Emperor Luo definitely had a contingency plan, definitely had some trump card he didn't know about.
But Gu Chengyin wasn't stupid enough to just stand there waiting.
He certainly wasn't going to watch Emperor Luo channel his power and build up momentum,
and do nothing while the ultimate attack got unleashed.
What he needed to do right now was handle Gu Xiaoli.
Gu Chengyin's pace unconsciously quickened.
As long as he successfully hypnotized Gu Xiaoli, then before absolute power, everything else was just a paper tiger.
Golden Core invincible in his left hand, half-step Nascent Soul in his right.
And then riding on top of Luo Zhao.
Attack when advancing, defend when retreating — even if Emperor Luo was unfathomably deep, so what?
With a hand full of trump cards, how could he lose?
Besides, Gu Chengyin wasn't planning to usurp the throne, nor was he trying to topple the great Luo dynasty.
He just wanted a promotion, that's all.
Was that wrong?
How could that possibly be wrong?
How many people racked their brains and stopped at nothing just to get promoted?
How many people sold their souls and trampled on their conscience for a promotion?
Compared to those people, Gu Chengyin was already being pretty damn reasonable.
He only used a few little tricks, schemed a little, set up a few small maneuvers.
Was that too much?
Not even close.
Gu Chengyin turned his steps into the courtyard behind the main hall.
This courtyard wasn't big, but it was arranged with extreme elegance.
An old locust tree stood in the middle, thick with branches and luxuriant leaves, its green shade like a canopy covering most of the yard in cool shadow.
Under the tree sat a rattan lounging chair, spread with a soft brocade cushion. Curled up on that cushion was a person.
No, a cat.
Actually, that wasn't right either.
It was a legal catgirl loli.
Gu Xiaoli.
She just lay there curled up on the lounging chair, lazy and carefree in her posture, like a cat dozing off in the sunlight.
In fact, she literally was a cat.
A head of jet-black short hair framed that small, world-weary face, making her look especially delicate and adorable.
Two furry cat ears stood up from her hair, glossing over in the sunlight.
Occasionally they twitched slightly, as if picking up some sound carried on the wind.
Although Gu Xiaoli, as a half-step Nascent Soul, had completely shed all trace of the demon race,
her nature and instincts were still there, so her current cat ears and cat tail were formed from spiritual power manifestation.
Only ordinary cultivators couldn't see them — only someone like Lin Qingyan with Golden Core invincibility, or Gu Chengyin with his transparent Dao heart, could perceive them.
Gu Xiaoli's eyes were closed, her long eyelashes casting a fan-shaped shadow beneath her eyes, her breathing even and deep.
Her chest rose and fell gently, utterly at ease, as if even if the sky fell, it wasn't any of her damn business.
Gu Chengyin stood at the entrance of the courtyard, watching this scene, and couldn't help shaking his head.
The storm outside was huge — the court was churning beneath the surface.
The survival of the Crown Prince's faction was hanging by a thread, and Luo Zhao's position as heir apparent could be lost at any moment.
Although basically, all of it was Gu Chengyin's doing.
And now he was the one saving the Crown Prince's faction, pulling Luo Zhao out of the fire.
But don't ask where the fire came from.
And Gu Xiaoli?
She was sunbathing on the lounging chair, sleeping peacefully and comfortably.
This scene was exactly like the master slaving away at work overtime outside,
while the cat lazed around living the good life on the big bed at home.
For a moment, you couldn't tell who was the master and who was the pet.
Gu Chengyin stepped into the courtyard.
Gu Xiaoli's furry spiritual-power cat ears immediately reacted.
They perked up and swiveled toward the direction Gu Chengyin was walking from.
The downy fur on the tips of her ears trembled slightly in the sunlight, like two petals swaying in the wind.
But Gu Xiaoli's eyes remained closed.
Gu Chengyin walked up beside the lounging chair and looked down at Gu Xiaoli curled up on the brocade cushion.
Today her outfit was more casual than usual. She wore a light cyan thin robe, the collar slightly open, revealing a stretch of fair collarbone.
The long hem of her skirt trailed to the ground, swaying gently in the breeze like a shallow, clear stream.
She was sleeping soundly — at least she looked like she was sleeping soundly.
Her breathing was steady, her complexion rosy, and the corners of her mouth were slightly upturned, as if she were having a sweet dream.
But those spiritual-power cat ears gave her away.
Because Gu Xiaoli didn't know that Gu Chengyin could actually see her spiritual-power cat ears.
Gu Chengyin noticed that when he walked up to the lounging chair, Gu Xiaoli's spiritual-power cat ears stood up even straighter.
And they kept pointing toward him, as if closely tracking his every move.
But Gu Xiaoli just refused to open her eyes, refused to move.
She insisted on maintaining that "I'm asleep, don't bother me" act.
Gu Chengyin watched her like this, and the corner of his mouth curved up involuntarily.
He crouched down, reached out, and gently patted Gu Xiaoli.
"Xiaoli?"
Gu Xiaoli's spiritual-power cat ears twitched again.
But that was all they did.
Her eyes still didn't open — she was still pretending to sleep.
Gu Chengyin waited a moment. Seeing that Gu Xiaoli showed no sign of waking up at all,
he patted her arm again, this time with a bit more force:
"Xiaoli, wake up."
Gu Xiaoli rolled over.
She curled up even tighter, burying her face into the brocade cushion, leaving only her two spiritual-power cat ears exposed.
That posture clearly said: I'm asleep, I can't hear you, I don't know anything.
Gu Chengyin watched her act this stubbornly shameless and couldn't help laughing out loud.
This cat.
He got it now — Gu Xiaoli was doing this on purpose.
It wasn't that she wasn't awake; she just didn't want to wake up.
Or rather, she was awake, but she didn't want to open her eyes, didn't want to acknowledge him, didn't want to listen to him talk.
As for why she didn't want to acknowledge him —
Gu Chengyin thought about it and figured it was probably the same reason as Shangguan Yunying.
Because he'd not only spent a night with Lin Qingyan in the Serenity Tower, but he'd also come back to find Cui Shifan proposing a marriage alliance.
Except Gu Chengyin had managed to soothe Shangguan Yunying, but he hadn't come to see Gu Xiaoli.
This cat held grudges badly.
Gu Chengyin stood up, crossed his arms, and looked down at Gu Xiaoli curled up on the lounging chair.
He knew that dealing with Gu Xiaoli required unconventional methods.
Coaxing wouldn't fix it, persuading wouldn't move her, begging wouldn't get through.
That's how cats were — the closer you get, the further they pull away; the more you back off, the closer they come.
The only way to make Gu Xiaoli obediently listen, besides hypnosis,
was to threaten her with the thing she cared about most.
Gu Chengyin cleared his throat and spoke in a casual, offhand tone.
"Xiaoli, if you still don't wake up..."
He deliberately dragged out his words, pausing for a moment, letting the sentence hang in midair to create suspense.
Gu Xiaoli's spiritual-power cat ears twitched again, this time even more noticeably.
Both spiritual-power cat ears stood up tall, facing in Gu Chengyin's direction, as if listening for something earth-shattering.
Gu Chengyin watched those two tense, anxious spiritual-power cat ears, laughing inwardly while keeping that calm, carefree expression on his face.
He bent down, leaned close to Gu Xiaoli's ear, and said with a hint of dangerous playfulness:
"Then I'll just have to go find someone else to be my bride."
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
y came from. The chests contained supplies, currency, class-change scrolls, skills, talents… and even godhood! The laws of the world were completely rewritten. This became a world where everyone gambled with their fate! Some people, despite having nothing, opened a divine artifact and rose to the top, eventually ruling the world. Others went bankrupt, opened nothing but worthless junk, and leaped from skyscrapers in despair. Lin Ye arrived in this world from another reality, utterly bewildered. “What is going on? Why is everyone a gambling addict?!” “Opening chests? No way. I refuse to gamble. I’ll start with myself!” Until— On his first chest, he obtained a Mythic Talent: Void Incarnation! He could become completely intangible, pass through all things, and reduce everything to nothingness! … On his fiftieth chest, he obtained a Mythic Weapon: Blade of Karma! With a single slash, karma shattered, twisting the universe and overturning the myriad phenomena of creation! … On his ninety-ninth chest, he obtained a Mythic Divine Treasure: Primordial Purple Energy! It could split open the heavens and earth, create all things, and evolve countless worlds with a single thought! Lin Ye: “Now that I think about it… shouldn’t someone have told me that every chest is guaranteed to contain something Mythic?!”
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.
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!
