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

Chapter 260 The Secondary Ancestral Mother (Two Chapters Combined)

Gu Fangchen truly felt as if the sky had collapsed—a surreal experience.

According to records, although the founding lady established Jian Ge several thousand years ago, it should have been at least after the ancient Zhou Dynasty.

By then, the "Great Furnace World" should have been sealed away and become part of the celestial canopy.

Why did he run into the abbot of the old master's house, who established "Sword Pavilion" in the same location at the same point in time, 170 years into the ancient dynasty?
Furthermore, if they had already met at this point, why did the later matriarch act as if she didn't recognize herself...?

Although Gu Fangchen's appearance has changed, her eyebrows and eyes are basically the same, only her temperament is different. With the Grandmaster's strength, she will definitely be able to recognize her.

The strangest thing is that the little master in front of us is already an "enlightened one", but the later master is stuck at the first grade.

—Of course, her strength was probably intentional.

However, this gave Gu Fangchen some ideas.

After all, Gu Fangchen is not completely ignorant now; he already knows two ways to avoid being sealed into the Sky Curtain.

Because the "Master of Hengchang Dao" may have been interfering with the entire historical process of the present world all along. After the "Great Age of the Furnace" was interrupted, it was restarted more than once. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for it to iterate to the point where there is only one first-grade left in the whole world in just a few thousand years.

In other words, during this process, all the first-rank cultivators, or "enlightened ones," should have been killed or sealed into the celestial canopy along with the restart, becoming part of the "Great Furnace Era."

Therefore, actively refusing promotion to the first rank is also a way to avoid it.

Although most of those who later voluntarily refused promotion did so because they perceived the danger of the "Tao," it cannot be ruled out that they discovered some clues within it.

Specifically, one of these two methods is "feigning death," such as Li Kan, who chose this method to avoid being sealed into the sky.

Secondly, it is about "severing the cause and effect".

After witnessing the "Heavenly Gate," Xuanming chose to sever his karmic ties, erasing all related memories and even some of his cultivation.

In this way, we can avoid it.

Then, the situation of the matriarch can be explained.

She likely chose the second option, severing all ties with the "Great Furnace Era" and then rebuilding the Sword Pavilion in the present world.

This also explains why she didn't recognize herself...

While Gu Fangchen was lost in thought, the younger version of the old lady from the previous video was displeased.

I am the number one swordsman in the world. It is commendable that you dare to challenge me. But before we even started fighting, I asked you for your name and you started to lose focus. Isn't that a bit impolite?
Shi Qingguang's eyes darkened, and her cheeks bulged almost imperceptibly, indicating that she was in a bad mood.

She always does more than she says. She's already said all the polite things she needed to say. If this guy on the other side dares to lose focus, then he can't blame her for being ruthless!

The next moment, she flashed and appeared behind Gu Fangchen. The sword in her hand turned into several streaks of silver light and slashed upwards, directly slashing at several openings in Gu Fangchen's back. Each move was extremely fast. As soon as she made her move, sword marks appeared on the ground, showing signs of her being overwhelmed.

If someone else were there, they might mistakenly think that her sword was still in place and had not been raised because of her speed.

But in reality, it was just an afterimage.

Even the shadow of the sword could not catch up with the sword itself; in Shi Qingguang's hands, the sword almost transcended time.

Shi Qingguang went all out.

From the moment Gu Fangchen appeared, she sensed that this guy was definitely not an ordinary second-grade cultivator. Although she did not sense the "Dao Seed" on this person, she had a vague feeling of danger.

Since she obtained the "seed" of the Great Dao of the Sword, she has basically only had similar feelings with other "enlightened ones".

Although this guy looks like he's only at the second rank, his true strength is by no means weaker than any of the "enlightened ones" she's seen before.

Shi Qingguang took it very seriously and showed no sign of disrespect.

But she still underestimated Gu Fangchen.

"boom--"

The sword's edge merely sliced ​​through the air, and sword energy transformed into white waves that spread out in all directions.

Each sword strike left a mark that separated everything in an instant.

The surrounding mountains, water, trees, and even the sea of ​​clouds and sky were split in two, the ground rumbled and trembled, leaving behind several bottomless and terrifying chasms.

However, Shi Qingguang's gaze froze.

Everything else was cleaved in two by her sword, but Gu Fangchen, who was facing away from her, remained completely unharmed.

With a crisp clang, a dignified and solemn illusory image of a Dharma figure appeared behind Gu Fangchen. The Dharma figure looked coldly at Shi Qingguang, raised its hand to form a hand seal, and blocked Shi Qingguang's sword.

Just as the faith from Vatuma forged Gu Fangchen's divine power of the Dharma form "Lotus Pure Land".

The faith from the Qingman people forged one of the supernatural powers of the Dharma Image.

Its name is "the target of public criticism".

As the name suggests, this supernatural power is a kind of causal technique. In layman's terms, it is like "drawing a target before shooting an arrow," except that someone else shoots the arrow, while Gu Fangchen herself draws the target.

Gu Fangchen is able to predict in advance what others will do about her, within reasonable limits.

And this prophecy will surely come true.

In other words, Gu Fangchen decides where the arrows shot by others will ultimately land, as she has instructed.

However, depending on the outcome, it requires expending corresponding causal energy.

If a person's karma is insufficient, this supernatural power will turn against its owner...

But what kind of person is Gu Fangchen?
What he fears least in this life is not having enough karma to carry him.

After all, in Sunaga's words, Gu Fangchen's karma had been spread everywhere by someone.

The whole world is filled with his karma, so what else can offset the karma of Gu Fangchen, who is the "target of everyone's criticism"?
Unless the goal is to destroy the world, who can withstand the karma on Gu Fangchen's body?
However, Gu Fangchen's karma is endless, while the karmic consequences that the Dharma Image's supernatural powers can bear have an upper limit.

His prophecies must remain within the limits of his supernatural powers, otherwise they will not take effect.

Therefore, the first thing he did after obtaining this supernatural power was to make a prophecy so that all attacks against him would be "just right" caught by the Dharma Form.

Furthermore, if the cause and effect do not exceed the capacity of the Dharma body to bear, then naturally there will be no harm.

Gu Fangchen's two skills, "The One Who Unties the Bell," mean he is not afraid of head-on confrontations, but he is afraid of sneak attacks.

If someone with a higher cultivation level chooses to launch a sneak attack, he won't have time to dodge or think.

Not to mention using skills.

So he banned the sneak attack and backstab first.

In this way, even if the opponent is able to destroy the Dharma Image, it will give Gu Fangchen enough time to react.

Once he can activate his skill, he becomes invincible.

This time, however, the matriarch became the first target of public criticism.

Her eyes widened as she stared at the cracks on the image, then a feeling of being mocked welled up inside her. She stomped her foot and exclaimed, "You did this on purpose!"

He deliberately created an opening, waiting for her to take the bait. What a wicked person!

However, what angered her most was not this point; what angered her most was—

"You are not a sword cultivator!"

As soon as this image appeared, she sensed the presence of incense and karma.

This person should be cultivating one of these two paths, but in any case, he has absolutely nothing to do with sword cultivation!
Gu Fangchen then slowly turned around, spread her hands, and said helplessly:
"I just walked over and haven't said a word yet. When did I say I was a sword cultivator? Didn't you suddenly attack me, grandma?"

Shi Qingguang choked for a moment, then thought about it and it seemed that was indeed the case.

She attacked the moment the other person approached... mistaking them for a sword cultivator from the southwest and spouting some ridiculous threats.

The girl, unwilling to admit her mistake and feel ashamed, blushed and looked away for a moment, then quickly looked back, glaring at Gu Fangchen with a fierce but inwardly trembling expression, and said menacingly:
"Then what are you doing here!"

"Now everyone in the entire Southwest knows that I've set up a challenge here, and everyone avoids Jian Ge. Since you're not here to challenge me, why did you come here on your own initiative?"

Gu Fangchen naturally wouldn't admit that he had mistaken the person in the Sword Pavilion for his mother and had come looking for her. He blinked innocently and pointed at himself:

“But I’m not from the Southwest region. I just came from outside. I heard that a ‘Taoist Seed’ has descended, so I came to see what’s going on.”

"I saw people here, so I came over to ask for directions."

Shi Qingguang: "..."

Gu Fangchen's reason, though somewhat absurd, is logically sound.

Aside from the fact that he specifically asked me for directions.

Generally speaking, practitioners at the "enlightened one" level are rather arrogant and aloof, and are not very willing to take the initiative to interact with others.

Even ordinary practitioners will choose to avoid other practitioners they don't know.

But there's no rule saying you can't ask an "enlightened person" for directions...

This guy might just happen to be the kind of person who's naturally outgoing and sociable.
Once Shi Qingguang thought about it, he felt it made perfect sense. The man had seemed very relaxed, judging from the way he looked at him and the way he spoke.

It's as if they've known me for a long time...

But she didn't know him at all, and she didn't remember ever seeing such a handsome face before.

Shi Qingguang, holding his sword, lost his confidence. After a moment of eye contact with Gu Fangchen, he grumbled and coldly sheathed his sword, then turned around, adopting a haughty posture and raising his chin.
"Fine, ignorance is no excuse. You can go now, I won't hold it against you."

Feeling that her image as a domineering female swordswoman was still intact, she wanted to continue posing on the top of the Sword Pavilion to welcome the next challenger.

But after taking two steps, she suddenly turned around and met Gu Fangchen's chest.

The little matriarch, with a stern face, raised her head and met Gu Fangchen's gaze.

"Why are you following me?"

"Forehead……"

Gu Fangchen looked at the mini version of the ancestral master, who was two heads shorter than her, and looked so angry that she seemed ready to jump up and hit her knee at any moment. Thinking of the mature and powerful ancestral master who had chased after her later, Gu Fangchen felt very strange.

How much nutrition must it take for them to develop so well...?

He struggled to suppress a laugh, then solemnly cupped his hands in a respectful gesture and said:

"I just saw a furnace fire flickering inside your sword pavilion, and the lake water nearby is perfect for quenching. Could it be that you're forging a sword?"

Shi Qingguang was taken aback, then looked at Gu Fangchen suspiciously and said:

"How do you know this?"

Gu Fangchen blinked and smiled:
"Although I am not a sword cultivator, I am a weapon cultivator, and I have some experience in alchemy and sword forging."

"I am lamenting the scarcity of master swordsmiths in the world and wish to find someone to spar with. I am inevitably eager to learn. If you are also skilled in swordsmithing, would you be willing to offer some guidance?"

Well... according to the records, the ancestral master actually loved sword forging more than swordsmanship, but her talent in this area was not as strong as her talent in swordsmanship.

However, being able to forge the "Seventy-Two Peaks Towering to the Sky Sword" already places him among the top swordsmiths of his time.

Shi Qingguang kept a straight face, holding his sword with both hands, clearly showing his disbelief:

“The aura emanating from your Dharma image is clearly that of incense offerings and karma. Aren’t you a Taoist priest?”

Gu Fangchen shook her head:
“The Dharma form is the Dharma form, and I am myself; how can they be confused?”

Upon hearing this, Shi Qingguang doubted her own ears. If it weren't for the fact that the other person was highly skilled, she would have thought she had encountered a madman!

Your Dharma form is cultivated through your own divine path, so how can a practitioner sever ties with their Dharma form?

Could it be that you stole this Dharma image?!

But Gu Fangchen not only lacked a cultivated Dharma form, he didn't even possess a proper "Dao".

However, there's no need to tell Grandma about these things.

He looked up at the sword pavilion, smiled slightly, and said:
"Anyway, there's a ready-made furnace, and I'll provide the materials myself. There's no need to trouble you, Auntie. Why don't you let me cast one? Then you'll know whether it's real or fake."

Although Shi Qingguang thought it was impossible, he was also a little curious because he saw that the man spoke with such certainty.

This guy... could he really do that?
She nodded hesitantly, then turned her head away, showing only the back of her head, and said in a clear voice:
"If you're talking nonsense, don't blame me for my unforgiving sword."

Three hours later.

Gu Fangchen waved the fan in her hand and smiled as she looked at the little patriarch holding a long sword that shimmered with clear light. The girl carefully examined the long sword in her hand, and the more she looked, the more solemn her expression became.

Shi Qingguang had already determined that Gu Fangchen was indeed a weapon cultivator, as he had said, and that her cultivation level was not low, when he saw her skillful technique and demeanor while forging the sword.

But she didn't interrupt him, wanting to see just how good he was.

Unexpectedly, it was completely beyond my expectations!

Shi Qingguang looked at the long sword in his hand with amazement, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

Although the sword is not of high grade, the techniques used in it are exquisite. More importantly, many of the ideas and concepts in it coincide with her own and even resolve some of her recent doubts!
Gu Fangchen thought to herself, "Isn't that right..."

He used the standard sword-making blueprints from Jian Ge.

Those were all made by the old lady herself...

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.

PS1: Post first, then edit. Please refresh if there are any errors or omissions.

PS2: The little monsters on Langlang Mountain are quite cute.
(End of this chapter)