Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao Got Screwed! Today, This Very Day!

July 18th. Overcast. Travel was forbidden.

Gu Qingfeng had not gone anywhere. He was still trapped within this dim, enormous mountain cavern.

Thud! Thud thud!

"Junior Brother Zhao?"

This was the third day after the assessment. For the first time ever, it was Gu Qingfeng knocking on Junior Brother Zhao's door next door.

By now, quite a few fellow disciples had already hurried out for morning lessons. Usually, it was his junior brother who called for him, but today was an exception.

What unsettled Gu Qingfeng was that after knocking for a while, he received no response from inside.

At that moment, the door beside him opened, and a woman stepped out.

Gu Qingfeng vaguely remembered that this senior sister's surname was Wang.

Senior Sister Wang hurriedly adjusted her clothes as she said, "Junior Brother Zhao isn't home. Master summoned him away yesterday afternoon, and he hasn't returned since."

"Summoned away? For something?" Gu Qingfeng asked.

"Junior Brother Zhao is so young, yet his cultivation is already impressive. I think he went into seclusion with Master to enjoy some blessings. Perhaps he'll even become an inner disciple."

Hearing that answer—especially the words "enjoy some blessings"—Gu Qingfeng's heart went cold.

Those so-called "blessings" most likely meant being eaten.

Why would Golden Core Celestial Venerable take some of his disciples into seclusion at a time like this?

The only thing Gu Qingfeng could think of was an "appetizer."

When eating a grand feast, appetizers were indispensable. Had his junior brother been chosen as an appetizer?

After arriving at Buddha Is Dao Square, Gu Qingfeng's gaze swiftly swept across the disciples present.

Today, there was no sign whatsoever of Golden Core Celestial Venerable around the square. The one presiding over morning lessons was Eldest Senior Sister Zhang Yao.

He counted. Aside from his junior brother, several other disciples were missing as well—more than ten in total.

All of it confirmed his guess. Those people had been taken away by their master, Golden Core Celestial Venerable, as appetizers.

A wave of sorrow rose within him, followed by an irrepressible anger that made him feel as though he shared their fate.

He had not transmigrated here long ago, and much of his memory was missing. He did not share any particularly deep bond with Junior Brother Zhao.

Yet these past few days, they had cultivated together, eaten together, and chatted about this and that. It was Junior Brother Zhao who had led him step by step as he became familiar with this strange world.

How should he describe that feeling?

It was like transferring to an unfamiliar school, where a friendly deskmate showed you kindness and helped you grow accustomed to everything.

The process was ordinary, and the time had been short. It was merely the sort of deskmate relationship where a friendly atmosphere had just begun to form. Yet one morning, you found the seat beside you empty, and learned that this kind deskmate had suddenly been murdered. There would surely be sadness.

That sadness would not be overwhelmingly intense, but it would linger. After all, this was the first person in this unfamiliar place who had shown you kindness.

As for the anger—the anger born from shared fate—it was because he knew that the murderer who had killed his "deskmate" would likely kill him soon as well.

Gu Qingfeng could not even grieve for too long, because he knew that if he did not find a way to escape, he would be the next one to suffer.

Damn it, that demonic heretic Golden Core Celestial Venerable truly deserved to die!

At that moment, Eldest Senior Sister Zhang Yao strode over with an unhappy expression and barked, "Where is your Core Branch?"

"Take it out!"

"You came so late, yet you're still dawdling."

Gu Qingfeng frowned slightly and silently recited the incantation. His Core Branch, together with the Golden Core atop it, emerged from his body.

As he had steadily grown more proficient with Geng-Metal Power these past few days, his control over the Core Branch had become exceedingly skilled.

The process of the Core Branch and Golden Core emerging looked little different from before the reversal.

Zhang Yao saw it and cast a disdainful glance at the Core Branch emerging above his navel. She did not continue picking at him and turned to leave.

Gu Qingfeng did not see that after turning around, a trace more greedy desire appeared in her eyes.

He had no time to notice such details, because he was considering whether this was his chance to escape.

Perhaps even his best chance to escape.

Because that demonic master, Golden Core Celestial Venerable, was in seclusion!

From what he remembered, the other man's seclusion lasted as little as six or seven days, and as long as ten days or half a month. He would not emerge during that time.

In other words, so long as they did not create an enormous disturbance that forced him out early, this place would become a mountain without a tiger, where monkeys ruled as kings.

Now that he possessed Geng-Metal Power gained through Reversal of Cost, those who had once suppressed him with one hand—monkeys like Eldest Senior Sister—might not necessarily be stronger than him.

My Core Branch may not be any less sharp either!

The key was that the enemy stood in the light while he hid in the dark. If he suddenly struck with some underhanded trick, he certainly would not be the one to suffer the greater loss.

He decided to flee, as soon as possible!

All he lacked now was an escape route.

He decided to find the peach-eyed junior sister first.

With her intelligence, she would not fail to see that this was the best chance to survive.

With Junior Brother Zhao absent today, Gu Qingfeng practiced alone.

After a bout of wild slashing, his Core Branch and Golden Core still looked utterly ordinary. Yet the Geng-Metal Power within them was already stirring restlessly, as if it wanted to shred everything around it to pieces.

When morning lessons ended, Gu Qingfeng was just about to secretly seek out the peach-eyed junior sister when he was stopped.

"Gu Qingfeng, Zhao San, Wang Wu, Shen Yun, Qi Lingguang—the five of you stay behind and come with me."

Eldest Senior Sister announced.

Very quickly, the remaining disciples scattered as though fleeing a plague god, leaving only the five of them behind.

Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao got screwed.

The peach-eyed junior sister was among the five as well.

If he had not guessed wrong, Qi Lingguang should be her name.

The three men and two women were led by Eldest Senior Sister Zhang Yao toward Garan Hall. Accompanying them were Third Senior Brother, an inner disciple, and that well-connected Wang Qian.

In the eyes of the other disciples, Gu Qingfeng's group of five were like lambs being led away.

And that was indeed the truth.

It was plain from the tense, terrified expressions on Qi Lingguang and the others' faces.

Inside Garan Hall, Garan Bodhisattva watched with flushed cheeks as the five of them were brought into a secret chamber.

It was called a secret chamber because, despite having entered the sect so long ago and holding morning lessons before Garan Hall every day, they had never known that there was such a room inside the hall.

After entering the room, the well-connected Wang Qian quickly bolted the door, while the gaunt Third Senior Brother of the inner sect stood guard at the side like a door god.

At that moment, the male disciple named Wang Wu asked nervously, "Eldest Senior Sister, what orders do you have for us junior brothers and sisters?"

Eldest Senior Sister Zhang Yao sneered. "Do you think that just because Master is in seclusion, you can neglect your cultivation?"

"With Master absent, I shall assess all of you in his stead!"

As soon as those words rang out, Qi Lingguang and the others went pale as death.

Because they knew that Eldest Senior Sister intended to keep the feast for herself.

Rumors that Eldest Senior Sister Zhang Yao was the biological daughter of their master, Golden Core Celestial Venerable, had circulated for a long time. One of the strongest pieces of evidence was that she occasionally ate her fellow disciples' Golden Cores.

Naturally, her eating was not like Golden Core Celestial Venerable's, uprooting everything and swallowing it in one gulp. She only ate a small portion, but eating less was still eating. Golden Core Celestial Venerable turned a blind eye even to such outrageous overstepping. If she was not his biological daughter, then what was she?

The others were terrified and could not help backing away, while Zhang Yao had already begun chanting a scripture.

"Gather light, still the ears, regulate the breath through the nose; seal the tongue, close the mouth, guard the central yellow.

"This is no ordinary Kun Dao; within the divine aperture hides Kan.

"The eyes do not see, yet the liver; the ears do not hear, yet essence and kidneys.

"..."

The instant the scripture emerged, Qi Lingguang and the others' bodies swiftly stiffened.

Golden Core Celestial Venerable had even passed this incantation for suppressing them down to her!

Everyone went pale as death and began pleading for mercy.

Gu Qingfeng blended among them, begging for mercy with his mouth, but killing intent surfaced in his eyes.

Just moments ago, he had been considering how to escape and how to deal with the monkey that might block his path. Who would have thought...

Today, this very day!