Gu Chengyin sat in the carriage, seemingly resting with his eyes closed, but in reality, he was reviewing everything that had happened just now and last night.
Although his doubts had mostly disappeared, what he cared about now was no longer the hypnosis itself.
Instead, it was an invisible sense of oppression, as if a pair of eyes had been watching him all along.
Whether it was that inexplicable nightmare or this bizarre smoothness and perfection.
Both made it impossible for Gu Chengyin to completely relax.
This was a caution carved into his bones, and even more so, a profound lesson learned from experiencing Luo Zhao breaking free from the hypnosis.
He must have overlooked something extremely crucial!
In Gu Chengyin's mind, Luo Zhao's vacant, stagnant phoenix eyes resurfaced, along with Shangguan Yunying's emotionless obedience, and their perfect reactions when facing his boundary-crossing probes.
No instinctive resistance.
No emotional fluctuation.
Not a single trace of someone who was awake.
There were only two possibilities. The first was that they were indeed hypnotized.
The second was that they had broken free from the hypnosis but tolerated his overstepping.
Gu Chengyin felt as if he had thought of something, yet he couldn't grasp that thread of inspiration.
So he simply continued down this line of thought.
Assuming Luo Zhao and Shangguan Yunying had broken free from the hypnosis and tolerated his overstepping.
That would mean this wasn't their true bottom line.
Then what if he went a bit further, for example, crossing the line completely with Luo Zhao?
If they still maintained such a perfect hypnotized state even then, there would be nothing more to say.
But the more troublesome part was Emperor Luo's side...
Wait.
A flash of insight hit Gu Chengyin; he finally knew what he had overlooked.
How could he have forgotten about that old schemer, Emperor Luo!
And Gu Xiaoli, she was the encyclopedia of the Wanxiang Pavilion!
Moreover, she was currently living with Shangguan Yunying!
But last night, he hadn't seen a trace of Gu Xiaoli at all!
Gu Chengyin suddenly took a deep breath; he finally knew where the problem lay.
Whether Luo Zhao and Shangguan Yunying had broken free from the hypnosis, he didn't know.
But he knew that old bastard Emperor Luo was definitely waiting somewhere to scheme against him again.
Gu Chengyin opened his eyes and said through gritted teeth:
Old schemer, since you want to mess with me again, then don't blame me for taking drastic measures.
The carriage stopped.
The driver's respectful voice came from outside the carriage: Lord Gu, we have arrived at the Ministry of Rites.
Gu Chengyin suppressed all his chaotic thoughts, lifted the carriage curtain, and stepped down.
As soon as he stood firm, an official wearing a green robe hurriedly came forward, bowed respectfully, and spoke with obvious urgency:
Lord Gu, you are finally here!
Gu Chengyin glanced at him and asked:
You are?
The man immediately replied: To answer Your Lordship, this humble official is Cui Gong, a secretary of the Ministry of Rites. I was ordered by the Minister to wait here specifically for you.
Cui Gong, surnamed Cui.
Gu Chengyin understood in his heart.
The Ministry of Rites was the department where the Cui clan's influence was the greatest, just like the Xiao clan's control over the Ministry of Personnel.
Cui Gong's next words made Gu Chengyin slightly taken aback:
Anyway, Lord Gu, you should go to the main hall first and take a look! Madam Jiang is clamoring to see you!
Gu Chengyin frowned slightly:
Madam Jiang? Which Madam Jiang?
Could it be...
Cui Gong immediately nodded, his tone filled with helplessness and anxiety:
It is Madam Jiang from the Shangguan Manor!
She is the plenipotentiary representative of the Green Sword Sect in the Divine Capital. After hearing about your matters, Your Lordship, she came to the Ministry of Rites early in the morning, saying she wanted to see you.
The Minister told her you had not arrived yet, and she said she would not leave until she saw you! She is sitting in the main hall right now...
Gu Chengyin blinked, his mind turning rapidly.
If Madam Jiang wanted to find him, would it not be fine to just go directly to the Crown Prince's Palace, or send someone to pass a message? He would naturally visit her residence.
Why make such a big show of it and block him at the Ministry of Rites' office?
Although Gu Chengyin was puzzled, he still ordered:
Understood. Lead the way.
The main hall of the Ministry of Rites.
This was the place where the Ministry of Rites received important guests. It was spacious and bright, with solemn furnishings.
At this moment, the atmosphere in the main hall was somewhat delicate.
The Minister of Rites, Cui Zhenji, held a teacup in his hand, looking calm, but his slightly furrowed brows revealed his true feelings.
And sitting in the guest seat below was a woman.
It was none other than Jiang Jianli.
Behind her stood two maids, their auras restrained and their eyes vigilant.
The moment Gu Chengyin stepped into the main hall, everyone's eyes focused on him.
Cui Zhenji visibly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly stood up: Vice Minister Gu, you are finally here!
Jiang Jianli also put down her teacup, raised her head, and her gaze fell on Gu Chengyin.
Gu Chengyin took a few steps forward and cupped his hands in greeting:
Lord Minister.
Then he turned to Madam Jiang and bowed, saying:
I was unaware of Madam's arrival and failed to welcome you. Please forgive this junior's negligence.
A trace of a smile appeared on Jiang Jianli's face. She stood up and said:
Vice Minister Gu, there is no need to be so polite. It is I who came uninvited and disturbed the official duties of the Ministry of Rites. I hope Vice Minister Gu will forgive me.
Gu Chengyin nodded, then looked at Cui Zhenji and said:
Minister Cui, leave this place to me.
The Minister of Rites nodded, patted Gu Chengyin on the shoulder, and led the other officials out.
Soon, only Gu Chengyin, Jiang Jianli, and the two maids behind her remained in the main hall.
Gu Chengyin raised his hand in a gesture of invitation:
Please sit, Madam.
The two sat down again.
After fresh tea was served, Gu Chengyin finally spoke, his tone sincere:
Please forgive me, Madam. This junior has just taken over as the Right Vice Minister of Rites and am not yet familiar with the department's affairs. I am truly ashamed to have arrived late today and kept you waiting.
He paused and continued:
If Madam has business with this junior, you could have actually sent someone to the Crown Prince's Palace to pass a message, and I would have definitely visited your residence. Why go through the trouble of coming to the Ministry of Rites in person to wait?
Jiang Jianli shook her head. The smile on her face remained gentle, but her eyes held a bit more profound meaning:
Vice Minister Gu is mistaken.
Whether in the Crown Prince's Palace or the Shangguan Manor, my identity is the wife of a Grand Secretary.
But that is not the case in the Ministry of Rites.
Here, my identity is the liaison envoy of the Green Sword Sect stationed in the Divine Capital.
The difference between these...
Jiang Jianli looked at Gu Chengyin, her smile deepening:
You should be clear about it, right?
Gu Chengyin understood in his heart.
So Jiang Jianli had come in her capacity as the liaison envoy of the Green Sword Sect.
In the Crown Prince's Palace or the Shangguan Manor, she was an elder, the wife of a Grand Secretary, and her interactions with Gu Chengyin were private relations and family matters.
But in the Ministry of Rites, she was the representative of the Green Sword Sect. Her interactions with Gu Chengyin were official business, a connection between the sect and the dynasty.
Different identities, different occasions, the nature and content of the conversation would be completely different.
Gu Chengyin immediately nodded, his tone becoming much more formal:
This junior understands. Thanks to His Majesty's profound grace, I am now the Right Vice Minister of Rites, responsible for interfacing with immortal cultivation sects.
May I ask what brings Special Envoy Jiang here this time?
Hearing Gu Chengyin change his address from Madam to Special Envoy Jiang, a look of satisfaction appeared in Jiang Jianli's eyes.
She liked smart people.
Especially those who knew how to assess the situation and understood proper boundaries.
And Gu Chengyin possessed all of the above virtues.
No wonder her precious daughter liked him so much.
The smile on Jiang Jianli's face faded, and her expression turned solemn:
Of course, it is regarding the matter of you, Vice Minister Gu, being the heir of the Azure Cloud Immortal Clan.
"Regarding the fact that you used the Azure Sword Sect as a bluff during yesterday's morning assembly, I can let it slide."
Gu Chengyin's heart skipped a beat.
Jiang Jianli continued:
"I can even help you legitimize this identity."
These words caused Gu Chengyin's pupils to constrict slightly.
Help him legitimize it?
What did that mean?
Was the Azure Sword Sect going to publicly acknowledge his status as a descendant of the Immortal Clan?
Alarm bells blared in Gu Chengyin's mind, but his face remained perfectly calm:
"What do you mean, Special Envoy Jiang?"
Jiang Jianli looked at him and said with absolute seriousness:
"But there is a condition."
"You must come with me to the Azure Sword Sect."
and couldn't return to the real world. Finally, I gave up and decided to go with the flow, only to discover that writing a diary could make me stronger. Since no one could read it, Su Luo wrote freely, daring to pen anything and everything. Female Lead #1: "Not bad. This diary helped me steal all the protagonist's opportunities. I just want to get stronger." Female Lead #2: "I don’t care about reaching the peak of the cultivation world. Right now, I just want to enjoy the chaos." Female Lead #3: "What? Everyone around me is a spy? I’m the Joker Demon Lord?" ... It’s so strange. Why is the plot completely off track, yet the ending remains the same? Are you all just messing with me?!
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
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.”
