A cultivator with such terrifying talent was a rare existence hardly seen in ten thousand years across the entire Jiuxiao Realm, and even the Wanluo Immortal Realm. Gu Changyuan's other disciples were equally filled with immense curiosity.
Moreover, their Master cherished talent as much as his own life; whenever he saw a good seedling, he would want to take them in as a disciple.
If there truly existed a cultivator whose talent far surpassed that of Jun Anshi, their Master would definitely find a way to locate him.
Therefore, the gazes of all the disciples turned toward Gu Changyuan.
Although Gu Changyuan really wanted to say, Ah, no need to look, I've already brought him back for you, he held it in.
Thinking of this, a hint of annoyance inevitably arose in Gu Changyuan's heart.
He had pushed a bit too hard in the dream world. Although Jun Anshi had broken through her shackles at the final moment and condensed the Cangwu Great Dao just as he had hoped.
But for someone who had accompanied her for a century to suddenly fall right before her eyes in order to save her, that kind of impact far exceeded his expectations.
He only hoped that with time, everything would fade away.
However, even though he thought this in his heart, he still had to paint the illusion of a promising future for them.
Gu Changyuan's face did not reveal any unusual expressions. He simply nodded slightly, his complexion normal, his tone solemn.
Such talent is indeed rare in this world. If he can be found, we must invite him to join our Holy Land. After this, I will send people to search for his traces. If any clues are found, I will personally go look for him.
Jun Anshi's eyes lit up for a moment, the corners of her mouth curving up slightly, before quickly returning to normal.
Thank you, Master.
He stood up, glanced at the sky, and brought the topic back to business.
Since this trip to the secret realm was so fruitful, you all should head to the Holy Land's main hall first to settle the contribution points and resource distribution for this expedition.
His tone returned to its usual casualness.
Yes!
The seven squad leaders responded in unison, their voices clear and bright.
Gu Changyuan waved his right hand, and a gentle wave of spiritual energy lifted the seven of them. In the next instant, they had already appeared in the Holy Land's main hall.
...
As night fell, the starry sky shone brightly. Silvery moonlight scattered down, shrouding the ten peaks of the Heavenly Human Holy Land in a faint halo.
Gu Changyuan stood alone at the edge of the cliff on the summit of Tianyuan Mountain. His robes fluttered gently in the wind as he gazed calmly at the silhouettes of the ten peaks below.
In the darkness of the night, his eyes were profound and unfathomable, stripped of their usual laziness and replaced with a touch of deep thought.
A cube about the size of a fist rested in his hand. Emerald green and purple-gold lights flowed and intertwined within it, like two swimming dragons coiling and twisting within a square inch.
This was the entirety of Immortal Emperor Cangwu's secret realm space.
As early as the moment the secret realm was about to collapse, he had secretly cast a spell. After all the cultivators had safely left, he temporarily protected the entire secret realm space, preventing it from completely shattering.
After returning to the Heavenly Human Holy Land, he spent several more hours using the power of the Cangwu Great Dao to reconstruct the Cangwu core space.
After all, Gu Changyuan had already completely comprehended the Cangwu Great Dao and knew its essence like the back of his hand. Rebuilding a core space was merely a breeze for him.
With the existence of the core, the entire secret realm world would no longer collapse and could be preserved intact.
After all, there were still so many heavenly and earthly spiritual treasures inside the secret realm. It would be too much of a pity to just let it be destroyed; it was better to take it for his own use.
After returning to the Jiuxiao Realm, Gu Changyuan had originally intended to create an independent secret realm space to cultivate spiritual herbs, raise spiritual beasts, and so on.
It was just that the creation cycle of a secret realm space was extremely long. Shaping the various cultivation environments and resource nodes inside would also consume a massive amount of time and energy, so this matter had always been put on hold and never made it onto his schedule.
Now that he had the ready-made space of Immortal Emperor Cangwu's secret realm, it was simply like someone handing him a pillow just as he was dozing off. He would be a fool not to take it.
Not only did it save him the effort of creating a secret realm, but he could also directly obtain all the resources inside. It was simply killing two birds with one stone.
His gaze fell upon the cube in his hand. His divine sense passed through the surface of the cube and looked toward the parasol tree at the center of the core space.
The emerald green canopy gently swayed its branches and leaves in the light of the core space. Every sway caused the entire secret realm space to ripple slightly, brimming with vitality.
He could clearly feel that the remnant soul of Immortal Emperor Cangwu had completely dissipated.
Gu Changyuan recalled the beast king from that great battle, the beast king that had confronted Immortal Emperor Cangwu and could devour everything.
Even though it was a reenactment in the dream world, and even though he knew it was merely a projection of a memory, the moment that giant eye appeared, he still felt a long-lost sense of oppression.
That beast king was very strong, so strong that with his current strength, if he were to face it head-on, there was a high probability he would only be crushed.
In his one thousand one hundred years in the Ruins of Disorder, he had faced countless powerful enemies, but he had never truly encountered an opponent of that level.
Therefore, before truly encountering that beast king, he had to rapidly increase his strength and break through his current bottlenecks as soon as possible.
Only by doing so could he have the power to fight and avoid repeating the disastrous mistakes of Immortal Emperor Cangwu.
Then there were the final words of Immortal Emperor Cangwu.
From the other party's words, Gu Changyuan vaguely deduced that he did not seem to be entirely from the Blue Planet.
He must have proactively severed his past memories to accomplish some important matters, thrown himself into the Blue Planet, and then, at a predetermined time, been sent to the Jiuxiao Realm.
He had tried asking about the system's origins, asking about its purpose for binding to him, asking about his past, his identity, and those things he had forgotten.
But no matter how he called out, the system seemed to have crashed, providing absolutely no response.
Having gone through countless life-and-death struggles in the chaotic lands of the Ruins of Disorder, he had comprehended many ultimate skills and secret techniques that were difficult to learn in the outside world.
Perhaps all of this was not a coincidence, nor good luck, but a move he had once arranged for himself. Immortal Emperor Cangwu might also just be a pawn in this game of chess.
This feeling was very complex. It was like being pushed from behind, with every step walking on a path paved by someone else, and every path leading to a destination set by someone else.
But he just so happened to be that someone else. The person pushing him was himself, the person paving the path was himself, and the person setting the destination was also himself.
Designing himself, treating himself as a chess piece.
Gu Changyuan couldn't help but mutter in his heart. Not even letting himself off the hook, how truly ruthless.
Was he angry?
A little bit.
No one liked their life being a script arranged by someone else.
But that someone else was himself. He was angry at himself, but what could he do about it?
Was he happy?
Also a little bit.
At the very least, it proved that he was not a duckweed drifting with the current, nor an ant being toyed with by fate.
He was playing a game of chess, and he was the chess player.
It was just that he had forgotten why he was playing this game of chess, forgotten who his opponent in this game was, and forgotten what the endgame of this chess match was supposed to be.
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.
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
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.”
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
