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Translator: Fate
Proofreader: Silavin
On the Supreme Peak of Skyward Schloss, there were palaces and pavilions scattered around in pieces while shrouded in the afterglow, as if an ancient heaven was situated here. Halfway up the mountain peak, there were many caves that sprayed out a thin haze and celestial mist, giving the place a divine atmosphere with the colorful and lingering smoke. This was the peak that Gu Changge was located in.
In terms of the entire Skyward Schloss, this was a blessed land with extremely dense spiritual energy, which provided a much better condition for cultivation than the other mountain peaks. Therefore, only those elders with unfathomable cultivation could own such fine mansions and caves for cultivation.
The area of Skyward Schloss was incomparably vast, and there were up to tens of thousands of islands and mountains provided for the disciples’ cultivation, not to mention the mysterious lands located deep inside the area. There were countless ancient mountains and stone platforms, so occasionally, some disciples would discover such a place and opportunity to advance their cultivation rapidly along with their powers.
*Roar!* The carriage that was pulled by the nine dragons had arrived! Now, many young prodigies, men and women, who resided on the waist of Supreme Peak, had appeared. There were also other Ancient Life Spirits bearing powerful bloodlines and astonishing combat abilities.
“Master Gu!”
“Welcome back, Master Gu!”
Seeing the carriage landing, all of the young prodigies came out to greet Gu Changge with eyes full of respect and adoration. They were all followers of Gu Changge whom he had previously taken in and were considered to be little-known talents in the outside world. At the moment, his most powerful follower had already broken through to the Intermediate Stage of the Honored Lord Realm and was also a young master of an ancient race.
When Gu Changge came out with a calm expression, he nodded his head slightly and said, “Rise. Did anything happen while I was away?”
After leaving the mountain gate, he went straight back to the mountain peak he was situated in, ignoring Gu Xianer. To him, she currently wouldn’t pose any massive threat to him since her abilities were much too inferior to his. Although she had the desire to exact revenge, she didn’t have the capability to do so. Thus, he decided to focus most of his attention on the rest of the Direct Disciples. The Supreme Peak was a name given by the current Master of the Skyward Schloss, and it was the same for the names of the peaks situated by the other Direct Disciples, but they contained a different meaning.
“Master Gu, in the past six months, a few Direct Disciples and elders have sent people to come ask about your whereabouts. Other than that, nothing major has happened at the Supreme Peak,” one of the followers respectfully answered.
“Did anything happen in Skyward Schloss?” Gu Changge nodded and asked again.
“I don’t know what opportunity Disciple Chu gained a while ago, but ever since he came back from the tomb, his cultivation has now broken through to the Peak of Honored Lord Realm, secretly becoming the best among the other Direct Disciples. Also, Disciple Yin told us to inform you that she has something important to discuss with you. If you ever return, she will come to find you again,” the person answered again.
The Disciple Chu that he mentioned was named Chu Wunian, and he was the prince of a celestial dynasty with extraordinary talents. From a young age, he had shown his terrifying abilities and natural talent that not many people possessed, which allowed him to remain undefeated.
As for Disciple Yin, her name was Yin Mei, and she was the Gifted Lady of the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan. The Nine-Tailed Fox Clan was also an Ancient Royal Family in the Beyond with extremely strong powers.
Listening to him, Gu Changge nodded while something strange flashed across his eyes. “I understand.”
After that, he went straight back to the palace where he usually practiced his cultivation.
“Master Gu’s powers have become even more unfathomable!”
“I just heard that Master Gu was able to kill Jin Yu’s servants of the Partial-Enlightened Realm with just one slap. It seems like he has broken through to the Honored King Realm.”
“I haven’t even heard news about any other young prodigies breaking through to the Honored King Realm yet.”
Moments after Gu Changge left, his group of followers quietly discussed their admiration for him as they were left in awe. No matter how diabolical Gu Changge was when subduing them back then, at least they were now completely convinced with his abilities, and the biggest proof he had was that the rest of the Direct Disciples must unite in order to have a shot against him.
The situation in Skyward Schloss panned out almost the same as he had expected. The Five Greatest Direct Disciples all represented different behemoths, and the most powerful among them were the Immortal Gu Family behind Gu Changge and the Great Chu Celestial Dynasty behind Chu Wunian. As for the other three, the forces backing them were still a level lower than theirs. Because of that, the elders of the Skyward Schloss wouldn’t insist on intervening in the power struggle between the Direct Disciples since they couldn’t afford to offend the powerful forces backing them. After all, no one would be foolish enough to bring trouble to themselves.
[It’s about time to decide who the heir is going to be, but if I want to take control of Skyward Schloss, I still have to deal with many elders even after I become the heir, especially those who are led by the Grand Elder of Skyward Schloss. They are deemed as the most horrifying beings in the Beyond…]
Gu Changge couldn’t help but furrow his brows. According to his and his father’s plan, the first step for the Immortal Gu Family to take control of Skyward Schloss was for him to take the position as heir, but even if he succeeded, there was still a long way to go. The role as Master of Skyward Schloss had changed many times over generations, so there was no powerful force in this world that had never taken on that role before, but the only thing that never changed was the Grand Elder. Therefore, no matter what rebellion occurred, it would always be suppressed with the ever-changing Palace Master and the unchanging Grand Elder. They were the reason why Skyward Schloss had been able to stand firm and exist for so long. Of course, the other elders weren’t ordinary characters either.
Many young prodigies joined Skyward Schloss wishing to learn lots of divine arts and celestial scriptures so that they could gain more opportunities and cultivation resources. Naturally, if one were to have the backing of an elder from Skyward Schloss, it would be of great benefit for them to fight for their position when they returned to their families. However, Gu Changge had held the intention of taking over Skyward Schloss from the start, and some people seemed to notice that he was carrying a Demonic Heart. These were what he could recall from his past memory, which explained why many elders had always been cautious toward him. Compared to the other Direct Disciples, Gu Changge’s motives were the most suspicious.
Of course, Skyward Schloss had many powerful inheritance that produced a lot of amazing talents since ancient times who managed to make a name for themselves in the Beyond. Originally, Gu Changge didn’t need powerful inheritance mostly because he used forbidden Demonic Arts. With such a cultivation inside his body, he didn’t lack anything, but if it was some powerful divine technique, that was a different conversation altogether. On the other hand, he would need to spend a lot of Fatum points if he were to redeem it from the System Shop, so when such a powerful technique presented itself in front, there was no way for him to pass on this opportunity.
After entering the palace, he dismissed everyone and called up the virtual interface.
<User: Gu Changge
Aura Band: Fated Villain
Weapon: Eight Barren Demon Halberd
Identity: Direct Disciple of Skyward Schloss, Young Master of Immortal Gu Family
Bloodline: Demonic Heart, Daoist Bone
Level: Early Honored King Realm
Spells: Skyward Ascension (Level 8: 30%), Demonization (Talent), Nature God’s Chant (Talent), Power of Void (Talent), Nommening, Endless Immortal Might…
Fatum: 4000
Fortuity: 2100 (Onyx)
System Shop: Unlocked
Storage: One-third Fragment of the World Seed*3 (Combination Possible), Fortuity Plundering Talisman*3>
His Fortuity had automatically increased by 100 points while the other 500 points came from his fiancee—Yue Mingkong.
After pondering for a while, he exchanged 1000 points worth of Fortuity, bringing his Fatum to 14,000 points. Then, he immediately consumed 8000 points to break through to the Intermediate Honored King Realm. A strange aura began flowing through his limbs and bones for a cycle before converging inside his mind.
*Hum!* The progress of his Skyward Ascension was then increased to 60%, causing many realizations and memories that he was in control of to flashed through his mind, like a series of bright golden runes, before slowly fading away in silence.
In the end, he pondered slightly and uttered, “The Intermediate Honored King Realm should be enough to conceal my true abilities from the outside world.”
A long time ago, he started using two different cultivation systems, and one of them was the Skyward Ascension which could be leveled up through adding points or cultivation. This was the ability that he showed to the people of the world.
However, the other system was Nommening, which was a devouring route that would allow him to devour every kind of resource under the sky. It was so defiant against all natural laws that he couldn’t show it to anyone because once it was exposed, not even the Gu Family could protect him.
As for why it defied all natural laws, Gu Changge wasn’t too sure about it himself as he only remembered that Nommening was the biggest ace up his sleeves. However, unless he was facing a critical moment, it could never be exposed, and the reason why he wasn’t sure about it was because he had concealed a big portion of the memory inside his head, leaving him only with the many secret techniques of Nommening. After all, if he wanted to deceive others, he must first deceive himself.
Then, Gu Changge stretched out his arm, revealing a series of misty gray flags from his sleeves. With runes intertwined on them, they broke through the void and sealed all corners of the palace. This set of deceptive flags that he refined at great cost had a frightening concealment effect. With a hum, something that resembled a chaotic mist quickly engulfed the entire place so that no one could simply peek into the palace. Even if someone entered here through their spirit, he would be able to notice it instantly.
He sat on his knees as his whole aura began to change. A while ago, he seemed more like a transcendent immortal who just came down from heaven, but now, strange black runes started to appear on his body, flowing up and down. They were ancient and mysterious, just like the beginning of evolution and the universe itself. Inside his mind, vague sealing patterns appeared on the Nature God’s Chant that was formed from his Primordial Spirit, but all of a sudden, the pattern turned pitch black before cracking in the end!
*Hum!* The memory seal was broken!
Just like a demon lord, Gu Changge’s aura became dark and profound as he was filled with demonic nature, but fortunately, he was concealed inside the deceptive pattern, so no one noticed that something was wrong. One by one, black Grand Runes appeared on his hand before transforming into a shimmering ebony Grand Flask. As it floated above his head, it then dropped millions of rays of divine light, causing his body to let out a terrifying yet majestic pressure. With his Primordial Spirit changing, a black demonic light lingered densely around his body!
Intermediate Honored King Realm!
Advanced Honored King Realm!
Early Partial-Enlightened Realm!
Intermediate Partial-Enlightened Realm!
…
Early True Enlightened Realm!
Intermediate True Enlightened Realm!
…
Peak True Enlightened Realm!
Halfway through the Enlightened Noble Realm!
At this moment, the Eight Barren Demon Halberd couldn’t help but shiver due to Gu Changge’s aura, emitting cheerful and leaping emotions. After he absorbed the memories that he concealed, his face suddenly revealed an intriguing expression.
[So this is my biggest ace. My true cultivation is actually halfway through the Enlightened Noble Realm. As I have suspected, if this gets exposed, the frightening cultivation speed alone will be enough of a reason to send everyone coming for my head… Using beings as sustenance to devour and grow oneself… It’s more addictive than adding points… It’s not too much to say that I’m now the world’s greatest enemy.]
Then, he closed his eyes.
It was no wonder that this portion of his memories was concealed. The Nommening technique was capable of breaking the balance of the cultivation world and turning everyone against him! For someone in the same age as him, they would only break through to the Honored Lord Realm or the Honored King Realm through hard work, but his true cultivation had already reached halfway through the Enlightened Noble Realm. This was something that couldn’t even be achieved through adding points in the system. Once the world found out about this, everyone would definitely go crazy to an unimaginable extent.
[Isn’t this a villain’s trajectory? Why do I feel like I have become the final boss…]
Soon, Gu Changge withdrew his Nommening aura, and as for that part of his memory, he decided to not seal it after pondering for a while. This was a matter of importance, and even though he must be careful with it, he didn’t think that there was a need to seal it.
Traces of Nommening had been found. However, that was a long time ago. It allowed the world to know about its terror and contradiction to the law of nature but because of how long ago it was, news and awareness of it should have disappeared. Therefore, there was no need for him to seal his memories, which would also involve sealing his many secret techniques of Nommening.
[That’s pointless anyway. On the surface, I’m now still a Direct Disciple of Skyward Schloss and the Young Master of the Immortal Gu Family whose cultivation has only broken through to the Honored King Realm.]
The aura soon disappeared from his body, and he regained his composure, leaving no trace behind. Unless he exposed himself intentionally, no one would find out about his true cultivation, so he had nothing to worry about.
Silavin: Changed Skyward Ascension (Level 8: 30%) – it means progress 30% to level 9.
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