Hearing this, Elder Qiu was momentarily at a loss for how to retort.
He fell silent for a moment before finally letting out a sigh.
"Fine, I simply won't go in. But you must tell me about Lord Jingzhe's condition."
Gu Chengyin nodded and made a gesture of invitation.
"This way, Elder Qiu."
The two walked to the side, while the two Golden Core enshrined experts remained in place, guarding the palatial building alongside Chen Busha.
Elder Qiu stopped walking and looked at Gu Chengyin.
"Speak. What is going on?"
Gu Chengyin's expression was calm as he spoke slowly:
"Aunt has been stuck at the early Golden Core stage for many years, accumulating a profound foundation."
"These past few days at the Qingjian Sect, she gained some enlightenment, which led to signs of a breakthrough."
Listening to this, Elder Qiu frowned slightly and asked with a face full of disbelief,
"Is it really that simple?"
Gu Chengyin asked in return, "What else could it be?"
Elder Qiu looked at him with a sharp gaze.
"Junior Preceptor Gu, although I am old, I am not easily fooled."
"Lord Jingzhe has been stuck for so many years. She didn't break through earlier, nor did she break through later."
"Why is it that she is breaking through right upon arriving at the Qingjian Sect?"
Gu Chengyin met his gaze, his expression unchanging as he spouted nonsense without hesitation:
"Well, it's probably because Aunt has an affinity with Qingjian Mountain."
"Being moved by the grandeur of these steep mountains, and then thinking of the beautiful rivers and mountains of our Great Luo."
"Having a sudden realization and attaining a clear Dao heart, isn't a breakthrough perfectly normal?"
Elder Qiu: "..."
He had still underestimated Gu Chengyin's ability to lie through his teeth. He could also see it now.
With this kind of rambling, Gu Chengyin could chat with him until tomorrow without ever finishing.
He decided to ask directly,
"I want to know if you had a hand in this."
Gu Chengyin suddenly smiled, putting on a hurt expression as he said,
"Elder Qiu, Aunt's breakthrough is a tremendously good thing."
"Instead of being happy about it, you are here suspecting me?"
Elder Qiu choked on his words.
Gu Chengyin continued, "Besides, even if I wanted to do something, I wouldn't have the ability. After all, I am only in the minor Foundation Establishment realm."
"How could I possibly cause Aunt to break through? Elder Qiu, you think too highly of me."
These words actually made some sense.
Lin Qingyan's breakthrough mainly relied on the profound foundation she had accumulated over many years.
Even if Gu Chengyin had some means, it was impossible for him to just make someone break through on command.
Elder Qiu thought for a moment, and the doubts in his heart gradually faded a bit.
But he was still somewhat uneasy.
"Then what about after Lord Jingzhe breaks through? What does Junior Preceptor Gu plan to do?"
Gu Chengyin blinked.
"After the breakthrough?"
"Of course, we will just do whatever we need to do. Aunt is still Aunt, and I am still me."
"Is there a problem with that?"
Elder Qiu looked at Gu Chengyin and remained silent for a long time.
Finally, he waved his hand and sighed,
"Forget it, I won't ask any more."
"As long as Lord Jingzhe can break through safely, I won't care about anything else."
Gu Chengyin smiled and was about to exchange a few pleasantries.
Suddenly, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the surroundings stagnated.
This fluctuation came without warning, yet it was incomparably overbearing.
It was as if an invisible giant hand had grabbed the spiritual energy and then violently pulled it inward.
In the next instant, with the heavily guarded palatial building at the center, a massive aura violently exploded outward, forming ripples of spiritual energy visible to the naked eye.
Gu Chengyin restrained his smile, a touch of solemnity gathering between his brows.
Lin Qingyan had begun her breakthrough.
"Elder Qiu, please excuse this junior."
Before his voice even faded, Gu Chengyin had already turned around.
Before Elder Qiu could respond, Gu Chengyin disappeared behind the door in a few quick steps.
He stared at the newly closed door and blinked.
Blinking again.
Wait a minute.
Who was it that just said anyone going in might disturb Lin Qingyan?
How come Gu Chengyin just went in as he pleased?
So if others go in, it's called a disturbance, but if you, Gu Chengyin, go in, it's not?
Elder Qiu's beard-stroking motion paused, his expression hard to describe as either displeased or resigned.
After staring at the tightly shut door of the building for a moment, he looked away and said nothing.
Forget it.
Regardless, he would wait until the person inside successfully broke through first.
Lin Qingyan had been stuck at the early Golden Core stage for so many years; the profound foundation she had accumulated was unmatched by anyone.
Moreover, even just at the early stage, her combat strength was already invincible.
Then what about after she broke through to the middle stage? How powerful would she be then?
Furthermore, there was a very important piece of information hidden in this.
After being stuck for so many years, Lin Qingyan could suddenly break through.
What did this mean?
It meant she had found her own Immortal Dao.
This significance was far more important than merely reaching the middle Golden Core stage.
With Lin Qingyan's talent, her future could never be confined by a mere Golden Core realm.
Elder Qiu stood before the steps with his hands behind his back, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes as he fell into deep thought.
Inside the building, spiritual energy surged like a tide.
Gu Chengyin walked extremely fast but made no sound. With a gentle brush of his robes at the corner of the stairs, he had already reached the second floor.
He then paused his steps, stopping at the top of the stairs, and first focused his mind to sense the surroundings for a breath of time.
Although the spiritual energy fluctuations inside were intense, they were not chaotic; there was even a faint trace of order to follow.
Very good, everything was going smoothly.
After confirming this, Gu Chengyin quietly stepped forward.
At this moment, Lin Qingyan was sitting cross-legged on the bed, her eyes tightly closed, her clothes fluttering without any wind.
The most eye-catching thing was the streaks of golden lightning patterns circling her body.
Dense and intricate, they intertwined and flowed like a spiderweb. With every revolution, tiny electric arcs crackled.
Illuminating her already aloof and beautiful face, it made her appear even more untainted by the mortal world.
Gu Chengyin did not approach. He simply leaned against the wall by the stairs, arms crossed, watching quietly.
He had already given the inner demon a strict order: no matter what happened, it was not allowed to make any sudden moves.
Combined with the fact that it had been significantly weakened before the breakthrough, it couldn't stir up any trouble now.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Lin Qingyan's breakthrough this time would not have any accidents.
Gu Chengyin had even prepared for a war of attrition.
For something like a breakthrough, taking a few hours at the shortest or three to five days at the longest was completely normal.
However, right at this moment, Lin Qingyan suddenly opened her eyes.
Gu Chengyin's heart skipped a beat.
What was going on?
What happened?
Could it be that some problem had occurred?
Over a dozen possibilities instantly flashed through Gu Chengyin's mind, each corresponding to a complete set of emergency contingency plans.
It could be said that even if a Nascent Soul old monster were to arrive right now, he was fully prepared to deal with it.
But after opening her eyes, Lin Qingyan made no movement.
She just sat there quietly, her gaze fixed on a certain point in the empty air, her pupils slightly unfocused, as if she hadn't fully regained her senses yet.
Gu Chengyin waited for a moment.
Lin Qingyan still didn't move.
Gu Chengyin frowned slightly. After thinking for a moment, he cautiously stepped forward.
Just as he reached the edge of the bed and before he had time to ask anything,
Lin Qingyan suddenly turned her head to look at him.
Gu Chengyin clearly saw that in those eyes, usually as cold as frost, there was currently a pool of clear bewilderment.
It wasn't the chaos of qi deviation, nor was it the unfocused gaze of a lost mind.
Instead, it was filled with a pure, unadulterated cluelessness.
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.
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.
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
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!
