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

Chapter 228 I still prefer your former rebellious self.
Gu Fangchen let out a long breath and looked at the blood-red demonic flower in her palm.

The fourth level of "Refining Magic" is complete!

The "Refining Magic" has five levels. Currently, only the inventor of the project, "Yu Bai Gong," or the puppet created by the puppeteer Xuan Ming, has reached the fifth level.

The maximum cultivation level is the second rank.

In theory, Gu Fangchen had refined the "Heart-Planting Poison," the most powerful poison in the world, so her actual cultivation level should have been at the third rank.

In fact, his physical strength has indeed reached the third rank, and not just any ordinary third rank.

If he were to face Gu Yuye again, he was confident that he could behead him without even needing to use the "murder knife".

He is currently at the peak of the fourth rank, simply because he lacks his own "Dao".

Without mastering the "Dao," one cannot truly be considered to have reached the third-grade realm, recognized by Heaven and Earth.

The reason why the Third Grade Grand Mansion Realm is called this is because, on the one hand, when a cultivator reaches this realm, he has grasped the Dao of Heaven and Earth to the point that he can stand shoulder to shoulder with the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth.

It is like a grand mansion reaching the sky, a qualitative difference from ordinary people, enough to overlook the human world.

On the other hand, it is said that after the ancient Zhou Dynasty, the Great Qi Dynasty abolished licentious worship and wished that all practitioners in the world could live like a spacious mansion, uphold the righteous path, and protect the people.

This sentiment, in contrast to the former incense-burning place, expresses a very beautiful wish.

Unfortunately, the world continued to be a place of constant division and reunion, and even today, it remains a chaotic world where evil prevails.

A wish is ultimately just a wish.

Gu Fangchen's physical strength has far surpassed that of a normal fourth-grade cultivator, but without the "Dao," his aura is still considered fourth-grade in the eyes of other cultivators.

Moreover, he had already vaguely sensed an invisible barrier.

The limit of the fourth level of "Refining Magic" is far beyond his current physical strength, but he is unable to advance further due to this invisible barrier.

This is the limitation of "the Way of Heaven".

Gu Fangchen's eyes flickered, as if deep in thought:
"From the perspective of an indigenous cultivator, this restriction is like the 'Way of Heaven' preventing cultivators from going against the will of Heaven."

"Only by 'attaining the Dao' or gathering incense offerings and forcibly breaking through obstacles with 'humanity' to gain the qualification to be on par with 'the Dao of Heaven' can one go further."

"In this way, cultivators will naturally rebel and want to 'attain the Dao' instead, which will also lead to more extreme beings like 'revealing' the Dao."

however……

After Gu Fangchen learned more about the hidden information, she then looked at the restrictions.

However, they might feel that this is "the way of heaven," or the consciousness of heaven and earth, protecting themselves and preventing them from being parasitized by "the way."

"Currently, it seems that Xie Qian, who has been most affected, is in a state of complete madness. If the 'Great Furnace Era' of the past was full of such madmen... it is understandable why there was a break in the lineage."

Others don't know how Xie Qian's "Eternal Unity" will turn out, but Gu Fangchen has experienced the ending of "Eternal Unity".

It was indeed a world without reincarnation, where no one could truly die, but it was not the utopia that Xie Qian hoped to obtain.

Because all the souls cycle within the same time period, the amount of cultivation and memories retained will increase.

As time goes by, there will be more and more practitioners, and people will live longer and longer, but the overall span will be no more than three thousand years.

People will soon realize that death is no longer just the end.

Thus, a war far more devastating than the current situation will break out.

Xie Qian chose to suppress the rebellion with "rules," which would, of course, result in an even more brutal rule, because he knew better than anyone that no one would truly die.

Since that's the case, then we should carry out strict "education" and "discipline" until everyone understands propriety, righteousness, integrity, and a sense of shame, and comprehends the principles.

In the end, in the "eternal unity of heaven" ending, those living in the Peach Blossom Spring were just a group of crazy and foolish walking corpses.

This ending surpasses even the other tragic ones. It's a world where, even if the body doesn't decay and the soul doesn't perish, being alive is worse than being dead.

It's not even as satisfying as "Demons Descend to Earth," where everyone fights together and suffers! If we die, we die!
If such madmen were everywhere in that era of "great chaos and upheaval," one can imagine how utterly chaotic the world would have become...

Gu Fangchen shook her head, put away the demon flower in her hand, stretched, and moved around to get used to her newborn body.

He looked up, and the lotus bud began to bloom from above his head, and then gradually disappeared.

This heralds the end of its mission.

A giant lotus flower blooms, then withers...

Gu Fangchen looked up and met the blue, glassy eyes of Prajna Lotus Moon.

She floated quietly in mid-air, her eyes still red, her face pale and somewhat haggard. She nervously stared at him, looking him over. When she saw that Gu Fangchen was unharmed, she breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

"Very good……"

Prajna Lotus Moon immediately flew over excitedly and hugged Gu Fangchen tightly, as if she wanted to meld herself into her.

Gu Fangchen heard a muffled sob on her chest and immediately felt a dampness on her shoulder.

No wonder they say women are made of water...

When he died, Prajna Lotus Moon cried for an unknown amount of time, and now she couldn't stop crying again.

Gu Fangchen raised her hand, ruffled her hair, and joked:
"Why are you crying? Didn't you resurrect me perfectly fine? The Holy Maiden wasn't like this in front of me before. I'm not used to it. How about we restore her to normal?"

When Prajna Lotus Moon thought of her arrogant and domineering manner in front of Gu Fangchen, her face first turned red and then pale.

Feeling remorseful, she pursed her lips and whispered nervously:
"I'm sorry... I didn't know it was you at the time. Will you blame me?"

Prajna Lotus Moon raised her head and looked at Gu Fangchen's handsome face. Her face was burning hot, and she found it difficult to say the name she wanted to use.

Since Gu Fangchen couldn't see before, she could express her true feelings and shout without any hindrance.

But now Gu Fangchen was right in front of her, looking at her with a half-smile. She felt ashamed when she thought about what she had done to Gu Fangchen before.

It's like revealing another side of yourself in front of an acquaintance; it's incredibly embarrassing.

Gu Fangchen shook her head:
"Didn't I say I don't blame you?"

"Besides, if it weren't for your help, I probably wouldn't have been able to kill that guy..."

Gu Fangchen smiled as she looked at the empty space in the distance, where a mangled corpse lay on the ground, torn to pieces and barely recognizable as human.

This corpse belongs to Gu Yuandao.

……

"If it weren't for your help... if it weren't for your help..."

Prajna Lotus Moon suddenly froze, those words echoing in her ears.

Seeing the hint of red in Gu Fangchen's pupils, she suddenly felt a chill in her heart.

Prajna Lotus Moon suddenly realized that all of this, including arousing her killing intent and then asking her to help revive, was part of Gu Fangchen's plan.

So... he personally guided his adopted daughter to kill him, and he just glossed over it with such a lighthearted remark.

Prajna Lotus Moon opened her mouth, about to speak, but her body and mind had reached their limit, and her vision went black as she fainted in Gu Fangchen's arms.

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.: The more I try to adjust, the worse it gets. I've had insomnia for two days straight, my sleep schedule is completely messed up, and I feel mentally unstable. I've decided to just let things take their course; maybe I'll just come back to normal... Updates might need to be adjusted for a few more days.

(End of this chapter)