After the Breakup, My Cold and Aloof Junior Disciple Went Mad - Chapter 1

“Foolishness, how can one offend a deity by being late…”

In the Celestial Realm, on Mount Qingluan, inside the Flying Immortal Fighting Que carriage. Two handsome immortals were brewing tea and playing a game of go.

Goddess Yunxiao placed a white stone, smiling as she glanced at Gu Shenzhi. “Is the Wuling Immortal truly seeking marriage with me because he has developed feelings for me?”

“I am all alone in the Celestial Realm. Entering into an immortal union with a handsome and wealthy Immortal like you is certainly no loss… But I am greedy; I want not just the person, but the heart as well.”

“Have you truly let go of Lu Nanfeng now?”

“Naturally, I have let go,” Gu Shenzhi said, leaning against the glazed table. His amorous peach-blossom eyes lifted slightly, resembling a cat; his gaze was as quiet and soft as clear tea in a white porcelain bowl. He smiled, “We have been old friends for many years; how could I lie to you?”

The Goddess shot him a look. “If we hadn’t known each other for so many years, I would have truly believed your nonsense. Someone who used to be invisible is now hanging around Mount Qingluan all day long just to climb the social ladder. Aren’t you afraid of losing the dignity of a Great Sage Peacock?”

Gu Shenzhi laughed, his tea-colored eyes shimmering, as if he were aware that his eyes were exceptionally beautiful.

He unfolded the peacock-feather fan he had been playing with for a long time, using it to half-cover the tip of his nose. He swayed the handle gently and said softly, “I was held up by matters at Mount Wanling a few days ago. Otherwise, how could I have missed our monthly game of go?”

The Goddess rolled her eyes, already immune to his beautiful face. She urged, “It is your turn to place a stone.”

Gu Shenzhi extended a slender, firm hand. His rounded fingertips clamped a black stone, making his skin appear as white as suet jade, with faint blue veins visible on the back of his hand.

However, that hand hovered for a long while without placing the stone. Instead, he took another black stone and, along with the previous one, placed them on the lower right of the star-patterned chessboard.

He sighed slightly, saying it was a pity. “I resign. Goddess Yunxiao’s chess skills are superior; my technique is inferior.”

Having won the game, Goddess Yunxiao did not look particularly happy—perhaps because she had won too many times recently to find it novel.

She hooked her jade finger, lifted the snow-patterned jade pot to pour tea for Gu Shenzhi, filled the cup to seven-tenths, and lifted the pot. “Do you think I cannot tell whether my chess skills are superb, or if you were intentionally letting me win?”

Gu Shenzhi said, “Naturally, it is the Goddess’s chess skills that are superb. Just the ‘pounce’ move earlier—it looked like throwing one’s life away, but in reality, it could counter-attack to capture those black stones. Such a lethal move is truly hard to defend against.”

The Goddess blinked, staring at the chessboard in confusion. “Wasn’t that the move I almost took back? Is it really that powerful?”

She glanced at the amused Gu Shenzhi and snapped, “You really know how to flatter people!”

Losing interest, the Goddess called for someone to clear the chessboard, leaving only one white stone behind. She tapped the table and said, “The Three Realms are peaceful now, and the Peacock clan is stable. If you truly wish to find an immortal partner, why not go to the mortal world to find him? Even if thousands of years have passed, with Lu Nanfeng’s cultivation, he should have reached the Great Perfection of the Tribulation Transcendence stage. If you add some assistance, his ascension will be just around the corner. Why avoid mentioning him?”

The corners of his mouth beneath the fan tightened, but within seconds, Gu Shenzhi returned to normal. He lowered his eyes to the tea cup and sighed, “Cedar matched with cloud dew—how many years ago was that way of drinking? Are you really so nostalgic?”

The Goddess glared at him. “You are usually not this picky, but today you are calling me nostalgic? Do you think I am being nosy?”

“Then I will speak plainly. If you still miss him, why not give it a try? Do you truly wish to wait until many years later, when Lu Nanfeng ascends with a new partner, the two of them affectionate and inseparable, achieving a celebrated story, and only then regret that you didn’t act sooner?”

Gu Shenzhi took a deep breath. He placed his fan back on his lap, his hands hidden under the table trembling slightly, yet he smiled as if he didn’t care. “If he truly is happy and loved, I will naturally be happy for him. Seeking you out to discuss matters today shows that I have let him go. Whether he ascends in the future or becomes a god, it has nothing to do with me.”

The Goddess still didn’t believe him and tossed the white stone in front of him.

Gu Shenzhi stared at the wobbling stone, paused for a moment, and said softly, “The reason for this is something I have never mentioned to you. Perhaps I should say it today… He will never remember me again.”

“What do you mean he will never remember you…” The Goddess was puzzled. She saw Gu Shenzhi hold up a sword-finger, with a snow-white Forget-Uorry Pearl hovering at his fingertip.

“You used a Forget-Uorry Pearl on him back then!?” The Goddess slapped the table and stood up, completely losing her composure. She scoffed, “I actually advised you to stay away from him back then, saying he was calculating and heartless. It seems I wronged him. I never expected you to be so ruthless without a sound. Do you know he almost turned the Three Realms upside down trying to find you back then…”

Gu Shenzhi’s hand gripping the fan stiffened, but he still said coldly, “That is why I said we are not compatible. He was so paranoid and impulsive. I only liked him back then because I felt he was a novelty in my youth, but looking back now, it was truly childish.”

The Goddess gazed at the mountain peak for a long time before slowly sitting back down. She muttered, “It sounds like you are much better than him.”

Gu Shenzhi’s unwavering demeanor was very convincing; for a moment, the Goddess couldn’t tell if he was telling the truth or lying. However, seeing how strange he had been acting recently, she advised him, “I know you also went to look for Immortal Jinghe. That man is the most gentle and pure; perhaps he might really be persuaded by you to muddle through and become your immortal partner. Although I don’t know what difficulties you are facing, marriage is not a trivial matter, and not just any immortal will do. You must deliberate carefully.”

The Goddess summoned a Golden Dou from her sleeve and handed it to Gu Shenzhi. “This Hunyuan Golden Dou is lent to you. Don’t worry about returning it soon; just use it first.”

This vessel had existed since the dawn of time; it was the Goddess’s prized magical treasure, one of the Nine Great Ancient Artifacts, capable of containing the heavens, the earth, and the four seas.

Such a supreme holy artifact would not be offered lightly unless absolutely necessary.

Gu Shenzhi didn’t even look at the Golden Dou, pushing it back intact. He sighed long and hard, “It seems that because I did not win the Goddess’s favor, you are using the Golden Dou to dismiss me.”

The Goddess glared at him. “Don’t spout nonsense. If you want to use it in the future, I might not be in such a good mood.”

A single Hunyuan Golden Dou could not solve his immediate problem. Since the Goddess’s stance was clear, Gu Shenzhi did not persist. He leaned on the glass table, pausing slightly as he stood up.

The Goddess asked, “Are you injured?”

Gu Shenzhi smiled. Gone was his composed appearance from just a moment ago. He hit his chest with the fan handle in an unconventional manner, blinked at the Goddess, and sighed, “I just suffered a broken heart.”

The Goddess said, “Oh, then I truly cannot help you.”

Everything was left at that. Gu Shenzhi returned a salute and stepped onto a cloud banner to fly away from the carriage. He had just flown a few dozen yards when he heard the Goddess calling out from behind.

Gu Shenzhi’s brows relaxed; he turned back with great grace and closed his peacock-feather fan in front of the Goddess, slowly revealing a bright and brilliant beauty.

Thin clouds covered the sun, and only a few rays of glow favored him, gently stroking his delicate eyebrows like soft hands. The whole person seemed to be emitting a pale golden light. Gu Shenzhi curled his eyes and said softly, “It is not too late to change your mind now.”

The Goddess bashfully lowered her head, her brows filled with shyness, and whispered, “It is the Si hour.”

Gu Shenzhi did not understand and asked softly, “What?”

The Goddess patted the carriage shaft and shouted loudly, ignoring etiquette: “Your new superior arrived today! You asked me to call you at the third quarter of the Chen hour to welcome him, and it is already the Si hour!”

Gu Shenzhi’s smile froze, and his beautiful face instantly turned pale. He immediately stepped on the cloud banner and headed straight for the Ascension Platform!

No matter how fast he steered the cloud banner, he was ultimately late.

Looking at the Ascension Platform from afar, it was already deserted. Only Immortal Du Jing, who was dancing with anxiety, rushed over. Gu Shenzhi felt his heart skip a beat.

That was the Lord of the Ascension Platform, Immortal Du Jing, his drinking buddy in the Celestial Realm. He was slapping his thigh and shouting: “Why did you come late? The God of Qingqiu waited here for a full quarter of an hour! He just left!”

Finished.

On the very first day of the new superior’s tenure, he had offended the person!

Gu Shenzhi tried to remedy the situation, busily dragging Du Jing onto the cloud banner. While taking a shortcut to the Jiyang Palace, he asked: “It is my fault for going to Mount Qingluan first, and I lost track of time. Is the God angry?”

The news that the God of Qingqiu was going to take over the Jiyang Palace had been heard a few days ago.

This legendary ancient God of War, the God of Qingqiu, had finally returned to his position after ten thousand years of tribulation, which was a sensational event.

Gu Shenzhi originally wanted to pay a visit, but he had been busy offering favors at Mount Qingluan recently, so he put this matter aside.

He had requested the task of welcoming the God from the God of Destiny and had carefully prepared a gift. He thought that with only the two of them, he would find a chance to show his face. That would be much better than going to his door and being one of many in a crowd, which would only be annoying.

But he never expected that what was supposed to be a relaxed and manageable task would be ruined by him.

Gu Shenzhi remained hopeful, praying that this God was broad-minded, kind, and lovely.

After all, he was an ancient True God; he wouldn’t really hold a grudge against a junior, right?

Du Jing nodded, then shook his head, keeping him in suspense: “It is very strange. The God was not angry at first.”

“But before he left, the God suddenly flew into a rage and kicked to pieces a row of Vajra stone steps.”

“…” Those were the hardest objects in the Three Realms. Gu Shenzhi’s heart thumped. He consoled himself—understandable, understandable. Waiting in vain for a long time would make even the best-tempered person angry.

“Actually, the God of Qingqiu’s temper was famously good in the past.” Du Jing kept him in suspense again.

Gu Shenzhi stared at him, frowning.

“But this time, just after returning from his tribulation, he went down to the mortal world and leveled a sect.”

Gu Shenzhi grabbed Du Jing’s arm and squeezed slightly: “Get to the point!”

Du Jing winced in pain, surrendered, and said: “I’ll say it, I’ll say it… I heard that the God had some connection with that sect before his tribulation. After the God ascended, he was invited by the current Sect Leader.”

“Logically, the two should be old friends from years ago. If there was any disagreement, he could have just ignored him. But the God went anyway. At first, nothing seemed wrong. After three rounds of drinks, I don’t know what the Sect Leader said to provoke the God’s anger. He hung the man in the main hall square and used a long whip to beat him until he was bloody and mutilated, tsk tsk…”

Gu Shenzhi swallowed hard.

Du Jing spoke as if he were intentionally torturing him, whispering with a distorted face: “There were three or forty cultivators above the Golden Core stage in that sect. When they saw their Sect Leader being humiliated, they stepped forward to fight with their lives. The God didn’t hold back either. With one lash of the whip, the Golden Cores of dozens of people were shattered. Even then, he wasn’t satisfied. The God threw the Sect Leader’s physical body into the cliff to feed the eagles and dragged his soul into the soul-refining furnace to torment it. That was the only way it was finished.”

Gu Shenzhi: “…”

Du Jing reached out to support the leg-weakened Gu Shenzhi and carefully urged: “You must be careful. Although you are both immortals, if you really let the God hold a grudge against you, with his thunderous methods, he definitely won’t make it easy for you.”

Gu Shenzhi nodded in agreement, feeling anxious in his heart: “The God kicked to pieces the Vajra stone steps before leaving. Was it just because I was late?”

Du Jing gave a dry laugh and glanced at Gu Shenzhi with some apology.

Gu Shenzhi felt a strange panic in his heart.

Du Jing said: “It was because the God asked, why has the welcoming Immortal Wuling not arrived yet?”

“And then I said, recently Immortal Wuling has been busy with matchmaking. At this moment, he is with a beauty, enjoying a beautiful scene, perhaps he has forgotten the time.”

Gu Shenzhi: “…If I am banished to the Execution Terrace, I will drag you down with me even if I die!”

Du Jing smiled and comforted him, and the two hurried to the Jiyang Palace.

In front of Jiyang Palace, the God had not yet arrived, but the place was already crowded with people, carriages, and horses, bustling and noisy.

Hundreds of immortals gathered from all over the Three Realms. People who were rarely seen in normal times were all gathered together to celebrate the God of Qingqiu’s ascension.

It was so lively; it didn’t look like the Celestial Realm at all. It was more like being in the food market, and not any quieter than the crowing of chickens and ducks.

Gu Shenzhi sighed. As expected of an ancient God; if it weren’t for welcoming him, would the Jiyang Palace, a place that no one likes and is out of the way, ever have so many immortals visit?

This was good, though; it made it easy for him to fish in troubled waters.

Gu Shenzhi quietly put away his cloud banner and landed on the outskirts without making a sound. Just as he was about to sneak in, he was pulled by Du Jing’s arm and told to look outside.

Not far away, three or five vibrant fairy maidens stood a few steps away, smiling and squeezing through the crowd to call Gu Shenzhi. They even threw a blooming Zhao powder peony to him.

Gu Shenzhi caught it, blinked at the fairy maidens, tucked it properly into his sleeve, causing a series of gasps, and then retreated gracefully.

Du Jing curled his lip. “Still have the leisure to flirt?”

Gu Shenzhi scoffed: “You had better pray that I am safe and sound; otherwise, next month… you won’t have any Drunken Immortal wine to drink for the second half of the year!”

Du Jing acted as if he had been struck by lightning: “You are all smiles for the fairy maidens, yet you treat me like this. What a heartless man.”

“My Heavenly Venerable, why are you here?!” the God of Destiny interrupted them with a low roar, grabbed Gu Shenzhi, and glared at him with his two bean-sized eyes: “Aren’t you supposed to be welcoming the God! Where is the God!?”

Gu Shenzhi touched his nose and coughed: “When I went over, the God had already… set off.”

The God of Destiny was puzzled: “That’s not right. It was agreed that we would welcome him at the Si hour. It is already a quarter past the Si hour. Even if he took the slowest cloud carriage, he should have arrived by now.”

Gu Shenzhi guiltily moved a step away, only to be grabbed by the reacting God of Destiny. The God of Destiny’s face turned purple with anger: “Are you late!”

Immortal Du Jing spoke for him: “Perhaps the God got lost…”

The God of Destiny glared at him like he was looking at an idiot, then glared at Gu Shenzhi, as if telling him to stay away from the idiot. “The God has a perverse temper. Aren’t you afraid of being dragged away and whipped?”

Gu Shenzhi was surprised: “Isn’t this a secret? How do you know?”

The God of Destiny scoffed: “Secret my foot, it has already spread throughout the Celestial Realm. Your focus is either on the Goddess or on the mansions of some other immortal or fairy maiden. When would you have time to learn about the current situation? After all these years, I never realized you were so desperate to get married, with your marriage luck so active recently.”

Gu Shenzhi felt unhappy, but he truly had no grounds to argue, so he threatened the God of Destiny: “If you have the leisure to scold me, you might as well help me think of how to explain it. Besides the new God, we two are the only ones in charge of Jiyang Palace. If I am punished, all the tasks will fall on your head. Don’t tell me you are counting on the God to do the work for you?”

Du Jing patted the bitter-looking God of Destiny. The matter had reached this point, and it was useless to say more; they could only wait until the God arrived to discuss it.

Du Jing’s thinking jumped; he hurriedly grabbed Gu Shenzhi and said, “I heard that the God is not married either, but you must not think about being close to the water and getting the moon first. Don’t lose your life because you covet the God’s beauty.”

Gu Shenzhi stared at him like he was looking at an idiot. “The rumors say the God is comparable to Asura. Who would still risk their life to throw themselves at him?”

Du Jing pointed his mouth, signaling him to look behind him.

Behind them were several strange fairy maidens and immortal envoys, all of them beautiful in appearance, elegant in demeanor, and wearing gorgeous, elaborate clothing—at a glance, one could tell they were deliberately dressed up, standing out among the plain-clothed immortals.

“These are the ones who aren’t afraid of death. They are immortals from Penglai Island. I heard that the God is not married yet, so they came one after another to woo and fawn over him. Now that the God is in charge of Jiyang Palace and the spiritual sources of the four seas, if you can attach yourself to him, who would care about the little bit of merit offered by the mortal world every year?”

Du Jing scanned the surroundings with sharp eyes, then let his gaze fall back on Gu Shenzhi’s face. He said with seventy percent teasing and thirty percent sighing: “But I think no matter how they dress up, they are not as beautiful as you, the Peacock Immortal.”

The God of Destiny laughed: “But he offended the God. At that time, beauties will become skeletons. Who cares if you are a peacock or a phoenix?”

Gu Shenzhi’s mouth twitched, and just as he was about to curse back, he heard a clear, piercing sound of a sword coming from afar. Everyone looked up.

In the high sky, a person was wearing a dark gold-gilded robe, with nine white tails fluttering freely behind him.

He stepped on a Qingming sword and descended from the sky. His silver-moon boots touched the ground, and the divine sword immediately shifted its edge. At that moment, silver light flowed, stirring up a gale that prevented the immortals from standing firm, making their jewelry and ornaments clink.

Until the sword light broke through the clouds and left, the world fell into silence.

The immortals dared not raise their heads. With their messy hairstyles caused by the wind, they bowed and shouted in unison: “Greetings, God!”

Why did the God of Qingqiu arrive by flying on a sword? Didn’t he use a whip?

Taking advantage of others not paying attention, Gu Shenzhi curiously raised his eyes and happened to crash into the God’s sharp eyes.

Those green eyes, like malachite, were like a beast hunting, instantly locking onto Gu Shenzhi, the bottom of his eyes full of unconcealed aggression and sharpness.

That captivating gaze seemed to linger on him, or perhaps it was just a casual sweep, but it made Gu Shenzhi lose his focus…

Something in his heart exploded, and it burned so hot that he dared not breathe.