Three days later.
The phenomenon of purple Qi descending from the eastern horizon had already continued for an entire day.
Clouds swirled, and multicolored lotus flowers bloomed across the sky.
Waves of dragon roars echoed from within the mist, shaking the entire desolate domain.
“Demon Domain Royal Court?”
Gu Chengxing narrowed his eyes slightly.
“In the direction of the Great Zhou Empire?”
Seeing this, he more or less understood what had happened.
“Tsk. This is probably aimed at Ling’er.”
Just like in typical fantasy stories, the servant by the protagonist’s side often had an extraordinary background.
Ling’er was no exception.
Half of Ling’er’s bloodline belonged to the Dragon Clan.
She could be considered a half-dragon.
As for her identity, she was the daughter of Long Batian, the Demon Emperor of the Demon Domain Royal Court.
The Dragon Clan’s bloodline was innately powerful, yet their nature was equally lustful.
Ling’er’s origin required no further explanation.
The stronger the species, the more difficult reproduction became. The Dragon Clan suffered from this the most.
Long Batian had inherited the imperial throne of the Demon Domain Royal Court for tens of thousands of years. His cultivation had reached the peak of the Third Forbidden Stage, the Forbidden Domain Realm.
Yet he had only three children to this day.
Two princes and one princess.
That alone showed how important Ling’er was.
The moment her bloodline manifested, the Demon Domain Royal Court would never allow her to remain outside.
From now on, Ling’er could only be Long Ling’er.
Gu Chengxing frowned.
“It seems the bloodline within Ling’er was awakened ahead of time.”
He suddenly felt that the situation was becoming troublesome.
“The only ones capable of knowing and arranging this…”
“Heavenly Divination Sect…”
“It must be them.”
“Damn it. How can the Heavenly Divination Sect know so many secrets?”
Gu Chengxing felt a dull ache in his head.
At this moment, his thoughts flickered.
The Heavenly Divination Sect was renowned throughout the desolate domain.
Yet its history was not long. Only within the last ten thousand years had it gradually risen to prominence.
Heavenly Divination Technique, altering fate against the heavens.
It dominated a niche field and rarely clashed with the interests of other sects. Because of that, it had an excellent reputation across the desolate domain.
At the same time, it concealed itself extremely well.
It claimed to have an ancient inheritance and only recently stepped into the world.
Most people believed the Heavenly Divination Sect to be a sect with at least hundreds of thousands of years of history.
But few knew that this mysterious and powerful sect was actually cultivated by the Great Zhou Empire itself.
Its existence had not even reached ten thousand years.
It had been established solely to maintain the stability of the Great Zhou Empire.
However, as it grew stronger, it gradually slipped beyond the Empire’s control and even began to exert influence over the imperial family.
A thousand years ago, the Heavenly Divination Sect relocated its headquarters from the Great Zhou Empire to the extreme cold lands in the eastern part of the desolate domain.
Gu Chengxing stopped cultivating and began to organize the various major powers of the desolate domain in his mind, comparing them with the original plotline.
The Heavenly Divination Sect had been the first true “angel investor” of Shen Ruochu and the greatest beneficiary once she rose to power.
In the original novel, it had supported her from the beginning under the guise of a supreme sect. It had long been biding its time, its true strength unfathomable. You are reading on novelping dot com, the official source.
In the middle of the story, as Shen Ruochu gradually grew stronger and major sects like the Azure Cloud Sword Sect suffered varying degrees of damage and decline, the Heavenly Divination Sect swept across the desolate domain with near invincibility. For a time, it became the overlord of the domain and later even stood against the supreme forces of the Nine Domains.
Yet its ending was far from pleasant.
In the third extra chapter at the end of the novel, Shen Ruochu, who had disappeared from the Nine Domains for a long time, suddenly reappeared. Without saying a word, she slaughtered the entire Heavenly Divination Sect, leaving not a single survivor.
As for the reason, the extra chapter had not elaborated due to limited length.
But Shen Ruochu had spoken several extremely suggestive lines.
“How laughable that I once believed all of this to be Heavenly Destiny.”
“You played a game with all living beings using me as the piece, trading my life for your immortality? Do you think I would spare you?”
“Reversing cause and effect, walking against entropy. My parents’ deaths, the destruction of the Shen family, the tragedy of fate. None of you are free from responsibility.”
As Gu Chengxing thought about it, he could not help but lose focus for a moment.
Recalling that unforgettable third extra chapter, he took a deep breath.
“The Heavenly Divination Sect must be secretly orchestrating everything. Shen Ruochu and I are both chess pieces in their eyes.”
“During this time, aside from the black-clothed figure at the beginning, they have not shown themselves at all. They let Shen Ruochu and me interact freely. That likely means they already have a new plan. Or perhaps, in their view, I currently have no influence over their so-called Heavenly Destiny.”
“Sigh. Late-stage Nascent Soul Realm strength still isn’t enough. When the chaos of the Nine Domains begins, at best I’ll be a super soldier.”
“Wait. The chaos of the Nine Domains was originally caused by the previous Gu Chengxing. Now that I’m no longer influenced by the Heavenly Demon Physique, then perhaps the chaos of the Nine Domains also…”
“Forget it. As long as I’m strong enough, everything else becomes meaningless.”
Gu Chengxing regained his focus and estimated the time.
Three days had already passed.
After a brief thought, he stopped hesitating and returned to the Forest of Empty Steles.
Standing in the void, he looked down.
Shen Ruochu held a long sword nearly as tall as herself. Killing intent surged from her small figure, cold and sharp.
She swung her sword toward the blank tombstone Gu Chengxing had designated.
There was no sword technique. Just a pure slash.
Yet within that motion, there was a subtle rhythm, faintly mysterious.
Gu Chengxing narrowed his eyes.
Worthy of being the Chosen female lead.
Her seemingly ordinary slash appeared simple, but upon closer observation, it was no weaker than a typical Profound-grade sword technique.
And that was not all.
In just three days, Shen Ruochu had already cultivated killing intent.
Although she had not yet fused it into her sword technique to form Killing Sword Intent, at this rate she would likely succeed within a week.
The blank tombstone was already covered in sword marks.
The deepest reached about one centimeter.
That meant her comprehension of killing intent had already reached the minor achievement level.
“Damn… this…”
Seeing this scene, Gu Chengxing could not help but mutter.
So this was the future Empress Ruochu?
How were those who spent decades or even centuries barely achieving minor Sword Intent supposed to cope?
Even Gu Chengxing himself found it outrageous.
“My own talent should already be absurd, right? It still took me a full month to cultivate minor Wind Sword Intent…”
When he had read the novel, he thought the protagonist’s talent was average and that her strength relied mainly on treasures and life-and-death battles.
But seeing it unfold in reality, he finally realized how terrifying Shen Ruochu’s talent truly was.
“Alright. Stop.”
Gu Chengxing appeared.
Shen Ruochu froze and turned to look at him.
Her eyes were blood-red, cold and bloodthirsty.
The moment her small figure saw Gu Chengxing, killing intent surged violently.
It erupted suddenly, faintly showing signs of breaking into major achievement level.
Gu Chengxing was stunned for a split second.
You glance at me and your Sword Intent is about to reach major achievement?
Damn!
Is this reasonable?
Your talent is already heaven-defying, and now you power up just by looking at me?
Shen Ruochu had already formed the intent to kill.
Her small figure charged straight at Gu Chengxing.
Of course, the threat was zero.
After the initial shock, Gu Chengxing regained his composure and instead found it interesting.
An idea formed in his mind.
At some point, a few small stones appeared in his hand.
Shen Ruochu had already reached him.
She thrust her sword forward. Gu Chengxing shifted slightly and easily dodged.
At the same time, he flicked a stone with his finger, knocking her sword aside.
Her arm trembled painfully, nearly losing her grip.
Yet after that deflection, the sword in her hand became even sharper.
This had nothing to do with cultivation realm or Sword Intent.
It was purely a transformation of sword technique.
Shen Ruochu did not retreat and continued attacking.
Gu Chengxing flicked another stone, the force light but precise.
Gradually, Shen Ruochu began to calm down.
She noticed the subtle changes in her sword movements and felt something stir within her.
Realizing something, she slowly stopped.
“He is teaching me swordsmanship.”
Her eyes returned to their normal color as she looked at Gu Chengxing with cold detachment.
Yet there was also a trace of disbelief in her expression.
She could not understand.
No matter how she thought about it, she could not understand.
What exactly did Gu Chengxing want?
Her mind was in turmoil.
For a brief moment, an absurd thought even rose within her.
Seeing her calm down, Gu Chengxing remained silent for a while before speaking, a hint of admiration in his tone.
“Your cultivation progress is truly terrifying.”
“At this rate, I’m not even sure I’ll live past twenty years.”
“Keep working hard. I’ll be waiting for you to kill me.”
With that, he waved his hand.
Before Shen Ruochu could react, she was forcibly sent out of the forbidden ground.
Gu Chengxing’s voice echoed in her ear.
“Mission complete. Come again in three days.”
…
Senior Sister Lin Qing appeared beside her just as before, smiling brightly.
“Xiao Chu, you worked hard.”
Shen Ruochu froze and looked at Lin Qing in confusion.
As if understanding her thoughts, Lin Qing explained, “Don’t look at me like that. Senior Brother Gu notified me half an hour ago to wait here for you.”
She added cheerfully, “And there’s 10 medium-grade spiritual stones as payment. A lot of the other senior sisters are envious.”
Shen Ruochu nodded gently and said in a soft voice, “Thank you, Senior Sister Lin Qing.”