Jiang Shuxuan looked at Gu Xiqiao, his eyes dark and deep.

He had been avoiding this topic deliberately, not wanting her to recall painful memories.

The last time Gu Xiqiao had encountered danger in the ancient martial arts world, he was in the process of breaking through. In his hazy state, he saw a sea of fire, as well as the clear face in it, and he almost failed to complete his advancement.

He watched as she was engulfed by the fire little by little, her face calm, and her eyes like a pool of stagnant water. He could see the lingering grief that was hiding underneath it.

Just looking at the scene made his heart hurt.

But all he could do was watch as she disappeared within the fire. It was indescribable despair that he felt at that moment as he watched the scene play out, as though it had happened for real, once before.

So when he woke up to see Dubhe forcing Gu Xiqiao into a corner, he became slightly unhinged. That was also the reason he said that he would destroy the world. He really had the thought of making a move in that moment, especially when he recalled the vision of her vanishing into the flames once again.

He’d seen this incident once, although it was just a dream, he had the urge to destroy everything. If it really did happen in front of him, he didn’t know what he would do.

Fortunately, she was still well and alive in front of him.

Jiang Shuxuan reached out to pull her into his arms, muttering in her ears, “I know… I know all of it.”

His voice was dull and flat, bitterness seeping out from his tone. This man had always been calm and restrained, reigning in his feelings all the time. This was the first time Gu Xiqiao had seen such a display of emotions from him, and she could also feel his body trembling. It seemed that admitting those words exhausted all the strength in his body.

Gu Xiqiao turned to look at him with an impassive expression. “Brother Jiang, you know that I’ve already died…”

“Don’t say it!” Jiang Shuxuan tightened his arms around her. He didn’t want to hear the words from her mouth a second time, turning to look at her with his onyx eyes. He said slowly, “All these misfortunes have existed since ancient times. Even if you weren’t around, it would still explode in our faces eventually, it was only a matter of time. You don’t have to take all the blame onto yourself, the evils are of their own making. Why right does he have to put the entire blame on you?”

Jiang Shuxuan stared intently into her eyes when he said that.

He didn’t believe in Dubhe’s judgment. Just relying on her own merits, she had punished many evils, and there was no malicious aura that even came close to her. It was the biggest joke in the world to say that she was a calamity.

Even if she turned out to be it, so what? He didn’t care one bit.

Gu Xiqiao studied his face for a long time, and she knew he was worried. His hands were still shaking, and he was still looking at her so attentively. There was also a hint of fear in his usually vacant eyes.

This made her warm inside, and feel that she really wasn’t alone in this world.

The panic and fear that had been eating at her slowly whittled away. She leaned on him, starting to organize her thoughts.

When she heard Dubhe’s words, she had indeed been shocked to her core. Especially when she was looking at so many lives disappearing in front of her, she inevitably recalled her rebirth.

So she suspected that she was indeed an outsider of this world, an anomaly, just as Dubhe had said.

If so many lives disappeared because of her, how could she be at ease?

Thinking of this, Gu Xiqiao lifted her head again to look at the man. “Brother Jiang, I actually have a system.”

“A system?” This was the first time Jiang Shuxuan had heard Gu Xiqiao talk about this. He lowered his head to look at her properly. He had known for a long time that she had a secret, and he recalled how he couldn’t detect her presence a few times throughout their time together.

He knew that there were some secrets that were better off being left to the unknown, as it would cause unnecessary waves, which was also the reason he had started gradually controlling the ancient martial arts world.

He needed enough power to protect her.

He didn’t expect that she would let him in on her secrets. Jiang Shuxuan felt like there were flowers blooming around him everywhere, and his bad mood started to vanish little by little.

“Yeah, it’s Jiji.” Gu Xiqiao looked around, but she didn’t see the small robot. “I don’t think I forgot about Jiji…”

“I didn’t bring it up when I brought you just now.” Jiang Shuxuan’s voice flattened out once Jiji was mentioned. “Jiji is the system?” His mood improved further upon seeing that she had put aside the matter of her being an anomaly of the world for now.

“The fact that I could… live again, it was because of Jiji.” Gu Xiqiao felt the arms around her tightened once again.

Then he spoke in a low voice, “I see. I’ll treat it more kindly in the future.”

The two slowly calmed down, and Gu Xiqiao related to Jiang Shuxuan everything about the system from the beginning.

***

Jiji, who was far away in W Town, suddenly felt like it wanted to sneeze. It told Xixi about its feelings, and Xixi looked at it weirdly. “You… you have a nose?”

Jiji stiffened, turning around to raise its mechanical arm and pointed at Xixi. “Gunara, the god of darkness1, turn into a chicken!”

Xixi turned its head to look at Yi Tong, patting its wings on his shoulder. “Don’t look so surprised, this robot has some screws loose. I’ll get Beauty Gu to fix it tomorrow.”

Yi Tong coughed, trying to smother the laughter that threatened to burst forth. “Master Xixi, Big Boss and Miss Gu have left first. Do you want to follow us back now?”

Xixi nodded its head, shrinking down to its smaller size and perching on top of Jiji.

“Wait,” Jiji called out, stopping Yi Tong with a grave expression.

Yi Tong knew that this robot belonged to Gu Xiqiao, since she always had interesting things at her side. But seeing the robot having such intelligence, it really was like looking at a creepy monster.

“Jiji, what else do you need to do?” Yi Tong asked, looking at it with a smile on his face.

Jiji looked at Yi Tong. “You called this chicken ‘master’, why are you calling me ‘Jiji’? Am I not majestic enough?” Grr, so annoying!

“…” Yi Tong’s smile was frozen on his face. He could already hear laughter from Yi Tiao in the distance, but seeing how he was the one facing Jiji, he didn’t dare to laugh at all. He was legitimately terrified of things that belonged to Miss Gu, like that pink flower. Who would expect that it was a man-eating plant that could swallow a Fleet Foot level master whole?

Yi Tong straightened up when he thought of that, and said, “Master Jiji, do you have any other instructions?”

“No, let’s go.” Jiji waved his hand, looking at Xixi with a triumphant look in its mechanical eyes, and got onto the helicopter.

The moment it got in, it was met with Dubhe sitting in the vehicle.

Jiji didn’t have any good feelings about this person, and so it merely glanced at him and turned away, taking a seat on the left side. It then pulled out a laptop from its chest, starting to play games.

Dubhe was talking to Yi Bing initially, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Xixi and Jiji when they came in. He stopped talking abruptly, turning his gaze to the firebird. “I recall that you’re a phoenix, right? Being able to reach this level just by training on your own without any guidance, you’re really talented. I have some techniques for the phoenix clan, would you like to follow me?”

The idea in his heart was simple, the Vermillion Bird was a mythical beast of Heaven and Earth, and its natural affinity was fire.

He had also learned to control fire, and so he felt that Xixi would definitely agree to such favorable terms.

Dubhe had not expected Xixi to look him in the eye, and then spit out a breath of fire suddenly. “I won’t bow to evil forces! Jiji, go!”

Jiji raised its head immediately, pointing its mechanical hands at Dubhe. “Gunara, the god of darkness, turn into sh*t!”

Dubhe lowered his head, finding that there was a pink flower in his arms suddenly. Before he could react, the flower opened its mouth and sprayed him with—mucus.

It was the foul-smelling kind too.

This was the first time a distinguished person like Dubhe was treated like this. First he was ignored by the two ignorant beings, then he was caught off guard and sprayed with slimy mucus. It was only natural that his face darkened at that.

He reached out his hand, a ball of white flame igniting on his fingertips, intending to burn the flower.

Seeing that, Yi Bing quickly snatched Dog Feed away from him. “You can’t, Master Dubhe! This is Miss Gu’s favourite flower!”

If Master Dubhe were to burn it, there would definitely be serious repercussions!

“Miss Gu?” Dubhe knew that Yi Bing was talking about Gu Xiqiao, and he didn’t understand. Why was it that even Yi Bing along with so many others were so protective of the girl?

Since Yi Bing was protecting Dog Feed, Dubhe disappeared from the helicopter. It wasn’t worth raising his hands against a flower anyway.

Xixi only started flapping its wings and laughing gleefully after he left. “He really did become sh*t!”

Dog Feed looked up at Yi Bing. “Put me down.”

Yi Bing: “… Oh.” He carefully handed Dog Feed over to Jiji, and then after thinking a while, he said, “Master Dubhe isn’t someone to provoke, try not to offend him next time.”

“It’s fine.” Jiji took Dog Feed in its arms. “We know our limits.”

Seeing such a serious look on Jiji’s face, Yi Bing nodded, putting faith in the robot’s words.

Xixi cocked its head sideways, the words that Jiji just said sounded so familiar. Wasn’t that Gu Xiqiao’s mantra every single time?

***

At night, in the ancient martial arts world, Jing Capital.

A group of elders was in a meeting. Apart from the twenty-one elders from the Jiang, Murong, and Tang family, there were also elders from other smaller families. They had all been called to gather here today, with Jiang Shuxuan sitting at the head seat. There was a strong pressure exuding from his person, and the elders of the smaller clans were silent out of fear.

“Where did that Peace Manor come from? Why have they suddenly built up in the ancient martial arts world?” The elder of the Murong family stroked his beard as he asked. “And they’re even selling those pills that defy all logic…”

“I don’t know, it could be a new force from the outside world.” What was the origin of Peace Manor? Only the elders from the Jiang family were well aware of it, especially the great elder. But when he heard Elder Murong ask this, he had no intention of explaining it. The seven of them had recited scriptures for so long, they needed the others to also have a taste of what they were feeling, right?

Hearing the Jiang elder say that, the other elders all started planning in their heads. They had also asked about the same thing in the elders’ meeting. As Gu Xiqiao was the only person they knew that held these elixirs, so they were afraid that Peace Manor had connections with Gu Xiqiao, and so they wanted to dig a little more information first.

With that answer, most of them relaxed. That was true, if Peace Manor had connections to Gu Xiqiao, why would it be built in the fifth ring?

“Then, Young Master Jiang… that?” Elder Murong turned his gaze towards Jiang Shuxuan. “Should we send someone to look over this new force?”

He meant, to take advantage of them, of course.

It wasn’t like this kind of thing didn’t happen in the ancient martial arts world before. It was a world of the law of the jungle after all. Whoever had the bigger fist was the stronger one.

Jiang Shuxuan let out a ‘hm’ without any other comments.

Elder Murong’s smile widened at that, it was good as an agreement that he would get.

The seven elders of the Jiang family looked at each other, thinking that the Young Master Jiang was really ruthless in his methods. He obviously knew the people in Peace Manor, but he chose not to say anything, burying Murong’s family in their own grave that they were digging. The group of people from the Murong family who wanted to threaten Peace Manor, they probably wouldn’t be able to get a single benefit, but would instead get skinned by them!

Those people fronting the Peace Manor were almost similar to the way Gu Xiqiao was… bad sadistic taste indeed.

Pretending to be weak in front of stronger people, it wasn’t like they hadn’t done it before either.

“Young Master Jiang.” The great elder from the Jiang family suddenly said. “The qualifying tournament is in one day. Does Miss Gu want to try entering the Trial Tower?”

The great elder couldn’t but feel anticipation building inside him when he asked, he really wanted to know which floor Gu Xiqiao would reach.

Nozawa from Japan already had the strength to reach the 70th floor, and since Gu Xiqiao has already broken through and advanced, could it be possible that she would go beyond the 70th floor?

Jiang Shuxuan nodded his head. “I’ll ask her when I get back.”

After the two finished speaking, a green-robed figure entered from the outside in a slow pace. The moment he entered, the entire Elders’ Association was enveloped in a terrifying aura.

“Master Dubhe.” Everyone in the room stood when they saw the man, looking at Dubhe with a mixture of excitement and slight fear.

When they had first arrived, the great elder from the Jiang family had already briefed them about Dubhe.

They also naturally knew that Dubhe was the strongest man on earth, and also the salvation of millions of people. This was the first time they were seeing Dubhe with their own eyes. The thrill in their hearts was unimaginable, and all their faces were lit up in excitement.

This was the proper treatment that he should be getting, Dubhe thought as he moved to take a seat on the first chair on the right. He had been ignored and slighted in the past few days, to the point he even began to doubt himself because of that.

“Gu Xiqiao cannot participate in the qualifying tournament,” Dubhe announced.

At Dubhe’s words, the majority of the elders didn’t question his motive. They all immediately agreed. The moment Dubhe had stepped in, they had managed to collect themselves.

“Master Dubhe, it will be as you say.”

“I also think that a girl who hasn’t even reached the age of twenty will just bring problems if she participates.”

“That’s right!”

Jiang Shuxuan glanced at them with a blank look. “If you don’t agree, then you can leave the ancient martial arts world now. I won’t stop you.”

His voice was soft and low, but everyone heard it loud and clear.

The meaning was simple.

Whoever disagreed that Gu Xiqiao should participate in the tournament, you can just get the h*ll out of the ancient martial arts world!

The ancient martial arts world wasn’t short on people like them anyway!

It was simple and blunt, straight to the point!

Even if you’re not willing to accept it, you have to accept it anyway!

The elders of the Murong family and the other families were shocked. They couldn’t believe the words they had heard as they turned to look at Jiang Shuxuan, especially the elders who had been clamoring earlier, their faces were whiter than paper. They had been so caught up with the strongest man on earth, they had forgotten who the real boss of the ancient martial arts world was!

“Young Master Jiang, this joke isn’t funny.” Elder Murong said. “Although the Jiang family is the biggest in the ancient martial arts world, without us, the world is still…”

“I’ve already said, if you disagree, you may leave the ancient martial arts world.” Jiang Shuxuan glanced at them with an empty look before pulling out his phone to look at the time. “Great Elder, list down those who want to leave and give me the list later.”

Having said that, he stood up and left.

The great elder stood up immediately, picking up a notebook. “Those who want to leave, please come and register here.”

If it was before, they would have just ignored Jiang Shuxuan’s words. But it wasn’t the same now, perhaps there would be lesser people in the ancient martial arts world, but there were also people from the Peace Manor who could fill the void, and they were all Gu Xiqiao’s subordinates. He had also been in contact with them before, and they were really a group that sincerely cared about the well being of the ordinary people.

“The Baili family will not leave.” The elder of the Baili family stood upright after the great elder had said those words. He initially had a lot of respect for Dubhe, but after this incident, his impression of Dubhe had changed greatly. “Great Elder, if you need any help, please let me know.”

Baili Qu had finally come clean, and the Baili family knew that Gu Xiqiao was one of them. This Dubhe just waltzed in and directly went for a descendant of their family, did he take them for dead men?!

“The Tang family will not leave either.” The seven elders from the Tang family stood up and announced.

The remaining elders started to panic once they saw even the Tang family had expressed their opinions. At first they had been arrogant, thinking that with so many of them, the Jiang family would definitely still have some fear at their declaration, but they didn’t expect to see Jiang Shuxuan pass his orders with no hesitation.

Leave the ancient martial arts world? Impossible!

And so the pale and stuttering elders started apologizing.

The great elder looked at those other elders, then closed the notebook in his hand. “In that case, if there is nothing else, let’s stop here for today.”

He shot a cold look at the elder of the Murong family, whose face was paler than a sheet of paper. Did they see now, how indifferent and insignificant they were? Did they think that the ancient martial arts world couldn’t survive without them? Oh, how you’ve overestimated your own values!

Just wait, wait till you meet the people from Peace Manor, then you would know just where you stand in the ancient martial arts world!

1 T

/N: Gunara is the final boss of the series, Balala The Fairies