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

Chapter 199 Speedrun Without Taking Damage (Part 2)

Upon hearing this, the charcoal seller immediately became alert, wondering if he had overlooked Gu Fangchen's trump card or if the guy's cultivation level had suddenly increased again.

Although they were the ones who had surrounded Gu Fangchen, his first reaction was not that the other party was playing a ruse, but that he was worried that the other party really had a backup plan.

In the past, if someone dared to speak so arrogantly in front of him, he would have taken immediate action and taught them a lesson they would never forget.

However, the situation is different when facing Gu Fangchen.

This guy really outmaneuvered everyone in the Ten Paths, and he also truly broke through in the heat of battle, using a fourth-rank skill to reverse a half-step second-rank skill, and directly crushed Gu Yuye.

Even in such a situation, things could be turned around. The "charcoal seller" was once bitten by a snake and was now afraid of ropes for ten years.

This guy in front of me is truly bizarre!
It's even more sinister than their demonic cult!
How could a normal person think of bringing out a "Wrathful Dragon Vein" from the depths of the Netherworld in order to completely bring down Gu Yuye?

The effects of the previous false dragon vein have not yet subsided. The imperial court, together with various sects, has been clearing out the evil spirits that have escaped, which has affected almost the entire Jiangnan region.

This has led to a complete reshuffling of the power structure of the aristocratic families... The once number one family is now likely to collapse entirely.

However, the Cao Tianzhou incident also brought to light many of the sordid affairs hidden within the Dugu family, which exonerated many aristocratic officials who had been wronged and persecuted in the past.

This also includes Zhu Xiuxiu's father, who was previously redeemed by Gu Fangchen, and is also Guan Yue's father.

Of course, for their demonic cult, these things didn't concern them much.

Anyway, this dragon vein incident was originally their doing. It's just that they only had the part about forging a fake dragon vein, but Gu Fangchen pinned the blame on them.

This guy was clearly the culprit, but he became a meritorious official highly praised by the court, clearing himself of all blame and shifting all the blame onto Gu Yuye and the Demonic Sect. It's infuriating!

But these are not the point.

What's even more outrageous now is that the "Love" faction has collectively betrayed the Demonic Sect, broken away from it, and declared their allegiance to Gu Fangchen!

Yes, with all the power of their Demonic Sect, if they had concentrated their efforts to find someone in the Desert Sea over so many days, why would they have needed to go through so much trouble to find them only today?

The biggest reason for this is that people involved in the "love" path are secretly obstructing and interfering!
They only realized something was wrong a few days ago...

You wouldn't know unless you investigated, but once you did, you'd find that the entire "Love" Dao had, in just a few days, made Gu Fangchen, the fake Dao Master, the new Dao Master.

The reason is quite simple: Gu Fangchen's shocking scam, which involved using the dragon vein as a pretext, deceived everyone in the "love" community, including them!

When it comes to the way of "emotion", once you look back, you'll find that it's practically an art!
Gu Fangchen entered the game herself, first deceiving the other Dao Lords and seizing the identity of the Dao Lord of the "Love" Dao, then deceiving Gu Yuye with the Dragon Vein, and then reversing the situation to deceive the whole world!
After being deceived, those who follow the "path of love" are first angry, then amazed, and unanimously believe that this is the true master of the path they have been waiting for!

Then, this group of madmen cheered and jumped for joy as they happily betrayed their cause...

They didn't even care about Gu Fangchen's wishes; they simply pledged their allegiance unilaterally, helping Gu Fangchen conceal her whereabouts and delaying the Demonic Sect's actions.

After all this, the charcoal seller was completely convinced.

Therefore, although Gu Fangchen was alone at this moment and seemed to be outnumbered and outmatched, he also felt that this guy was not bluffing.

Even if Gu Fangchen had a backup plan, they were well prepared this time.

The entire desert is under lockdown, where can he possibly escape to?

Moreover, Xu Fu, trapped in a mortal body, must still be in the ruins. Gu Fangchen has no way to escape even if she wants to.

The charcoal seller took a deep breath, his aged eyes flashing with a fierce light, and spat, saying:
"Gu Fangchen, use whatever means you have. Don't try to stall for time anymore. Today, it's either you or me who dies!"

Gu Fangchen was indeed stalling for time, but she was only a little bit short. If she could make the other party hesitate for a moment, it would be enough.

Although this "charcoal seller" shouted loudly, he actually dared not make any rash moves.

"The Demonic Sect is quite efficient. In these few days, they only managed to restart the altar and didn't have time to remove the soul-locking array on the Imperial Preceptor. Otherwise, they would have won by now..."

Gu Fangchen took a deep breath, stretched out her hand, and drew a line on her palm.

Poisonous blood flowed down.

Hmm... Although I cut myself every time, a fourth-rank martial artist's physical body and blood are so vigorous that I can do whatever I want.

Now that the Flower Seal is gone, the "Heart-Planting Poison" is no longer restrained and has begun to spread throughout his body, further increasing the intensity of the toxins and the concentration of spiritual energy in his blood.

It's no exaggeration to say that there's almost no blood in his veins now; they're all poison.

This thing is really useful as a medium for setting up formations.

Moreover, this time he is going to activate the [Blood God Altar], and blood would be the perfect choice.

"not good!"

When the charcoal seller discovered that Gu Fangchen was casting a spell, he immediately realized that he had to stop him.

His face darkened, and in a flash, his body transformed into a tall, muscular man. His dark hands swelled up, covered with bulging muscles, and cracks appeared on them, sparks flew, and the temperature suddenly rose, causing the surrounding air to distort instantly.

He clenched his fist and threw a punch at Gu Fangchen.

Gu Fangchen naturally wouldn't fight him head-on. She directly took out the [White Steed], and a white light flashed in her eyes as she discovered a crack appearing on the "charcoal seller's" leg.

It's a pity the crack didn't appear on the charcoal seller's fist, but it wasn't bad on his leg either.

This guy's cultivation level is at the peak of the third rank. The technique he practices is called "Forging Fire Technique," which is a technique that sacrifices one's own physical strength in exchange for power.

Generally, the more a martial arts practitioner cultivates, the stronger their physical body becomes.

However, the "charcoal seller" is someone whose higher cultivation level makes their physical body more fragile, truly a case of high attack and low imitation.

His attack power is among the best in the entire game, and he can even rival Ding Xingfeng at his peak.

However, his own physical body was also extremely fragile.

Its strength is probably only around rank 5.

Even now, Gu Fangchen could kill him with ease.

However, the prerequisite is being able to get close enough to break through his attacks and defensive artifacts. More importantly, due to the fragility of his physical body, once his body suffers significant damage, it will trigger a chain reaction like "charcoal," collapsing along with everything else...

In other words, Gu Fangchen's [White Steed] weapon is a natural counter to him.

Moreover, he also possesses two divine artifacts: "Thousand Tribulations Silk" and "Azure Sea Tide".

"boom!"

When the "charcoal seller" threw a punch, the ground around him cracked and turned into scorched earth, which was then swept away by the wind from the punch and reduced to ashes.

Facing the devastating force of the punch, Gu Fangchen clenched her bloodied hand and pulled it back.

"Zi la——!"

The "Thousand Tribulations Silk" that had been prepared in advance appeared before him, densely packed, forming an intricately woven spider web.

We're just waiting for our prey to fall into the net!

With his current cultivation level, he was finally able to unleash the true power of this magical artifact composed of wisps of heavenly tribulation lightning. The "charcoal seller" knew his own weaknesses, so he wore many defensive items, making him impervious to ordinary magical artifacts.

However, the "Thousand Tribulation Silk" is different. It is refined by heavenly tribulation, and even a third-rank martial arts cultivator would not dare to confront it head-on.

Moreover, Gu Fangchen's purpose was simply to make the "charcoal seller" hesitate.

When the charcoal seller saw the dense lightning of the heavenly tribulation, he instinctively stopped. At that moment, the "Thousand Tribulation Threads" that Gu Fangchen was holding simultaneously activated the "Azure Sea Tide" that had been prepared behind her.

The "Thousand Tribulations Silk" he pulled was not pulled randomly; he slightly changed the direction of "Azure Sea Tide" and shot it in the direction he wanted.

The jade bow was already poised to fire, drawn to its limit. Pulled by the "Thousand Tribulations Silk," the mermaid tears on it instantly transformed into arrows that were fired in rapid succession.

"Whoosh whoosh—"

Gu Fangchen bent down to dodge, and the arrow was aimed at the "charcoal seller's" vitals. His pupils immediately contracted, his scalp tingled, and he abruptly turned his head to avoid it.

"Snapped!"

The arrow exploded in mid-air, and the array within unfolded, transforming into a rain of water.

And in this rainwater, there was also the poisonous blood from Gu Fangchen's body.

At this moment, seeing that the "charcoal seller's" attention had been diverted, Gu Fangchen bent down and darted forward, raising the [White Steed] in her hand.

"laugh!"

The white horse transformed into a streak of cold light, cleaving open the rift.

Before the charcoal seller could react, he felt a sharp pain in his leg!
He looked down in bewilderment and realized that one of his legs had been cut off by Gu Fangchen!
"No...how could this be?!"

"How does this guy know all my weaknesses?!"

That's not the scariest thing. The scariest thing is how skilled Gu Fangchen is at using all the methods she uses to deal with him.

It's like... killing him countless times!
The charcoal seller's expression twisted in disbelief, and then the broken marks on his leg began to spread all over his body.

"Crack...knock..."

Originally, in the eyes of the "charcoal seller," although Gu Fangchen was extremely cunning and skilled at deceiving people, he should be a cultivator of array formations in essence.

Gu Fangchen doesn't have many direct combat records. Most of the time, he relies on weakening the opponent first and then using his own physical strength to withstand the attacks. As for martial arts, he doesn't seem to be proficient.

But now he has finally witnessed Gu Fangchen's true fighting style.

He had no martial arts skills whatsoever; all he possessed was a thorough understanding of his enemies.

Every move is made in accordance with the principle of "killing the opponent efficiently," and all means used are for the purpose of achieving this goal.

Martial arts techniques are completely unimportant...

Anyone with the same cultivation level and magical artifacts can achieve the same results!

This is what you call a strategy guide!
Sigh, if it were before, he could have posted another video titled "157-Second No-Damage Speedrun of 'The Charcoal Seller'"...

Does that slight difference in level matter?

When these players fight bosses, they are always at least 10 levels lower than the boss...

Gu Fangchen completed a series of movements, including a stepping forward and a sweeping motion, then looked up at the "charcoal seller" with a smile, flicking the [White Steed] upwards in her hand.

"Shh!"

The charcoal seller had already reacted, his eyes flashing coldly as he roared. Despite being pelted by countless raindrops, lightning flashed across his body as he threw a punch at Gu Fangchen.

"boom!"

Gu Fangchen took the punch head-on and was sent flying backward, crashing into the ruins of the ancient site and kicking up a cloud of dust.

The charcoal seller burst into laughter, but the moment he raised his hand, his face froze as he realized that his arm had also been sliced ​​off.

In addition to the injuries he had suffered before, his body was riddled with holes.

"Crack!"

His fragile body simply couldn't withstand such widespread damage, and it shattered with cracking sounds, like a piece of charcoal that had burned out, turning to ashes and crumbling into pieces on the ground.

From the limbs, to the body, and then to the head.

The charcoal seller's body turned to ashes, which were then extinguished by the continuous rain, stuck to the ground, and turned into soil...

"Dao Lord... Dao Lord!"

Those members of the demonic sect were stunned for a moment, but then they unleashed an even stronger killing intent and rushed toward the dust-covered ruins.

Gu Fangchen had just pulled herself off the mural, coughed twice, wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, and turned around to see the Nine Nether Rift that had split open on the altar, as well as the powerful and terrifying aura emanating from it. A smile crept onto her lips.

"boom!"

A thicker, more powerful column of blood shot into the sky, covering the previous thin, faint blood light.

At the same time, eight other identical streaks of blood-red light appeared throughout the entire desert!
All nine Blood God Altars have been restarted, and the sacrificial array that the Blood God Cult failed to complete back then has been activated.

Its target is all living beings within the entire desert region.

Of course, Gu Fangchen didn't intend to do that... He wasn't some inhuman devil, so why would he do something so cruel?

Under normal circumstances, once the ritual has been initiated, the default is to sacrifice these living beings.

However, Gu Fangchen planned to discuss it with the other side.

As for why she was able to discuss things with the Great Evil Spirit, it was because... the so-called Great Evil Spirit worshipped by the "Blood God Cult" was actually an acquaintance whom Gu Fangchen had previously worked with.

"Ow!"

From the crevice emerged a mass of filthy flesh and blood, emitting a terrifying roar that filled one with dread.

But Gu Fangchen waved and smiled:
"It's been a long time since we last met!"

The great evil spirit was a lump of filthy flesh and blood. It hadn't been summoned for a long time and was just about to come out to have a feast, but when it heard the words, it was startled. When it looked down, it was stunned.

"why you?!"

It hesitated for a moment, then transformed into the appearance of a human cultivator in red robes.

This so-called "Blood God" is none other than "Ruoye," a ghost general under the "Lord of the Central Netherworld." Last time, it was Ruoye who helped set up the formation, which allowed the "Wrathful Dragon Vein" to ascend into reality.

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.: My stomach is upset again. I'll definitely post at 3 AM tomorrow. If I don't, I'll be a bastard!

(End of this chapter)