Chapter 634: All Unlocked

Chapter 634: All Unlocked

…

“Ow, damn, that hurts!”

The first thing Gu Changsheng did upon waking was wail.

Although his soul had healed, his body was still in a damaged state.

And after Chen Huaian’s battle with the Golden Scale Heaven-Piercing Python, even though Gu Changsheng’s flesh had only been slightly affected, it had still suffered severe combat damage.

A conservative estimate would say his internal organs had been turned into congee.

“Alright, stop howling. You’re a Unity-stage Great Perfection — is this small injury really worth all that screaming?”

“Gah?” That voice!

Gu Changsheng froze, opened his eyes, and when he saw Chen Huaian and Zhang Yibai he immediately burst into tears.

“Ancestor! It’s still two ancestors!”

“Goddamn it, that damned stinking python actually sent both ancestors down?”

Chen Huaian and Zhang Yibai: “???”

“Are you misunderstanding something?” Chen Huaian said, baffled. “Why don’t you take a look around first?”

Gu Changsheng glanced around. His face didn’t change much; instead, it showed a hint of the expected.

“I always said hell is just another world, not as sinister and filthy as people imagine. Now that I see it with my own eyes, it truly is so—look at that blue sky and white clouds, where’s the darkness and evil?”

Zhang Yibai couldn’t take it and slapped the back of Gu Changsheng’s head.

“You just died, you son of a— you died ten thousand times and I still might not die once!”

The slap brought Gu Changsheng fully to his senses.

Mainly because the physical interaction felt too real.

In principle, a spirit shouldn’t have that kind of interaction.

Even a cultivator’s divine soul isn’t supposed to have a body, but because they can manipulate surrounding heavenly-and-earth rules it gives an illusion of corporeality.

“I… I didn’t die?”

He pinched his face and thigh, then turned to Chen Huaian and Zhang Yibai: “Hahaha! I’m not dead—this Gu is not dead, hahaha!”

As he laughed, tears streamed down Gu Changsheng’s face.

He wrapped his arms around himself and trembled. “It’s good I didn’t die, it’s good I didn’t die…”

Chen Huaian and Zhang Yibai watched silently, saying nothing.

Fear of death is natural; the higher the realm a cultivator attains, the more they value life.

When Chen Huaian calculated Gu Changsheng’s condition he had also seen how, before, Gu Changsheng had endured the Golden Scale Heaven-Piercing Python’s torture and refused to yield to the death. Fear of death isn’t a flaw.

Being afraid of death doesn’t mean lacking the courage to face it.

At least when facing the Golden Scale Heaven-Piercing Python, Gu Changsheng had already been ready to die.

“Enough, quit!” Zhang Yibai patted Gu Changsheng’s shoulder and laughed, “Good job, you didn’t disgrace our moon… ahem, our sect. You’re a tough man! You should thank Old Chen that you’re alive; if Old Chen hadn’t desperately saved you, there’d be five zhang of grass on your grave by now.”

Zhang Yibai was certain Chen Huaian had used some forbidden divine art.

Only such a taboo technique could bring such a huge temporary boost to a cultivator.

And what Chen Huaian used wasn’t an ordinary forbidden art either—going from Nascent Soul to Great Ascension Stage is a gulf of a magnitude that must carry enormous cost.

Looking at Chen Huaian seeming fine now, it surely meant trouble would follow later.

But that wasn’t a huge problem; the Golden Scale Heaven-Piercing Python was dead, and Hua Jin the True One was on their side, so he could shoulder the fallout.

Gu Changsheng immediately kowtowed to Chen Huaian.

“Thank you, Old—”

He was about to say “Ancestor” but realized there were outsiders, so he switched to “senior.”

“Senior is fine.”

“There’s no need to be so formal between us,” Chen Huaian nodded slightly.

He could feel a complex gaze sweeping across them periodically—no need to guess it came from Hua Jin the True One.

Although Hua Jin had cultivated the Heavenly Demon Art, the shock of killing the python’s avatar had been too great; the Heavenly Demon Art probably couldn’t fully restrain it.

Chen Huaian was still thinking over how to put on a show for Hua Jin.

Suddenly an intense wave of weakness poured through his body. Chen Huaian froze as his cultivation leaked out like air from a punctured ball; in less than two breaths his power drained clean away, and the Great Ascension-stage pressure vanished. In an instant he returned to being an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator.

He immediately seized the opportunity, flopped onto the ground, controlled his True Essence to strike his own internal organs and forced a mouthful of old blood out.

Now that Hua Jin’s cultivation was low she wouldn’t be able to tell this blood was staged.

“Ugh… this hurts so much… I feel like my whole body’s… breaking…”

Zhang Yibai’s mouth twitched—this staged internal bleeding was obvious.

Gu Changsheng, however, looked astonished—could the side effect of the ancestor’s recent unsealing divine art really be merely internal bleeding?

Would mere internal bleeding count as an injury for a cultivator?

After all, the heavenly-and-earth rules of this world had almost been wrecked by a Great Ascension-stage ancestor…

Putting internal bleeding and the near-collapse of a world’s laws together felt incomparable.

Indeed ancestors are terrifying.

At this moment, Gu Changsheng’s gaze toward Chen Huaian was full of admiration, flowing without end.

Only Hua Jin, the one with the lowest cultivation, was still in the dark.

Seeing Chen Huaian “gravely injured,” she hurried forward to support him.

Her mind thought—hmm, it looks like using that secret art costs a lot, it’s left him powerless; the spitting blood and weakness must be surface effects—there must also be root-foundation damage, reduced lifespan, and other severe side effects.

With that thought, her eyes toward Chen Huaian gained a touch of gratitude.

What a fine Elder Chen!

If it weren’t for an Elder Chen willing to sacrifice like that, she and Little YiYi would have already met in the Yellow Springs.

To have doubted Elder Chen’s identity earlier was truly wrong!

Elder Chen and those mysterious sword cultivators from the Sword Pavilion were completely different!

Elder Chen is a good person; those others were bullies!

Hua Jin took out a few pills and shoved them into Chen Huaian’s mouth—cheap pills produced by Kunlun Immortal Palace’s Alchemy Pavilion.

Upon swallowing, Chen Huaian felt a chaotic wash of medicinal power rumbling inside him and immediately sat up.

“All right, thank you for the pills, this venerable one feels much better…”

Chen Huaian blocked Hua Jin the True One’s hand so she wouldn’t keep stuffing pills down his throat.

If he continued to look weak she’d pile on more pills.

“Are you really better?”

Hua Jin hesitated. Though she had given Chen Huaian the best pills she had, she didn’t think they should have such a strong effect…

“All right, all right.” Chen Huaian stood and moved to show Hua Jin he was fine, speaking earnestly: “Hua Jin, when you regain control of Kunlun Immortal Palace, don’t ever assign any disciples to the Alchemy Pavilion again. Leave the Alchemy Pavilion to me; let me pick its disciples. You don’t need to worry about any of that!”

“Huh?” Hua Jin stared at Chen Huaian in a daze.

How did the conversation swing back to taking charge of Kunlun Immortal Palace and rebuilding the Alchemy Pavilion?

Was she still qualified to keep being the palace’s leader?

She didn’t even have the confidence herself.

“Senior Chen is joking,” Hua Jin forced a smile. “My current strength might not even match Wang Shouyi—how could I be the leader of Kunlun Immortal Palace?”

“Don’t speak like that.” Chen Huaian’s face turned serious. “The leader of Kunlun Immortal Palace must be you. Whether it’s Wang Shouyi, me, or Elder Zhang, we all only accept you as leader; no one else will do!”

“R-really…?”

Hua Jin widened her eyes.

Chen Huaian’s words filled her with immense confidence.

Could it be that in Elder Chen and mighty Elder Zhang’s eyes she was that trustworthy?

“I—I understand!”

Hua Jin drew a deep breath, straightened, and stood at attention with a solemn face: “I will not let you or Elder Zhang down. I will restore my position as leader of Kunlun Immortal Palace!”

“Good! That’s the spirit!”

Chen Huaian nodded.

That was a relief.

Having cultivated the Heavenly Demon Art, Hua Jin trusted him completely—she believed whatever he said.

“Why does this senior keep hiding his face? Is he ashamed to show himself?”

Hua Jin looked at Gu Changsheng; he felt oddly familiar, but she couldn’t place where she’d met him. The sensation was peculiar.

“Ahem… I’m rather ugly,” Gu Changsheng awkwardly turned his face away and cleared his throat twice. “So I don’t reveal my visage, to avoid scaring others.”

Hua Jin felt a mix of pity and sympathy at Gu Changsheng’s awkwardness. Such a powerful senior being troubled by appearance?

Little did she know that for Ascenders, looks are the least valuable thing.

She comforted him gently: “You need not worry, Senior. A shell is merely outward; a beautiful heart is the true essence. Besides, being esteemed by Elder Chen and Elder Zhang proves you are deep in cultivation and noble of character.”

Gu Changsheng: “…”

Sensing the atmosphere had become awkward, Chen Huaian quickly changed the subject.

“All right, enough standing there. We’ve already wiped out that big worm’s lair; it must have hoarded plenty of treasures over the years! Hua Jin, you know the place—lead the way. We’ll give it a good ‘decluttering’ and do justice!”

Zhang Yibai hurriedly smoothed things over: “Yeah! Old Chen’s right! Clean house! Let’s go!”

Although Hua Jin found phrases like “decluttering” and “doing justice” a bit odd here—after all, Great Thunder Temple had once been her colleague—thinking about how the Golden Scale Heaven-Piercing Python had nearly killed her and Wang Shouyi removed any hesitation or discomfort.

At worst, in this cycle she’d have Kunlun Immortal Palace take Great Thunder Temple’s place!

As long as she carried out the elders’ tasks diligently, those elders wouldn’t interfere in such disputes.

She nodded: “Okay, I’ll lead you!”

Just as everyone was preparing to move out—

Buzz!

Chen Huaian’s pocket phone suddenly vibrated violently!

He paused; the excitement on his face vanished and his brow knit as he pulled out the phone.

The screen lit up without unlocking, instantly displaying a full-screen, flashing-frame pop-up from the Electronic Girlfriend game.

[Your Electronic Girlfriend’s affection has increased by +50]

[Current affection: ♡♡♡♥♥♥20 (Divine Wandering in the Void uses: 3)]

[Affection requirement reached: Body 100% sensation fully unlocked. Congratulations, you have unlocked all basic affection levels of the Electronic Girlfriend. Please continue to raise affection; this game will unlock more functions for you!]

…

Wadashi, all burned out