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."
tions: attribute allocation, analysis, proficiency, and simulation. Specializing in mechanical alchemy, from crafting sorcerous battle armor to handcrafting mechanical maidens, his mechanical legion conquers endless realms... Relying on his wits, he begins with a student-teacher romance, wins over a female director, enslaves a female assassin and a underworld queen, becoming the husband of a Grand Duchess... He enslaves the Goddess of Magic from the divine realm, developing his power simultaneously in both the Wizard World and the Realm of Gods...
e school belle recognized by the whole school, a genius girl from the kendo club. She also has a hidden identity, the youngest legendary demon hunter. Chen Shuo just transmigrated and found himself turned into a weak, helpless little vampire. He was caught by Su Xiyen and taken home at the very beginning. Since then, Chen Shuo's life creed only had two items. "First, classmate Su Xiyen is always right." "Second, if classmate Su Xiyen is wrong, please refer back to item one." Many years later, Chen Shuo, who had turned back into a human, led a pair of twins to appear in front of all the vampires to share the secret of how he turned back into a human. "It's simple, I tricked a female demon hunter into becoming my wife!"
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?!
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!
