Subordinate Ling Canglan pays respects to the Patriarch of Xuanyang Sect.

Hearing Gu Changge's words, he didn't answer, but a faint golden light suddenly flashed across his eyes.

The Eyes of Delusion quietly unfolded. The spiritual energy patterns flowing around the Holy Lord of Lingxiao, the protective marks hidden deep in his sea of consciousness, and even the aura of the Holy Land inheritance branded in his bloodline were instantly exposed to his eyes.

[Name: Ling Canglan]

[Cultivation: Mid-stage of the Saint King Realm]

[Talent: Mid-grade Saint-level]

[Physique: Heavenly Spirit Body]

[Comprehension: Superior]

[Temperament: Cunning and Treacherous]

...

Gu Changge's gaze paused on the words "Cunning and Treacherous."

"This temperament... Cunning and Treacherous? What kind of path is this?"

He looked up at Ling Canglan again. The other party was still struggling to maintain the majesty of the Lord of a Holy Land, but his eyes were constantly darting around, obviously thinking of a way to escape.

A hint of interest rose in Gu Changge's heart: "As expected, he's not a simple character. Let me see just how treacherous you can be."

Seeing that Gu Changge didn't answer, but instead swept his piercing gaze over him, the Holy Lord of Lingxiao felt a sudden chill in his heart.

He was just about to threaten, "If you dare touch me, the Lingxiao Holy Land will retaliate with everything we have."

But he saw Gu Changge looking at him, and a vast divine sense like a sea of stars surged forward like a tide, crashing into his sea of consciousness before he could even react!

"You dare!"

The Holy Lord of Lingxiao was both shocked and enraged. Two dazzling lights instantly erupted within his sea of consciousness.

One was the "Soul-Suppressing Jade" he had found in a secret realm in his early years. The flowing light of the jade could shatter the divine sense of a Saint King Realm cultivator.

The other was the protective soul array mark passed down for ten thousand years in the Lingxiao Holy Land, which had once blocked a full-force sneak attack from a late-stage Saint King Realm cultivator.

But these two protective measures, which he considered his life-saving trump cards, shattered into nothingness like thin paper meeting a sharp blade before Gu Changge's divine sense with a "crack", unable to stop it for even half a breath.

The divine sense invaded his sea of consciousness without any hindrance. The Holy Lord of Lingxiao only felt a tearing pain in his mind, as if millions of steel needles were piercing him simultaneously.

He wanted to mobilize his spiritual energy to resist, wanted to open his mouth to roar for help, but was pinned in place by an invisible restraint around him, unable to move even his fingertips.

He could only watch helplessly as Gu Changge's divine sense spread out in his sea of consciousness, transforming into a large cyan-gold hand and beginning to cast a Soul-Snatching Technique.

"No... I am the Holy Lord of Lingxiao! I am the Lord of an eternal Holy Land! How can I be controlled by you!"

He struggled madly in his sea of consciousness, his remaining will condensing into a small gilded sword—that was his "Dao Heart Sword" refined with the power of the Holy Land's inheritance, which had slain inner demons and broken illusions.

As soon as the small gilded sword touched the large cyan-gold hand, it was suddenly gripped tightly by a seemingly gentle but incredibly powerful force.

The force was as light as crushing a dead leaf, but it instantly shattered the resisting will in the sea of consciousness of the Holy Lord of Lingxiao, Ling Canglan.

The moment the small sword dissipated into a sky full of light spots, his last thought of struggle collapsed instantly like a sandcastle washed by the tide, completely controlled by Gu Changge.

Taking advantage of the situation, Gu Changge's divine sense spread out in his sea of consciousness, examining Ling Canglan's memories.

When sweeping past that pitch-black barrier deep in his memory, he unexpectedly bumped into a past that no one had ever set foot in.

With this probe, even Gu Changge couldn't help but sigh inwardly: "Good heavens."

In Ling Canglan's memory, there was actually another identity that could shake the Central Region: the Hall Master of the Netherworld Hall.

When Gu Changge was bored and investigating the Xuanhuang Great World in his early years, he had heard the name of this Netherworld Hall.

It was an assassin organization hidden in the shadows, so ruthless that even Saint King Realm cultivators didn't dare provoke them easily.

Thirty years ago, a Saint Ancestor of a first-rate faction in the Central Region had just broken through to the Saint King Realm. Before he could celebrate, he was assassinated late at night by an assassin from the Netherworld Hall. His head was hung at the sect's mountain gate for three days, intimidating the entire Central Region into silence for half a month.

There were even rumors that even the Saint Realm enshrinements of the Holy Lands had fallen to their specially made poisoned needles.

And in this memory, Ling Canglan was the helmsman of this Netherworld Hall.

The images were so clear that they were shocking.

In his early years at the Lingxiao Holy Land, Ling Canglan was established as a "Candidate Holy Son" by the ancestors because of his mid-grade Saint-level talent and Heavenly Spirit Body physique.

But no one expected that this Candidate Holy Son with a boundless future would quietly conceal his identity during an outing to gain experience, and infiltrate the Netherworld Hall under the pseudonym "Cang".

He deliberately restrained the awe-inspiring aura of a Holy Land cultivator, presenting himself only as an "ordinary rogue cultivator". Starting from the lowest-level assassin, relying on comprehension and ruthlessness far exceeding his peers, he emerged from life-and-death struggles in just three years.

Just like that, stepping on the corpses of countless opponents, he climbed up. In fifty years, he went from a low-level assassin all the way to the position of "Left Envoy of the Netherworld", and even the elders in the Hall had to respect him a bit.

A hundred years ago, taking advantage of the gap when the old Hall Master was in seclusion to break through, he launched a rebellion, combining the secret techniques of the Lingxiao Holy Land with the "Soul-Corroding Poison" of the Netherworld Hall.

He forcefully crushed the bones and scattered the ashes of this old Hall Master who had lived for a thousand years, stepping on his remnant soul to take the position of Hall Master. Even the most loyal elders in the Hall didn't notice the slightest abnormality.

What was even more exquisite was his dual-line operation.

During the day, he was the high and mighty Holy Lord of the Lingxiao Holy Land, using the Holy Land's power to suppress his competitors in the Netherworld Hall, playing the drama of "eradicating assassin organizations" flawlessly.

At night, he transformed into the Hall Master of the Netherworld, directing assassins to assassinate opponents within the Holy Land.

Gu Changge's divine sense wandered through this memory, watching Ling Canglan use the Holy Land's resources to nourish the assassins of the Netherworld Hall, while using the assassins to clear obstacles for the Holy Land, playing "borrowing strength to fight strength" to perfection.

Gu Changge exclaimed in his heart: It really opened my eyes, the people of the Central Region really know how to play.

I originally thought Xuanyangzi and the ancestor of the Azure Profound Sect were good enough at hiding, but I didn't expect this Ling Canglan to be even more ruthless. Bearing the identity of the Holy Lord of a Holy Land, he sat as firmly as Mount Tai on the position of Hall Master of an assassin organization, and even the core elders of the Lingxiao Holy Land didn't notice the slightest flaw.

"No wonder the Eyes of Delusion labeled his 'Temperament: Cunning and Treacherous'. This is more than just treacherous; he simply played the entire Central Region in the palm of his hand."

If he hadn't met a cheat like Gu Changge, and one who was so simple and crude.

Ling Canglan might really have been able to rely on this dual identity, enjoying reverence as a Holy Lord on the one hand, and controlling the dark side with the Netherworld Hall on the other, turning the Central Region of the Xuanhuang Great World into his back garden.

Gu Changge originally wanted to use the Soul-Snatching Technique to control this person and hand him over to Xuanyangzi to deal with.

Although the Soul-Snatching Technique could firmly control this person, this guy was so good at playing games that the Sect Master might not be able to handle him in the future.

It's better to add another layer of insurance, Gu Changge thought to himself.

"Since you like having so many identities, it's not too much for me to give you one more, right?"

Gu Changge's divine sense wandered in his sea of consciousness, beginning to tamper with his memories.

The original scenes of "being abducted into the sky and coerced by someone" were covered layer by layer, replaced by a past so clear that it seemed carved into his bones.

In the images, he had been a spy planted in the Lingxiao Holy Land by the Azure Profound Sect since childhood, secretly cultivated by a mysterious elder.

Later, he took charge of the Lingxiao Holy Land step by step, and even "strictly followed the instructions of the Azure Profound Sect, bearing humiliation and a heavy burden while waiting for the summons".

Joining the Netherworld Hall and becoming the Hall Master was also secretly supported by the Azure Profound Sect.

"You... are you... a person from the Azure Profound Sect?"

The resistance within the Lingxiao Sacred Lord's sea of consciousness completely dissipated. His eyes shifted from terror to blankness, then slowly became tinged with awe, and finally transformed entirely into absolute, submissive loyalty. Even his voice carried an uncontrollable excitement.

In less than half an incense stick of time, Gu Changge withdrew his divine sense, the azure light at his fingertips quietly fading away.

He raised his hand to brush an imaginary speck of dust from his sleeve, and the spiritual energy sealing the Lingxiao Sacred Lord's body was simultaneously undone.

The Sacred Lord stumbled, but without the slightest thought of fleeing, he instead fell to his knees before Xuanyangzi with a heavy thud.

His head was bowed exceedingly low, hands resting before his knees. His back was pulled taut and straight, yet it exuded complete submission. His voice was steady, though it carried an irrepressible tremble:

"Subordinate Ling Canglan greets Sect Master Xuanyang! For three hundred years, I have been undercover in the Lingxiao Sacred Land, yearning day and night for the day I could return to our ranks. To finally see the Sect Master's true face today, your subordinate... your subordinate is truly blessed!"

Next chapter, updating at noon!