"Chengcheng..."
Hearing Lin Qingyan's call, Gu Chengyin was extremely worried, but his face remained completely expressionless.
At the same time, his mind raced, thinking of all the possible problems that could arise and their corresponding solutions.
Qi deviation? Call Elder Qiu.
Inner demon losing control? He could command it.
Breakthrough failure? He had backup plans.
However, what he heard next was beyond Gu Chengyin's expectations.
"I..."
Lin Qingyan paused, as if confirming something, and then her eyes lit up slightly.
"I've reached the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm."
Gu Chengyin: "..."
Mid-stage... of the Golden Core?
"You broke through successfully?" Gu Chengyin's voice carried a rare hint of uncertainty.
Lin Qingyan nodded. Her movement was small, but very certain.
"Yes, I just broke through successfully."
"I wasn't sure, so I checked carefully again. Now I can confirm that I have indeed succeeded."
Gu Chengyin's eyes instantly lit up, his tone filled with unconcealable joy:
"That's wonderful, Little Aunt!"
"You've finally found your own immortal path!"
A smile appeared on Lin Qingyan's aloof face.
"Mhm!"
A single word, yet it carried more weight than any lengthy speech.
Gu Chengyin immediately turned to walk out. "Since you have successfully broken through, I'll hurry and tell..."
Before he could finish speaking, his wrist suddenly tightened.
He was pulled back.
Gu Chengyin turned around and met Lin Qingyan's eyes, which were still aloof but currently held a vaguely shifting gaze.
"What's wrong, Little Aunt?"
Lin Qingyan turned her head slightly, avoiding Gu Chengyin's gaze, leaving only a beautiful side profile.
"Chengcheng, have you forgotten?"
Gu Chengyin was taken aback. "Forgotten what?"
Lin Qingyan pursed her lips and whispered:
"If I broke through, then the inner demon..."
She didn't finish, but Gu Chengyin already understood.
Lin Qingyan broke through.
That meant the inner demon naturally broke through along with her.
In other words, the inner demon that had originally been weakened to the extreme was now also at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm.
It had grown stronger again.
Since the inner demon had grown stronger, it had to be weakened.
Gu Chengyin's gaze slowly fell on Lin Qingyan's face.
She still had her head turned away, not looking at him, but her fair ears were quietly dyed with a layer of faint red.
That touch of red spread from the tips of her ears all the way down to her neck, faintly visible at the edge of her collar.
Lin Qingyan also knew that it was full of people outside right now.
About two hundred experts from the inspection team were surrounding the hall building, Chen Busha was personally guarding the door, and Elder Qiu was waiting outside with two Golden Core enshrined experts.
Even the Golden Core experts sent by the Divine Capital's Heavenly Master Mansion were rushing over here.
But the inner demon had indeed reached the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm.
If they didn't take this opportunity to weaken it right now, who knew what might happen.
Yes, exactly.
It was all the inner demon's fault!
Thinking this way, the slight guilt in Lin Qingyan's heart was quickly replaced by self-righteousness.
Anyway...
Anyway, Gu Chengyin hadn't said anything either.
Lin Qingyan slightly raised her eyes and secretly glanced at Gu Chengyin.
Gu Chengyin was currently struggling with whether he should help Lin Qingyan weaken it, or help Lin Qingyan weaken it?
Sensing the gaze beside him, he turned his head and met her eyes perfectly.
Lin Qingyan immediately looked away again, pretending nothing had happened.
But her shifting gaze and the faint arcs of electricity caused by her nervousness betrayed her.
Outside the hall building, Elder Qiu stood before the steps with his hands behind his back, looking at the still tightly shut door, his brows slightly furrowed.
Aside from the burst of spiritual energy just now, why was there no movement at all?
Just as he was wondering if he should ask, he suddenly sensed a faint spiritual energy fluctuation coming from inside.
It was so faint that perhaps only a Golden Core realm cultivator like him could detect it.
Elder Qiu was taken aback, and then his expression became somewhat subtle.
This is... a soundproof array?
A look of deep thought gradually gathered between Elder Qiu's brows.
A soundproof array.
Instead of focusing on her breakthrough, what was Lin Qingyan doing setting up a soundproof array?
Having cultivated for so many years, he had seen at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, breakthroughs.
This was the first time he had seen someone set up a soundproof array instead of a breath-concealing array during a breakthrough.
Unless, they were doing something that could not be known by outsiders.
Elder Qiu's eyes flickered slightly, and he suddenly thought of a person.
It couldn't possibly be because of Gu Chengyin, could it?
Once this thought appeared, it could no longer be contained.
Elder Qiu suddenly remembered that night, the night they were ordered by imperial decree to besiege and kill Gu Chengyin.
The moonlight was like frost, and the Luo Capital's Heavenly Master Mansion was fraught with murderous intent.
He personally led people to lay an inescapable net, just waiting for Gu Chengyin to walk into the trap.
The person did come, but his expression was incomparably calm.
Even with a blade at his neck, Gu Chengyin's expression didn't change.
With murderous intent descending upon him, Gu Chengyin did not panic.
He just stood there quietly, as if everything was nothing more than an insignificant farce.
What happened next?
Emperor Luo withdrew the imperial decree.
Ever since ascending to the throne, Emperor Luo's words were as precious as gold, and he had never withdrawn an imperial decree.
But an exception was made that night.
Elder Qiu had never figured out the reason behind it.
Why did Emperor Luo suddenly stop?
Who could make this emperor change his mind?
Elder Qiu thought for a long time and considered many possibilities, but none could convince him.
But now...
What if there was something between Lin Qingyan and Gu Chengyin?
Otherwise, how could one explain why Lin Qingyan set up a soundproof array.
And right after Gu Chengyin went inside, no less.
If that was the case, then everything made sense.
In the entire Great Luo, the only person who could truly make Emperor Luo withdraw an imperial decree was one person.
Lin Qingyan.
Jingzhe of the Heavenly Master Mansion, an unparalleled peerless genius who could fight three opponents at once even at the early stage of the Golden Core realm.
Bestowed the title of Jingzhe by Emperor Luo himself, she was an existence that the entire cultivation world had to show respect to.
As long as Lin Qingyan spoke up, Emperor Luo would definitely give her face.
And if Lin Qingyan spoke up for Gu Chengyin...
Elder Qiu's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
He couldn't help but remember the slight displeasure in his heart when Gu Chengyin said he was going inside earlier.
Thinking about it now, it was simply ridiculous.
If Lin Qingyan was truly on Gu Chengyin's side, then as the person in charge of the Luo Capital's Heavenly Master Mansion, not only could he not afford to offend Gu Chengyin.
He also had to build a closer relationship with him.
At the very least, he couldn't let their relationship sour.
Elder Qiu suppressed the surging thoughts in his mind, his gaze profound.
Right at this moment, he suddenly sensed something.
It was an extremely faint fluctuation of spiritual energy, coming from very far away, yet it was as clear as if it were right in front of him.
Elder Qiu abruptly raised his head, narrowed his eyes, and looked towards the horizon.
At the end of the distant sky, a few specks of light were tearing through the air towards them.
The lights were extremely bright, dragging long tail flames across the darkening sky at an astonishing speed.
In just a few breaths of time, they had drawn significantly closer.
Elder Qiu focused his gaze to look closely, and then relaxed.
They were not enemies; he recognized this aura.
They were Golden Core enshrined experts from the Divine Capital's Heavenly Master Mansion, two of them in total.
Being able to rush from the Divine Capital to the Azure Sword Sect in such a short time, these two were at least at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, perhaps even not inferior to him.
Elder Qiu understood in his heart. He knew the Divine Capital's Heavenly Master Mansion would send people, but he just hadn't expected them to arrive so quickly.
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!
nto another world, I bought a slave for the first time, never expecting the silver wolf girl to be so cute... Lin Feng: I know it's cold, but you don't have to sneak into my bed! Yuna: Just sharing body warmth, if you dare do anything naughty, I'll definitely...
] [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!"
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?!
