Finally, Lin Qingyan spoke slowly:
"What do you want?"
No beating around the bush, no probing, just straight to the point.
Gu Chengyin smiled, his smile radiant:
"Little Aunt is as straightforward as ever."
"Rest assured, Little Aunt, I am definitely not someone who doesn't know what's good for him."
These words served to reassure Lin Qingyan first, indicating that he wouldn't make any excessive demands.
Then, Gu Chengyin revealed his true purpose:
"I mainly want to get some information from you, Little Aunt."
"For instance..."
"His Majesty's cultivation level."
Lin Qingyan stared straight at Gu Chengyin, as if trying to see right through him.
A faint, dense scent of ionization quietly circulated in the air, an outward manifestation of her fluctuating emotions.
After a long while, she slowly spoke:
"If I tell you, you will let me continue my comprehension?"
The question was direct, without the slightest concealment. Since this was a transaction, the terms needed to be clear.
Gu Chengyin thought for a moment, then tentatively extended his right index finger, making a gesture for one:
"Fifteen minutes?"
Before he could even finish his sentence, he saw the faint lightning flickering around Lin Qingyan suddenly become agitated!
Arcs of electricity crackled in the air, instantly weaving into a dense web of lightning.
Gu Chengyin immediately changed his tune, speaking rapidly:
"An hour! That is the absolute limit!"
"Little Aunt, comprehending the Immortal Dao requires a gradual process. Too long a time will easily deplete your mental energy, and the loss will outweigh the gain!"
Only then did the lightning around Lin Qingyan slowly dissipate, eventually vanishing into nothingness.
"It is the Golden Core realm, but it is incomplete."
Gu Chengyin raised an eyebrow.
What did that mean?
However, seeing that Lin Qingyan did not continue speaking and just looked at him quietly,
Gu Chengyin thought for a moment and understood. She was waiting for him to ask another question.
One question in exchange for an hour.
He had just asked a question, and Lin Qingyan had answered.
But if he wanted to know the reason, he had to ask again.
A very fair trade.
Gu Chengyin smiled and tactfully asked his second question:
"Why is it incomplete?"
Hearing Gu Chengyin take the initiative to ask, Lin Qingyan finally continued to answer:
"He was assassinated during his breakthrough, leaving his Golden Core flawed."
Gu Chengyin's pupils slightly contracted. That short sentence contained an astonishing amount of information.
No wonder every time he went to see Emperor Luo, the Emperor was always reviewing memorials and handling official business, never cultivating or in seclusion.
It turned out he wasn't so diligent that he forgot to eat and sleep; rather, his cultivation had already reached its peak.
A flawed Golden Core meant the path forward was severed.
No matter how much he cultivated or how hard he tried, he could not advance another step.
The early stage of the Golden Core realm was the end; it was impossible to ever improve.
For a cultivator, this was a torment worse than death.
Especially for an emperor, sitting on the resources of the entire Great Luo, yet unable to advance due to a flawed Golden Core, helplessly watching his lifespan slip away...
Just thinking about that feeling made Gu Chengyin feel suffocated.
At this point, a strange expression appeared on Lin Qingyan's face, and she offered unprompted:
"I will give you this one for free. It is said that the method to complete the Immortal Dao can mend a flawed Golden Core."
These words exploded like thunder in Gu Chengyin's mind.
In an instant, all the clues and doubts connected together.
Emperor Luo had a flawed Golden Core and his path forward was severed; this was the premise.
After learning that Gu Chengyin was the heir of the Qingyun Immortal Clan, he promoted him to the key position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites; this was the layout.
Then, the Azure Sword Sect took the initiative to invite Gu Chengyin to complete the inheritance and reconnect the Immortal Dao; this was the purpose.
Bringing the method back to mend the flawed Golden Core was the ultimate goal.
No wonder Emperor Luo didn't care at all, even knowing he was just an immortal clan alias found by the Myriad Phenomena Pavilion.
Instead, he even helped him solidify this identity.
Because in Emperor Luo's eyes, whether Gu Chengyin was a true immortal clan heir was unimportant.
What mattered was whether he could bring back the method to complete the Immortal Dao from the Qingyun Sect.
Gu Chengyin's eyes flickered unpredictably as he rapidly sorted through all of this.
Lin Qingyan didn't interrupt, just watching him quietly.
After a long time, Gu Chengyin raised his head and looked at Lin Qingyan.
He didn't ask anything more about Emperor Luo, but instead asked:
"Little Aunt, do you want His Majesty to complete his Golden Core?"
The moment this question was asked, it seemed to stir up something weighing on Lin Qingyan's mind.
The originally calm lightning around her began to agitate once more.
This time, it was more violent than any time before.
The lightning instantly surged, turning into countless streaks of golden thunder that leaped and intertwined madly around her!
Gu Chengyin only felt a terrifying aura rush towards his face, as if he were in the center of a thunderstorm.
There was a scorched smell in the air, and a stinging, numbing sensation transmitted across his skin.
But he didn't retreat, nor did he even circulate his spiritual energy to resist.
Gu Chengyin just sat there quietly, letting the golden thunder leap and flash around him, his eyes staring unblinkingly into Lin Qingyan's eyes.
The golden thunder lasted for about three breaths of time before abruptly stopping.
A smile slowly appeared on Lin Qingyan's face, very beautiful.
Like a blooming snow lotus, yet carrying a chilling intent that made one's heart palpitate.
She didn't directly answer Gu Chengyin's question, but instead asked in return:
"Can you ensure that Zhao'er ascends the throne?"
The question was abrupt, seemingly entirely unrelated to the previous topic.
But Gu Chengyin understood.
Lin Qingyan was asking about his stance: are you on Emperor Luo's side, or on Luo Zhao's side?
If Emperor Luo completed his Golden Core and took his cultivation a step further, his throne would be even more secure, and his lifespan would be greatly extended.
When that time came, would Luo Zhao still be able to ascend the throne smoothly?
When would an emperor at the Golden Core realm, who might even attempt to break through to the Nascent Soul realm, ever abdicate?
I'm afraid it would be in the unforeseeable future.
Therefore, Emperor Luo completing his Golden Core might not be a good thing for Luo Zhao.
Gu Chengyin also smiled, open and sincere:
"Her Highness ascending the throne is my lifelong wish."
These words were spoken with complete candor, without the slightest hint of falsehood.
Lin Qingyan just quietly locked eyes with Gu Chengyin, her gaze flowing with profound meaning.
"Why?"
"With your abilities, wouldn't pledging direct loyalty to His Majesty offer much better prospects than pledging loyalty to Zhao'er?"
Speaking of this, a faint trace of murderous intent revealed itself in Lin Qingyan's eyes:
"Or could it be that you are after Zhao'er's body?"
However, the smile on Gu Chengyin's face slowly faded.
He sat up straight, his expression turning serious, his eyes clear and resolute:
"Her Highness is indeed peerless in her elegance, with beauty that could topple the world."
"But I have no such intentions. When all is said and done, this matter boils down to a single word: destiny."
"Her Highness and I share a fated destiny, an unbreakable bond."
"But His Majesty is the ruler, and I am the subject."
"He promoted me to use me."
"I obey his orders because I am forced by the circumstances."
"Therefore, Little Aunt, compared to His Majesty, in my capacity as the Junior Preceptor to the Crown Heir,"
"I naturally hope more for Her Highness to ascend the throne."
Lin Qingyan looked at Gu Chengyin indifferently, not continuing the topic.
Instead, she asked straightforwardly:
"Do you have any other questions?"
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.”
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
saw a female celebrity tied up and stuffed in the trunk! Little did he know, countless cameras were aimed at him at this moment - this was a new type of reality show. The first randomly selected passerby was caught in less than an hour. But when Xu Moru was selected, things started to take an unexpected turn. "Damn, this isn't how the script goes. This Xu Moru is too bold, he's not following the rules at all." "Crap, is this guy taking it seriously?" "The female celebrity has been scared to tears!"
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?!
