Terrifying sword might enveloped everything—from the heavens to the earth, filling the void in every direction.
Gu Qingfeng wore a look of disdain and smiled ferociously. "Futile struggles. Do you still not understand? No attack works against this Emperor. Heh heh heh..."
Saying this, he stepped directly into the boundless rain of swords.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Billions of terrifying strands of sword qi slashed across his body, yet each one passed through him without obstruction, as if striking a phantom. Where the blades cut, momentary gaps appeared, only to be instantly filled by surging waves of tribulation energy.
Watching Gu Qingfeng cross the rain of swords like a monster, the Scruffy Old Daoist was scared out of his wits. Boundless fear rose in his heart. He regretted making an enemy of such an undying, indestructible monster. Was this truly an existence that a living being could defeat?
Yet, he refused to sit and wait for death. Gritting his teeth, he pulled an ancient, rustic Immortal Cauldron from his robes, within which burned rolling golden flames.
Buzz!
The Immortal Cauldron hummed and rose into the air, erupting with golden firelight. The light wove into dazzling runes, transforming into chains of golden law that firmly bound Gu Qingfeng before dragging him into the cauldron.
A look of ruthlessness flashed in the Scruffy Old Daoist's eyes. "Today, this poor Daoist shall refine you alive!"
He rushed to the Immortal Cauldron and slammed his hands against it, pouring his mana in frantically. Because he channeled his power without regard for the consequences, his injuries worsened, and his face twisted in pain.
As the mana surged, the Immortal Cauldron instantly expanded, becoming a thousand feet tall. It burst forth with monstrous, eternal Dao patterns and interwoven golden immortal light. An ancient, profound totem emerged on the cauldron's surface.
Under such terrifying might, there was no movement from within the cauldron, as if Gu Qingfeng had already been reduced to ash.
The Scruffy Old Daoist revealed a trace of confusion. Could this demon have been refined just like that? Why was there no struggle?
Just as he was wondering, a pale white hand suddenly reached out from the Immortal Cauldron and clamped directly onto the Scruffy Old Daoist's neck.
Urgh!
The Scruffy Old Daoist's breath hitched instantly, filled with terror. Sounds of cracking came from his neck as bones fractured. The immense force made his eyes bulge, his face turn crimson, and his veins pop out.
He swung his sword desperately, trying to sever the arm. Yet, no matter how sharp the immortal sword was, it slashed through the arm as if striking an afterimage, passing through without any resistance.
Slowly, a pale, ferocious human face emerged from the surface of the Immortal Cauldron. It stared straight at him, smiling. The demonic light in its eyes was blazing, full of disdain, carrying the indifferent look one gives an ant.
Under the Scruffy Old Daoist's horrified gaze, the face gradually peeled away and separated from the cauldron. Next came the neck, arms, collarbone, and chest, until the entire person had emerged.
It was none other than Gu Qingfeng!
Gu Qingfeng stepped out of the Immortal Cauldron. Gripping the Scruffy Old Daoist by the neck, he lifted him high, staring at him with savage cruelty, quietly watching him struggle, suffer, and wail.
"Why must you resist so stubbornly? Your fate was sealed long ago. Wouldn't it be better to just obediently wait for death?"
"You... you cannot kill me!" the Scruffy Old Daoist struggled to say.
Suddenly, Gu Qingfeng burst into wild laughter. "Cannot kill you? Heh heh heh... In this world, there is no one this Emperor cannot kill. So what if you are a Quasi-Immortal King? So what if one is an Immortal King? I can kill powerless mortals, and I can kill high and mighty Immortal Kings! Before this Emperor, all living beings are equal!!"
Seeing the deep demonic nature in Gu Qingfeng's eyes, the Scruffy Old Daoist felt a chill run through his body. His limbs went cold, as if he had fallen into a boundless hell.
"I... I am willing to submit!" he pleaded with difficulty.
"Submit? If it were any other Quasi-Immortal King, this Emperor might have pitied them, perhaps softened his heart and agreed. But you! You killed this Emperor's family. That was the family I poured the most effort into, my most precious family! So, you must die!"
As Gu Qingfeng spoke, a terrifying devouring force erupted from his hand, frantically consuming the Scruffy Old Daoist.
"Ah!!"
The Scruffy Old Daoist screamed miserably, feeling his cultivation base and foundation draining away like water from a burst dam.
"I am useful! I still have use!"
Gu Qingfeng acted as if he hadn't heard, continuing to devour him while enjoying the unsightly desperation of a dying Quasi-Immortal King.
"It's true! I am useful to you! I am the successor of the Heavenly Secret Sect, an expert in deducing heavenly secrets. Since I saw you, I knew you were destined for a great calamity. I can help you turn danger into safety!"
Gu Qingfeng remained unmoved. "Calamity? This Emperor has always been the calamity for others. When has a calamity ever dared to come looking for me?"
By now, the Scruffy Old Daoist could no longer speak. Shivering, he fished out a dilapidated tortoise shell from his robes. The shell was emitting an obscure, ghostly glow.
Upon seeing the tortoise shell, Gu Qingfeng's pupils instantly contracted. He loosened his grip, and the Scruffy Old Daoist fell to the ground.
The tortoise shell fell as well, and Gu Qingfeng caught it in his hand.
He didn't speak, but simply gazed at the shell.
He had never seen this shell before, yet it emitted an inexplicable aura—an aura that was intimately connected to him.
He didn't understand what the shell was, nor what the aura meant, but he instinctively felt that the shell was trying to convey a message to him.
To the side, the Scruffy Old Daoist gasped for air. He hurriedly took out several immortal pills and swallowed them, finally recovering enough breath to avoid dying on the spot.
"What is this?" Gu Qingfeng asked.
Ignoring his injuries, the Scruffy Old Daoist hurriedly explained, "This is the inheritance treasure of my Heavenly Secret Sect. No one knows its origin, only that it has existed since the founding of the sect. It has no offensive or defensive capabilities; no matter how one tests it, it appears to be just an ordinary tortoise shell. However, its unique trait is the ability to guide destiny. A fated individual can use it to peek into the River of Fate and turn bad luck into good!"
"Destiny?" Gu Qingfeng murmured.
"Just now, while I was fleeing for my life, I felt a strangeness from it. I thought it knew I was in trouble and was guiding me. But no matter how I tried to communicate with it, I received no response. That's when I realized—you are the fated one! Because there are only the two of us here! It only started glowing because it sensed your aura! Its purpose is to help the fated one survive a destined great calamity!"
Gu Qingfeng stared at the shell, sensing the inexplicable aura. He knew the Scruffy Old Daoist wasn't lying, because the aura really was closely linked to him.
"How do I use it?"
The Scruffy Old Daoist stood up and trembled, saying, "Emperor Gu, as long as you are willing to let me off, this lowly one will immediately help you use it."
Swish!
Gu Qingfeng grabbed the Scruffy Old Daoist by the neck once more and began devouring him frantically.
"You!! No!"
"You dare bargain with this Emperor, you ant? Once I search your soul, I'll know how to use it all the same!"
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?"
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.”
