Heed the Warning

It was late at night, but the Lexiang County City God Temple was bustling with activity.

All the underworld officials and deities who had participated in the hunt for the True Demon had gathered here.

Of course, the one presiding over the meeting was not the local City God, Xu.

Seated in the central position of honor was Duke Weiling, the regional City God. The scene of Gu Ning'an's heaven-cleaving sword strike earlier in the day was still fresh in his mind, impossible to forget.

If Gu Ning'an were merely powerful, Duke Weiling wouldn't have been so concerned. After all, cultivators are generally upright and clear-minded individuals, and their strength is a blessing for the people of Great Qian.

But Gu Ning'an's actions earlier, coupled with those of the True Demon Shi Yi, hinted at a profound connection between the two.

The Dao of Immortals and the Dao of Demons are polar opposites. If Gu Ning'an was in any way entangled with the Demonic Path—especially with a True Demon who had nearly caused a great upheaval—it would be deeply unsettling.

"What are your thoughts on Master Gu?" Duke Weiling asked, looking at the gathered officials.

At his question, the group collectively lowered their heads, their eyes fixed on the ground in a show of reluctance to answer.

Seeing this, Duke Weiling furrowed his brows and directly pointed someone out. "Marquis Lingyou, you've interacted with Master Gu. What kind of person is he?"

Hearing that they weren't being called on, many deities subtly sighed in relief, especially City God Xu, who had almost expected to be the first questioned by Duke Weiling.

Marquis Lingyou stepped forward, cleared his throat, and said, "Reporting to Duke Weiling, based on my interactions with Master Gu, I believe he can be summed up in four words."

Duke Weiling raised an eyebrow. "What four words?"

"Immortal grace, Daoist integrity," Marquis Lingyou replied solemnly.

At this, Duke Weiling nodded slightly. "Describing Master Gu with those words is fitting... But in your opinion, what is his connection to the True Demon?"

Marquis Lingyou hesitated briefly before replying, "Duke Weiling, I neither wish to nor dare to speculate on Master Gu's relationship with the True Demon."

Before Duke Weiling could respond, Marquis Lingyou continued, "The reason I do not wish to speculate is that from beginning to end, Master Gu acted out of his righteous heart. Whether it was helping us eliminate the demonic flames or confronting the True Demon directly, his actions stemmed from his moral convictions, not any obligation."

"As for why I do not dare to speculate—it's simple. Everyone here combined isn't enough to withstand a single strike from Master Gu. Even if someone believes there's an issue with Master Gu, who among us could voice it or correct him?"

Marquis Lingyou's words were true, but they left Duke Weiling feeling somewhat bitter.

Sure, he knew that none of them could withstand Master Gu's sword, but did it really need to be stated so bluntly? Where's the dignity in that?

Suppressing his frustration, Duke Weiling sighed deeply. "I personally don't believe Master Gu has much of an issue, but we'll need to wait for King Mingling's message before making any further decisions."

Hearing this, the group fell silent once more.

After an indeterminate amount of time, a red incense stick in the main hall of the City God Temple spontaneously ignited, releasing a thin trail of blue smoke.

The smoke, unraveling like threads, dispersed from the incense before forming a line of large characters:

"Heed this warning: Do not offend Master Gu. Heed it, heed it!"

In this single message, the word heed appeared three times, underscoring King Mingling's emphasis on the matter.

After receiving King Mingling's message to avoid offending Gu Ning'an, all the deities and underworld officials present felt a collective sense of relief.

Even the True Demon had toyed with them as if they were nothing, let alone Gu Ning'an. If he were to strike, they wouldn't even see him before his sword obliterated their manifestations.

"Since King Mingling has spoken, we naturally have to follow his orders," Duke Weiling said. His gaze fell on City God Xu, and he added with a smile, "Xu Songqiu, as the local City God and the one most familiar with Master Gu, I'm assigning you the task of maintaining a good relationship with him."

City God Xu bowed deeply. "Understood!"

...

The bright moonlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled patterns on the ground.

Under a tree, Gu Ning'an sat cross-legged, the Hongchen Sword lying horizontally at his side. With his eyes closed, he quietly reflected on the day's events.

First, his student, Shi Yi, had mentioned the idea of "being at the mercy of others" twice.

At first glance, this notion seemed absurd—after all, a being of True Demon caliber hardly needed to fear being exploited. Others would count themselves fortunate not to be devoured by him.

However, considering the day's events, this perspective became alarming.

Shi Yi believed that only by becoming demonic could the common people escape being "at the mercy of others." Yet, the solution he thought he had found was actually a manipulation—a scheme orchestrated by the "gray threads," which had turned him into a puppet. Shi Yi had been led into a dead-end, unwittingly doing the bidding of the entity behind the gray threads.

Shi Yi was clearly aware of the significance of the "gray threads." This was evident when he attempted to retrieve the demonic energy from the wonton vendor.

When the demonic energy was removed, part of the vendor's Heaven Soul—one of the three fundamental human souls—was also extracted. This was the essence the gray threads sought.

Later, when Gu Ning'an's sword obliterated the gray threads, the wonton vendor's Heaven Soul naturally returned to his body.

The Three Souls—Heaven, Earth, and Human—are the foundation of being. Any imbalance in these souls can cause myriad issues: reduced lifespan, weakened vitality, loss of spirit, or even physical deformities.

Take Hu Shi, for example. His lack of confidence was entirely due to a defect in his Earth Soul, which had been congenital. Such defects could only be remedied through mystical techniques. The Lesser Yin Resonance Chapter could restore his Earth Soul to completeness.

Returning to Shi Yi, after realizing he had been used, he chose to end his own life to avoid becoming a tool for the entity pulling the strings.

Upon Shi Yi's death, the demonic energy within ordinary people dissipated, much like scattered duckweed, and could no longer nourish the entity behind the gray threads.

Piecing everything together, Gu Ning'an could roughly understand Shi Yi's motivations for approaching Hu Shi and revealing himself.

Additionally, Gu Ning'an's heaven-cleaving strike had hit the entity controlling the gray threads. However, even though it was his most powerful attack, his observation suggested that it had only drawn a single drop of blood.

Finally, through the imagery within the Worldly Qi, Gu Ning'an confirmed that Shi Yi, too, had been cultivating the Path of Dao.

This proved that the Path of Dao was not exclusive to Gu Ning'an and was far from being a false practice.

"During my first returning to silence, I was aided by thirty-six strands of Worldly Qi to return to reality..."

"That means I need to…" Gu Ning'an's voice trailed off. Suddenly, he recalled the sensation during his returning to silence. His body had become ethereal, overlooking the heavens and earth—an experience that bore an uncanny resemblance to the essence of the entity behind the gray threads.