Covering the Sky: The Years I Was the Empress's Strictest Master

Having been together for a thousand years, there must have been some affection between us.

Its tongue licked Gu Qingying's fair palm a few times as usual, and then it spoke in a hoarse and deep voice:

"Master, no, let me call you sister. I'm sorry, sister, I... I have to go..."

……

Chapter Thirty-Eight: All Good Things Must Come to an End (3.1K)

what?

Upon hearing this, Gu Qingying's delicate body trembled violently.

She was surprised and uncertain, a hint of disbelief appearing in her beautiful eyes:

"Leave? Where are you going? Qinghan...where can you go?"

As she spoke, her expression changed, and her heart was filled with turmoil.

After a thousand years of companionship, regardless of whether the other party is truly her younger brother Gu Qinghan's continuation in this world, she has long regarded him as family, not just as a spirit pet.

Caught off guard by the news of his departure, even with her sage-like composure, she could not remain calm.

Moreover, she could discern the farewell in Yunbao's tone, which did not seem fake at all.

"I am not Gu Qinghan."

A complex emotion flashed in the clouded leopard's eyes, but more than that, it was a sense of relief:

"I was originally just an ordinary clouded leopard in the mountains, without any extraordinary bloodline. What enlightened me, gave me intelligence, and allowed me to cultivate to my current saintly level was... well, I can only reveal this much. Although He no longer cares about such trivial matters, it is not appropriate for me to tell you too much..."

At this point, it raised its head, its gaze seemingly piercing through the void, looking in a certain direction where the training tower had collapsed.

There, an irresistible force of attraction pulled at its core.

As time passed, the radiant light of its primordial spirit within its celestial platform quietly faded, and its vital energy grew increasingly weak.

“The training tower is destroyed, and He needs to reclaim a certain substance from my soul... The foundation of my existence is about to dissipate.”

The clouded leopard's voice carried a hint of relief, as well as a barely perceptible trace of reluctance. It turned to look at Gu Qingying again, its emotions coming from the bottom of its heart:

"Thank you for taking care of me for a thousand years, Gu Qingying. You are a good 'sister', but I... really should go... that is where I truly belong."

It spoke slowly and deliberately.

Before Gu Qingying could react, its primordial spirit body within its platform began to become transparent, with specks of primordial spirit light emanating from between its brows.

The physical aura also rapidly weakened until it dissipated, leaving only a lifeless shell.

"No! Don't..."

All of this happened in the blink of an eye; almost simultaneously, Gu Qingying's expression changed drastically.

Her delicate hands, shrouded in divine light, reached out and grasped repeatedly, as if trying to capture the radiant light of her primordial spirit.

Even though she was a great sage and possessed extraordinary abilities, she still could not reverse this phenomenon.

Having cultivated for a thousand years, she had seen or heard of almost every strange and wondrous tale, but what she witnessed today truly left her bewildered.

She could only watch helplessly as the clouded leopard she had raised for a thousand years, accompanied her for a thousand years, and carried her endless longing for her younger brother, turned into invisible rain of light before her eyes.

Completely vanished.

"So cold...so cold..."

Standing there, Gu Qingying's beautiful eyes were lifeless. She called out softly, as if her soul had been ripped away.

Unseen, a faint wisp of soul light emerged from the rain of light, and then, as if drawn by a force, rapidly fled towards a certain location deep within the tower base.

This wisp of soul light was different from the radiance of the primordial spirit; even Gu Qingying could not see it.

But deep down, she still subconsciously looked in the direction where the soul light disappeared.

As far as the eye could see, there was only chaos and ruins.

Whoosh!

Swoosh... Swoosh...

The training tower continued to collapse, and countless streaks of rainbow light flew outwards and fled.

Some people tried to escape by tearing open the void, but they found that after the place collapsed, the environment became even more special. Those who escaped into the void all collapsed along with the training tower.

However, after collecting the remains of the cloud leopard, Gu Qingying flew upwards against the current.

She didn't know why she was flying in that direction; there was clearly nothing there, but a voice inside her kept telling her that.

Hurry... hurry over there...

If she doesn't go, she might regret it for the rest of her life?

"Has this Goddess Gu gone mad?!"

"The training tower has collapsed, and instead of fleeing for their lives, they're rushing inside? This place was built by the former Human Emperor; the annihilation energy it released during its collapse is far beyond what her Great Saint Tribulation could ever achieve..."

"Hehe, maybe they want to take this opportunity to peek into the mystery of the training tower's construction, or perhaps they want to see if they can obtain the quasi-emperor formation diagram here?"

"They're risking their lives for a chance..."

"Huh? Why does her spirit pet seem to be dead?"

"..."

Whoosh!

As the most beautiful woman in the Big Dipper, Gu Qingying's every move was destined to be watched by all cultivators.

However, given the chaotic situation, the cultivators simply flew outwards, their gazes lingering briefly on the celestial figure.

Until that ethereal figure grew further and further away from them, until it became blurred and disappeared from sight.

Rumble...

As the tower collapsed layer by layer, the ancient laws within the inner world and the contemporary laws of the Big Dipper outside were no longer able to reconcile.

Amidst the violent collision and smelting, massive ripples of law swept in all directions, shattering the Soul-Slaying Array secretly laid out by the cultivators of the Human Emperor Palace ten years ago.

Since the Daoist body of the Carefree Celestial Venerable completely returned to the forbidden zone, and the Palace Master of the Human Emperor Palace also returned to the Central Continent, the great formation has long been abandoned and no one has been on duty. It has been destroyed little by little by the impact of the vast and violent tide of laws.

"Senior sister, don't go any further in! It's too dangerous!!"

At this moment, a tall and imposing figure darted out from the side. It was none other than the rather handsome and elegant chief elder of the Heavenly Martial Holy Land, who had come over and offered words of advice.

"It's none of your business."

Gu Qingying didn't even glance at him, her voice, as gentle as a breeze rustling through the wind, conveying a sense of indifference that kept people at a distance.

Boom...

Suddenly, another wave of fragments of laws surged forth.

"what……"

Ten years later, the Heavenly Martial Chief Elder, who was still lingering in the Saint Realm, was not so lucky this time. Even though he carefully followed behind Gu Qingying, he was still affected by the violent reverse flow of the law and died on the spot.

Both the physical body and the primordial spirit were annihilated in the reverse flow of the laws, and the shrill scream did not even make a complete sound.

Ahead, Gu Qingying paused in her graceful steps, and finally let out a soft sigh.

She raised her hand to wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth, and her graceful figure continued to move forward.

Even she was seriously injured in the recent surge of reversed laws.

wow...

Soon, she arrived at the location and scanned the area. Even using her divine sense and secret techniques to investigate, she still found nothing.

Boom!!

The training tower collapsed completely. The broken tower body either fell into nothingness, broke into the void turbulence, or was annihilated by the tide of law fragments. Only a small amount of debris piled up on the tower base, turning it into ruins.

hum...

As the largest, most violent tide surged forth, a strong sense of alarm rose in Gu Qingying's heart.

Seeing this, she gritted her teeth and, having no other choice, turned back and left.

But in fact, she had suspected it all these years.

This place was once the training ground for the Emperor's troops...

…………

Crimson-gray mist surged.

The [Containment of All Causes] has dispersed.

A scene from a corner of the ruins is revealed.

Amidst countless shattered divine light rubble and the broken array patterns of the tower base, a nearly solidified phantom of a remnant soul suddenly appeared.

Although the remnant soul is illusory, its invisible, majestic aura, if manifested in front of people, would still bring a great shock.

Beside the remnant soul stood a slender figure.

More than ten years have passed, and Li Qingjue still wears that bronze mask.

Although the mask concealed her stunningly beautiful face, which even Gu Qingying would find breathtaking now, her figure had fully matured.

Her hair was as black as a waterfall, her skin as smooth as ice and her bones as delicate as jade, and her figure as exquisite as a treasure bottle of the Great Dao.

A simple black dress was enough to accentuate her breathtaking curves.

Over the past ten years, her cultivation level has broken through from the peak of the Other Shore Realm to the Dragon Transformation Realm!

Now, we are just one step away from entering the realm of immortals!

However, along with her cultivation level, her body also gained a chilling demonic aura that was almost visible to the naked eye if she did not conceal it!

Strands of demonic energy and dark light, like black flames, swirled and rose around her body, condensing into various hideous and terrifying phantoms of gods and demons, seemingly emitting piercing howls at any moment.

Where she stood, even if she was just standing there in a plain and ordinary way, the light within a radius of several feet seemed to be silently swallowed up.

A total of twelve years of bloodshed.

Thanks to the Training Tower, a treasure trove of training grounds that attracts talented cultivators from outside the Big Dipper Domain, she has devoured countless outstanding talents from both inside and outside the Big Dipper Domain.

Among them, she obtained countless royal and divine body origins in various battles after her mortal body underwent several transformations and ascended to the upper levels of the small world.

She refined these origins with the Devouring Heaven Demon Art and used the Tranquil Mind Mantra to transform all the malevolent energy and strange evil energy within them into pure demonic energy to temper herself.

If she were to walk around without consciously restraining herself and allow the aura of demonic energy to emanate, she would be a truly peerless demoness.

The demonic aura soared into the sky, inspiring fear in all who beheld it.

However, if someone could see through the bronze mask on Li Qingjue's face, they would find that her eyes, illuminated by demonic energy, remained clear despite having absorbed the essence of countless others over the years.

Deep within his eyes and heart lies an unwavering persistence and resilience.

The demonic energy that tempered her body never corrupted her true nature.

whoosh...

"Master, that person has incredibly strong sensory abilities..."

Standing there, Li Qingjue looked at Gu Qingying, who had come to investigate but left empty-handed, and suddenly spoke up.

She recognized the other person.

More than ten years ago, at the bottom of that training tower, the other party had considered taking her under their wing, but she refused.

"It's not divine perception, but rather a kind of inexplicable spiritual intuition. Even though only one in ten thousand possesses it, it's too useless and not very useful..."

Beside him, Tan Lin's remnant soul suddenly opened his eyes, his figure becoming even more refined, and his voice was faint.

The damage caused by the wisp of his will that was lost more than ten years ago at the Undying Mountain has been completely restored under the nourishment of the glowing firefly of the Soul Pearl.

Taking advantage of the tower's collapse, he absorbed almost all the scattered soul fragments and integrated them into himself, adjusting his state to its current peak.

"The ten-year period has ended, the tower has collapsed, and this place is not suitable for us to stay any longer."

Tan Lin's remnant soul floated up, looking at his now-grown disciple, his voice as calm as ever:

"I must depart immediately. I will soon travel to the Emperor's Palace in Zhongzhou for one last gamble..."

Upon hearing this, Li Qingjue visibly trembled.