“I hear someone from a sect wishes to join the Celestial Master’s Office?”
Gu Chengyin’s voice drifted lazily through the hall, gentle enough to sound as though he were merely chatting with an old friend over tea.
Unlike Luo Zhao, who had been staring coldly at Fang Nu, he simply stood there with both hands resting on the desk, his expression calm and composed.
Yet the meaning behind his words made Fang Nu’s brow twitch.
Join the Celestial Master’s Office?
When had he ever said he wanted to join the Celestial Master’s Office?
From beginning to end, he had only said that Golden Core cultivators from the sects should be allowed to participate in the Taihe Battle. How had that suddenly become a request to join the Celestial Master’s Office?
The two concepts were worlds apart.
Participating in the Taihe Battle meant demanding an exception outside the rules of the Celestial Master’s Office.
Joining the Celestial Master’s Office meant voluntarily entering those rules and accepting their restrictions.
They were entirely different matters.
At first glance, Gu Chengyin’s words seemed to follow up on what Fang Nu had said.
In reality, he had silently changed the subject into a proposition Fang Nu had never made.
Fang Nu therefore did not take the bait. Instead, he first glanced at Luo Zhao, who was sitting firmly in the seat of honor.
The Crown Heir, who had been as cold as frost moments earlier, was still wearing a stern expression.
But most of the tension between her brows had faded, replaced by undisguised dependence.
Her phoenix eyes seemed to be looking straight ahead, but in truth, they were filled entirely with Gu Chengyin’s figure.
Fang Nu then looked at Gu Chengyin, who had already taken on the air of a spokesman.
Standing beside Luo Zhao, the man occupied exactly the right position. His bearing was calm and unhurried.
He neither displayed the arrogance of someone stealing the spotlight nor showed the nervous restraint of someone yielding out of humility.
Although he was not seated in the place of honor, Fang Nu could not shake the feeling that Gu Chengyin was the true decision-maker.
Only now did Fang Nu realize that the person Luo Zhao had been waiting for was not Lin Qingyan, but Gu Chengyin.
The discovery sent his vigilance skyrocketing.
Luo Zhao was far more seasoned than the rumors suggested, but she still had limited experience.
In both her methods and her temperament, she was inversely proportional to her beauty and figure. No matter how troublesome she might be, there had to be a limit.
Gu Chengyin was different.
This was a man capable of making Luo Zhao wait for him with such eagerness, a man who could make both an invincible Golden Core cultivator and a half-step Nascent Soul expert willingly dance to his tune.
That kind of ability could never be summed up simply by calling him the Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince.
After a moment’s thought, Fang Nu fixed his gaze firmly on Gu Chengyin.
He did not answer Gu Chengyin’s question. Instead, he chose to go on the offensive.
“Junior Preceptor Gu.”
The form of address was precisely chosen. Fang Nu was deliberately emphasizing Gu Chengyin’s official position in the imperial court, using it to highlight his lack of standing in the cultivation world.
“As far as I know, although you are a challenger in the Taihe Battle…”
“But you only recently joined the Celestial Master’s Office. Surely you are not in any position to speak here?”
Fang Nu’s words were quite cutting.
Although he had never clashed with Gu Chengyin directly, he had already concluded, based solely on Luo Zhao’s attitude toward him, that this man was anything but simple.
So Fang Nu decisively chose to attack him through his identity and seniority.
The cultivation world might ultimately respect strength above all else, but it also placed great importance on seniority.
And by seniority, Gu Chengyin was still far too inexperienced.
As for strength, he was no more than a Foundation Establishment ant.
As for status, no matter how high his official rank was, it was only useful in the imperial court.
This was an internal matter of the cultivation world. What right did a Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince have to interfere?
If this barrage of attacks landed, Gu Chengyin could be driven out of the situation entirely, leaving him without even the right to speak.
Fang Nu’s calculations were ringing like an abacus.
Yet the moment he finished speaking, Luo Zhao could no longer sit still.
“Slap!”
The sharp sound exploded through the main hall.
Luo Zhao brought her palm down heavily on the desk, sending several drops of tea splashing from the cup.
She sprang to her feet, raised her chin high, and looked down at Fang Nu from above.
Her exquisitely beautiful face was filled with arrogant, overbearing defiance.
“Who says Gu Chengyin has no right to speak?!”
Luo Zhao’s voice rose several pitches, and she refused to yield even an inch, as though she were defending her most precious treasure.
“I am overseeing this Taihe Battle. If I say he has the right, then he has the right!”
The entire hall fell silent. Everyone was stunned.
The other sect representatives watching from the side, the female officials from the Internal Affairs Office, and even the two Sun-Moon Cult elders behind Fang Nu were all shocked into silence by Luo Zhao’s sudden fury.
Where had the calm and composed Crown Heir who had negotiated with Fang Nu for so long gone?
Why did she seem to have become a completely different person the moment Gu Chengyin arrived?
Not only had she slammed the table and glared at him, but even her tone had become so domineering and unreasonable.
She looked exactly like someone who had found powerful backing and now dared anyone to bully her.
It was as though a little dog that had previously kept its tail between its legs and meekly obeyed would bare its teeth at the whole world the moment its master scooped it into his arms.
Luo Zhao clearly had not had enough. She was preparing to escalate matters further.
Since she had already slammed the table, she might as well make her words as absolute as possible and force Fang Nu into silence once and for all.
But before she could speak, a hand gently came to rest on her shoulder.
Luo Zhao stopped at once.
After turning to glance at Gu Chengyin, she swallowed the words at the tip of her tongue, gave a cold snort, and turned her face away. Then she sat back down in her seat.
Gu Chengyin turned his attention back to Fang Nu. He did not continue along the path Luo Zhao had opened. Instead, he spoke slowly in the same mild tone as before.
“Vice Cult Master Fang, have you forgotten something?”
He paused, giving Fang Nu time to think. Only then did he continue.
“The current sect master of the Azure Sword Sect is me.”
The moment those words were spoken, Fang Nu fell silent.
His mouth hung half open. Every rebuttal he had prepared became lodged in his throat, and not a single word came out.
The two Sun-Moon Cult elders behind him wore the same look of astonishment.
It was not only them. The representatives of the other sects watching from outside the hall also exchanged bewildered looks.
A murmur swept through the crowd. Some whispered to one another, some slapped their foreheads, and others began studying Gu Chengyin anew with incredulous expressions.
They had suddenly remembered that the current sect master of the Azure Sword Sect was no longer Jiang Qingshan.
It was Gu Chengyin.
The matter had caused quite a stir in the cultivation world.
A Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince who was not even a Golden Core cultivator had actually taken over as sect master of the Azure Sword Sect—and Jiang Qingshan himself had personally ceded the position to him.
At the time, the various sects had debated the matter heatedly.
Some claimed it violated tradition. Others said the Azure Sword Sect had lowered its own standing. Still others believed that some unknown deal must have been made behind Gu Chengyin.
But this was, after all, an internal matter of the Azure Sword Sect. No matter how much the other sects discussed it, they had no authority to interfere in another sect’s affairs.
Besides, after becoming sect master of the Azure Sword Sect, Gu Chengyin had neither meddled in the sect’s affairs nor used his position to make a name for himself throughout the cultivation world.
Instead, he had continued serving as the Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince in the imperial court.
As time passed, everyone gradually forgot about the matter.
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.
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
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!
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
