Translator: Fate Proofreader: Silavin Among the crowd, there was a young man with a slender figure in ebony armour. His eyes flashed with a thought. When he saw Gu Changge, he was visibly vexed, exasperated, but he quickly suppressed those emotions. And as those emotions vanished, he finally regained his calm. At that moment, even the people closest to him could tell that he was Prince Ying Shuang. Right now, he was donning a new appearance, that of an unknown young prodigies. “What’s wrong?” Beside the young man in ebony armour was an Elder in a loose robe, whose face was glowing, possessing the resemblance of n Immortal. The Elder, whom Ying Shuang referred to as Mo Lao, was a mysterious old being. Back when Ying Shuang was in the Eternal Overcast Battlefield, he was taken away by the three Sacred Lord Realm experts and abandoned in an isolated area. The Sacred Lord Realm experts then told him someone would be coming for him. Naturally, Ying Shuang did not believe them, knowing they were Gu Changge’s henchmen. To him, those words were only Gu Changge’s lies to make him continue to be the scapegoat that held the identity of the Successor of Demonic Arts. Nevertheless, Ying Shuang found himself surprised to see that someone actually came looking for him and claimed to be a fellow member of the Cult of Demonic Arts. And, Mo Lao, a follower of the Demon Lord, was most mysterious, possessing terrifying strength. Despite Ying Shuang’s desire to clarify that he was framed to be the Successor of Demonic Arts and confess that the real Successor of Demonic Arts was someone else, he was aware that the revelation would bring him inevitable death even though he was in possession of the Golden Ancient Bell, his Sacred Emperor Grade Weapon. As of now, Sky Emperor Mountain no longer welcomed him as he was turned into a widely despised public menace. Thus, as long as his tracks were discovered, countless cultivators would definitely storm to hunt him down. As such, he was extremely exasperated, and none could rival his hatred for his nemesis, Gu Changge. “You were tricked by Gu Changge the last time around, but things will be different now as you return to Immortal Academy. With us backing you up, even Gu Changge himself would have to learn his place.” Looking at Ying Shuang’s expression, Mo Lao subconsciously smiled out of realisation. In fact, other than being a Demonic Cultist, Mo Lao also possessed another identity, an Elder of the Immortal Academy. And that was not known even by the other Elders of Immortal Academy. Hearing that, Ying Shuang composed himself and nodded. “I understand.” For some reason, he kept feeling as though Gu Changge, who was standing at the entrance, was constantly observing him. Nonetheless, since he dared to show up at Immortal Academy, he clearly was confident that no one would be able to see through his disguise. “I heard Mingkong is coming over, so I came here to wait for her,” Gu Changge answered the Elder in white with a smile. “I see, what a lovely couple you two make, Young Master Changge.” The Elder in white responded with a sentimental smile, while the rest who overheard the conversation felt envious, especially the prodigal damsels. Needless to say, the ‘Mingkong’ Gu Changge mentioned was undoubtedly his fiancée, the Sucessor of the Unrivalled Celestial Dynasty, Princess Yue Mingkong. “Well, I didn’t have a choice. She told me to come get her. how could I ever say no to her?” Gu Changge’s smile was benign and courteous as ever. Although he sounded somewhat helpless, his voice carried a hint of intimacy. However, for some reason, the surrounding young prodigies, especially the prodigal damsels, felt highly sour and envious as they were irritated by Gu Changge’s affection for Yue Mingkong. In fact, they were immensely jealous of Yue Mingkong since no other women ever received such treatment from Gu Changge. But of course, Gu Changge words were only perfunctory as the purpose of his visit to Immortal Academy, upon his detection of Ying Shuang’s aura, was to study who were on Ying Shuang’s side. Furthermore, Gu Changge could feel that the Organisation of Demonic Arts wasn’t formed by an individual, but its members were gathered to worship one significant being. Though, the identity of the being remained a mystery to Gu Changge as the only possibility he could come to was the Founder of Demonic Arts. Therefore, he wished to find out the purpose of the Organisation of Demonic Arts as soon as possible. [Judging by the attitudes of these people of Immortal Academy, that old man must be an Elder of Immortal Academy, and his cultivation level is at least in the Sacred King Realm. In other words, Ying Shuang has a Sacred King Realm expert as his pillar.” Gu Changge’s face grew fascinated. At the same time, he wondered whether he should keep Ying Shuang alive. Since the latter had a makeover and drew a member from the Organisation of Demonic Arts, he was basically useless now. Nonetheless, if Ying Shuang were to die, Sky Emperor Mountain might be able to detect it, which would be a minor setback to Gu Changge. Thus, he was contemplating how he could execute Ying Shuang in the open, without leaving the impression that the Successor of Demonic Arts was dead to the public. And it would require delicate preparations to make it seem like the Successor of Demonic Arts escaped death. Furthermore, he intended to have Su Qingge contact the organisation beforehand since she was the ‘true Successor of Demonic Arts’, which would require some more effort. Su Qingge was testing his attitude toward her, not confident where she stands in her heart. Likewise, Gu Changge could not disclose the truth to her, not because he didn’t trust her, but matters related to him being the Successor of Demonic Arts must not be revealed to others. Except for Yue Mingkong, Jiang Chuchu, and Hei Yanyu from the Celestial Ancient Continent, no one else in the world knew he cultivated with the Forbidden Demonic Arts. And these women were troubled by various problems that forbade them from exposing him. [Soon, Su Qingge will surely cultivate the Demonic Arts behind my back, and with so many young prodigies in the Immortal Academy, the Elders won’t be able to attend to her when she loses control. That will be the perfect opportunity.] At that moment, as Gu Changge was deep in his thoughts, a high-pitched screech of a phoenix was heard. From the eastern sky, a nine-headed black Celestial Phoenix was seen dragging a carriage, soaring towards Immortal Academy in the sky at lightning speed. [Yue Mingkong is here. Just as I was thinking about her.] In the meantime, from another direction, a giant nine-headed golden lion that seemed to be made of gold, was also charging in the sky. The sound of chanting could be heard as the light of Buddha brightly illuminated the sky. A handsome young monk in a white robe with an odd tattoo on his forehead was seen riding on the golden lion, appearing grand yet stern. At once, the people of Immortal Academy were blown away as young prodigies were dumbfounded when they identified who the monk was. “Nine-headed lion? Is he from Golden Cicada Temple of Buddhist Mountain?” “I heard the name of the new Chosen Monk was Jin Chan. Could that be him? For Buddhist Mountain, who have been keeping a low profile, to send their Chosen Monk, they must have plenty to Talent there! They must be in their golden age!” “If that’s really him. He must be exceptional. According to rumours, the Chosen Monk possesses a total of 108 Buddhist Bones in his body. And at his birth, the silhouette of Buddha appeared in the Nine Heavens, compassionately smiling at him.” “Plus, this Chosen Monk was said to have ventured into Demon-Burying Abyss and walked out alive. Is that true?” “Damn! He went to Demon-Burying Abyss? That’s scary…” Thereupon, young prodigies began discussing as they were all astounded by the young monk. In fact, Buddhist Mountain had once survived without a Chosen Monk for quite a while. Given that Buddhist Mountain was in no way inferior to the Mortal Palace and Sky Emperor Mountain, it was clear how mysterious and powerful the current Chosen Monk was. [He’s been to the Demon-Burying Abyss?] Overhearing the conversations, Gu Changge subconsciously squinted his eyes. He was planning his journey to where the demoness in red would surface, but the Chosen Monk showed up out of nowhere. “Changge…” Suddenly, a strangely familiar timbre entered his ears. Lightly walking, Yue Mingkong came to his side, while the Elders in charge of checking bone ages dared not to question her. As ever, she was impeccably beautiful. Even without makeup, her face resembled a flawless painting. Her body was slim and her hair was silky smooth, and her eyes were calm and deep. Her glowing dress, emitting intertwining Divine Chains of Order, was weaved with silk spat out by silkworms in the Quasi-Sacred Realm, and its preciousness was indubitably as its value was out of the world. Meanwhile, a big group of her followers were following behind her. Gu Changge turned over to her and subtly smiled as he smoothly grabbed her petite hand. “You’re here.” “Mm…” Yue Mingkong stood right beside him, seemingly somewhat puzzled. “Did you come here just to wait for me?” She couldn’t believe that Gu Changge would be so nice to her that he would personally come just to wait for her. Nonetheless, as she saw him the moment she arrived at Immortal Academy, she couldn’t help but feel moved and happy. “What do you think? Everyone here can vouch for me.” Gu Changge laughed. In that instant, every single young prodigy was overwhelmed with envy seeing that, but they could say nothing about the destined relationship between such a ravishing couple. Then, as scepticism arose in Yue Mingkong’s eyes, she scanned across the faces of the young prodigies, only to see nothing off about them, and she was comforted by that. Nevertheless, very soon, she turned to Jin Chan, who was riding on the nine-headed lion, and revealed a pondering look. It was the first time the mysterious Chosen Monk revealed himself to the world. According to her memory of her previous life, Jin Chan helped an ancient freak remove the suspicion of him being the Successor of Demonic Arts, which drew Gu Changge’s anger. Later, upon the disturbance in Demon-Burying Abyss, Jin Chan hurried over and faced trouble within, and since then, there was no longer news about him. Even till now, she couldn’t fathom why Gu Changge chose to seal off Demon-Burying Abyss in her previous life. Although he failed to do it, he managed to achieve his goal to buy himself some time. Furthermore, some time ago, Gu Changge asked her some questions, to which she indirectly told him numerous pieces of information regarding Demon-Burying Abyss. Though, there was one thing that remained an enigma to her, many incidents that were meant to take place later in time were, for some reason, brought forward, including the occurrence of Immortal Academy that appeared ten years in advance. And of course, the disturbance in Demon-Burying Abyss. “Brother Jin Chan?” With a leisurely look, Gu Changge approached Jin Chan who just landed, as if he was about to greet him. Seeing that, the crowd was rather confused. As the Chosen Monk, Jin Chan’s cultivation level was not known, but the nine-headed golden lion was in the Quasi-Sacred Realm. And for Jin Chan to ride on it, he must be at least in the Quasi-Sacred Realm. On the other hand, Gu Changge’s strength needed no clarification as even the Elders of Immortal Academy still needed to treat him with respect. There was even a rumour where Gu Changge sparred with someone in the Quasi-Sacred Realm, which eventually ended in a tie. With countless similar events, he grew more and more mysterious. [Will the two of them clash at their first meeting?] Thinking that, the crowd couldn’t help but feel excited. “Greetings, Young Master Changge.” Jin Chan hopped to the ground and composedly greeted Gu Changge with his hands clasped together. However, the nine-headed golden lion growled behind him as its hair raised, seemingly distressed and intimidated by Gu Changge’s presence. “What is it doing?” Gu Changge asked out of fascination. “Shan Jing is very sensitive to all kinds of aura. Perhaps it was either that of Young Master Changge or Princess Mingkong has startled him,” Jin Chan calmly answered. Shan Jing was the name of the nine-headed golden lion. At its will, it could shape shift into a human, fulfilling the roles of an assistant and a mount. It also possessed a Talent that granted him incomparable sensitivity to auras, which allowed him to instantaneously tell good and bad apart. The reason it was rather hostile towards Gu Changge, was because it detected a suffocating sensation from him, as if a bloody wave of corpses was storming at it. Underneath Gu Changge’s amiable facade, there was nothing but spine-chilling terror. And that was Jin Chan’s first impression of him. Although Jin Chan had just left Buddhist Mountain recently, he had heard innumerable rumours about Gu Changge, and all of them were praises for him. However, judging by the situation, those praises were all for what was on the surface. After all, the Successor of the Immortal Gu Family must be more than meets the eye. “Weird. I barely did anything. Brother Jin Chan I reckon this mount of yours clearly bears some grudges against me and Mingkong. Gu Changge casually smiled. “But a mount’s a mount. We can never compare it to a human.” “Anyway, ever since I heard about the mysteries of Buddhist Mountain, its superb divine abilities, and its unparalleled might, I’ve always wanted to see it myself, but sadly, I never had the opportunity to. But since I’ve coincidentally bumped into you, Brother Jin Chan, perhaps you could teach me a thing or two?” Although Gu Changge’s tone was natural and his voice wasn’t that loud, everyone at the gates could hear him speak. “What!?” The crowd was thoroughly shocked. As they regained their senses, they realised that Gu Changge was offering to have a spar with the mysterious Chosen One of the Buddhist Mountain in front of him. Zoom! Right then and there, besides stupefaction, there was only excitement and thrill on every face. After all, the crowd barely had the opportunity to witness Gu Changge engaging in a fight, and many were curious as to his true strength. And now, right in front of everyone, he declared a challenge to the mysterious Chosen Monk before him. Without a doubt, such an exchange was truly shocking. Even Yue Mingkong herself was dazed and bewildered by Gu Changge’s intention.