Tongtian spoke with a smile.
Gu Changqing offered no response.
He merely cast a disdainful glance in the direction where the Demon Court's members had vanished.
"Tch. The so-called Demon Emperor, Eastern Emperor, and the rest are nothing special!"
"A mere strand of sword intent sent them fleeing with their tails between their legs."
As he spoke, Gu Changqing seemed to lose interest.
He remained half-reclined in his cave abode and went back to drinking fine wine to his heart's content.
Their exchange, however, left Duobao and the others utterly bewildered.
"A disguise? What do Master and Junior Brother Changqing mean?"
"Isn't our junior brother being far too ungrateful? He caused the trouble, yet Master had to clean up after him."
"And now he still has the nerve to boast that the Demon Emperor is nothing special."
"Hehe, that's our master for you. He unleashed just one sword, and Di Jun, Taiyi, and the others didn't dare utter another word of nonsense."
Duobao and the others naturally assumed that the divine sword blazing with heavenly radiance had been the result of Tongtian unleashing the Qingping Sword.
Hearing their remarks, Tongtian came back to his senses.
He gave Duobao and the others a profound look, then said:
"You are all mistaken!"
"Earlier, I did not intervene, nor did I clean up after my disciple Changqing."
"He did all of that himself."
At those words, Duobao and the others stared, dumbstruck.
"Master... surely you're joking with us?"
"That was unmistakably the aura of the Qingping Sword. Its edge was terrifying, its sword intent as deep as an abyss, sending chills through our entire bodies."
"Indeed. Aside from Master's Qingping Sword, who in all heaven and earth could possess such overwhelming sword power?"
They could not believe it.
Tongtian merely answered softly:
"What you mistook for the Qingping Sword was nothing more than a strand of fierce sword intent condensed by my disciple Changqing!"
"Hehe, that is precisely what makes Changqing's Sword Dao so formidable."
They were utterly stunned.
They looked at Tongtian, then at Gu Changqing, who was drinking away in his cave abode.
This completely overturned everything they thought they knew.
But they also knew their master would never joke about such a thing.
"If what Master says is true, Junior Brother Changqing's mastery of the Sword Dao is terrifyingly profound!"
"He could imitate Master's Qingping Sword so perfectly that none of us could tell the real from the false. I must admit I fall short of him."
"Have we truly underestimated Junior Brother Changqing all this time?"
This time, even Zhao Gongming, who had the strongest objections to Gu Changqing, had nothing to say.
In the Primordial World, strength reigned supreme!
A single strand of sword intent had frightened the Demon Court's powerful experts into fleeing.
Such strength left even the Personal Disciples ashamed of their own inadequacy.
Seeing the expressions of Duobao and the other Eight Great Personal Disciples, Tongtian nodded in satisfaction.
After today's events, Gu Changqing had finally earned the recognition of the Eight Great Personal Disciples.
Tongtian said nothing more and turned his gaze toward the Demon Court.
Di Jun, Taiyi, and the others would repay even the slightest grievance, and their dispositions were vicious. He could not let down his guard.
Gu Changqing had already offended the Demon Court. There was no guarantee they would not watch for an opportunity in secret and act against him.
After pondering for a moment, Tongtian's gaze shifted, as though he had reached a decision.
Then he spoke at once.
"I, Tongtian, hereby proclaim to heaven and earth in the name of a Saint!"
"From this day forth, Gu Changqing, an Outer Sect disciple of my Interception Sect, shall be promoted to my Personal Disciple. Ranked after Gui Ling, he shall be the Interception Sect's fifth Personal Disciple."
Tongtian transmitted his voice through the Great Dao, his words rolling like deep thunder.
They resounded not only throughout Golden Ao Island but, through the power of the Heavenly Dao, reached the ears of every creature in the Primordial World.
For a time, the Interception Sect erupted, and all living beings were thrown into an uproar.
The Jie Sect Disciples looked envious, though they were not especially surprised.
After all, even the Eight Great Personal Disciples now admitted they fell short of Gu Changqing.
His promotion to Personal Disciple was only natural.
Indeed, given Tongtian's admiration for Gu Changqing, no one would have objected even if he had elevated him directly to Personal Disciple.
Outside the sect, however, all living beings were even more astonished.
"The Interception Sect has gained another Personal Disciple?"
"Who is this Gu Changqing? Why have we never heard of him before? What ability does he possess to earn Saint Tongtian's appreciation and become his Personal Disciple?"
"Hiss... this man wasn't taken in by the Saint as a Personal Disciple. He was promoted from an Outer Sect disciple."
"That's even more unbelievable!"
There were mighty beings in the world who founded sects and accepted disciples to pass on their teachings.
Yet the distinctions between Personal Disciples, inner sect disciples, Outer Sect disciples, and the rest were fixed from the moment they entered their master's tutelage.
The rules could be called rigid and strict.
For a mere Outer Sect disciple to be promoted to Personal Disciple, as had happened today, was unprecedented throughout the ages.
Even an ordinary disciple being promoted to a Saint's Personal Disciple was unheard of.
After all, within a Saint's Lineage, every disciple's origins, aptitude, fortune, and other qualities were determined at birth, and these decided the rank they could attain.
Defy heaven and change one's fate?
In the Primordial World, nothing was more impossible.
All living beings turned curious gazes toward the Interception Sect, unable to fathom just how heaven-defying Gu Changqing must be for a Saint to set such a precedent for him.
Meanwhile.
Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, within the Demon Court.
Di Jun, Taiyi, the Ten Demon Saints, and the others had only just returned when they, too, heard Tongtian's voice transmitted through the Great Dao.
Their expressions immediately froze.
"A Personal Disciple..."
"Is Saint Tongtian doing this to warn our Demon Court?"
Bai Ze's mind was keen, and he instantly thought of that possibility.
A Personal Disciple and an Outer Sect disciple were entirely different matters.
From now on, Gu Changqing would receive Saint Tongtian's close attention and esteem.
Thus, if the Demon Court dared harbor resentment and move against Gu Changqing, they would have to weigh whether they could withstand a Saint's wrath.
Everyone fell silent.
They had only just made an enemy of Gu Changqing, yet he had immediately been promoted to a Saint's Personal Disciple.
It left the Demon Court's members with a faint sense of unease.
After a while, Taiyi finally spoke in a sullen voice:
"Damn it. That rotten drunkard has been promoted to Personal Disciple."
"Doesn't that mean Xihe and Changxi will believe his words even more firmly?"
"As for this heavenly marriage..."
Taiyi did not finish, but everyone understood what he meant.
The higher Gu Changqing's standing rose, the more importance Xihe and Changxi would attach to him.
That would only make the two goddesses even more determined to resist the heavenly marriage.
Could the first heavenly marriage in history ultimately amount to nothing, like drawing water with a bamboo basket?
Would the Demon Court's hopes of growing stronger through it come to nothing as well?
Clearly, none of them wished to see that.
They pondered in silence.
At a certain moment.
Kunpeng, the Demon Master, suddenly spoke:
"Since there is no hope of marrying Xihe and Changxi, then..."
"We can only seek out other supreme deities to bring about the heavenly marriage."
At his words, the eyes of the Ten Demon Saints and the others lit up.
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