Sunlight illuminated her brows and eyes, illuminated her contours, illuminated every inch of her skin.
That face remained stunningly beautiful, that figure remained uniquely transcendent.
But upon that stunning beauty lay an endless lifelessness.
Like an object without life.
Caring about nothing, and cared about by no one.
Watching this scene, Gu Chengyin said nothing, calmly stepped forward, and walked toward the door.
Morning light fell upon him, enveloping him entirely.
The light was warm and bright, shining on Gu Chengyin’s face, softening his features.
Gu Chengyin stopped, turned his head, and looked back.
Lin Qingyan was right behind him.
A single step away, neither close nor far.
She stood in the light, she stood behind him, like a shadow.
A shadow that couldn’t speak, had no warmth, and no presence at all.
Looking at Lin Qingyan like this, Gu Chengyin suddenly recalled the first time he met her.
Back then, she was cold and otherworldly like an immortal.
Her eyes still held light, still held spirit, still held an aloof detachment from on high.
She looked at him like he was an ant—though scornful, at least she was willing to look.
Now, she looked at him like he was a rock.
Not scorn, but genuine indifference.
Whether he existed or didn’t, made no difference to Lin Qingyan.
Gu Chengyin withdrew his gaze and continued walking forward.
Behind him, the shadow followed closely, silent and soundless.
The venue for the Three-Section Tribunal was in the Censorate, not too far from the Celestial Masters’ Residence, but not close either.
Along the way, they passed several streets and lanes, crossed several market wards, before reaching their destination.
Gu Chengyin did not take a carriage; instead, he walked ahead on foot, with Lin Qingyan following behind.
The two moved in single file, passing through the bamboo grove outside Still Heart Tower and stepping onto the blue-stone road leading to the Imperial City.
The capital at dawn was already bustling.
Vendors selling breakfast had set up their stalls, steaming buns came out of the baskets, their fragrance wafting far into the distance.
Hawkers carrying loads on poles peddled their goods along the streets, their voices high-pitched and drawn out.
People heading to the early market strolled in twos and threes, some carrying baskets, some bearing bundles on their backs, their faces marked with the unique weariness and anticipation of the early morning.
Gu Chengyin walked among the crowd, his steps unhurried, his expression calm.
No one noticed him. No one noticed Lin Qingyan following behind her.
Lin Qingyan was like a true shadow—clearly standing there, yet drawing no one’s attention.
Among those who passed by her, not a single person turned to look, as if she simply didn’t exist.
Gu Chengyin knew why.
Because the aura of absolute indifference she exuded had grown strong enough to influence those around her.
She cared for no one, so no one noticed her.
It was a strange law: the more you disregard the world, the more the world disregards you.
Like a rock. A rock sits there, but no one spares it a second glance.
From the Celestial Masters’ Residence to the Censorate, Gu Chengyin thought the whole way.
He didn’t walk fast; in fact, his pace was slow.
Slow enough for every passerby to see his face clearly.
Slow enough for every hidden pair of eyes to keep up with his steps.
But the path Gu Chengyin treaded wasn’t merely a street—it was a journey through a person’s heart.
The shadow behind him followed steadily, always a single step away, no more, no less—as accurate as if measured by a ruler.
Gu Chengyin didn’t look back, but he sensed her.
Her Golden Core stage pressure was reined in completely, like a sword returned to its sheath, its edge hidden.
But the sword was there, the hilt in her hand, the blade in the sheath, ready to be drawn at any moment.
Gu Chengyin was observing her.
Observing this new Lin Qingyan.
Back in Still Heart Tower, he had only made a deal with her, only confirmed that she would protect him.
But that wasn’t enough.
Gu Chengyin needed to know more, needed to see how she would react to different circumstances.
To know her limits, to know her weaknesses.
That was why he chose to walk.
Through streets and lanes, through markets, through bustling, noisy places full of the mortal world’s liveliness.
He noticed how, passing the breakfast stalls, she paid no attention to the fragrant buns.
How, passing children at play, those innocent giggles fell on deaf ears.
How, passing couples arguing, those heated debates provoked no reaction.
This Lin Qingyan had no interest in this world.
Those people, those happenings, the noise and commotion—they settled upon her sight like wind leaves no trace, water passes without sound.
She looked at all of them the same way she looked at a rock, a tree, a fallen leaf.
Gu Chengyin silently took notes: this was a Lin Qingyan he had never seen before.
The previous Lin Qingyan, though cold and aloof, still chose to look.
But this one wouldn’t even look.
Her eyes were closed.
Not physically closed, but rather she had refused to connect with the world any further.
It was as if she didn’t belong to this world, like a fading afterimage waiting to disappear.
Gu Chengyin didn’t know how this Lin Qingyan had become like this.
Didn’t know what she had gone through to seal herself to such an extent.
Didn’t know how heavy those pains were to make her prefer becoming a rock over touching the world.
But there was one thing Gu Chengyin knew.
He needed to understand her.
Deeply, thoroughly, completely, from the inside out.
Only that way could he be certain she wouldn’t fall through at a critical moment, wouldn’t lose control like before.
But all that would have to wait for now.
Gu Chengyin collected his thoughts and looked ahead.
They had arrived.
An imposing government building stood before him, with vermillion gates, high walls, soaring eaves, and interlocking brackets.
Above the lintel hung a plaque bearing the emperor’s personal calligraphy, three gold characters gleaming in the morning light.
The Censorate.
Gu Chengyin stopped at the entrance. He would first get through today’s Three-Section Tribunal before dealing with anything else.
He looked back once.
Lin Qingyan stood behind him, still in that state.
Her blood-red eyes, her detached expression, her infinite emptiness toward everything in existence.
Sunlight fell upon her, but could not reach her eyes.
But as long as she was present, Gu Chengyin would never come to harm.
On the contrary, this very session of the Three-Section Tribunal would further expand his influence.
Gu Chengyin never forgot that his level of cultivation was tied to his status and influence.
That was the nature of his technique, the foundation of his survival.
The greater his influence, the higher his cultivation.
The higher his cultivation, the greater his influence.
They depended on each other, each serving as the other’s cause and effect.
Thus Gu Chengyin never avoided anything, and the Three-Section Tribunal before him was no exception.
Letting Lin Qingyan tear the place down would be simple and easy.
If the Celestial Masters’ Residence’s Jingzhe acted, who could stop it?
But that would mean the influence fell on Lin Qingyan, with little connection to him.
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.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
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!
