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

Chapter 263 The Supreme Path (Two Chapters Combined)

The sudden appearance of an "enlightened one" and the "seed of the Dao" symbolizing "destiny" will naturally attract not only second-grade cultivators who have not yet attained enlightenment.

The Way of “Destiny” is too vast.

The magnitude of the concept of "Tao" almost determines the strength of "those who attain Tao".

Just as Shi Qingguang's "sword" would naturally be overwhelmed by Li Kan's "hundred weapons," she would have to put in much more effort if she wanted to kill Li Kan.

Therefore, the choice of "Tao seed" is of paramount importance.

For others, there is no choice. If a "seed of the Dao" of "shit" were to fall from the sky, they would be overjoyed to receive it and become glorious members of the shit-carrying group, increasing their cultivation level by carrying shit every day.

However, for those powerful beings who have already become "enlightened ones," they can now begin to select "seeds of the Dao." Although they can no longer master another "Dao," they can entrust it to their confidants or even puppets to give them wings.

No one will complain about having too much power; they will only feel that it is not enough.

Moreover, above them is Emperor Xiao Zhenwu...

Furthermore, this "Destiny" path must be the ultimate destination of all causal arts in the world, and all practitioners of causal arts will inevitably regard it as their lifelong pursuit.

Other "paths" may not be powerful enough to suppress Xiao Zhenwu's "constancy".

But can't this "destiny" be allowed?

The "Mandate of Heaven" of the Human Emperor can also be altered and usurped.

Whoever gets it, might just be able to replace Xiao Zhenwu!
Therefore, the southwestern region is actually far more than just the one top-tier second-grade cultivator that De Yuanzi reported to Gu Fangchen.

For those "enlightened ones" who were prepared and had their own ulterior motives, Shi Qingguang, who suddenly appeared and was very high-profile, was the biggest uncertainty factor.

Over the past few months, undercurrents have been swirling, with various factions clashing and fighting each other throughout the southwest region. Recently, the conflict has finally escalated to a struggle between second-rank officials.

These second-rank items are actually mostly just rafts put out in the open by those "enlightened ones".

At this time in the southwest, there were three "enlightened ones".

The situation had reached a breaking point, but they were wary of each other and had achieved a delicate balance.

Only Shi Qingguang, this outsider "enlightened one," remained uninvolved, which on the one hand made them tremble with fear, afraid that she would suddenly intervene, and on the other hand, they felt that she seemed like someone they could win over.

Adding just one more "enlightened one" would disrupt the balance.

At this moment, the purple-robed elder was one of those who finally couldn't hold back any longer and showed himself.

This old man, who called himself "Canglang Daoren," was actually named Li Guisu. He practiced the art of cause and effect and carried the "Dao Seed" of "Xuguo."

The phrase "a good beginning but a bad ending" means that a good start ultimately leads to a bad outcome.

Li Guisu's "Dao" is to lead everything to a bad outcome.

Upon hearing this, one realizes that his "Tao" is actually a "minor Tao" within the art of cause and effect.

Although everyone refers to the "Tao" in the "Tao Seed" as the "Great Tao," in reality, it's nothing more than a superficial exchange.

The "Tao" has different levels of importance and distinction.

A high level of understanding is the true "great way".

As for someone like "Canglang Daoren" Li Guisu, it is just a small category within the art of cause and effect, and is naturally considered a "minor path".

Even so, as an "enlightened one," even if one only becomes a deity in a specific niche, one is still a deity.

The old man in purple robes also noticed Gu Fangchen's appearance, but he didn't pay much attention to her, and didn't even give her a second glance.

After all, Gu Fangchen appears to be only a second-rank cultivator and does not possess the aura of a "Dao Seed".

For these "enlightened beings," they are no different from any other living creature in the world and are not worth caring about.

He simply looked at the Sword Pavilion ahead and politely bowed, saying:
"I am Li Guisu, the Daoist of Canglang. I have something to discuss with you, Little Sword Immortal. Would you be so kind as to spare a moment to talk?"

Shi Qingguang appeared on the rooftop in a flash, and said coldly without any preamble:
"If you have something to say, just say it here. If there's nothing to hide, there's no need to be secretive or cover-up. That's not the way of good people."

The female swordswoman was anything but polite, practically pointing at the other person and accusing them of having ill intentions.

Li Guisu's face turned extremely ugly the moment he was being insulted to his face, but he took a breath, adjusted his expression, and said with a forced smile:

"Little Sword Immortal, this matter is of great importance. Do not let outsiders hear about it, lest it cause trouble."

Gu Fangchen blinked, pointed to herself, and said innocently:

"Me? My disciple, he said his master is an outsider. Sigh, it seems he considers you an outsider too. Honestly, he's not looking for you, but instead he's rambling on and on..."

He shook his head, sighed deeply, and looked around in confusion.
"I wonder if there's anyone else here called 'Little Sword Immortal'."

Li Guisu was taken aback and frowned. His first thought was that this guy had brought another disciple, but the logic of the whole sentence didn't make sense.

Is this guy crazy?

If a second-rank cultivator fails to refine the "Dao Seed," quite a few will indeed go insane...

After all, this area had been automatically designated as her territory because Shi Qingguang had set up the arena, and there were no other cultivators there. Just now, Li Guisu had thought that Gu Fangchen was her subordinate.

It's impossible that the "disciple" this guy is talking about is actually a little sword immortal...

Li Guisu was suddenly stunned when he thought of this, and his pupils contracted.

He had originally thought that Shi Qingguang would ignore these crazy words, but upon hearing this, he looked at Gu Fangchen and his cold expression softened considerably, clearly indicating that he was in a better mood.

Then, the girl actually nodded:

"Indeed, this person is clueless and doesn't know who to look for; he's just an unreasonable person."

“Master, you don’t need to pay attention to him. My sword was just forged yesterday. Come and take a look at it.”

She reached out and a long sword flew into her palm.

Gu Fangchen flashed and appeared in front of Shi Qingguang. She took the long sword, examined it for a while, commented on it, found seven or eight shortcomings, and after a moment of contemplation, gave several suggestions for improvement.

Shi Qingguang looked serious, like a primary school student humbly accepting instruction, nodding frequently, and occasionally his eyes would light up as if he suddenly understood.

Li Guisu's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

This time, he not only suspected that Gu Fangchen had gone mad, but also that the little sword immortal had gone mad!

Are these two really master and disciple?!

It's simply the opposite of Tiangang!
In Li Guisu’s view, if one wanted to learn the art of sword making, even if the “enlightened one” forcibly took the secret manual from someone with a lower cultivation level, then took him in as a guest and gave him some compensation, others would praise him for being courteous to the virtuous and talented. Why bother to lower oneself?

Shi Qingguang's actions were completely unnecessary.

Could it be that the two were master and disciple before they "attained enlightenment," and thus maintained their previous relationship?
Li Guisu paused, stunned.

Yes, this little sword immortal really doesn't look very old.

Unless there are special circumstances, powerful beings like them are unlikely to maintain a childlike appearance. If they were to change, it would be to age, making them appear more dignified in the eyes of ignorant people. Therefore, this young sword immortal must have already achieved extraordinary cultivation at a young age.

If that's the case, then this little sword immortal truly has the heart of a child.

It's just a pity... that they have to go against the general.

Li Guisu took a deep breath, suppressing his displeasure at being left out, and bowed again, saying:
“Little Sword Immortal, I am indeed looking for you. It was my fault for not recognizing your master. However, this matter concerns the people of the Southwest, and I hope to receive your assistance.”

Shi Qingguang squinted his eyes:
"People?"

Li Guisu's expression turned serious, and he nodded, saying:

"Yes."

He had just been rebuked by Shi Qingguang, so he didn't mention talking to him privately anymore and went straight to explaining the whole story.

It turns out that besides him, there were two other "enlightened beings" in the southwest at this time: one was Yin Jin, the "Lord of Blissful Underworld," and the other was Zhang Yi, the "Sleeping Celestial Venerable."

The latter was a rogue cultivator without any sect or affiliation, whose whereabouts were uncertain and he was quite mysterious. However, it is said that when he was still a mortal, he shared joys and sorrows with his wife and had a deep affection for her. But when he returned after achieving success in his cultivation, his wife was ambushed and was on the verge of death.

Zhang Yi preserved his last breath of vital energy and searched everywhere for a way to save his wife.

He always carried a coffin on his back, containing his wife's remains, and now he seems to have been drawn here by the "Destiny" seed.

If a Dao seed that governs "destiny" could be merged with his wife, it would likely be enough to revive her.

The former was a true heretic, skilled in dual cultivation techniques, and established a sect called "Hell of Bliss." His disciples were all incredibly lewd, and they especially enjoyed using human blood for pleasure, killing countless people. He was truly wicked.

This Yin Jin was the main reason why Li Guisu came to visit.

He set his sights on the "Destiny" Dao Seed, but knew that his strength was insufficient to fight against the other two, so he somehow obtained an evil secret technique.

He was to set up a human stake formation, sacrificing the people of the entire southwest to enhance his power. He was also acting discreetly and cautiously. Now the formation was almost complete, with only the altar at the core remaining to finish it.

Li Guisu was from the southwest and couldn't bear to see the people of the southwest die, but he couldn't defeat Yin Jin on his own.

Zhang Yi, the "Sleeping Celestial Venerable," must have wished they would fight to the death. He only cared about his wife and didn't care about the lives of others.

That's why they came to find Shi Qingguang, an outsider.

"Little Sword Immortal, this is my humble request, but I dare to speak because of your pure heart. I hope you can lend me a hand and slay that evil cultivator."

Before leaving, the old man in purple robes bowed twice sincerely as an apology.

……

"Silly Master, what do you think?"

After dismissing Li Guisu with the excuse that he would consider it for the time being, Shi Qingguang looked at Gu Fangchen, who was deep in thought beside him.

Gu Fangchen touched her chin, her expression subtly strange as she murmured:
"The name 'Lord of Blissful Underworld' is quite interesting..."

Shi Qingguang was puzzled, frowned in confusion, and said:
"I've heard a little about it. It seems that this wasn't his original name; he gave it to himself."

That's really quite a twisted sense of humor...

Gu Fangchen twitched her lips.

However, Gu Fangchen was not only concerned with the person's name. Judging from the secret formation that Li Guisu had just described, he had already figured out what the formation was.

The large altar formation used by the "Blood God Cult" in the northern region to offer blood sacrifices and open the passage to the Netherworld in later generations is nine-tenths similar to this secret technique!

Moreover, the "Dao" mastered by this "Lord of Blissful Underworld" is precisely the Great Dao of "Life".

In other words, this guy is theoretically the ancestor of the Demonic Sect's "Life" Path.

From this perspective, the "Ten Ascendants" of the Demonic Sect are probably on the right track. They may be following a vague but correct path, and they may have already traversed it before.

These ten paths are all truly supreme paths.

However, the end of this road has been artificially blocked.

No wonder Li Guisu said he couldn't beat Yin Jin; the "Life" method is far superior to the "Fluid Fruit" method...

Gu Fangchen got back to the main topic, smiled, and said:
"Saving the people is certainly a good thing."

Shi Qingguang's eyes lit up slightly.

She was young, of noble character, and had experienced the massacre of her entire family in her childhood, so naturally she wanted to save people, even if it was a muddy mess.

However, she knew that Gu Fangchen, her frivolous "confidant," was much more indifferent than she was, and she had originally thought he would disagree.

Unexpectedly, Gu Fangchen agreed immediately, which brought a sense of joy to her heart.

During their time together, she had discovered that Gu Fangchen was actually very reliable. When she was instructing her on sword forging, she was quite serious and capable.

However, every time Shi Qingguang had the illusion that he was a serious person, he would be annoyed by his joking and laughing words...

This left her somewhat confused, unsure which side was the truth.

This time, she asked Gu Fangchen, hoping to gain further insight into his personality through his reaction.

The result did not disappoint her.

"only--"

Gu Fangchen abruptly changed the subject, lightly tapping Shi Qingguang's forehead with the fan she held together, her gaze serious:
"We can't just save anyone."

Shi Qingguang frowned, his eyes filled with confusion. What did he mean by "you can't just save someone casually"?
Gu Fangchen then continued:
"That 'Canglang Taoist' is surnamed Li."

Shi Qingguang's pupils constricted:
"Are you saying that he has a relationship with Li Kan? But... I have never heard of him being one of Li Kan's retainers, and besides, he himself is an 'enlightened one'."

Gu Fangchen retracted her fan and unfolded it with a "snap":

“The ‘seed of the Dao’ can be seized or bestowed, and besides, it is not considered strong among the ‘those who have attained the Dao’.”

"Om-"

The image of the Dharma suddenly appeared behind him. A hand covered with dragon scales and resembling a claw stretched out and swept across the air, with golden patterns like the tide appearing on the fingertips.

Just like the scene described in the "Snail Book".

Gu Fangchen narrowed her eyes, watching as her fingertips lifted a causal line beneath the golden patterns:

"Most importantly, this person carries the karma of Li Kan on his person."

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.: I had a bit of writer's block, so it's a little late.

(End of this chapter)