After Saving the Immortal Sect, I Became a Heartthrob - Chapter 22

Bloodline awakening?

Gu Congxing’s footsteps faltered.

However, the next moment, he was pulled into a warm embrace.

“Senior Brother! I won! I can go to the Immortal Sect Grand Competition with you now!”

Zhong Ming rubbed his head against Gu Congxing’s neck, his voice filled with irrepressible joy.

“…Mm. You did great, Little Junior Brother.”

Seeing that there was nothing unusual about his junior brother, Gu Congxing suppressed the doubts in his heart and patted his head as he always did.

“Hehe.”

Zhong Ming loosened his hold on Gu Congxing slightly, gripping his hands tightly so their fingers were interlaced.

“Senior Brother, I want to…”

“Congratulations, Little Junior Brother. That was truly a spectacular battle.”

Zhong Ming was interrupted by a gentle, refined voice. He turned his head and, as expected, it was Senior Brother Lan Jue.

“Thank you, Senior Brother.” Zhong Ming did not let go of Gu Congxing’s hand but simply smiled in response to Lan Jue.

A faint smile remained on Lan Jue’s face, but his gaze fell upon their joined hands.

He continued: “Elder He will be awarding prizes to the victors soon, so Little Junior Brother should prepare yourself. Also…”

“Congxing, Master has finished strengthening the sealing barrier, so we should go find him to report on our mission.”

Gu Congxing’s eyes brightened upon hearing this.

“Alright, when shall we go?”

“Why not come with me now?” Lan Jue replied to Gu Congxing, then turned to Zhong Ming: “Little Junior Brother, the matter of Chen Wang cheating is a certainty; he surely won’t escape punishment.”

Gu Congxing released the hand he was holding and ruffled his junior brother’s hair again.

“That’s right. Little Junior Brother, you are the undisputed top of the ranking; this can be considered settling an old score.”

The three senior and junior brothers exchanged a few more pleasantries before Gu Congxing left with Lan Jue toward the Xuanbing Palace.

He had expected Zhong Ming to act spoiled and cling to him a while longer, but the boy had let him go quite readily.

He really has grown up, Gu Congxing thought with a satisfied smile.

Arriving at the Cold Spring, Lan Jue and Gu Congxing stepped into the ice palace.

At the sight of that moon-white figure, Gu Congxing’s pace quickened.

Back in the illusion, it was precisely because he had thought of his Master, like a bright moon in the sky, that he had been able to realize something was wrong so early.

“Master.” Gu Congxing and Lan Jue spoke in unison.

Shen Mu’s eyes swept across the two disciples in front of him and nodded: “Not bad, both have made progress.”

“Your mission this time was treacherous; what exactly happened?”

Lan Jue and Gu Congxing exchanged a look and described the events at the Wumeng Manor in detail. However, they glossed over the emotional entanglement between him and Gu Congxing within the illusion, focusing instead on the Dream Demon, Zhili.

Shen Mu’s expression remained unchanged as he listened. After contemplating for a moment, he said to them:

“You managed to overcome it with wit; you did well. I will send a message to the Tianlin Sect regarding the Dream Demon.”

A vision of a figure in red brocade robes flashed through Gu Congxing’s mind, his thoughts drifting away.

“Congxing?” Lan Jue noticed his distraction and gently tugged at his finger.

Shen Mu watched the movement under their sleeves for a moment before saying: “I am about to impart cultivation techniques to Congxing; Lan Jue, you may return first.”

Lan Jue raised an eyebrow in surprise. His gaze shifted, and as it met Shen Mu’s ice-blue eyes, he lowered his gaze and said, “Yes.”

After Lan Jue left, Shen Mu summoned an ancient book of techniques that shimmered with golden light and handed it to Gu Congxing.

—It was indeed the highest-tier technique for Metal-element spiritual roots, The Illusory Sword Infinite Art.

This technique was incredibly formidable, a powerful AOE move used to take on many opponents at once. In his past life, when Gu Congxing was besieged by hundreds, it was with this technique that he fought back, the blades forged from Metal-element spiritual power claiming the lives of dozens of cultivators.

Without this technique, he likely wouldn’t have lasted long enough to pass his divine consciousness to Xiao Wangyou.

“Thank you, Master!”

Gu Congxing accepted it reverently.

The number of blades he could forge from Metal-element spiritual power depended on his own cultivation realm. At his peak in his past life, he was at the late stage of Golden Core; he should have only been able to forge ten blades, yet he had forcibly forged over fifty.

Thus, even if he hadn’t self-destructed, his spiritual pill wouldn’t have lasted long.

A calm, cold voice pulled Gu Congxing back from his memories.

“Congxing, cultivation is not solely reliant on natural talent and techniques; it also requires a steady heart.”

“Remember: The Great Dao demands the abandonment of emotion.”

Gu Congxing looked up in confusion.

Why do both Senior Brother and Master keep mentioning this to me?

Do I look like someone who flirts with everyone?

Although puzzled, he agreed to it.

However, right at that moment, a frantic siren began to wail in his mind.

【Ding! Emergency mission has been forcibly activated!】

【Ding! Please hurry to your target, Zhong Ming, immediately! Assist him in surviving the bloodline awakening period!】

【Failure if time limit is exceeded! The countdown has started. Remaining time: 2:00:00.】

Gu Congxing’s pupils shrank. He glanced at the stone tablet where the numbers were flickering in the air and immediately set off to take his leave.

“Master, disciple has urgent matters to attend to, I must take my leave!”

He moved with great speed, disappearing from the Xuanbing Palace in the blink of an eye.

Shen Mu watched his retreating back, his gaze shifting toward the space he had just been staring at.

—There was nothing there.

Shen Mu furrowed his brows, cold light shimmering in his ice-blue eyes.

Zhuoguang Peak, inside Zhong Ming’s cave dwelling.

The boy was submerged in the spring water, letting the coldness run rampant as his spiritual power surged throughout his body.

For some time, he had frequently felt his spiritual power becoming disordered and his blood and qi agitated, but he had always been able to suppress it using cultivation mantras.

But Chen Wang’s damned Chaos Formation during today’s battle had significantly worsened his condition!

His mind had even been affected, and he had nearly lost his sanity and killed that wretch.

Although he had regained his senses afterward, the chaos of his spiritual power and blood was uncontrollable. He endured it with all his might, managed to wait until the competition ended, and immediately flew his sword back to his cave dwelling.

“How could this be…”

He had already used every heart-clearing mantra he knew and had taken pills to calm his blood and qi, so why was it completely ineffective?!

His body temperature was rising higher and higher; even though he was submerged in the icy spring water, he felt as if he were being roasted in a furnace of molten iron.

“Nng!”

Zhong Ming let out a groan of agony; his blood surged, his spiritual power reversed, and his mind was no longer clear!

No, this won’t do!

Forcing himself not to lose consciousness, he actually drew his long sword and stabbed it straight into his leg!

Blood sprayed out, and the spring water instantly turned a deep crimson.

“I can’t go on like this… I have to find Senior Brother, find a healer…”

The intense pain cleared his consciousness once more. Zhong Ming struggled to stand up, but an inadvertent glance at the water froze him in place.

Why was his reflection in the water showing vertical pupils?!

Those were clearly the golden vertical pupils possessed only by demons!

“No!”

He splashed the spring water in front of him and clutched his head in agony.

“Ahhh—”

Not only that, black scales had grown on his arms! They were climbing upward, inch by inch, as if they wanted to swallow the original fair skin whole!

There was pain and itching on his forehead. He reached out to touch it, and found that two horns had grown!

“Impossible, impossible!”

“How could this happen!”

His heart had plummeted to the depths of despair, yet right at that moment, a call left him completely bloodless.

“…Little Junior Brother?”

Zhong Ming turned his head stiffly, only to see a familiar figure standing behind the spring water.

—It was a wide-eyed Gu Congxing.

Gu Congxing stood where he was, his whole body feeling as heavy as lead, unable to move.

In that instant, any mission, any countdown, was thrown to the back of his mind.

In a spring filled with blood, the figure roaring in despair was actually his Little Junior Brother, Zhong Ming?

No, perhaps it could no longer be called a “human figure.”

Black scales, two horns on its head, golden vertical pupils…

This was clearly, beyond any doubt, a member of the Demon race!

The blood feud of the Gu clan for over a hundred years—the Northern Border Demon race!

Gu Congxing’s hot blood rushed to his head, yet his entire body felt as cold as if he had fallen into an icy pit.

What should I do?

Should I follow the ancestral teachings of the Gu clan and strike right here to slay the demon?

But that is clearly the Little Junior Brother he had personally taught and guided to this day!

Two voices seemed to be fighting in his mind, causing his fingers to twitch, but he ultimately could not bring himself to pick up the Zhanjing Sword.

He stood there, stunned, as if pierced through.

“No, no! Senior Brother, don’t look at me!!”

The black shadow let out a roar of agony.

Gu Congxing slowly raised his eyes and met those demonic vertical pupils.

Those pure golden eyes that had once reflected the sun and been praised by Gu Congxing were now clouded with demonic energy.

“Senior Brother!!”

The black shadow cried out, tears flowing like a spring.

—He clearly looked like a monster that would choose to devour someone, yet at this moment, he was calling out humbly and weeping in despair.

Hearing this heartbroken cry, Gu Congxing’s eyes flickered, and he slowly took a step forward.

“Don’t come over! Senior Brother! Don’t come over”

Zhong Ming clutched his head; his own mind was already damaged. If this continued, he feared he would truly lose his sanity!

He would rather kill himself here than ever harm Senior Brother!

Gu Congxing looked at the monster in the blood pool, his thoughts racing, but he finally took a step forward with determination!

No matter what, he could not leave his Little Junior Brother like this!

“Don’t come over!!”

Zhong Ming covered his eyes and retreated; his body had already reached the edge of the Cold Spring, trembling as he watched Gu Congxing approach step by step.

“Little Junior Brother, don’t be afraid.”

It was still the same gentle tone as before, but this time it carried an unshakeable determination.

“Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”

Hearing this, Zhong Ming lowered his scale-covered hands and stared unblinkingly at Gu Congxing’s face.

His lips trembled, and another stream of clear tears flowed down.

“Senior Brother…”

A warm body approached and pulled him into an embrace.

—Amidst the blood-red color, the black-scaled, horned monster and the silver-robed, jade-faced youth were tightly intertwined.

It was so jarring, yet so perfectly integrated.

Behind Zhong Ming, he was unaware that a long, pitch-black tail had grown from his coccyx; the tail swished in the water, inching closer to the silver-white hem of Gu Congxing’s robe.

“Junior Brother, let me channel your spiritual energy first. Your spiritual power is in disarray, and I fear it will endanger your foundation.”

Gu Congxing placed his hand on Zhong Ming’s back, slowly channeling his own spiritual energy into his spiritual veins.

“Follow my movements and circulate your spiritual power… Hm?!”

Gu Congxing’s voice was suddenly interrupted; a thick tail had actually wrapped around his legs! And it was rubbing up deep into his clothing!

What is this thing!

The chaotic, sticky dream resurfaced in his memory. Gu Congxing’s heart instantly went into a panic, and he subconsciously tried to take a step back to shake off the restraint of that tail!

However, before he could take a single step, two hard arms welded onto him like iron.

Leaving no path of retreat.

Gu Congxing looked up in astonishment, meeting those dark golden vertical pupils that had completely lost their clarity.

Those monster-like eyes widened, reflecting Gu Congxing’s pale face.

“Senior Brother, are you going to abandon me?”