Gu Changyuan set his teacup aside, stood up, and walked over to the girl. Gently resting his right hand on her small head, he once again sent his divine sense into her sea of consciousness.
The sea of consciousness at this moment was vastly different from when he had left it.
The girl's sea of consciousness had expanded several times over its original size. The interior was clearly divided into two distinct regions, each occupied by a cluster of soul essence.
One of the clusters still had a very weak aura and was in a deep slumber; this was the girl's original soul. The other cluster emanated a pure and stable aura, and it was the new soul that had just communicated with him.
Gu Changyuan withdrew his divine sense, a flash of understanding passing through his eyes.
So that is how it is...
He muttered to himself in a low voice.
It was highly likely related to the nature of her Primal Chaos Star Spirit Body and the fact that her soul had suffered overly severe trauma previously.
Under the tremendous pressure of her physique's awakening, in order to prevent the heavily traumatized old soul from completely collapsing, her body or physique instinctively adopted a protective mechanism.
It differentiated and spawned a relatively pure, newborn auxiliary soul to temporarily take over the dominance of the body, allowing the old soul to enter a deep hibernation for self-repair.
In the future, when the girl's strength improved and her consciousness and body could fully bear the burden, it would then choose to awaken.
This newborn soul was like a blank sheet of paper at the most critical moment of its birth.
The very first existence it saw, perceived, and received immense help from—the one who brought it an unparalleled sense of security—was him, Gu Changyuan.
Furthermore, since Gu Changyuan's divine sense had previously entered her sea of consciousness, her preliminary cognitive understanding naturally skewed toward his memories.
Having figured this out, Gu Changyuan looked at the little girl who was still holding her arms wide open, gazing up at him eagerly, and his mood instantly became complicated to the extreme.
He had just saved someone and picked up a reserve disciple with grade-ten talent. How did he suddenly become a father?!
Looking at the girl's starry eyes, which were so pure they did not contain a single trace of impurity, Gu Changyuan fell silent for a moment and let out a soft sigh.
He knelt on one knee to bring his line of sight level with the girl's, asking in a gentle tone, Do you have a name?
The girl tilted her head, a trace of confusion flashing through her clear eyes as if she were trying hard to understand the question.
She subconsciously searched through her newly reconstructed and still chaotic memories. After a brief moment, she shook her head blankly.
You don't have one...
Gu Changyuan pondered for a moment, looking at the faint starlight flowing in her eyes.
Then I shall call you Xing'er. As for your surname, you will share mine. Gu Xing'er.
Gu Xing'er...
Gu Xing'er repeated the name. She seemed to find the syllables very pleasant, or perhaps she felt a certain sense of belonging and stability from this new name.
The blankness in her eyes faded, replaced by pure joy. The corners of her mouth curled up into a sweet smile.
Originally, she had just been holding her arms open, but now she was directly waving her little hands up and down. Her large eyes gazed at Gu Changyuan eagerly, making no secret of her desire for a hug.
Seeing her like this, Gu Changyuan sighed helplessly. Ultimately, he bent down and, with slightly stiff movements, gently hugged this sudden daughter of his.
However, Gu Xing'er was clearly not satisfied.
Feeling Gu Changyuan's embrace, she immediately took advantage of the momentum, using both her arms and legs to climb up. She wrapped her arms tightly around Gu Changyuan's neck, pressed her little face against the crook of his neck, and hung her entire body on him.
Gu Changyuan's body stiffened, but afraid that she might fall, he naturally stood up, using his right arm to firmly support her little bottom as he picked her up.
A handsome, aloof-looking young man in black robes, appearing around twenty-four or twenty-five, was carrying a beautifully delicate, barefoot eight-year-old girl in his arms...
Even Gu Changyuan himself felt that this scene was a bit... weird.
For a thousand-year-old young boy like himself to be carrying an eight-year-old girl like this, it really was quite strange!
He suddenly thought of a more crucial issue.
Right, Xing'er.
Gu Changyuan looked down at the little girl rubbing her cheek against his lapels, attempting to correct her. From now on, you must call me older brother.
Suddenly gaining a daughter was too big of a leap in identity; even he had not adapted to it yet.
Moreover, in the future when Gu Xing'er's souls completely merged and her memories recovered, calling him dad would probably not be very appropriate.
Hearing this, Gu Xing'er raised her head and blinked her large eyes at Gu Changyuan, seemingly digesting this new instruction.
Then, she nodded very seriously and replied in a crisp voice, Okay! Brother Dad!
......
The corners of Gu Changyuan's mouth twitched uncontrollably. Looking at Gu Xing'er's serious expression that seemed to say, I'm very obedient, aren't I, he instantly gave up on the idea of correcting her further.
Forget it, just call me dad.
......
At dinner time, the Su family delivered the spiritual meals right on schedule.
Before they arrived, Gu Changyuan specifically took out some ingredients that, while not of a high grade, possessed pure and gentle spiritual energy perfectly suited for solidifying a young child's foundation. He handed them to the Su family steward, instructing them to prepare a separate portion for Gu Xing'er.
The sudden appearance of Gu Xing'er naturally aroused curiosity and speculation among the Su family, but they would not dare to pry.
There were some things where ignorance was far safer than knowledge. Asking rash questions would only displease the senior.
Gu Xing'er had an exceptionally clingy personality. Gu Changyuan specifically had a delicate little bed made for her, but she refused to sleep in it even if her life depended on it.
Every night, she would secretly sneak into Gu Changyuan's bed, curling up beside him to sleep peacefully.
Through observation, he also discovered that Gu Xing'er's mind was not simply stuck at a young child's stage.
As the time she spent with him increased and she absorbed more information from the outside world, her cognition, comprehension, and language skills grew at an astonishing rate.
When she first appeared, her cognitive level was roughly that of an infant of a few months—ignorant and entirely dependent.
But in just two short days, she could already understand more complex instructions and express her wishes more clearly.
Gu Changyuan judged that with this rate of growth, it might take less than a month for her cognition to truly match the level of an eight-year-old child, granting her relatively independent thinking capabilities.
......
Time quickly arrived at the afternoon before the Heavenly Abyss Ceremony at the Heavenly Human Holy Land.
The leader of the Su family's delegation for attending the ceremony and participating in the selection at the Holy Land finally returned to Fengling City.
This time, the Su family's group heading to the Heavenly Human Holy Land was led by inner sect disciple Su Tianhui, who was also Su Yunhao's second son.
Having joined the Heavenly Human Holy Land decades ago, he was considered an outstanding figure among the disciples of his generation.
Upon returning to the Su family, Su Tianhui immediately heard the news of his fourth sister, Su Wanqing, breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm.
After Su Wanqing vividly recounted Gu Changyuan's deeds, Su Tianhui's heart was filled with curiosity about this senior who could easily dissolve heart demons and casually suppress a Mahayana realm grand thief. He could hardly wait to catch a glimpse of the senior's true appearance.
Knowing that they were to set off for the Heavenly Human Holy Land today, Gu Changyuan packed up early. Holding the hand of the barefoot, skipping Gu Xing'er, he slowly walked to the Su family plaza.
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
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!
