The oath-taking system of the Celestial Master Manor was something that not only demonic sects, but even the gentlemen of the orthodox sects, were unwilling to accept.
That was why the Sun-Moon Cult, as a demonic sect, had opposed the Celestial Master Manor so relentlessly.
They opposed not only the Manor’s rules and values, but also the iron-fisted order that prevented them from doing whatever they pleased.
By this point, both sides had essentially laid their cards on the table.
Everyone’s eyes fell on Gu Chengyin, eager to see how he would respond.
Fang Nu had forced him into what appeared to be a corner with no way out.
Yet Gu Chengyin merely smiled. There was no anger in his smile, nor any embarrassment or awkwardness at being backed against the wall.
Instead, it held a hint of mockery and amusement, as though he were watching an actor who had ruined his performance yet was still desperately adding more lines.
“Interesting.”
“When I talk to you about rules, you talk to me about reason.”
“When I talk to you about reason, you start talking to me about rules again.”
Gu Chengyin paused, the smile at the corners of his lips deepening.
“Will you throw a tantrum and start playing the victim next?”
Fang Nu’s brows furrowed. Before he could understand what those words meant, he saw the seemingly unflappable man before him suddenly change expression.
Gu Chengyin raised his hand high, then slammed it down onto the table before him.
Bang!
The sound was countless times louder than the noise Luo Zhao had made when she struck the table moments ago.
The teacups leaped into the air from the impact, spilling tea across the table, while the documents, brushes, and inkstones trembled in unison.
At the very instant the slap rang out, Gu Chengyin’s voice exploded through the hall like a thunderclap.
“Guards!”
The moment his voice fell, two figures stepped forward at the same time.
Lin Qingyan emerged from the left side behind Gu Chengyin, her aura erupting in full force. Golden arcs of lightning crackled around her.
Her clear eyes brimmed with killing intent, and she released the pressure of a Golden Core cultivator at the pinnacle of the realm without holding anything back. In an instant, the air within the hall grew as heavy as solid matter.
Gu Xiaoli stepped forward from the right side behind Gu Chengyin. Her demonic power, at the half-step Nascent Soul level, surged outward in all directions like a rising tide.
But even after the two of them stepped forward, the matter was not over.
An even more astonishing scene unfolded.
In the empty spaces along both sides of the hall—in the corners where no one had been before, within the shadows, and behind the pillars—dozens of figures suddenly appeared.
No one knew when they had arrived. No one had noticed when they had slipped inside.
It was as though they had been there from the very beginning, simply hidden from everyone’s notice.
Every one of these figures possessed an aura as deep and steady as Mount Luo.
The fluctuations of spiritual power circulating around them were uniformly at the Golden Core level.
They were the Celestial Master Manor’s resident protectors in the Divine Capital. Each one was a notorious killer capable of making the cultivation world tremble with a single stomp.
And now, every one of them had revealed themselves.
Terrifying pressure instantly enveloped the entire Celestial Master Manor.
This was not the pressure of one or two Golden Core cultivators, but the combined might of dozens.
It was like an invisible mountain descending from the heavens and crashing down upon everyone in the Manor.
The two Sun-Moon Cult elders standing behind Fang Nu instantly went deathly pale. Their bodies involuntarily sank, and their knees began to buckle.
Clearly, they were doing everything they could to withstand this terrifying pressure that threatened to crush them outright.
As for Fang Nu himself, despite his formidable cultivation, he fared little better.
A fine layer of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his breathing grew heavy and rapid.
His hands trembled inside his sleeves. Only the thick spiritual power of a late-stage Golden Core cultivator kept him from losing control in public.
The sect representatives watching from outside the hall were in an even worse position.
They had come merely to watch the spectacle. None of them had expected the Celestial Master Manor to make such a move.
Although many of them included Golden Core adepts, compared with the tacit cooperation of the Manor’s protectors, they were nothing more than a disorganized rabble.
Dozens of Golden Core-level pressures surged out from within the hall. Combined with the Golden Core protectors stationed outside, they enveloped everyone present.
Those with weaker cultivation immediately found their legs going soft and could barely remain standing. Several Foundation Establishment disciples’ knees gave way, and they collapsed to the ground.
Everyone looked toward the impassive man seated in the seat of honor with terrified eyes.
Gu Chengyin stood at the very center of the pressure, yet he seemed entirely unaffected.
Countless waves of Golden Core pressure swept past him without the slightest trace touching his body.
Lin Qingyan and Gu Xiaoli stood at his sides, blocking every bit of the pressure.
Protected by two supreme combatants, Gu Chengyin stood above them all and looked down at Fang Nu before speaking.
His voice was calm and unhurried, utterly different from the thunderous force with which he had slammed the table moments ago.
Yet at this tense, hostile moment, that measured tone was more oppressive than any roar or shout could have been.
“If you have grievances, you may voice them.”
“If you have objections, you may raise them.”
“Harmony without uniformity. Seeking common ground while preserving differences.”
“As the next Taihe, these eight words are how I understand the Celestial Master Manor.”
When his voice fell silent, the atmosphere in the hall remained tense and oppressive.
But many people—including the Golden Core protectors—had a thoughtful look in their eyes.
Setting aside the audacity of Gu Chengyin’s claim that he was the next Taihe, those eight words truly contained wisdom and a philosophy for handling affairs.
The Celestial Master Manor had never been an institution that rejected all dissent. Otherwise, it would never have invited the various sects to witness the Taihe succession battle.
But neither had it ever been an institution that abandoned its principles. Otherwise, the oath would not have remained its unchanging iron law for a thousand years.
And Gu Chengyin’s eight words had captured both the very essence of the Celestial Master Manor and the breadth of his own character.
At the very least, the Manor’s protectors present all acknowledged this point.
“But, Vice Cult Master Fang…”
Gu Chengyin’s tone suddenly turned colder. The warmth in his eyes faded, replaced by an unmistakable hardness.
“The Celestial Master Manor is willing to listen because it respects you, and because it respects every cultivation sect.”
“But respect must be mutual. If I respect you and you refuse to respect me, then you’re taking my courtesy for weakness.”
Gu Chengyin’s gaze shifted away from Fang Nu and slowly swept across the sect representatives gathered outside the hall, passing over every face.
His gaze was neither hurried nor harsh, yet every person he looked at instinctively held their breath, as though an invisible sword had been pressed against their throats.
“The oath is the Celestial Master Manor’s bottom line.”
“If you acknowledge that bottom line, then we can continue our discussion.”
Silence spread through the great hall, like a net slowly tightening around them.
No one spoke. No one dared to speak.
Fang Nu’s lips moved, but in the end, no sound came out.
The watching sect representatives likewise fell utterly silent, not even daring to breathe too loudly.
Gu Chengyin looked at them, the corners of his lips curving upward into a meaningful smile.
“But if you refuse to acknowledge it, then the Celestial Master Manor will have no choice but to…”
“Reinstate the Jiazi Demon-Suppression Campaign.”
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
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.
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.
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!
