ROAR!

A deafening howl seemed to resonate in Xu Qi An’s very soul.

His entire body trembled as he turned around with sudden inspiration, only to see a monster that left him utterly dumbfounded.

This creature’s body blocked out the sky and sun. Its form defied simple description, for its structure was far too complex and terrifying.

It was an enormous mass of flesh, with tendons protruding and muscles bulging, like a mountain formed entirely of living tissue.

The “mountain” of muscle was dotted with rows of air holes that spewed greenish-black mist, which coiled up into the sky, forming dark green clouds.

At the base of the flesh mountain flowed viscous shadows.

Within those shadows, countless creatures mated frantically, and passionately, their minds consumed only by reproduction and multiplication…

Behind the flesh mountain followed a horde of beast-like creatures that moved like walking corpses.

The reason Xu Qi An could distinguish the mountain’s “front” from its “back” was because it possessed a pair of eyes filled with wisdom—eyes that seemed capable of piercing through sun, moon, mountains, and rivers, capable of seeing through the endless flow of ancient times.

The Gu God!

Without needing confirmation, Xu Qi An naturally knew its name.

The only divine beast to survive from ancient times, one of the current world’s Supreme Realm experts, an ancient behemoth that had slumbered in the Extreme Abyss for countless ages.

“Why am I seeing the legendary Gu God…”

As this doubt flashed through Xu Qi An’s mind, he saw vast swathes of writhing shadows in those wisdom-filled eyes.

Xu Qi An turned to look…

“ROAR!”

Another clear and resonant howl rang out. He saw the azure sky and the vast earth. He witnessed true dragons soaring through the heavens; and saw phoenix birds streaking across the sky, their paths traced by burning sunset clouds.

He saw one-eyed giants wandering across the boundless earth, a setting sun at their backs.

He saw writhing tentacles reaching out of the turbulent ocean, blocking out the sky and sun.

He saw a black divine turtle wrapped in the coils of a giant serpent.

He saw a crimson one-eyed serpent whose open eye brought day and closed eye brought night.

He saw giants with twelve pairs of arms; black-scaled serpents with nine heads; golden lions with three tails; spherical flesh masses covered in eyes and tentacles; and majestic birds gleaming with five-colored divine light…

The images shattered, and endless darkness rushed in.

Xu Qi An’s eyes suddenly snapped open to see his familiar meditation room with its simple furnishings. This gave him an immense sense of security, helping him return to reality.

“Ancient divine beasts?”

“What I saw were the divine beasts of ancient times…”

“Why did I see Them, who should have been erased from the river of time long ago?”

Recalling the scenes he had just witnessed, Xu Qi An felt his heart pounding, nearly overcome by fear.

Only then did he realize his back was soaked with sweat.

“How terrifying. Each ancient divine beast was incomprehensibly frightening. It’s impossible to imagine what kind of era that was.”

He rose and went to the tea table, poured himself a cup of hot water, and took a few absent-minded sips. It took quite a while before he felt truly “alive” again, finally shaking off that fear.

After calming down, he began analyzing the origin of those memory fragments.

He concluded that “they belonged to the Gu God.”

“The only thing connecting me to the Gu God is the Seven Fatal Gu. So the question is, why does the Seven Fatal Gu contain memory fragments of the Gu God?”

“As the only treasure in the current world that combines seven types of Gu arts, the Seven Fatal Gu indeed harbors more secrets.”

Xu Qi An frowned deeply. In this state of confusion, he couldn’t help but think back to when he was still a novice.

“Following my usual style, when encountering such puzzling matters, I would immediately go find Lord Wei and dump the headache-inducing problems on him.”

Xu Qi An began to laugh, but as he laughed, he fell silent.

He rubbed his face, pushed aside the distracting thoughts, and examined the upgraded Seven Fatal Gu.

First was the Heaven Gu, which showed no changes. It could still predict weather, sense the changes of the twenty-four solar terms, and maintain its core ability of “Moving Stars and Changing Constellations.”

As for the ability to peek into heaven’s mysteries and briefly foresee the future, the Seven Fatal Gu had not yet mastered these skills due to their high level.

The Shadow Gu’s two abilities—Shadow Jump and Shadow Stealth—had received massive improvements.

Shadow Jump’s range increased to three hundred meters in radius and no longer had a “buffer” period. Previously, when Xu Qi An performed Shadow Jump, there was a split-second delay (as his body dissolved like a shadow).

Shadow Stealth became faster and more concealed, functioning like a true movement technique, and could now carry one additional person.

Furthermore, it gained a third ability: Shadow Possession!

Xu Qi An could now attach himself to a target’s shadow for up to two hours.

However, he needed to be wary as the previous two side effects had intensified, and a third was added:

He must perform “Shadow Possession” for a quarter-hour each day.

“That’s manageable. I could hide under a woman’s skirt… The Seven Fatal Gu is truly perverted,” Xu Qi An complained.

The Power Gu’s improvement came in the form of a self-healing ability.

For the current Xu Qi An, this self-healing ability was completely redundant.

The Heart Gu’s improvements came in two aspects:

First, its influence over intelligent beings deepened; second, it could control a greater number of low-intelligence beasts.

The first could be used to influence enemies, just as the Begging for Joy Incense had dealt with the Great Peace Blade.

The second was suitable for warfare, allowing one person to command a small army.

However, it was particularly noteworthy that the host’s fondness for animals would deepen, and if unable to control himself well, might develop disturbing thoughts like “maybe I should leave offspring with it.”

The Poison Gu’s change meant that at will, he could transform his saliva, blood, hair, and other bodily materials into deadly poisons, replicating any poison he had ever tasted.

For instance, if Xu Qi An had previously consumed a certain medicinal poison, he could transform his hair or nails into that poison, which could be used to save lives when necessary through medicine.

Or, if he had tasted a poison that caused full-body numbness, he could transform his saliva into that poison and transfer it to the State Preceptor’s body while kissing her, allowing him to have his way.

Of course, unless the Gu God personally appeared, no poison in the world could affect the State Preceptor.

The side effect was that his daily craving for poison deepened and became more selective. If he couldn’t eat a variety of poisons within half a month, he would become irritable.

The Passion Gu could now split into eighteen sub-Gu, and its aphrodisiac gas effects grew stronger. If Xu Qi An wished, he could make those around him engage in group activities at any time or place.

Additionally, the Passion Gu gained two new abilities:

First, increased bedroom stamina.

Second, enhanced personal charm.

The first was redundant for Xu Qi An as a martial artist.

The second functioned as a lower-grade version of enchantment.

The side effect was that in addition to the original perversion, it added a requirement to engage in bedroom activities once every half month. Of course, with Xu Qi An’s current Third-Rank cultivation, he could suppress this side effect.

He just didn’t need to.

Finally, there was the Corpse Gu.

Its sub-Gu increased from four to eight, and instead of just preserving the skills from life, it could now retain parts of the deceased’s residual soul, making the puppets more animated and stronger in battle.

The intensified side effects could be summarized in one sentence:

Cannot look at naked corpses! Cannot look at naked corpses! Cannot look at naked corpses!

Important things must be said thrice.

“The Corpse Gu’s side effects completely contradict my hobby of dissecting corpses… I should be thankful I hadn’t inherited the Seven Fatal Gu during the Imperial Consort Fu case…”

Otherwise, neither Huang Xiao Rou nor Imperial Consort Fu would have escaped.

The Corpse Gu was the most perverted, followed by the Heart Gu… Xu Qi An silently complained.

His expression suddenly changed as he thought of a question:

Why did he think the Corpse Gu was more perverted than the Heart Gu? Was bestiality more acceptable than necrophilia? Was this thought pattern influenced by the Heart Gu?

Xu Qi An’s mouth twitched violently.

At this moment, the meditation room’s latticed door opened from outside, and the State Preceptor entered, carrying her horse-tail whisk as she crossed the threshold.

“I sensed you had awakened, and your qi seemed unusual earlier. Did something happen?”

She asked with genuine concern.

Xu Qi An gently flared his nostrils, catching the scent of powder and subtle perfume.

Looking more carefully, he saw that Luo Yu Heng had applied light makeup, making herself even more beautiful.

She must have dressed up for me to see. This personality of Luo Yu Heng is truly that of a normal woman… Just as Xu Qi An wanted to offer some compliments, he was suddenly startled. In his pupils, Luo Yu Heng’s graceful figure appeared as a cat-eared girl.

A mature, dignified cat-eared girl.

…Xu Qi An closed his eyes and reopened them. The cat-girl was gone, replaced by a centaur—the upper body was the ethereally beautiful State Preceptor in her feather robes with her horse-tail whisk, while the lower body was that of a horse.

“SLAP!”

Xu Qi An gave himself a forceful slap across the face.

Luo Yu Heng frowned slightly:

“What are you doing?”

Resetting my mate selection criteria and worldview… Xu Qi An silently exhaled and said:

“It’s nothing, State Preceptor, please don’t worry.”

He immediately understood that it was Luo Yu Heng’s strange charm, wrapped in karmic flames, that made him see new images of her beyond the “kind aunt” and other familiar personas.

Monster girls!

This new image was influenced by the Heart Gu. After making certain compromises and combining them with his previous life experiences, he created an image that could satisfy the Heart Gu’s yearning for beasts while still being somewhat acceptable to himself.

The State Preceptor is truly a mirror that reveals my perversion… Xu Qi An forcefully suppressed his wayward thoughts and said:

“State Preceptor, I need to return to the manor.”

Luo Yu Heng hesitated for a moment before saying softly:

“If it’s not urgent, stay at Lingbao Temple until dusk.”

“Tomorrow is ‘Evil’ among the seven emotions, the most difficult negative emotion to control.”

“To be safe, we won’t dual cultivate tomorrow. I’ll set up a seal and spend tomorrow in sleep.”

“So…”

Xu Qi An understood. She meant to make up for tomorrow’s dual cultivation now.

After an intense battle, at its most passionate moment, Xu Qi An held her smooth, firm long legs, his lower abdomen pressed tightly against Luo Yu Heng’s round bottom, and said:

“State Preceptor, could you meow for me?”

“State Preceptor, barking would work too.”

“State Preceptor, do you know how horses neigh? State Preceptor, why are you stabbing me with your sword…”

…

Less than half an hour after the morning court session ended, any official in the capital with decent connections knew about the day’s controversy.

Prime Minister Wang’s future son-in-law, the Xu family’s second son Xu Xin Nian, had acted as the vanguard for the “donation policy,” berating the officials in the Golden Hall and criticizing the nobility. He had earnestly begged His Majesty to adopt his strategy of calling for donations.

According to officials who had been standing outside on the palace steps, Second Young Master Xu had verbally sparred with the officials, leaving all the noble purple-robed ministers speechless.

Though Second Young Master Xu had won the war of words, he ultimately couldn’t fight against the greater tide. Under the fierce opposition of the nobility and officials, the morning court ended in what was nearly a farce.

In an instant, Xu Ci Jiu became the talk of the town, the center of all gossip.

“We’d heard His Majesty was going to call for donations. The treasury is empty, so naturally, it should be filled with taxes. How could there be any reason for us to give away our wealth?”

“Sigh, His Majesty is young and impetuous, doing things without following proper rules.”

“You don’t know the half of it. This call for donations was Xu Xin Nian’s idea. His Majesty initially didn’t agree, but that silver-tongued devil described the plan so grandly that His Majesty came to believe all our disasters could be solved if we just donated some silver.”

“Shameless, absolutely shameless! This Xu Xin Nian truly stops at nothing for advancement. Why doesn’t he give away his family fortune? Our salaries are limited, barely enough to feed ourselves.”

“Hmph, just another bureaucratic villain.”

“More than a villain—he’s nothing but a pretty boy. If not for that feminine face of his seducing the Prime Minister’s daughter, he’d be nothing at all.”

Forced donations were unwelcome and even despised by any group in any era.

Loyal officials who would passionately serve the country and people were always the minority.

Additionally, since Xu Xin Nian was to marry the current Prime Minister’s daughter and had bright prospects, he had already attracted much jealousy. He inevitably became the target of curses and contempt from all levels of officialdom.

At the Hanlin Academy.

At the center of the storm, Xu Xin Nian ignored all the outside gossip and focused on drafting an announcement.

“Ci Jiu.”

Several Imperial Scholars entered the hall and said indignantly:

“The cursing outside has reached a fever pitch. These muddleheaded fools have read the classics in vain.”

“Hmph, they’re too used to their luxurious lives to care whether common people live or die.”

The Hanlin Academy was the purest of the pure officials, always looking down on ordinary officials.

If ordinary officials were mud, they considered themselves lotus flowers.

Their daily arrogance made them rather unlikeable.

But they were indeed purer than ordinary officials, their thoughts more enlightened, their minds not yet polluted by the great dye vat of officialdom.

Second Young Master Xu thought for a moment, took out a sheet of paper, and wrote:

“Six hundred years of nurturing scholars,

Yet how have all civil and military men fled?”

The Imperial Scholars’ eyes lit up as they clapped and praised: “Brilliant!”

At this moment, the rigid and serious Hanlin Academy Grand Scholar Ma Xiu Wen walked in with his hands behind his back, his face expressionless.

“Teacher!”

Xu Xin Nian and the Imperial Scholars bowed in greeting.

Ma Xiu Wen’s personality was inflexible, and he rarely showed expression, making his face appear stiff. He coldly “hmmed” and said:

“Xu Ci Jiu, come to my hall.”

With that, he turned and left.

The Imperial Scholars gave Xu Xin Nian a “good luck” look.

Xu Xin Nian smiled bitterly, his scalp unusually tingly.

He cupped his hands to his colleagues and quickly left for Ma Xiu Wen’s hall.

Ma Xiu Wen sat behind his desk, holding a brightly glazed blue-and-white teacup, his eyes studying Xu Xin Nian through the rising steam.

“Pour yourself some tea!”

He said flatly.

Xu Xin Nian shook his head: “My stomach is full of tea already.”

Ma Xiu Wen didn’t force the issue. After a long silence, he suddenly asked:

“Prime Minister Wang’s idea?”

Xu Xin Nian shook his head: “It was my idea. The Prime Minister didn’t know about it initially. Only after His Majesty adopted my strategy did I inform him.”

Ma Xiu Wen understood, “I knew it. How could Prime Minister Wang let you do something that would incur such public wrath? Cutting off someone’s wealth is like killing their parents. Taking people’s money isn’t much better.”

He took a sip of hot tea and continued:

“Even His Majesty would find it difficult to take money from their purses, let alone you.”

“You haven’t even left the Hanlin Academy yet, and your reputation is already ruined. The goodwill you earned that day when you joined the officials in denouncing Prince Huai at the palace gate has been destroyed by this affair.”

Xu Xin Nian replied neither humbly nor proudly: “True loyal officials won’t resent or hate me for this.”

As the Hanlin Academy’s Grand Scholar, Ma Xiu Wen was responsible for teaching young officials, and Xu Xin Nian was considered his student.

Grand Scholar Ma shook his head: “One must eventually go with the flow. I’ll be frank with you—this plan won’t work.”

He paused, then said gravely: “I just took a walk outside. Those cursing you are everywhere, and those who envy you are even more eager to deal with you. Prepare yourself for impeachment tomorrow.”

Xu Xin Nian bowed: “Thank you for the warning, Teacher.”

Ma Xiu Wen waved his hand: “Go.”

When Xu Xin Nian returned to the work hall, several friendly Imperial Scholars came over and said:

“Ci Jiu, let’s go drink at the pleasure district after work, forget about these vexing matters.”

Officials going to the pleasure district together after work was normal, a common occurrence.

Xu Xin Nian’s first instinct was to refuse, but then he heard a colleague say:

“It’s cold, can’t even hold a brush. We need the courtesans’ bosoms to warm us up.”

Having not touched a woman for several months, Xu Ci Jiu thought for a moment and agreed, saying:

“But I have matters at home tonight, I need to return before dusk. I won’t be staying overnight at the pleasure district.”

…

Dusk!

Using the Shadow Gu’s mysterious abilities, Xu Qi An left Lingbao Temple and walked toward the Xu Manor among the bustling crowds.

No matter how severe the disasters were in other regions, the capital—especially the inner city and imperial city—was always filled with song and dance, its people wealthy and peaceful.

“This makes it so easy to be blind to reality!”

He sighed as he walked, looking around at the street stalls.

Soon, he found his target: an old man selling green tangerines.

The old man sat by the street with two baskets of green tangerines before him.

Green tangerines were sour and could clear phlegm, stop coughs, and nourish the lungs. Their peels had a strong fragrance and could be dried and burned to repel mosquitoes.

Their medicinal value was extremely high, so they always sold well.

“The State Preceptor wore quite a bit of rouge, I should get rid of the scent…”

Xu Qi An instinctively bought a bag of green tangerines and used their juice to mask the powder’s scent.

Then he suddenly realized—why am I trying to hide the scent?

Originally, he had used green tangerine juice as a cover because Young Master Xu’s character was supposed to be an honest youth who “would never visit brothels.”

The whole family believed this.

But as his reputation grew, his status as a regular at the pleasure district could no longer be hidden.

By now, there was no need to hide anything.

“Ah, my youth has ended.”

Xu Qi An still carefully used the tangerine peel juice to mask the rouge’s scent, then headed home with his bag of green tangerines.

He could give them to Ling Yin!

It would be a gift from Big Brother upon returning home.

He strolled unhurriedly to the Xu Manor’s gate. His ears twitched, and he turned his head to look behind him, seeing Second Young Master Xu returning home on horseback.

Second Young Master also saw Xu Qi An, his face lighting up with undisguised joy as he hurriedly pulled his reins and dismounted, calling out:

“Big Brother!”

Xu Qi An was about to nod in response when he saw Xu Xin Nian take out a bag of green tangerines from his saddlebag.

At that moment, Xu Xin Nian also noticed the oil paper bag in his brother’s hand and, looking closer, saw they were green tangerines!

“…”

The brothers stood speechless for a moment, neither mentioning this coincidence. Just as they nodded to each other, Second Uncle Xu also returned.

“Ning Yan!”

Second Uncle Xu was overjoyed to see his long-absent nephew, even though he had learned of the eldest son’s return from Xu Ling Yue the night before.

“You’ve finally returned, your aunt has been worried sick about you…”

Second Uncle Xu dismounted, speaking as he took out a bulging oil paper bag from his saddlebag.

Second Uncle Xu saw the green tangerines in his nephew and son’s hands, and his face suddenly froze.

Father and son, uncle and nephew, brothers—all stood speechless.

Our youth is over… Xu Qi An murmured in his heart.