When the formation opened, Zhimeng and Su Qingyue stepped forward on radiant light, their lotus steps graceful, their elegance peerless, like heavenly goddesses—beautiful and transcendent.
"Master, junior sister!"
A faint fragrance swept past, stirring Gu Qing's body into agitation, his blood surging like the blazing sun.
Looking at the cold yet stunning young girl, his whole body heated, though he quickly suppressed the violent surge of blood energy.
He thought, the Taiyin Divine Body truly deserves its name as the supreme furnace physique—it can stir primal instincts at once. It seemed junior sister had, over these three years, fully awakened its power, pushing her body even further.
"Senior brother."
Su Qingyue dared not meet his gaze. She had so many things she wanted to say, yet in front of him, she suddenly felt only estrangement.
Perhaps they had always been strangers to begin with.
It was only that, in these three years, she had used Gu Qing as her spiritual anchor.
"Three years apart, junior sister, you've grown even more beautiful." Gu Qing smiled as he replied, then turned toward Zhimeng.
What entered his view were endless long legs, rising to a slender waist.
His master was indeed a woman of boundless heart, her towering chest as if able to embrace all things, even him entirely.
Her divine face remained hazy, indistinct, her bearing half god and half demon, exuding an aura both sacred and inviolable, sovereign and absolute.
"Master, I wish to go out and temper myself."
Gu Qing wished to return to the continent, hunt beasts, refine beast liquid, and further evolve the Chaos Star Body.
If he could encounter a Child of Destiny, so much the better.
After all, the Child of Destiny was a treasure trove in human form.
Even leaving treasures aside, just their immense fortune made Gu Qing covetous.
His eyes turned to Su Qingyue.
With her ethereal beauty and Taiyin Divine Body, she was clearly a female protagonist.
"System, show me her attributes."
[Name] Su Qingyue
[Realm] Profound Core, First Level
[Physique] Taiyin Divine Body
[Talent] Heaven-bestowed genius
[Fate Pattern] Heaven's Mandated Female Lead
[Fate Number] A life full of hardships, yet always escaping calamity
[Fortune] Fifty thousand
"As expected, the female lead," Gu Qing thought. His mind raced—this time, no matter what, he must bring her with him on training.
Everyone knew: where the female lead was, the protagonist would surely appear.
"Mm, this was precisely my intention."
Even if Gu Qing hadn't spoken, Zhimeng would have insisted he go.
After all, true strength was forged from seas of blood and mountains of corpses, not closed-door seclusion.
Gu Qing had been shut away for three years; his harvest must be great. Now it was time to temper his Dao and divine arts.
But before leaving, she would expound the Dao to him, to prevent any misstep.
When a Saint preached, words bloomed like flowers, golden lotuses sprouted from the void, heavenly blossoms rained down.
The two disciples listened, entranced, unconsciously running their techniques to absorb the golden lotuses.
This was the very condensed essence of Zhimeng's Saintly Dao, suffused with divine Dao-rhyme.
Gu Qing's cultivation soared rapidly—Profound Core, First Level peak.
Profound Core, Second Level.
Profound Core, Third Level.
Zhimeng's eyelids twitched. His comprehension was terrifying.
For him, breaking realms was as simple as eating or drinking.
Su Qingyue's progress was more normal, only breaking from First Level to Second.
But even that was exceptional, no weaker than the saint children of ancient orthodoxies.
After all, the higher the realm, the harder the breakthrough.
Especially since Zhimeng had deliberately restrained her Dao-rhyme, preventing them from over-absorbing and destabilizing their foundations.
"Master, there are some parts I do not understand…"
As soon as Zhimeng paused, Gu Qing seized the chance to ask questions.
From Dao principles to divine combat techniques, the two exchanged thoughts, each probing and refining, both holding to their own views.
Zhimeng believed divine arts should converge all laws into one, honed to the utmost extreme—focused to a single point, a strike that ended all.
But Gu Qing insisted that Dao followed nature; techniques arose from the heart, divine abilities inherently eternal. They already existed within heaven and earth; he only needed to lift the veil, not artificially polish them.
Zhimeng's Dao was one of Unity.
Gu Qing's Dao was one of Simplicity.
Neither could be said to surpass the other.
Su Qingyue could only watch, dumbfounded.
Such heart-piercing discussion of the Dao—was this even something she ought to be hearing?
Su Qingyue widened her bright eyes, staring fixedly at Gu Qing, admiration overflowing in her gaze.
Gu Qing could actually debate the Dao with a Saint. If she had not seen it with her own eyes, she would never have believed it.
Even Zhimeng felt it was unbelievable, beginning to suspect Gu Qing might have been possessed by some ancient monster.
She secretly used a detection treasure to probe. No—his soul and body were fully unified, intact and genuine.
Zhimeng breathed a sigh of relief. So long as he wasn't possessed, it was fine.
Looking at Gu Qing now, she saw him as a peerless treasure.
"Master, what is it?" Gu Qing noticed her pause, his tone still unsatisfied.
Zhimeng's mouth twitched. Did he really want to debate with her for ten years straight?
A whole month had already passed.
"Enough. Bite off too much and you cannot chew. Today's sermon ends here."
"You may go. Ji Ning will escort you across the void back to the continent."
Before her words had faded, she was already gone.
Gu Qing looked pained. He still had so many theories left unspoken.
Though this debate on Dao and divine arts had given him enormous insight, deepening his comprehension and strengthening his foundation, leaving midway like this left him frustrated.
His gaze shifted to Su Qingyue.
"N-no, senior brother, I cannot," Su Qingyue exclaimed, pale with fright, waving her hands rapidly.
She had no wish to have her Dao-heart shattered in debate.
"Heh."
Gu Qing chuckled. Who would have thought the cold, moonlit beauty of the Taiyin Divine Body could reveal such a cute side?
"Come, let us return to the Desolate Ancient World." Gu Qing stood and helped her up.
"Return to the Northern Region?" Su Qingyue's flawless face flushed red, her delicate hand resting in Gu Qing's burning palm, her heart pounding violently.
"That's right. We'll visit your homeland first and temper ourselves there," Gu Qing said with a smile.
To him, Su Qingyue was clearly a great female lead, her fortune reaching fifty thousand.
By comparison, Lin Chen's starting fate likely hadn't even reached one hundred thousand. Only after devouring thousands from others in his final months did his devouring fate prove so powerful.
Yet Su Qingyue, without such a trait, still possessed fifty thousand fortune—undoubtedly a great female lead.
Wherever she went, protagonists would gather.
Perhaps she had already met one.
"Go… to my home?" Su Qingyue's cheeks burned hotter.
For a man to visit a woman's home—that was like meeting her parents, the meaning obvious.
"Could it be… does senior brother like me?" She dared a glance at Gu Qing, secretly musing.
His profile was sharp and flawless, as though carved by a master's hand.
Tall and straight, simply walking beside him gave her an inexplicable sense of safety and ease.
"Mm, after so long away, your parents must miss you."
Gu Qing smiled.
Seeing her shy demeanor, he began to wonder—could Su Qingyue like him?
Impossible. Shouldn't the female lead only ever look at the true protagonist?
Yet her timid expression…
He could not be sure. Best to observe more.
"Alright. I'll listen to senior brother."
Su Qingyue's voice was soft, her clear eyes tinged with bashful glow.
"Ah, another fallen maiden."
Expressionless, Ji Ning drifted behind them like a ghost, watching with relish.
The sight of these two young ones shy and flustered brought back memories of her own youthful years.
Still… she sized Su Qingyue up carefully.
Her figure was slender and graceful, curves budding yet full, skin white as jade with a subtle glow.
Little girl… this boy's blood energy is like an ocean, terrifying beyond compare. You cannot withstand him. Do not come crying into your pillow, clutching your waist in tears, she thought with faint pity.
Suddenly Su Qingyue turned, feeling an ill-intentioned gaze on her.
But behind her stood only Ji Ning, silent as a doll, her true face veiled in divine light.
"An illusion?" Su Qingyue muttered, turning back.
To Gu Qing she smiled shyly. "Senior brother, your Dao and divine arts are so strong. To debate with Master herself—if word spreads, the world will be shaken."
"It's not that exaggerated."
"How is it not? That was a Saint! Before I came here, Saint-realm powers were but legends."
"I only awakened a life-bound divine ability, and we were discussing lower-realm principles," Gu Qing replied. He was not arrogant enough to believe his Dao surpassed a Saint's.
"That is already remarkable… truly peerless."
Her clear, beautiful eyes brimmed with worship.
She too had awakened a life-bound divine art, yet she had understood nothing of their debate.
Gu Qing smiled. To be admired by a beauty like an immortal fairy—this feeling was not bad at all.
He turned to Ji Ning. "How long will it take to reach the Northern Region?"
"About a month," Ji Ning replied curtly.
Gu Qing nodded. A month was enough to digest his gains—and still leave time to study the Small-Thousand Sword Art.
He was serious about becoming stronger. Not a moment could be wasted.
The path of cultivation had always been one of defying heaven, seizing fate.
Fail to strive while young, and you would end up as another ghost beneath the Myriad Souls Banner.
Watching, Su Qingyue thought, senior brother isn't planning to shut himself away again, is he?
A faint disappointment welled in her heart.
If only she could admire the vast starry sky at his side.
But she quickly chased the thought away, instead gazing at him with admiration.
With such talent, and so diligent, his heart so earnest in pursuit of the Dao—
At that moment, Gu Qing's tall, resolute back loomed incomparably grand in her eyes.
I must cultivate hard as well, to follow closely in senior brother's footsteps, she vowed.
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