Translator: Fate Proofreader: Silavin The thugs of Black Storm Gang who approached with overwhelming intimidation earlier were instantly wiped out from the sky by Gu Changge with a swing of a hand. At such a terrifying sight, the people of Northern Mountain Village, as though they encountered some divine miracle, got down on their knees out of utmost respect, all expressing their gratitude for Gu Changge. And Gu Changge, on the other hand, looked unaffected as his deed was done effortlessly. The Principles of the World was whirling around his palm as if it was his plaything that he could toy with anytime. “Immortal, you are so strong…” Yao Yao stared at him with her surprised eyes. It was her first time witnessing such a method, and it exceeded her expectation of a cultivator’s potential. She wondered if that level was attainable by anyone. To her the cultivator who took her brother away some time ago was already an unrivalled being in her eyes as he could shape mountains and rivers at ease. Yet, he was nothing compared to Gu Changge. “Are you still addressing me as Immortal at this point?” Gu Changge looked at her with a smile. “M-Master…” Hearing that, Yao Yao suddenly stuttered, after which she took a sincere, respectful bow to Gu Changge. At the end of the day, she was merely a child. After facing such an abysmal incident, she felt tremendously relieved. Back then, even she didn’t know how she mustered the courage to defend Grandma Yin Hua. While others were so afraid of her mysterious master, she behaved naturally, feeling not a trace of intimidation from him, especially after how he suddenly appeared and saved her life before expressing his intention to take her in as his disciple. It was as though he was his sliver of light that rescued her from darkness. As the surprise came too quickly, Yao Yao was overwhelmed and felt somewhat dizzy. She could even sense her grandmother’s envy for her. “What a mature child. I grow more fond the more I look at you. If I hadn’t come to the Sky Domain on a whim, I wouldn’t have known what I’d missed out,” Gu Changge smilingly said with a celebratory expression, as if he was scared of missing out on such an exceptional disciple. Of course, only he himself knew the genuineness of his words. “Master.” Upon those words, joy and excitement surged in Yao Yao’s eyes. Despite her age, she could detect the insinuations from Gu Changge’s words. Although his face was unrecognisable due to the blurry mists concealing it, she sensed tenderness and warmth in his eyes. In her eyes, he was far from the condescending, boastful being she had heard from the rumours. “An innocent heart and a pure soul. For you to be buried amid the drifting dust in this world, it is truly the world’s loss.” Gu Changge revealed a subtle smile as he caressed her head. In that instant, he could already guess what Yao Yao was thinking. After all, she was a Fortuitous Lady, a speedily maturing one. Even without his intervention, the ninth leader of Black Storm Gang wouldn’t have been able to harm her anyway. Upon assiduous detection, Gu Changge recognised a terrifying aura gushing out of Yao Yao’s head which could destroy everything in the world. Although he only caught an instantaneous glimpse of it, he could tell the eruption of such power could obliterate, forget Black Storm Gang, the entire Sky Domain. Nonetheless, upon his intervention, the terrifying aura quickly disappeared, and judging by what he understood about how stories and cliches were written, that must be the Dao Fruit of the mysterious peach tree. Therefore, he certainly desired to get his hands on the Dao Fruit by any means. Despite never having any interest in mentoring, he decided to reveal himself this time for the sake of convenience and even purposefully arranged a white knight act to draw some fondness or the little girl wouldn’t be willing to go with him. Apart from that, Yao Yao was the younger sister of the Mortal One’s reincarnation, which meant that she was the best leverage against him. “Master, am I as powerful as you said?” Upon Gu Changge’s generous compliments, Yao Yao seemed rather flustered. Although she acknowledged him as her mentor, they weren’t exactly acquainted just yet, so it was inevitable that she feigned some awkwardness. Naturally, Gu Changge was aware of that, but he wasn’t quite bothered by it. Although his white knight act was definitely cliche, by which he even found his own acting somewhat forced, he thought it was worth it since Yao Yao took the bait. Essentially, she was merely a naive, innocent girl, so no matter how much knowledge she bore, she couldn’t have predicted that everything was prearranged by him. In the meantime, the rest of the villagers dared not to doubt their eyes, and all they had for Gu Changge was their worship. [What a lucky girl, Yao Yao is! I knew she was blessed with immense luck that could drive atrocities and omens away at ease.] At that moment, Grandma Yin Hua, as the only cultivator in the village, was extremely gleeful, thrilled, and even a little bit envious. Yao Yao’s luck was incomparable to that of ordinary people. Her being admired and accepted by the unpredictable, domineering Immortal, which was infinitely better than being sent to Celestia Holy Land, showed how much more of a favourable position she was in compared to that of her brother. As for Gu Changge’s ulterior motive, Yao Yao never once considered him of having one. Given his daunting strength, taking the little girl away would be easy and no one would be able to stop him. He could even do that without her realising it, so it didn’t make sense for him to go to such lengths. With his power, there must be innumerable cultivators lining up to be his disciple. “Yes. You are actually so powerful.” Upon the question, Gu Changge subconsciously smiled and replied in a playful tone. Finished, he swung his arm and a vibrant light occurred before him. Whoosh! As if Yao Yao’s face was washed by water from a spring, the dirt stains were removed, revealing a clear white petite face with flawless features including a pair of onyx eyes. Her skin was delicate and snowy, glowing mesmerizingly as if she was a doll. Although her clothes were old with tears and patches all over, her divine aura was unconcealable, as though she was god’s perfect creation. If it weren’t for the disguise Grandma Yin Hua made for her, anyone with vision could sense her uniqueness. “Master…” Yao Yao’s little face blushed as she was bashful. As far as she could remember, she rarely revealed her true appearance to anyone. Her face was stained even when her brother went away. At once, the people of Northern Mountain Village were dumbfounded as they called her ‘an angel among men.’ And now, it was no longer a wonder why the Immortal chose her. She was never an ordinary human in the first place! After all, such fine, unstained quality was not to be possessed by mere mortals. “Don’t worry. You no longer have to hide yourself with me. None would dare to take advantage of you,” Gu Changge smilingly assured as he caressed her head. Although she was only a child, she would surely want a pretty appearance rather than having mud all over her face every day, and Gu Changge pretty much figured her out. “Mm. Yes, Master.” Yao Yao obediently nodded as delight surged in her big round eyes. As Gu Changge predicted, she frankly hated having mud constantly smeared on her face. Ultimately, no female in the world would ever want to not be be beautiful. Whoosh! All of a sudden, as Gu Changge slightly moved his hand, radiant heavenly beams and blinding lights were shot out of the rift before him. Then, numerous graceful garments, godly armours and vibrant heavenly robes, gleaming with intertwining runes and Divine Chains of Order appeared, followed by a spine-chilling aura that swirled out of the rift. Judging solely by their appearance, these items were surely godly garments that no one in the Lower Realm had ever seen. Their values were immeasurable as there wouldn’t be second pieces of them in the world, let alone the aesthetic ornaments complementing those garments, gems, braces, and earrings that were too dazzling for the eyes. At once, Grandma Yin Hua was instantly taken aback and took a gasp as she peered at the never-seen treasures. Each garment was surrounded with a terrifying aura that could suppress all lives. Even one tiny earring was covered in glowing runes that were filled with celetial aura. The etchings on the clothes were truly astonishing, and perhaps no one else other than Gu Changge in Heavenly Star Realm could pull out such previous treasures. “Master…” Yao Yao could only stare, wondering if she was to pick one out of all the presented garments. Subconsciously, joy surged in her eyes as it was her first time seeing such exquisite clothes and ornaments that seemed to be weaved with the rays of the sun and the moon. Blown away by the surprise, she could feel nothing but glee and thrill. “They are all for you,” Gu Changge smilingly stated. Back when he was in Skyward Ancient City, Gu Xianer acquired countless pieces of garments she adored disregarding their unfitting sizes, and she eventually left them in Gu Changge’s hands. Back then, in order to bleed him dry, Gu Xianer selected the most expensive, sophisticated pieces she could find. It was at this moment where they finally came in handy. Typically, mentors would give artifact weapons to their new disciples as courtesy, but Gu Changge thought these gifts would be more alluring to Yao Yao. Furthermore, thanks to his limitless wealth, he could have all the artifact weapons in the world. He might not excel in mentoring a disciple, but he was defeinitely good at raising one. Forget the innocent Yao Yao, anyone in her shoes would unquestionably find themselves unconsciously giving in. “All for me?” Hearing that, Yao Yao was dazed as surprise and bafflement surged in her eyes. She was suddenly at loss for words. She assumed Gu Changge wanted her to pick one or a couple from the garments, but she never expected that they were all for her. Even she could recognise the extraordinariness and incomparable values of these heavenly garments. If they were put in an unguarded area, cultivators would definitely fight a bloody war over it. “Yes, all for you.” Gu Changge smiled. At a swing of a hand, a golden beam occurred before him. Many Sacred Grade Weapons, heavenly herbs and pills, as well as ancient archives floated in the air. As if one was browsing through the storage of a massive cult, there was no end to it. At that point, even someone in the Sacred King Realm would be drooling over Gu Changge’s immense wealth. “Uhh…” Grandma Yin Hua was absolutely stupefied, especially after seeing the Sacred Grade Weapons, as if her eyes were about to pop out. She even began doubting her eyes as there weren’t just a couple of Sacred Grade Weapons, but hundreds of them! [What in the world is going on? Hundreds of Sacred Grade Weapons appeared with a swing of his hand? I can’t imagine the force behind this Immortal yet I already fear it!] Grandma Yin Hua felt the top of her head numbing as her soul shivered. [Just what kind of being did Yao Yao accept as her mentor?] “Why are you so nice to me, Master?” Yao Yao’s eyes were dampened. Other than her grandmother and brother, Gu Changge was the third person to treat him with such kindness, and him offering so many valuables to her on their first encounter left Yao Yao rather awkward. “Silly girl. You should know that, in this world, a master can become someone closest to you, even closer than family.” In response, Gu Changge revealed a sentimental look and let out a soft sigh as he patted Yao Yao’s head. He spoke with a passionate, knowing smile. “Even closer than family?” Yao Yao mumbled. With Gu Changge’s persistence, she accepted some of his gifts, but as for the rest, she would rather die than to keep them. Given her maturity despite her age, Gu Changge felt content, knowing were it up to anyone else, all of his gifts would have been accepted. Although he personally had no interest in this little girl, and he wouldn’t have spent so much effort if it weren’t to subdue the Mortal One’s reincarnation as well as gaining some Fatums and Fortuity, he found Yao Yao to be quite obedient. Thus, while he was training Gu Xianer, he wouldn’t mind raising this little disciple at the same time [How ironic. This little girl is my first ever disciple. Hmm…] As Gu Changge was pondering, he suddenly felt a ripple in an unknown space deep in his heart and sensed some pictures arising from his conscience and his flesh. A figure as red as blood, covered in an intimidating, murderous aura, was ultimately pierced through by a demon halberd before falling into a bottomless demon abyss. However, the ambiguous pictures only surged for a split second right as he thought of those words. [I’ve been seeing similar things since the incident at the Nirvana Pool. Did I unknowingly seal my own memories? Or… are these the memories of the previous host?] Gu Changge discreetly frowned. He just recently noticed this. He believed it might be similar to when he inherited the ability to use Nommening. It had popped up in his mind naturally when he was three years old, rather than having a teacher who passed such a technique onto him. Otherwise, these memories might have been sealed, which was recently broken. It led to such memories resurfacing. Such a method was similar to how Gu Changge voluntarily sealed off his memory of demonic arts out of fear that his identity might be exposed and nonetheless, eventually reappeared. [Perhaps Yao Yao isn’t my first ever disciple?] Gu Changge couldn’t help but feel that the fragment of memory was hinting at him of an upcoming new Fortuitous One. He swifty put the idea aside and stopped dwelling on it as his priority now was to deal with the matter regarding the Mortal One’s reincarnation, and whatever the future held would be hardly an obstacle. While Gu Changge was resting in Northern Mountain Village with his eyes shut, with Grandma Yin Hua’s help, Yao Yao changed into her new clothes and walked up to him in her refreshing look, compared to her torn garments. Possessing the grace of the Celestial Spirits and the elegance of the gods, she seemed to harness unlimited energy from the Great Dao within her petite body. Donning the expensive seven-coloured celestial robe and blessed with silky hair, she appeared as if she was a little Immortal from heaven. Seeing that, Gu Changge was impressed. [That’s a Fortuitous Lady right there. As the Dao Fruit of the mysterious peach tree, her quality is equal to no other.] [But if I’m not mistaken, according to normal cliches, Yao Yao should be unable to cultivate. As a Dao Fruit, she was born with extremely terrifying power, which she couldn’t activate by herself. But that’s fine. That way, I don’t have to waste my time to be her teacher, so I’ll just raise the child. Plus, it’s only a matter of time until I show some affection once again.] Countless thoughts flashed across his mind as he retained his tender smile. “Yao Yao, starting from today, we shall leave this place. Sounds good?” “Yes, Master.” Yao Yao nodded. Although she was attached to Northern Mountain Village, she understood that Gu Changge wouldn’t be able to stay here with her. “But Master, can Grandma follow us too?” Yao Yao testingly asked with an eager look. Undoubtedly, she was reluctant to leave Grandma Yin Hua, but she wasn’t sure if Gu Changge would allow her grandmother to tag along. “Since Grandma Yin Hua has raised Yao Yao for so many years, why not?” Gu Changge replied with a smile, leaving Yao Yao surprised by how swift and decisive he was. “Thank you, Master!” The little girl politely thanked him. “Thank you, Immortal!” Grandma Yin Hua exclaimed with a grateful, ecstatic face. If it weren’t for Yao Yao, she wouldn’t have been so lucky. Now that she revealed her cultivation level, if she stayed any longer, her hunters would arrive soon. Therefore, staying by Gu Changge’s side would be her best choice. Nonetheless, little did she know, he only kept her because she had her uses, and even without Yao Yao’s mention, he would have brought her along anyway. Gu Changge, along with Yao Yao and Grandma Yin Hua, left Northern Mountain Village and stopped by an ancient city in the Sky Domain to look for a place to stay. Moreover, as Yao Yao’s mentor, he must fulfil his obligations, which was passing on techniques, refining her physique, and building her foundation. In short, doing everything that was expected. Very soon, days later, a rumour was spread across forbidden areas and Mystic Mountains in the Sky Domain, rendering factions startled. According to the rumour, a man in white, leading a little girl, an old woman and a servant, traversed across these forbidden areas and Ancient Mystic Mountains into an uninhabited region to scour for some Sacred Herbs. Eventually, the master of one of the forbidden areas, who was in the Sacred Noble Realm that lived for over ten thousand years, had his single horn seized by the man in white as the latter wished to extract the essence within the horn to enhance the little girl’s foundation. Additionally, other Sacred Noble Realm cultivators from Mystic Mountains that expressed their disaffection with Gu Changge were, in turn, disintegrated by a palm from the man in white’s servant. The incident caused major turmoil across the Sky Domain, drawing countless speculations. All sorts of horrifying news left many higher-ups of Mystic Mountains in the forbidden areas distressed, fearing it would be their turn to be slaughtered. Meanwhile the news caused countless people to be extremely scared. Many inferred that the Immortal that descended at the Wonder Domain came to the Sky Domain, and they were, too, shocked by the identity of the little girl as they would start guessing who she was. … Meanwhile, the face of the first leader of Black Storm Gang was drenched with cold sweat after he listened to the reports of fellow gang leaders. Not only did the incident in Northern Mountain Village render them stunned, but forces from other regions were dumbfounded by it as well. Back then, the Immortal showed up and wiped out the thugs of Black Storm Gang with a swing of a hand. And the miracle sounded even more astounding when described by the people of Northern Mountain Village, resulting in discreet investigation from different forces. As of now, Northern Mountain Village was no longer the place it once was. Although there was no cultivator residing within, no forces dared to invade them. According to speculations of certain cultivators, the little girl originated from that very village. At the same time, the villagers seemed to be acquainted with the Immortal. Thus, the disciples of holy lands no longer dared to upset them. “First Leader, are we still avenging our men?” The third leader of Black Storm Gang asked with a stern expression, but before he could finish his sentence, he was slapped by the first leader. “Avenge? Avenge my ass! Let me warn you, ask nothing about Northern Mountain Village, and don’t even mention anything about it. Pretend as if you know nothing, understand!?” The first leader fiercely warn, though only he alone knew about the cold sweat all over his back. In that instant, he was confident that the Immortal must be the mysterious Master that suddenly appeared some time ago. Having no doubt regarding that, he remained baffled as to why Gu Changge arranged his plans that way, though he was aware that he was not to fathom the Immortal’s schemes. Nonetheless, he was smart enough to acknowledge that it was the Immortal’s feigning of mercy for not obliterating the entire Black Storm Gang, and that was perhaps a hint for him. Whoosh! Thinking that, the first leader, without hesitation, vigorously erased every memory related to the massacre. As such, no one other than the Immortal would know about Black Storm Gang’s sudden attack on Northern Mountain Village was ordered by him, and no one would be able to pursue the truth behind the incident. … Meanwhile, as Gu Changge was travelling across the Sky Domain with Yao Yao to look for cultivation material for her, he received numerous information regarding her brother. The story inevitably began with Grandma Yin Hua starting to live in hiding, and that was when she coincidentally found an infant by the rivers. Back then, she, possessing excellent Talents, was a disciple of a certain formidable holy land, but for some reason, the holy land she belonged to speedily deteriorated before crumbling down upon meeting their nemesis. Gu Changge wasn’t exactly enthralled by the story. If he were a Fortuitous One, he might have helped Grandma Yin Hua to rebuild the holy land. However, he was not one and helping her was in no way beneficial to him. And as for the infant Grandma Yin Hua picked up, that was unquestionably Yao Yao’s brother, also known as Jiang Yang, the current Mortal One’s reincarnation. Judging from her story, Jiang Yang might have a vengeful background, wherein an agonising factor caused his parents to abandon him. Regardless, Gu Changge remained uninterested. [However, Jiang Yang’s name is different from that of the rest of the Fortuitous Ones as it doesn’t contain characters like ‘Chen,’ ‘Fan,’ or ‘Hao.’ That’s new to me, but still, it’s only reasonable. After all, the Mortal One’s reincarnation is unquestionably much more remarkable than those worthless, brazen, supposed Fortuitous Ones. I’m sure Jiang Yang’s state of mind is way out of the previous Fortuitous Ones’ league given his background and his outstanding starting point. Though, I doubt that’d be any challenge to me…] Essentially, as no forces of the Upper Realm were involved for the time being, Gu Changge’s position in Heavenly Star Realm was basically similar to that of a domineering god. Now that he was certain of the identity of the Mortal One’s reincarnation, it was now easier to fulfil his subsequent tasks. Slaughtering the Mortal One’s reincarnation while syphoning all Fortuity he possessed, those were Gu Changge’s next plan and goal. From Grandma Yin Hua’s words, Gu Changge was informed that a little over a year ago, the Mortal One’s reincarnation was taken away by cultivators of Celestia Holy Land to cultivate, and since then, there was no more news of him. Furthermore, the Prime Ancestor of Celestia Holy Land was in the Sacred Emperor Realm, and Gu Changge was a little confused upon hearing about this. Judging by the threshold of Heavenly Star Realm, most Sacred Lord Realm being that wished to ascend to Sacred King Realm would require a certain amount of Fortuity, certain treasures, or even resorting to years of retreat to encounter a breakthrough. And for the Prime Ancestor of Celestia Holy Land to be in the Sacred Emperor Realm, it could mean that he might have been a living being from another world, or perhaps the Upper Realm. Furthermore, the Mortal One’s reincarnation was now cultivating in Celestia Holy Land, but there was no telling how much of his memory reawakened. [To put it nicely, it’s Reincarnation Awakening, when in reality it’s just soul transfer, where the consciousness of the host is devoured and the possessor’s past memories take charge.] Gu Changge revealed a fascinated grin. He couldn’t be more familiar with dealing with Fortuitous Ones as all of them tended to unknowingly take his bait. He finished planning his meticulous schemes, with Yao Yao and Grandma Yin Hua, the closest people to the Mortal One’s reincarnation, as the keys. Besides, except Gu Changge, no one in the world knew about the Mortal One’s reincarnation’s true identity, not even Yao Yao herself. Silavin: ‘Chen,’ ‘Fan,’ ‘Hao’ Honestly, not sure where the author gets this. Yang Kai for example, is 杨开. Yang is a common surname. If you want a direct translation, it would be ‘popular start’. Maybe a hint of the author’s own wish haha. But I digress. Just some fun tidbits for those that read Martial Peak and are reading this on DDL.