Gu Chengyin retracted his sword fingers, and with a whoosh, the flying sword flew backward, hovering in front of him once again. The blade was spotless, free of any wood shavings, shining as if it were brand new.
Gu Chengyin praised it repeatedly in his heart. The power of this flying sword strike far exceeded the destructive force of his previous ordinary attacks.
Amidst his joy, he calmed his mind and looked inward at his own body.
Upon seeing this, he couldn't help but click his tongue in slight astonishment.
Such a seemingly effortless flying sword thrust had actually consumed more than half of the originally abundant and thick true qi in his dantian's spiritual sea.
As expected, even the most basic sword control technique consumes an astonishing amount of true qi.
Gu Chengyin wasn't too surprised; instead, he felt it was only natural.
High-level skills inevitably came with high consumption. This was a basic rule.
Being able to use it at the Qi Condensation stage was only possible because he had used a cheat.
If he could use it as casually as ordinary sword moves, that would truly be unreasonable.
Just as Gu Chengyin grasped the longsword in his hand, preparing to officially practice his sword moves, a familiar voice came from outside the arena:
Young Master Gu?
Gu Chengyin retracted his stance and turned around, looking toward the source of the voice.
At the edge of the martial arts arena stood Shangguan Yunying. Her crimson palace dress was particularly striking against the deepening night and the halo of the palace lanterns.
Her face carried a faint blush from hurrying, and her eyes were filled with surprise at seeing Gu Chengyin, which quickly turned into delight.
Are you practicing sword techniques?
Shangguan Yunying walked quickly into the arena, her gaze falling on the longsword in Gu Chengyin's hand. Do you need me to teach you? Or perhaps we could spar?
Gu Chengyin paused, not expecting her to appear at this moment.
He lowered the tip of his longsword and asked, Don't you need to report back to Her Highness first?
Shangguan Yunying had already approached. Hearing this, she shook her head and explained, I already did. Her Highness said you were looking for something in the Myriad Phenomena Pavilion and told me to come help you.
She paused, a helpless yet amused expression on her face. Upon receiving the order, I immediately went to the Myriad Phenomena Pavilion, thinking I could help you search.
But after walking around inside, I didn't even see a shadow of you.
It was Xiaoli who told me that you had already found what you were looking for and left for the martial arts arena. That's why I came looking for you here.
Saying this, Shangguan Yunying curiously sized up Gu Chengyin. What exactly were you looking for? You found it so quickly.
An unfathomable smile appeared on Gu Chengyin's face as he answered half-truthfully, It was a fortunate coincidence, really. Perhaps there was some unseen guidance.
Before his voice faded, Gu Chengyin's mind stirred, leaking out a tiny trace of the unique aura of the Azure Cloud Mantra that was circulating on its own within his body.
However, even this tiny trace of aura was like a sudden clap of thunder to Shangguan Yunying, who was standing right in front of him.
Buzz!
The true qi within Shangguan Yunying's body, cultivated from the Azure Sword Mantra, suddenly surged like raging waves.
It wasn't a hostile attack, but a near-instinctive palpitation and submission stemming from the very origin of her cultivation technique.
It was like a stream encountering a vast river, a firefly gazing up at the bright moon, or a descendant with thin bloodlines suddenly feeling the summon of their primal ancestor.
Shangguan Yunying clearly felt that the true qi she had cultivated for years became uncontrollably docile in the face of that strange, ethereal, ancient, and majestic aura emanating from Gu Chengyin. It even vaguely threatened to break free from her control, harboring an urge to bow in worship toward him.
What shook her mind even more was that this suppression and attraction at the technique level actually affected her directly on a spiritual level.
An indescribable sense of intimacy and trust, along with an absurd impulse to swear loyalty to the person emitting this aura, crashed against her mental defenses like a tidal wave.
This... What is this...
Shangguan Yunying froze in place. The color drained from her beautiful face, only to be quickly replaced by a flush of horror and disbelief.
Her beautiful eyes widened, staring fixedly at Gu Chengyin as if truly seeing him for the first time.
Her Foundation Establishment realm cultivation circulated madly within her, barely suppressing the urge to fall to her knees. But within the lake of her heart, stormy waves continued to crash, unable to calm down for a long time.
Acknowledge him as master? What a joke!
Even if she had to... it shouldn't be under such inexplicable circumstances!
An extremely shameful thought flashed through Shangguan Yunying's mind, making the tips of her ears burn.
Seeing that the desired effect had been achieved, Gu Chengyin immediately restrained his aura and returned to his normal state, as if the heart-palpitating feeling from just a moment ago had merely been an illusion.
At the same time, he deliberately asked, Well? Can you tell what's different about my new cultivation technique?
Shangguan Yunying took several deep breaths before suppressing the monstrous waves and bizarre palpitations in her heart.
She stepped forward, her footsteps still somewhat unsteady, and walked halfway around Gu Chengyin, examining him carefully from head to toe.
She even leaned in slightly, her delicate nose twitching twice as she sniffed to see if Gu Chengyin carried the scent of any special pills or spices.
After confirming that Gu Chengyin had no external aids on him and that the aura had indeed emanated from his own body, the curiosity in Shangguan Yunying's eyes practically overflowed.
She asked eagerly, How on earth did you do that? That aura just now was incredible! My true qi almost lost control!
Shangguan Yunying was too embarrassed to mention the urge to acknowledge him as her master, but the words lost control were enough to explain the situation.
Seeing her reaction, Gu Chengyin felt completely reassured.
This perfectly verified the absolute suppression and superior status that the Azure Cloud Mantra had over the Azure Sword Mantra.
This was more convincing than any token.
He deliberately put on a cautious expression, looking around the empty martial arts arena once more before leaning close to Shangguan Yunying and speaking in a voice only the two of them could hear:
I'll tell you, but you absolutely must not tell anyone else. This matter is of grave importance.
Made even more unbearably curious by his secretive attitude, Shangguan Yunying nodded vigorously, her beautiful eyes wide and round.
Only then did Gu Chengyin slowly open his mouth, recounting the story he had fabricated.
His tone held three parts emotion, three parts sudden realization, and four parts solemnity:
Actually, I'm not some ordinary country bumpkin from North River City.
Rather, I come from an ancient immortal cultivation family. It's just that when I was young, my family encountered some sort of disaster. I became stranded outside, and my memories grew blurry and confused. I could never remember my family's name.
It wasn't until today, with Her Highness's permission, that I was able to enter the Myriad Phenomena Pavilion to look for clues.
Strange as it sounds, it felt as though some unseen guidance led me to find a token of utmost importance to me among the vast sea of ancient texts.
Through that token, combined with the Azure Sword Mantra you taught me, I finally understood the origin of my bloodline!
Gu Chengyin's voice grew agitated. It turns out I am the sole surviving bloodline heir of the ancient Azure Cloud Immortal Clan left in this world!
And the Azure Sword Mantra that your Azure Sword Sect relies on as its foundation... He looked at Shangguan Yunying, his gaze burning bright:
According to the records on that token, it is actually an incomplete fragment of the sword path inheritance from the Azure Cloud Immortal Clan's Heaven-tier technique, the Azure Cloud Mantra!
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
