After thinking it over, Gu Qing’er made her decision. "I don’t ever want to see them again. Since that’s the case, might as well be clean about it."

"Leave it to me, then," Zhu Lie said.

Hearing this, Shen Siwen and Shen Donglin fell into complete despair. Faced with their pleading, Gu Qing’er didn’t feel a thing.

Just like she’d said before, they never should’ve been allowed to live in this world to begin with. Since that’s how it was, how could she possibly soften up?

"I was wrong, Gu Qing’er, Zhu Lie, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have messed with Su Changfeng. I’m begging you, spare me, I promise, I promise I’ll never dare to do it again, never again..."

In that moment, Shen Donglin finally realized that offending Su Changfeng was basically asking for death. The fact that Su Changfeng had given him multiple chances wasn’t because he didn’t have the guts to do anything to him, but because he didn’t want to dirty his own hands.

How could someone like him possibly imagine how powerful Su Changfeng really was?

Unfortunately, Shen Donglin realized all this far too late. The key thing was, this time he had touched Su Changfeng’s reverse scale. The dragon’s reverse scale—touch it and you die.

Han Xue and Ye Nianhai were, without a doubt, existences that could not be touched.

They were the people Su Changfeng valued most. Even if Su Changfeng were still here, Shen Donglin and the others wouldn’t have had any better ending.

Gu Qing’er walked out of the basement, her face completely expressionless. Today was the beginning of her change. Personally dealing with something like this, she didn’t feel even a ripple in her heart. From this moment on, the flame of hope for the Gu Family had already been lit.

A generation’s iron-blooded strongwoman was also taking shape, step by step.

"Bro, if you find out in the future and blame me for it, I’ll have my sis make you kneel on a keyboard as punishment!" Gu Qing’er snorted lightly, a glimmer of laughter in her eyes.

When she returned to the Gu Family again, Gu Changsheng didn’t ask how things had been handled, but in his heart he could more or less guess it. Gu Qing’er had only gone out once, yet the aura around her was already completely different from before.

If anyone knew Gu Qing’er best, it would be her grandfather who had watched her grow up from a child, so he could keenly sense the changes in his granddaughter.

"Grandpa, I’m really tired, I’m going back to sleep first," Gu Qing’er said.

Gu Changsheng nodded with a smile, reminded her of a few things, and Gu Qing’er went back to rest.

"Dad, don’t you feel like Qing’er seems different from before?" Gu Qingwen said to Gu Changsheng. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"Mm, that puts my mind at ease. The Gu Family is finally seeing a glimmer of hope," Gu Changsheng said.

Gu Qingwen froze for a moment. All these years, he was well aware that Gu Changsheng had always been looking for a suitable husband for Qing’er. Back then, he’d been very fond of Su Changfeng, but Su Changfeng was already married, so Gu Changsheng had no choice but to give up.

However, in Gu Qingwen’s eyes, it really didn’t seem appropriate to hand over the Gu Family’s future to a young girl. Besides, he actually didn’t want Gu Qing’er to carry too heavy a burden or be exposed to too much darkness.

"Dad, can Qing’er really do it? She’s still just a girl," Gu Qingwen asked worriedly.

Gu Changsheng shot his son a slightly contemptuous look and said, "Don’t worry. Even if she doesn’t do a great job, she’ll still do better than you. Instead of wasting time worrying about her, you’d be better off doing your own job properly!"

Gu Qingwen guiltily turned his gaze away and shut his mouth obediently.

...

Tuo Shi, Shangyun Pavilion.

Ever since that commotion at the Infinite Cave, everyone had tacitly assumed Su Changfeng was dead. As hard as that result was to accept, once someone was dead, there was no value in talking about him. As time passed, people stopped mentioning Su Changfeng altogether.

But Elder Wu had obviously taken a heavy blow. Back then, he’d placed a great deal of hope onto Su Changfeng. For things to end up like this now was something he really couldn’t accept.

In fact, at the very beginning he’d still held on to a shred of hope in his heart. But as the days went by and the Infinite Cave remained silent, that tiny bit of hope was completely extinguished.

He knew that after so many days, no one could possibly survive in an environment like that. Once the despair passed, Elder Wu suddenly felt a bit lost, not knowing what he should do next.

He had already made all his plans. As long as Su Changfeng successfully advanced to Heavenly Level, he would hand Shangyun Pavilion over to Su Changfeng and personally go to the Outer Domain to take a look. But now that Su Changfeng had failed, he suddenly couldn’t think of anyone who could shoulder the heavy responsibility of Shangyun Pavilion, so Elder Wu actually found himself at a loss.

"Elder Wu, you haven’t had a proper rest in days. If your body collapses, what will happen to Shangyun Pavilion? Since things have already turned out this way, you should pull yourself together. I believe there will always be a way," the assistant said.

He knew just how highly Elder Wu regarded Su Changfeng, but the facts were what they were. People couldn’t stay stuck in the past; looking forward was what mattered most.

"Where’s Guan Shan?" Elder Wu asked.

"Probably over at the Yellow Level. After Yin Lulu went over there, he’s been going from time to time as well," the assistant said.

Elder Wu couldn’t help but shake his head. He had never really considered entrusting Shangyun Pavilion’s future to Guan Shan. That title of ’proud son of heaven’ was basically just an empty name. Otherwise, how could he not even have the courage to step into the Infinite Cave?

Besides, Guan Shan already showed signs of betraying Shangyun Pavilion now, so Elder Wu naturally wouldn’t hand this burden over to him.

But right now, he was indeed very conflicted. The crisis from the Outer Domain was imminent; he had to figure out the true situation in the Outer Domain as soon as possible, otherwise how was he supposed to find a way to deal with the looming Outer Domain crisis?

"With Guan Shan betraying Shangyun Pavilion and no one usable left inside, who should I hand this position to?" Elder Wu sighed helplessly.

"Elder Wu, the only one who can shoulder this heavy responsibility is you," the assistant said without the slightest hesitation. This was a fact no one could avoid. In Shangyun Pavilion, whose prestige could stand shoulder to shoulder with Elder Wu’s? Even putting prestige aside, just in terms of strength, there wasn’t anyone suitable right now.

Thinking back on it, Su Changfeng really had been an excellent choice. He hadn’t just smashed all of Tuo Shi’s records—he’d become Earth Level in just over half a month, completely overshadowing Guan Shan. He really was unprecedented.

Unfortunately, his luck was simply terrible; in the end he’d fallen in the Infinite Cave.

"But with the Outer Domain crisis approaching, am I just supposed to watch and do nothing? With Tuo Shi’s current strength, if the Outer Domain really makes a comeback, we’ll have no power to resist! The best option right now is to go take a look in the Outer Domain," Elder Wu said, his face full of worry.

The assistant couldn’t help but shake his head as well. With Tuo Shi’s current situation, it really couldn’t stand up against the Outer Domain; that was a reality they both understood. But as for Elder Wu’s idea of personally going to the Outer Domain to take a look, he really couldn’t agree with it.

You had to know that over the years, many members had tried to enter the Outer Domain, and all of them had failed, most likely dying out there. Among those people, there were plenty whose strength could stand on par with Elder Wu’s.