Chapter 108 Heartless Love (Part 3)
Lu Zhenyi died at the Jiang family's house. Her Yuan Dan (vital energy) was removed and her head was cut off. Her death was extremely gruesome. This news not only shocked the Jiang family but also left Song Ping somewhat bewildered.
Not only Song Ping, but even Lu Ziming's expression changed when he saw his brother's disfigured corpse.
Although he had considered framing the Jiang family, he absolutely could not tolerate his brother's body being destroyed in this way; the person who did this was truly despicable.
This blatant provocation hit Song Ping right where it hurt.
In this situation, sending Jiang Gu to intervene would obviously not be enough to calm things down. Jiang Zhuan had no choice but to personally appear to try to appease the furious Song Ping, while Jiang Gu stood quietly behind him with his sleeves tucked in, looking completely detached.
"That room contains the Jiang family's magic array and spiritual energy. Elder Jiang, Zhenyi was already nearing the end of her life, why did you have to resort to such cruelty!" Song Ping slammed his fist on the table, which instantly turned to dust.
Lu Ziming suppressed his anger, his gaze sweeping over the Jiang family disciples opposite him, finally settling on Jiang Gu.
Jiang Gu subtly curled the corners of his lips.
Lu Ziming clenched his fists instantly, gritting his teeth as he spoke: "Jiang Gu, it's you—"
Song Ping and Jiang Zhuan, who were talking, were interrupted, and everyone's eyes fell on Lu Ziming and Jiang Gu.
"Jiang Gu?" Jiang Zhuan looked at him with some dissatisfaction.
“This disciple has been at Tianchi all night without leaving for even a moment. There is a record on the Tianchi Image Stone. The Grand Elder can have someone check it.” Jiang Gu said calmly. “My fellow traveler had some misunderstandings with me. It is understandable that he suspected me.”
Lu Ziming's eyes were practically spitting fire as he shouted, "You've harmed us brothers to this extent, and you dare to say it's just a misunderstanding—"
“Lu Ziming.” Song Ping interrupted him unhappily, then looked at Jiang Zhuan, “I hope Elder Jiang can give an explanation for this matter.”
Just as Jiang Zhuan was about to give a perfunctory reply, a sharp and urgent bell suddenly rang out from outside the hall, and all the Jiang family disciples inside the hall instantly changed their expressions.
"It's the battle bell! Enemy attack!" someone was the first to react.
"It's the Spirit Dragon Sect!" someone transmitted from outside the hall. "The Spirit Dragon Sect is attacking outside the Jiang family's teleportation array—"
Jiang Zhuan suddenly stood up, but Song Ping was even faster. Song Ping completely ignored the Linglong Sect disciples in the hall and disappeared in a flash. Jiang Zhuan followed closely behind, and the hall instantly erupted into a chaotic battle.
Jiang Gu managed to escape from the palace amidst the chaos, but was stopped halfway.
Lu Ziming pointed his longsword at him, his eyes filled with resentment and anger. "It must be your doing! The Spirit Dragon Sect would never launch an attack at this time! You—you used my brother's corpse to spread false information!"
Jiang Gu's eyebrows twitched slightly. "Words are meaningless. Fellow Daoist Lu, please don't wrong me."
He was just going with the flow.
A few days ago, Qu Fengyu, who had escaped from the Jiang family, suddenly sent a message saying that they had discovered many Linglong Sect disciples nearby. In addition, Jiang Gu, based on the incomplete scroll and secret order on Qu Fengyu's body, roughly deduced that something had happened at Wangyue Ganlou and Kunlou. It was likely that the Linglong Sect would take action against the Jiang family sooner or later. Qu Fengyu's intervention had actually made the Jiang family lower their guard. Song Ping's arrival was probably to find the right opportunity to cooperate from the inside and outside. He had only used Lu Zhenyi's head to make the demon beast transform into Lu Zhenyi's appearance and pass on the password, thus bringing this matter to a head.
After all, what he needs most right now is time, so the more chaotic the situation, the better.
"You despicable scoundrel!" Lu Ziming cursed angrily.
Jiang Gu remained calm and said, "You flatter me."
Lu Ziming roared and was about to rush forward, but Jiang Gu disappeared in the blink of an eye. No matter how he searched, he could not find any trace of Jiang Gu. Instead, because his divine sense was too conspicuous, he was surrounded by the Jiang family disciples who had rushed over.
Even with superb cultivation, it's a waste to lack a good mind to match it.
Jiang Gu returned to Tianchi amidst the sounds of fighting.
"Seventh Brother's move is truly brilliant." Jiang Xiangyun's voice rang out from a distance. "Once the Spirit Dragon Sect and the Jiang Family go to war, the Pingze Continent will inevitably be thrown into chaos. I'm afraid we won't be able to go to the Wangyue Continent this year. Hmm, could it be that Seventh Brother feels his cultivation is insufficient, so he's deliberately stalling for time?"
"Young Master is overthinking things," Jiang Gu said calmly.
Jiang Xiangyun looked at him with great interest, "Aren't you in a hurry to save your little apprentice?"
"Just a beast," Jiang Gu said expressionlessly.
Jiang Xiangyun narrowed his eyes. Jiang Gu's tone was too confident, which made him unsure of Jiang Gu's true intentions. However, he did not show it at all and affectionately tried to put his arm around Jiang Gu's shoulder. "But this will keep us busy."
Jiang subtly dodged away, staring coldly at him.
"Oh dear, I forgot you don't like being touched." Jiang Xiangyun laughed and raised his hand. "Seventh Brother has really impressed me this time. I'm looking forward to the day we set off."
The Yunchi Lake was shrouded in mist. Jiang Gu stood there with a detached expression, seemingly indifferent to everything except himself, so aloof and cold that he seemed unlike anyone else in this world.
A dark glint flashed in Jiang Xiangyun's eyes.
The more Jiang Guyue acted this way, the more he wanted to recruit him for his own use. The thought that such a cold and arrogant person could willingly submit to him was even more terrifying than forging a peerless magic weapon.
Unfortunately, he didn't stay long before being summoned by his family.
Because Jiang Gu needed to heal his injuries, he was overlooked by Jiang Yinzhong at Tianchi and did not get involved in the battle between the Jiang family and the Linglong Sect.
The Heavenly Pool seeped into every meridian, a slow, agonizing process. Jiang Gu closed his eyes and focused intently on his cultivation.
He needs time to improve his cultivation, time to pave his way out, and time... to calm down.
Wei Feng's disappearance affected him far more than he expected. It was right that he wanted Wei Feng, but risking his life and even losing his rational judgment, nearly losing his life in the illusion several times, had gone too far.
Whether he treats Wei Feng as a spirit pet, a disciple, or even a nominal Daoist partner, it's all a losing proposition. And every time he senses Wei Feng's aura, he feels an impulse that goes beyond his control, which is illogical.
He needs enough time to calm down.
——
Cultivation makes one oblivious to the passage of time; a year has passed in the blink of an eye.
As the last lightning tribulation disappeared, Jiang Gu successfully broke through and officially entered the Mahayana Realm. Along with his cultivation level, Jiang Gu's control over the Songsui Illusionary Realm also improved.
He could freeze the illusion within any fragment vortex for a quarter of an hour, which was enough for him to find Wei Feng and capture him.
Jiang Gu's perception of the Fire Rope also became increasingly clear.
The vortex of illusionary fragments remained bizarre and fantastical. Jiang Gu skillfully dodged the attacks of those fragments, and although he had a few more minor wounds on his body, they were insignificant compared to his previous injuries.
A twisted yet familiar figure flashed past him. Jiang Gu's eyes narrowed, and without hesitation, he rushed into the vortex. "Wei Feng!"
The figure seemed to turn its head in alarm, then anxiously reached out its hand to him. Jiang Gu reached out his hand as well, but it was too late; Wei Feng had already been sucked into another vortex.
Even so, Jiang Gu was not discouraged at all—this was the first time in more than a year that he could see Wei Feng's shadow clearly.
These fragmented vortexes were formed from the shattering of countless illusions, mixed with the endless desires and fears of countless cultivators. Even someone as resolute as Jiang Gu felt exhausted after traversing several vortexes in succession.
He stood in the vortex, pale and covered in blood, and after calming down, decided to go out.
"Master...Master!" Wei Feng's voice suddenly came out intermittently.
Jiang Gu's jaw tightened; he had no intention of changing his mind, but then came the familiar sound of crying.
"...It hurts...Master, save me...Master..."
A thin, ghostly pattern struggled out of the vortex and wrapped around his wrist. Jiang Gu suddenly clenched his fist, his primordial spirit clinging to the ghostly pattern as it once again plunged into the endless vortex.
After traversing countless illusions, Jiang Gu finally gained control of the ghostly pattern, gathering his spiritual power and pulling it hard.
A dark shadow was pulled out from the vortex of void. Jiang Gu's gaze sharpened, and he instinctively reached out to catch it, frowning impatiently as he said, "Stop crying—"
However, the dark shadow passed through his arm like mist, crashed to the ground and disappeared without a trace, leaving only a slightly faded red rope that floated lightly onto Jiang Gu's wrist.
At the other end of the red rope, there was a withered, dark ghostly pattern wrapped around it. It struggled to move one last time before losing its last bit of life.
The aura belonging to Wei Feng in the entire Songsui Illusion finally dissipated completely.
Jiang Gu slowly lowered his head and looked at the faded red rope. The Fire Rope needs to be nourished by flesh and blood. If it is not nourished for a long time, it will fade. The light color on the red rope indicates that it has been away from its master for a long time. It is only because it is wrapped with a ghost pattern that it still retains a trace of Wei Feng's aura.
All he searched for in the Songsui Illusionary Realm all year was this rope.
All Qu Fengyu found was Wei Feng's ghost mark.
Wei Feng is neither in the illusion nor in the real world.
The answer was obvious. Jiang Gu stared at the fire rope for a long time, then expressionlessly put it back into his sleeve.
That useless thing is indeed dead.
It's better if he's dead.
However, as cautious as Jiang Gu was, he also guessed that there might be another possibility. Although the possibility was extremely low, Wei Feng might not be able to be found by Qu Fengyu's search skills for other reasons, and was struggling to survive under the control of others, pitifully waiting for him to rescue him.
But he has already wasted too much time on Wei Feng.
That's all.
Jiang Gu closed his eyes and exited the illusion.
That year, Jiang Gu returned Qu Fengyu's body to its rightful owner. The Linglong Sect was repeatedly defeated by the Jiang family. Jiang Xiangyun led his men to annex dozens of the Linglong Sect's affiliated sects. Jiang Gu entered the top ten pages of the Jiang family's register of names and completely took over the main family's secret prison.
Another year passed, and Jiang Gu successfully broke through to the mid-stage of Mahayana. He dragged his body, which was almost shattered to pieces, out of the Heavenly Pool and was qualified to enter the Jiang Family Elders Council with Jiang Xiangyun.
In the fourth year, the Linglong Sect finally couldn't hold on any longer and took the initiative to seek peace with the Jiang family. The Ganlou and Kunlou, who had remained silent all along on the Wangyue Continent, finally issued a secret order to end the chaos. Along with the secret order came a new list of people to be selected. This time, unlike usual, a full hundred people were selected, and Jiang Xiangyun and Jiang Gu's names were only listed on the second page.
In the fifth year, Jiang Gu finally broke through to the Great Perfection of Mahayana in half a month before setting off for Wangyue Continent. Although this cultivation level was unremarkable among the hundred people, after all, the names on the first page were all True Immortal Realm cultivators.
The massive airship was bustling with activity. A giant teleportation array almost covered the entire mountain. Unfamiliar flags on the ship fluttered in the wind. Jiang Gu looked up and saw the two characters "Qiankun" side by side on the flag. Beneath the flag stood a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy in red, excitedly waving goodbye to his family.
Jiang Gu's gaze paused for a moment.
"Seventh Brother, let's go." Jiang Xiangyun called to him with a smile.
Jiang Gu withdrew his gaze, stepped onto the steps in front of him, and merged into the crowd.
The flying boat took off and broke through the clouds. The surrounding area was noisy with people and spiritual energy was fluctuating. Several teenagers ran over with their arms around each other, laughing and joking. Their bright eyes were full of longing and curiosity. Jiang Gu was mixed in with the crowd when he suddenly remembered something.
Wei Feng should be twenty-three years old this year.
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