"Heavenly Dao" had indeed witnessed Liu Jiangfusheng and Gu Junshi’s breakup.
However, it didn't feel a sense of utter relief or that a major affair had concluded.
Initially, it saw Liu Jiangfusheng imprison Gu Junshi, then "humiliate" her in various poses – naturally, it had no interest in observing this part – and finally, the act of digging out the child from her abdomen.
At this point, "Heavenly Dao" was satisfied with Liu Jiangfusheng's actions, driven by love turned hatred. It presumed that a person as proud and arrogant as Gu Junshi could never forgive Liu Jiangfusheng or reconcile with him.
"Heavenly Dao" saw that Liu Jiangfusheng had indeed severed ties with Gu Junshi as he had promised, and in fact, had been more ruthless than it had imagined.
But… after Gu Junshi completely lost consciousness, everything that happened next, beyond distorting its senses and shattering its worldview, caused it to feel a suffocating blockage: "You… how could you do this?"
He was a man! It had never heard of hens ruling the morning and roosters laying eggs!
"Heavenly Dao" had been perplexed for a long time.
It wondered if Liu Jiangfusheng had a misunderstanding of his own positioning.
It had clearly arranged a life for him where he would be a domineering, awe-inspiring protagonist, not the tragic female lead in human dramas who, due to various external obstacles and misunderstandings, always endured, selflessly sacrificed, never explained, and finally fled to a foreign land to bear the male lead's offspring.
It truly couldn't comprehend why, despite it giving him the best, he would unconsciously adopt the script of a sad female lead in front of Gu Junshi. It had no idea what kind of monstrous calamity this Gu Junshi truly was!
"Why can't I?" Liu Jiangfusheng’s eyes, like deer in water, glanced up, his expression indifferent. He gently placed Gu Junshi down, his fingertips lingering as they stroked her stray hair.
It angrily rebuked its own inaction, "I clearly told you to find a woman, for instance, the fated woman outside the Dragon Island secret realm, to act as a stand-in—"
"Stand-in for what?" Liu Jiangfusheng interrupted. He seemed to recall something amusing and chuckled softly, "You were unwilling for my child to be born from Gu Junshi's womb, even going so far as to use heavenly lightning to destroy its form and soul. Isn't everything as you wished now?"
"Heavenly Dao," hovering above the Ascension Tower, a faint golden wisp, it remained silent for a long time and said, "You possess the True Dragon Eye, and you use it to monitor me?"
"You appeared when I was three years old, the same time I obtained the Heavenly Spiritual Root. Everything I have done over the years has been influenced by you. You want me to be lofty and untainted, so I must be righteous and upright in all things. You want me to achieve the Great Dao and have no distractions, so I must forget my affections and sever my love, killing my wife to achieve enlightenment. You said you would help me and my clan fulfill our destiny and become the Lord of this world, so I journeyed and cultivated the Great Dao…"
He spoke softly, as if pulling a thread taut on "Heavenly Dao's" heart, tightening with each pull, nearly snapping. It seemed to anticipate what kind of rebellious words he would utter next.
Yet, it did not stop him. Because after the previous battle with the Heavenly Demon, coupled with its attempt to take Gu Junshi's life, it had suffered a backlash. It was now precarious, its consciousness on the verge of complete dissipation.
Who would have thought that a mortal wife from the Gu family, whom it had arranged to be a "stepping stone" for Liu Jiangfusheng, would eventually participate in the competition of fate? She had also become a unique existence in this game of chess. She was no longer someone that could be casually manipulated. Killing her would be equivalent to violating the rules of the Heavenly Dao.
Thus, it was unable to act afterward. Even though Gu Junshi was in her most vulnerable state due to the fetus in her womb, it could have simply arranged an "accident" to ensure she never survived.
It had originally intended to watch her self-destruct, because Gu Junshi was not a soul from this world, destined to be proud and solitary, without kin or offspring. Her desire to keep this child was impossible.
But who would have thought that Liu Jiangfusheng would be the one to force an outcome? He was even willing to bet with his own body!
"Why should your will override mine? I have had enough time to manipulate my own life. I allowed things to proceed simply because I felt it was a given that I should accept what I received. But all I sold you was a promise I made as a child. I will fulfill what I promised, but beyond that, my love and hate have nothing to do with you."
Liu Jiangfusheng said this in a tone that was neither warm nor cold.
"Heavenly Dao" stared at Liu Jiangfusheng at this moment. He had never been truly obedient. Of course, it had not intended to raise a pure and kind lamb. But the Liu Jiangfusheng before it had always been transparent to it. They had been together since childhood, through adolescence, until now…
At some point, he had completely changed.
It could no longer see through his eyes; they were like a layer of mist, hazy and unfathomable, as if he had grown up overnight. Even the hidden depths of his thoughts, when occasionally revealed, inspired a fear that could not be easily defied.
"Liu Jiangfusheng, do you know that a mortal's life is but a mere few decades? A cultivator's lifespan is several times, even tens of times longer, and an immortal's lifespan is countless. Gods, moreover, live as long as heaven. You have lived in this world for only twenty-something years, your knowledge is too narrow and limited. You think the Dayan Sect is great, but have you seen the Void Gate? Only then will you find the Dayan Sect magnificent and grand."
"What you saw and heard in eleven days and three years is less than what you perceived in twenty-eight days and one day. You have seen the heavens and earth of the mortal realm, and you have also experienced the heavens and earth of the cultivation realm. What a vast gap lies between them. You think you have taken a step and surveyed the world, but you are nothing more than a frog in a well."
"You observe Gu Junshi's absolute love. Her inaction and everything she does make you feel special and moved. But why are you unwilling to let go of your prejudice and look at others? Your fated person will never treat you with such ruthlessness and coldness as Gu Junshi. She will regard you as the only one in this life, respect you, honor you, and love you. You only need to let go of your obsessions and embrace—"
"Alright."
Suddenly, Liu Jiangfusheng agreed. He seemed to thoroughly approve of "Heavenly Dao's" evaluation of him. His clear, low, and enchanting voice drifted, "Since you believe I am of low vision, which is why I cherish a blade of grass as a treasure, then I shall try to let go of my obsessions. I will witness the realms of Immortals and Gods you speak of, and I will also go and see that… fated person you mentioned."
When "Heavenly Dao" received his consent, it felt no relief but rather an uneasy premonition, much like how an unusual occurrence often signals something sinister.
But what could it stop now?
"Fusheng, you swore an oath to me that you would never entangle yourself with Gu Junshi again. Will you break this oath?" "Heavenly Dao" questioned sternly.
Liu Jiangfusheng's eyes were indifferent, like frost falling in September in June. He replied with an apathetic attitude, "I will not break it. With her, our affections are severed, and our kindness is cut off. Even if anything remains, it is merely past grievances."
"If you truly think so, then it is good. Fusheng, my task of supervision and guidance by your side has ended. From now on, you must rely on your own efforts. You must remember, you are the light, the brightness, the righteous path. No demonic energy shall exist in this world. See it and slay it; encounter it and extinguish it!"
"Heavenly Dao's" voice, echoing in the tower hall, erupted with a burst of golden light. Fine golden particles, illuminated by the light, gradually dissipated and scattered into the air.
Liu Jiangfusheng stood silently for a moment, then curled his lips. At this moment, circles of dark energy rippled around him, and a figure in blood-red robes with hair like a waterfall manifested. "He" gently nestled on his shoulder, with a face as enchanting as a water lily, but with the same features as Liu Jiangfusheng. However, Liu Jiangfusheng was like a dream of floating life under a moonlit crows' cry, while "he" was a painted scroll of worldly obsessions in a lifetime.
"His" eyes, shaped like pure deer antlers, were tinged with a coquettish charm due to demonic energy. His red lips brushed past his ear and whispered, "It is this thing that has been restricting and imprisoning you. Do you know what it is?"
Liu Jiangfusheng's overwhelming warmth made his shallow, pear-dimpled smile appear. "No rush. What I need to know, I will eventually know. It always thought Gu Junshi was my weakness and constantly wanted to eliminate her completely. But it never considered that without Gu Junshi, this soft spot, what else could it use to make me obey it?"
"Gu Junshi appeared at the most opportune moment. She possesses enough ability and threat to make it focus all its attention on guarding against her existence. Now, you can finally break free from it."
"She is delicious; one can taste her again and again without getting bored… You say, if you lost her, where would you find another Gu Junshi like this." "He" lowered his eyes somewhat melancholically.
Liu Jiangfusheng, however, looked at his abdomen, which was gradually healing from the "Dragon Core." He said, "The oath cannot be broken. I must confine myself within this temporarily stable cage."
"You are truly saying one thing and meaning another. You want her to toss and turn for you, and you want her to suffer for you, and you want her to bite the bait you throw. How is it that you seem worse than me, a demon?"
Liu Jiangfusheng retorted, "I don't understand what you're saying. It is best that she completely forgets about us, father and son. If she can let go, then what can I not lose?"
He had said it before: one cannot have everything start and end with her. This time, the rules of the game would be set by him.
He did not look at Gu Junshi again. It was not that he was unwilling, but that he could not. He and the black, demonic figure perched on his shoulder walked outwards. His pure white sleeves fluttered, gradually intertwining with the red robes of his inner demon. As the wind dispersed the mist, he also vanished into the horizon with the mist.
And just as Liu Jiangfusheng departed, a wisp of black energy floated out from Gu Junshi's consciousness space. It materialized into a male physique, like a silk tapestry. The hem of his robes, flowing like black water on the ground, swayed as he moved. A man wearing a black hooded cloak emerged from the "tapestry."
Obviously, other than wearing a long black hooded cloak to cover his body, he wore nothing underneath. Below his refined and exquisitely carved long neck, a patch of skin was exposed. He walked barefoot towards the cage.
He first examined the golden cage, used to "hide the beauty," with a research-like attitude. Then, he turned his gaze back into the cage where the sleeping beauty lay in a pool of blood. Although the blood stains on her abdomen had long since dried, the blood from the previous evisceration had not been cleaned.
He scanned her with his divine sense. Her breathing was smooth and even. To say she was unconscious was more like her spirit and body had automatically entered a state of hibernation and recovery due to extreme fatigue.
He nodded and said, "This kind of unique arousal… I must say, you really know how to play."
The "Talisman of Illumination" attached to the golden cage had lost its effect when Liu Jiangfusheng performed the substitution spell earlier, turning into pieces of blank paper. From a distance, they looked like they were plastered with funerary paper. The fine iron chains that originally restricted Gu Junshi's actions had long since vanished.
But this golden cage itself was not easy to enter. It was forged from gilded materials combined with the horns of a conch. However, in the hands of the man in the black cloak, they were as fragile as slender icicles. With a gentle bend, they snapped into several pieces and clattered to the ground.
He bent down barefoot and crawled inside, then squatted in front of her to observe for a while, "This face clearly feels unfamiliar, yet it feels inexplicably familiar. You're not trying to trick me by taking advantage of my amnesia, are you?"
The Human Emperor, who had reshaped his physical body, was no longer his former foolish self. He narrowed his eyes, his face beneath the hood obscured by darkness.
"But… I don't remember Ah Miao. Her face, her voice, her expressions and demeanor… Since you make me feel familiar, perhaps you are my Ah Miao."
He picked up the unconscious woman. As he bent down, some parts of his body were revealed. His well-built chest and the skin beneath his thighs showed beautiful muscle definition. His limbs were slender yet not weak, undeniably a meticulously sculpted body full of masculine charm.
He casually said, "Ah Miao, look, your ex-husband has agreed to divorce you, so you no longer have a husband. As for me, I have been single for hundreds of years. I’ve been lacking a wife, so why don't we just become a pair?"
The Human Emperor had always been within Gu Junshi's consciousness space. However, Gu Junshi's consciousness sea had been turbulent for a while recently, which had disturbed him. But he was in the final critical stage of reshaping his physical body at the time, and if he had interrupted his cultivation to wake up, it would have been a complete failure. Thus, he persisted until the final step was completed.
During this period, he had sent out a wisp of his divine sense to perceive the external situation. He distinctly heard a man saying to Gu Junshi: "Gu Junshi, in the future… we will not part ways peacefully, nor will we find joy separately. I want you to be like me, even if we never see each other, our hearts will be filled with torment."
Although the Human Emperor did not know how people usually phrased divorce words, he knew from this sentence that it was a resentful man speaking of parting.
Their separation was neither dignified nor peaceful.
But what of it?
Before reshaping his physical body, he had already planned that if Ah Miao truly had a husband, he would kill him. Although it was a sad thing for widows to lose their husbands, he would provide her with a new husband. In this way… perhaps she would forgive him.
Forgive him for his madness in coveting his wife.
"If you don't speak, I'll assume you've agreed."
"Ah Miao, what kind of wedding attire would you like? You've been married once, but I am a first-time groom. You've worn the same red wedding dress with someone else, so wearing it again might seem uninteresting. How about we switch to black or white wedding attire? After all, I've been dead for a long time… Actually, a ghost marriage would also work."
He could converse with himself with great enthusiasm, needing no reply from others.
"Ah Miao, you look quite beautiful when you're locked in a cage. In the future… shall we try this kind of arousal as well?"