"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."
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...
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!
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
