Breaking the Malevolent Spirit's Golden Eyes

The weather was warm and sunny, but in front of the City Lord's mansion, an eerie silence hung in the air. Even the birds seemed unable to bear the oppressive atmosphere, flying away in flocks.

When Gu Yao spoke those four words, some people were confused, some were terrified, and others couldn't believe it. You Su, in particular, became the center of everyone's attention.

"Immortal Master Gu, what do you mean?" You Su asked calmly.

Gu Yao didn't answer. He stared intently at the young man, his gaze filled with an aggressive intensity.

Seeing this, City Lord Liu quickly smoothed his sleeves and walked between the two, saying:

"Senior Brother Gu, you must be mistaken... This child has a gentle and law-abiding personality. He grew up in Chuyun City and has barely left the city gates a few times. How could he be involved with Evil Demons? Perhaps Senior Brother Gu... could confirm it again?"

Upon hearing this, the golden light in Gu Yao's pupils faded. He glanced sideways at the troubled City Lord Liu, his eyes sharp and disdainful:

"You don't believe me, or you don't believe the Golden Eyes?"

City Lord Liu gritted his teeth, took a step forward, cupped his hands, and bowed his head:

"Please, Senior Brother Gu, try one more time."

Gu Yao let out a cold snort. He assumed this junior fellow disciple had been away from the sect for too long and had forgotten how those Evil Cultivators in the Divine Mountains and heavenly prisons would writhe and beg for death after being stared at by his Golden Eyes.

At the same time, he felt a sense of pity for his junior fellow disciple, who, despite his advanced age, refused to admit defeat. He knew very well that if a person corrupted by Malevolent Spirits appeared within his jurisdiction, the City Lord would bear the greatest responsibility. If the young man were truly a Malevolent Spirit, his junior disciple's dream of breaking through using the Xuanxiao Sect's stipend would be a pipe dream.

He flicked his sleeve, as if to make City Lord Liu give up hope, and said indifferently:

"I had you all come forward one by one earlier to complete the third task I came here for, which is to see which of you has gone mad and become a servant of the Evil God!"

"My Golden Eyes can provoke the hidden anger, obsession, and malice in the hearts of those who meet my gaze. Even the most upright knight would become restless and uncomfortable when meeting my Golden Eyes. This is because as long as one has not reached the True Immortal realm! they will have anger and desire in their hearts! This is human nature. Unless a cultivator has deeply ingrained malice or lacks self-control, they can at least maintain their original heart and not lose composure. If they are tainted by Malevolent Spirits, their evil thoughts will be infinitely magnified, and after meeting my Golden Eyes, this malice will be like fire wrapped in paper, revealing their true form under the bright sky."

The cultivators finally understood. No wonder they had felt evil thoughts arise after meeting Gu Yao's gaze earlier, and they dared not look at him directly. At this moment, they all felt fortunate that City Lord Liu managed the city well, allowing Chuyun City to remain peaceful and free of Malevolent Spirits until now, thus preventing them from making fools of themselves.

"Although the Golden Eyes are powerful, there are still two types of people who can stand before me without being affected."

Everyone came back to their senses, their attention completely captured by Gu Yao's words.

"The first type is someone whose heart is as clear as a mirror from birth, pure and untainted. Such people are seeds scattered by the Heavenly Dao, projections of gods on earth. They will not produce any evil; even the deepest darkness in the world cannot taint them in the slightest. In the nearly ten thousand years of history, such people have been few and far between, but in this era, our Xuanxiao Sect! has such a Goddess!"

Gu Yao's tone was filled with pride. The cultivators present were all dumbfounded, unable to believe they were living in the same era as such a legendary figure. They began to whisper amongst themselves, speculating about this Goddess.

"Junior Brother Liu, are you trying to tell me that there is a hidden gem in the Central Yuan Continent, concealed within your Chuyun City?"

"This..." City Lord Liu was speechless. He stood frozen, glanced at You Su, and secretly shook his head.

"If not a hidden gem..." Gu Yao said with a cold laugh as he slowly walked forward, stopping in front of You Su.

He lowered his head slightly, his face only a fist's distance from You Su's. He looked directly into You Su's eyes, his tone cold and dangerous: "Then it can only mean that the person hidden within this body is a Malevolent Spirit that even I cannot see through!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's hearts sank. Some looked at the young man with the slender back in disbelief.

Only City Lord Liu lowered his head, obscuring his slightly upturned lips.

In this moment of tense silence, where even a falling needle could be heard, You Su suddenly let out a soft chuckle. His laughter was clear and breezy, but to the others, it sounded chilling and grating. They assumed he was trying to maintain his composure after being exposed, his true nature hidden too deeply.

Gu Yao also smiled, a cold and confident smile.

"What is Immortal Master Gu smiling about?" You Su asked with a smile.

"Naturally, I'm smiling because even though you've hidden yourself on an unknown person in an unknown place, you cannot escape your destined eradication."

"I am not smiling about that," You Su said calmly, his smile fading. "I am smiling because someone like Immortal Master Gu can be deceived by me unintentionally."

Gu Yao's eyebrows shot up. He straightened his body and looked down at the young man, as if waiting for him to continue.

"I think there is a third type of person who can meet Immortal Master Gu's gaze without any reaction."

"Who?"

"A blind person," You Su said, unable to contain his laughter any longer. "From what the Immortal Master said earlier, meeting your gaze is the key for these Golden Eyes to take effect. And I, being congenitally blind, have never seen light since birth. Even the sun cannot penetrate my eyes, so your golden pupils probably won't work either."

"Blind?"

Gu Yao looked astonished and carefully examined the young man's clear eyes. You Su sensed his gaze and made no further move, allowing Gu Yao to observe him.

After a long while, Gu Yao finally confirmed that You Su's gaze was indeed vacant and unfocused, like two deep lakes that never converged.

Gu Yao was not unaware that his Golden Eyes were useless against the blind. However, even in the Xuanxiao Sect, the largest sect in the Central Yuan Continent, there were no blind cultivators. Due to his ingrained assumptions, when he saw a young prodigy in the Spirit Platform Realm acting no differently from others, he naturally wouldn't have thought the person was blind.

After all, unlike missing limbs, the eyes are the gateway to the soul. Inability to see poses a much greater obstacle to cultivation than other physical defects.

For this young man to have reached this realm at his age, he must have endured countless hardships.

Gu Yao could only sigh in admiration, feeling no embarrassment at being tricked in front of everyone. He was that kind of person; he rejoiced when he saw someone diligently pursuing the Dao, and he became indignant when he saw someone lazy and wasting their talent.

Gu Yao's indifferent attitude towards City Lord Liu was not due to arrogance, but because in his youth, Gu Yao had discovered that City Lord Liu always appeared diligent but secretly indulged in drinking, gambling, and womanizing, wasting his time. His fellow disciples, deceived by his facade, had befriended him and given him many spirit pills and treasures. When Gu Yao tried to expose him, he was ostracized instead. It wasn't until his allotted time was up and Liu couldn't break through, forcing him to leave the sect, that he begged his Master for a position as a minor city lord to continue receiving the Xuanxiao Sect's stipend. Gu Yao detested people like him the most, feeling they defiled the pursuit of the Dao shared by all cultivators.

However, Gu Yao was not a naive fool. He had already figured out that someone had deliberately set him up to embarrass him today.

He glanced at the candid young man, then at the head-bowed City Lord Liu, and understood everything in his heart.

The fact that the young man was blind was the most crucial detail. City Lord Liu, while seemingly speaking up to introduce him, had deliberately omitted this key piece of information. His intention was clearly to see Gu Yao make a fool of himself in front of everyone.

Gu Yao shook his head, lamenting that he had thought his junior fellow disciple would have solidified his pursuit of the Dao after sixty years of worldly experience, only to find he was still the same vindictive and insidious wretch.