“Gu Caiyu?” Before Zanxing could speak, Bujiang looked toward the man before them and spoke with some astonishment: “Aren’t you dead?”

Hearing this, Zanxing felt somewhat strange in her heart. From Bujiang’s manner, she seemed to be an old acquaintance of Gu Caiyu. Could it be… A flash of bad premonition suddenly crossed her mind. Could this also be one of her past lovers?

She and Gu Baiying were currently in a relationship – this would be too awkward!

“Oh?” Only then did Gu Caiyu notice Bujiang at the side. He was first startled, then quickly began to smile: “So it’s Demon Empress Your Highness. It’s been a long time since we met. Your Highness’s grace surpasses that of years past. However, why would Your Highness come here?”

“That’s a question I should be asking you.” Bujiang looked at him coldly. Zanxing had rarely seen Bujiang express displeasure so directly – she wondered if Gu Caiyu had somehow offended her.

“I’ve always been here,” Gu Caiyu said with a smile. “Can’t get out anyway.”

Their conversation, treating everyone else as if they weren’t there, seemed rather strange to the onlookers. Rongshuang looked toward Shaoyang Zhenren, her expression grave: “Shaoyang, who is he?”

In this desolate wilderness with no sign of human habitation, a living person had suddenly appeared, and his words and actions were so natural – being so normal was quite abnormal.

Gu Caiyu turned his head to look at Shaoyang. His gaze lingered on Shaoyang Zhenren’s face for a moment, pondering slightly before speaking hesitantly: “Shaoyang Zhenren?”

Shaoyang Zhenren’s expression moved slightly: “You know me?”

“Once, when I went to your Gufeng Mountain to find Qinghua, she wouldn’t let me enter, so I could only see the Zhenren from afar at the mountain gate. But I remember your hair wasn’t like this back then. Though you look quite good now, more profound than before.” His gaze swept through the crowd again, asking in a seemingly relaxed manner: “Where’s Qinghua? Why don’t I see her? How is she?”

Shaoyang Zhenren didn’t speak.

Gu Caiyu waited quietly for a moment, seeming to understand something. He sighed, and his smile suddenly became somewhat bitter.

“The battle at the Ruins of Golden Gate was already over twenty years ago.” After a long while, Shaoyang Zhenren spoke.

“Twenty years…” The man’s voice became silent. “Has it already been so long?”

“After that battle, Qinghua’s primordial soul was damaged, and she passed away not long after.” Shaoyang Zhenren spoke. “Baiying, come here,” he said. “Meet your father.”

Gu Caiyu was stunned.

The people around were also stunned. Regarding Qinghua Xianzi’s dao companion and Gu Baiying’s biological father, this had remained a mystery in the cultivation world until now. Yet now in this strange wilderness, they had discovered a clue in this unfamiliar, handsome man.

“Baiying?” Gu Caiyu looked at the person before him. When he had perished together with the Demon Lord years ago, it was the second day after his marriage to Qinghua Xianzi. Until his death, he had never known he would have a son in the future.

Gu Baiying stood right before Gu Caiyu, with the same handsome bearing. The youth lacked the man’s gentle smile, instead sharp and fierce like a bright silver spear, yet those clear eyes were born exactly like his father’s.

No one would doubt their relationship.

Gu Baiying stood silently in place. As Gu Caiyu looked at him, his eyes gradually brightened.

“So this is the son Qinghua and I had,” he said, his smile gradually becoming proud. “Indeed, worthy of being a son born by Qinghua – his appearance has inherited all the advantages of us both. So beautiful and captivating, you couldn’t find a second one in the entire cultivation world. His cultivation also appears quite high, excellent. I knew that if I, Gu Caiyu, had a son, he would surely be uniquely outstanding in heaven and earth.”

He praised his son without restraint, completely disregarding everyone’s indescribable gazes and Gu Baiying’s expression. His attitude was very enthusiastic, as if the absence of these twenty-plus years had never existed. He asked Gu Baiying: “You look to be at the age of late youth now. I don’t care about cultivation and such things since your master watches over them, but sects have always been unconcerned with disciples’ private affairs. Cough, cough – as your father, I naturally must take care of this. Do you have a girl you like?” His gaze swept over Zanxing, revealing a knowing expression. “This young lady is the girl you hold in your heart, isn’t she? So beautiful – your taste is truly excellent, indeed you follow your father.”

Bujiang said coldly: “How can you tell?”

“This boy has been protecting this young lady behind him from beginning to end, his gaze reluctant to leave her – anyone could see it at a glance.” Gu Caiyu was, after all, a man who could move Qinghua Xianzi’s heart – his ability to read expressions was first-rate. Looking at Zanxing again, he asked kindly: “Which family’s daughter are you? Who are your parents who make the decisions at home? How far have you two progressed? Rather than choosing another day, why not settle the engagement here today?”

Zanxing: “…” Was this person being a bit too familiar?

“Surname Gu.” Bujiang interrupted his rambling, her expression already extremely unpleasant: “She is this palace’s daughter, the next Demon Lord of Heishi City.”

At these words, Gu Caiyu suddenly became quiet.

The wilderness stretched boundlessly. The man stood before Zanxing, his gaze staring straight at her, momentarily speechless.

Zanxing sighed in her heart. It was one thing for her and Gu Baiying to be one demon race and one human race. But Gu Caiyu and Qinghua Xianzi had both died directly or indirectly at the hands of Demon Lord Gui Diao Tang. With such complex and tangled relationships, asking Gu Caiyu to accept her relationship with Gu Baiying seemed somewhat forced.

Gu Baiying’s brow furrowed slightly, about to speak, when suddenly Gu Caiyu looked at Zanxing and said: “I see, so you’re unable to casually decide your marriage because your father isn’t present?” He nodded to himself. “Marriage is indeed not something to be hasty about. In that case…” He turned around, looking toward that massive deep pit: “Demon Lord, won’t you come out?”

Demon Lord? His reaction was unexpected to everyone present, who unconsciously followed Gu Caiyu’s gaze.

They saw that on the massive war halberd sunken deep in the giant pit, already broken in two sections, a layer of blood-colored thick mist rose just as before. This thick mist was even denser than earlier, brilliant and eerie, from which a human figure hazily appeared.

Bujiang’s gaze suddenly froze.

Someone slowly walked out from the thick mist.

Zanxing’s heart tightened, as if something within her body was about to boil up.

The person slowly emerged from the blood-colored thick mist, walking to the crowd.

It was an extremely beautiful man in azure robes.

His azure robes were elegant and refined, the wide sleeves making his appearance even more outstanding. He had the face of a jade-like young master, his skin pale, appearing cold and noble. A pair of beautiful pitch-black long eyes was extremely indifferent, as if all living beings in this world were nothing more than ants in the ocean to his eyes.

“Demon Lord… Gui Diao Tang.” Lingxin Daoren spoke in a trembling voice.