The following morning, before the sun appeared, when the world was at its darkest before dawn, Gu Yi walked out of his room.
He stood in the courtyard, facing east with his hands behind his back, gazing into the distance.
《The Eastern Imperial Emperor Art》 contains nine great techniques, all of which can be used to increase one’s cultivation level.
The first is to transform the body’s acupoints into whirlpools and devour spiritual energy to increase one’s cultivation level.
The second is to release endless black aura, causing the surrounding creatures to lose all vitality, and devour death qi to strengthen one’s vital qi and blood.
The third is to face east every morning, consume dawn sun qi, and cultivate the Ancient God Tyrant Body.
As dawn broke in the east and the light swept away all darkness, Gu Yi narrowed his eyes, circulated his cultivation method, and began absorbing dawn sun qi.
His breathing was rhythmic. When he inhaled, his chest expanded; when he exhaled, his entire body collapsed inward.
In Gu Yi’s eyes, he could see strands of faint purple qi gathering toward him from the sunlight in the east. They were drawn into his body, gradually transforming his physique.
“What a pity. The sun of this lower plane is too weak.”
Feeling the rate at which the purple qi gathered, Gu Yi secretly sighed.
As he breathed in and out the dawn sun qi, Gu Yi recalled the contents of the jade slip his mother, the Li Clan, had left behind the previous night.
From the soft voice of a woman who was about to become a mother for the first time, only to be forever separated from her child, he summarized three points.
First, the Li Clan had left Gu Yi a small gift, stored at Fukang Money House, which he could claim with the secret code.
Second, besides Gu Yi and Gu Chengjiao, the person the Li Clan cared about most was her mother—in other words, Gu Yi’s maternal grandmother.
The Li Clan hoped that once Gu Yi grew up, if he had the opportunity, he could fulfill his filial duty in her place. Even accompanying his maternal grandmother for one ordinary meal would be enough.
Third, and most importantly, the Li Clan’s death had absolutely not been caused by a normal difficult childbirth. She had been murdered!
Gu Chengjiao had refused to let Gu Yi see this jade slip for so long because he was surely afraid that after learning his mother had been murdered, Gu Yi would lose his reason and seek revenge before his wings had fully grown.
“Who exactly killed Mother?”
“Once I win the competition and rescue father from the dungeon, I will definitely get to the bottom of this!” A heaven-shaking murderous aura flashed in Gu Yi’s eyes.
He did not stop breathing in and out. Purple qi continuously gathered into his body, gradually increasing and transforming his physique at an imperceptible rate.
After examining himself internally, Gu Yi understood.
At this rate, if he wanted to cultivate the “purple qi Indestructible Ancient God Tyrant Body” to the first level, the bronze Tyrant Body, he still had a long road ahead.
“Yo, what happened to the Cloud Seven Pavilion Courtyard? The plaque has been removed, and even the greenery has been cut down?”
A grating voice came from outside the main gate, and Gu Yi slightly furrowed his brows upon hearing it.
“Jing'er, look. That good-for-nothing Gu Yi is puffing out his belly over and over. Doesn’t he look like a frog?”
“Brother Yang, that good-for-nothing clearly looks like a toad. Don’t insult frogs!”
Gu Yi frowned as he looked over. He saw a young man dressed in white brocade clothing with his arm around a pretty woman of exceptional beauty, and the two were mockingly watching him.
Gu Yi instantly recognized the two of them.
The man was his cousin, Gu Yang.
The woman was his childhood sweetheart, Bai Jing.
Gu Yang had once been someone Gu Yi could firmly suppress. Ever since Gu Yi’s cultivation level had plummeted and his status had declined, Gu Yang had not only mocked and oppressed him, but had even hooked up with Gu Yi’s childhood sweetheart! He was proud of it.
When Gu Yi had still been the number one genius among the younger generation of the Gu Family, Bai Jing had worshiped him immensely, constantly preening and posturing, insisting that she would marry no one but him.
But after something happened to Gu Yi, she left swiftly and decisively, turning on him faster than one could turn a page. She was a typical heartless, shameless bitch!
Of all the people the original Gu Yi in this body hated most, it was not even Gu Feng, who had caused his cultivation level to fall, but the pair of shameless dogs and bitches before him!
Gu Yang and Bai Jing both wore mocking expressions as they laughed exaggeratedly at him.
Looking at Gu Yang’s listless state, Gu Yi understood that the two had certainly spent the entire night in frenzied intercourse. Taking advantage of the dim light before dawn, Gu Yang was sending Bai Jing away when they happened to pass by this place.
His expression gradually turned cold, and he said indifferently, “Gu Yang, you enter someone else’s courtyard without even greeting them. Is it because your parents died young, so you never learned proper etiquette?”
Gu Yang’s face changed drastically. Ever since Gu Yi’s cultivation level had fallen and he had become a good-for-nothing, this was the first time he had talked back so forcefully. Furious, he gritted his teeth and said, “You good-for-nothing, what right do you have to mention my parents?”
Gu Yang’s parents had indeed died young. More than a decade ago, they had been executed on the spot by an elder for stealing the family’s greatest treasure.
This was the scar Gu Yang was least willing to bring up!
Gu Yi knew this was Gu Yang’s sore spot, so he continued coldly, “The parents were thieves, and the son is a scavenger. You treat the worn-out shoes I’ve already used as a treasure. You certainly have quite a peculiar appetite.”
“Do you know that I unlocked Bai Jing into many positions? I wonder whether she has used those positions on you.”
Bai Jing’s face turned livid, while Gu Yang’s flushed red with fury. He shoved Bai Jing aside and swung his fist at Gu Yi. “Gu Yi, you’re courting death!”
Gu Yang possessed the cultivation level of the seventh level body refinement realm. He was considered above average among the younger generation, and his fury made his attack even more imposing.
Yet in Gu Yi’s eyes, his entire body was full of weak points and utterly incapable of withstanding a single blow!
Gu Yi narrowed his eyes, raised his right foot, turned sideways, and kicked. The sole of his shoe struck Gu Yang squarely in the face!
Thud!
With his face blooming like a peach, Gu Yang fell backward in disbelief. Before he had completely hit the ground, Gu Yi grabbed his arm, twisted past him, and snapped it with a crack!
The sharp fang of his broken white bone pierced through flesh and protruded outward, creating a horrifying sight!
“Ah!!”
Gu Yang cried out miserably and passed out from the pain.
Gu Yi then stomped viciously on his knee.
Crack!
One leg broke into two pieces.
Gu Yang let out another agonized cry and was jolted awake by the pain!
The arrogance, mockery, and fury had all vanished from his gaze when he looked at Gu Yi. Only deep fear remained.
Gu Yi asked, “Do you want to live or die?”
“I want to live, I want to live! Brother Yi, don’t kill me, don’t kill me!”
Gu Yi nodded and sneered. “Very well. Since you want to live, have Bai Jing crawl on the ground like an animal and carry you on her back.”
Bai Jing’s pretty face flushed scarlet as she angrily said, “Gu Yi, don’t push people too far!”
Gu Yi cast her a sidelong glance and said coldly, “You heartless, filthy bitch, you care about your dignity now? I’ll make this clear: if you don’t do as I say, neither of you is leaving!”
Gu Yi was an existence who was both righteous and evil. He had not the slightest mercy for a pair of shameless dogs and bitches like them.
If killing people at home had not been so troublesome, how could he possibly have spared their lives?
How could Bai Jing accept such humiliation? Though her cultivation level was inferior to Gu Yang’s, she was still at the body tempering fourth level. With a furious shout, she charged at Gu Yi!
Smack! Smack! Smack!
…
The moment she came within range, it was as if she had offered that delicate, flawless face to Gu Yi. Showing no mercy, he struck her face again and again with a flurry of slaps from both hands.
The slaps were not fast, and every move was easy to follow, yet Bai Jing was completely unable to escape.
Before long, Bai Jing’s entire head had swollen like a pig’s. Her eyes had puffed into narrow slits, her face was mottled with purple and green bruises, blood streamed from her mouth and nose, and her disheveled hair made her look ugly and repulsive.
Gu Yi asked coldly, “Are you still unwilling to act like an animal?”
Bai Jing glared at Gu Yi resentfully and demanded shrilly, “Gu Yi! How can you show no regard for our past relationship?”
Gu Yi sneered. “I show no regard for our past relationship? Who was it that, when I was in trouble, took all my pills and spirit stones and threw herself into another man’s arms? Who was it that, when I was down and believed I could never rise again, joined others in suppressing me and humiliating my father?”
“You heartless bitch with a heart as venomous as a snake’s!”
Gu Yi swung the back of his hand and viciously slapped Bai Jing, sending her flying five meters away. She spat out a mouthful of broken teeth and crashed heavily to the ground.
“Are you going to act like an animal or not?”
Gu Yi questioned her again in an icy voice, his face expressionless.
Bai Jing wept in pain as she touched the teeth scattered across the ground and said in terror, “I will, I will…”
With her face swollen like a pig’s, Bai Jing crawled along the ground carrying Gu Yang, whose arm and leg were broken, gradually crawling farther away like an animal.
An'an, awakened by the sounds of fighting, stood at the doorway and watched the scene. She jumped three feet into the air in excitement. “Young master, I told you long ago that Bai Jing was no good! That beating was truly satisfying. Watching it made me feel great!”
Gu Yi smiled and instructed her, “Don’t just stand there foolishly. Go make breakfast.”