[Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace, Supreme Peak!]
The palaces and pavilions were shrouded in mysterious fog, appearing as if they had come from an ancient piece of Heaven. Halfway up the mountain were many Immortal Caves filled with a brilliant, hazy glow, Immortal mist, and clouds that floated around like smoke. The surroundings looked extremely gorgeous and colorful.
This was the mountain where Gu Changge resided.
This was one of the richest places in Spiritual Qi in the entire Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace, and the conditions for cultivation here were much better than the other peaks. Only the Elders and those unfathomable beings in the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace could have a better residence and Immortal Cave.
The Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace was extremely vast, and held tens of thousands of islands and mountains dedicated to their disciples; this didn't even include the extremely mysterious region hidden in the depths of the Palace.
There were countless ancient mountains and stone platforms scattered throughout the Palace's territory, and disciples would come across different opportunities in such places every now and then. The opportunities would help boost their cultivation bases and strength.
[ROAR!!!]
A carriage pulled by nine dragons appeared above the peak!
Nowadays, many young geniuses visited the Supreme Peak almost every day. There were males and females — some Primordial Creatures, even — with powerful bloodlines and amazing combat prowess.
"Master!"
"Welcome back, Master!"
As soon as they saw the carriage pulled by the nine dragons, the young geniuses walked out together with awe and reverence in their eyes, and respectfully greeted Gu Changge.
They were the followers the previous Gu Changge had subdued, and they could also be considered as somewhat famous geniuses in the outside world. The strongest among them had already broken through to the middle stage of the Conferred King Realm, and they were also Young Masters and Mistresses of various Ancient Families.
Gu Changge walked out of the carriage with a flat expression, and said to them, "Get up; did something happen while I was not here?"
After he left the area at the foot of the gate, he could no longer be bothered about Gu Xian'er, and directly returned to his cultivation peak.
As far as Gu Changge was concerned, Gu Xian'er couldn't make any waves in front of him as she was right now. She was too weak and didn't have the ability to take revenge on him no matter how much she desired to!
Right now, his main concern were the other True Disciples.
The Supreme Peak was given its name by the current Master of the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace. The other peaks belonging to the other True Disciples were the same, and all of them had different meanings.
"Reporting to Master, nothing major happened on the Supreme Peak in the last half a year, except for a few True Disciples and Elders sending people to inquire about your whereabouts."
One of them respectfully replied.
"What about the rest of the Sect?"
Gu Changge nodded and asked again.
"I don't know what opportunity he received, but True Disciple Chu's cultivation broke through to the peak of the Conferred Lord Realm after he returned from the Tomb of Clouds. He's currently the strongest among the other True Disciples."
"Secondly, True Disciple Yin asked me to report to the Master that she had some important matters to discuss with you. She asked me to let her know when you return, so she could visit you again."
The man replied after hearing his question.
The True Disciple Chu he talked about was called Chu Wuji, the Crown Prince of an Immortal Dynasty. He was extremely talented, and had shown extremely terrifying strength since he was young.
As for True Disciple Yin? She was called Yin Mei, and was the Holy Maiden of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox Family. The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox Family was also an extremely ancient Immortal Family of the Upper Realm, and they held great might.
A glint flashed through Gu Changge's eyes as he heard his words, and he responded to the disciple with a nod, "I see."
After that, he went straight back to the palace where he normally cultivated.
"Master's strength is even more unfathomable now!"
"I just got news that Master slapped Jin Yu's False God Realm servant to death outside the Palace's gate. It seems that Master has already broken through to the Conferred King Realm!"
"I haven't heard of any other young genius breaking through to the Conferred King Realm!"
Gu Changge's followers discussed with reverence after Gu Changge left, and felt even more awe for him in their hearts. Before, they still held some different thoughts after Gu Changge subdued them, but now, they were thoroughly convinced.
The fact that the rest of the True Disciples had to unite just to contend with Gu Changge was proof that he was the one above all.
...
The situation in the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace wasn't much different from his expectations.
All five main True Disciples had different behemoths of the Upper Realm standing behind them. Among them, the strongest were his Ancient Immortal Gu Family, and the Great Chu Immortal Dynasty, where Chu Wuji came from.
The forces behind the other three weren't worse than their backgrounds either. It was precisely because of this that the Elders of the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace couldn't intervene in their fight for the position of heir. After all, they would offend one force if they tried to please another.
None of them were dumb enough to do a thankless job like that.
'It won't be long before the position of heir will be decided. But even if I become the heir, it won't be possible for me to completely grasp the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace in my hands. After all, there are still many Elders who are against me, especially the people who have tied themselves to the Great Elder's chariot. He's not known as the most terrifying existence in the Upper Realm for nothing…'
Gu Changge couldn't help but frown.
According to the plan he and his father made, the first step to their dominance of the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace was for him to win the position of heir. But even after he won that position, there would be a long way to go before they reached their ultimate goal.
Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace had changed its Master countless times, and it wasn't rare for people from other forces to stand at its top. The only one who never changed, though, was the Great Elder!
No matter what kind of waves rose in the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace, he could easily suppress them.
'The Master is like flowing water, everchanging, while the Great Elder is like a stagnant pond, perpetually still.'
The Great Elder was the foundation of the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace, and he was one of the reasons the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace could stand uncontended throughout the epochs. The other Elders weren't a bunch of wastes either.
Many Heavenly Geniuses joined the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace in hopes of getting great opportunities and cultivation resources. They believed that they could learn unparalleled Mystical Abilities here, as well as those Celestial Scriptures hidden in their arsenal.
At the same time, if they could get the support of the Elders from the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace, they could fight for even higher status when they returned back to their respective Heritages.
Gu Changge, on the other hand, intended from the beginning to swallow the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace in its entirety. If that alone wasn't enough, then the fact that he had a Devil Heart seemed to have also been noticed by some.
He remembered well from the memories of his Original how many Elders of the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace always treated him with wariness. Compared to the other True Disciples, Gu Changge's motives were simply too impure.
It was true that the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace had multiple mighty inheritances, and that they had also cultivated countless behemoths who went on to become extremely famous in the Upper Realm, but Gu Changge wasn't in shortage of powerful inheritances. Not only did he have the Devil Arts, but he also had a System that could help his cultivation soar to unimaginable heights.
Of course, it would be a different story if he came across some powerful Mystical Ability's inheritance. Although he could exchange for pretty much anything in the System's Shop, the stuff in there cost hard-earned Destiny Points.
Why would Gu Changge bother wasting his wealth if there was a ready-made god-tier inheritance right in his face?
After returning to his palace, Gu Changge forbade anyone from entering. At the same time, he called out his Attributes Panel.
— — — — — —
Host: Gu Changge
Halo: Destined Heavenly Villain
Weapon(s): Eight Desolate Demon Halberd
Identity: True Disciple of the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace | Young Master of the Ancient Immortal Gu Family
Innate Bloodline(s): Devil Heart | Dao Bone
Cultivation: Conferred King (Initial Stage)
Mystical Abilities:
Heavenly Immortal Dao Codex [8th Layer (30%)]
Myriad Changes Demonic Physique (Talent)
Innate God's Spirit Temple (Talent)
Void Ability (Talent)
Immortal-Devouring Demonic Art
Infinite Immortal Wisdom
...
Destiny Points: 4000
Fortune Value: 2100 (Dark)
System Shop: Open
Warehouse:
One-Third Fragment of a World Seed x3 (Merge)
Fortune Plundering Card x3
— — — — — —
His Fortune Value had automatically increased by a hundred points, while another five hundred points had come from his fiancee, Yue Mingkong.
Gu Changge pondered for a while, and then exchanged one thousand points of his Fortune Value for Destiny Points. Immediately, his Destiny Points soared to 14000.
He directly used 8000 Destiny Points to break through to the middle stage of the Conferred King Realm. Immediately, a strange-yet-refreshing aura washed through his limbs, and then gathered in his Sea of Consciousness.
[Buzz!]
His comprehension of the [Heavenly Immortal Dao Codex] also jumped to 60% at once. Many memories surged through his mind in the form of golden characters, but soon, everything fell silent.
He was finally in the middle stage of the Conferred King Realm!
'The middle stage of the Conferred King Realm should be enough to pull wool over everyone's eyes in the outside world.'
Gu Changge thought to himself.
He had known for a long time that he had two different cultivation systems. One came from the [Heavenly Immortal Dao Codex], and he could raise this cultivation through putting in Destiny Points, or just cultivating like normal people.
This was the strength that he showed to the world.
The second cultivation came from the [Immortal Devouring Demonic Art]. It was an evil method that could devour the very origin of mortals and immortals, and everything in-between that existed in Heaven and Earth.
This was a heaven-shaking ability that couldn't be exposed at all costs. Once this is exposed, even the Ancient Immortal Gu Family won't be able to save him.
As for why it was heaven-defying?
Actually, Gu Changge wasn't very clear about this matter. He only knew that his strongest ace was the [Immortal Devouring Demonic Art]!
It was something he couldn't expose unless he had run out of every other method!
As for why Gu Changge wasn't clear about it? It was because the Original had sealed all memories regarding his greatest trump card. After all, if you wanted to trick others, you had to trick yourself first.
After that, Gu Changge waved his hand, and a bunch of gray Formation Flags flew out of his sleeve. Countless brilliant runes intertwined together and sealed his palace's surroundings. It was a Concealment Formation he refined after paying a great price, and it's Concealment effect was unparalleled.
[Buzz!]
A chaotic fog spread around and soon enveloped the entire palace. With that, no one would be able to spy on him. As long as someone's Spiritual Sense came in his palace's direction, he would know immediately.
Gu Changge sat in a lotus position, and the aura around him started to change at once. Strange pitch-black runes started to appear on his body, and they swam through his limbs like mysterious beings. It was as if chaos was coming into existence, and the Universe was about to be born.
In the depths of his Sea of Consciousness, there seemed to be a seal set by a Heavenly Immortal God on top of his Primordial Spirit. But right then, the seal's lines turned pitch-black.
[Crack!]
With a final tug, the seal cracked. The seal on his memories was finally broken!
Gu Changge's aura turned dark and sinister, and his Devil Intent overwhelmed his surroundings. It was as if he was a Devil God who had descended upon the world to bring forth its ruin. Fortunately, he had blocked all prying eyes using his Concealment Formation.
One by one, dark Dao runes appeared in his hands and turned into a pitch-black [Great Dao Treasured Bottle] that floated above his heads, giving off innumerable rays of divine light.
A terrifying and majestic power of suppression spread from his body, and his Primordial Spirit transformed as pitch-black brilliance filled his flesh!
Middle Stage of the Conferred King Realm!
Late Stage!
Pinnacle!
Initial Stage of the False God Realm!
Middle Stage!
Late Stage!
Pinnacle!
True God Realm!
Initial Stage!
Middle Stage!
Pinnacle!
Half-Step Heavenly God Realm!
Right then, the [Eight Desolate Demon Halberd] felt Gu Changge's aura and trembled in excitement and joy.
Gu Changge finally absorbed the sealed memories, and a strange expression appeared on his face.
'So this is my greatest trump card? The cultivation of Half-Step Heavenly God Realm? Sure enough, once this matter gets exposed, just my shocking cultivation speed would be enough to bring the entire world after my life! Anything else wouldn't even need to be exposed.'
'Still, using sentient beings as nourishment that can be swallowed to increase my own strength…this method sure seems more addictive than using Destiny Points.'
'It's not an exaggeration to say that the entire world will turn into my enemy.'
Gu Changge closed his eyes.
No wonder this part of his memories was sealed. The heaven-defying methods of the [Immortal Devouring Demonic Art] were enough for him to break the balance of the world, and become enemies with everyone under Heaven!
Right now, all of his peers were either in the Conferred Lord Realm, or just reaching Conferred King Realm, but his true cultivation was already at the Heavenly God Realm!
What kind of concept was this? He couldn't even imagine the storm that this news would set off if it were to get out. The entire world might go insane and try to do something unimaginable!
'Wasn't I just a cannon-fodder villain? Why do I feel like I am the final boss?'
Soon, Gu Changge suppressed his aura of the [Immortal Devouring Demonic Art's] cultivation. As for the memories? After pondering for a while, he decided to not seal them. This was a matter of great importance, after all. Although he had to be cautious about it, he didn't think he needed to even keep himself in the dark.
[Immortal Devouring Demonic Art] had a long history, and the world already saw its horror and heaven-defying methods once. For the outside world, the [Immortal Devouring Demonic Art] had already disappeared from existence.
Now, even if he sealed the memories regarding his true cultivation base, it wouldn't bring him any benefit. After all, he was still using the [Immortal Devouring Demonic Art]'s other techniques, so what use would sealing only some information have?
In fact, there was no need to do something like that.
After all, on the surface, he was the True Disciple of the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace, the Young Master of the Ancient Immortal Gu Family, with a cultivation in the Middle Stage of the Conferred King Realm!
Soon, Gu Changge's aura completely disappeared, and the surroundings returned to their former calm. One could no longer see anything abnormal about him. Unless he took the initiative to expose himself, no one would be able to discover his true cultivation base, so he wasn't worried about anything.