Lord of Emptiness

Could it be that my presence caused a deviation in the Investiture of the Gods process, leading to a different outcome?

Are there two versions of Investiture of the Gods?

While Gu Changqing was pondering this, Kong Xuan returned.

"Master, there were monsters near the village a while ago. After the demon god appeared, it drove them away, and that's why the villagers started believing in the demon god."

"Hmm."

Gu Changqing nodded and added, "The villagers are ignorant. You didn't give them a hard time, did you?"

"No," Kong Xuan replied. "No matter what, they are still citizens of Great Shang. They were simply deceived. Who knows, perhaps the monsters were even orchestrated by someone else, with the purpose of giving the demon god an opportunity to collect faith."

"Hmm."

Gu Changqing nodded again and said, "Let's wait here for a while. There might still be monsters lurking around."

A few days later, indeed, more monsters harassed the village.

These monsters were all fierce, yet surprisingly benevolent; they only destroyed property and never harmed lives.

They were a group of monsters least like monsters.

Gu Changqing and Kong Xuan exchanged a look. There's definitely something going on!

What the demon god needed was faith, and if people died, their faith would naturally disappear.

Not long after, another new demon god descended, identical in appearance to the previous one, and the script was also the same.

The demon god came to the villagers' aid when they needed it most.

However, this time, the demon god didn't need to act.

Kong Xuan directly cleared out the monsters in place of the demon god.

"Gu Changqing?"

The demon god glared at Gu Changqing and Kong Xuan with anger.

Gu Changqing frowned slightly. One person knowing him was a coincidence, but two knowing him was even more coincidental.

Gu Changqing had a great reputation in the Primordial World, but not many people actually knew him.

After Gu Changqing flicked his finger and eliminated the demon god, he continued to wait for the next wave.

Kong Xuan asked curiously, "Master, why not capture them for questioning?"

Gu Changqing replied, "Monsters have low intelligence, so questioning them would be useless. The demon god's True Spirit isn't present, so how can we question it?"

"True."

Kong Xuan nodded helplessly.

Gu Changqing then said, "As long as we kill enough, the mastermind will eventually show themselves."

"Alright," Kong Xuan replied. "I'll go investigate the other villages."

"No need," Gu Changqing responded. "A large-scale cleanup will only make the other party wary; it would be 'beating the grass to startle the snake.'"

"Only if the problem appears in this one place will it pique the other party's curiosity and 'lure the snake out of its hole.'"

"Beating the grass to startle the snake" and "luring the snake out of its hole" have a qualitative difference. Kong Xuan had led troops for many years, so with a slight hint from Gu Changqing, he understood the underlying reason.

The two didn't get entangled with the villagers but continued to lie in ambush outside the village.

For over ten days straight, Gu Changqing and his companions encountered three waves of "performers."

After dealing with the fourth wave of "performers," Gu Changqing smiled, "The main player should be arriving soon."

"Oh?" Kong Xuan asked curiously, "How does Master deduce that?"

"The number of monsters and the strength of the demon gods were roughly the same each time. How can Master be certain that the mastermind is about to act?"

"Time," Gu Changqing replied. "There was a ten-day interval between the first and second times, a five-day interval for the third, and only a one-day interval for the last one."

"Clearly, the middle two times were probes by the other party, and by the last time, they had already confirmed something."

"Not everyone can sever karma from a distance; at least, not those below the Saints."

"The Saints are far from the Primordial World. Currently, in the Primordial World, only I can sever karma from a distance."

That night.

The moon was dark, and the wind was high.

Kong Xuan suddenly felt a pressure.

So strong!

At least a Mixed Origin Great Luo Golden Immortal.

Currently, the only ones in the Primordial World who could exert such pressure on Kong Xuan were the Saints.

And since the Saints had left the Primordial World, it could only be a Mixed Origin Great Luo Golden Immortal.

"Innate Five Elements Body."

"A very good physique."

"It's a shame you chose the wrong master."

"Little peacock, submit to me, and I will find you a renowned master."

The voice came from all directions, and Kong Xuan immediately summoned the Four Swords of Zhuxian.

"The Four Swords of Zhuxian? Interesting."

"Even Luo Hou knelt before me back in the day. Little peacock, you might as well put them away. I'm not interested in you."

Kong Xuan looked at Gu Changqing and struggled to utter, "Master!"

Gu Changqing chuckled, "Don't be nervous. Aside from being good-looking, you're not very useful, so he's not interested in you."

Kong Xuan: At a time like this, you're still subtly insulting me?

Gu Changqing laughed towards the void, "Since you're already here, it's no fun to keep hiding."

"Hahaha..."

After a burst of laughter, a black shadow appeared in the void.

Upon seeing the shadow, Gu Changqing smiled, "The one you mentioned earlier, was it the Five Elements Ancestor? In the final battle between Dao and Demon, Hongjun, Qiankun, the Five Elements Ancestor, and the Yin Yang Ancestor—four great powers—fought Luo Hou together."

"Afterward, the Qiankun Cauldron and the Taiji Diagram both fell into Hongjun's hands."

"You're not friends with Luo Hou, nor are you very friendly towards the Mysterious Sect. And now you're just a consciousness. Are you Qiankun or the Yin Yang Ancestor?"

The black shadow chuckled at this, "Kid, you know quite a lot, but unfortunately, you guessed wrong."

Gu Changqing frowned slightly. There weren't many figures worth mentioning from the early days of Heaven-Opening.

The black shadow continued, "Considering you dislike Hongjun, I can tell you my name."

"Before Heaven-Opening, the other demon gods all called me the Lord of Emptiness."

Before Heaven-Opening?

Both Kong Xuan and Gu Changqing were stunned.

They had thought this guy had a great background, but they never imagined it was this great.

Before Heaven-Opening, a Primordial Demon God!

Are Primordial Demon Gods formidable?

Extremely formidable!

Those who could survive after being struck down by the great Pangu were truly formidable among the formidable.

Even if it was just a wisp of consciousness.

Luring the snake out of its hole had succeeded, but they hadn't expected to lure out an ancient behemoth!

Gu Changqing said, "Senior, your roots are unfathomably deep, unmatched by anyone. Your Dao cultivation is so high that you have few rivals. Surely, you wouldn't care for such trivial incense and faith?"

"Indeed, incense and faith are useless to me," the Lord of Emptiness chuckled. "But it can throw the Human Realm into chaos."

Gu Changqing then asked, "Senior, you only wish to disrupt the Human Realm? Even if the Human Realm is in chaos, it doesn't seem to benefit you much."

"True," the Lord of Emptiness replied. "While there's no direct benefit, it can weaken the overall power of the Primordial World, thereby weakening that one's power."

Gu Changqing asked curiously, "Senior, if you dislike Hongjun so much, why would you help Hongjun weaken the Primordial World's power?"

"Interesting!" the Lord of Emptiness chuckled. "I'm growing fonder of you. I'm very curious, how did you discover that Hongjun is weakening the Primordial World?"

Gu Changqing smiled, "Because severing the Three Corpses cannot lead to Proving the Dao of Mixed Origin."

"Clever!" the Lord of Emptiness said again. "Young man, are you interested in cooperating?"

"My apologies," Gu Changqing replied with a smile. "Those with different Dàos cannot conspire together. I don't care about the strength of the Primordial World, but I do care about the Human Race becoming strong."

"You possess extraordinary talent, embody great Luck, and wield incredibly potent methods."

"It's just a shame you're destined to fail!"

"Because in Chaos, one Immortal Dynasty is enough."

"Give up, and cooperate with me."

Gu Changqing shook his head slightly, "As heaven maintains vigor through movement, a gentleman should unremittingly strive for self-perfection!"

"Then you can only die."

After saying this, the Lord of Emptiness pointed a finger at Gu Changqing.

For someone like Gu Changqing, if you can talk to him, you can talk to him. If you can't, you never will.

If they can't become allies, they can only become enemies.

And enemies can only die.