Book 5 - Chapter 17: Anger

“He ran?” Upon watching Gu Feihong fly away while yelling out his name, Su Chen was taken aback and couldn’t help but mutter these two words to himself. This interrupted his chanting of the Capricorn Curse.

Thankfully, he quickly resumed. This was one of the drawbacks of the Capricorn Chant: the user couldn’t speak while using the chant.

“He probably used some secret technique that Gu Mingwei gave him to protect himself,” Gu Qingluo said.

“What a pity,” Su Chen couldn’t help but mutter.

The Capricorn Curse was broken again, and Gu Liu’an returned to normal, but a moment later he was under Su Chen’s control again.

Cloud Leopard couldn’t watch any longer. “Don’t have them kill each other any more. These guys have been trying to resist your control the whole time. Let us take a turn.”

Su Chen couldn’t say anything. He could only nod - he had originally wanted to feel out the power of the Capricorn Curse for just a bit longer, but unfortunately Gu Feihong ran before he could do much.

Since Gu Feihong had ran, then new problems would very quickly arise.

It wasn’t right for them to stay here for much longer.

When Su Chen nodded, Cloud Leopard charged forward to attack.

He was still at the Yang Opening Realm and hadn’t broken into the Light Shaking Realm, but the first target he attempted to attack was at the Light Shaking Realm. In terms of courage, Cloud Leopard really wasn’t inferior to anyone.

Next, Iron Cliff, the Death’s Shadow, and the twelve Sword Servants began to attack.

With these people joining the fray, Gu Feihong’s underlings had no chance to turn the tables, and they were all mercilessly wiped out.

Su Chen glanced at Gu Qingluo. “You might not want to see what will happen next.”

“Do you have to do this?” Gu Qingluo asked. “No matter what, they are still part of the Gu Clan.”

“They didn’t treat you as a member of the Gu Clan in the first place, so you don’t need to value them so much. Most importantly, we will probably have trouble coming for us in the very near future......”

Su Chen didn’t finish his sentence, but Gu Qingluo understood what he meant.

She gently nodded.

Upon obtaining Gu Qingluo’s permission, Su Chen didn’t stand on courtesy and walked into the forest, setting up the altar and placing Gu Liu’an’s corpse on it.

“I want to know what kind of problems I might encounter in the future,” Su Chen said.

This was his first time not inquiring about something research-related.

The Origin Bone didn’t like to report bad news, while Su Chen was inquiring about what troubles he would run into. This implied that the future would almost certainly be changing, and that a bigger sacrifice would be required.

Under normal circumstances, the cost of the sacrifice should have been very high, but Su Chen was able to find an answer as soon as he placed Gu Liu’an’s corpse onto the research workbench.

“Indeed, the Origin Bone Scepter liked that.” Su Chen revealed an excited expression.

This was basically the same as saying that Su Chen had suddenly found a rich vein of our. The large numbers of Origin Beast Bloodlines at his disposal meant that he would be able to divine countless answers.

However, Su Chen very quickly came to his senses.

Using humans as sacrifices was the same as experimenting on human subjects. Both were a bit taboo and merciless.

As such, it was important for him to restrict himself so that he wouldn’t go down the wrong path.

The current Su Chen had matured as time had gone on.

He had passed his shortsighted years and had become much more stable in his thoughts and considerations.

The Gu Clan’s members were indeed a treasure for the Origin Bone Staff, but Su Chen needed to act with discretion. It was better to be a bit more reserved as long as his bottom line was not being pushed.

Of course, the people in front of him had all come to kill him, so there was no need for him to show them any mercy.

Su Chen was able to clearly capture the scene that appeared on the altar even as he pondered all these things in his mind.

As he gazed at his would-be pursuers, Su Chen was a bit surprised. “It’s them?”

After thinking about it for a moment, Su Chen tossed Gu Baiye onto the altar as well. “I want to know......”

Before Su Chen and Gu Feihong’s battle broke out, a storm of chaos had erupted across the entire Gu Clan residence.

Chu Jiangyu’s snooping was like a match, lighting everyone’s hearts on fire and causing a great tumult.

This was especially true of Gu Xinrong.

As one of the Gu Clan’s twelve Human Emperors, the Gu Clan’s Fourth Ancestor possessed an incredibly high cultivation base. However, her temper was still as fiery as it was in her youth.

“How bold! They dare renege on our agreement and publicly expose the Gu Clan’s secrets!”

The instant she discovered that they were being surveilled, she exploded with rage.

She was angry not just because the 161 Lifesource Candles had been exposed - after all, it had happened in the past before, and victory was never a sure thing. However, the method by which it had been exposed was improper, as the Swan-Catching Mirror had been used under inappropriate circumstances.

This totally flew in the face of the agreement they had made!

This was what Gu Xinrong found impossible to accept.

As such, as soon as she sensed this, Gu Xinrong stopped the process of forming Lifesource Candles and left the secret room immediately.

She was going to find the Chu Clan to settle accounts.

Yes, settle accounts!

Even though the Gu Clan was under heavy supervision and were supposedly under restriction, the Gu Clan’s Fourth Grandmother just had this kind of temper. She felt no shame that their secret had been exposed; all she felt was anger that the other party had violated their promise.

In comparison, the other two Ancestors, Gu Qingsong and Gu Qingyang, glanced at each other and shook their heads simultaneously as they sighed.

They were very clear that the Chu Clan wouldn’t violate the agreement for no reason, so something must have happened. And this something would definitely not be beneficial to the Gu Clan.

After thinking about it for a moment, Gu Qingsong said, “No matter what’s happened, let’s find out what is going on first.”

“Fine!” Gu Qingyang nodded. He turned around to glance at the Lifesource Candles scattered on the ground and sighed before motioning with his sleeves and gathering them all up. Since the Lifesource Candles had been discovered, he could only bring them along with him.

Upon leaving the secret room, they discovered that countless people amongst the Gu Clan were exclaiming in surprise. Obviously, many people had felt the spying presence. Gu Xinrong harrumphed and ignored them. She flew directly in the air towards the Chu Clan’s palace.

With her speed, she managed to reach the imperial palace in but a brief moment.

She was not only fast, but she was moving with incredible momentum.

Bang!

A massive wave of energy exploded in the sky right above the palace, gathering together and filling the sky above the imperial palace. Commoners would feel as if the sky had suddenly darkened, while Origin Qi Scholars would suddenly sense that the Origin Energy around them had suddenly grown much denser, as if it was about to precipitate down from the sky.

However, the Origin Energy would not precipitate because the might of an Ultimate Emperor Realm cultivator was controlling them. They would not fall for anyone, and would only change in response to the beck and call of an Emperor-realm existence.

And this was just the environment’s instinctive reaction to Gu Xinrong’s rage. If she really wanted to fight, her scope of influence could probably expand to ten times the size it was at currently.

Even with this amount of pressure, however, the soldiers and guards below could all sense the massive weight bearing down on them.

The threat had arrived so quickly that even the imperial palace’s defensive Origin Formations weren’t activated in time.

An instant later, however, a brilliant, dazzling light began to shine from the Chu Clan’s palace, spreading in all directions and neutralizing the pressure without making much of a commotion. Everyone else below felt the weight suddenly lift off their shoulders.

“His Majesty, His Majesty took action.” The soldiers and guards below immediately realized that their Emperor, Chu Yuan, had personally made a move.

Chu Yuan was also at the Ultimate Emperor Realm, just like Gu Xinrong.

They possessed the same cultivation base, but his bloodline was a tier weaker. If they were to compete in terms of strength, Chu Yuan would definitely be a bit weaker than Gu Xinrong.

Thankfully, he didn’t need to compete with strength.

Controlling the three curses allowed Chu Yuan to inherently suppress the Gu Clan.

Even so, when faced with the blustering Gu Xinrong, Chu Yuan asked cordially, “So it’s Fourth Aunt. I was not prepared for Fourth Aunt’s arrival, but is there a reason why you have come in such imposing manner?”

Gu Xinrong’s seniority was higher than Chu Yuan’s, so Chu Yuan had to refer to her as Fourth Aunt.

“Chu Yuan!” Gu Xinrong barked. “You dare renege on our agreement and use the Swan-Catching Mirror to try and spy on the Gu Clan? Do you think that just because you have the curses, it means that you can do as you please and ignore the Gu Clan? Do you believe that I, Gu Xinrong......”

“Better broken jade than intact porcelain, you’ll challenge the strength of my whole clan...... I know, I know,” Chu Yuan chuckled. “I believe in Fourth Aunt’s temper and determination, and I know you are not easy to push around. If the Gu Clan’s twelve Human Emperors were to attack me, even the Origin Dream Killer technique wouldn’t be able to save me. If the Chu Clan and Gu Clan are to really declare war on each other, both sides will definitely suffer tragic losses. I believe it all, which is why I have always treated the Gu Clan with the utmost respect.”

“Does respecting the Gu Clan include inappropriately using the Swan-Catching Mirror to spy on us?” Gu Xinrong asked fiercely.

Chu Yuan said helplessly, “Can you come down so we can talk?”

Gu Xinrong still wanted to say something, but Gu Qingsong had arrived and said to her, “We’d better go down to talk. Arguing like this in the sky is a bit crude.”

Gu Xinrong could only helplessly smother the flames of rage in her heart for the time being and descend into the Chu Clan’s imperial palace.

Chu Yuan was sitting in his governmental hall. No officials were at his side. It was quite obvious that he had been waiting for this to happen.

Gu Xinrong immediately teleported to Chu Yuan’s side. “Chu Yuan, you dared to use the Swan-Catching Mirror without the proper authorization. What is there to explain?”

Chu Yuan chuckled, “Fourth Aunt, you’re wrongly accusing me. We never took the initiative to do any of this. The Gu Clan were the ones who commissioned me to use it.”

“What did you say?” Gu Xinrong was stunned.

Commissioned by the Gu Clan?

It wasn’t that the Gu Clan had never commissioned the Chu Clan to use the Swan-Catching Mirror before, but everyone in the Gu Clan would have been notified so that they could prepare appropriately. If they were engaged in anything they should not have been doing, then they would be able to stop in time.

But no one had been notified about it today, so what was going on?

“Who was it?” Gu Xinrong asked.

“Gu Feihong.”

“Feihong?” The three Gu Clan elders were all stunned.

Gu Qingyang said, “Why would Feihong do something like that?”

“Don’t believe me? Please, take a look for yourselves.” Chu Yuan brought out the commission with a flourish, and it flew into Gu Xinrong’s hand.

Gu Xinrong saw that it was indeed Gu Feihong’s commission, and it had even been stamped with the Shining Dragon Seal of the Gu Clan elder Gu Mingwei.

“How could this be? How could this happen?” Gu Xinrong began to tremble.

Gu Qingsong and Gu Qingyang were also dumbstruck by this development.

Gu Qingsong said, “How could Feihong do something like this? Why didn’t he say anything about it?”

“Because he was worried you would reject his proposal,” Chu Jiangyu chuckled as he stepped forwards, beginning to recount how Gu Feihong had asked him to search for Gu Qingluo.

Upon hearing that Gu Feihong had done all this just to find out where Gu Qingluo was, Gu Xinrong felt like she was going to black out. “For a woman...... Just for a woman...... That bastard!”

Gu Xinrong was so angry that it seemed like her heart was about to give out at any point in time.

The old woman asked, enraged, “Where is he right now?”

Chu Yuan stood and replied. “He should probably still be outside of the city. If you want to know exactly where he is, please, follow me to the Swan-Catching Hall with me.”

Upon hearing this, the three of them decided to follow Chu Yuan and Chu Jiangyu over to the Swan-Catching Hall.

Upon arriving, Chu Jiangyu glanced at the Swan-Catching Mirror and said, “Hm? He’s not there. Actually, his streak of light has already returned to Gu Palace. Strange......”

Chu Jiangyu had yet to say what was so strange when Gu Xinrong swung her left arm, which left her body and turned into a dragon, flying into the air.

Gu Feihong collapsed on the ground as soon as he returned, letting out a long sigh of relief.

His expression was filled with fear.