Though the wording was crude, it wasn’t wrong—but it was far too crude.
So crude that even Gu Chengyin nearly lost his composure.
Heaven knew he had never entertained such thoughts, much less considered turning Shangguan Yunying into anything like that.
Even with Luo Zhao, Gu Chengyin had always maintained at least the most basic respect.
He respected her as a person with her own thoughts and will.
Gu Chengyin would never treat Luo Zhao like an actual dog just because she was a Good Doggy.
He would never lock her in a cage, much less put a leash on her and take her out for a walk whenever he felt like it.
So when Shangguan Yunying said that, Gu Chengyin’s first reaction wasn’t, You guessed it.
Instead, it was: What on earth goes on in that little head of yours all day?
He reached out and pinched Shangguan Yunying’s cheek, saying with helpless fondness, “How come I never noticed before that you had such a sharp tongue?”
What had Shangguan Yunying been like in the past?
Gentle, capable, intelligent, beautiful—and well-endowed.
That was Gu Chengyin’s impression of her. Unlike Lin Qingyan, who was like an immortal fairy high above the mortal world, Shangguan Yunying was more like a perfect woman.
She possessed all the qualities a woman ought to have.
Hearing Gu Chengyin tease her, Shangguan Yunying’s face flushed even more deeply.
Of course she knew about her own flaw. She had known about it for a very long time.
At the most inappropriate moments, thoughts would suddenly spring from the least appropriate corners of her mind, followed by remarks so shocking they could shake heaven and earth.
Back when she had been the Chief Palace Attendant, she had never behaved this way.
In those days, Shangguan Yunying had been cautious in speech and conduct, perfectly measured in everything she did. She would let every sentence turn on the tip of her tongue three times before daring to say it aloud.
Every expression had to be practiced in front of a mirror ten times before she could wear it before others.
She had wrapped herself in layer upon layer of masks, honing herself into the Chief Palace Attendant everyone wanted her to be.
But that hadn’t been the real her. It was merely the version of the Chief Palace Attendant she wanted others to see.
Now, things were different.
Without the restraints of her position, without all the rules she had been required to follow, without the endless expectations of how she “ought” to behave, Shangguan Yunying naturally no longer needed to suppress herself.
She said whatever she wanted and did whatever she pleased.
So in response to Gu Chengyin’s fondly exasperated tone, Shangguan Yunying didn’t feel embarrassed or guilty. Instead, she puffed out her cheeks.
“Are you starting to dislike me?”
Gu Chengyin looked at her puffed-up expression.
He didn’t answer. At a time like this, explanations were unnecessary. Actions spoke louder than words.
His hand slid down from Shangguan Yunying’s cheek and settled in a place he knew all too well.
“How could I? I might dislike anyone else, but I could never dislike my favorite Yunying.”
Reassured by his coaxing, Shangguan Yunying was instantly satisfied.
She even shifted her position a little, making things more comfortable for his hand.
“Then… is there any way to fix it?”
Shangguan Yunying didn’t actually mind having Gu Chengyin as her master.
To be honest, she rather enjoyed the dynamic.
Being controlled, dominated, and completely possessed made her feel safe.
But she couldn’t be rendered helpless after only a few moves.
That was what frustrated Shangguan Yunying the most.
There had to be some room for her to perform, after all.
So she was asking this question quite seriously.
Gu Chengyin thought for a moment, then glanced out the window.
It was already deep into the night.
The moon still hung in the sky, round and bright, spilling silvery light across the entire Celestial Master’s Residence.
There were no longer any cultivators practicing in the martial arena. Everyone had gone back to rest, leaving behind only the empty grounds and stone slabs glowing with a blue-gray sheen.
Farther away lay the Divine Capital. Most of the lights in its thousands of streets and lanes had already gone out, leaving only a few scattered points of illumination.
Gu Chengyin withdrew his gaze and looked at Shangguan Yunying in his arms.
“Let me take a look at your Azure Cloud Art.”
Shangguan Yunying’s eyes lit up, and she agreed at once.
She even hoped they could solve the problem immediately, so that she and Gu Chengyin could have a proper battle afterward.
Shangguan Yunying sat up from Gu Chengyin’s embrace.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, preparing to circulate the Azure Cloud Art.
But Gu Chengyin stopped her.
Shangguan Yunying opened her eyes and looked at him in confusion. Gu Chengyin explained, “Simply circulating the technique may not be enough. It would be better if we sparred a little, but this place is too cramped. We won’t be able to move freely. Let’s go outside.”
Shangguan Yunying understood what he really meant.
The sparring would not be merely a spar.
During the exchange, they would be able to identify the root of the problem more effectively and find a way to resolve it.
Shangguan Yunying nodded immediately, then stood and followed Gu Chengyin toward the stairs.
When they passed the third floor, she secretly glanced at the bed.
She could vaguely make out Lin Qingyan and Luo Zhao still resting there.
Only after confirming that neither of them had awakened did Shangguan Yunying relax.
She couldn’t help secretly rejoicing. This was a rare chance for her and Gu Chengyin to have some time alone together.
What Shangguan Yunying didn’t know was that, the moment she and Gu Chengyin left the Heart-Calming Pagoda, Lin Qingyan opened her eyes.
She had heard every word of the conversation between Shangguan Yunying and Gu Chengyin from beginning to end.
Every sentence had come through clearly.
Thus, Lin Qingyan knew why Shangguan Yunying was so useless, and she also knew why the two of them had left the pagoda.
Lin Qingyan’s gaze wandered aimlessly across the bed for a moment before settling on Luo Zhao beside her.
“Looks like Yunying can serve as the main attacker next time.”
After murmuring this to herself, Lin Qingyan stopped paying attention to Gu Chengyin and Shangguan Yunying.
She reached out, drew Luo Zhao closer into her arms, and closed her eyes.
Outside the Heart-Calming Pagoda, Gu Chengyin looked back after stepping through the entrance.
He could clearly sense that the faint, almost imperceptible attention on them had disappeared.
Without a doubt, it had come from Lin Qingyan.
From the moment he had carried Shangguan Yunying upstairs, Lin Qingyan had been watching them.
She had listened to every word and sensed every movement.
But now, that attention was gone.
Because he had left the Heart-Calming Pagoda.
On the surface, he had brought Shangguan Yunying outside to help resolve her problem. In truth, he had wanted to escape Lin Qingyan’s watchful eye.
Gu Chengyin needed to make certain arrangements, and those arrangements could only be entrusted to Shangguan Yunying.
So solving her problem was merely a pretext—a reason that would put Lin Qingyan at ease.
Shangguan Yunying stood outside the pagoda and looked around.
The night was at its deepest. The moon had already begun to sink westward, hanging low on the eastern horizon like a silver disk slowly descending from the sky.
The entire world seemed asleep. Only the two of them remained awake, standing before the Heart-Calming Pagoda, bathing in moonlight and feeling each other’s presence.
Shangguan Yunying was just about to ask where they were going when Gu Chengyin suddenly stepped forward and wrapped an arm around her waist.
Her body stiffened, but she didn’t struggle. Instead, she asked in a very soft, worried voice, “What if someone sees us out here?”
Gu Chengyin raised an eyebrow and answered along the lines of her question.
“Even if someone did see us, Yunying, you’d already be unable to go on by then, wouldn’t you?”
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!
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!
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
