"The kid that Lu Wen is raising is dead."
"Lou Wanying?"
"Yeah."
This was the first thing Xue Ren heard when he returned to Void Grotto Heaven. This Sword Saint whom Yu Lian described as having "infallible schemes" missed the mark this time.
It happened inside his Extreme Sword Heaven, so it took Xue Ren very little time to learn what had transpired there.
"Gu Nan? How interesting." Xue Ren couldn't help chuckling involuntarily after he understood the full picture. "Lu Wen really suffered a big loss this time."
He originally thought that by letting Gu Nan force out Lou Wanying's trump card, Yu Lian's subordinate would then be able to take advantage of the opportunity to capture Lou Wanying and acquire the ancient Void Grotto Heaven's inheritance.
Of course it was impossible for Yu Lian to personally make a move. People at their level were too powerful—every move they made was sure to be sensed by powerhouses of the same level.
As soon as Yu Lian tried to attack, Lu Wen would most certainly stop her immediately, and vice versa. It wasn't easy to say what the outcome would be, but once matters escalated to that point, a lot more people and forces would be drawn into the conflict.
However, now that Lou Wanying died at Gu Nan's hands, the inheritance Yu Lian wanted also disappeared, but she wasn't too concerned about that.
It wasn't like there was only one inheritance inside the Void Ruins. Besides, wasn't Void Grotto Heaven still one of the Thirteen Heavens, even after all these years? Their ancient predecessors' inheritance might not necessarily be strong.
The crucial point was that it must not fall into an outsider's hands. This was a matter of face, as well as maintaining the secrecy of her sect's core techniques.
More importantly, as Xue Ren said, Lu Wen really lost a lot from Lou Wanying's death!
"Lu Wen prepared a lot of things for that kid over the years." A rare smile appeared on Yu Lian's usually indifferent face. "There's only a one-third chance—how is he so sure that Lou Wanying is that person's son?"
Someone on Yu Lian's level naturally understood why Lu Wen took such pains to raise Lou Wanying while never personally coming into contact with Lou Wanying at the same time.
It was precisely because of this that Lou Wanying actually died for real this time. Lu Wen wasn't a god capable of casually resurrecting a person he'd never met before.
"She was still alive back when Lu Wen ascended to the ranks of the Thirteen Heavens. It's not impossible for him to know some inside information." Xue Ren said, "Besides, the other two possible candidates are a little too unreliable."
Yu Lian didn't care too much about it. Anyhow, even if that person really did revive and return from the River of Time, then she'd only be marginally stronger than Yu Lian. This wasn't enough reason for Yu Lian to fear the other party.
No one at the level of the Thirteen Heavens would actually die that easily. Even for powerhouses like them, killing an enemy at their level would still be exceptionally difficult.
"Pay attention to that Gu Nan and protect him." Yu Lian then said to Xue Ren, "Don't let anyone kill him. I will keep an eye on Lu Wen."
Lu Wen suddenly made a move on the Void Ruins and plotted to steal the ancient Void Grotto Heaven's inheritance—this was simply slapping the entire Void Grotto Heaven in the face.
Now that his plan was ruined by Gu Nan, of course Yu Lian was happy to protect Gu Nan to disgust Lu Wen from time to time.
"Okay." Xue Ren nodded. His gaze flickered slightly in thought.
...
Lu Wen sat alone in a place atop Clockwork Heaven. Neither joy nor anger could be seen from his face.
But the mere fact that he was "alone" was enough to indicate there was a problem—even when conversing with Yu Lian, a huge dragon was still perched on his shoulder, but now Long Ling'er was sitting obediently below him.
"Is the problem very serious?" Long Ling'er looked at Lu Wen's expression, then glanced at Duan Wenqi beside her, and couldn't help asking.
Duan Wenqi was one of the representatives of Astral Gate, a powerful Star Ruler, and also Lu Wen's close friend.
As a matter of fact, he was the one who handled a lot of the matters involving Lou Wanying, so he was the first to sense that something had happened to Lou Wanying.
Then he immediately rushed over.
"It's very serious." Duan Wenqi revealed a bitter smile and told Long Ling'er, "It's not as simple as a problem anymore. It's now a calamity."
Problems could be solved, but calamities couldn't—they could only be endured.
Duan Wenqi knew just how much preparation Lu Wen had made for Lou Wanying and over how many years his plans spanned.
Only then was he able to hide this from others in the Thirteen Heavens and bring Lou Wanying under his control, and only when he was close to success right now did he finally allow everything to come out into the light.
But all of this was ruined because of one Gu Nan!
Lou Wanying was dead. Even if they resurrected him, because they never came into contact with his true spirit, it was impossible for the revived Lou Wanying to be the same as the original.
When that woman returned, would she still recognize the resurrected Lou Wanying as her son?
Thinking of this, Duan Wenqi couldn't help remarking, "Gu Nan killed her son. When she returns, not even Yu Lian will be able to protect him."
But his voice only echoed in the hall. Lu Wen didn't respond, while Long Ling'er stared at them curiously.
Their conversation was incomprehensible to Long Ling'er. Perhaps she had enough information to understand, but she never bothered to spare the effort to analyze it.
Duan Wenqi mistook Lu Wen's silence as being unable to hold back the anger in his heart, so Duan Wenqi stood up and said, "Since we can't find Gu Nan, we can start with his people in White Bones Realm first!"
Only then did Lu Wen's gaze gradually regain focus. He replied slowly, "No need."
Duan Wenqi was also relieved to see him finally willing to speak. However, he still felt bad for his old friend, and his tone was tinged with some indignation, "Don't tell me we'll just allow Gu Nan to go on like this?"
"Of course… not." There was a strange glint in Lu Wen's eyes, "Not only can we not harm Gu Nan right now, but we must also protect him carefully. We absolutely mustn't let him die."
"And why is that?" Now Duan Wenqi was truly shocked.
"Since he killed Lou Wanying, he now inherited this karma." Lu Wen explained unhurriedly, "When she returns, perhaps this Gu Nan might have a better effect on her than Lou Wanying."
...
Setting aside the two Thirteen Heavens level Unified Dao Realm Star Rulers who both decided to protect Gu Nan, the culprit himself immediately slipped back inside his Divine Kingdom as soon as he killed Lou Wanying.
True, he didn't have to put the Thirteen Heavens in his eyes—in any case, as long as he didn't cause a commotion, no one would know which plane he was in.
But if he still courted death by remaining in the same place after killing someone, then that would be just dumb.
As for Qu Hongye, Gu Nan already added her to the list of abandoned candidates after he determined that she had insufficient potential.
Unlike experimental test subjects like Zhong Die, the members of a real player army had to be strictly selected, and even their origins had to be screened.
Because it would naturally be the most convenient for members of the player army to become Gu Nan's apostles. Be it the Time Arena or the Apostle Hall, both could significantly strengthen their powers.
After settling the matter in Extreme Sword Heaven, Gu Nan heard some good news not long after he returned to the Divine Kingdom.
The two groups of vampires raiding Crescent Moon World both cleared the Crescent Moon World dungeon on the same day, which meant Gu Nan finally had a second stable source of points!