Gu Fangchen lifted the curtain of the carriage, narrowing his eyes as he looked outside.
When he came, he had crossed Autumn Peace Road alone and in secret; now, as he returned, he led a grand procession, open and dignified.
Under Gu Lianqian's pitiful whining and feigned frailty as a wounded girl, Ning Caiyong had been coaxed into sharing a carriage with her younger daughter. Gu Fangchen rode with Xue Xiang and Qing Jian.
Compared to the journey there, Xue Xiang's spirits were not so high this time. For some reason, she kept sneaking glances at Gu Fangchen, wearing a faintly troubled expression afterward.
Still, to her, the whole trip wasn't much different from an outing.
From Huangtian City to the Sword Pavilion, it was the farthest she had ever been from home in her life.
Riding beside them with a dark expression was Gu Yuandao.
Behind the group rode two of the Prince's mansion's enshrined experts, both under Gu Yuye's command.
Indeed, after Gu Fangchen had finished dealing with the Sword Pavilion's affairs, those two enshrined retainers, who had been left hanging for quite a while, were finally summoned back into service.
When Gu Fangchen first arrived, these two had been dispatched by Gu Yuye under the pretext of "confirming safety," but their true purpose was to intercept Ning Caiyong's carriage.
Though their mission ultimately failed because of Gu Fangchen's timely arrival, they stayed a while in the Sword Pavilion afterward.
Now their purpose had changed: to "escort the Princess back to the Prince's mansion."
After all, it wouldn't do for the Princess to actually stay indefinitely at her maiden home, that would be scandalous.
But during the period of unrest in the Sword Pavilion, Gu Fangchen was in seclusion, and Ning Caiyong naturally refused to see anyone.
Only when Gu Fangchen emerged did he decide to bring those two along, returning to Huangtian City under legitimate pretext.
Taking the title of Crown Prince's Heir wasn't just about slapping Gu Yuye in the face, it was about choosing a side.
It signified to Emperor Yong'an that he had proven his worth, becoming a key piece in the Emperor's campaign to counterbalance the Northern Garrison Prince's faction.
Unlike his previous detached "player" status, this was the moment Gu Fangchen truly earned his seat at the table.
Most of his journey so far had been built on bluff and pretense, deceiving the powerful cultivators of the upper ranks through sheer nerve.
Though he acted leisurely and composed, in truth, he was walking on a razor's edge.
Not to mention others, just the presence of Ding Xingfeng alone was enough to keep him cautious.
The old man might seem carefree and gossip-loving, but in truth, he was constantly observing Gu Fangchen's every move, how he spoke, acted, and made decisions in crisis.
If Gu Fangchen ever broke character, showed hesitation or fear inconsistent with his persona, Ding Xingfeng would immediately realize everything he'd said before was a lie.
The only reason Ding Xingfeng could now laugh and joke with him was because he believed in the persona Gu Fangchen had crafted.
But if that façade collapsed, Gu Fangchen would die instantly.
After all, Ding Xingfeng's retirement might have been forced by Nie Xu's betrayal, but the man had once massacred entire cities, slaughtering men, women, and children alike.
If such a man learned he'd been fooled from the start, he'd draw his blade without hesitation.
Before securing his position as Crown Prince's Heir, Gu Fangchen was like a rootless weed. Everything he built on deception could crumble at the smallest shake, anyone could simply decide to kill him.
Now, with the Emperor's endorsement, anyone who wanted to strike would at least have to think twice.
And that moment's hesitation, that single second of thought, was priceless.
As long as they hesitated for even a heartbeat, Gu Fangchen would have room to act.
At this point, what he needed most wasn't raw strength, for the station he now occupied, it was impossible to gain enough power in the short term to make others fear him physically.
What he needed was conceptual leverage, to make others yield to his mind.
At this stage, that was more important than strength itself.
Of course, in the end, strength would still be the final word...
Just like right now.
The sky was dim and sullen; a light, cold drizzle fell, carrying a biting chill.
Up ahead, the road was empty.
The silence around them was so deep it was dead, eerily so. Only the horses neighed uneasily.
In the other carriage, Ning Caiyong frowned.
"What's going on...?"
Gu Lianqian sat restlessly, her eyes flicking nervously to Gu Yuandao, who rode just outside.
She had already agreed, at least, on the surface, to cooperate with him: when Gu Fangchen faced danger, she would take their mother hostage to distract him.
But in truth, she never intended to do it.
According to their wager, if Gu Yuandao attacked even after realizing she had held back, she would have to kneel and bark like a dog to admit defeat.
Sensing her tension, Gu Yuandao leaned down slightly, meeting her eyes with a reassuring look before turning to warn Ning Caiyong.
"Mother, be cautious, it's likely the Demon Sect."
Ning Caiyong did not respond. She lifted the curtain and looked toward Gu Fangchen's carriage.
"..."
Gu Yuandao's fingers tightened around the reins, his face twisting with suppressed fury before he let out a cold, mirthless laugh.
Good. Very good. What a devoted mother and son!
Even now, though he was her true son, she would not spare him even a glance. Such blindness, such perverse favoritism!
Then he need not feel guilty any longer.
Gu Yuandao straightened, eyes gleaming with venom as he stared at Gu Fangchen.
So be it. Since mother and son are so affectionate, then he would make sure they suffered together.
...
Gu Fangchen leapt down from his carriage, patting the neck of his Dark Spirit Horse to soothe it.
As he brushed a hand along its mane, he noticed the raindrops glimmering darkly. He rubbed a few between his fingers, and crimson streaks appeared.
He narrowed his eyes and smiled wryly.
"A bloody wind and rain... seems the vengeful spirits of Saishao City have come for you, Old Ding."
The gloomy heavens above had turned the color of blood. The rain soaked into the soil, and wherever it fell, grass and trees withered to ash.
The wind, though not fierce, carved deep gouges into the earth, as though massive invisible claws were raking through it.
The scars spread closer and closer to the convoy, their path chaotic but unmistakably converging.
The scene was grotesque and terrifying.
Anyone else might have collapsed in fright already, but most here were cultivators, and they understood what they faced: shattered souls escaped from the Nine Nether's rifts.
These were spirits that should have long entered reincarnation, souls twisted by grievance and obsession, returned to the mortal world.
Normally, such spirits were mindless, mere evil phantoms.
But the Demon Sect had caught these fragments, awakened their reason, and turned them into followers of the Dao of Extinction.
Ding Xingfeng's expression did not change. He gave a low snort.
"Alive, they were livestock whose throats I slit and bled dry. You think death makes them any more useful?"
The day he chose to reemerge, he knew the enemies of his past would come for him one by one.
It was nothing, just another swarm of insects to crush beneath his heel.
Gu Fangchen thought to himself: They're definitely more than that this time...
Ding's tone was fearless, but Gu Fangchen knew the Demon Sect was serious now.
Ding Xingfeng was a second-grade martial expert.
After his Dao heart was shattered, his strength fell to the peak of the third grade, close to an ordinary second-grade level.
But no matter his current power, he was still a physical cultivator.
And the opponent now, the "Extinction Dao" revenant, was a third-grade evil spirit specializing in mental attacks.
Against spiritual cultivators, Ding could still rush in and destroy their bodies; without a vessel, their spirits would weaken drastically.
But this... this was a being without a body, existing only by the weight of karmic hatred.
This was a martial saint's greatest weakness.
Hence Ding's grim expression.
A sharp sound split the air.
"Whoosh-!"
The unseen presence closed in swiftly through the bloody rain. Wherever it passed, vegetation shriveled, and crimson mist oozed from the soil.
Ding Xingfeng stood unmoving, hands clasped behind his back. Then, with a thunderous voice, he roared:
"Hum!"
Instantly, golden light burst from behind him, forming the towering phantom of a wrathful Vajra.
The phantom opened its mouth and shouted toward the unseen presence.
"Boom!"
The sound struck like a great bell, majestic and resonant. Golden ripples spread outward, distorting the air; as they rolled forward, they revealed the outline of the invisible enemy.
It finally appeared before everyone's eyes,
A massive ball of flesh made from countless infant corpses, limbs twisted into clawed appendages.
At its center was an enormous baby's head, glaring at Ding Xingfeng with poisonous malice.
A gaping wound slashed across its neck, spraying torrents of blood mist skyward, forming the bloody rain that now fell upon them.
"Waaah!"
A shriek, sharp as shattered glass, pierced the air, like a thousand crying infants at once.
Martial and spiritual cultivation followed different paths, but by the upper third ranks, they began to converge.
Spiritual cultivators' bodies became more resilient, while martial experts' souls grew powerful enough to touch upon divine techniques.
Ding Xingfeng's technique came from the Garan Temple, one of the Six Sacred Syllables, used specifically to subdue unclean spirits.
But such divine methods required spiritual resonance.
Given Ding's violent, bloodthirsty nature, he could only master one, the syllable for suppression.
Still, one was enough.
As he roared, golden light enveloped him, the glow of his very soul.
For that instant, his spirit could wound another.
Ding Xingfeng struck without hesitation, one punch!
"Boom!"
The ground erupted, sinking into a massive crater. Cracks split the earth like a web, rumbling like a dragon twisting beneath the soil.
Ding's eyes stayed cold; he did not relax.
The thing had vanished into the haze.
At this level, Gu Fangchen couldn't intervene directly.
Instead, he narrowed his eyes, studying the faint claw marks in the distance as he began to calculate the creature's next move.
He'd encountered this type of revenant before, only twice, but he remembered the strategy clearly.
Its movements followed the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams pattern, within a hundred-mile radius.
The bloody rain itself was a great illusion array, sapping willpower and clouding judgment.
Knowing the pattern allowed one to predict its strikes,
But the challenge lay in finding the center of the formation.
That was the key to predicting everything.
And the only way to find the center was to deduce it backward from existing marks.
Before, he couldn't have done it, his eighth-grade Spirit-Leaving Realm divine sense was too weak to stabilize over such a vast area.
But now, he was seventh-grade, Wandering Spirit Realm. His divine sense could extend for hundreds of miles without dispersing.
His reforged dantian had further strengthened his spirit, and his mental calculations with it.
In moments, he pinpointed the formation's core.
He was about to speak when Gu Yuandao suddenly soared forward, calling out loudly:
"Senior Ding! Though my cultivation is shallow, I am a fifth-grade spiritual cultivator. Since the Demon Sect is before us, let us set aside grievances for now, allow me to locate the revenant's position for you!"
Gu Fangchen smirked.
The man even wanted to steal Old Ding's thunder... clearly, his jealousy and resentment ran deep.
Snatching his mother's favor had driven him mad enough to show off at all costs.
To him, Gu Fangchen was still that drunken, disgraceful wastrel, utterly unworthy of a Martial Saint's mentorship.
Even if he had some talent, what could a sixth-grade martial cultivator do against a third-grade spirit?
Probably nothing but cower behind his master.
But he, a fifth-grade spirit cultivator imbued with a wisp of the Righteous Qi of the Vast Heavens, surely he was the hero now.
This wasn't part of his plan, but he was confident.
Ding Xingfeng glanced at Gu Fangchen, narrowing his eyes.
"Kid. You were about to say something, weren't you?"
Gu Fangchen blinked innocently and smiled.
"Time's short. Since someone's volunteering, I won't get in the way."
"Cut the nonsense. Speak!"
Gu Fangchen coughed lightly, then reported the revenant's next strike point.
Gu Yuandao calculated quickly, then sneered.
"Nonsense! That position's impossible, "
Before he could finish, Ding Xingfeng had already thrust a palm toward that exact spot.
A baby's wail erupted.
"Yeeehh-!!"
The revenant was blasted backward, shrieking.
Gu Yuandao froze, pupils contracting, his face going pale.
Gu Fangchen... was dual-cultivated in body and spirit?!
And his spirit cultivation wasn't weak!
But worse, how had he been wrong?!
Gu Fangchen grinned.
"Do you know why you were mistaken?"
"This bloody rain feeds on evil thoughts. The deeper one's corruption, the thicker the illusion before their eyes, no amount of Righteous Qi of the Vast Heavens can blow it away."