Chu Wuji was a tall youth dressed in golden armor and divine clothes. There was a hearty smile on his face that gave those who gazed at him a positive feeling of trust.
As soon as he appeared on the Great Elder's mountain, Chu Wuji noticed Gu Xian'er, and a flash of surprise passed through his eyes. Still, his education and scheming mind didn't allow him to show any change in his expression.
He had seen a lot of beauties in his life, but the one in front of him sure was on another level, so much so that he couldn't help but be surprised.
"This one pays respects to the Great Elder!"
Instead, he bowed before the Great Elder.
Not many in the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace knew that Chu Wuji was actually the grand-disciple of the Great Elder. Chu Wuji's father, the current Emperor of the Great Chu Immortal Dynasty, was once a named disciple of the Great Elder. It's just that because of his status, he couldn't become a direct disciple.[1]
Only a few knew of this fact.
"Chu Wuji, you are here just in time."
The Great Elder responded to him with a nod. His attitude towards Chu Wuji wasn't all that bad.
For the Great Elder, and other higher ups of the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace, Chu Wuji was obviously the better option. Regardless of talent, temperament, or cultivation, they couldn't find any flaws in Chu Wuji. What's more? He had an extremely calm and outstanding personality, and didn't have any devilish intentions like Gu Changge either.
Among the True Disciples of the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace, Chu Wuji was also the only one who could compete with Gu Changge.
Many more Elders thought highly of him, and believed that Chu Wuji could be appointed as the heir, since his heart wasn't as sinister as Gu Changge's.
Gu Xian'er also looked at Chu Wuji. After all, he was a Young Supreme who was said to be someone who could compete with Gu Changge, so she couldn't help but feel curious about him.
Chu Wuji had an imperial aura about him, and there was the ferociousness of dragons radiating from between his calm brows. His cultivation was unfathomable, and she couldn't clearly estimate his might.
"Could this Junior Sister be the lady who's getting famous through the rumors lately?"
"Just one look, and I can tell the rumors surely aren't exaggerated. You truly have a fairy-like figure and outstanding temperament."
Chu Wuji looked back at Gu Xian'er with a smile, and cupped his hands in greeting.
"I greet Senior Brother Wuji."
Gu Xian'er responded with a nod. Although her expression showed incomparable calm, she was trying to figure out why Chu Wuji was showing her such friendliness. After all, she had only recently arrived in the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace, and the Great Elder hadn't yet accepted her as his disciple.
Her status in the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace was even worse than its ordinary disciples, so logically speaking, Chu Wuji wouldn't be this kind to her without a reason.
Could he be like this because of Gu Changge? After all, there was the saying that: 'an enemy's enemy is thy friend.'
"I was wondering who to send with Gu Xian'er to the Heavenly Dao Road…Chu Wuji, you can take her along since you are already here."
The Great Elder calmly said.
"Heavenly Dao Road?"
"It seems that Junior Sister is an ambitious one, but I must warn you about the dangers of the Heavenly Dao Road. If you try to overreach on the Road, you will suffer unimaginable damage to your Dao Heart, and even your Realm might never increase after that."
"Junior Sister, do you still want to go even after knowing this?"
Chu Wuji was stunned. He had actually come here for Gu Xian'er after getting some news about her. To be precise, he found out that Gu Xian'er held the evidence that could make the Ancient Immortal Gu Family lose all face in front of the Upper Realm.
Once the matter came out, the Ancient Immortal Gu Family would turn into a joke, and every Lu, Shu, and Du in the Upper Realm would laugh at them!
An ancestor of his Great Chu Immortal Dynasty had suffered serious injuries at the hands of someone from the Ancient Immortal Gu Family, so he obviously didn't have any good feelings towards the Ancient Immortal Gu Family, and longed to see them turn into a joke.
Unfortunately, he couldn't treat Gu Xian'er without courtesy in front of the Great Elder.
The Great Elder glanced at him, and shook his head without saying anything.
Gu Xian'er, on the other hand, still showed a calm expression, and said, "I am sure about my decision, so Senior Brother Wuji doesn't need to worry about me!"
Chu Wuji's hearty and carefree smile didn't change as he heard Gu Xian'er's words, but he sneered inside his heart; he also wanted to see just how far this overconfident 'reincarnation of a true immortal' could go?
"Alright, then Senior Brother will wait and see."
Chu Wuji said that and then turned into a brilliant ray of light as he led Gu Xian'er towards the direction of the Heavenly Dao Road.
Gu Xian'er followed suit without hesitation.
At the same time, she couldn't help but feel as if Chu Wuji was plotting something — this feeling came from her instincts, and her instincts hadn't betrayed her over the years even once.
"Master!"
Soon, a bunch of Chu Wuji's followers appeared in front of them, and showed surprise as they saw Gu Xian'er.
"Let's go to the Heavenly Dao Road!"
Chu Wuji commanded with an authoritative tone.
At the same time, he didn't forget to turn around to take a look at Gu Xian'er. With a sigh, and face full of regret, he said, "Junior Sister, I actually heard some information about your affairs, and I must say that Gu Changge is indeed cruel. His actions were earth-shattering, and I couldn't help but feel shocked and chilled to my feet! Something like that could only be done by a beast, not a brother…"
Gu Xian'er frowned as she listened to his words, but didn't say anything in response. Although she knew that he was bad mouthing Gu Changge, she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable in her heart.
Gu Changge was an evil bastard, indeed, but he wasn't as scummy as this kind of villain who sowed hatred behind someone's back. Although Gu Changge's methods were cruel and ruthless, he was still better than him. What's more? The matter was between her and Gu Changge, so she didn't want others to stick their nose inside her business.
"Senior Brother Wuji, you should just lead the way; I didn't expect a True Disciple like you to talk behind someone's backs…"
Gu Xian'er cut him off with a calm response. The hidden meaning behind her words was as simple as: 'why are you harping nonsense about him in front of me? Go to him if you have the guts!'
She could tell that this so-called True Disciple Chu was trying to win her over to his camp, so he could deal with Gu Changge.
Chu Wuji's expression uglified, but recovered just as fast, after he heard her words. After all, he was a person who could stay calm in the face of joy, anger, and other such emotions.
Still, Gu Xian'er's words made him feel a little enraged and cold. Was she mocking him for not having the guts to say all that to Gu Changge's face?
A mere wench still wet behind the ears, who had barely reached the Saint Realm, actually dared say that to his face?
It seemed that the Great Elder boosted her confidence.
If he wasn't afraid of the Great Elder, Chu Wuji would truly help her understand who the young overlord of the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace was!
Still, he couldn't help but feel somewhat puzzled. The news he received said that the hatred between Gu Changge and Gu Xian'er was as deep as the endless ocean, so he couldn't understand why she would speak up for Gu Changge?
...
Soon, a piece of news shocked everyone in the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace: 'the girl in blue who was standing next to the Great Elder that day was going to walk down the Heavenly Dao Road, in order to break Gu Changge's record!'
This news was naturally spread around by Chu Wuji, and it caused a massive sensation in all directions, so much so that even the other True Disciples were alarmed and wanted to take a look.
The girl in blue had a mysterious identity, and it was said that she was a member of the Ancient Immortal Gu Family. If that wasn't enough, then there was also the fact that the Great Elder wanted to take her in as his disciple, and held great expectations for her.
Let alone the disciples, even many Elders couldn't suppress their curiosity and came over to have a look.
In the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace, the Heavenly Dao Road was like a springboard for carps to jump over the dragon gate. After all, it could have great effects on the talent of the Heavenly Geniuses, even though talent was something set from birth and considered almost unchangeable.
Colorful clouds, brilliant rays of lights, and rainbows filled the sky as people and Mystical Items flew around. Many disciples went to the area where the Heavenly Dao Road was located, and one could see innumerable silhouettes of people on the various mountains in the surroundings. For a time, the entire place turned lively.
Many people also noticed the appearance of some Elders and their disciples.
"The Heavenly Dao Road's previous record was broken after a hundred thousand years by True Disciple Gu that year, and no one has been able to surpass him yet."
"He's a Young Supreme who's said to be the reincarnation of an Immortal, after all. I heard that his cultivation broke through to the Conferred King Realm already!"
"That kind of cultivation speed is simply unimaginable. I haven't heard of any of our peers breaking through to the Conferred King Realm yet! Even True Disciple Chu seems to be stuck at that final step."
"Is it so easy to break the record set by True Disciple Gu? What a joke! That girl in blue is merely dreaming."
The people in the surroundings discussed the matter with great zeal.
The Heavenly Dao Road was a snow-white, jade stairway surrounded by Immortal mist. It had an incomparably mysterious appearance, and each of its steps had Dao Patterns and Dao Intent permeating all over them. As the Heavenly Geniuses walked up the steps, they would come across different visions.
The Heavenly Dao Road was said to lead all the way to Heaven, and no one could tell how many steps it had. Every hundred thousand years, the Heavenly Dao Road would manifest here, and countless Young Geniuses would come here to scale its steps.
In other words, the record would be refreshed every hundred thousand years.
Every hundred thousand years would be the era of the same Heavenly Geniuses, so all of them were naturally unwilling to be left behind by their peers. All of them wanted to leave their footprints on the Heavenly Dao Road to gain fame and fortune in the world.
The Territory of True Immortals — those words weren't a joke.[2]
[2: I presume this is referring to the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace since they are related to Immortals and the stairs in their backyard even lead all the way up to Heaven. Imagine a Heavenly Genius who finally scales the stairs and then finds himself inside a dome-shaped training camp (read: pigsty) for Geniuses.]
Right now, many disciples and cultivators were gathered near the foot of the Heavenly Dao Road to watch the excitement.
Gu Xian'er's face showed an incomparable calm as her slender body moved forward.
"Junior Sister, make sure you don't push yourself beyond your ability; the pressure on the Heavenly Dao Road is extremely high."
Chu Wuji advised her with a kind expression.
This novel is available on "pawread dot com".
Gu Xian'er showed no change in her expression as she glanced at him without uttering a response.
The fact that almost all of the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace knew about this matter in such a short time could only mean that Chu Wuji made it public. As for why? He definitely wanted to watch her make a fool of herself in front of the world; he couldn't hide his true intentions from her keen mind.
"I haven't seen you for a few days, and you already have a suitor, Xian'er? How about Big Brother test him to see if he's even worthy?"
Right then, an obnoxious chuckle sounded from somewhere, and the calm on Gu Xian'er's face disappeared. She turned her head, and looked in the direction of the voice with freezing eyes.
Gu Changge slowly walked towards her; today, he was dressed in snow-white clothes untouched by the dust of his surroundings. Behind him walked a large group of powerful followers. The expressions of the nearby disciples fell, and they couldn't help but retreat one by one as they saw his entourage.
After he was done with his 'cultivation' in the Heavenly Dao Ancient City, he headed back to his Supreme Peak. But just when he reached the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace's territory, he came across Gu Xian'er's silhouette as she flew towards the Heavenly Dao Road's direction.
Gu Changge felt curious about what she was up to, and decided to come here.
"Hoh! Is this the little sister who is going to be accepted as the Great Elder's disciple? She sure is a beauty in the making, and will definitely turn out to be a gorgeous seductress when she grows up, no?"
Another chuckle sounded from a different direction as a stunning woman with a veil appeared. Behind her were a few fox tails respectfully held in the embrace of her maids, so as to prevent them from getting dirty by touching the ground.
She was the Heavenly Immortal Dao Palace's female True Disciple, Yin Mei!
In front of outsiders, she acted as if she had nothing to do with Gu Changge. After Gu Changge left the Heavenly Dao Ancient City, she had also headed back to her personal Peak.
As the cultivation 'resources' she prepared in the last six months were particularly sufficient, and Gu Changge also seemed to have developed some interest in her fox tails, he bestowed upon her a few more antidotes, so Yin Mei was in an incomparably good mood.
[Hiss!]
"True Disciple Gu's appearance was already shocking enough, yet even the mysterious True Disciple Yin is here! I truly never expected something like this."
"It seems we will have a great show to watch today!"
Everyone in the surroundings was shocked as they watched the scene in front of them. They never expected so many True Disciples to gather in a single place at this time.
What's more? Even Gu Changge appeared today!
On normal days, he was like a hidden dragon whose tail was already hard enough to see.[3]
[3: just a random idiom that says it's very hard to see someone.]
———————-
[1]: there are many kinds of disciples one can have, but I will explain the direct and named ones only. Named disciples are like students who can have multiple teachers and don't get the true inheritance/teachings of the teacher.
Direct disciples are those who are dedicated to only one Master, and get the true inheritance/teachings of the Master. Although they can learn from others, they can't take anyone else as their Master unless someone better than their Master comes around and their Master agrees to let them worship that person as their Master as well.
———————-