Plop.
Ripples spread across the pond's surface as the crystalline fishing line, gleaming like jade, sank straight into the water.
Ling Yuling watched silently as Gu Changge cast the hook—still baited with the severed arm—back into the pond, repeating his earlier tactic.
She didn't know where Gu Changge had obtained this arm brimming with divine essence, but it was clear that the Taixuan Ancestral God he had mentioned earlier was a genuine, ancient deity who had survived since the Innate Era.
In this current age, true Innate Beings were nearly extinct, let alone Innate Ancestral Gods worthy of the title.
It was important to note that "Ancestral God" was not merely a title—it signified a being far more powerful than cultivators of the Ancestral Dao Realm.
Even at her peak, Ling Yuling wouldn't have dared claim she could reliably defeat an Innate Ancestral God.
And this Taixuan Ancestral God, who had survived to the present day, must be vastly stronger than ordinary Ancestral Gods. When did Gu Changge clash with such a being and sever its arm?
Moreover, Gu Changge's actions today left her utterly bewildered.
She had assumed he was merely idling in the courtyard, detached from worldly affairs.
But now, it seemed he was still weaving schemes and playing a game far beyond her comprehension.
"You've already startled the big fish. Will using the same bait work again?" Ling Yuling couldn't help but ask softly.
"Fish are foolish creatures. No matter how many times they're startled, if the bait tempts them, they'll recklessly take it again," Gu Changge replied with a faint smile.
Ling Yuling nodded thoughtfully, then shook her head.
In all the world, only Gu Changge could so casually refer to an Ancestral God as a "fish."
"It seems you intend to target the Divine Dao Civilization?" Ling Yuling asked.
Gu Changge replied casually, "The Alliance of Righteous Unity won't hold out much longer. Though the Divine Dao has declined and retreated into obscurity, many Ancestral Gods still lurk in the shadows. If these Ancestral Gods cannot be of use to me, they must not be allowed to stand in my way."
Ling Yuling fell silent.
Gu Changge's gaze remained fixed on the clear, mist-churned pond, his eyes profound.
Using the severed arm of the Taixuan Ancestral God as bait to lure deities was not because he couldn't locate Taixuan's whereabouts—it was simply to avoid alerting the other Ancestral Gods.
Though the divine kingdoms and deities hid in the endless void, Gu Changge could easily find them if he wished. However, doing so would risk alerting the Ancestral Gods, making them cautious and complicating his future plans.
The arm of the Taixuan Ancestral God in his possession offered a convenient alternative.
To escape, Taixuan had abandoned this portion of his divine essence. Recovering it would require accumulating power over hundreds of epochs.
Contrary to the harmony among cultivators, Innate Gods engaged in far more brutal strife and competition. Any Innate God who had survived since the Innate Era was far from simple.
In ancient times, there had been eras where immortals and gods coexisted, and periods when the Divine Dao reigned supreme, dominating the cosmos.
Back then, deities divided the authority of heaven and earth, condensing it into Divine Authority, which were further partitioned among them. Each god held specific duties.
Powerful deities sat atop divine thrones, overlooking the worlds and harvesting the Divine Authority of weaker gods. Meanwhile, lesser deities could only spread their faith across universes, refining their Divine Authority to grow stronger.
The Divine Authority of powerful gods were the ultimate treasure coveted by weaker ones.
The Divine Authority of an Ancestral God would inevitably draw the covetous gazes of countless hidden deities.
Having survived since the Innate Era, the Taixuan Ancestral God undoubtedly had many mortal enemies. If those foes learned of His weakened state and diminished power, they would surely seize the opportunity to strike.
Even Ancestral Gods with no prior grudges might be tempted, for this fragment of divine essence belonged to a peerless being.
When Taixuan was at His peak, no deity dared challenge Him. But now, with His essence fractured and His strength waning, His Divine Authority had become the most coveted treasure among the gods.
Like sharks drawn to blood, deities of all ranks—weak or strong—would swarm at the first scent of opportunity.
Gu Changge's bait was not merely meant to lure the Taixuan Ancestral God.
His goal was to collapse the Divine Dao Civilization entirely, and this bait was merely the opening move.
The pond's surface returned to calm.
After brewing tea for Gu Changge, Ling Yuling took her leave. The war between the Heaven-Slaying Alliance and the Alliance of Righteous Unity still required her oversight.
The Alliance's high-ranking members regarded her as a de facto deputy leader—a title Gu Changge had never formally acknowledged, but one the Alliance tacitly accepted.
Figures like Mu Fuguang and Tong Xianyao, beings from forbidden zones, obeyed only Gu Changge's orders, refusing to submit to anyone else.
Only Ling Yuling had the means to keep them in check.
The emergence of the War Merit Tower had spurred these taboo entities to compete for battle achievements. However, their reckless pursuit of glory often led them to act against the greater good, destabilizing entire battlefronts.
This led the Alliance of Righteous Unity's higher-ups to intervene recklessly, resulting in countless unnecessary casualties among cultivators.
After Ling Yuling hurriedly departed, the courtyard regained its tranquility.
"The Crescent Moon Sect is indeed unusual. Not only did unexpected forces emerge there, but even Xian'er appeared. This can't be mere coincidence," Gu Changge murmured, his gaze fixed on the pond as he pondered.
He hadn't summoned Chen Yi out of boredom.
Her identity held unique significance—she was both an elder of the Crescent Moon Sect and someone who had once shown kindness to Gu Xian'er. Gu Changge intended to use her as part of an experiment.
Few in the Vast Expanse knew of his connection to Gu Xian'er, including longtime followers like Mu Yan, Ling Yuling, and the White Bone Ancestor King.
If someone sought to probe him through Gu Xian'er, he would inevitably detect it.
But who could possibly know of their relationship?
Those aware of their ties would never attempt to use Gu Xian'er against him.
It was a paradoxical loop—one without a solution.
Yet it was precisely this paradox that alerted Gu Changge to the anomaly.
Gu Xian'er's presence in the Crescent Moon Sect was no accident.
The sect had harbored forces that surprised even him, and Gu Xian'er—connected to him by fate—had coincidentally encountered those forces there.
Everything in this world followed the tracks of destiny.
To create such "coincidences," one needed only to nudge the threads of fate, guiding them to intersect.
Revised Translation with Corrected Terms:
"The Power to Restrain Heaven…"
"How unexpected. Could this be an attempt to use Xian'er against me?"
"Let's see what other 'coincidences' await."
Gu Changge withdrew his thoughts. After a moment of contemplation, he flicked his wrist, causing the air before him to ripple and morph into a circular mirror. Within it appeared the face of a stunningly noble woman—Ji Hanjing, who had cultivated a human form using a Supreme Treasure of Civilization as her foundation.
At this moment, she sat within a grand and majestic palace, adorned in a phoenix crown and feathered robes, her face partially obscured by hanging beads. Her expression was cold and imperious, like an empress reigning over the world, her gaze disdainful of all mortal affairs.
In the palace, ministers knelt in reverence, their foreheads pressed to the floor. Several elders clad in dragon robes chanted in unison, addressing her as "Ancestor" with utmost respect.
On the desk before Ji Hanjing lay stacks of ancient texts and records, piled high. Her jade-like hands held one of the books as her eyes scanned its contents. She remained silent, as if striving to quickly grasp the intricacies of the current era.
"It seems things are progressing more smoothly than I anticipated. The Weiyang Immortal Dynasty claims to be the rightful heirs of the Radiant Ancestral Court. Now that a living princess of the Radiant Ancestral Court has appeared, they'll spare no effort to 'reunite with their ancestors' and legitimize their rule."
Gu Changge observed the scene with keen interest. Everything was unfolding as he had predicted and planned.
After emerging from the ruins of the Radiant Ancestral Court, Ji Hanjing had been escorted back to the Weiyang Immortal Dynasty by its elder princes under the watchful eyes of various factions. The dynasty had since deployed countless experts to guard the ruins, barring all other forces from approaching.
Had the ruins been unclaimed, factions would have fought fiercely for their treasures, citing "fate decides, the virtuous claim."
But who could have guessed that within those ruins lay an ancient figure sealed in the Dao Source—a person suspected to hail from the era of the Radiant Ancestral Court?
With this revelation, the various factions lost any pretext to seize the ruins, especially under the watchful gaze of the Weiyang Immortal Dynasty.
Thus, the mysterious woman from the Dao Source was ceremoniously escorted back to the Weiyang Immortal Dynasty by its elder princes.
Subsequently, her identity was confirmed through investigations by various factions and cross-referencing ancient texts:
She was the genuine princess of the Radiant Ancestral Court, a heroic leader who had resisted the Black Calamity Era, and the daughter of the Central Monarch!
This origin was staggering, sending shockwaves through the Weiyang Imperial Family.
She was, in the truest sense, their ancestral matriarch—a figure whose seniority eclipsed all others. By blood, every member of the Weiyang Imperial Family was her descendant.
The news caused an uproar across the realms.
No one had expected the princess of the Radiant Ancestral Court to reappear in this manner after countless epochs.
This plunged the Weiyang Immortal Dynasty into an awkward predicament.
Those familiar with its founding history knew that Jiang Yun, the dynasty's founder, did not bear the surname Ji—the imperial name of the Radiant Ancestral Court.
The Weiyang Immortal Dynasty's predecessor was the Great Yang Ancient Kingdom.
The last ruler of Great Yang, Emperor Yang, was a tyrant—cruel, debauched, and obsessed with excess. During his reign, he indulged in extravagance, slaughtered innocents, persecuted loyalists, and oppressed the people, plunging all clans into suffering.
Jiang Yun's father, Jiang Sheng, was a titled prince of the Great Yang Ancient Kingdom—a vassal lord of non-imperial blood.
Jiang Sheng's lineage carried a trace of royal blood, giving his family a distant connection to the imperial clan of the Great Yang Ancient Kingdom.
Dissatisfied with Emperor Yang's tyranny, Jiang Sheng led a rebellion but later died in battle at Nine Yin Mountain.
His son, Emperor Ming of Weiyang, inherited his cause. Claiming the Mandate of Heaven and aided by divine intervention, Emperor Ming united rebel factions and his father's loyalists to storm the capital. Emperor Yang committed suicide in his palace, marking the fall of the Great Yang Ancient Kingdom.
The Weiyang Immortal Dynasty rose from its ashes, ushering in a new era.
The surname Jiang replaced Ji as the imperial name of Weiyang.
Now, with Emperor Ming occupied leading the Alliance of Righteous Unity, the Weiyang Imperial Family and its ministers were left grappling with how to address Ji Hanjing—their ancestral matriarch from the Ji clan.
How could descendants of the Jiang clan refer to a Ji as their ancestor? The very idea invited mockery.
"I have reviewed the historical records. The Radiant Ancestral Court is long gone. Whether it be the Great Yang Ancient Kingdom or the Weiyang Immortal Dynasty, they are no different in my eyes."
"The distinction between 'Ji' and 'Jiang' holds no meaning."
In the palace, Ji Hanjing closed the ancient text in her hands and swept her cold, imperious gaze over the ministers and elder princes of Weiyang.
Her words eased the tension in the room, as if a weight had been lifted.
They had feared her anger over bloodline purity, but to her, both the Great Yang Ancient Kingdom and Weiyang Immortal Dynasty were equally distant from the glory of the Radiant Ancestral Court.
The blood of these so-called descendants had long been diluted to insignificance.
Even if descendants of the Great Yang Ancient Kingdom's imperial family stood here, they would likely be no different from the current Weiyang Imperial Family.
"Where is Jiang Yun now?" Ji Hanjing asked indifferently.
"Reporting to our Ancestor, Emperor Yun is currently overseeing the Alliance of Righteous Unity, managing the overall situation and defending against the Heaven-Slaying Alliance's invasion. He is unable to attend to matters within the Weiyang Immortal Dynasty. At present, the dynasty's affairs are being handled by the State Preceptor, the Chancellor, and others," an elder prince stepped forward, trembling as he replied.
Under Ji Hanjing's gaze, beads of cold sweat formed on his forehead.
As a member of the Weiyang Imperial Family, this was the first time he had felt such overwhelming majesty—as if he were standing before an empress who ruled over all worlds.
This ancestor, whether in terms of seniority or power, was terrifyingly formidable.