The Main Peak was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop!
Gu Changge's words stunned everyone, and even Gu Lintian, the mighty Patriarch of the Ancient Immortal Gu Family, was no exception to this. He never expected Gu Changge to utter such arrogant words.
No, this couldn't be described as just ‘arrogance' anymore. He clearly despised everyone and looked down on them; he didn't put the rest of the Gu Family's Young Geniuses in his eyes!
Gu Changge's expression showed complete indifference that was in line with his remarks. He showed the onlookers what it meant to look down on others.
Gu Changge had a simple and straightforward idea: ‘the Young Geniuses of the Gu Family might be afraid of him, but would they still not dare to fight against him if he egged them on?'
Since they were afraid of losing their qualifications to compete for the position of the future Patriarch by getting a beating from him, he would only need to gather them together and taunt them in their face.
This way, they would certainly want to fight against him to prove who the strongest of the Gu Family's younger generation was. Surely, they wouldn't compromise on that.
"Gu Changge, aren't you so arrogant just because you have a good father?"
A tall and heroic youth couldn't bear it anymore, and stepped forward with a livid face. He had a burly physique shrouded by a golden brilliance that resembled an armor carved from Immortal Gold — clearly, he cultivated an extremely terrifying Body Cultivation Art.
He was a genius famous in the outside world, and not many could contend against him!
Gu Changge swept a glance at him, and said with an unchanging expression, "You are the son of the Fourth Uncle, and your name…you are Gu Chenxing, right? Do you dare say that again?"
Gu Chenxing was taken aback by his words, and his rage flared. He was also a direct descendant of the Ancient Immortal Gu Family, so how could he not dare repeat mere words?
"Why wouldn't I dare? Gu Changge, aren't you so arrogant just because you have a good father?"
Gu Chenxing repeated himself with rising rage.
If Gu Changge's father wasn't the Patriarch of the Gu Family, would Gu Changge even be allowed to stand in this place after what he did back then? He would have long been exiled to who knows where!
Gu Changge smiled at his words.
"I like what you said; I know all of you envy me for having a great father, but how is that my fault?"
His words gave everyone another shock, and Gu Chenxing also showed a dull expression. Many of the Elders were dumbfounded, too. They had seen shameless people, but they had never seen such refined and eloquent shameless people. No wonder he committed such a heinous act!
"Changge…"
Gu Lintian coughed slightly. Although Gu Changge's words brought great comfort to his heart, saying those words in front of everyone would make it seem that he, the Patriarch of the Family, was biased in Gu Changge's favor.
"I will repeat my words: I have gathered the Elders here to tell everyone that I will be taking the position of the future Patriarch, not to ask for your opinion or a discussion on this matter."
"Now, my beloved brothers and sisters from the Family, either you take action against me and prove your ability right now, or take a U-turn from three miles away when you see me in the future! How is the offer? If you are afraid, then just get out of here."
"The position of the Gu Family's future Patriarch isn't for trash like you!"
Gu Changge's expression showed a perpetual calm.
[VILFIC: dam that's cold!]
"Grandfather…"
"I can't stand it anymore! Let's do it! Gu Changge, don't think you can bully us! Who do you think is afraid of you?!"
"This guy is too much!"
Their faces flushed.
How could he utter such arrogant remarks with such a calm face?
Gu Changge's expression could be said to be the greatest taunt. They wouldn't be so angry if he was simply uttering arrogant words — the problem was his damned expression that showed his indifference and disdain towards them as if it was only to be expected!
This angered them so much that their spleens hurt, and intense rage flared up in their hearts.
They were also from the Ancient Immortal Gu Family, and they were also Young Geniuses who had the qualifications to look down on others and strut around in the world unhindered. Who had they not fought? So how could they admit that they were inferior to someone?
So what if Gu Changge was mighty?
They usually avoided him for reasons, but now, he was stepping over their heads! Could they still back down? The time and effort they put into their cultivation would amount to fart if they did that!
Many of the Family's people couldn't help but show helpless smiles. On ordinary days, the Elders would tell them to avoid getting into conflict with Gu Changge at all costs. They couldn't fight him right now when the position of the future Patriarch had yet to be handed down to someone.
After all, the Family's rules were clear: *'The strongest of the younger generation would become the future Patriarch.'*
Gu Changge's strength was naturally high above theirs. He had shown a terrifying talent and shattered uncountable records from his childhood.
He held many titles such as: *'Heavenly Talent, Incarnate of a True Immortal, God-Child, and so on.'*
It was a fact that everyone recognized Gu Changge's talent and might, and it stood to reason that everyone in the Gu Family ought to be happy at his existence.
Alas! The incident of the yesteryear ruined Gu Changge's impression in the eyes of the Gu Family's senior management. He was already so ruthless at such a young age, so there was no way he could be a good choice as the Family's future Patriarch.
If they could have it their way, they would make it impossible for Gu Changge to become the Family's future Patriarch!
Gu Changge caused infighting in their Family, and didn't consider the overall situation and the Family's best interest, so how could they have a good impression of them?
The Ancient Immortal Gu Family had hundreds of millions of people if they counted all the lineages, collateral family members, their dependent forces, and foreign retainers. What would become of them if someone like Gu Changge got to hold the reins of the Family?
They couldn't imagine the outcome!
Although Gu Changge was an extremely outstanding Young Supreme famous in all directions of the Upper Realm — and he was the first one who came to mind when the Supreme Heritages and Mighty Figures mentioned the Ancient Immortal Gu Family — his great image outside was maintained for him by the Family.
After all, he represented the face of the Ancient Immortal Gu Family in the outside world.
Now that they heard such provocative words from Gu Changge, they couldn't help but get enraged, and blue veins could be seen popping out on their foreheads.
Even they didn't like Gu Changge's expression.
Wasn't he telling them that they didn't dare let their younger ones fight against him because they — the Elders — were afraid of Gu Changge?
Of course, there wouldn't be a problem if he only kept that to his heart, but now that he said it out loud, he was tearing all face.
As Elders of the Family, their every move could determine the situation in the outside world, and right now, there were even a lot of people of their Gu Family watching from the sidelines.
Could they bear it?
Not to mention that they couldn't afford such massive loss of face, even the young'uns standing behind them will suffer a deep setback. If they let this matter be and took a step back, then the losses would outweigh the gains.
‘It's the first time I have seen Gu Changge using such means. If he didn't come up with it himself, then I would have believed that the Patriarch was the one guiding him from the shadows…'
‘But looking at the Patriarch's expression, it seems even he was shocked by his actions, so he's certainly not the one who came up with this. It seems that Gu Changge no longer cares about maintaining facades with the rest of the family, and is finally revealing his hidden desires…'
‘Today's battle seems to be inevitable, but that's fine as well! We can take this opportunity to probe Gu Changge's innate talent. Although he has always shown the Dao Bone as his innate talent, it is nothing more than a facade to hide the truth…'
These thoughts went through the minds of various Elders.
They had long been puzzled about this matter — just what was Gu Changge's innate talent?
So many years had passed since his birth, yet no one knew about it. It was because of this that many of the Elders developed certain guesses in their hearts, and that was another reason they weren't willing to see the position of the future Patriarch fall into Gu Changge's hands.
"Since Changge has said so, you should try competing with him."
Immediately, an old man said with an unsightly expression, and glared at Gu Changge as if he wanted to swallow him.
"Changge, everyone here is from the same family, so make sure you don't overdo anything…"
"If something happens to my grandson, this old man will go to the Ancestral Lands and plead with the Ancestors to deal with your father and son…"
Many other Elders also showed expressions of warning. They were worried that Gu Changge wouldn't show mercy, and might seriously injure their young'uns.
After all, everything was happening within the Family's rules, so they couldn't say much.
Still, there was no one in the younger generation of the family who could be Gu Changge's match.
His might couldn't be denied!
Where else could they find a mighty Conferred King who had barely reached his twenties?
Thinking about this, they realized that they were the only ones who knew that Gu Changge had broken through, and the other Heritages and Orthodoxies had yet to get the news. Of course, it could also be that the news just hadn’t traveled far enough yet.
……
“Please rest assured, Elders! Changge will certainly not go too far. It’s just that all of you have been stopping me from taking the position of the future Patriarch for a while, so that…”
“It has put me in a really difficult situation.”
Gu Changge shook his head with a sad expression.
The faces of the Elders couldn’t help but stiffen, and they cursed the scheming bastard in their hearts. It was obvious that he was going to use this opportunity for revenge.
“I won’t bully you, so all you can come at me together. I will suppress my Cultivation down to the Conferred Lord Realm…of course, I can suppress it to the Saint Realm if that’s what you want.”
Gu Changge calmly said as he stared at his breathless and livid cousins who glared at him with fiery eyes. Of course, it would be a bit troublesome for him to deal with them without exposing too many of his aces if they really asked him to suppress himself to the Saint Realm.
Still, he wasn’t worried about that. After all, all of them were also Young Geniuses famous all over the world, and none of them were useless flowers raised in a greenhouse. They would obviously not take this provocation well.
Sure enough, as soon as the Young Geniuses heard his words, they almost exploded out of rage. Even his female cousins, who would have graceful, fairy-like bearings on normal days, couldn’t help but spew fire from their eyes as they grit their teeth and desired to bite his neck off.
“You are too much! Gu Changge, I will teach you a lesson today!”
Sword-like brows, starry eyes, and an awe-inspiring bearing…Gu Changge immediately recognized him as his Sixth Uncle’s son, who was at the pinnacle of the Saint Realm, and possessed an extremely mighty Innate Talent that gave a massive boost to his physical strength.
Gu Changge simply straightened his body, and stood with his hands behind his back. Keeping his body upright, he kicked out, and his kick immediately set off waves in the Void in front of him.
[Puff!]
The Young Genius, who was rushing towards him, felt his knees soften and fell to the ground like a beaten dog without any ability to get up.
“How did this happen…”
He showed a face full of confusion, and couldn’t understand how Gu Changge kicked him to the ground even though he was standing so far away from him? No matter how great the difference between them, this shouldn’t be possible.
Just like him, everyone else around him also showed shock at the scene in front of them.
“If I am not wrong, the Void just fluctuated, right?”
“This is the Void Talent…”
“So it turns out that Gu Changge was hiding the Void Talent all this time!”
Many Elders were left in shock at the realization, and massive waves surged in their hearts. Void Talent, just like the Temporal Talent[1], was an extremely terrifying Innate Talent, and not many in the Upper Realm’s long history were born with it.
After all, these were two abilities that went against the Heavens![2]
They never imagined that Gu Changge would be hiding such a talent!
No, he might not even be hiding it. After all, Void Talent couldn’t be perceived unless someone watched its holder use it in front of them.
The Elders of the Family couldn’t help but show complicated emotions. At one point, they had suspected that Gu Changge was born with a Devil Heart, so he was using the Dao Bones to cover that atrocity. It seems that their suspicion was completely off the mark.
‘It seems that Changge came across quite a few opportunities down there.’
Gu Lintian was also surprised, and soon showed a smile. After all, Gu Changge’s Devil Heart was the greatest threat to his life. But now, he had another terrifying talent to hide its existence.
He felt even more reassured now.
At the same time, Gu Changge glanced down at his cousin who was slowly getting back up on his feet.
“It’s just a friendly contest, so why are you getting down on your knees, brother? Even if you want to apologize, there’s no need to kneel in front of me — I can’t accept such kind intentions from you.”
Saying that, he kicked out once more.
His cousin, who hadn’t even gotten up completely, couldn’t help but widen his eyes as he flew backwards and fell unconscious as soon as he fell. It won’t injure him badly, but he would need to stay in bed for a while.
The veins on the foreheads of the Elders moved even more violently as they watched this scene. In the entire Ancient Immortal Gu Family, only Gu Changge had the guts to do something like this right in their faces.
“All of you should attack me together, and stop wasting my time. There’s no way you will win against me in a one-on-one spar.”
“The position of the future Patriarch is at stake, and there’s no way you will be able to take it away from me like this!”
Seeing that he had achieved his purpose, Gu Changge turned his gaze towards the rest of the Young Geniuses, and taunted them with a slight smile on his face that hadn’t changed throughout their meeting…
— — — — — —
[1: talent to control time. Space-Time Talent when?]
[2: if you can control time and space, you are essentially a god who can travel to the future or the past, and change reality as you see fit.]
— — — — — —
[VILFIC's Crib]
The release schedule will be messed up for the next few days, until the First of February, at least, but you will get all your chapters.If anyone knows a good mobile app that lets you copy formatted text (bold and italic), then do tell me in the comments. I tried using Google Docs, but it copies the text without any formatting on the Phone.
