"Not guaranteed to be authentic? Then we'll do as you say!" The Holy Lord of the Celestial Court suppressed his fury.
"Good. Then both of you swear an oath. If you swear, I’ll believe you." Gu Qingfeng’s expression suddenly shifted—the previous sinister grin vanished, replaced by calm composure, as though he were a completely different person.
"Gu Qingfeng! Don’t push us too far!" the Holy Lord roared.
As the exalted Holy Lord of the Celestial Court, being forced to swear an oath in public—where would he even hide his face?
Of course, the real issue was that he didn’t dare swear, because the scripture truly wasn’t authentic.
"Attack."
Gu Qingfeng waved his hand, and in an instant, the hundred-plus Supreme Beings around him surged forward, ready to kill.
The Holy Lord and the Netherworld Sovereign paled in horror and hastily shouted, "Wait! We’ll swear! We’ll swear!"
"Hmph. Pathetic. Hurry up and swear!" Gu Qingfeng snorted coldly, signaling his men to halt while staring intently at the two.
The Holy Lord and the Netherworld Sovereign exchanged glances, communicating secretly through divine sense.
"Brother, what do we do? This brat is far more cunning than expected—he doesn’t trust us at all. But if we truly swear a Heavenly Oath, the consequences would be unthinkable.
I say we strike first."
"Strike? This isn’t the Netherworld. A battle among a hundred Supreme Beings would reduce the Celestial Court to ruins!"
"You misunderstand. I mean we should capture the ringleader first. This little beast Gu Qingfeng, relying on his numbers, dares to stand so close to us. At this distance, we could seize him in an instant.
I’ve noticed those Supreme Beings—their eyes are vacant, their expressions blank, like puppets. If we control Gu Qingfeng, they likely won’t dare act recklessly."
The Holy Lord’s thoughts raced, hesitation gnawing at him.
"No, it’s too risky. Gu Qingfeng is too shrewd. If he dares to stand this close, he must have some trick up his sleeve. With a hundred Supreme Beings under his command, he might even possess a supreme defensive treasure. If we can’t subdue him quickly, a full-scale battle will erupt."
"Then what do we do? If we swear a Heavenly Oath, under the scrutiny of the Heavenly Dao, even with our Nine-Star Supreme cultivation and countless treasures, we’d be left half-dead."
"Who said we have to swear a Heavenly Oath? This little wretch only told us to swear—he didn’t specify a Heavenly Oath. Given his lowly cultivation, he might not even know what a Heavenly Oath is.
Just follow my lead when swearing. Watch how I fool him.
And if he does know about Heavenly Oaths and we can’t deceive him… well, we can always give him the real Emperor’s Scripture."
Had Gu Qingfeng heard their conversation, he would have been delighted—even giving them a thumbs-up.
He never intended for them to swear a Heavenly Oath in the first place. Under the Heavenly Dao’s oversight, the Oath of the Demon of Vows might not trigger.
If they had sworn a Heavenly Oath, they might have survived. But breaking a Demon’s Oath? The Demon of Vows wouldn’t spare them.
"Are you two done dawdling? Swear already!" Gu Qingfeng snapped impatiently when the two remained silent.
"Fine. We’ll swear."
The Holy Lord shot the Netherworld Sovereign a subtle glance, then raised three fingers to the heavens. The Netherworld Sovereign followed suit.
"I, the Holy Lord (Netherworld Sovereign), swear to the heavens—if the Emperor’s Scripture is fake, may I be struck by lightning, die a wretched death, and have my soul obliterated!"
The Holy Lord played a clever trick in his oath—he swore "to the heavens," not "to the Heavenly Dao." A single word’s difference, but worlds apart in meaning.
He was confident that a cultivator of Gu Qingfeng’s level wouldn’t notice the distinction.
And indeed, it seemed to work.
Gu Qingfeng nodded in satisfaction and said nothing more.
The Holy Lord and the Netherworld Sovereign rejoiced inwardly, though they kept their faces carefully neutral, afraid of tipping him off.
But just as they were celebrating—
A sudden, terrifying change occurred.
Both men felt an inexplicable sensation and immediately looked down at their bodies—only to see...
An invisible, intangible thread of oath extending from them. Their eyes followed the thread upward, watching in horror as it connected to Gu Qingfeng.
The Holy Lord and the Netherworld Sovereign exchanged stunned glances, momentarily frozen.
Then, seconds later—
Their faces twisted in terror as they simultaneously whipped their heads toward Gu Qingfeng, their eyes filled with utter disbelief.
"You—you’re an Outer Realm Demon!!!" they shrieked in unison.
BOOM—!
The sky darkened instantly as a deafening thunderclap shook the heavens.
Everyone flinched at the sound and looked up—only to see countless black lightning arcs writhing and flashing within the clouds, like ancient mythical black dragons!
All present were Heavenly Supreme Beings, well-versed in the ways of the world. The moment they saw the black lightning, they recognized the dense demonic power within—a force comparable to the Celestial Emperor’s, enough to terrify anyone.
Coupled with the Holy Lord and the Netherworld Sovereign’s horrified exclamation, a terrifying realization dawned on them.
Their gazes toward Gu Qingfeng shifted instantly—as though staring at a demon god crawled up from the depths of hell.
An Outer Realm Demon!
He was the incarnation of an Outer Realm Demon!
Before anyone could process the revelation, the Holy Lord and the Netherworld Sovereign’s blood-curdling screams shattered their thoughts.
"NO—!!!"
Their eyes bulged with terror as they stared at the apocalyptic black lightning above. Divine light erupted from their bodies as they summoned one supreme treasure after another—each capable of sparking bloodshed in the outside world.
Layer upon layer of protective radiance enveloped them, yet they still felt no semblance of safety.
Regret consumed them—why had they sworn to be "struck by lightning, die a wretched death, and have their souls obliterated"?
If they had known this would happen, they would’ve handed over the real Emperor’s Scripture long ago.
But it was too late for regrets.
Gu Qingfeng watched with amusement as the black lightning, brimming with demonic power, gathered. This was his first time witnessing someone break a Demon’s Oath—all his previous subordinates had been smart enough not to defy it.
Truly, the Upper Realm’s people had guts.
His Demon’s Oath was a stolen fragment of the Demon of Vows’ authority. Anyone who swore before him would be bound by the Oath Thread—and breaking it would invoke the Demon of Vows’ punishment.
BOOM—!
Another earth-shaking peal of thunder rattled the Celestial Court.
The Celestial Court and Netherworld forces, sensing the impending doom, abandoned all thought of saving their leaders and teleported miles away.
Gu Qingfeng’s enslaved Supreme Beings were also ordered to retreat—yet he alone remained, standing unfazed.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
