Faint light shone through the window and lit up the spacious room. Gu Nan and Gu Nian sat across from each other.
"It's indeed beyond my expectation that you can advance to Prodigious Realm at this time." Gu Nian looked calm on the surface. Her expression gave nothing away, but in reality, she really felt quite helpless.
Even in all of Star Realm, Prodigious Realm cultivators were considered quite strong. This was especially true in the Ninth Region, where Void Cutter Realm experts were rare. Thus, Prodigious Realm cultivators were practically the strongest force that people could see.
That was why the distinguished descendants of Ruby Fish Star's three major families competed to see who would be the first to advance to Prodigious Realm.
Even Gu Nian herself had to prepare and scheme for many years in order to make a breakthrough. For that goal, she even went so far as to reincarnate to several poor and remote planes to finally get what she wanted.
'But this fellow in front of me…' Gu Nian couldn't help glaring at him bitterly, while Gu Nan's expression said, 'You're making a big fuss out of nothing.'
Even with Gu Nian's calm personality, she still had to take a deep breath right now to suppress the ripples in her heart. "What did you want to discuss?"
"I heard that your family is going to hold a Martial Arts Competition?"
"Mm." A hint of exhaustion appeared on Gu Nian's face when the Martial Arts Competition was mentioned. "I've been busy with this matter recently. Are you interested in participating? Oh, I forgot, you've already..."
"I'm interested!" Gu Nan nodded excitedly, lacking the slightest self-awareness of his identity as a Prodigious Realm expert.
Gu Nian's expression darkened a little. "The Martial Arts Competition is only divided into two groups: Innate Realm and Acquired Realm."
"I can pretend to be an Innate," Gu Nan replied without hesitation.
Although Gu Nian could see through his breakthrough at a glance, this was because Gu Nian's own martial arts technique was special. Plus, Gu Nan didn't deliberately hide it either.
If necessary, Gu Nan could even go and buy a piece of concealment-type equipment—it was acceptable to invest some points for the sake of chain events.
Gu Nian, however, still shook her head. "If you participate, this Martial Arts Competition will become meaningless... How about I arrange for you to be a judge?"
"Judge?"
"That's right. There are still twenty days before the start of the Martial Arts Competition, so it's enough to build up your reputation." Gu Nian revealed a light smile. "Just think of it as doing me a favor. If the Gu family produces another Prodigious expert, our family will be able to completely stabilize our position."
Gu Nan rubbed his chin, pondering whether the deal was worth it or not.
He would obtain the qualification to participate in the Martial Arts Competition as a judge, as well as the convenience provided by the Gu family, at the cost of being completely roped in by the Gu family…
'There doesn't seem to be any problems with this. In any case, I can back out at any time!'
Gu Nan expressed his optimism about this deal.
...
"Eldest Martial Sister... Wahh!" As soon as she saw Gu Nian, Bai Luoluo threw herself into Gu Nian's arms and began to cry bitterly.
"So fragile. Looks like you still need some treatment," 'Tesla Trooper' Gu Yongxin Comrade [1] remarked.
Bai Luoluo's pretty face immediately paled. Although she successfully experienced a blackening in Immortal Demon World, that didn't mean that she liked that kind of life. After all, fundamentally, she wasn't Yan Xiaoxiao.
The human heart has always been extremely complex. As someone who grew up in Langya World's metropolis society, deep down, Bai Luoluo didn't actually like fighting and killing.
It was one thing when she was still inside Immortal Demon world, but now that she had returned to Star Realm, she would naturally adjust back.
Of course, it was also impossible for her to return to her previous innocent self completely.
Bai Luoluo looked at Gu Nan with a somewhat complicated expression. She now knew that she didn't actually transmigrate; instead, Gu Nan forcibly reincarnated her into Immortal Demon World.
If she connected this knowledge with the familiar figure on that day, the answer was self-evident. 'So he's Sister Xiaoxiao's teacher…?'
"Rest well. There's no need to rush the matter of cultivation; just let nature take its course," Gu Nian said softly as she gently patted the back of Bai Luoluo's head.
Compared with Gu Nan, Bai Luluo was actually her biggest karma. Now that the latter could get rid of the influence of the Pure Heart Dao, it was great news for Gu Nian.
After seeing Bai Luoluo, Gu Nan had nothing else to do.
He was about to return and continue his great cause of "grinding dungeons," but Gu Nian stopped him.
"You want to reincarnate again?" She pulled Gu Nan aside and said with a serious expression, "I don't know what benefits you can get from reincarnation, but reincarnation is by no means a shortcut to power."
Gu Nan frowned slightly. "How so?"
"The more powerful the soul, the greater the pressure that will be placed on the world when the soul reincarnates, so the world itself will start to reject the soul. If you reincarnate too frequently or reincarnate for too long, your soul will be damaged."
Speaking of this, Gu Nian stared at Gu Nan and said in a deep voice, "If you've reincarnated after advancing to Prodigious Realm, you should've already noticed it."
Gu Nan thought about it carefully, and it really seemed to be as Gu Nian described.
After spending a month in Immortal Demon World, he often felt a sense of rejection from the world. Originally, he thought it was because of his Tier 3 body, but now that he thought about it, it was most likely a drawback of reincarnation.
This made him a little annoyed. Reincarnation dungeons were the main source of his Evil Value. If a limit was placed on that, it would greatly slow down his growth.
"I'll have to wait a while before I can reincarnate again?" He asked.
"That's right." Gu Nian nodded slightly. "You should stay here for the time being. If we want to help you build up your reputation, you'll need a suitable identity."
"What identity?"
"My younger brother."
...
Although Long Quan, the Shi family siblings, and even Xu Xun didn't divulge that afternoon's events, news about it began to spread at an alarming rate.
In just two days, the upper echelons of the entire capital all knew that Long Quan had suffered a major loss at the Gu family residence and even had one of his legs broken.
They also heard that the root cause of all this was because Shi Miao'er, the sister he spoiled the most, provoked someone she shouldn't have provoked.
Just who was this person who shouldn't be messed with?
Some people believed that the one she offended was Gu Nian herself—other people wouldn't have the ability to attack Long Quan. Others felt that the attacker was one of the Gu family's hidden cards who would show up to teach outsiders a lesson in Gu Nian's absence.
These conjectures continued until Gu Nian made a statement in public, "The attacker is my younger brother Gu Nan. He just broke through to Prodigious Realm half a month ago."
This was earth-shattering! It caused an uproar!
Who exactly was this Gu Nan? The Gu family actually had a second junior who advanced to Prodigious Realm?
The first piece of information that people found out from their investigations was Gu Nan's identity. He was from a remote side branch of the Gu family. His parents were both dead, but his talent was outstanding.
Gu Nian discovered his talent a long time ago and hid him away to use as her personal force. Thus, he'd been cultivating in seclusion all the way until his advancement to Prodigious Realm.
Gu Nian had naturally prepared this information in advance. No one could prove or disprove it. It wasn't convincing at all, but this also made it impossible for people to find inconsistencies—it had nothing but inconsistencies, so they didn't even know where to start.
In any case, it was an indisputable fact that there was now a second Prodigious Realm powerhouse in the Gu family's younger generation…
'The world will change soon…' Similar thoughts emerged in many people's minds.
Even if Gu Nian advanced, some people still held firm to their beliefs and felt that she was merely a step ahead of her peers. Xu Feiyan was much younger than Gu Nian, and the Long family also had two seeds who had the most potential to break through to Prodigious Realm.
But when a second Prodigious Realm expert appeared in the Gu family, all these thoughts seemed to turn into a joke.
Of course, what they didn't know was that Gu Nian's move was so astonishing that even the Gu family fell into a state of chaos.
Devotee's Game System Inspired Note
» This section of the chapter is a Fan based created system to mock-up or simulate the 'Status Information' of our MC - Gu Nan. This implies that you are free to skip reading this and continue your journey onto the next chapter.
» All catalog data below is a summary of various information achieved by Gu Nan that corresponds till the end of the related chapter and is compiled into a singular 'Status Screen.' Additionally, the invented system below would continue to evolve as we progress and learn more about the novel itself.
MC's Status Information
Name: Gu Nan
Current Location: Gu Family's residence, Ruby Fish Star
Current Soul Location: N/A
Status: ⟪ Evil God ⟫
Advancement Direction: Agility Type
Current Evil God Rank: Tier 3
Equivalent/Current Martial Art: Prodigious Realm
◈ Comprehension of Innate ability: Infinitesimal Stage
Chosen Core Skill: The Law of Shadow
Current Evil God Temple Quest:
→ Main Mission Objective/s:
-— Evil Event: Ruby Fish Star's Martial Arts Competition. - Evil God Temple Issued
◈ Status: On Going
→ Side Quest Objective:
-— None. - N/A
◈ Status: N/A
Current Evil Points: 1500
Overall Evil Points: 3775, Overall Evil Value: 97
Core Skill Acquired
— Shadow. ｢Also known precisely as 'The law of Shadow' - its one of the highest-ranked laws in the game. Skill 'Power of Shadows' LVL +1｣
Normal Skills Acquired:
— Locked ｢N/A｣
— Locked ｢N/A｣
— Locked ｢N/A｣
Exclusive Skills Acquired:
— Deceitful Steps. [ Passive Ability ] ｢Movement Speed increased by 30%. Attack Speed increased by 50%｣
— Power of Shadows. [ LVL 2 ] ｢Allows the players to activate the skill "Hidden Shadows" at LVL 1 and unlocks the skill "Shadow Form" at LVL 2..｣
▸Hidden Shadows. ｢The power to manipulate shadows to a fine degree.｣
▸Shadow Form. ｢An incomparable handy skill that allows the player to manipulate shadows to create things, like weapons and armor. At the highest level of mastery, it could even create a humanoid clone.｣
Equipment being worn
→ Armor
-— Dawn Sage's Robe. ｢Basic level defense. If you are not attacked within 3 seconds, you will receive the "Praise of Dawn" effect.｣
→ Weapon
-— Four Element Crossbow. ｢A Tier 2 crossbow weapon that can generate four types of elemental arrows—earth, water, wind, and fire—based on the user's needs and does not need to load arrows.｣
→ Accessories - Facial Accessories, Necklace, Earrings
-— Observer Eyepiece. ｢An eyepiece that have a fixed Tier 2 magic 'Insight' inscribe in it.｣
-— Dragon Heart Pendant. ｢Allows players to activate the skill "Dragon Power". This skill cannot be upgraded｣
-— Shadow Earrings. ｢Skill 'Power of Shadows' LVL +1｣
Equipment Skills Acquired:
-— Insight. [ Passive Ability ] ｢Ability to obtain high-precision data analysis when looking at people or objects.｣
-— Dragon Power. ｢Greatly enhances the player's strength and physique. Duration: 5 seconds. Cooldown: 5 minutes｣
-— Praise of Dawn. [ Passive Ability ] ｢Increases self-healing ability by 300%｣
Item/s owned:
→ None.