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Translator: Fate
Proofreader: Silavin
In the blink of an eye, a month had passed, and Gu Changge ordered his men to search through the several domains starting from the Wonder Domain to the Water Domain where Yue Mingkong was located. At first, he used the method of elimination to save some time for himself, so those cultivators above the age of 30 weren’t considered.
During the process, he had found quite a lot of cultivators with relatively plenty of Fortuity. Even though they were far from being called a Fortuitous One, they could barely be considered as people with Great Destinies.
Under his command, the power of the Illusion Gates grew, and news about their wide recruitment even reached the other domains. Now, the news had been twisted to a version where the Immortal was recruiting disciples to bring to the Upper Realm with him, drawing the attention of countless young prodigies and even some Elders. However, Gu Changge was too lazy to correct the rumours as he didn’t even plan to show up. He wanted the situation to get more and more messy, so it would be harder for people to see his true goal. After all, he needed everything to be in chaos so that he could take advantage.
Just like that, rumours about the indifferent Immortal only having eyes for extraordinary talents that were out of this world began to appear, and after that, Gu Changge moved directly, choosing to go to the Sky Domain which was the furthest away from the Wonder Domain. In his opinion, the most central area of the Lower Realm’s map was where the Dragon Veins converged.
He wasn’t surprised at all when he wasn’t able to find news about the Mortal One’s reincarnation in the other domains. Instead, he felt that the biggest possibility lay within the Sky Domain. Although it was a slow searching process, it was so meticulous that there wouldn’t be any big mistakes left out.
At the same time, he was paying close attention to Yue Mingkong’s whereabouts, knowing that her knowledge of the Mortal One’s reincarnation was actually the same as his, which meant that they were both equally as clueless. Rather than getting more news about the Mortal One’s reincarnation, she got herself in a bit of a bind and was almost found out by some of the other forces that she was from the Upper Realm. However, in the end, Gu Changge made a move and helped take care of these troubles for her. After dealing with everything she caused, he couldn’t help but let out a faint sigh.
[Yue Mingkong, you fool. Do you really think you are invincible with your foresight? If I didn’t come here, I’m afraid that you wouldn’t even be able to find the Mortal One’s reincarnation with that cultivation of yours, let alone deal with others. Instead, you’ll find yourself in very dangerous situations.] Gu Changge felt that once they returned to the Upper Realm, he needed to teach Yue Mingkong a lesson so that she would understand that she had to discuss everything with her husband first and receive his permission no matter what.
Soon, after several twists and many teleportation arrays, Gu Changge’s body appeared somewhere in the Sky Domain of the Heavenly Star Realm. He was still alone by himself as he didn’t plan to bring a huge group of people along with him, which would be less useful in the Heavenly Star Realm than simply using a Sacred Lord Realm puppet.
As he thought about it, the void suddenly became distorted and a tall puppet with a waxy face appeared next to him, looking no different from an ordinary person.
“Master,” the puppet yelled respectfully.
“Acting as a servant of mine is perfectly adequate.” Gu Changge nodded his head. With a servant in the Sacred Lord Realm, the entire Heavenly Star Realm would probably be stunned.
Soon, servant and master left the place before heading towards places with more people. The Sky Domain was different from the other domains because the general realm the beings were in was much higher, which meant that the holy lands from the rest of the domains could only be considered second-rated forces here. Not long after Gu Changge arrived at the Sky Domain and was about to find a place to settle in, he suddenly heard the notification sound from the System once more.
<Ding! The quest line for the Reincarnate Fortuitous One is triggered. You will receive a hint. Will you accept it?>
Gu Changge felt a bit strange as he nodded and said, “I accept.”
It seemed like as his own Fortuity increased, the range of the System to detect the Fortuitous One would increase too. Of course, it was more likely that where he was at the moment was not far away from the main target in this quest.
*Hum!* After choosing to accept the hint, the vision in front of him suddenly became blurry.
A bright peach tree blossomed in the middle of a chaotic ocean while thunder made of World Principles that was as thick as mountain ranges struck, shaking the earth with a roaring sound. In the end, the thunder became a vast and continuous scene like a river of stars. Each ray of lightning looked as though they could split the world apart, causing the entire universe to collapse which was extremely terrifying, and the peach tree was there floating to welcome the thunder, as if it was about to undergo transformation.
Finally, the image changed.
The scenery disappeared, and the peach tree was now entirely black and broken, as if it had lost its life and fell from the universe. There was a cloud of hooded light wrapped in the middle of it, falling down blankly to an unknown place.
“A baby girl?” Gu Changge could see clearly that the cloud of light was wrapped around a little baby girl, causing him to furrow his brows.
The moment he saw the peach tree, he immediately thought of that peach tree from the Peach Village where Gu Xianer was in back then. After all, according to her destiny, the origin of that peach tree was definitely extraordinary, and it might be a sacrificial spirit since the most ancient times. This was something that Gu Changge never doubted. However, looking at the image now, especially that mysterious baby girl, he couldn’t help but connect it with something else.
[The Reincarnate Fortuitous One is clearly the Mortal One’s reincarnation. Does that mean this mysterious baby girl has something to do with the Mortal One?] Soon, he had a vague guess inside his heart.
[Of course, that still has to be determined.] He smiled with a profound look on his face.
*Boom!* Then, he brought the puppet along with him and went across the area before heading towards an ancient city nearby. At the same time, he used both his eyes to scan the Fortuity of the area so that he could narrow down the scope. [The mysterious baby girl in the image of the System’s hint should be here. Since she has something to do with the Mortal One’s reincarnation, she should still be really young.]
…
“Granny, brother didn’t come back today. It has already been a year. Do you think he has forgotten about me?” In a remote village named the Northern Mountain Village, a little girl with a goat-horn braid and a face smeared with mud was looking at the village gate while asking the old woman with a stooped figure and silver hair next to her.
The little girl’s clothes were very old and many places were still patched, but she was very clean with a pair of distinguished pupils like the most flawless and pure gemstone. She purposely smeared her face with dirt, and her age looked to be around four or five, but the people in the village who knew her well understood that her true age was more than four or five years old.
The little girl was very understanding and, at the same time, pitiful because she had a strange illness that prevented her from growing up over the years. On the surface, she would always be a kid around the age of four and five years old.
“That’s not possible. Even if your brother forgets about everyone else, he will never forget about you! Don’t worry, Yao Yao! Your brother was only brought away by a cultivator. Soon, he will finish his training and become a cultivator capable of flight. By then, he can fly you around and give you all the delicious candy-like things to eat…” the old woman said to her with a loving smile.
“Okay. I’ll listen to you and wait in the village for my brother to return. I’ll wait for him to fly me around like a cultivator and eat delicious food.” The little girl named Yao Yao nodded her head obediently, but she couldn’t help but glance at the village gate once more, showing the look of missing someone. Over the years, it had always been her brother who took care of her and their sick granny, but now, his brother was taken in by a person of higher status to cultivate and disappeared for almost more than a year without any returning news.
Although she looked young, she understood everything secretly inside her heart. Every time she came to the village gate to see, it wasn’t only because she missed him but because she was also worried. The outside world was very dangerous, and even though her brother was taken away by a man with higher status, it didn’t mean that he would certainly be safe. From a young age, she had heard many stories about the cultivating world, and in that world, cultivators would usually resort to killing and stealing once they disagreed with each other.
“Yao Yao, you don’t need to worry about your brother. I heard from that man that he is from the Celestia Holy Land, and your brother’s physique is considered strong within the cultivation world. When the time comes, he will receive a proper nurture from the clans. At the moment, he must be busy with his cultivation, which is why he doesn’t have the time to visit us.”
Looking at the little girl’s expression, the silver-haired old woman couldn’t help but reveal a smile and comforted her.
Back then, she found this baby girl under a brightly-blossomed peach tree, and she had a layer of light engulfing her, giving her an extraordinary look, but it seemed more like she was abandoned there.
The best phrase to describe the scenario was the bright red blossom of the peach tree, so the old woman adopted her and gave her the name Yao Yao. With that, she raised her for many years but was stunned to find out that Yao Yao’s appearance would always be maintained at the age of four or five years old, which meant that she would never grow up.
Feeling helpless, the silver-haired old woman tried many methods, but none of them worked, as if the gods decided to play a joke on the little girl. However, Yao Yao was very understanding and never worried her before. Not only that, the other child the old woman adopted also strived for success and was highly valued by a noble man from the Celestia Holy Land who walked by their village a year ago. With him brought into his sect for cultivation, his future would be limitless.
Thinking about it, the old woman smiled even more as she led the little girl back home trembling.
The terrain of the Northern Mountain Village was very remote, and there was a mountain on its north side, so demonic beasts would come out at times and cause trouble within the village. In the south, there was a desert, and they could always see bandits scurrying around and looting villages of meat and some spiritual stones. Every village deeply suffered from them, which was why the old woman chose to smear some dirt on Yao Yao’s face so that those heartless bandits wouldn’t notice her.
Following her granny, Yao Yao greeted the people in the village that she was familiar with all the way back home, and the villagers quite liked this well-behaved little girl of theirs.
*Bang!* However, right at this moment, the thundering sound of galloping horses was suddenly heard outside the village, as if a thousand army was rushing over to kill. The atmosphere became incomparably frightening. From afar, one could see a horrifying aura penetrating the sky, sending chills down anyone’s spine.
“Damn it! Didn’t we just pay them with our spiritual stones? Why are these bandits back again?”
“These renegade bandits! Everyone, pick up your weapons!”
The scene immediately left everyone in the Northern Mountain Village stunned, but soon, they came back to their senses. With their faces changed and pale, everyone yelled while allowing the elderlies and other people with weaker physiques to quickly hide in their homes. As for the strong young men and some people who cultivated before, they picked up their weapons and gathered at the village entrance. Since it was normal for bandits to loot villages, they didn’t expect them to talk about friendship or trust.
“Granny, the bandits are here again…”
Yao Yao’s revealed a hint of fear since these bandits were known to be ruthless at killing others.
“Don’t worry, Yao Yao. I’m here.” The silver-haired old woman needed to be calm at this moment as she held Yao Yao’s hand tightly and comforted her. However, there were still some worries in her eyes since from the aura alone, she could tell that these bunch of bandits were different from the previous ones.
*Boom!* Along with the dust filled air, a huge swathe of bandits came rushing towards the entrance of the Northern Mountain Village on ferocious beasts. The bandits riding the ferocious beasts all looked tough and murderous with bright divine light and a cold face. Their aura was strong and frightening, which far exceeded any normal person or cultivator as it was uncommon for an ordinary bandit to exude such an aura. One could feel that they were bred from corpses and blood.
“H-How is this possible…”
“I-It’s the… Black Storm Gang!”
“T-The Black Storm Gang. They are the most powerful bandits nearby. Many of the great forces came to destroy them, but they were all killed by them!”
“I heard that their first leader is a god high above others!”
“Why would the Black Storm Gang come to our village? This is simply impossible!”
All the villagers of the Northern Mountain Village were stunned to know about the bandits’ identity, turning their faces pale. Some of them couldn’t even imagine what was happening and collapsed on the ground with softened legs. A while ago, they were still holding their weapons, preparing to face these bandits, but at this point, no one had the courage as all of them were now scared to death.
Just their overwhelming aura alone was enough to suffocate the villagers, and those who weren’t brave enough rolled their eyes back before fainting on the ground as they couldn’t withstand such pressure.
“Why would the Black Storm Gang come here… Even though they only sent a team, a normal village like us is no match for them…”
The expression of the silver-haired old woman also changed slightly as she was in disbelief and shock.
“Granny, they said that the First Leader of the Black Storm Gang wants to eat people, and he loves to eat children the most…” Yao Yao’s huge eyes were now filled with fear.
No matter what, she was just a little girl. Even though she was much more understanding than her peers, how could she not be afraid in the face of the Black Storm Gang who killed people for fun and even enjoyed the taste of human flesh?
“Don’t be scared, Yao Yao. Those are lies made by adults to scare you. With me here, no one will hurt you.” The silver-haired old woman gritted her teeth and protected Yao Yao behind her so that the Black Storm Gang wouldn’t see her from far away.
At the same time, she couldn’t understand why a powerful bandit group like the Black Storm Gang would send a team to a remote village like theirs. Other than the Northern Mountain Village, there was also the Black Stone Village, the Leaning Bull Village and other villages nearby.
[Could it be that those villages were looted too? What does the Northern Mountain Village have that is worth their while?] Just as many thoughts came up in her mind, a bandit with a powerful aura spoke at the village entrance with a fierce fact that had a scar across it. Just his cultivation alone had reached the Mighty-Transcendent Realm, which was enough for him to do anything he wanted in this area!
“Tell the chief of your village to get out here!” he coldly ordered with a condescending look.
The many bandits behind him also had a cold look while they sat on their ferocious beasts, as if they would slaughter the entire village if they didn’t cooperate. The villagers of the Northern Mountain Village had never seen such terrifying auras before, so their faces had now completely turned pale as they found it difficult to utter a word.
“I am the chief of the Northern Mountain Village. Greetings!”
Amidst the panic, a trembling old man walked out and spoke with fear in his eyes. He was none other than the chief of the Northern Mountain Village.
When he was young, he tried to cultivate in the outside world, but after injuring himself, he returned to the village and took the position as chief. During the day, he would guide the villagers to train their muscles and bones to strengthen their bodies, but in the face of the fierce Black Storm Gang, they were no different from a piece of soggy paper.
“Oh, I can see that you are a cultivator, but you didn’t even reach the Spiritual Palace Realm, so what’s the point?” The leading bandit glanced at him and sneered, leaving the old chief terrified and speechless.
Then, amidst the looks of awe, worry, fear, and panic from all the villagers, the bandit coldly glanced at everyone before slowing speaking. “Our first leader has ordered that all young girls in the nearby villages who are not more than fifteen years old to give up themselves! He wants them all! Three days later, I’ll come back to collect them all. If anyone dares to escape or resist, then we will… slaughter the entire village! None will be left alive!” He revealed a grin that was incomparably terrifying along with his words.
*Boo hoo!* Immediately, many of the children began to cry out of fear, and even the adults looked terrified and fearful. Some were hugging their child tightly in despair since no one dared to resist the words of the Black Storm Gang unless they wanted to die. At this point, would they be willing to hand over their own child?
Even though the reputation of the Black Storm Gang hadn’t been good over the years, there was no sign of them capturing children, let alone requesting for little girls under the age of fifteen. Many people even fell into despair when they remembered the rumours of the first leader of the Black Storm Gang wanting to eat human flesh!
After giving out the orders, the Black Storm Gang in front of them left in great hurry, filling the dust with air, as they rushed towards the other villages in an imposing fashion. The villagers of the Northern Mountain Village were left behind in desperation.
“Why? Damn the Black Storm Gang! Who gave them the right to snatch our children?”
“I would rather die than hand over my child to them!”
Soon, the place was filled with sobs and angry roars of grievance from the many villagers. As for the old chief, he had collapsed on the ground in despair. Putting aside the Black Storm Gang, they couldn’t even compete with normal bandits that were much weaker than them since they were just a small village.
Resisting the Black Storm Gang only meant one thing, which was the death of everyone in the village!
As for escaping or moving away, how could ordinary people like them in three days outrun the Black Storm Gang who rode ferocious beasts?
“Granny, I’m scared…”
In the Northern Mountain Village, Yao Yao naturally heard the words of the leading bandit of the Black Storm Gang, causing dirt-filled face to turn slightly pale. After all, young girls under the age of fifteen included her. When she thought about the rumours of the first leader wanting to eat human flesh, she got so scared that she bit her lips tightly.
“I don’t want to be eaten.”
“Don’t be afraid, Yao Yao. I’m here. No one is taking you away!” The silver-haired old woman hugged her tightly while her voice trembled a little. Her voice was firm as if she had something up her sleeves.
Just as the Black Storm Gang appeared in the major villages nearby to demand some offerings, there was a dark and awe-inspiring mountain peak where the gang was stationed. In the mountain peak a lofty palace stood, and inside it, the current first leader of the Black Storm Gang was bending over with a humble, flattering and careful expression as he pointed to a group of unconscious maidens captured below. He then reported to the young man above who had his hands clasped behind him and was facing the first leader with his back. “Master, these young girls were captured from the nearby villages and cities as you instructed. Are you satisfied?”
“None of them are useful. Let them go back and don’t hurt their lives.” Listening to him, the young man who was facing the first leader with his back didn’t answer his question and shook his head. There was an inexplicable tone in his voice.
Hearing his reply, the first leader of the Black Storm Gang was a little confused since they had spent a lot of energy capturing them, and now, all of them were allowed to go back. [Are we looking for someone?]
However, he didn’t dare to ask for a reason, so he hurriedly replied, “Don’t worry, Master. We won’t hurt their lives at all.”
With that, he quickly took the group of young girls below him and left, not daring to stay for long.
A while ago, this mysterious young man appeared out of nowhere in his place of cultivation, asking the first leader to work for him. At that time, he was deeply shocked, and before he could react, he immediately saw the cold gaze of the servant next to the young man, realising his cultivation of the Sacred Lord Realm! Afterward, he was scared to death with his heart almost crushed by fear.
As for the rumours in the outside world that he wanted to eat human flesh, he could only feel a sense of helplessness and bitterness since he had no choice but to accept the rumours. After all, it was an order from this young master. Currently, no one else in the entire Black Storm Gang knew about the existence of this young master other than him.
[Could it be that the location I predicted is wrong?] Inside the palace, Gu Changge furrowed his brows and thought about what went wrong after seeing the first leader of the Black Storm Gang leave.
[I’ve already narrowed down the scope to such a small size. I should be able to find that baby girl. Oh well, I can still wait a bit.] He then closed his eyes and fell into a deep thought. For the past few days, the young girls that the Black Storm Gang captured didn’t have any Fortuity at all. None of them seemed special, but he still trusted his own judgement.
Quickly, three days had passed, and there was news that finally interested him. A team sent out by the Black Storm Gang was surprisingly wiped out.
[It seems like I finally found her.] Almost instantly, Gu Changge thought of it and couldn’t help but reveal a smile on his face.
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