She had known Luo Zhao for many years and understood all too well what kind of person she was.
Luo Zhao was more guarded than anyone else. Her walls were higher than anyone else’s, and she had never truly trusted anyone.
Wasn’t that the root cause of the situation they were in now? Luo Zhao didn’t trust Gu Chengyin.
Because she didn’t trust him, she opposed him at every turn.
Because she didn’t trust him, she repeatedly tried to counter him.
Any trust between them had always been merely a superficial expedient. The deeper estrangement had never truly been healed.
And now Gu Chengyin was telling her that Luo Zhao had genuinely placed her trust in him.
That meant Luo Zhao had finally lowered the wall she had kept between herself and Gu Chengyin for so long. She had finally opened her heart completely.
From now on, Shangguan Yunying no longer had to worry about new friction arising between the two of them, nor would she have to find herself caught in the middle, pulled in two directions.
She immediately sat down in the chair beside them and asked with great curiosity, “Really? That’s wonderful! When did Your Highness start trusting you? How come I didn’t know?”
Shangguan Yunying was genuinely curious.
She had personally witnessed all of Luo Zhao’s probing and wariness toward Gu Chengyin, just as she had witnessed all of Gu Chengyin’s control and schemes directed at Luo Zhao.
She understood the relationship between the two better than anyone else and knew exactly how complicated and delicate it was.
So when she heard that Luo Zhao had truly given Gu Chengyin her trust—not the kind of trust used merely as a temporary expedient—Shangguan Yunying’s curiosity was like a fuse set alight. There was no way to suppress it.
Gu Chengyin patted Luo Zhao on the waist, then said calmly, “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it later. Your aunt will be back soon. Your Highness, you should get up first.”
Only then did Luo Zhao hurriedly rise and sit down beside Shangguan Yunying.
Her face was still slightly flushed, but she was doing her best to compose herself.
Shangguan Yunying’s gaze had already settled on Luo Zhao.
She was no longer the chief female official. That position had been relinquished along with her resignation.
So Shangguan Yunying reached out of her own accord and took Luo Zhao’s hand, which rested on her lap.
There was none of the distance that had existed between monarch and subject before.
Luo Zhao’s hand stiffened slightly, but she did not pull away.
Shangguan Yunying leaned closer and lowered her voice until only the two of them could hear.
Question after question was whispered into Luo Zhao’s ear, like two close friends sharing secrets.
At first, Luo Zhao only shook her head with a flushed face, saying nothing.
But Shangguan Yunying kept asking one question after another, each becoming more detailed and intimate than the last.
At last, Luo Zhao gave a quiet reply.
Her voice was as soft as the flutter of a mosquito’s wings, but Shangguan Yunying still heard her clearly.
The corners of Shangguan Yunying’s lips lifted. She leaned toward Luo Zhao’s ear again and whispered another question in an even lower voice.
Luo Zhao turned her head slightly, and the blush on her cheeks deepened.
Just as the two of them were whispering back and forth, the tower door opened once again.
Lin Qingyan walked in from outside the tower, carrying a thick dossier.
The insignia of the Celestial Master’s Palace was printed on its cover. The paper had yellowed with age, making it appear to be quite old.
When Lin Qingyan returned upstairs, she immediately saw Luo Zhao and Shangguan Yunying sitting opposite Gu Chengyin.
The two women were huddled together, whispering privately, with Luo Zhao’s hand clasped in Shangguan Yunying’s.
Their heads were lowered, their foreheads nearly touching.
They looked as though they were discussing a secret meant for their ears alone.
Shangguan Yunying said something, and Luo Zhao gave a slight nod.
Then the two women simultaneously lifted their heads and looked toward Lin Qingyan, their expressions somewhat peculiar.
It was as if they were trying to conceal something—or as if they felt guilty.
Lin Qingyan’s gaze lingered on their faces for a moment before shifting away.
She placed the dossier in front of Gu Chengyin and said, “Everything concerning the Celestial Master’s Palace’s honored elders is recorded here: their cultivation realms, cultivation methods, techniques, and past experiences.”
Gu Chengyin picked it up and glanced through it. His brows rose slightly.
The dossier was dozens of pages long, filled densely with tiny characters.
Each honored elder occupied a separate page.
Their names, titles, ages, cultivation realms, preferred cultivation methods, magical treasures, and past accomplishments were all listed.
It even included extremely detailed records of their personalities and usual ways of doing things.
This was no ordinary list. It was clearly an intelligence file.
Given the level of detail, ordinary cultivators could never have accessed it. It was undoubtedly top-secret information available only to the highest-ranking members of the Celestial Master’s Palace.
With this dossier in hand, one would effectively possess the strengths and weaknesses of every honored elder.
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in battle.
With this information, Gu Chengyin’s odds of victory would increase by at least thirty percent.
“Aunt, isn’t this a little too detailed?”
Gu Chengyin looked up at Lin Qingyan. His tone was teasing, but his expression was quite serious.
“I only just joined the Celestial Master’s Palace, after all.”
Lin Qingyan merely smiled faintly in response.
Such a smile was rare on her cool, aloof face.
It was like a plum blossom suddenly blooming in the depths of winter, its freshness touched with proud defiance.
“If anyone has a problem with it, they can come to me personally.”
“But since no one has come to me, that means no one has a problem.”
Put plainly, in the Celestial Master’s Palace, might made right.
Since Lin Qingyan had put it that way, Gu Chengyin said nothing more.
He lowered his head, fixed his eyes on the dossier, and began studying the list of honored elders in earnest.
His brows drew together and relaxed by turns. From time to time, he would pause over the records of a particular elder, his gaze remaining there for a long while.
After Lin Qingyan returned, Shangguan Yunying promptly stopped the conversation.
After all, Zhao'er had said that she didn’t want Lin Qingyan to know.
Although Shangguan Yunying wasn’t sure whether Lin Qingyan really was unaware.
Given Lin Qingyan’s intelligence, she had probably seen through everything and simply chosen not to say anything.
Still, at least on the surface, Shangguan Yunying was willing to help Luo Zhao keep the secret.
What she hadn’t expected was for Lin Qingyan to suddenly turn toward the two of them. She raised a hand and pointed toward the staircase.
Then she pointed at Gu Chengyin, who was engrossed in the dossier.
Her meaning couldn’t have been clearer: Let’s go upstairs. Don’t disturb him.
Luo Zhao and Shangguan Yunying exchanged a glance.
Both assumed that Lin Qingyan simply didn’t want to disturb Gu Chengyin while he studied the dossier.
After all, it contained vital intelligence for the coming battle, and he was best left undisturbed.
They rose one after another and followed Lin Qingyan up the stairs toward the third floor.
But the moment they reached the third floor, before Luo Zhao had even steadied herself, Lin Qingyan turned and moved close to her.
The motion was swift and silent, like a cat approaching its prey without making a sound.
Lin Qingyan came to Luo Zhao’s side and leaned forward slightly. Her smooth, long hair slipped over her shoulder and brushed against Luo Zhao’s arm.
Her lips drew near Luo Zhao’s ear—close enough for Luo Zhao to feel the warmth of Lin Qingyan’s breath.
“Zhao'er, what did you call Chengcheng after I left?”
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
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!
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.
