An elegant chamber, with every piece of furniture crafted from high-quality rosewood.
The exquisite blue-and-white porcelain tea set on the tea table and the embroidered bed curtains woven with golden threads and red silk all revealed the refinement and elegance of the chamber's owner.
“Ah!”
A piercing scream tore through the tranquil morning and woke Gu Yi from his pleasant dream.
Gu Yi sat up in bed. His bare upper body was lean and powerful, with solid, well-defined muscles that were not the least bit exaggerated.
He rubbed his jet-black hair and frowned toward the source of the scream.
“Who dares disturb this venerable's sleep?”
Standing beside the bed was a beautiful woman whose clothes barely covered her body. Her features were exquisite, and her skin was as fair as jade.
Qin Murong stood barefoot on the floor, her tender feet exposed. Pointing at Gu Yi on the bed—or rather, at the shocking pool of blood on it—she screamed hoarsely!
“Gu Yi, you useless wretch! How did you end up in my bed?”
“And you useless wretch actually defiled my chastity!”
“I will kill you!”
Qin Murong held her right hand in the shape of a palm. In an instant, it was surrounded by a mass of white light that radiated a soul-stirring force. Moving with the sharpness of a blade, it slashed toward Gu Yi!
Gu Yi's expression remained indifferent. Completely unmoved, he gave a cold snort. “You overestimate yourself!”
He merely bent a finger and flicked it lightly, effortlessly dispelling Qin Murong's palm strike!
However, in the next moment, he was even more shocked than Qin Murong!
“What happened to me?”
“How did my strength diminish so drastically?”
Gu Yi sensed his own body, his expression gloomy.
Just then, two entirely different sets of memories converged in his mind. In an instant, he understood everything.
He was Gu Yi!
He was a divine soul realm expert, a Supreme Venerable worshipped and revered by billions—the eastern sovereign Demon Venerable! He was the first of the ten supremes!
He had been ambushed and framed by his close friend, Qingyang Supreme, and Red Cloud Immortal Venerable, who had pursued him for ten million years without success. After the self-detonation of the divine soul, he had unexpectedly been reborn in this body of Gu Yi through a twist of fate.
“Behold my sword!”
While Gu Yi was deep in thought, Qin Murong shouted and drew the Azure Sword from the table.
She executed a Willow Leaf swordsmanship technique. White spiritual energy gathered along the blade, wrapping it in a layer of radiance as she thrust it toward Gu Yi!
“How noisy!”
Gu Yi looked at the woman and casually flicked a finger with an indifferent expression, once again reducing her attack to nothing.
Moreover, this time he understood that his current body possessed only the cultivation level of the first layer of body tempering. Thus, he increased the force and directly sent Qin Murong—and the sword she held—flying more than two meters away, where she landed sitting on the floor!
“How can this be? You are only at the first layer of body tempering! How can you casually neutralize my attacks twice in a row?!”
Qin Murong sat on the floor, her snow-white thighs captivatingly exposed, yet she was completely unaware of her revealing state. Her entire being was plunged into extreme bewilderment.
She was at the second stage of true essence realm, a full major realm and more above the useless Gu Yi!
How could she possibly remain calm after Gu Yi had so miserably dispelled her attacks twice with nothing more than a flick of his finger?
“What does the True Essence Realm amount to? In my eyes, your entire body is riddled with weak points...”
Gu Yi shook his head indifferently, not considering his victory over Qin Murong worthy of boasting about in the slightest.
He had once been a Supreme Venerable of the Divine Soul Realm!
Even though his cultivation level was no longer what it had been, he was still not someone a mere true essence realm martial artist could contend with.
In his previous life, with his Divine Soul Realm cultivation level, a minor character like Qin Murong could have been reduced to ashes with no more than a thought, let alone a glance!
Recalling the earth-shattering battle between the three supreme venerables, Gu Yi's face turned as cold as frost.
“Qingyang, I, Gu Yi, have never treated you poorly. Yet you ambushed me for an immortal fruit of unknown authenticity!”
“And Red Cloud, my most beloved younger sister...”
“Just to obtain me, you lost your senses and joined forces with Qingyang against me! How utterly foolish!”
As divine soul realm experts, Gu Yi and the others were already among the strongest people in the world. Above the Divine Soul Realm, there was only the legendary Immortal Realm.
Yet the Immortal Realm was ethereal and unreachable. According to legend, only by obtaining an immortal fruit could one possibly touch the threshold of the Immortal Realm.
Gu Yi had acted according to his nature throughout his life, neither wholly righteous nor wholly evil. It was only because the cultivation method he practiced was saturated with baleful energy, combined with the heavy sins of his killings, that he had been given the title of Demon Venerable.
He had few true friends in his life. The only one who was slightly inferior to him, Qingyang Supreme—the Second among the Ten supremes—had shared a fairly deep friendship with him.
Yet when faced with the legendary immortal fruit, for even the slightest chance of touching the Immortal Realm, Qingyang had attacked him at the crucial moment!
Qingyang Supreme was also known as the Azure Gentleman. He had acted honorably and uprightly throughout his life, even sweeping the floor with care lest he harm an ant's life. He had rarely stained his hands with blood and was widely praised and admired.
Who would have thought he was actually a hypocrite!
Gu Yi sneered. “Qingyang, even if I had detonated my divine soul, I would at most have inflicted severe injuries on you. Five thousand years have passed since that great battle. You must still be recuperating somewhere, right?”
“Wait for me. I will come settle the score with you soon!”
As for Red Cloud, Gu Yi thought of the younger sister who had tried to stop his self-detonation of the divine soul and, despite joining forces with Qingyang, had only wanted to elope with him. He let out a sorrowful sigh.
Red Cloud Supreme ranked fourth among the Ten supremes. She was the only female Supreme Venerable among them, peerless in beauty and unmatched beneath the heavens.
“Red Cloud, why can't you understand? My heart is already filled with Red Butterfly. Even after being reborn, my greatest goal in this life will still be to find Red Butterfly...”
At the thought of Red Butterfly, a trace of tender remembrance flickered in his eyes.
However, his brows knitted together in the next instant.
“Still, this physical body of mine is truly weak. I am already nineteen years old, yet I am only at the first layer of body tempering. No wonder people call me useless...”
After being reborn in this body, which shared his name, Gu Yi also fused the memories of its former owner into his own soul.
This gu Yi was a direct descendant of the Gu Family, one of the Nine Great Families of Dinggong City. He had originally possessed extraordinary talent, breaking through the body refinement realm and entering the True Essence Realm at a very young age.
Unfortunately, during a competition, someone had ambushed him and injured his qi sea. His cultivation level had plummeted, and in less than two years, he had been beaten back to his starting point, becoming a martial artist of the first layer of body tempering.
From then on, he had been mocked and bullied not only in Dinggong City but even within the Gu Clan, suffering endless humiliation.
The Qin Murong before him was the second miss of the Qin Clan, one of the Nine Great Families of Dinggong City. Gu Yi was currently lying in her bed and appeared to have taken her virginity as well.
This might appear to be something worth boasting about, but anyone with even a little sense could figure out that it was certainly an elaborate trap!
The Qin Clan wielded even greater power in Dinggong City than the Gu Clan. If this “useless wretch” forcibly violated the body of the Qin Family's famous genius, the second miss, then even if he were beaten to death on the spot, his death would be entirely deserved!
Who exactly wants me dead?
Several faces appeared in Gu Yi's mind, and he had already reached a conclusion.
He would know who was behind it by seeing who came first to “catch them in the act”...
Gu Yi glanced at the chamber door and said mildly to Qin Murong, whose clothes were disheveled and whose body was exposed, “Unless something unexpected happens, someone will be here soon. Are you sure you want to meet them looking like this?”
“Someone is coming? Who?”
Qin Murong jumped in fright, hurriedly standing up and putting on her clothes.
Gu Yi said, “Naturally, the person who schemed to make me defile you—the person who wants me dead.”
Qin Murong was no fool. Gradually, she began to understand and piece together what had happened. However, before she could speak, a chaotic commotion came from outside the room.
“Clan patriarch, I personally saw that useless wretch from the Gu Family in the second miss's boudoir. I am not lying to you! He must have assaulted the second miss last night!”
“Qin Huaichong, don't you dare speak recklessly. This concerns the younger sister's reputation. Regardless of whether it is true, once word gets out, the younger sister's marriage to Cao Ran will be thrown into chaos!”
“All of you, shut up!”
“If that Gu Yi really is in Murong's boudoir, I will kill him with my own hands!”
Qin Murong trembled all over, her face deathly pale as she said, “It's over. It's my cousin, Qin Huaichong, along with my older sister and my father!”
Gu Yi frowned and fell silent for a moment before saying, “It seems the problem lies with Qin Huaichong. The fact that the two of us could sleep in the same bed for a night must be thanks to him.”
Gu Yi knew Qin Huaichong. At thirteen or fourteen, he was at an age when it was easy to incite him. Being bribed into betraying his clan older sister was perfectly normal.
Moreover, according to Gu Yi's memories, Qin Huaichong truly had been associating with several of his enemies.
“After all, I am currently only at the first layer of body tempering. If Qin Murong's father, Qin Xianglin, is truly determined to kill me, it will indeed be somewhat troublesome...”
As the clan patriarch of the Qin Clan, Qin Xianglin possessed the cultivation level of the violet palace realm, a full two major realms above Gu Yi. Even with the complete memories of a Supreme Venerable, resisting him would still be too difficult.
However, after frowning slightly, Gu Yi quickly returned to calm.
Even if Qin Xianglin possessed the cultivation level of the violet palace realm, he was still unafraid.
The footsteps outside drew closer and closer. Qin Murong hurriedly finished putting on her clothes, then looked at Gu Yi—who was still sitting naked on the bed, completely unmoved!
She widened her eyes, but it was already too late for her to say anything!
She heard Qin Xianglin pounding on the door outside. “Murong, open the door!”
Qin Murong's expression changed drastically. With no intention of opening the door, she pretended to remain calm and said, “father, what is it? Your daughter has not gotten out of bed yet.”
As she spoke, she repeatedly signaled to Gu Yi with her eyes: Hide quickly!
Gu Yi scoffed and said calmly, “I, Gu Yi, have not fallen so low as to hide beneath a bed!”
He made no effort to lower his voice, allowing Qin Xianglin and the others outside to hear every word clearly.
In an instant, amid Qin Murong's cry of alarm, the chamber door was blasted open from outside by tremendous force!
“Gu Yi, it really is you, you useless wretch!”
Wood splinters flew through the air.
Qin Xianglin, broad and tall, with a short full beard.
Qin Muwan, so stunningly beautiful that she surpassed even Qin Murong.
Qin Huaichong, slender, with an immature face.
The three of them entered the chamber one after another.
Upon seeing Gu Yi naked and the vivid pool of blood on the bed, nothing more needed to be said!