Entering the Ancient Realm, Bestowed the Name "Gu Chen"!

[Faced with this peerless genius, second only to Ling Ying, the Gu Clan's foremost Dou Emperor, you showed ample respect and kept your distance from the Four-Winged Unicorn he rode.]

[Then Xun'er stepped forward and explained your identity.]

["He thinks he deserves to serve as a Gu Clan Guest Elder?" Ling Quan snorted coldly, his voice dripping with disdain. His eyes held three parts coldness, two parts jealousy, and five parts contempt.]

[You silently understood: He's a bootlicker. No need to bother with him.]

[Afterward, you and Xun'er rode the same Four-Winged Unicorn and began flying toward the Gu Clan.]

[Ling Quan stared at you jealously. Your face remained expressionless, but inwardly you reveled in it: Keep staring. Even if you stare your eyes out, it won't be your turn!]

[However, something puzzled you. According to the original timeline, there was still a full month before Xiao Yan reached Jia Nan Academy. Why had Xun'er left early without saying goodbye?]

[Puzzled, you sounded her out indirectly and discovered that the Xun'er of this life had little affection for Xiao Yan. Instead, she slightly knitted her delicate brows and called him a lecher who stole fragrance and pilfered jade, saying he was not worth befriending and warning you not to associate with him.]

[You immediately felt something was wrong. Could my arrival have caused a butterfly effect and changed the original timeline?]

[But what had I done to interrupt Xiao Yan and Xun'er's first meeting?]

[In the sixth month, you arrived at the Gu Clan. As a third-rank guest elder invited by Xun'er, you naturally qualified to enter the clan's heartland—the Ancient Realm.]

[As the Gu Clan's inherited miniature world, the Ancient Realm had been reinforced by generations of the clan's Dou Shengs. It had become one of the finest heavenly grottoes and blessed lands in the world, with energy so dense it defied belief!]

[Even the air in the Ancient Realm tastes sweeter than outside! you could not help marveling.]

[In the third year, thanks to the Ancient Realm's rich environment and your frenzied pill-popping cultivation, you reached Peak Dou Ling. You then exchanged your alchemy contributions for that year for the recipe for a Peak Fifth-Grade Pill called the King-Breaking Pill.]

[The King-Breaking Pill was a secret Fifth-grade Pill of the Gu Clan that could help Dou Ling experts break through to Dou Wang, with a success rate of fully fifty percent! Even failure caused no harm and would actually strengthen their foundation. In preciousness, it already rivaled the Sixth Grade Emperor's Extreme Pill!]

[Before long, you gathered all the ingredients for the King-Breaking Pill, fired up your furnace, and successfully refined this Peak Fifth-Grade Pill. You immediately swallowed it and entered seclusion to break through.]

[In the second month, you successfully broke through to Dou Wang, and your alchemy advanced another step, reaching the level of a Sixth-Grade Alchemist. At last, you met the standards of a Third-Rank Guest Elder of the Gu Clan and were no longer subjected to the Ancient Realm's mockery.]

[The esteemed young clan leader of the Gu Clan, possessor of a divine-grade bloodline and sole descendant of the nine-star Dou Sheng Gu Yuan—Young Lady Xun'er—summoned you at just the right moment.]

["This is the Green Lotus Core Flame, ranked nineteenth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking. Refine it." Looking composed, Xun'er took out a Green Lotus Platform and held it out before you.]

["This is..." Astonishment crossed your face, and you muttered inwardly: Wasn't this supposed to be Xiao Yan's opportunity? Does the Gu Clan have a second Green Lotus Core Flame?]

[You looked puzzled, and when you had questions, you asked them. First, you praised Young Lady Xun'er for her deft hands, kind heart, beauty, generosity, and unparalleled talent, then voiced your question.]

[Xun'er explained that while she was at Jia Nan Academy, she had instructed her personal guard, Ling Ying, to follow Xiao Yan to the Tagor Desert.]

[When she was young, that man had once tried to force his way into her boudoir and take liberties with her. She had therefore sought an opportunity for revenge, only to obtain this heavenly flame by accident.]

[Wasn't he really following him for the Tou She Ancient God Jade...? you muttered inwardly, not daring to voice your suspicion.]

[In the third month, you refined the Green Lotus Core Flame and became "nobility" among alchemists—a distinguished alchemist with a heavenly flame!]

[Many members of the Gu Clan grew jealous. That was a heavenly flame! Throughout the entire clan, apart from the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame controlled by Young Lady Xun'er, who possessed another heavenly flame?]

["Only you. You're Young Lady Xun'er's most beloved 'servant.' No one can compare to you~"]

[Many Gu Clan members mocked you like this. You felt indignant, convinced they had utterly misunderstood your relationship with Young Lady Xun'er. Yours was a pure master-servant relationship. You harbored absolutely no improper thoughts toward Young Lady Xun'er—not a single one!]

[Fortunately, although the Gu Clan members envied you, none resorted to violence. Still, when a clan grew large enough, a few oddball groundhogs were bound to turn up.]

[Still stuck in the Dou Huang Realm, Ling Quan's eyes turned bloodshot as he panted like an ox. He felt he could not endure another moment of a pretty boy like you staying beside Young Lady Xun'er.]

[In the fourth month, Ling Quan challenged you to a duel. You refused his challenge, finding him utterly unreasonable. A Dou Emperor attacking a Dou Wang—he truly had no shame!]

[In the fifth month, Ling Quan challenged you again, declaring that he would suppress his cultivation to match yours. You refused his challenge, feeling that he had no understanding of proper conduct. Who came empty-handed to ask for a duel?]

[In the sixth month, Ling Quan came to your door with a seventh-grade pill and challenged you to a duel. You accepted the pill and refused his challenge. Who said accepting a gift meant you had to do anything? Did he understand the rules at all?]

[In the seventh month, Ling Quan nearly went mad and declared that he would definitely kill a pretty boy like you!]

[In the eighth month, you stayed behind closed doors. You were not afraid of Ling Quan; you merely felt that failing to endure small grievances would ruin grand plans, and a gentleman could wait ten years for revenge. Although Ling Quan had offended you, there was no need to put him to death...]

[In the fourth year, after obtaining a heavenly flame, you popped pills like mad—more than before, and of higher grades. You soon reached the Dou Emperor realm with an utterly unstable foundation!]

[Afterward, you used your heavenly flame to purify your Dou Qi and stabilize your cultivation, swallowing the seventh-grade Divine Flame Foundation-Stabilizing Pill gifted by your little brother Ling Quan to condense your Dou Qi anew.]

[You could not help sighing inwardly: The one who truly understands me is Ling Quan!]

[In the fifth year, just as Ling Quan was preparing to undergo the Gu Clan's bloodline baptism and attempt a breakthrough to Dou Zong, you visited his cave abode and declared that you wanted to duel him.]

[Overjoyed, Ling Quan took out a seventh-grade pill and handed it to you, telling you not to run away.]

[You immediately felt remorseful, then defeated your little brother Ling Quan, a Nine-Star Dou Emperor, while only a One-Star Dou Emperor yourself, and strode away...]

[Before leaving, you even patted his shoulder and comforted him: "Little brother Ling Quan, don't lose heart. You deserve a share of the credit for my success!"]

["Impossible. How is this possible? You're nothing but a pretty boy living off a woman..." Ling Quan's eyes went blank. Feeling as though he had been violated, he crumpled limply to the ground like a helpless young wife.]

[In the seventh year, you broke through to Dou Zong, became a High-Grade Seventh-Rank Alchemist, and improved the Life Devouring Pill recipe, developing the Lesser Life Devouring Pill. This Sixth Grade Pill could instantly raise its consumer to Peak Dou Ling, though their remaining lifespan was still only three years.]

[Although only three years remained, how could advancing from Peak Dou Ling to Dou Wang require three years? This pill, capable of mass-producing Dou Wangs, was taken into the Gu Clan's possession. For this achievement, you were promoted to Second-Rank Guest Elder and bestowed the name "Gu Chen," with status equal to that of a Gu Clan Dou Zun expert.]

[No one in the clan dared look down on you anymore. Since you frequently handled matters for Xun'er, many also respectfully addressed you as "Master Gu Chen" to curry favor.]

[In the eighth year, rumors spread through the Gu Clan that Commander Gu Yao, one of the clan's Four Great Commanders, seemed set to marry Young Lady Xun'er. The Elder Council had arranged for the two to tie the knot.]

[In the second month, you indirectly questioned Xun'er. Her expression was cold as she said she had not agreed to the marriage and told you not to believe what outsiders said.]

[In the third month, Gu Yao brought you gifts and asked about Xun'er's preferences. Following your young lady's wishes, you "invited" him out of your cave abode.]

[In the fourth month, Gu Yao brought gifts again. You coveted them, but still refused to accept them.]

[In the fifth month, Gu Yao gave you an Eighth-Tier Three-Colored Pill. You glanced around and made every excuse to decline, only for the pill to accidentally enter your mouth, raising your cultivation to five-star Dou Zong. You could not help marveling: How did this pill grow legs of its own and fly into my mouth?]

[In the sixth month, you revealed a few of Xun'er's little interests to Gu Yao. Unfortunately, he repeatedly failed and suspected you were holding something back.]

[In the ninth year, Gu Yao demanded that you arrange for Xun'er to come out. He had devised a plan to play the hero rescuing a beauty, declaring that it would surely capture her heart. You refused to cooperate and informed Young Lady Xun'er of the matter.]

[In the second month, Gu Yao learned that the news had leaked. His face darkened. "That treacherous dog Lin Chen bites the hand that feeds him. He's courting death!"]

[In the tenth year, to protect you from being implicated because of her, Xun'er arranged a marriage for you. Your bride was a woman from the Gu Clan's direct lineage, a Dou Zong expert backed by a Half-Saint. She was just a little old.]

[You secretly grieved, then swiftly tied the knot with this woman from the Gu Clan's direct lineage, becoming that Half-Saint expert's son-in-law.]

[In the eleventh year, the Gu Clan's Law Enforcement Hall issued a mission specifically requiring you to go out and gather medicinal herbs. Unable to refuse, and with Xun'er coincidentally in seclusion, you had no choice but to leave the Ancient Realm. You encountered an unidentified attacker and were killed by a single strike of the Great Annihilation Finger.]

[Afterward, the Gu Clan's Black Annihilation Army arrived and determined that you had died by suicide.]

[This simulation has ended—]

[You may choose one of the following three items.]

[1. Ninefold Phoenix Flame Art (Earth-tier Middle-grade)]

[2. Lesser Life Devouring Pill (peak Sixth Grade)]

[3. Green Lotus Core Flame]