Translator: Pres Proofreader: Silavin Gu Xianer had left the Gu Family since she was a child and had not returned. Even when she had her relatives, Masters from the Peach Village, she still felt the need to go back. To discover her roots, and see the place where she was born. Gu Changge knew this and believed his mother’s birthday banquet to be an excellent opportunity for him. He could use this to completely eradicate the estrangement between the various branches of the Gu Family, which had developed over the years, and take full control over the family. He had not forgotten this issue that needs to be rectified from the very beginning. Gu Changge’s mother and father had gotten married quite late. In fact, his mother was going to be five thousand years old. However, due to her Beauty Preserving Technique, she looked no different from when she was in her youth. Due to her identity, it was a major event for both the Immortal Gu Family and the Primal Celestial Temple. The two would have to show their prestige and would invite all the major factions to attend the birthday banquet. Naturally, the young prodigies from the various great forces would come and there would definitely be fights against their peers. As the son, and the host of the banquet, Gu Changge would be expected to maintain his prestige and resolve such matters. However, for Gu Changge, such things are trivial. He was more concerned about another matter, namely the Mortal Palace. Since they had started to act, many ancient monsters and ancient emperor’s children might appear. It was only natural to expect that they were gifted and were extremely strong. It just so happens that Gu Changge was lacking in suitable Sources to harvest. He wishes to advance past the Sacred Realm but had been worried there was not enough prey. Furthermore, he needed to find someone else to be his new scapegoat and take on the mantle of Successor of Demonic Arts. [The Mortal Palace will soon discover Ye Ling’s death. After all, there is still the Immortal Ye Family, which they could use to do an analysis on him. Since the Mortal Palace’s position in the world is unshakable, and they have an unfathomably strong heritage, it is to be expected that they have some sort of secret technique to determine Ye Ling’s location from his blood relatives.] [Once Ye Ling is discovered to be dead, and news of this discovery spreads, I will definitely be greatly implicated by it. So, I need to make a plan for this. Thankfully, I have time to make the necessary arrangements. All that’s left is to determine who the scapegoat will be this time…] Gu Changge’s expression gradually became more profound. The faces of the various young prodigies flashed through his mind. There was Wang Wushuang, Ye Langtian, and so on. He continuously dismissed them one by one. He did this continuously, while looking for just the right one. [First, that person needs to have a high status. The average young prodigy does not fit the criteria. Second, that person must be exceptionally strong. Otherwise, it would be difficult to make up a story where Ye Ling got killed by that person. In fact, that person must at least have stronger backing than Ye Ling and must have a higher cultivation level than Ye Ling. Otherwise, I can’t start the first phase of my plan.] [Haa… I think I made Ye Ling out to be too strong… Why did I make it such that he managed to stand up against me, injure me and manage to escape?] Gu Changge could feel his head aching. At that time, to act it out, he had made it seem like he had injured his own Source and worked in tandem with Yin Mei to deceive everyone. That resulted in everyone believing Ye Ling to be extremely strong. Someone who could injure and escape from him. Now, that has come to bite Gu Changge back. He could no longer select any ordinary young prodigy as his scapegoat. [I wanted to make it such that Ye Ling got killed, and the new scapegoat, the so-called actual Successor of Demonic Arts, was someone else all along. If not the Successor who killed Ye Ling, it would be a mysterious organisation. But now, with Ye Ling being so strong, no young prodigy makes the cut. The only one I can think of is Wang Ziji! But I obviously can’t use her. She is the Successor of the Mortal Palace. Pinning her as the scapegoat would be the same as digging my own grave… It looks like I will have to find out more about those ancient monsters and ancient emperor’s children. I will have to start with them.] Gu Changge soon knew what he needed to do. [All the major factions will finitely attend my mother’s birthday banquet. After all, no faction in the Beyond would dare ignore an invitation from the Immortal Gu Family. I expect it to be extremely lively. And, Yue Mingkong will most likely join too, considering her personality. At that time, I will be able to pry out some information from her. Might be able to find out there the reincarnation of the Mortal One will be born, and the mysterious Peach Tree behind Xianer…] Gu Changge thought. For these past few days his interest in Gu Xianer had dialled down. It was not on the same level as the beginning. He was now more interested in the mysterious Peach Tree behind her. According to the many cliches he knew, since Gu Xianer was a Fortuitous Lady, and had the mysterious Peach Tree backing her, it was bound to be something which had existed for eons. However, to get to the mysterious Peach Tree, Gu Changge would need to start with Gu Xianer. [Xianer’s attitude towards me will play a large role in determining how the mysterious Peach Tree and the Masters behind her view me.] The mysterious Peach Tree was something Gu Changge had been aware of and has been scheming against for an extremely long time. Naturally, without the tragic play he had produced, it would be hard for him to move these ancient fossils who had been alive for countless years, let alone have them trust him. Gu Changge still has not forgotten the time he sent Yan Ji to look for Gu Xianer, whereby she found the Peach Village. Even when she was in the Sacred Lord Realm, she still came back heavily wounded. If not for the Domain Shattering Rune, she most likely would have died there. [With such powerful beings, how can I make use of them? If not, why don’t I devour their Sources?] Gu Changge thought, with a smile that grew ever wider. … It did not take long for news of the birthday banquet hosted by the Immortal Gu Family to spread throughout the Boundless Heaven, which had caused a huge stir. Gu Changge’s mother was known to be a goddess in the past. She was the Saintess of the Primal Celestial Temple, someone born with powerful Talent with no rival. News of her having a birthday banquet had shocked countless cultivators, leading to no small number of discussions. After all, they just realised that the goddess the world had once revered was about to turn five thousand years old. Furthermore, this same goddess had a son who became like her, unrivaled, and had become known as the number one within the young generation. Countless sighed. The Vermilion Bird Clan, White Tiger Clan, Skyward Schloss, Immortal Wang Family, Immortal Ye Family, and many other great factions had all sent their men to bear congratulatory gifts to the Immortal Gu Family. … Meanwhile, somewhere else, at the summit of the mountain the Great Elder usually cultivates in, there was a young girl, peerlessly beautiful. She was currently hugging her knees as she looked at the clouds below, seeming in a daze. The mountain wind would occasionally blow against her skirt, causing its corners to be lifted, revealing her delicate and flawless snow-white thighs. She looked unworldly, as though nothing in this world could taint her beauty. With the pure and cold aura she exudes, she seems to have been given the best blessing by Heaven. She was no different to being the apple of the world’s eyes. Naturally, it was Gu Xianer, who had just concluded her cultivation for the day. After she had become Gu Changge’s punching bag, her cultivation improved by leaps and bounds. She was now already on the verge of breaking through to the Partial-Enlightented Realm. She was so fast she rendered the Great Elder speechless. However, she still was not happy. These past few days, Gu Changge paid her no heed, no matter how much she provoked him. She even went all the way up to the summit of Supreme Peak and challenged him. However, he still remained indifferent to her, and did not even spare a word to her. It was as if they were no different from strangers. Naturally, Gu Xianer had not said anything about this, but she was clearly hurt by it. She knew that this was how she had treated him in the past, with indifference and hostility. That what she was feeling, was what he felt at that time. Even so, she believes this was all an elaborate act, to prevent her from getting close to him, so that she would not find out about his secret from back then. Thus, she chose to not mind it and continued. That was until she suddenly received a letter from the Immortal Gu Family. It made her mood drop and made her feelings in a mess. “Go back home?” Gu Xianer muttered. She looked at the letter in her hand, blankly. Just like Gu Changge, she also received a letter from the Immortal Gu Family. [The handwriting and aura on this letter must have come from Gu Lintian, Gu Changge’s father. Uncle, huh? I used to really look up to him in the past. I never thought that I would receive a letter personally written by him. From what’s written, he clearly had been feeling guilty for mistreating me all these years. Although he does not say why he did it, I can understand the difficult spot he was put in.] Gu Xianer had already thought things through and was not surprised by what had happened. Nor how her uncle felt. She was just surprised by Gu Lintian’s approach. After all, he was the head of the Immortal Gu Family, and was sincerely showing how he felt in this letter. [Even though I can mentally understand, my feelings do not follow. I can still feel my heart tighten whenever I think about it. I know, what happened is all in the past. I have forgiven them. But I still can’t pretend it never happened. He was the one who expelled me and my branch from the Gu Family back then. He is also the one who has allowed all of us back…] [Well, uncle did beat dad when they were vying for the position of head of the Gu Family…] [Even now, I still long for the day I can finally go back. Go back to the Gu Family. My home, and see my relatives.] “When Gu Changge acknowledged me as someone part of the Gu Family that day, I should have expected this day to come. Don’t you think, Hong?” Gu Xianer asked and sighed. She was speaking to the big red bird on her shoulder. The bird just gave her a sidelong glance, as though saying, ‘You little shit. You obviously want to go home but can’t due to your stupid pride and face.’ Seeing Hong’s expression, Gu Xianer gritted her teeth in hatred. She immediately thought of plucking all of Hong’s feathers and roasting her up to eat. [Hey, are you really not going to give me any face?] Even so, Hong’s reaction was what she thought of herself as well. Even Gu Changge had said she was someone arrogant and sometimes values her face too much, more than anyone else. In fact, if the Immortal Gu Family had sent her a majestic carriage, pulled by nine dragons, with powerful escorts to bring her home, she would still make it seem as though she was reluctant. Giving a hard nod to agree. But now, all she got was a letter and nothing else? [That’s it? That’s it? That’s it!?] Gu Xianer really wanted to throw this letter back at her uncle’s face. She wanted to ask him, ‘is this what you call a sincere apology!?’ [If I return back like this, where would I put my face? Gu Changge had acknowledged me in front of the whole world, you know? The Immortal Gu Family should be escorting me back!] “You call this sincerity? They’re really looking down on me…” Gu Xianer snorted. A sound of disdain could be heard. Though, to be fair, Gu Lintian was not being considerate to her. However, to him, he had to keep his own position and the family’s position in mind. He truly felt sorry and believes that he and the Immortal Gu Family should not have treated her like that. Even so, he could not make her return to the family too high-profile. If he did, it would seem as though the Immortal Gu Family had buckled under the judgemental eyes of others and would be humiliating the family instead. Thus, after careful consideration, he decided to personally write a sincere letter and have his men personally send it to her Unfortunately, he could have never thought that Gu Xianer would be like this, and believe he wasn’t showing ‘enough sincerity’. “I’m not going. Who wants to return home? Regardless, I’m not going back.” Gu Xianer had calmed down her heart, but still could not help but mutter. “Oh? If you aren’t going back home, where will you go?” Gu Xianer suddenly heard a faint voice from a distance and immediately afterwards, she felt like the world had turned completely silent. A terrifying pressure was approaching, one strong enough to cause mountains and oceans to tremble. Time, space, even the cycle of reincarnation seem to have froze. Buzz! Up, high in the sky, space distorted and a passage emerged. From it came Gu Changge. He was standing with his hands behind his back. He was calmly looking down at the stiff looking Gu Xianer. “Gu Changge…” Gu Xianer finally reacted. She stared at him, not knowing why he suddenly came here. After all, it was not long ago that he was indifferent and cold to her, making her grit her teeth in rage. So, why would he be here now? As Gu Changge was indifferently looking down on her, he seemed untouchable and peerless, especially with his long majestic robe embroidered with stars. “If you aren’t going back home, where will you go?” Gu Changge repeated. Gu Xianer’s gaze moved away from Gu Changge. She did not dare look at him, as though she had lost all her courage. She knew she could not beat him, and the Great Elder was not currently on this mountain peak. After the Great Elder had returned from the Celestial Ancient Continent, rage was written all over his face. He only gave her advice on what to do when cultivating in the future and disappearing without a trace. Gu Xianer naturally guessed that the Great Elder must have been maddened by Gu Changge while they were in the Celestial Ancient Continent. Thus, the Great Elder was missing and if Gu Changge really wanted to teach her a lesson now, she would be helpless, unable to resist. Especially after she had been increasingly provoking him these past few days. She now believes that though he was ignoring her, he was still keeping it in mind, and with his vengeful personality, was just waiting for the perfect chance to get back at her, which was now. “Wait… I said something?” Gu Xianer could not withstand the fearsome pressure from Gu Changge and mumbled. [It’s best to play dumb. He obviously heard me. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have suddenly appeared and said that. But so what? I’m not afraid of you.] “Oh? You didn’t say anything? Hmm, it seems like your cultivation has improved. I wonder if it has caused you to be delusional again.” Seeing that Gu Xianer refuse to acknowledge what she said, the calm on Gu Changge’s face disappeared. He even ridiculed her. “Gu Changge, you…” Hearing him mock her, Gu Xianer’s small face distorted. She immediately felt that something was horribly wrong. She quickly reacted and covered her body in a silvery brilliant light, made of various runes that intertwined with one another. It then formed wings, like those a phoenix possesses behind her. Exuding an astonishingly strong aura, when she flapped her wings, it seemed capable of tearing the world apart. It was her extremely fast movement technique. She quickly spread her wings and fled, towards the space behind her. She had sensed that Gu Changge was about to make a move. Buzz! However, Gu Changge was still much faster than her. The moment she was about to flee, a terrifying space fluctuation had engulfed her. The surrounding space around her seems to be like the sea, with waves along its surface. It then pressed down on her like mountains were covering every inch of her body, locking her in place. “Not good…” Gu Xianer let out a low cry. She realised that she could not break free with her current cultivation level. Even though she was breaking through realms at an insanely fast pace, she still could not put up the slightest resistance when faced against Gu Changge. “Little girl, it seems like after you don’t receive a good spanking for a few days, you start to become arrogant again. This just won’t do…” Gu Changge shook his head while speaking in a tone as though it was a pity. However, his actions and ruthlessness seem to spare no consideration. Buzz! Space suddenly distorted again. When he brought his palm up, a terrifying massive palm appeared in the sky, and then crashed down! Everything played like clockwork. Gu Xianer was, once again, pinned to the ground by the palm. No matter how much she simulated her Celestial Bone, it did not help. Naturally, this was because Gu Changge was using the power of Principles to suppress her. It was so easy to pin her down because the power Gu Xianer could utilise was on a level lower than the utilisation of Principles, which Gu Xianer obviously was not aware of, otherwise, she would be shouting, ‘unfair’. In Gu Changge’s opinion, Gu Xianer was already very strong. The speed of which she could break through the many cultivation realm was worthy of her status as a Fortuitous Lady. However, he still wanted her to get even stronger, naturally to meet his own requires for his own goals. Thus, he continued to relentlessly ridicule her, and remain indifferent to her. “This is the result of provoking me every day. I can take you down with just one hand. Why do you keep disappointing me? You know, if this was a real battle, you would’ve died.” Gu Changge stood tall and indifferently looked down on her. “Argh! You say so much crap. Why don’t you restrict your cultivation level to mine and have a go with me? You’re just using your higher cultivation to suppress me right now. What kind of skill is that, huh?” Gu Xianer grinded her teeth in rage. Even when she improves, she was ruthlessly taken down a peg again. [No matter how hard I cultivate, why can’t I catch up to him? Why can he always so easily suppress me!?] Gu Xianer was shocked. She could tell that Gu Changge’s true cultivation far surpassed his surface cultivation level. In fact, she suspects that he was already in the Sacred Realm. “There is no such thing as fairness in battle.” Gu Changge replied, indifferently. “I know you won’t kill me…” Although Gu Xianer was pinned onto the ground, she still replied, certain that Gu Changge would not do it. “Oh?” Gu Changge did not deny her words and just made a pondering expression. “Gu Changge, you better remember. I will sooner or later catch up to you. At that time, you won’t be able to bully me anymore.” Gu Xianer declared, as though she had won in the end. Her eyes glimmered and her face made an expression that others would judge as deserving of a spanking. However, this time, Gu Changge did not reply to her words. “Father has sent me a letter. He had ordered me to take you back to the family.” He said, at the same time, released his palm pressing down on Gu Xianer. He had already predicted Gu Xianer would choose not to go back. After all, with her personality, she would definitely want to make a show about not wanting to go back but in her heart, wants to go back. Thus, Gu Changge came here to force her to recognise reality. “I’m not going back. He’s your father, not mine.” Gu Xianer naturally heard him, and her expression immediately turned cold. She even spoke as though it did not concern her. “I think you are mistaking something. It’s an order to bring you back. Not ask you to come with me.” Gu Changge couldn’t help but chuckle. [For a silly girl with a big mouth and stubborn head, like you, I already know I would need to take tougher measures. Even if you resist, I will just suppress you again like just now. Heck, even if I need to knock you unconscious and bring you back in a sack, I will still do it.] Hearing this, Gu Xianer secretly gritted her teeth. She knew that this was out of her control. Gu Changge definitely could force her. “Fine. I want you to take note, it is not that I want to go back but it is you who is forcing me to go back. Gu Changge, am I clear?” Finally, as if she had figured it out, Gu Xianer agreed to him. She still showed an attitude of reluctance, even making her small face seem unhappy. “Yeah, I know already. You’ve begged me to take you back when I absolutely don’t want to take you back.” Gu Changge said as he gave nods of understanding. “Eh???” When Gu Xianer heard this, she was stunned for a moment and exploded into rage the next.