Yet as the core of all these changes,
Leng Hanyuan paid no attention to the reactions outside.
He was as steady as a mountain.
In this world, there was no God Realm, and very few beings could threaten him.
The Abyssal Sage King of the Abyss Plane counted as one. Under Tang San's arrangements, he had become the lord of the Douluo Plane. Tang Hao, who had yet to awaken, counted as another...
As for the rest, they posed little threat.
Even Yun Ming, the Sky-Propping Douluo and foremost person on the continent, or the Demon Empress of the Holy Spirit Cult, were no exception.
No matter how strong the two were, neither had truly reached the godly realm yet.
And on the path toward the godly realm, Leng Hanyuan had not traveled any less far than anyone else.
Absolute strength gave Leng Hanyuan absolute confidence.
Leaning lazily against the sofa, Leng Hanyuan narrowed his eyes.
"Eastsea Academy? What are you going there for?"
On the sofa beside him, Gu Yue sat expressionlessly with her legs together and her hands resting atop her thighs. Her posture was elegant, as though she were a young lady carefully raised by a great family.
Leng Yaozhu had arranged an identity for Gu Yue.
She had entered the Spirit Pagoda as Leng Hanyuan's disciple.
After that high-level meeting,
the Spirit Pagoda's core council unanimously approved the creation of a new position specifically for Leng Hanyuan:
Grand Elder of the Spirit Pagoda.
Its status was equal to that of the Pagoda Master.
This was, in truth, a helpless concession by the Qiangu Family.
After all, Qiangu Dongfeng, that ambitious man, was unwilling to surrender his position as Pagoda Master.
Yet Leng Hanyuan's strength was right there for all to see. They could not make him a Spirit Transmission Envoy and place him beneath Qiangu Dongfeng.
Even Leng Yaozhu's position as Vice Pagoda Master was not nearly enough.
Left with no choice, Qiangu Dongfeng proposed this arrangement.
Under the intimidation of the strength Leng Hanyuan had displayed that day, along with the joint decision of the Qiangu Family and Phoenix Family, no one could possibly object.
The entire upper echelon of the Spirit Pagoda unanimously approved the decision.
Leng Hanyuan became the Spirit Pagoda's sole Grand Elder, his status surpassing all others.
And Gu Yue, who had joined the Spirit Pagoda under the name of Leng Hanyuan's disciple, naturally became a star-like figure within its ranks.
To fulfill the terms of their original deal, Gu Yue's residence was arranged within Leng Hanyuan's own small courtyard.
This allowed him to exchange knowledge with Gu Yue regarding the godly realm.
Although the Dragon God Heart had not yet fallen into his hands,
Gu Yue had once been a half-step God King and was also part of the supreme Dragon God. Her experiences in the godly realm could still help Leng Hanyuan greatly.
They would allow him to advance another step along this path.
Naturally, Leng Hanyuan knew why Gu Yue was going to Eastsea Academy.
But to avoid unnecessary trouble, he pretended not to know.
Gu Yue answered softly.
Perhaps because Leng Hanyuan already knew her true identity, she had no intention of concealing it.
"To fulfill an agreement."
"What agreement?"
Gu Yue fell silent for a moment before continuing.
"After I made a plan to integrate into the human world,"
"in order to thoroughly understand it, I sealed myself and entered human society."
"During that process, a human personality was born."
"At the time, I made a wrong decision and separated her from myself."
"To bring her back and make myself whole again, I needed her to willingly accept fusion with me. So I made a wager."
Leng Hanyuan knew that the personality Gu Yue spoke of was Na'er, now the disciple of the Sky-Propping Douluo.
"A wager?"
"Whether human emotions are real?"
Leng Hanyuan chuckled, and Gu Yue could not help but freeze.
Her beautiful eyes looked at him in surprise.
He could guess even that?
"You know quite a lot."
Gu Yue watched Leng Hanyuan.
As the Silver Dragon King, she had once regarded all humans beneath her notice.
Yet at that moment, she suddenly realized that she seemed entirely unable to see through the Leng Hanyuan before her.
There was no reason anyone else should know about the wager between her and Na'er.
Even Di Tian and the others should not have known!
"Hmph. I know a little."
Leng Hanyuan paid no heed to Gu Yue's gaze and smiled calmly.
The more wary and attentive Gu Yue was toward him, the more advantageous it would be for him.
That was precisely the feeling Leng Hanyuan wanted to create for Gu Yue:
She could not control him.
Gu Yue could not possibly know that Leng Hanyuan knew far more than merely the wager between her and Na'er.
He even knew how things would develop afterward.
Gu Yue wanted to use the wager to prove that human emotions were all false.
That way, she could fuse with Na'er without any flaw in her heart, kill Tang Wulin in the process, seize the Golden Dragon King's bloodline within him, and attain her complete form.
Yet it backfired, and she instead trapped herself.
She ended up caught in a deadlock, unable to advance or retreat.
Leng Hanyuan had no intention of directly persuading Gu Yue to kill Tang Wulin and seize the Golden Dragon King's bloodline within him.
Because Tang San had left contingencies behind on the continent.
Whether it was the three chances to act hidden in Tang Wulin's sea of spirit or Tang Hao, the lord of the plane who was secretly slumbering, neither was trouble that could be ignored.
Moreover, if Gu Yue completely absorbed the Golden Dragon King's bloodline and stepped toward the level of the Dragon God, that would also pose a hidden danger to Leng Hanyuan.
Though they seemed to have reached a partnership before,
partnerships were as worthless as scrap paper when the two sides' strength was completely unequal.
But Leng Hanyuan also had no intention of letting things proceed according to the original story.
It would not benefit him if Gu Yue leaned toward Tang Wulin either.
After all, Leng Hanyuan would sooner or later come into conflict with Tang San.
With that God King Tang's petty temperament, he could never tolerate factors beyond his control appearing.
And Leng Hanyuan's decision to abandon his chance at godhood and seal himself away for ten thousand years had already proven that he would never be willing to be controlled by the God King Tang.
The conflict between them could not be resolved peacefully.
And Tang Wulin was Tang San's son.
If Gu Yue sided with him according to the original plot, it would bring Leng Hanyuan nothing but harm.
Giving his enemy additional strength was not Leng Hanyuan's style.
So what he needed to do was simple.
He would neither let Gu Yue make up her mind too early to kill Tang Wulin and seize the Golden Dragon King's bloodline within him,
nor let Gu Yue trap herself as she had along the original trajectory.
The balance between those two outcomes was exceedingly delicate.
He had to handle it carefully.
So...
"Perfect. I've slept in that Ice Coffin for so many years and haven't properly looked around this world ten thousand years later."
"Come on. I'll accompany you to Eastsea Academy and take a look."
Leng Hanyuan stretched, as though he had made the decision on a sudden whim.
"After all, we're partners."
"Your power is still recovering. If something happens, it won't be easy for me to explain it to Di Tian."
Gu Yue said nothing.
Her instincts told her that Leng Hanyuan's purpose was not as simple as he made it sound.
Her beautiful eyes remained fixed on Leng Hanyuan, yet she could never discern his true intentions.
In the end, she gave a slight nod.
"Alright."
Before you continue