Chapter 98: Long Xi's First Attempt at Deduction

Gu Jiangming looked at the "as expected of you" and "this is actually quite normal" expressions already revealed on Jiu Jiu's face.

He believed he had room for explanation.

Because Gu Jiangming truly did not recognize the woman before him.

However.

【Mie Changsheng】 is a very "bizarre" thing; who knows if the other party has had contact with his past incarnations or perhaps a deeper level of acquaintance.

Therefore, Gu Jiangming now dares not fully guarantee that "he" and the other party are not acquainted.

Just like Princess Long Xi, who has a nine-life bond with him; that nine-life bond was not something Gu Jiangming could subjectively control, yet once this wondrous fate was connected, the tenth-life Gu Jiangming and Long Xi had a new intersection.

Gu Jiangming cannot speak too definitively, but he also cannot narrow his own path; after thinking it over, he still asked, "Who is it that you are looking for, Miss?"

It might not be him she is looking for, but rather Jiu Jiu.

This is the principle of "to take, one must first give."

Murong Lan found it hard to imagine how much grief her eldest brother must have felt when he obtained the memories of their father's remains and those almost completely dissipated cultivation powers through the method of 【Heavenly Emperor Solitude】.

Even though it has its merits and unique aspects, Gu Jiangming has his own Dao.

Murong Lan was, after all, taking a chance, because she no longer had any other options.

【You have obtained the original copy of "Heavenly Emperor Solitude".】

The rare copy of 【Heavenly Emperor Solitude】 was the thing that could best represent Murong Lan's sincerity.

But what about afterwards?

"What do you want?" Gu Jiangming asked with a half-smile; he was not a meddlesome person, nor was he willing to get involved in everything.

Gu Jiangming narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "My surname is Gu."

Although this possibility was extremely slim.

"I have no value worth utilizing; from head to toe, only this cultivation technique has the most value," Murong Lan said with a clear train of thought: "Since I am asking for help from someone, this is my respect for the senior."

What she never expected was that her father even wanted to let demonic creatures study 【Heavenly Emperor Solitude】, so that he could transfer it onto the demons and attain longevity.

She had experienced many, many changes in these days, from being Jin'an Princess to a Northern Wei "rebel" hunted by the Pei.

That young woman entered the room, looked over the somewhat strange designs in the courtyard, and then waved her hand toward Gu Jiangming, saying, "I am Murong Lan; I do not know how to address you, Senior."

But Gu Jiangming thought it over repeatedly and soon gave his answer, "I will not take you as a student."

In the short term, there should be no worries.

Although there had long been a plan for the construction of Mount Shu, it had not yet officially entered the preparation stage.

Her mother was still trapped in the palace, and with her current abilities, she was clearly powerless to rescue her, but the Pei still needed her mother's nominal reputation to control the Imperial Court.

As for Long Xi, if someone who knew her could still be alive today, they would at least be an old monster starting at ten thousand years of age.

Gu Jiangming was the strongest person she had ever seen in her memory of the current world.

Merely driving demonic creatures to wantonly devour the common people was already an act too numerous to record.

"I am here to look for you." She spoke very straightforwardly.

"I want to become your apprentice," Murong Lan said, getting straight to the point.

If not for 【Heavenly Emperor Solitude】, Murong Lan might never have realized the true face of this father of hers.

One by one, her once-close bosom friends, one by one, the officials and servants who had once been respectful and servile to her, and those palace maids and attendants who had once cared for her meticulously in the palace.

"This is my family's unique art," Murong Lan maintained unprecedented calmness, "If Senior has heard of it, you should recognize it."

Gu Jiangming took "Heavenly Emperor Solitude" and immediately put it down; this cultivation technique, which the Hundred Schools pursued at the cost of their lives, appeared unworthy of mention in his eyes.

He did not say his full name, only paused and added, "What is your purpose in coming to find me, Miss Murong?"

Murong is the surname of the Northern Wei Imperial Family.

At this moment, she understood more clearly that sincerity is more important than any value.

Gu Jiangming's expression was unpleasant; she really was looking for him. Whose reincarnation was this? He thought about it, but in the end, he still could not recognize her.

Even the witch poison on her eldest brother was caused by him.

Once these words were spoken, Jiu Jiu revealed a look of realization and gestured for her to enter the courtyard.

As the voice fell, Murong Lan took out a wrapped object from her bosom; judging by the shape, it looked like an ancient book.

Sure enough, a cultivation technique landed in Gu Jiangming's hands.

Overnight, it was as if they had all changed their faces.

The other party's request to become an apprentice caught Gu Jiangming off guard.

Gu Jiangming was slightly stunned.

Although 【Mie Changsheng】 prompted that this was a series of events, Gu Jiangming had the authority to refuse to participate in it.

Murong Lan was quite surprised; she had not expected Gu Jiangming to have no interest in this cultivation technique.

Once this surname came out, the atmosphere became subtle.

Whether it was establishing the line of master and apprentice or truly learning his skills, she was confident she could rescue her mother.

But Gu Jiangming's "I will not take you" shattered all the plans Murong Lan had made; the hope she had placed in this was completely broken.

Especially when she brought out 【Heavenly Emperor Solitude】, Murong Lan felt that no one could resist such a temptation.

That was a supreme treasure capable of leaving one's legacy to the next generation.

"Why?" Murong Lan moved her lips slightly, seemingly not yet awake from this rejection.

Gu Jiangming met Murong Lan's vacant eyes directly and said, "Your intentions are impure; becoming an apprentice is to ask for my help, not to sincerely seek instruction."

"Do you dare say that after becoming an apprentice, you will obey your master's orders without having other thoughts?"

"You brought out 'Heavenly Emperor Solitude' and think this is your sincerity, but in my eyes, it looks more like a transaction."

"If I take this technique and teach you to achieve success, you will also think it is only natural, because I accepted your gift."

"What maintains this master-apprentice relationship is not shared aspirations, but a relationship of interests."

"This is the difference."

Gu Jiangming said indifferently: "Therefore, Miss Murong, please return."

"The affairs of the world are not necessarily all pursued for profit."

"Sincerity does not necessarily require such things to be manifested."

Murong Lan bowed slightly, "I have been instructed."

【In the second stage of the event, you chose to autonomously terminate the further progress of the event.】

【But you changed the life experience of Murong Lan. Your pointers benefited her greatly, and her way of conducting herself has undergone slight changes.】

【Her abilities have also been slightly improved as a result.】

Gu Jiangming stood with his hands behind his back.

Matters like taking on a disciple depend first on affinity, second on sincerity, and third on intent.

He teaches without discrimination regarding background, but that does not mean he does not use other aspects as a reference.

Gu Jiangming does not like master-disciple relationships that are deliberately "designed" or "bound." Letting things take their natural course, taking them in when he wants to—that is the true spirit.

Jiu Jiu took an extra look at Gu Jiangming.

Ever since Long Xi moved in, the relationship between her and Gu Jiangming had entered an inexplicably dull period.

It was not that Jiu Jiu did not like Gu Jiangming anymore, but rather that she had some opinions in her heart seeing him not doing proper work all day long.

Seeing him today, Gu Jiangming's demeanor remained the same.

This was the way Gu Jiangming should be in Jiu Jiu's mind.

However, Jiu Jiu had a new idea.

She was very desperate to gain the recognition of the Shushan Disciple; for Jiu Jiu, this was about to become a knot in her heart.

Almost every late night, Jiu Jiu could recall the indignant expressions of the many Shushan Disciples.

No matter how outstanding she performed, the Shushan Disciples only recognized Gu Jiangming as their master.

And they all believed that it was her existence that led to the Shushan catastrophe, triggering the disaster of their Master's death.

Since Gu Jiangming was now playing the "bad cop," then Jiu Jiu might as well play the "good cop."

At this moment, the young girl's heart was in turmoil; offering a helping hand was just a small effort for her, but for the other party, it was a glimmer of hope amidst many blows.

Her reaching out to save her—this favor was like sending charcoal in snowy weather.

In the future, Shushan would surely become famous, and Jiu Jiu naturally had to consider herself and accumulate connections for her.

Only then could she appear well-matched and not be subject to the prejudice of the Shushan Disciples.

Jiu Jiu took a deep breath; this time she changed the past in the Reincarnation, and every choice she made was one less detour.

I really don't know what these so-called love rivals have to fight me with.

The sleeping Long Xi heard the voice of 【Mie Changsheng】 in her mind once again.

Long Xi did not have a deep understanding of 【Mie Changsheng】; she only knew that every time she was fast asleep, 【Mie Changsheng】 would wake her up.

And ever since the day she had 【Mie Changsheng】, Long Xi had never carefully touched this thing.

She had never done any careful research.

But perhaps because she had slept for too long, she had some idle curiosity.

Long Xi clicked on the interface of 【Mie Changsheng】 for the first time.

A large amount of Custody records and information popped up. Due to the sheer volume of information, Long Xi had to scan through them one by one.

However, most of the content was just like a diary.

It showed herself sleeping on certain days. Long Xi counted the days and discovered that she had been lazy and sleeping for about two-thirds of the time.

Do I really like sleeping in that much?

Although sleeping in is indeed quite comfortable.

And looking closely, this thing called 【Mie Changsheng】 seemed to be just a tool for daily recording.

But before long, a prompt sounded.

【Congratulations on triggering the official Reincarnation plot. Starting from today, you will have 3/3 opportunities every day to perform individual information deductions in different directions. (1 piece of useful information represents 1 opportunity.)】

【Please perform today's 3/3 information deduction directions.】

【Which direction do you decide to start your information deduction from?】

【1: Gu Jiangming】, 【2: Jiu Jiu】, 【3: Wang Qinghe】.

A total of three options appeared in front of Long Xi.

Long Xi thought it over carefully and chose the first option; Long Xi had no interest in the latter two people.

Jiu Jiu was a wicked woman, very fierce.

And Wang Qinghe was Gu Jiangming's love interest from ten thousand years ago, who treated her quite well, so Long Xi did not have such great hostility toward Wang Qinghe, but she did not want to learn about her either.

【You set out to deduce the "past and present life" of Gu Jiangming. He is your affinity of ten lifetimes, and also the only Believer you have had since becoming a god.】

【The faith between you has spanned ten thousand years without changing.】

【And the Gu Jiangming of this lifetime—he is the lifelong love of Jiu Jiu, who was Jingwei in a past life and is a Guhuoniao in this life.】

【Regarding Gu Jiangming, you have three opportunities to develop deduction information.】

【What direction do you want to perform the deduction from?】

【1: With your offspring.】

【2: With your affinity.】

【3: Attitude toward you.】

Long Xi looked at these three options blankly.

With... with your offspring?

The pure and flawless Long Xi felt her heart thumping for the first time; she felt a strange itch in her heart, yet she could not articulate the source of this emotion.

"Gu Jiangming is indeed the Believer destined for me by fate."

Driven by interest.

Long Xi clicked the first option.

【You have chosen to view information regarding the offspring born after you and Gu Jiangming formed a karmic bond.】

【In one of your past lives, you and Gu Jiangming shared a karmic marriage.】

【Therefore, when you see him, you will feel an inexplicable sense of familiarity.】

【That is the heart-fluttering sensation brought about by tens of thousands of backward glances.】

【At that time, you were of the imperial bloodline when the Dragon Race was at its peak and served as the Heavenly Lord.】

【And he was a mortal newly born into Heaven and Earth.】

【Dragon Aspect Heart-Birth is a technique you tailored specifically for him; when the required conditions are met, a mortal can also transform into a dragon, but after countless generations of transmission and the intentional dilution by the Dragon Race, it has undergone immense changes through the succession of generations.】

【As for the stories of the past, you must explore them yourself.】

【As for the offspring you bore with Gu Jiangming, named Long Jiuyou, it was the culprit behind the fourth Great Calamity of Heaven and Earth, causing the Dragon Race, then at its zenith, to perish and cease to be the Heavenly Lord.】

【The Human Race regards it as a totem of faith and worships it to this day; later emperors all claim to be descendants of the dragon, wearing dragon robes of intertwined red and black, and the divine dragon they acknowledge is him.】

Long Xi saw that she had unlocked a character card.

An heroic man who shared a seventy-percent resemblance with her and Gu Jiangming transformed into a standing portrait.

【You have used up 1 opportunity for information deduction.】

Long Xi was slightly stunned, looking at the heroic figure before her who looked so much like herself.

Beside him were written the three characters 【Long Jiuyou】.

Is this... the son of me and Gu Jiangming?

Long Xi now felt a sense of wanting more, because the hidden information here was clearly vast, yet she seemed unable to explore it all at once.

Previously, she had not taken 【Mie Changsheng】 to heart, but this time, Long Xi realized the power of 【Mie Changsheng】; it could actually explore the stories that had occurred in her past lives.

Long Xi naturally had a strong desire to know about the past, especially since it seemed there were unknown stories hidden between her and Gu Jiangming, which made Long Xi even more curious.

Unfortunately, the content of 【Mie Changsheng】 regarding this information had dimmed.

Then let's look at the fate between Gu Jiangming and herself, as well as his attitude toward her.

【Gu Jiangming has a total of seventeen lifetimes of fate with you.】

【You have a total of two lifetimes of fate with him.】

【You have used up 2 opportunities for information deduction.】

Long Xi fell into deep thought.

Does the meaning of this information imply that Gu Jiangming has lived seventeen lives, while she has actually only lived two, which is what led to such a large discrepancy?

For now, this is the only way to explain it.

At this moment, Long Xi found 【Mie Changsheng】 hard to put down; once she started researching, she became a bit addicted, captivated by the experience.

She immediately clicked on the next information deduction.

【Gu Jiangming's current attitude toward you is that of a cute, dim-witted beauty; he thinks you look a bit silly, and although he views you as a friend, he has no deeper interest in you.】

Seeing this line of text, Long Xi clenched her fists tightly.

Long Xi had never experienced what it meant to be insulted before, but this line of text right now was an insult to her.

I... I... I am going to be angry.

【Is there any way to make Gu Jiangming change his attitude?】

【Please explore it yourself.】

【Is there any way for me to know what happened in the past? Or to make Gu Jiangming remember these past experiences?】

【Please explore it yourself.】

【Between me and Jiu Jiu, who is more beautiful?】

【Please explore it yourself.】

Suddenly, a piece of information popped up.

【Tonight... Jiu Jiu has decided to go out temporarily due to some trivial matters; you can make Gu Jiangming change his attitude toward you through certain actions.】

【You have observed that Gu Jiangming's cultivation has not been smooth these past few days; you might be able to provide him with some help from the perspective of cultivation, thereby changing the current situation.】

(End of this chapter)