When Chu Yan opened his eyes, memories were quickly retrieved. This time, he found himself in a world of cultivation known as the Purple Cloud Realm.
There were three thousand realms of cultivation, and the Purple Cloud Realm was just one of them. Years ago, Kunshan Immortal came to the Purple Cloud Realm and cut off the highest peak, the Red Sky Peak, with a single sword. Using the severed half as the foundation, he established the Floating Light Sect. With the establishment of the Floating Light Sect, several other immortals arrived in the realm over the centuries to found their own sects. This led to a mixture of major sects and powers. Kunshan Immortal, who had the highest cultivation base when founding the sect, naturally made the Floating Light Sect one of the most powerful sects.
In this world, Chu Yan held the position of one of the three sect leaders of the Floating Light Sect. Gu Yunkai, hailing from a prestigious family in the world of cultivation, had been adopted as the personal disciple of Linyuan Immortal from a young age. He possessed outstanding talent and comprehension, along with access to the best resources in the cultivation world. Therefore, at a young age, his strength was already on par with the elders of various sects. At the age of twenty-five, he had broken through to the Grand Ascension Stage, becoming a master-level figure in his own right. He gained fame by single-handedly taking the limelight at the Immortal-Demon Grand Tournament that year. Additionally, his pure swordsmanship made him a rare genius in the cultivation world, and his “Mystic Frost Sword” was unparalleled in the cultivation world.
However, the world of cultivation has always been home to exceptional talents, with no shortage of astonishing individuals. While Gu Yunkai was indeed a rare talent, what truly made him the center of attention in the cultivation world was his title as the “Number One Beauty.”
It was said that the Heavenly Beauty Ranking changed every ten years, yet Gu Yunkai had consistently held the top spot, unshaken.
In theory, cultivators already possessed perfect bodies, and there were many attractive cultivators. However, Gu Yunkai was different. Despite his formidable cultivation, he led a reclusive life and exuded a solitary and ethereal aura. He was like the crystalline snow atop a towering mountain, making people instinctively feel a sense of reverence when they looked at him.
In this world, the male lead was Lu Ran, who happened to be Gu Yunkai’s only closed-door disciple. Lu Ran’s status was relatively low, as he had been taken in by the Floating Light Sect as an outer disciple due to fortunate circumstances. He had no prior connection to Gu Yunkai and certainly hadn’t expected to become one of the three sect leaders of the Floating Light Sect alongside him.
However, it was at the discipleship ceremony when Lu Ran was ten years old that his extremely rare Five Elements Spirit Root was discovered. This was the second occurrence in nearly a century on the continent of cultivation, making him a natural genius who drew the attention of the entire Floating Light Sect. At that time, sword cultivation was highly regarded in the cultivation world, and Gu Yunkai was the most accomplished swordsman. As a result, the sect leader of the Floating Light Sect arranged for Lu Ran to become Gu Yunkai’s only closed-door disciple.
During that time, Gu Yunkai himself had encountered a bottleneck in his cultivation. He had always been devoted to his cultivation, but being a mentor for the first time, he had taken many detours. Fortunately, Lu Ran seemed to be naturally suited for the path of cultivation. Even without finding a suitable cultivation technique, he grew at an astonishing rate.
As the saying goes, “The innocent are free from fault, but the guilty carry a priceless gem.” Lu Ran had remarkable talent but lacked any background or backing within the sect’s prestigious families, making him the target of envy and hostility from other disciples.
At this point, assuming the role of both a mentor and a master, Gu Yunkai offered guidance to Lu Ran and defended him against those who bullied him within the sect. He also provided some encouraging words and occasionally showed a hint of gentleness, which gradually brought Lu Ran closer to him without him realizing it.
The two of them spent almost twenty years together on the Cloud Crane Peak of the Floating Light Sect. While Gu Yunkai couldn’t be considered an exemplary mentor and hadn’t taken great care of Lu Ran, in the young man’s heart, even this somewhat lacking care was heartwarming.
However, not long after, Gu Yunkai took in another disciple, Fu Qingzhou, from a prestigious family. Unlike Lu Ran, Fu Qingzhou was born with an adorable appearance, bright and charming eyes, and a knack for being endearing. Additionally, he came from a privileged and noble background, making him the darling of both the upper and lower ranks of the Floating Light Sect, including fellow disciples.
The treatment of Fu Qingzhou was worlds apart from what Lu Ran had received. Seeing all of this, Lu Ran remained unfazed. He had experienced too much injustice and inequality since he was young, and as a result, he had grown indifferent to such matters.
However, what Lu Ran didn’t expect was that the thing that truly made him uncomfortable was the fact that he was no longer Gu Yunkai’s only disciple.
When Lu Ran realized that he felt an unbelievably strong sense of jealousy towards Fu Qingzhou, he understood that he had developed inappropriate feelings towards his own master. He wanted Gu Yunkai to have only one person by his side, whether it was a disciple or someone else.
All of this was observed by Chu Yan, but he continued to pretend as if he knew nothing. Every day, apart from his cultivation, he continued to cultivate. He occasionally gave some guidance to Lu Ran in his cultivation but primarily devoted himself to the path of cultivation.
Although Gu Yunkai had outstanding talent, he still couldn’t compare to Lu Ran, who seemed like a cheat code. Lu Ran had unwavering determination and exceptional talent, progressing rapidly in his cultivation, surpassing Gu Yunkai at the time. Eventually, he claimed the top spot on the Sword Ranking at the once-in-a-century Immortal Turtle Grand Competition, winning the “Hidden Edge Sword” and becoming another astonishing sword talent after Gu Yunkai.
Time seemed to stand still in the mountains. Initially, Lu Ran planned to keep all these secrets buried deep within his heart, continuing to be Gu Yunkai’s disciple and reaching the pinnacle of the sword path alongside his master.
However, a young person’s feelings could hardly be concealed. Lu Ran’s admiration for Gu Yunkai was quickly discovered by his fellow disciples, who exploited it and brought it to the attention of the sect’s leadership.
Upon learning of this incident, Gu Yunkai showed no intention of protecting Lu Ran. He directly stripped Lu Ran of all his cultivation and expelled him from the Floating Light Sect.
If this had been the extent of Gu Yunkai’s actions, he might not have been considered particularly ruthless.
Over a hundred years passed in this manner, with Gu Yunkai continuing his cultivation on Cloud Crane Peak. However, his only personal disciple changed from Lu Ran to Fu Qingzhou. Later, various forces and sects in the cultivation world clashed and competed for resources and opportunities. Ultimately, in the War between Immortals and Demons sparked by the Demon Clan, all three major sects suffered heavy losses. Gu Yunkai, along with other sect leaders and disciples, became trapped in the Demon Realm.
The Demon Realm was filled with heavy miasma, and violent winds raged, suppressing the spiritual energy of even the most powerful cultivators, rendering their abilities useless. Upon learning that Gu Yunkai was in such a perilous situation, Lu Ran, regardless of the fact that he had long been expelled from the Floating Light Sect, risked his life to rescue Gu Yunkai and other righteous sect disciples from the Demon Realm.
However, just after he had exhausted his true qi to heal Gu Yunkai’s injuries, he opened his eyes to be met with the cold gaze of his master and the emotionless accusation, “You’ve actually cultivated the demonic path?!”
What followed was a single palm strike that sent Lu Ran plummeting out of the Demon Realm, hardly giving him any chance to explain himself.
All of this had been done by Gu Yunkai for one simple reason – jealousy. He envied Lu Ran’s talent in the path of the sword and the tremendous stroke of luck that he could never attain.
As Chu Yan concluded these memories, he opened his eyes to find himself in a stone cave, with a sword resting beside him on a stone bed. He reached for the sword’s sheath with one hand and gripped the hilt with the other, causing the blade to tremble slightly, as if responding to his touch.
As the sword was drawn from its sheath, spiritual energy flowed through his fingertips, causing the blade to emit a radiant, snowy-white light.
[Host, is the spiritual energy in your body functioning properly?]
[Spirit, it’s working splendidly.]
After all, this was the body he had once used. Chu Yan, with an expressionless face, sheathed the “Mystic Frost” sword and stood up from the stone bed. He left the stone cave.
On Cloud Crane Peak, where snowfall was common throughout the year, Gu Yunkai stepped out and saw Fu Qingzhou waiting at the entrance. He was dressed in a blue disciple’s robe, a tall and handsome young man with dark eyebrows and clear eyes. His cheeks still held a trace of youthful softness, but his expression exuded an air of righteousness. Only when he spotted Gu Yunkai did a faint smile appear at the corner of his mouth.
“Master.”
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