Actually, the situation over in Immortal Demon World had always been under Gu Nan's control.
Although he himself was restricted by his Prodigious Realm soul and couldn't personally monitor it, he could still find other people to reincarnate there and gather information for him.
Reincarnation was really an excellent investigation method. It was safe and efficient, and Gu Nan didn't have to fear the fact that gathered information wouldn't be able to be transmitted.
Ever since the Gu family found out about Immortal Demon World, they took the most efficient approach—namely, they cooperated with the native forces to start their invasion and colonization plan.
Although the average power of people in Star Realm far exceeded that of Immortal Demon World, reincarnators had to return to their home worlds regularly, so they had no choice but to support a native force to govern in their stead.
And because of Gu Nan's legacy, Azure Dragon Hall became the best choice.
Originally, all this was going on in an orderly manner. Even Lu Zhanyu had given up on the thought of making trouble, but she didn't expect a sudden change to occur.
"The Gu family used to support Azure Dragon Hall to continuously suppress other forces. Now that Azure Dragon Hall has fallen out with them, both sides are indeed in like fire and water…" Lu Zhanyu muttered, her expression turning increasingly strange. She asked curiously, "How on earth did you do it? Neither Gu Nian nor Yan Xiaoxiao seem like impulsive people."
In her opinion, the cooperation between Yan Xiaoxiao and the Gu family was a mutually beneficial situation.
The Gu family could get a share of Immortal Demon World's resources, while Azure Dragon Hall gained support in the form of reincarnators and could truly rule the world and enjoy immense authority.
Gu Nan just smiled without saying anything. Of course he couldn't explain the reason behind this.
Gu Nian's orientation was probably her only weakness. On one hand, she couldn't suppress the desire in her heart, but on the other hand, she was determined to hide it.
This is why she chose to fall out with Azure Dragon Hall without another word as soon as the initial conflict broke out.
As for Yan Xiaoxiao, it was even simpler… 'I treated you like a sister, but you actually want to bed me?'
...
Gu Nan was unwilling to explain more, and Lu Zhanyu left with a heart full of questions.
Lin Yunyun, on the other hand, came over and handed Gu Nan a cup of coffee, while the latter added three more bags of sugar in passing.
"Did anything strange happen during your cultivation recently?" Gu Nan asked with a light smile after he told Lin Yunyun to sit down.
Lin Yunyun looked at the three empty sugar bags in a daze and muttered, "There's not much feeling… Feels like Innate Realm is just so-so."
That's right, Lin Yunyun successfully advanced to Innate Realm a few days ago.
But because her internal energy was too abundant, she didn't feel any fundamental difference between the Innate and Acquired Realms—at most, she was able to use more internal energy.
Gu Nan stretched out a hand and patted her arm. The latter immediately cried out in pain.
"Doesn't look like the internal energy in your body is accumulating anymore." Gu Nan said, "The higher your realm and the stronger your control over internal energy, the more this pain will be alleviated."
Lin Yunyun's eyes instantly lit up. "Then I can… always be free of this pain in the future?"
"It's theoretically possible." Gu Nan nodded, then pulled out a bag of white powder. "But for now, you'd better eat."
Lin Yunyun glowered at him bitterly, then quickly snatched the bag of powder and squatted in the corner, gnawing on it like crazy.
She still maintained her earlier habit of using a rather indecent posture every time she "ate", even though she could enjoy it slowly now.
Soon, the only sounds left in the room were Gu Nan's shallow breathing and the girl's faint moan after eating.
...
On Heavenly Enterprise Star, in a quaint and isolated hut, a crane-haired old man was sipping his clear tea, his gaze falling on a distant place invisible to the onlookers. He sighed softly under his breath.
"It seems that Mr. Gu has no intention of settling this peacefully either," the old man's voice was calm; not much emotion could be heard.
"Yes." Lu Li stood in front of the old man and said in a low voice, "Grandpa, why don't we simply help Hu Wei…"
This old man was Lu Li's grandfather, the true ruler of Heavenly Enterprise Star's Lu family. His name was Lu Yiming, also known as the "Spiritual Elder".
Lu Yiming managed Heavenly Enterprise Star for decades, almost single-handedly developing this steel planet from scratch. His iron-fisted approach was evident.
However, at this time, he gently waved his hand. "After the newest Star Ranking, Xu Yuanjun specially paid a visit to say that Gu Nan is not a good person… If Little Wei wants revenge, our Lu family simply won't intervene."
Lu Li frowned slightly. There were two ways to interpret the phrase "not a good person"—either the person's personality wasn't easy to get along with, or… the person's strength wasn't easy to deal with.
'While I admit that the other party is certainly a troublesome opponent who entered the Star Ranking at a young age, in the end, this is still Heavenly Enterprise Star!'
When his grandfather developed the frontier back in those stays, it wasn't like he didn't kill people in the Star Ranking. Even today, there were at least three Domain Stage experts hiding on this planet.
Compared to Ruby Fish Star, which was Ninth Region's administrative star, Heavenly Enterprise Star was closer to the frontier, and there were more powerful people coming and going.
"Grandpa, Xu Yuanjun hasn't fought any battles in a long time. Could it be that he has regressed in strength and misjudged his opponent?" Lu Li asked with a frown.
"Regressed?" Lu Yiming couldn't help throwing his head back in laughter. "You little fellow… when Old Xu got his title on the Star Ranking, your old man was still drinking milk as a baby!"
"What did I say just now? Old Xu specially visited me to say this." This loud and boisterous old man stressed, "Specially, do you understand? He came here in person."
'In person? So what?'
Lu Li didn't react for a moment, but the next moment, he was shocked.
'Grandpa said Xu Yuanjun met him after the newest Star Ranking was released.'
In the past two days, there was no second starship traveling this path. In other words, Xu Yuanjun had run directly to Heavenly Enterprise Star using his own power.
The youth couldn't help taking a deep breath. "Is this… the law of space?"
...
On the steel planet of Heavenly Enterprise Star, the most common structures were man-made buildings—cities of steel and concrete—while the least common things were undoubtedly the unmodified natural scenery.
But there was such a place near the Lu family residence.
This was a quiet valley. Crisp birdsong echoed in the mountains, giving a sense of indescribable peacefulness.
A man in green was walking in the valley. His steps were neither fast nor slow. He seemed to be admiring the scenery along the way, but his gaze always fell straight ahead.
Ahead of him was an enormous waterfall thousands of meters high; the splashing water reached even this man.
"That person has arrived. I wonder when Little Wei will leave secluded cultivation?" The man looked at the waterfall for a while and sighed somewhat helplessly.
Before the words left his mouth, he saw a magical scene appear in front of the waterfall.
The curtain of water raining down slowly pulled away, as if it was forcibly separated by some power. The waterfall slowly parted, revealing a figure behind the water.
The figure was clad in a simple military uniform. She looked somewhat fatigued, but her gaze gleamed with light.
If her acquaintances were here, they'd be able to recognize this person—it was the long-lost Hu Wei.
She had already stepped into Prodigious Realm.
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: Heavenly Enterprise Star, Ninth region of the Star Realm
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: Domain Stage
Chosen Core Skill: The Law of Shadow
Current Evil God Temple Quest:
→ Main Mission Objective/s:
-— Evil Event: Seize the Eye of Maes. - Evil God Temple Issued
◈ Status: On Going
→ Side Quest Objective/s:
-— None. - N/A
◈ Status: N/A
Current Evil Points: 100
Overall Evil Points: 3875, Overall Evil Value: 120
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:
— Resistance. [ Passive Ability ] ｢Your body will resist damage, and any damage taken will be reduced by 50%｣
— 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 3 ] ｢Allows the players to activate the skill "Hidden Shadows" at LVL 1 and unlocks the skill "Shadow Form" at LVL 2. If the 'Power of Shadows' reached LVL 3, the player will be able to use the 'Law of Shadow' to a much finer degree.｣
▸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
-— Blade of the Sanguine King. ｢High attack. Ignores external defense. Enhanced sharpness. Triggers the effect "Curse of Blood" on hit.｣
◈ Curse of Blood. ｢This is a cursed divine weapon. Whenever your attack hits your opponent, you will take equal damage.｣
→ 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:
→ Four Element Crossbow. ｢Was used in Chapter 9-104.｣