The next day, before dawn, Gu Chengming woke up very early.
It wasn't that he hadn't slept well the previous night; on the contrary, after obtaining the "Daoist Connection," his mental state was clearer than ever before.
In a way, this also served as proof that the Daoist Connection was beneficial to one's health.
Gu Chengming sat cross-legged on his bunk and began to analyze the description and usage of this new CG.
There were two abilities, one offensive and one defensive: "Borrowing Luck" allowed him to intercept a Daoist friend's opportunities, while "Way Out" allowed him to retreat behind a Daoist friend.
However, the method for obtaining Daoist Karma was rather subtle.
The requirement was for the other party to "identify with their relationship as a 'Daoist friend' with you from the bottom of their heart." The scope of a "Daoist friend" was broad, and the condition of it being "from the bottom of their heart" left plenty of room for interpretation; one could say the literal description did not truly express the difficulty involved.
Gu Chengming thought about it and felt it was necessary to conduct an experiment.
It wasn't that he was in a hurry to accumulate Daoist Karma, but he needed to clarify a few things.
First, he had to determine how high the threshold for triggering was and whether the other party would notice.
He opened his eyes, his gaze looking through the cabin window toward the deck.
Morning light had not yet broken; the sky in the extreme north was a deep indigo, with a few remaining stars hanging on the horizon. There was already movement on the deck.
Chu Heng was standing at the bow calibrating a compass, with Jiang Yun squatting beside him as the two discussed their heading in low voices.
Gu Chengming's gaze lingered on Jiang Yun for two breaths.
He would be the test subject.
...
The reason for choosing Jiang Yun was simple.
This person had taken the initiative to show goodwill first, so the foundation of a relationship was already laid; furthermore, this person was smooth and socially adept, meaning his acceptance threshold for the concept of a "Daoist friend" would typically be lower.
Most importantly, Gu Chengming wanted to test this man's depth.
Yesterday, Jiang Yun had proactively offered tea and gifted a jade slip, acting with plenty of enthusiasm but appropriate restraint—a standard "clever person making friends" approach that was beyond reproach.
Yet the 《Red Dust Phantom Step》's evaluation of him was: "This person has formed a good bond with just a few words; he has good methods."
This sentence itself wasn't a warning, but the 《Red Dust Phantom Step》 rarely evaluated others; since it had spoken up, it meant Jiang Yun had been categorized as "worthy of attention" in its judgment system.
Therefore, rather than waiting passively, it was better to take the initiative, testing the "Daoist Connection" while simultaneously feeling out his depth.
Gu Chengming stood up, straightened his robes, and pushed the door open to walk toward the deck.
"Fellow Daoist Gu, early, aren't you?"
Jiang Yun was the first to notice him, immediately greeting him with a smile.
Chu Heng also nodded but said nothing more, continuing to bury his head in calibrating the compass.
"Fellow Daoist Jiang." Gu Chengming walked to his side and naturally leaned against the railing: "Up so early?"
"I'm used to it. When I was at the Sitian Office, Vice Envoy Chu would hold morning meetings every day at the Hour of the Rabbit; being late once meant being punished with copying three geomancy maps." Jiang Yun shook his head with a bitter smile, which Chu Heng heard with a rather helpless expression.
Gu Chengming smiled.
The two chatted idly for a while, ranging from the climate of the extreme north to the distribution patterns of spiritual veins. Jiang Yun was indeed well-versed in these professional fields, and his eyes and brows were filled with enthusiasm when he spoke of geomancy.
Gu Chengming timely expressed some curiosity and admiration, which made Jiang Yun speak with even more vigor, as if he had found a kindred spirit.
Following the flow of conversation, Gu Chengming took out the jade slip Jiang Yun had gifted him yesterday from his storage pouch.
"I went back and looked closely at the insights regarding spiritual veins you gave me yesterday, Fellow Daoist Jiang." He flipped the jade slip in his palm: "It truly has unique points, especially that section discussing the folding of deep-level spiritual veins; even the documents in the Imperial Observatory rarely mention it."
Hearing this, Jiang Yun's eyes brightened slightly, but he immediately waved his hand modestly: "It's nothing, just some experience accumulated over several generations in my sect."
"I happen to have some information about the northern border to offer in return." Gu Chengming took out a pre-prepared jade slip and handed it over.
It was a portion of the spiritual vein distribution maps for the extreme north's permafrost layers that he had collected through the Myriad Wonders Gathering during his time at Falling Snow Pass; the intelligence had all content related to the Night Guard Division's military deployments removed, leaving only pure geological and spiritual vein information.
For the Sitian Office, this information was indeed of significant reference value.
Jiang Yun took the jade slip and scanned it with spiritual energy, his face instantly showing pleasant surprise.
"Fellow Daoist Gu, this information is extremely useful to my office. Many thanks!"
"You're too polite, Fellow Daoist Jiang." Gu Chengming laughed: "When traveling abroad, it's always better for everyone to share what they have than to keep it hidden."
Jiang Yun solemnly tucked the jade slip into his robe and patted his chest: "I will remember this favor, Fellow Daoist Gu. If you ever need anything in the future, just ask."
Gu Chengming secretly sensed through the "Daoist Connection," but there was no reaction, which made him feel some doubt.
"How long has Fellow Daoist Jiang been with the Sitian Office?"
"Almost eight years." Jiang Yun sighed: "I started as a small errand runner and followed Vice Envoy Chu through spiritual veins across the length and breadth of Daqian, crawling through all sorts of wretched lands."
"Hard work."
"It's not so much hard work as it is feeling like this job has no end sometimes."
There was a hint of genuine helplessness in Jiang Yun's tone: "We survey the spiritual veins every year and draw the maps every year, but when it actually comes time to influence decisions, no one listens to you. The lords in the court only care about how many spirit stones can be mined from the deposits; as for how to preserve the spiritual veins long-term, that's just the Sitian Office talking to itself." At this point, he seemed to realize he had complained too much and quickly smiled as he changed the subject:
"But then again, being able to come to Tianque this time can be considered a wish of many years fulfilled. The spiritual vein structures of ancient secret realms are completely different from the outside world; if I can get first-hand survey intelligence, it'll be enough to sustain me for a lifetime."
Gu Chengming listened to his words, secretly pondering.
Jiang Yun's complaints might not be entirely sincere, but the resentment over the "Sitian Office being neglected" did not seem acted.
The Sitian Office's status in Daqian's power structure was not high, sandwiched between the three mountains of the Night Guard Division, the Imperial Observatory, and the Honglu Temple; they did the hardest work but received the least credit, a situation that was indeed prone to breeding dissatisfaction.
Gu Chengming was silent for two breaths before saying something that seemed casual.
"Spiritual vein directions, secret realm coordinates, and deep-level mineral distributions are just numbers on a report to the court, but to certain forces that don't play by the rules, these survey maps are worth their weight in gold."
"Are you talking about those smugglers?" Jiang Yun frowned.
Gu Chengming did not speak the name, merely taking another jade slip from his storage pouch.
The content stored in this jade slip was much more sensitive than the spiritual vein intelligence from before; it was a list he had recovered from Pavilion Master Qian's secret stronghold during his purge of the Wanjin Pavilion in the northern border.
The list did not record goods but rather a series of place names; Gu Chengming had seen nearly a third of the locations on the list in the Imperial Observatory's Records of Natural Disasters.
Those places were all high-risk areas classified by the Imperial Observatory as having "natural disasters triggered by spiritual vein imbalances."
In other words, this was a list of "target locations" screened by the force behind the Wanjin Pavilion through some channel of intelligence.
The reason he hadn't reported it directly was that the list itself did not constitute ironclad evidence; the name or mark of the Longevity Sect did not appear on it, only locations and annotations.
But right now, it could serve as a touchstone.
"Fellow Daoist Jiang, take a look at this." Gu Chengming handed the jade slip over.
Jiang Yun was somewhat surprised, but out of goodwill from Gu Chengming's previous generous gift of intelligence, he didn't ask much, taking it and activating his spiritual energy to scan it.
Gu Chengming did not look at the jade slip, instead using the Red Dust Technique to closely sense the other party's emotional changes.
The content of the jade slip wasn't long; scanning it only took about a dozen breaths.
Jiang Yun's emotions fluctuated briefly—it wasn't the emotion of "seeing interesting information" but rather the reaction of "recognizing something."
"Fellow Daoist Gu, where did you get this?" His tone was steady, but the direction of his question was wrong.
A normal Sitian Office technical official, upon seeing an unidentified list of place names, should have a first reaction of "what's special about these places" or "what do you want me to analyze."
But Jiang Yun asked about the source.
He didn't care about the content of the list; he cared about the origin of the list, which indicated he already knew what those places on the list meant.
Gu Chengming's expression remained unchanged as he replied casually: "It was recovered from a smuggling stronghold during a bandit purge in the northern border. I originally thought it was just an ordinary mineral survey record, but since a few of the place names matched the Imperial Observatory's Records of Natural Disasters, I thought it was somewhat interesting."
"Let me look more closely."
He lowered his head and went through the list again.
Immediately after, Gu Chengming felt a mysterious and profound karmic connection form.
—Daoist Karma!
【Daoist Connection CG Unlock Progress +10】
Looking at the pop-up window appearing before him, Gu Chengming became lost in thought.
If Jiang Yun were a pure member of the Sitian Office, his normal reaction to seeing that list should be "this information is valuable to my research," but his reaction was not like that.
This was the reaction of someone who already knew this information existed—or perhaps had been following similar clues for a long time—upon unexpectedly meeting a fellow traveler.
So the question was, why would an assistant of the Sitian Office be following the spiritual vein layouts related to the Longevity Sect for a long time?
Gu Chengming could not yet determine the other party's identity, but in any case, that layer of Daoist Karma should not be used lightly.
Gu Chengming sealed this layer of karmic connection along with his suspicions about Jiang Yun deep in his heart.
Afterward, the two chatted about a few inconsequential matters before Jiang Yun was called back by Chu Heng to continue calibrating the flight path; Gu Chengming then leaned against the railing alone, watching the horizon gradually turn white.
Morning light finally broke through the indigo canopy of the extreme north; the flying boat glided smoothly over the frozen earth, and the people in the cabins also woke up one after another, each beginning their final preparations before entering the secret realm.
...
Time passed unknowingly until it was morning.
The Feidan crossed the last of the frozen hills, and the landscape ahead suddenly changed.
The white crystalline earth vanished, replaced by a black wasteland.
That black was not the color of soil but was paved with some kind of dark stone; the entire land looked as if it had been leveled by a giant scraper, unnaturally flat. Occasionally, a few black stone pillars stood lonely on the wasteland, their heights uneven—the tallest reaching dozens of feet, while the shortest were about the height of a person.
Xu Huayi stood on the deck, her gaze sweeping over those stone pillars, when she suddenly let out a soft "Eh?"
"What is it?" Zhou Hui leaned over.
"There are patterns on those stone pillars."
Spiritual light flickered slightly in Xu Huayi's eyes: "It's not natural weathering patterns; they were carved by hand." She furrowed her brows: "They look like... boundary markers?"
"They are boundary markers."
Chu Heng's voice came from the bow; he put down the compass in his hand, his expression grave.
"These stone pillars are the Sealing Boundary Markers of the extreme north's periphery, set up by several great experts in ancient times to mark the range of a certain natural disaster's influence. In the area within the stone pillars, the spatial structure is no longer completely stable."
He paused and added: "From now on, the efficiency of the Feidan's arrays will continue to decline. In at most another half hour of travel, we must abandon the boat and proceed on foot."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's expressions turned a bit more serious.
Abandoning the boat and proceeding on foot meant losing their greatest mobility advantage, and it also meant that from this moment on, the fates of the nine people were tied together.
Lu Mingzhang closed his folding fan and rarely took the initiative to speak: "Vice Envoy Chu, after entering the range of the boundary markers, does the movement plan for each team need to be renegotiated?"
"Although the danger level in the outer area of Tianque is relatively low, the spatial structure is unstable, and fissures and turbulence could appear at any time. I suggest we organize into three groups of three, maintaining communication distance between groups but not huddling too closely—this way, we can support each other if we encounter danger while avoiding being swallowed by the same spatial fissure all at once."
He looked around at everyone, waiting for a response.
"Reasonable," Ma Xiao stated concisely.
"No objections," Xu Huayi nodded.
Lu Mingzhang smiled: "We'll follow the host's arrangements."
Gu Chengming also nodded; this plan was most beneficial to the Sitian Office, most grueling for the Night Guard Division, and for the Honglu Temple... Gu Chengming glanced at Lu Mingzhang; that smiling tiger had no objections to this plan.
When did the people of the Honglu Temple become so easy to talk to?
However, now was not the time to look into this matter. Since the grouping plan was settled, everyone went back to their cabins to organize their equipment, sealing unnecessary supplies on the Feidan and only carrying light combat and survival materials.
Gu Chengming checked his storage pouch, confirming that his pills, talismans, and backup spirit stones were all there, and then returned to the deck to wait.
...
Half an hour later, just as Chu Heng had said, the Feidan's array output plummeted.
The consumption rate of spirit stones climbed to three times the normal value, visible fluctuations began to appear in the protective light screen, and the hull also began to jolt from time to time.
After traveling for about fifteen minutes, Gu Chengming noticed some unusual signs.
Some were shallow footprints, mostly covered by sand and stones but with outlines still vaguely discernible; some were marks left by blades and swords hacking at the stone pillars, the spiritual energy residue at the cuts being extremely weak but not yet fully dissipated.
Those runes did not belong to the stone pillars' own sealing arrays but were added later by someone.
"Someone has been here." He crouched down, his finger tracing those obscured runes: "And more than one group. These runes have at least three different styles of brushwork, with a time span from several months to a year ago?"
Lu Mingzhang walked forward, his gaze flashing: "Didn't Tianque just open?"
"The entrance to Tianque just opened." Chu Heng stood up, his tone growing a bit more serious: "But the outer area of Tianque has always existed; it was just impossible to enter the core. The zone between these stone pillars was not completely locked down even when Tianque was closed; for some cultivators with superior methods, it was not impossible to operate in the outer area."
After speaking, Chu Heng was the first to deploy his compass and began calculating the spiritual vein directions ahead; Jiang Yun and Tao Yong followed closely behind, and the three quickly entered work mode.
Xu Huayi and Zhou Hui crouched by a boundary marker to study the runes on it, discussing in low voices from time to time, while Lu Mingzhang leaned against another stone pillar, his folding fan half-covering his face in a look of leisurely indifference.
Meanwhile, Gu Chengming was experiencing an extremely subtle form of torture.
"Vice Commander Gu! Look at the patterns on this stone pillar; don't they look like a dragon?"
Zhou Qingmu crouched by a short stone pillar, tilting her head up to wave at Gu Chengming, her tone full of the curiosity and excitement a young senior banner entering the periphery of a secret realm for the first time should have.
Gu Chengming walked over and looked down; it had absolutely nothing to do with a dragon.
'Have you even seen a dragon? You're just talking nonsense and making assumptions.'
Oh, wait, she actually might have seen one.
"It does have a bit of a resemblance."
"Right, right!"
Zhou Qingmu stood up, patted the dust from her knees, and followed smilingly at Gu Chengming's side, her pace as light as if she were going to a temple fair:
"I've always been out on missions before; this is my first time coming this far north. Vice Commander Gu is widely experienced, so you'll have to give me more guidance in the future."
Gu Chengming: "..."
'Director Zhou, could you please dial back this "unintentional" act just a little bit?'
What made Gu Chengming even more helpless was that this "Senior Banner Shen" really loved to put on a show.
During their advance, she would deliberately fall half a step behind to walk at Gu Chengming's side and slightly to the rear—the standard positioning for a subordinate toward a superior.
When encountering suspicious terrain, she would first look at Gu Chengming's reaction before making her own judgment.
With her status and strength, there was absolutely no need for her to personally take this risk; even if she was worried about his safety, she could have just sent a secret guard to watch him. Why risk herself? If her identity were exposed in the secret realm, it would be a huge mess.
Clearly, she had something she wanted to handle personally.
Gu Chengming pushed this thought aside for now, and during a gap while everyone was busy, he inconspicuously approached Zhou Qingmu.
"Fellow Daoist Shen."
"Hmm?" Zhou Qingmu was crouching on the ground using a short blade to dig out a spiritual mineral fragment half-buried in the dark stone; hearing his voice, she looked up with a brilliant smile: "Does Vice Commander Gu need something?"
"Vice Envoy Chu said earlier that we'll be moving in three groups after entering the boundary marker range."
Gu Chengming crouched beside her: "The three of us from the Night Guard Division will naturally be one group."
"Of course."
"Secret realms are dangerous; trust within the group is most crucial."
Gu Chengming's tone was sincere: "Vice Commander Ma is steady, that goes without saying. But this is the first time Fellow Daoist Shen and I have worked together, and we aren't familiar with each other yet; if we encounter danger, there will inevitably be lapses in cooperation."
Zhou Qingmu blinked, seemingly pondering the meaning of his words.
"So what Vice Commander Gu means is—"
"What I mean is... this journey is unpredictably dangerous; since we are colleagues, we share a life-and-death bond. If Fellow Daoist Shen can trust me, then from now on in the secret realm, I will block the swords for you, and you will cover my rear. How about it?"
"Look at what Vice Commander Gu is saying." Zhou Qingmu stood up and generously extended her hand: "Of course! It is my honor to be partnered with Vice Commander Gu; let's look out for each other from now on!"
Their hands met.
Gu Chengming silently sensed—
There was no change in the Daoist Connection.
'As expected, it's not that simple.'
The trigger condition for the "Daoist Connection" was for the other party to "identify with the Daoist friend relationship from the bottom of their heart," and Zhou Qingmu's current identity was "Shen Jinghong"; she was establishing a connection with Gu Chengming through a false identity.
Even if she truly trusted Gu Chengming deep in her heart, beneath this shell of "Shen Jinghong," her self-perception was "a superior secretly protecting a subordinate," rather than "equal trust between Daoist friends."
'It seems clinging to this thigh won't be that easy.'
Gu Chengming sighed in his heart and put the matter aside for now.
...
Meanwhile.
On the other side of the team, Jiang Yun was crouching by a stone pillar, his compass spinning rapidly as he recorded spiritual vein data while communicating with Chu Heng in low voices.
"Vice Envoy, there is an abnormal fold in the spiritual vein three miles ahead; the deep structure looks like it's been artificially altered."
"Mark it down; we'll investigate in detail later."
"Understood."
Jiang Yun responded, sunlight spilling through the gaps in the clouds and shining on his handsome and amiable face.
Jiang Yun's original name was not Jiang Yun.
To be precise, he had many names.
In the Sitian Office, he was Jiang Yun, a diligent and dedicated assistant who had followed Vice Envoy Chu through spiritual veins for eight years; his professional ability was solid, and he was smooth but not annoying—the type of versatile talent that leaders liked and colleagues didn't find bothersome.
In the Taihao Gate, he was a disciple at the peak of the Third Realm with passable but not outstanding aptitude; he practiced hard, had a mild personality, and had a low presence—when fellow disciples mentioned him, they would usually only say, "Oh, that Junior Brother Jiang, he's a nice person."
And in the Longevity Sect—his title was The Babbler.
He was best at deluding people's hearts.
The origin of this title was quite particular; the word "babble" originally meant the nonsensical talk of a person beyond the control of reason, and Jiang Yun's skill was precisely to find that "babble" deep in everyone's heart, then amplify, distort, and reshape it until that person willingly walked the path he had laid out.
No need for threats, no need for bribes, and the other party didn't even need to know they were being deluded.
He just chatted with them.
What a great talent.
Unfortunately, the space for this talent to be displayed had been a bit cramped lately.
The story began more than half a year ago.
At that time, Jiang Yun was in a fairly good mood.
The Hehuan Sect project was progressing smoothly, Sorrow and Joy had already infiltrated successfully, and the layout on Near Heaven's side was also moving step by step; according to the original plan, after Sorrow and Joy devoured the emotions of all the Hehuan Sect disciples, he would personally enter the scene.
He had even thought of the rhetoric.
To those disciples who had lost their joy, anger, sorrow, and delight, he only needed to say softly—"You haven't lost your emotions; you've been liberated."
"Emotions are shackles, the poison of the red dust, and the Longevity Sect can give you true freedom." Then those thousand-plus people would become the Longevity Sect's most devout believers.
Then something happened in the capital; Jiang Yun no longer wanted to recall the specifics.
In short, it was a series of butterfly effects that forced him to temporarily set aside the Hehuan Sect project and rush to the capital to put out fires for several months at the Sitian Office.
The process of putting out fires wasn't worth mentioning either; it was nothing more than cleaning up messes, patching holes, and diverting attention. Fortunately, he had operated in the Sitian Office for eight years, with deep connections and seasoned methods, and he finally managed to fudge through the mess in the capital.
Jiang Yun let out a long breath, thinking he could finally go back and continue advancing the Hehuan Sect project.
Then he received news from Near Heaven.
Sorrow and Joy had been punched to death, and the Hehuan Sect plan was declared a total failure.
During this period, he went through the four stages of denial, anger, depression, and acceptance, which finally summarized into one sentence.
'How am I supposed to play this shit now?'
Now the Hehuan Sect was completely out of the question, and his status within the sect was also in jeopardy.
Of course, as one of the elders of the Longevity Sect, Jiang Yun quickly regained his composure and re-invested himself in the great cause of building the Longevity Sect.
Regarding how to handle the variable that was Gu Chengming, there had been a short discussion within the Longevity Sect.
The hawks believed they should take the opportunity when he entered the Tianque Secret Realm to kill him directly, but the Sect Master vetoed the proposal.
Given the track record Gu Chengming had previously shown, the consequences of a failed assassination would be disastrous; not only would it alert the enemy, but it might also cause all the Longevity Sect's layouts within Tianque to be exposed as a result.
—Then he could only return to his old profession.
The higher-ups had issued him a new command: test Gu Chengming in the Tianque Secret Realm and, if possible, "win him over."
It didn't matter if he couldn't be won over; at the very least, a rift had to be created between him and Daqian.
This task sounded difficult; after all, Gu Chengming's reputation was now quite loud—the words "Murder Demon" could stop a child's crying at night, and there were even rumors among the sect's high-level members that this kid was very likely the reincarnation of some ancient old ghost.
But Jiang Yun was not worried.
This was Tianque; for this day, the Longevity Sect had infiltrated the secret realm for sixty whole years.
They had constructed a "Dao Throne" belonging to the Longevity Sect there.
"Fellow Daoist Gu, oh, Fellow Daoist Gu."
He softly murmured this title in his heart.
"Our friendship as Daoist friends will last for a long time yet."
"Jiang Yun? What are you dazing for?" Chu Heng's voice came from ahead.
"Coming, coming!"
Jiang Yun stood up with a smile, patted the dust from his knees, and his compass began to spin once more.
...
The team continued to push forward.
The stone pillars on the black wasteland became denser and denser, and the gaps between them became narrower, as if some invisible force were driving everyone in one direction. The concentration of spiritual energy in the air began to fluctuate violently, at times becoming so thick it was nearly stagnant, and at others so thin it was almost a vacuum.
The compass needle in Chu Heng's hand spun faster and faster, and his steps slowed accordingly, finally stopping before the tallest stone pillar.
"The entrance to Tianque is just ahead." His voice was torn and blurred by the suddenly rising wind: "Everyone close in, do not fall out of line."
The nine people quickly tightened their formation, the distance between them compressing to within three steps.
The wind suddenly grew fierce.
In the distant gray mist, the silhouette of an illusory pavilion made of pure white light flickered in and out of view.
"We're here."
Space distorted, stretched, and folded before their eyes, like a crumpled ink wash painting.
That was the first wonder of Tianque's periphery, originating from a Dao Throne: 【Words of Floating Life】
Everyone stepped into the secret realm, and their vision blurred.
However, when their vision regained clarity, two people were missing from the team.
"Vice Commander Gu and Miss Xu are gone!"
Chu Heng's brows were tightly furrowed, the compass in his hand spinning frantically, the needle jumping like it had gone mad: "The spatial structure here is completely chaotic."
Everyone was startled, only Jiang Yun, standing at the back of the team, seemed to be looking around with an anxious face, while in reality, his heart relaxed.
It worked.
Was the Longevity Sect's sixty years of infiltration a joke?
In this outer area of Tianque, they had long ago arranged several directional teleportation nodes, just waiting for the fated person to step in.
And that place called the "Hall of Witnessing Desires" was precisely what he had prepared for Gu Chengming.
Under the Dao Throne rules of the Hall of Witnessing Desires, the scene everyone saw would change according to the desires or fears in their own subconscious.
As the planner, Jiang Yun had absolute confidence in the dark side of human nature.
Gu Chengming? A suspected ancestor of the Hehuan Sect?
For an old monster who had lived for hundreds of years, no matter how dignified he acted on the surface, there was no telling how many filthy thoughts were hidden in his heart—not to mention he was the ancestor of a lustful sect like the Hehuan Sect.
In that environment, his desires would surely be infinitely amplified, turning into the ugliest bestiality.
And what was Xu Huayi? A direct descendant of the Tianting Sect, a future star of the Imperial Observatory, the most righteous of the righteous.
Once a righteous female cultivator witnessed her companion's "true face"—
Hehehe.
Jiang Yun suppressed the anticipation in his heart and continued to observe.
In the image, the two figures stood facing each other for a while.
Then the female figure, Xu Huayi, began to make some movement, seemingly pulling things out from her person.
She pulled out a lot, more and more, piling them all over the ground.
Finally, she emptied her storage pouch.
Then she stood straight, facing Gu Chengming; Jiang Yun quickly reasoned out the scene before him.
After Xu Huayi saw Gu Chengming's desire, she pulled out her entire net worth and piled it in front of him.
A righteous female cultivator, in a trapped secret room, facing a male cultivator whose desires had been fully exposed, took out all her valuable things.
What other explanation could there be for this scene?
—She was begging for mercy.
She had seen Gu Chengming's unspeakable desires, was terrified, and was trying to use her entire net worth to trade for her own safety and purity.
In other words, the desire Gu Chengming had displayed through the Dao Throne was so terrifying that it caused a Third Realm prodigy to break down on the spot, not hesitating to give away all her wealth to save herself.
Haha, as expected, has Gu Chengming's bestial nature broken out?
'I knew it, Gu Chengming, you are a natural born demon; beneath your heart that pursues justice, hides the deepest malice of mankind. To you, killing is as natural as breathing, and women are as simple as eating and dressing.'
'Well then, let me see what the desire deep in your heart actually is.'
Jiang Yun used the induction artifact in his hand to trigger the Dao Throne, drawing Gu Chengming's intercepted desire before his eyes.
Slowly, several large words began to emerge.
【Retracing the Path of the Heavenly Emperor!】
"?"
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