Chapter 261: Mingkong, You’ve Indeed Changed; The Identity of Other Demonic Arts’ Inheritor!
Within the pavilion, silence reigned, and apart from the people of Heavenly Emperor’s Mountain, only Yue Mingkong could be seen seated there.
Her expression at this moment was cold and indifferent, an Immortal Fairy exempt from worldly dust and woes, her figure as flawless as if it were carved using the best divine jade.
She wore an imposing azure long-robe, her picturesque beauty apparent without even needing any makeup; graceful and ethereal, as her hair cascaded like a thousand waterfalls, tied by a simple jade hairpin.
Unadorned. Seemingly plain. Yet it was enough to eclipse any Heavenly Daughter ten folds over.
That subtle aura of imperial majesty made all present at Heavenly Emperor’s Mountain dare not underestimate her, adjusting their approach to a more cautious one.
She was a peerless Empress one should not anger.
Moreover, Yue Mingkong was also Gu Changge’s rightful fiancée.
During this period of time, the rumours of Gu Changge appearing on the battlefield heroically to save the beauty Ying Yu had been widely spread around the world, making many Daughters of Heaven envious.
As such, Yue Mingkong suddenly issuing a warning like this today was something that everyone in Heavenly Emperor’s Mountain expected. They could easily guess that the two matters were related, and they knew that the other party was not making trouble for no reason.
There were things they should not think about no matter how much they wanted to.
Gu Changge was an extremely good match for Ying Yu, but that was only if he didn’t already have a marriage contract, much less a contract to a Daoist Faction as strong as the Supreme Immortal Dynasty.
Unfortunately, the lady’s feelings would have to shelve any good feelings for him in the end.
Because the union was destined to be impossible in the first place.
“What is the meaning of Princess Mingkong’s words? Could it be that you are afraid that this seat might snatch your fiancé away from your fingertips?”
At this time, Ying Yu also realized the true intentions behind Yue Mingkong’s warning, which caused her to immediately frown, unable to help but fire back.
T*t-for-tat.
She didn’t like Yue Mingkong’s casual attitude, as if she controlled everything in the world.
They were both Daughters of Heaven, so why should she bow her head in front of this girl?
She did indeed have a certain fondness for Gu Changge, but for Yue Mingkong to come out and say it like this, wasn’t that basically the same as shaming her?
Hearing the barbed reply, Yue Mingkong merely shook her head, her face remaining unchanged.
Her words were the same as before, devoid of any inflections.
“I’m just saving you, for your own good. If you don’t wish to be left in pain in the future, then stay away from Gu Changge, no matter what you do.”
“As for taking him away?”
The young Empress chuckled mockingly.
From beginning to end, she wasn’t worried that any woman would fall into Gu Changge’s eyes. She herself was very possessive, but that was only towards actual threats, as some women were simply destined to become Gu Changge’s pawns, and nothing more.
Doesn’t an end like that seem too pitiful?
But she didn’t really care if the other party didn’t appreciate her kind persuasion.
She had said what she needed to say. If Ying Yu proceeded deeper and deeper down this path, then so be it, since she would be the only one getting hurt in the end.
Prince Ying became the Demonic Arts Inheritor.
Becoming the enemy of the entire world.
Brother and sister turned against each other.
There was no way she would believe it if Gu Changge said that he hadn’t done anything during that whole situation. The cunning traps and all-encompassing schemes… it all fit with his usual style. But what if Ying Yu happened to find out the truth in the future?
Yue Mingkong was afraid that her hatred would soar to the high heavens.
Killing Gu Changge and drinking his blood and flesh wouldn’t be enough.
And at the same time, with Gu Changge’s temperament, he would never show mercy to Ying Yu.
Yue Mingkong just thought that such a disaster could be avoided, so she came here beforehand to warn her. As for this so-called jealousy that Ying Yu spoke of, Yue Mingkong actually didn’t care.
However, Yue Mingkong also didn’t know that the real Ying Shuang had long been replaced, taken over by a horse feeder.
So as far as Gu Changge was concerned, Ying Yu finding out the truth wasn’t something scary at all.
“What do you mean by that?”
Ying Yu frowned, not understanding why Yue Mingkong’s expression showed a slight pity.
But Yue Mingkong didn’t continue her sentence, her demeanour returning to her usual coldness.
Eyes bright with inexplicable emotion.
Seeing that Yue Mingkong stopped talking, Ying Yu took a deep breath, calmed down, and spoke:
“Young Master Gu has been kind to me and Heavenly Emperor’s Mountain. I will find a way to repay him in the future. As for other things, Princess Mingkong, you shouldn’t worry too much.”
Finishing her words, she planned to leave shortly afterwards.
Yue Mingkong nodded as well, “It’s fine if you know this.”
And yet, before the meeting could finally conclude—
“Ah, Mingkong, you were here? I’ve been searching quite a while for you…”
A slightly surprised voice suddenly sounded from underneath the pavilion steps, followed by a series of quick footsteps coming up from the stairs.
The visitor was dressed in a moon-white robe, tall and straight, with a gentle smile on his face.
A group of powerful cultivators followed his every move.
Gu Changge.
The All-Devouring Sky’s Battlefield had not been peaceful recently, so he simply let it be, intending to find out the true identity of the other Demonic Arts Inheritor before proceeding any further.
In addition, Gu Changge had heard the news regarding Yue Mingkong’s visit to Profound Heaven, and since he so happened to have something to ask her about, he arrived there soon after.
Speaking of which, as the Human Ancestor was the most recent Favoured Son of Heaven Gu Changge dealt with, it stands to reason that the next Favoured Son of Heaven would not appear for a while.
Nonetheless, judging from the system prompts, the appearance of the Scarlet Demon…
Seemed to be unavoidable.
And it was exactly information pertaining to this demon that he wanted to get from Yue Mingkong’s mouth, as he thought that perhaps she would know something about her.
At this moment, upon hearing his voice, Ying Yu—who was about to get up and leave—stiffened, and was slightly taken aback.
She couldn’t help but stop in her tracks in shock.
Had Gu Changge heard what she and Yue Mingkong were discussing about just now?
“Young Master Gu…”
“Young Master Changge…”
Everyone in Heavenly Emperor’s Mountain hurriedly saluted Gu Changge with very respectful expressions.
Gu Changge nodded a tad in response, his eyes sweeping over everyone, before locking onto Yue Mingkong who had been sitting calmly at the back of the meeting room.
The corner of his lips raised in intrigue.
“…!”
Yue Mingkong’s hand clenched onto her robe.
Ying Yu didn’t know if it was her own imagination or not…
But at that moment, Yue Mingkong, who had always seemed calm and composed, suddenly looked a little flustered, her expression unnatural as if she’d been caught doing something wrong.
Though that feeling swiftly disappeared.
“Changge, did you find me for something?”
Yue Mingkong spoke first, fine-tuning her tone to act unsurprised.
Having said that, she wasn’t really all that surprised at Gu Changge’s sudden appearance.
He had indeed been observing her for quite some time now.
Although this was their first real meeting between them since the Gu Family Banquet, Yue Mingkong knew very well that Gu Changge would not let her whereabouts be unknown to him, and that he was most likely keenly observing her actions all throughout her Tianchen Realm journey.
It’s just that Gu Changge had never once shown himself in person.
And yet, today of all days, when she finally took the initiative regarding Ying Yu’s affairs, he appears?
Was he afraid that she would end up ruining his plans?
Yue Mingkong felt slightly puzzled.
“Do I need any reason to come and see you?”
Gu Changge casually smiled, walking to her side so naturally, before then gently holding her hand, in front of everyone no less, looking like a pair of old loving couples.
This scene made everyone in Heavenly Emperor’s Mountain smile bitterly.
Ying Yu didn’t expect Gu Changge to make such a move in public as well.
In her opinion, wasn’t this action tantamount to Gu Changge indirectly telling her that Yue Mingkong was the only person he had in his heart?
For a moment, she felt inexplicably disappointed, but this emotion quickly dissipated.
Yue Mingkong froze for a moment, staring at Gu Changge with eyes as cold as flawless jewels, “You… are you afraid that I will be jealous of this little lass?”
If it was in the past, she would definitely feel a bit embarrassed with Gu Changge’s behaviour.
But after knowing that Gu Changge liked to play tricks on her the most when she became shy…
She tried not to care about it anymore.
Because in front of this guy, the more shy she is, the more he likes to tease her.
Yue Mingkong wouldn’t let him succeed this time.
Gu Changge merely shook his head, his smile remaining undiminished, “I know you are sensible and don’t care about such things, so let’s not scare people anymore.”
Speaking of which.
He then turned his head and smiled at Ying Yu, who was quite puzzled, “Mingkong has always been very jealous. Whenever there are other women around me, she will always be like this—”
“Gu Changge…!”
Yue Mingkong abruptly interrupted him, looking a little annoyed. Gu Changge clearly understood the reason why she was here, yet he said something so clueless anyways, does he think that the current embarrassment to her wasn’t big enough?!
Hearing this, Ying Yu couldn’t help but be a little dumbfounded.
She replied hastily.
“Young Master Gu, please rest assured. I won’t take this trivial matter to heart. Since you’re already meeting Princess Mingkong, this seat will not join in the fun as an outsider. Next time, I will definitely invite Young Master Gu over to Heavenly Emperor’s Mountain for a friendly talk, and repay the debts.”
“We’ll take our leave first.”
After that, she left alongside those from Heavenly Emperor’s Mountain, not wanting to outstay their welcome.
“Miss Ying Yu, please walk slowly.”
With a faint smile on his face, Gu Changge watched them leave.
But the moment they finally left, the warm smile on Gu Changge’s face gradually faded, exchanged immediately into a hopelessly cold expression, as he ordered everyone to retreat.
Then, he looked towards Yue Mingkong with interest and asked, “Is Ming Kong worrying that I will hurt Ying Yu? In your heart, am I such a ruthless person?”
He naturally knew that Yue Mingkong wasn’t really acting jealous.
Her visiting Ying Yu was purely out of good intentions. A trivial matter.
For him, Ying Yu and Ying Shuang were no different, pawns that he could discard as he saw fit.
Regardless of what direction one pulled from, her status was far less than Yue Mingkong’s in his heart.
“For you, she is just a pawn, but for her, you are her life-saving benefactor. Someone to admire.”
“Doesn’t that make her a pitiful person?”
Yue Mingkong answered softly, not even mentioning Gu Changge’s plot against Ying Shuang, which inevitably led to the break in the relationship between brother and sister.
She indeed never witnessed him doing so personally, but she knew in her heart that he was responsible for it.
Gu Changge smiled, “Pawn or not, isn’t important, I only know that you’re feeling jealous.”
Yue Mingkong stared at him, “So you’ll consider my feelings if I’m jealous?”
Gu Changge remained silent.
Yue Mingkong rolled his eyes gently, too lazy to bother with him.
However, neither of them mentioned the matter in the Lower Realm. Neither the Nirvana Lotus Seeds that Gu Changge had left behind… nor the outstanding change in Yue Mingkong’s cultivation level.
At this stage, even while facing Ancient Freaks, Yue Mingkong possessed the ability to battle against them head-on, without relying on any external power.
“It seems that during this time, you haven’t thought about your husband at all?”
Gu Changge’s expression suddenly dropped.
A lamenting sigh, “After hearing that you had arrived at Profound Heaven, your husband was almost overwhelmed with joy, but now my wife looks like she wants nothing to do with me.”
“Your husband is surely living a hard life.”
“…”
Hearing this sappy spiel, Yue Mingkong’s phoenix eyes stared coldly at him, not saying a single word. It seemed as if her words were like gold.1TL/N: Words like gold means that she didn’t want to waste her breath.
After all, she knew Gu Changge’s personality. So, she understood that, at this moment, he was simply playing tricks on her, and didn’t have any good intentions in mind.
Gu Changge also seemed helpless at her actions, and continued to sigh, “You have indeed changed.”
Yue Mingkong’s expression was calm, her peerless features without a trace of emotion, eyes as clear as water staring straight at Gu Changge.
A look that seemed to ask: ‘Let’s see how long you can pretend.’
In the next moment, Gu Changge suddenly made a move and picked her up by her waist and went directly into the depths of the pavilion.
“Changge…!”
Yue Mingkong was shocked by his abrupt gesture and gently exclaimed.
It was hard to keep calm like before. They were in broad daylight right now!
Gu Changge drawled slyly, “Now you know to call my name, this is what you forced me to do.”
“I’ll let you go if you call me hubby.”
“Hubby…”
Yue Mingkong had no choice but to put on a well-behaved look and do as he told.
She wasn’t Gu Changge’s opponent in the first place, so struggling would just be in vain.
“Wow, you really believed me? I was just kidding.” Gu Changge couldn’t help but tease her.
Yue Mingkong ground her teeth as her jade hands balled up into fists. No matter how good her state of mind was, the anger this time was too hot to be thrown away.
“GU! CHANG! GE!”
Moments later, waves of Qi fluctuations erupted from the pavilion depths, as endless runes flickered and entire palaces began to glow with a deadly aura. Moving mountains and splitting seas, buildings all around collapsed in an instant and became dilapidated ruins.
Many cultivators were alerted and wanted to explore the situation.
But those curious ones were quickly shooed away by Gu Changge’s followers, shocking them into a cold sweat, as they understood that this wasn’t something they should meddle in.
— — —
[At the same time, within Profound Heaven, a remote Ancient City.]
[Inside a quiet mansion.]
“Prince Ying, the Demonic Arts Inheritor…”
“Is this true? Or did you say something wrong…?”
A woman wearing a veil sat upon a stone chair, murmuring softly.
Her facial features were exquisite, with eyes still like autumn water, and ethereal eyebrows.
And although her true identity couldn’t be seen, it was difficult to hide her lofty temperament.
“How could there be another Demonic Arts’ Inheritor? Based on my memory, isn’t each generation limited to only one Inheritor? Having more than one seems a tad… unfair.”
She seemed to be talking to herself, yet it looked more as if she were actually talking to someone.
“Is there any unknown problem in this generation?”
“Impossible.”
The veiled lady suddenly sneered, her vile laugh echoing across her mind, showing a demonic self.
“So what exactly is it?”
The woman in white couldn’t help frowning, still unable to figure out the root of the issue, “Could it be that this Inheritor… is a fake? There was much chaos happening some time ago.”
“Whether it’s the Heavenly Dao Ancient City, or the Ancient Immortal Continent, the traces of the Demonic Arts Inheritors are ever-present.”
“The same is true for the Immortal Gu Family not long ago. Isn’t this rather unsettling?”
Her voice sounded puzzled, and she racked her brain to think about possibilities.
“Tch. We don’t need to worry about this anyways. This fake Demonic Arts’ Inheritor business is simply the icing on the cake, making it more convenient to act, so we don’t need to sneak around like before.”
In the woman’s mind, that demonic voice cackled once more.
“Right, we still need a lot of points if we want to enter the True Immortal Academy.”
“The All-Devouring Battlefield also seems to be very chaotic during this time. That’s good for us.”
Speaking until here, a trace of complexity shimmered in the veiled woman’s eyes, as if she suddenly thought of something important.
“What’s the matter? The black pot of the Demonic Arts Inheritor being pinned on that Prince Ying fellow has nothing to do with us. As long as we stay hidden, no one will be able to find any abnormalities.”
In her mind, the demonic voice sounded again, seemingly in a comforting tone.
But the demonic voice couldn’t hide its nature in the end, as it roared into life.
“Actually, as long as we become a bit bolder, using Gu Changge’s trust in you… if we devour him… with his talent, we’ll be able to—”
“Stop talking.”
Hearing this, the eyes of the woman in white suddenly became cold.
A horrible, churning, dark power emerged from the veiled lady, making the voice in her head stop its mouth instantly, as if it did not want to contradict her.
“How many times have I told you not to mention this? Otherwise, with my current ability, I know I can just devour you completely. And you should know that too.”
The voice of the woman in white soon restored its original serenity, but the words she spoke made the voice hiding inside her mind dead silent, appearing visibly scared.
But soon, the voice spoke again, sounding very unwilling.
“You are the true Demonic Arts Inheritor, destined to stand on the opposite side of everyone and everything in this world. Do you really plan to just be a girl who pours tea and cuts the fruit in front of him, and for a lifetime at that?”
“Gu Changge has never regarded you as his woman. You must understand that. In his eyes, you’re just a plaything, something he comes to tease if he’s in a good mood, and discarded if he’s not.”
“Su Qingge. Are you not a smart person? Then you should know what Gu Changge has done during these past few weeks. If you let him know that you’re the true Demonic Arts Inheritor, do you think he would just let you go? No! He should not, cannot, will not, will never! Let! You! Go!”
“He will kill you. With his own two hands.”
“Shut it! Although Young Master’s character is righteous, he won’t do such a thing. I know him very well.”
The voice of the veiled lady grew angrier and angrier, even holding a trace of a tremble.
As if she herself couldn’t believe in her own words.
“Hehe, a passionate woman in love, blind to reality. Did you really think that Gu Changge’s heart is yours? That you even have a piece? If so, would he leave you in the Upper Realm for so long? Does he even ask about you? Does he even care for you? He simply threw you to the Primordial Divine Sect and left!”
“You have to know that the two of us have an inseparable link. Are my thoughts not just your own hidden thoughts? Things you dare not to say out loud, but I dare, and I do say.”
“If you must insist that Gu Changge will stand on your side, then go tell him! Tell him that you are the Demonic Arts’ Inheritor! Tell him and see what he will do…”
“Arghhhhhhh! Shut up!”
The expression of the woman in white froze over like winter, as a burst of Demonic Energy exploded into the surface, like a bubble from the depths of the deep sea. Endless rows of teeth, carved onto a pale body, teeth without a monster in sight, yet still hungering, yet still devouring.
As if it wanted to swallow all things. To swallow Life itself.
Seeing that she was about to attack, the voice in her head gradually calmed down, fully silent now.
But the emotions of the woman in white had already fallen into a stormy turmoil.
“…”
Indeed. It’s right. It was a part of her. It knew her. It understood, maybe better than she herself did.
‘Aren’t all these dark things this voice says, just my own doubts and fears…?’
