Chapter 0: 66. As Expected of You
The main hall of the Seed Demon Sacred Cult.
Gu Jinghong stared at the stone spirit before him with a dumbfounded expression, its eyes vacant and its face blank.
“Qin Gou, it’s been a while. My ears have been filled with tales of your successes in the outside world. Why are you now radiating death and listlessness? This is far from the image of a young hero of our Seed Demon Sacred Cult.”
The stone spirit opened its mouth, but remembering someone’s prior instructions, it fell silent.
“It seems Old Man Yuan Zhen must have told you something, and now you’re pretending to be foolish to trick me, aren’t you?” Gu Jinghong glared at the stone spirit, his spiritual energy surging, his robes billowing as if in a wind, trying to intimidate the stone’s head.
After a long pause.
Gu Jinghong’s expression turned astonished. If it were any other cultivator, even one at the peak of the Li Jiu realm, they wouldn’t have been able to withstand his immense pressure for so long. Let alone the youth before him, who remained as steadfast and unyielding as ever.
Such a state of mind, facing a mountain collapsing without changing expression, and a tsunami without a ripple of worry – a rare, world-class talent, seldom seen in a thousand years!
But the problem now was…
“Say something! Are you mute? You stole my Xiao Yan away without a word, and now you’re being difficult when I want to scold you?” Gu Jinghong was utterly dejected. Did this brat already know that he wouldn’t take him seriously?
“Or are you, you little scoundrel full of schemes, planning your next trick on whom?”
Hearing this, the stone spirit brothers found themselves in a difficult position. Even with their rigid minds working at full speed, they couldn’t be particularly clever. So, despite Qin Gou’s instructions, since the other party had pressed the issue this far, they could only reluctantly offer a greeting: “Your mother?”
“Who did you say?” Gu Jinghong spat out a mouthful of tea like a geyser.
The stone spirit grinned broadly and said, “Your mother, your mother!”
“Bastard!” Gu Jinghong, enraged, sprang from his throne.
Qin Gou, who had been eavesdropping outside the main hall for a long time, his aura concealed by the Desireless Bracelet, slapped his forehead with a darkened expression. He instantly rushed into the hall and, before Gu Jinghong could erupt, grabbed the stone spirit by the collar, shaking it vigorously. “You good-for-nothing fool! You ran out again to impersonate me without permission, and this time you’re being presumptuous in front of Cult Master Gu, trying to frame me? Speak! Who ordered you to do this?”
The stone spirit looked bewildered and said, “It was Qin…”
“Yes, yes, I knew your stone head wouldn’t make sense of it. Hurry back!” Qin Gou’s mouth twitched as he quickly interjected. At the same time, his Nas space emanated a faint glow, and he retrieved the utterly dumbfounded stone spirit brothers.
“Ahem, Cult Master Gu, please don’t be offended. My stone spirit puppet comes from the Forget Self Secret Realm. It has always acted strangely and erratically, disobeys orders, and is exceptionally good at concealing or imitating others’ auras. I spent a great deal of effort searching for it within the sect earlier, and only with great difficulty found it here with you,” Qin Gou said with a cupped fists salute and a smile.
“You were looking for it within the sect before you came?”
“For about the duration of one incense stick burning. I happened to pass by and saw spiritual energy surging within the main hall, so I came closer to take a look,” Qin Gou said with a straight face. “That scoundrel didn’t cause any trouble in front of Cult Master Gu, did he?”
“Ha.” Gu Jinghong immediately crossed his arms behind his back and laughed heartily, “It’s quite amusing. As the Cult Master of this sect, I have seen countless people. I immediately saw through the true form of that little puppet. But I was too lazy to bother, so I remained silent and observed from start to finish, letting it perform its solo act!”
“Then I truly have broadened my horizons.” Qin Gou chuckled.
“What, you don’t believe me?” Gu Jinghong’s expression stiffened.
“How could I not?” Qin Gou said, placing his hand on his heart. “I am greatly impressed. Cult Master Gu truly has sharp eyes! In that case, it’s no accident that Xiao Yan was able to master such a rare and powerful Eye-type Spirit Tool. It must be built upon the solid foundation of Cult Master Gu’s bloodline!”
Gu Jinghong was stunned for three seconds, then felt refreshed. His gaze towards Qin Gou became exceptionally pleasant, and he let out a long sigh. “I knew from the start that you were a promising young man! Otherwise, I wouldn’t have made my third daughter fall for you completely within just a few months, right?”
Having narrowly escaped danger, Qin Gou immediately shook his head, no longer joking, and became serious. “Cult Master Gu, you misunderstand. The time I spent supporting each other with Xiao Yan in the Time Secret Realm of Forget Self Village was by no means short.”
Gu Jinghong nodded slightly. The deed was done. This young man was quite sincere. Moreover, the incident just now had completely disrupted all his plans. The initial show of authority he had prepared to establish himself as a stern father-in-law was clearly out of the question.
“Then… where are the children? Calculating the time, my grandson should be born by now, shouldn’t he? Is it a boy or a girl?”
Hearing this, Qin Gou’s expression turned strange, and he fell silent for a moment. Born? Little Qin Yuan had unparalleled talent, an Innate Special Being. The last time Qin Gou and Xiao Yan looked internally, she was still a tiny spiritual orb. It would probably take decades for her to be born. Otherwise, why would Xiao Yan be acting as if nothing happened? But the key was that, at the same time, the elder Qin Yuan had already begun accompanying her mother on her travels. And if one were to detect her physical age with Spirit Arts, the elder Qin Yuan was now several years older than Gu Feiyan.
After much thought, Qin Gou said hesitantly, “It’s a girl, named Qin Yuan, the Yuan from ‘a stroke of luck’.”
“A girl is good! She’ll definitely be as outstanding as my Xiao Yan!” Gu Jinghong no longer bothered to pretend and revealed his joy. “Why didn’t Xiao Yan bring my granddaughter to see me with you? Where are they now?”
“Xiao Yan needs to advance her Natal Spirit Tool, and she has a lead. They went together. They didn’t travel with me,” Qin Gou replied truthfully.
Gu Jinghong’s expression startled. “You’re saying Xiao Yan went alone with the child to wander the treacherous Cultivation World to find an opportunity to advance her Spirit Tool, and you, as a husband and father, just let them go like that?”
“Indeed. However, there’s more to it…” Qin Gou shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. A’Yuan’s soul-stabilizing abilities were something even Peak Master Bai Yunxi couldn’t resist. Coupled with Gu Feiyan’s uncanny Eye-type Spirit Tool that seemed to predict the future, once they worked together, there weren’t many in this world who could cause trouble for this mother and daughter pair.
“No need to say more.”
Gu Jinghong suddenly waved his hand, then gave Qin Gou a big thumbs-up, sighing with mixed emotions. “The Demon Star! It must be the Demon Star incarnate! You, Qin Gou, are truly worthy of being the number one seed of our Seed Demon Sacred Cult, an Innate Bad Seed. You have truly carried the spirit of the Demonic Path to the depths of your soul. You, damn it… you’re quite something!”
