“You… what are you trying to do?”
Facing Gu Qingying holding Mu Xiao with a sly grin, Gong Shangyu’s voice sounded a bit dry, with an undercurrent of trembling that was barely perceptible.
Seeing Gong Shangyu lower her head in submission, Gu Qingying finally put away her mocking expression, and a flash of sharp, icy light passed through her violet eyes.
“Don’t be so nervous~ Senior Sister~ My intentions are really quite simple~ First, please trouble you to return the key from Master’s room.”
Gu Qingying extended her hand, looking at Gong Shangyu with a smug face.
Gong Shangyu gritted her teeth, extremely reluctant, but still pulled out the Huanggang Key from her bosom—one that hadn’t even warmed up yet—and tossed it straight back to Gu Qingying.
“Hmm… good girl~ See? Wouldn’t it have been better if you’d done that in the first place?”
Gu Qingying put away the key and continued, “Second, the hundred copies of the sect rules that Master just mentioned—you’ll copy them yourself. Want me to help you out? Not a chance!”
Gong Shangyu’s expression turned even uglier, but she couldn’t argue back.
“And finally…”
Gu Qingying took a step forward.
Though she was shorter than Gong Shangyu, at this moment her presence completely suppressed the other, “From now on, in front of Master, you better show some respect! No more pulling or tugging, and you’re forbidden from deliberately getting close to Master or taking advantage of him! Do you hear me?”
Clearly, this was Gu Qingying’s true goal.
She’d used the leverage she’d just captured to thoroughly crush Gong Shangyu’s arrogance, and in doing so, solidify her own prestige as the First Senior Sister in this life, establishing herself as Master Lu Li’s “only well-behaved disciple”!
It would also completely eliminate any potential threats of intimacy from Gong Shangyu!
Facing Gu Qingying’s unreasonable demands, Gong Shangyu’s ample chest heaved violently, her pale pink eyes full of unwillingness and anger.
Yet under the threat of that deadly evidence, Gong Shangyu, no matter how unwilling, could only choose to compromise.
“I… I understand.”
“Hehe… very good. ‘Junior Sister’~ If only you’d been this obedient and submissive from the start, we could’ve avoided all this, no?”
Gu Qingying nodded in satisfaction, slowly slipping Mu Xiao back into her sleeve as if she were stowing away some trivial trinket.
“Hehe… well then, Second Senior Sister, please~ Your previous-life’s bedroom is that way~ A hundred copies of the sect rules is no small feat, so good luck~”
With that, she pointed at the nearby Side Hall Room belonging to Gong Shangyu, her tone light and cheerful—a stark contrast to Gong Shangyu’s look as if she were headed to a funeral.
Gong Shangyu glared fiercely at Gu Qingying, her gaze as if she wished to tear her apart alive.
But in the end, she was forced to concede, stomping her foot hard, and turning to head toward her own room, her retreating figure filled with grief and stifled resentment.
Watching Gong Shangyu leave in defeat, Gu Qingying was in high spirits, softly humming a joyful little tune.
“Hmph, want to fight me? Senior Sister, you’re still too green. As far as I’m concerned, Master only needs me by his side! Sooner or later, I’ll squeeze this eyesore out completely!”
Gu Qingying touched the key and Mu Xiao in her sleeve, feeling as though she had finally gained an overwhelming upper hand over Gong Shangyu in the battle for Master’s favor.
As for Gong Shangyu sneaking into Master’s room, Gu Qingying could hold that over her for a lifetime!
Thus, with a bellyful of pent-up anger, Gong Shangyu rose and returned to her Side Hall Room, where she’d lived in her previous life.
Looking at the Yujian Master had just handed her, filled with hundreds of sect rules, she felt her vision darken, grief welling up inside her.
But since Gu Qingying held something over her, she could only resign herself to grinding ink and laying out paper, beginning her long and painful punishment of copying rules.
The rustling of Gong Shangyu’s brush on paper, mixed with her occasional sighs, sounded especially clear in the quiet room.
***
Meanwhile, in the Jingshi on the other side of the Main Hall, Gu Qingying was in high spirits.
Sitting cross-legged on a cushion, she first fondled for a while the gourd that Senior Sister Gong Shangyu had just “extorted” from Duan Xueyan on her behalf.
This Treasure Gourd given by Duan Xueyan felt cool and soothing to the touch, emanating an aura that calmed the mind—indeed, a fine item to aid daily cultivation.
She carefully pulled out the gourd’s stopper, and a thick, pure spiritual fragrance spread out, instantly refreshing her slightly fatigued spirit.
Then she quickly composed herself, following the basic Duanqing Peak method Lu Li had taught her earlier, slowly guiding the spiritual power within her body.
At the same time, using the Treasure Gourd’s mind-calming effect, she tried to refine the power of the Pills within her that had yet to be fully absorbed.
After her spiritual power completed a circulation, Gu Qingying’s mind gradually became tranquil, as if merging into the surrounding world’s spiritual energy.
But just as her mind was most relaxed, nearly forgetting herself and her surroundings, a faint yet distinctly burning and violent will surged up from the depths of Gu Qingying’s consciousness, like a hidden current in deep water, striking without warning!
Startled, Gu Qingying immediately looked inward.
Below the altar of her main consciousness, a shadow flickered with an ominous red light, pulsing as if a long-sleeping beast was about to awaken.
It was Gu Hongchen!
The Heart Demon Gu Hongchen who, since the Dungeon incident, had lain dormant in her body!
“Gu Hongchen? Is that you?”
Gu Qingying called out urgently, “You’re awake? What exactly happened in the Dungeon at Yangzhou City? Who attacked us?”
She tried to communicate with that consciousness, hoping to recover those lost memories.
What happened after that day in the Dungeon remained a blank in Gu Qingying’s mind.
She only remembered handing her body over to Gu Hongchen when near death, and when she woke again, she’d already been saved by Gong Shangyu.
So, what had happened in between?
Who had the means to injure Gu Hongchen so severely that she fell into a deep slumber?
Lately, the memory gap from the Dungeon incident had been bothering her.
So, upon sensing Gu Hongchen’s awakening, Gu Qingying immediately tried to ask her what had transpired during that blank period.
Yet, as soon as she began to ask, Gu Hongchen’s burning consciousness faded back into silence within her.
Even so, before falling back asleep, Gu Hongchen managed to send a few faint thoughts and several fragmented, intensely negative images to Gu Qingying.
“Fourth Senior Sister, Mo Qingyou, danger… System… suppressed…”
“Mo Qingyou… System is higher level…”
“Can affect us, be careful…”
Gu Hongchen’s thoughts burned into Gu Qingying’s mind like a hot iron, then the red glow seemed to exhaust its strength, quickly dimming and returning to deep slumber, unresponsive no matter how Gu Qingying called out.
***
In the Jingshi, Gu Qingying snapped open her eyes, shock and dread filling her violet gaze!
Fourth Senior Sister, Mo Qingyou—
The one who had gravely injured Gu Hongchen was actually her!
But more shocking than that were the two fragmented pieces of information that followed.
Her own System was suppressed?
Mo Qingyou’s level was higher than theirs?
So, Mo Qingyou also had a System!
Gong Shangyu was right after all.
Moreover, from Gu Hongchen’s words, her System’s level was even higher than the Cognition Modification System!
That’s why she could forcibly suppress Gu Hongchen and injure her so badly!
Hiss… the System can level up?!
This message from Gu Hongchen exploded in Gu Qingying’s mind like thunder!
She had always thought her own System was a unique trump card.
The rule she’d agreed on with Gong Shangyu—that System holders were immune to each other’s powers—had only made her more confident!
She’d known for a while that her Cognition Modification System could indeed be upgraded.
But she never imagined that different levels of Systems would have differing authorities—and that a higher-level System could affect lower-level holders!
Realizing this, a surge of crisis instantly gripped her.
If Mo Qingyou truly possessed a more advanced System, and had already made a move against her, then what was her true purpose?
Was it to target her, or was it aimed at Master?
Regardless of Mo Qingyou’s intentions, right now Gu Qingying needed to clarify—how to upgrade her own System!
After all, even without Mo Qingyou in the picture, with Master Lu Li’s current cultivation, becoming a Jindan True Person was only a matter of time!
By then, if her own System couldn’t level up, it might no longer work on Lu Li at all—
So, lately, she’d been racking her brains, trying to figure out how to upgrade the System!
And right now, the only person who might know more and could discuss it with her was…
“Gong Shangyu! As expected… I still have to go find her?”
With this realization, Gu Qingying stood up, extremely reluctant, but still with a look of distaste, headed straight for Gong Shangyu’s room.
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