But it would take more than one Golden Core, and the exact number varied from person to person.
Given the extent of Emperor Luo’s deficiency, it would take the complete sacrifice of several Golden Cores at the very least to mend it fully.
So although this method appeared simple, it was anything but.
Any cultivator who managed to reach the Golden Core realm possessed extraordinary talent and had endured countless trials and tribulations to become a great figure in their own right.
Every one of them held a lofty position and was revered by thousands.
Who would willingly sacrifice a lifetime of cultivation and their own life just to become nourishment for Emperor Luo?
Let alone volunteering—if the order were enforced, the Golden Core cultivators would fight to the death in resistance.
They were going to die either way, so why should they make things easier for him?
What was more, the rules of the Tianshi Residence were crystal clear. As the Supreme Unity of the Tianshi Residence, if Emperor Luo openly hunted Golden Core cultivators to repair his own Dao foundation, how would that be any different from the demonic path?
The prestige of the Tianshi Residence would collapse overnight. The entire cultivation world would rise up against it, and even the ministers at court who had always remained loyal to the imperial family would stand forth in opposition.
That was why Emperor Luo had set his sights on the cultivation world—especially the Golden Core cultivators of the demonic path.
The demonic sects had committed countless atrocities and brought misery upon the common people. They were already among the primary targets on the Tianshi Residence’s blacklist.
If he could find a legitimate pretext and relaunch the Jiazi Demon-Sweeping Campaign…
Then, during the campaign, he could kill those Golden Core cultivators of the demonic path and collect the essence of their Golden Cores.
That would make it a perfectly justified and unimpeachable act of righteousness.
He would eliminate the demonic forces that plagued the mortal world while also completing his own Golden Core.
It would accomplish two goals at once, leaving no room for criticism.
That was why, back then, Emperor Luo had arranged for Gu Chengyin to die on the road during his inspection tour. His true purpose had been to create a legitimate pretext to relaunch the Jiazi Demon-Sweeping Campaign.
The reason was not only sufficient—it was enough to unite the entire Great Luo against a common enemy, and sufficient to leave the cultivation world speechless as well.
Once that happened, the forces of the Tianshi Residence could march openly into every corner of the realm and relaunch the Jiazi Demon-Sweeping Campaign.
And Emperor Luo could use the opportunity to gather the essence he needed to complete his Golden Core.
Now, Gu Chengyin had voluntarily thrown this matter onto the table as a bargaining chip.
That meant he had a way—perhaps even the means—to make it happen.
Emperor Luo would not need to hunt the Golden Core cultivators of the demonic path himself. The Tianshi Residence would not need to bear any political risk.
All it would take was a nod, and the deal could be made.
As for the price, there was no doubt about it: secrecy.
He could not allow Lin Qingyan to learn about the Dao of Supreme Detachment.
That was Gu Chengyin’s weakness—and the sole reason he was willing to put forward such a colossal bargaining chip at this moment.
Emperor Luo raised his eyes and looked at Gu Chengyin once more.
Even Emperor Luo, the ruler of Great Luo who had held the power to command the world for decades, had no choice but to acknowledge from the bottom of his heart the methods and schemes of this de facto imperial son-in-law.
This young man was far too formidable—so formidable that one could not help both loving and hating him.
He was loved because, with Gu Chengyin around, many matters became much easier.
He was hated because, with Gu Chengyin around, many matters became far more difficult to control.
Take this audience alone.
From the moment he entered the palace and performed the formal courtesies, to making Emperor Luo so furious that he smashed a teacup; from taking the initiative to request an imperial marriage decree, to turning around and throwing out the bargaining chip of completing a Golden Core…
The entire combination had flowed as smoothly as clouds and running water, executed in a single breath. From beginning to end, the rhythm had remained firmly in Gu Chengyin’s hands.
If he agreed so easily, Emperor Luo felt that he would be getting the short end of the deal.
After all, Gu Chengyin had nearly angered him to death just moments ago, and had even caused him to smash one of his beloved Ru ware tea cups with its sky-blue glaze.
Granted, he had been the one to throw it, but when all was said and done, it was because Gu Chengyin was so infuriating.
If he agreed to the deal so lightly, would that not make him look utterly spineless?
And so Emperor Luo suddenly changed tack and asked a question that struck straight at the deepest part of the soul.
“Gu Chengyin, is what you’re doing to Jingzhe really right?”
The question carried immense weight.
Once the Dao of Supreme Detachment was achieved, all love and affection would be forgotten.
That meant that if Gu Chengyin truly reached that stage, Lin Qingyan would become a stranger to him.
Everything the two of them had experienced together would be erased from Gu Chengyin’s memory.
For Lin Qingyan, such an ending would undoubtedly be unbearably cruel.
Emperor Luo was asking this question both to stand up for Lin Qingyan and to test whether Gu Chengyin truly held this relationship in his heart.
He claimed that he wanted to marry her, yet he was concealing something so important from Lin Qingyan.
Was he serious, or was he simply toying with their feelings?
Yet faced with this question that struck directly at the soul, Gu Chengyin merely smiled faintly and shook his head.
His smile remained as gentle and refined as jade, but deep in his eyes lay a significance even Emperor Luo found difficult to see through.
He did not answer Emperor Luo’s question. Instead, he threw it back at him.
“Then, Your Majesty, have you truly treated Empress Lin well?”
The best defense was always a good offense.
That counterquestion was like a razor-sharp boomerang, striking precisely at the deepest wound in Emperor Luo’s heart—a wound that had never healed.
The emperor fell silent.
His gaze lingered on Gu Chengyin’s face for a moment before slowly shifting away and coming to rest on a portrait hanging on the wall of the warm chamber.
It was a portrait of a woman that had already yellowed with age. The woman in the painting wore a phoenix robe and possessed peerless beauty. Her brows and features closely resembled those of Luo Zhao.
This was Empress Lin—a woman who had left many years ago, yet had continued to live on in Emperor Luo’s heart.
A look of remembrance appeared in Emperor Luo’s eyes.
Within it were the bold ambition of his youth, the years in which he and Empress Lin had faced the world side by side, and the tenderness and reluctance he had shown toward the woman he loved as she lay upon her sickbed.
Yet beneath all those memories lay a layer of remorse that could never be dispelled.
Remorse for a certain decision.
Remorse for an irreparable regret.
And remorse for a debt that, even to this day, he had been unable to repay.
Even so, that trace of remorse lasted only an instant.
A few breaths later, Emperor Luo had forced every emotion back beneath the ancient, tranquil mask of an emperor.
The remembrance faded from his eyes, replaced by the composure and calm befitting the Son of Heaven.
Emperor Luo raised his eyes and looked at Gu Chengyin once more. He did not continue the subject, but instead asked, “How confident are you in the Taihe Battle?”
“One hundred percent.”
Emperor Luo did not question him in the slightest. He immediately said, “Good. I agree to this deal.”
As he spoke, he reached for his teacup and raised it slightly toward Gu Chengyin.
Gu Chengyin also lifted his own cup and extended it forward.
The two Ru ware tea cups with their sky-blue glaze lightly touched above the imperial desk, producing a crisp chime.
Both men withdrew their cups and took a sip. Then, as if by unspoken agreement, they smiled.
On the surface, the atmosphere appeared cordial, harmonious, and perfectly amiable.
But the thoughts hidden beneath were entirely different.
At least as far as Emperor Luo was concerned, he had no intention of waiting until his Golden Core was complete.
The day the Jiazi Demon-Sweeping Campaign was relaunched…
Would be the day Lin Qingyan learned the truth.
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!
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
