’s Fourth experts were rare—only seven in total, all elderly men on the verge of their twilight years. Unlike the others, many had suffered injuries in their youth that damaged their foundations, or had relied too heavily on pills, leaving their cultivation unstable. By the time they reached Heaven’s Fourth, they dared not attempt another tribulation.

Upholding the tradition of respecting the elderly, Gu Qingfeng didn’t overcharge them for helping them overcome their Inner Demon Tribulations, allowing them to retain some dignity.

Well, aside from stripping them of everything except their robes.

Aside from the elders, two of the sect’s Peak Masters were also at Heaven’s Fourth. Gu Qingfeng did his best to assist them as well.

As a result, the Sword Sect’s overall strength surged once more, gaining nine new Five-Tribulation Heavenly Humans overnight.

Of course, among these nine, only the two Peak Masters had the potential to advance to the Heavenly Monarch Realm. The elders were simply too old—whether they’d break through or meet their end first was anyone’s guess.

As the saying goes, good deeds bring good rewards. Gu Qingfeng’s generosity paid off.

His Indestructible Demon Soul, after devouring nine inner demons, had grown to an unimaginable level.

The most direct manifestation of this was his newfound ability to artificially induce an Inner Demon Tribulation.

By splitting off a fragment of his soul, he could send it into a cultivator’s body like an inner demon, wreaking havoc just like a real tribulation.

This technique was nothing short of a killing move. Among the five Heavenly Tribulations, the Inner Demon Tribulation was the most formidable. One could only imagine the devastation of forcing an opponent to endure it mid-battle. Those with weak Dao Hearts would be instantly consumed and enslaved by the demon, while even the strong would suffer severe impairment in combat.

However, the technique’s effectiveness diminished against Heaven’s Fifth experts and above, as they had already survived their Inner Demon Tribulations. While it wouldn’t kill them easily, it could still disrupt them significantly.

Gu Qingfeng named this deadly move: Inner Demon Tribulation.

After resolving the tribulation issues of the sect’s Four-Tribulation experts, Gu Qingfeng was summoned by Dugu Wei to the main hall.

Upon arriving, he found the hall already filled with people.

Aside from the seven Peak Masters and Dugu Wei, there were five men and one woman present.

Each of them carried an air of extraordinary brilliance, their eyes gleaming with confidence—practically wearing the label "heaven’s chosen" on their faces.

Among them were two familiar faces: Nangong Xue and Sword Maniac.

The moment Gu Qingfeng entered, all six turned their gazes toward him, their expressions ranging from curiosity to shock—and in one case, hostility.

Gu Qingfeng, highly sensitive to emotions, immediately traced the source of the animosity. It came from a young man clad in violet robes, his demeanor serene as the moon, his aura transcendent as if bathed in divine light.

Upon sensing that the man was only at Heaven’s Third, Gu Qingfeng lost interest. Pathetic.

"Junior Brother Gu, you’ve arrived," Dugu Wei greeted.

"Mn. I’m here, Old Wei," Gu Qingfeng replied with a nod.

The others in the hall stiffened slightly at the casual address.

Dugu Wei coughed awkwardly before continuing, "These are the Holy Sons and Holy Daughters of the Seven Peaks—the masters of the Seven Swords. The reason we’ve gathered today is to rehearse the Seven Swords Immortal-Slaying Formation.

"The current state of the Sword Sect is no secret to you all. Fortunately, Junior Brother Gu has recovered the long-lost Reverse Scale Sword, allowing the formation’s glory to return to the sect!

"Now is the time for you to contribute to the Sword Sect’s cause."

"As you command, Sect Master! We pledge our lives to the task!"

"Good." Dugu Wei nodded in satisfaction, reassured by the sight of such promising talents.

"Junior Brother Gu, allow me to introduce you to the Seven Swords’ masters. There are likely some you haven’t met yet."

He began with the violet-robed man who had eyed Gu Qingfeng with hostility.

"This is the Holy Son of Ten Thousand Blades Peak—Chu Jingchen. He has been in seclusion until recently and has now emerged as a Three-Tribulation Heavenly Human."

Hearing the name, Gu Qingfeng’s mind stirred. He had heard it before—during a certain night when Ling Fei’er spoke of it after their... cultivation session.

Ling Fei’er had warned him that Chu Jingchen had left seclusion and that he should be cautious, as trouble might follow.

Chu Jingchen had been the sect’s top genius before Gu Qingfeng’s arrival—the only disciple possessing a Sacred Body and one of Ling Fei’er’s many suitors.

According to Ling Fei’er, before Gu Qingfeng joined the sect, the human-demon faction had planned to use Chu Jingchen as their operative, given his high likelihood of accessing the Emperor Demon Sword.

At the time, Ling Fei’er had been visibly nervous, hastily clarifying that she and Chu Jingchen had no real relationship—just a few encounters where she had used her charm techniques to plant a seed of obsession in his heart. They had never even held hands.

Gu Qingfeng had teased her then: "If you didn’t even let him touch your hand, why did you strip naked the moment you tried to charm me?"

Ling Fei’er had flushed with indignation. "How was I supposed to know a man could be better at seduction than me?!"

Putting the pieces together, Gu Qingfeng understood the root of Chu Jingchen’s hostility—the bitterness of a spurned admirer watching his goddess fall for another.

Dugu Wei then gestured to Gu Qingfeng. "Jingchen, this is your Senior Uncle Gu—also known as the Sword Sect’s Imperial Scion."

Chu Jingchen concealed his resentment flawlessly, his tone neither submissive nor arrogant.

"Greetings, Imperial Scion."

"So this is the rumored second genius of the Sword Sect, Junior Chu. Come on, call me ‘Uncle Master.’" Gu Qingfeng examined Chu Jingchen with a faint, mocking smile.

Chu Jingchen’s expression darkened slightly, a shadow of displeasure flickering imperceptibly in his eyes.

Gu Qingfeng’s single sentence had struck three painful blows.

Being called the "second genius" was the first.

"Junior Chu" was the second.

And "call me ‘Uncle Master’" was the third.