"Junior Preceptor Gu, are you serious?"
Hearing this question, Gu Chengyin blinked, his face full of innocence as he replied,
"Elder Qiu, of course this junior is serious."
Elder Qiu's eyebrows twitched. He stared at Gu Chengyin, his expression grave, and his voice lowered,
"Then do you know who the current Taihe of the Celestial Master Mansion is?"
Elder Qiu thought this question would cause a change in Gu Chengyin's expression.
After all, as long as one knew of the Celestial Master Mansion, they would definitely know the identity of the current Taihe.
Yet Gu Chengyin merely blinked, and then blinked again.
Tilting his head, he asked back with a gaze that was both clear and foolishly naive,
"Elder Qiu, does it matter who the current Taihe of the Celestial Master Mansion is?"
"It will be me from now on anyway."
Elder Qiu was speechless.
His face instantly fell, and only one thought remained in his mind:
Gu Chengyin's ability to play dumb was truly unmatched.
Who was the current Taihe of the Celestial Master Mansion?
It was Emperor Luo.
It was Luo Houcong.
It was the supreme Emperor of Great Luo.
With Gu Chengyin's identity and status, how could he not know?
It would be a ghost story if he didn't know.
Elder Qiu suddenly felt a sharp ache in his teeth. Gu Chengyin was clearly playing dumb right now.
But what could he do?
He couldn't possibly...
Wait.
Elder Qiu looked at Gu Chengyin, then at Lin Qingyan beside him, and his eyes suddenly lit up.
That's right.
Gu Chengyin was the one who wanted to be the Taihe of the Celestial Master Mansion. What did it have to do with him?
He would just report it normally according to the procedure.
He would report Gu Chengyin's words verbatim.
As for how Emperor Luo would react upon hearing it...
That was none of his business. Moreover, the one to make the final decision was Emperor Luo, not him, the mere spokesperson of the Luodu Celestial Master Mansion.
When immortals fight, mortals should just eat melons and watch—that was the correct path.
Thinking of this, the expression on Elder Qiu's face immediately relaxed a lot.
Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately stood up, cupped his hands toward Gu Chengyin, and said,
"This old man understands."
If one listened carefully to Elder Qiu's tone at this moment, they could even hear a bit of schadenfreude.
"Rest assured, Junior Preceptor Gu, this old man will definitely report this to His Majesty word for word."
Elder Qiu still held something back in the end, specifically mentioning that he was reporting to His Majesty.
As for whether Gu Chengyin would care, that was unknown.
However, judging from his performance just now, Gu Chengyin was dead set on becoming the Taihe of the Celestial Master Mansion.
More accurately, he was dead set on letting Emperor Luo know that he wanted to be the Taihe.
After Elder Qiu finished speaking, he turned to look at Lin Qingyan.
Lin Qingyan was still standing there, her gaze still resting on Gu Chengyin.
From beginning to end, she had not looked away for even a moment.
Seeing this scene, Elder Qiu sighed secretly in his heart.
From Luodu to the Azure Sword Sect, he had seen this Jingzhe of the Celestial Master Mansion's attitude toward Gu Chengyin as clear as day.
This was no longer just protection.
It was...
Elder Qiu did not continue to think about it.
He merely put on a solemn expression and said seriously,
"Lord Jingzhe, I will leave Junior Preceptor Gu to you."
"The inheritance of the Azure Sword Sect is of great importance. After this old man reports to His Majesty, I will synchronize with you in a timely manner."
Hearing this, Lin Qingyan finally, albeit reluctantly, moved her gaze away from Gu Chengyin.
She looked at Elder Qiu and nodded slightly, indicating that she understood.
After receiving confirmation, Elder Qiu did not stay any longer. He immediately turned and walked outside.
Inside the hall, only Gu Chengyin and Lin Qingyan remained.
The moment the door closed, Lin Qingyan moved.
Her figure flashed, as fast as a bolt of lightning, and she threw herself directly into Gu Chengyin's arms.
Gu Chengyin only felt a fragrant breeze rush over his face, and immediately after, there was a person in his arms.
He subconsciously reached out and hugged Lin Qingyan back.
Lin Qingyan buried herself in his embrace, her hands tightly wrapping around his waist, as if afraid that Gu Chengyin would run away.
With her face pressed against his chest, she felt the rhythm of Gu Chengyin's heartbeat, beating steadily and powerfully.
The corners of her mouth curled up, revealing a smile of complete satisfaction.
It was as if leaving him for even a second was a massive loss.
Gu Chengyin lowered his head, looked at Lin Qingyan in his arms, and asked softly,
"What's wrong?"
Lin Qingyan did not lift her head. With her face buried, she said in a muffled voice,
"Hug me."
Gu Chengyin didn't say anything more, but he tightened his arms, holding Lin Qingyan a little closer.
The two stood embracing like this by the window.
After a long while.
Lin Qingyan finally raised her head.
She looked at Gu Chengyin, looking at the face that was so close at hand, and at the tenderness deep in his eyes that belonged exclusively to her.
Her heartbeat quickened again.
But Lin Qingyan did not look away. Instead, she suddenly called out softly,
"Worthy Nephew."
Gu Chengyin was slightly taken aback.
Worthy Nephew?
Watching his stunned expression, a sly curve appeared at the corner of Lin Qingyan's mouth.
"Don't you like calling me Little Aunt?"
"Then what's wrong with me calling you Worthy Nephew?"
Looking at Lin Qingyan's playful and smug appearance, Gu Chengyin smiled and said,
"Of course there is no problem. Whatever Little Aunt says goes."
Lin Qingyan smiled even more beautifully.
She buried her face back into Gu Chengyin's chest, her voice muffled again,
"Worthy Nephew."
"Mhm."
"Worthy Nephew."
"Mhm."
"Worthy Nephew, Worthy Nephew, Worthy Nephew...!"
Gu Chengyin couldn't help but laugh. He reached out and gently rubbed Lin Qingyan's hair.
"Alright, what's the point of calling me so many times?"
Lin Qingyan raised her head once more, the moonlight spreading a layer of silver halo across her face.
Her eyes were bright, but a trace of worry was hidden deep within them.
"Chengcheng, when that old dog finds out, will he make a move against you?"
That old dog.
Luo Houcong.
Emperor Luo.
In the entirety of Great Luo, the only person who could openly call Emperor Luo an old dog.
Was Lin Qingyan.
When Gu Chengyin heard the words old dog, a ripple suddenly stirred in his heart.
Lin Qingyan truly did not care about these things.
What emperor, what imperial power, what distinction between monarch and subject...
In her eyes, they were not worth mentioning at all.
The only thing Lin Qingyan cared about was him.
Only Gu Chengyin.
Gu Chengyin shook his head, his tone relaxed,
"So what if he knows? It's not the first time he's wanted to kill me."
"Weakness will only be despised. I am merely stating my stance."
He said it lightly, but Lin Qingyan's heart tightened when she heard it.
Yes.
Emperor Luo had always wanted to kill Gu Chengyin.
Even she had received explicit decrees to do so.
Lin Qingyan recalled what Gu Chengyin had just said to Elder Qiu.
"Does it matter who the current Taihe is?"
"It will be me from now on anyway."
Gu Chengyin wanted to be the Taihe of the Celestial Master Mansion.
And through Elder Qiu, he openly told Emperor Luo about this matter.
And Emperor Luo was the current Taihe of the Celestial Master Mansion.
This was stating his stance, showing Gu Chengyin's toughness.
And the confidence behind this toughness came not only from Gu Chengyin's self-assurance.
But also from the fact that he already possessed enough trump cards.
Just as he had said, blind weakness would not earn respect.
It would only make people think he was easy to bully, thereby making them even more unscrupulous.
Lin Qingyan suppressed the worry in her heart and said with some hesitation,
"But... after the inspection tour is over, we still have to return to the Divine Capital."
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.
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!
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
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!
