The fake prince was exposed at the beginning, and I took office as emperor on the spot

Chapter 154 Female Ghost (×) Ancestral Master (√) (Three-in-One)

Gu Lianxian hesitated for a long time before coming.

She returned to the palace in a daze and locked herself in her room. Although she had accepted the truth, she still felt sad...

She really lost her bet with that person.

How did that happen?

In just over twenty days, the world revealed completely different truths to her in the most cruel way.

She used to live in the royal palace and truly believed that her father was the most upright man in the world, a "military sage" revered by everyone, famous and invincible, a great hero who fought against the Qing barbarians.

From childhood to adulthood, her greatest idol was Gu Yuye. Whenever she heard passersby praising the Prince of Zhenbei, she would stop and listen for a while, feeling incredibly proud.

But when she was surrounded by so many enemies in the Stone Forest, she never saw the great hero in her heart come to save her.

She knows her father better than anyone else.

Therefore, she knew clearly that as long as Gu Yuye was willing, he could definitely find her and rescue her.

But he didn't come.

Even after she returned today, Gu Yuye came to see her personally, explained the pros and cons to her, and told her that he had been framed and had to meditate in the Ziji Palace.

Gu Lianxian was not unaware of these principles, and she also understood her father's difficulties.

But the image Gu Yuye portrayed before was not like this. In front of Gu Lianxian, he was a loving father who doted on his daughter and a hero who did not care about power and interests.

Faced with the choice between family and his own position, he should choose family.

But he didn't.

Even if Gu Lianxian was foolish or stupid, she understood.

She comforted herself, realizing that her father wasn't what she thought. After all, he was the Prince of Zhenbei, a powerful minister, and had his own constraints.

What about her second brother?

Gu Lianxian's happiest moment was when Gu Fangchen, whom she hated and who brought shame to everyone in the Prince's mansion, was replaced by a well-known gentleman.

But in the end, she found that her aspirations were just wishful thinking.

This so-called true gentleman actually tried to kill their mother!

Even Gu Fangchen wouldn't do something so beastly!
As a result, Gu Yuandao did not hesitate at all and thrust out that sword, the killing intent in it was absolutely genuine.

Others might be fooled by claims that Gu Yuandao was bewitched and controlled by the demonic cult.

But when Gu Lianxian was approached by him and asked to cooperate in pretending to kidnap Ning Caiyong, she showed no signs of being out of her mind.

She had actually considered exposing Gu Yuandao that day in the Ziji Hall, but once the Confucian Sage arrived, she couldn't bring herself to speak...

The martial arts world was not the one she imagined.

Everyone is black and white, good and evil are clearly distinguished, and those despicable villains are all waiting for her, the heroine, to defeat them... That's not how it is.

He is neither a gentleman nor a hero.

Her trust in Gu Yuandao, this supposed gentleman, only led her into an even deeper quagmire.

"If he were a true gentleman, I wouldn't have lost this bet, I wouldn't have lost to that terrible beast..."

In Gu Lianxian's eyes, the two people who could have saved her failed to do so on both occasions.

She thought about it for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out.

The complexity of these matters far exceeded the limits of her mental capacity.

But as darkness fell, she remembered what that beast had said.

If she doesn't keep her promise, who knows what terrible things that guy might do to her...

Therefore, Gu Lianxian dawdled for a long time before finally arriving at Xiefang Courtyard under the cover of night.

Of course, her commotion couldn't be kept secret from others in this prince's mansion.

She didn't intend to hide her tracks, so she took the initiative to find Ning Caiyong and said that she had misunderstood Gu Fangchen and wanted to apologize to him.

Ning Caiyong even praised her for being sensible...

Gu Lianxian didn't know how to face her mother. Overwhelmed with shame, she went to the courtyard and knocked on Gu Fangchen's door.

Gu Fangchen didn't seem surprised and said calmly, "Come in."

Gu Lianxian took a deep breath, pushed open the door and went in, her head down, her hands clutching her skirt, making the thin fabric look messy.

Gu Fangchen chuckled, a playful look in her eyes:
"Isn't this the little princess we hate the most for being a despicable person? What are you doing in my courtyard in the middle of the night? Are you trying to put a sack over my head and beat me up again?"

"Let me tell you in advance, you might not be able to beat me right now, so don't end up crying after I beat you up and then complaining to Gu Yuye!"

Gu Lianxian blushed upon hearing this, her teeth clenched. She had been feeling ashamed and timid, but Gu Fangchen's words provoked her, and she suddenly felt an itch to bite back.

This guy is still so annoying!

She subconsciously didn't want to back down in front of Gu Fangchen, and said defiantly:

"How arrogant! You're only a sixth-rank cultivator... I... I'm not afraid of you!"

"Oh? You're really not afraid?"

Gu Fangchen gave a half-smile, then suddenly flicked her sleeve.

"Snapped!"

The door slammed shut.

Gu Lianxian was startled and was about to turn around when she saw a flash of cold light.

Gu Fangchen had already summoned the White Steed, placing a sword against her neck, her gaze icy cold.

Gu Lianxian's hair stood on end. Just as she was about to retreat, the aura of a sixth-grade Martial Courage Realm expert pressed down on her like a tidal wave.

Her body stiffened, her mind went blank, her legs gave way, and she collapsed to the ground.

Gu Fangchen tapped her shoulder with her sword and said sarcastically:

"Gu Lianqian, you are truly a piece of trash. We are both sixth-rank, yet you can't even withstand a single sword strike from me. Haven't you realized that your skill level is about to regress to the point of dropping out of your realm?"

"You only remember that you're a sixth-rank cultivator, you've almost forgotten what the Martial Courage Realm is called, haven't you?"

Gu Lianxian's face turned deathly pale.

She herself couldn't believe it, but that was the truth... she really couldn't even withstand a single sword strike from Gu Fangchen.

In the past, she called Gu Fangchen a good-for-nothing, but now, that same title has been bestowed upon her!
Because of fear and doubt, she had completely lost her courage.

Then what else does she have to be proud of or resentful about...?

It turns out that even without being threatened by that beast, she was still just as useless.

She's so useless!
The girl's tears streamed down her face, an instant dam breaking, and she whispered weakly:

"I'm sorry... I was wrong, it was all my fault before, I just... I just came to apologize to you... Wow!"

After saying that, she trembled and burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably.

Gu Fangchen: "..."

It seems like... I used a little too much force?

The barrage of identities nearly shattered Gu Lianxian's personality.

She's probably cried more these past few days than she did in the previous sixteen years combined.

This little princess's original personality was quite different from her name; she wasn't some pitiful crybaby, but rather a spoiled and domineering troublemaker.

Now he's practically a crybaby.

Annoyed by her crying, Gu Fangchen clicked her tongue, sheathed her sword, and said leisurely:
"So how do you plan to apologize?"

Gu Lianxian sobbed for a moment, then raised her head, and in a fit of desperation, lay down on the ground and bared her teeth and yelled at Gu Fangchen as if venting her anger:
"Woof! Woof woof woof! Woof woof woof woof!"

Gu Fangchen: "..."

There are indeed no regulations regarding the breed of dog that can be used to imitate a dog's bark.

Is this guy studying beagle techniques?
"Alright, I'm a puppy now, are you satisfied?"

Gu Lianxian blushed, feeling utterly humiliated. She scrambled to her feet, turned around, and ran out.

Halfway through the run, he fell flat on his face with a "thud," then quickly jumped up and continued running.

They disappeared into the night.

She ran breathlessly behind the wall and hid, squatting down and burying her face in her knees.

woo woo woo woo……

She actually knelt down and barked like a dog for Gu Fangchen!

But after a while, the girl slightly raised her head, revealing a pair of watery, dreamy eyes.

But...but...she actually felt a sense of relief for a moment just now!

It seems that once you become a dog, you no longer have to think about those complicated and irrelevant things.

All of people's troubles disappeared.

She only needs to be a dog, eating, drinking, sleeping, and barking when she's unhappy... How wonderful that would be.

"No, no, no!"

Gu Lianxian shook her head violently, pursed her lips, and murmured:
“I am a human being, I am a princess of the Zhenbei Prince’s Mansion, how can I be a dog for someone? I was forced by that beast, how can I think like that myself? Isn’t that just self-degradation!”

"Absolutely not!"

She repeated it several times, barely managing to regain her composure, and stood up to walk back to her yard.

"That's right... I will never be anyone's dog again!"

……

Gu Fangchen's eyes flickered as she watched the figure disappear into the distance.

Well... so far, the results are quite good.

Applying constant pressure is definitely not an option, as it might cause Gu Lianxian's personality to gradually collapse. However, simply exposing her all at once would avoid that problem.

Gu Lianxian's world has changed so much that if she tries to figure it out on her own, she'll only get stuck in a rut.

So, it's best not to make her think about it at all.

As long as she cleared her mind, she could feel the pressure being released... If it happens a few more times, she should fall in love with this feeling.

This is also in preparation for the future merging of the three identities.

In this way, there are three roles: one person applies pressure, another acts as a source of emotional support, and yet another is responsible for relieving pressure.

The other two are fine even if they're missing, but Gu Lianxian is addicted to Gu Fangchen, who is in charge of lowering blood pressure, and can't live without her at all.

Gu Fangchen instructed the maidservants serving outside to follow and look after Gu Lianxian, and then returned to her room to continue her interrupted cultivation process.

His reconstructed meridians and dantian now possess exceptional talent, making his cultivation and absorption efficiency several times higher.

In addition, he had not wasted any time along the way, and he had already reached the peak of the seventh-grade Wandering God Realm.

This is mainly because the first few minor realms of divine cultivation have almost no requirements for cultivation techniques.

Anyway, I can't really use many special abilities, so I can just accumulate experience points.

Ironically, the elixir from the "Spirit Nourishing Bottle" is most effective for cultivators who have just used it.

Just like antibiotics, resistance develops when used too much.

Now, when the two effects are combined, 1+1>2.

Therefore, when Gu Fangchen checked just now, he felt that his cultivation level seemed to have loosened somewhat. On a whim, he decided to follow his heart and attempt a breakthrough directly!
The sixth rank above the seventh rank of the Divine Path is called the Realm of Mastery.

Overconfident and carried away.

Just like the Martial Courage Realm of the sixth rank of martial arts, one will develop courage and condense it into a terrifying aura.

When the soul reaches this level, it will generate its own artistic conception, and will no longer be just a single thought.

With a spiritual essence, one will no longer be bound by the appearance of one's physical body, but can transform into certain forms that one imagines, thereby intimidating others or engaging in magical battles.

Only when a cultivator of the Divine Path reaches the sixth rank can they be considered to have some means of attack.

Before this, it was all just mental attacks, or interfering with reality, moving some objects, etc. There was nothing fancy or fancy, which was quite pathetic.

Gu Fangchen swallowed the nectar, calmed herself down, and sat cross-legged.

However, breaking through to the sixth rank of the Divine Path normally takes quite a long time, requiring at least two or three days of seclusion and patiently waiting for the soul to undergo a transformation.

However, Gu Fangchen was familiar with all the shortcuts.

There is an even simpler way to break through to the sixth rank of the Divine Path, called the "Butterfly Transformation Method".

It's quite simple; it's similar to visualization techniques, where you imagine a scene to enhance the concentration of your mind and spirit.

This method was invented by a junior monk himself and was not spread around.

But it is indeed effective.

In just a short while, he felt a slight heat in the Niwan Palace area between his eyebrows, a swelling and a feeling of something trying to break free.

I focused my mind and imagined the scene of a butterfly emerging from its cocoon.

With a mighty struggle, the soul broke free from the body and transformed into a fluttering butterfly.

Sixth grade, achieving a state of artistic conception!

Gu Fangchen's perspective at this moment was no longer just a fleeting thought, but had almost become a tangible reality.

It was as if he were attached to a butterfly, and he had to control even the flapping of his wings and the swaying of his antennae.

"Whoosh!"

The tiny butterflies fluttered in mid-air, swaying left and right as if they were drunk.

The sound of wings flapping was like a raging storm to Gu Fangchen's ears!

It took him quite a while to get used to the butterfly's shape.

The curious, giggling voices of several night watch maids could be heard from below.

"Look, what a beautiful butterfly!"

"It's blue! It's so pretty!"

Shh—I'll go get it!

As soon as Gu Fangchen heard these words, he felt a gust of wind rush towards him, and saw a huge disc—a round fan—pressing down on him.

"Huh? I definitely caught it!"

"Hehe, talking big! You can't even catch a butterfly, watch me next time!"

……

Inside the room, Gu Fangchen suddenly opened her eyes and touched her brow.

This is the sixth rank. At this stage, the image formed by the soul can appear in front of people and deceive or intimidate opponents.

Um... butterflies don't count.

This butterfly motif was specifically prepared for breakthroughs, so it naturally has no practical value.

Even if you're going to spy, you'd better disguise yourself as a fly or mosquito.

This butterfly is fluttering around so slowly, it's completely inappropriate.

"When we go to the Eye God Bureau, let's ask them for some visualization diagrams."

Gu Fangchen touched her chin.

Although he cultivates both divine and martial arts and takes the numerical monster route, since he has the opportunity to become stronger, he certainly can't just do it perfunctorily.

If you were to ask where in the world the most comprehensive martial arts techniques are, it would undoubtedly be the Eye of Heaven Division.

Various factions must also possess valuable visualization diagrams, but those are all too advanced for Gu Fangchen to obtain, and he feels he cannot comprehend even a fraction of them.

Mainly, I'm looking for something simple and convenient, and preferably also... well, I mean, something easy to use...

Gu Fangchen stepped down, stretched, and felt refreshed and energetic because of her recent promotion; she wasn't sleepy at all.

He planned to wait a while until tonight when his career was refreshed, and then plan his future development path.

He had promised to kill Maha Wuliang for Ding Xingfeng, and at most it would take a year or two. If it took too long, Old Man Ding would definitely become suspicious.

If a character can no longer obtain instant-kill skills like the [Emperor], then he will have to take matters into his own hands.

We still need to improve our strength as much as possible.

Oh, and there's also a duel to break the formation with General Qianmo. Judging by the time, it should be soon.

With his current level of divine power, there's no need to worry too much.

The fact that the Demonic Sect has gone silent now is definitely not because they're afraid; they're probably up to no good... They're probably planning to kill him.

Now that their plan, which relied on Gu Yuandao, has completely failed, their first goal must be to eliminate themselves, the obstacle to the plan.

"Heh... But now it's my turn to fight back."

Gu Fangchen squinted, sat down at the table, fiddled with the bronze mirror, and looked at herself in the mirror.

"Your Excellency, you should have already figured out the whereabouts of one of the 'Six Star Lords' avatars, right?"

The day the Imperial Advisor comes to him again will be the day he receives the mission.

"The reason why the Demonic Sect came so quickly last time must have been because the 'Six Star Lords' were divining. This guy is like a fog over the Demonic Sect's territory. With the mobility of the 'Longitude and Weft,' he can't find the Demonic Sect's stronghold at all."

"Only by clearing the field of vision can we strike at the heart of the enemy's stronghold."

"But then again, the Imperial Preceptor has never liked showing his spirit to people, preferring to possess others. Will he possess Xuexiang next time too...?"

Gu Fangchen's expression was a little strange.

Given Xuexiang's behavior along the way and Ning Caiyong's eagerness to urge her to marry, she must have given this little maid some instructions.

If the imperial advisor were to possess someone again, wouldn't that be a bit awkward?

As for why the Imperial Advisor doesn't like to show his spirit, it's not to maintain mystery, it's simply because... the Imperial Advisor is a bit socially awkward.

A disciple of a reclusive sect who emerged from the deep mountains and forests, to put it nicely, is aloof and detached from worldly affairs, but in reality, he is simply socially awkward.

He didn't even live in the Imperial Preceptor's Mansion; he preferred to live alone in the "Canliao Pillar" and didn't like talking to anyone.

The manifestation of the soul can also be achieved without using visualization techniques to create a specific atmosphere; simply transforming into one's original form is also possible.

In this way, it becomes a kind of supernatural power similar to creating a clone.

And the clone appearing in front of people is exactly the same as the original appearing in front of people.

Just like the person standing behind him right now...

"..."

"Um???!!!"

Gu Fangchen's eyes widened suddenly.

and many more!

what's the situation? !

He froze, staring into the bronze mirror.

In the mirror, besides his own face, not far behind him, in the left corner of the room, stood a stunningly beautiful woman in a light blue gauze dress.

The stunningly beautiful woman, with her rosy cheeks and red lips, had been lying lifelike in a stone coffin surrounded by a sea of ​​blue flowers not long ago.

Now, she still has her eyes closed, but she has adopted a serene and dignified standing posture, with blue flowers blooming at her feet, gradually spreading outwards.

Gu Fangchen's heart pounded, and fine beads of cold sweat appeared on her forehead. Her heart felt like it was about to jump into her throat.

This is fucking more terrifying than seeing his own face!
His own face followed, so be it; at least it was his own...

But what's in front of me is a real dead person!

In the storyline that Gu Fangchen already knew, that person was also dead.

But now it's alive...

At this moment, Gu Fangchen knew that the butterfly effect caused by her time travel had finally arrived.

Moreover, it's a big one from the start!
Logically speaking, according to historical records, this founder of Jian Ge... no, her grandmother, should have been a good person.

But that's on the premise that, to the average person, he is a good person.

But is Gu Fangchen an ordinary person?
He thought about it.

Not only was he extremely offensive, but he also held the old lady's hand tightly for several five-minute periods, stole all her clothes, and exposed her pure and innocent body.

They even stole all the remaining sword intent, earth veins, and the forged sword.

How to do?
Is it too late to return the sword now?
Gu Fangchen took a deep breath, stiffly turned her head, and quickly glanced at the corner of the wall.

In the dimly lit room, blue flowers emitting a faint glow grew all over the corners, and were even somewhat beautiful.

The stunningly beautiful woman in the green dress suddenly opened her eyes and met Gu Fangchen's gaze.

Those eyes were as vast as the starry sky and as deep as the underworld, filled with indifference and devoid of any emotion.

But Gu Fangchen keenly noticed that the distance between the woman and him... seemed to have become closer.

"!"

What the hell!

She's here!

Gu Fangchen stood frozen in place, not daring to move.

The reason he hadn't seen the ancestral master who was following him before was probably because his spiritual strength wasn't high enough.

Previously, he hadn't broken through to the sixth rank, so he couldn't even see the Ancestral Master's soul...

He wanted to cry but had no tears.

I'd rather not have broken through at all.

Once it breaks through, it turns into a horror movie!
"The problem is, why did this old lady come looking for me...? With her ability to follow me so silently, if she's angry because I saw her naked, she could just kill me on the way, right?"

"It must be because I have something on me that she needs..."

Gu Fangchen's mind raced, and she tentatively flipped her wrist to take out the [Seventy-Two Peaks Towering Sword].

His expression was serious, and he said sincerely:

"Senior Shi, I did not mean to offend you. I was forced to do this to save my life, and I took your sword..."

Gu Fangchen raised the sword with both hands:
"Now, I will return the sword to you, senior."

As he spoke, he stood up, took a deep breath, and slowly walked towards the "female ghost" in the corner.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: One more chapter is still owed.

(End of this chapter)