Divine Capital, the sleeping quarters of the Crown Princess's Palace.
The moonlight was like frost, condensing on the carved window frames and paving a stretch of silvery-white silence.
The night was extremely deep, leaving only the moonlight to flow slowly across the floor like a silent river.
But Luo Zhao was not asleep.
She sat on the soft couch by the window, resting her chin in one hand, gazing at the moon outside.
Her heart felt empty.
News of Gu Chengyin had been cut off for two hours.
The last piece of intelligence had come at the hour of You: Luodu's Fanlou has been cleared out, Lin Qingyan has moved in, and Gu Chengyin is accompanying her.
After that, there was nothing.
Luo Zhao gazed at the moon outside, her eyelashes fluttering slightly.
She was deducing.
Deducing everything that could possibly happen in Luodu.
The worst, the best, and everything in between.
Luo Zhao ran through the deductions many times.
They ultimately pointed in one direction: something major was going to happen in Luodu tonight.
But Luo Zhao could not deduce exactly what it would be.
If Gu Chengyin were here, he would definitely be able to figure it out.
Because that damn man was just that smart, so smart that she hated him to the bone.
Right at this moment, the door was pushed open.
Luo Zhao turned her head sharply.
Shangguan Yunying stood at the door, a never-before-seen anxiety on her face.
Her hair bun was slightly messy, and stray hairs stuck to her cheeks, blown by the night wind.
But the moment she saw Luo Zhao, her eyes suddenly lit up.
Your Highness!
She rushed in, taking three steps in two, practically throwing herself in front of Luo Zhao.
Luo Zhao grabbed hold of Shangguan Yunying to steady her.
Catch your breath first, speak slowly.
Shangguan Yunying took a deep breath, speaking at a rapid pace.
Just now, Gu Chengyin sent me a message using the Luoshan Token.
He told me to inform Emperor Luo about the fact that you are being controlled by him.
Luo Zhao froze, but deep within her pupils, something wavered violently.
What happened?
Her voice was still steady, but she spoke a bit faster.
Where is Gu Chengyin now?
Shangguan Yunying did not pause, as if she had anticipated this question.
Luodu's Fanlou.
I have already asked.
Gu Chengyin was assassinated by a large group of men in black.
Luo Zhao's breath hitched for a beat.
But he is fine.
Luo Zhao's hitched breath eased.
Lord Jingzhe forced back three Golden Core cultivators.
Luo Zhao's pupils contracted.
Three Golden Cores?
Forced back?
Fighting three against one?
Now Gu Chengyin is on his way to the Tianshi Mansion in Luodu.
At this point, Shangguan Yunying's speaking pace slowed slightly.
It seems he is escorting Lord Jingzhe there to rest and recuperate.
After hearing this, Luo Zhao closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, the fluctuations in her eyes had settled.
Then she stood up and began to change her clothes.
First untying her nightgown, then putting on her inner garments, fastening her belt, and draping on her outer robe.
Every movement was clean and crisp, without a trace of excess.
Shangguan Yunying immediately stepped forward to help.
As she adjusted Luo Zhao's collar, she asked:
Your Highness, what should we do now?
Luo Zhao let Shangguan Yunying tidy her clothes, lowering her eyes in deep thought.
In other words, Gu Chengyin sent you this message while on his way to the Tianshi Mansion.
Shangguan Yunying nodded and said:
I asked why, but he didn't say.
Luo Zhao raised her eyes, which shone with the wisdom of realization.
There is only one reason.
Shangguan Yunying's hands paused slightly.
What reason?
Luo Zhao looked at Shangguan Yunying, a complex light flickering in her eyes.
The Tianshi Mansion in Luodu received orders from my royal father.
Shangguan Yunying's pupils shrank abruptly.
She opened her mouth, her voice a bit hoarse.
Your Highness means... the Tianshi Mansion in Luodu...
She didn't finish, because she didn't need to.
Luo Zhao nodded, saying coldly:
That is why Gu Chengyin had you deliver the message.
He wants to force my royal father to retract the order.
Shangguan Yunying remained silent for a breath, then she raised her head, her eyes full of confusion.
But...
Since Gu Chengyin knows the Tianshi Mansion in Luodu wants to kill him.
Then why is he still going?
Luo Zhao looked out the window at the full moon. The moonlight fell on her face, plating her silhouette in cold silver.
A figure suddenly flashed through her mind.
Lin Qingyan.
Because the Tianshi Mansion has the best spiritual energy arrays.
It can accelerate my aunt's recovery.
Shangguan Yunying was stunned. Lord Jingzhe?
Luo Zhao nodded. Although my aunt successfully forced back three Golden Core cultivators...
...she has definitely overdrawn her spiritual energy.
That is why they rushed to the Tianshi Mansion at the first opportunity.
After hearing this, Shangguan Yunying fell silent for a moment.
Then she asked the most crucial question.
What about Gu Chengyin?
Luo Zhao did not speak.
Shangguan Yunying continued:
If Lord Jingzhe went to the Tianshi Mansion to rest and recuperate within the spiritual energy array.
Doesn't that leave Gu Chengyin all alone?
This is equivalent to offering himself up to the Tianshi Mansion in Luodu.
Shangguan Yunying's eyes were full of bewilderment.
Why?
Luo Zhao lowered her eyelashes; she couldn't understand it either.
With Gu Chengyin's intelligence, it was impossible for him not to know that it was a dragon's pool and a tiger's den.
It was even more impossible for him not to know that the best solution was not to go.
It would be to expose himself in broad daylight, letting the entire Luodu see that he was alive.
That way, even if the Tianshi Mansion in Luodu had received Emperor Luo's orders, it would be difficult for them to make a move under the watchful eyes of the public.
Yet Gu Chengyin went anyway.
Why?
Luo Zhao began to pace around the sleeping quarters.
One step.
Two steps.
Three steps.
The moonlight spilled in from the window, paving a silvery-white path beneath her feet.
Her brows furrowed tighter and tighter.
Shangguan Yunying stood in place, watching her pace in the moonlight, not daring to make a sound to disturb her.
Four steps.
Five steps.
Six steps.
Luo Zhao suddenly stopped. She turned her head and looked at Shangguan Yunying.
Her eyes were now filled with a strange look.
He couldn't possibly...
...be doing it just to accompany my aunt, right?
Shangguan Yunying was stunned.
She opened her mouth to say something, only to find that she couldn't utter a single word.
This reason was too absurd.
So absurd that it didn't seem like something Gu Chengyin would do.
How could he possibly, just to accompany someone...
...send himself right into a dragon's pool and a tiger's den?
Luo Zhao shook her head. No.
She rejected her own thought in a low voice:
He must have another reason.
Shangguan Yunying looked at her, eyes full of worry.
Your Highness...
Luo Zhao raised her hand, interrupting her.
She closed her eyes and began to deduce in her mind.
The Tianshi Mansion in Luodu had received her royal father's orders; this was the premise.
Gu Chengyin knew about this, which was why he had Shangguan Yunying deliver the message to force her royal father to retract the order.
But he still went to the Tianshi Mansion in Luodu. Why?
Because Lin Qingyan needed to recover.
Because the Tianshi Mansion's spiritual energy array was the best.
Because if they didn't go, Lin Qingyan's recovery time would be prolonged.
All of this was true.
But there was still one more question.
Did Gu Chengyin go to the Tianshi Mansion simply to accompany Lin Qingyan...
Or...
...did he have another motive?
Wait.
Luo Zhao suddenly realized that she was too fixated on why Gu Chengyin went.
What if his goal was not about what happens before going to the Tianshi Mansion...
...but what happens after?
Gu Chengyin was using her to threaten her royal father. But what happens after the threat?
What will happen?
What will her royal father do?
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
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!
