Chapter 126: Toying and Subduing

Gu Xiaopang leisurely wandered through the Endless Forest, digging here and poking there. At times, he would strike up a conversation with the chieftain of some mysterious beast tribe he clearly didn’t know, chatting about this and that. At other moments, he would remain motionless in some remote corner for quite a long while, as if holding his breath.

Outside the Endless Forest, an elder at the Divine Transformation stage, who had been tailing and lying in wait for an assassination opportunity, was growing increasingly impatient despite his usually great patience.

After all, he was a Divine Transformation expert capable of founding his own sect, a renowned figure even in the Central Domain. Yet now, what was going on?

When he first heard that his master was sending such a top-tier expert as himself all the way to the Southern Domain to assassinate a mere brat not even at the Golden Core stage, he had been extremely reluctant. Even though the brat had been inflated in value to rank fifth on the Assassination List by the employer, the elder saw this as overkill—a cannon firing at a mosquito.

Unable to resist his master’s orders, the elder had no choice but to grit his teeth and cross tens of thousands of miles to the Southern Domain.

But after arriving there?

Those wannabe assassins in the Southern Domain branch had taken two entire days just to track the brat’s movements, which infuriated the Divine Transformation elder to no end. Internally, he grumbled ceaselessly, cursing them as good-for-nothings whose skills were only good enough to make a show in the Southern Domain, never worthy of the Central Domain’s notice.

Eventually, after a heated argument between him and the Southern Domain assassination leader—also a Divine Transformation expert—nearly erupted into a fight, the ongoing war between the Puppet Sect and the Asura Mansion, with several Divine Transformation experts self-destructing, forced a temporary ceasefire between the two hot-headed killers.

Later, as the Asura Mansion’s tribulation-crossing experts emerged, and then even a super-powerful tribulation-stage figure fell, the two assassination chiefs were compelled to bury the hatchet and slip away quietly.

Only when even the Asura Mansion’s patriarch at the Accomplished stage unleashed his overwhelming aura across the Southern Domain’s sky did the Divine Transformation assassin finally settle down. After the storm had passed, he patiently held back his temper overnight before hastily making his move.

To him, the Southern Domain was far too dangerous—tribulation-stage experts running amok and constantly fighting battles? Better to finish the task quickly, eliminate that annoying brat, and return to the safety of the Central Domain.

The Wild Lands were just that—wild. No one hesitated to kill at the slightest disagreement, unlike the Central Domain, where it was already a big deal if a Divine Transformation expert ventured out.

As for tribulation or Accomplished stages? What nonsense. Those elders were all secluded, cultivating to break through to the next level.

The plan seemed good, but after tracking the brat’s location and following him all the way here, what was he doing?

Sightseeing in the Endless Forest?

Two full days and nights had passed, yet the brat stubbornly refused to step even a single step beyond the forest’s edge—not even half a step. The poor assassin elder had not closed his eyes once.

What infuriated him most was that the brat often wandered aimlessly near the forest’s edge, as if taunting him.

Every time the elder thought the opportunity had finally come, the brat would stare out briefly and then turn right back inside, never crossing the line.

Furthermore, the unruly mystical beasts inside the Endless Forest strangely treated this handsome young man with great courtesy, almost begging him to feast in their territories.

And what about himself?

A grand Divine Transformation expert, a king of the shadows, an assassin—and yet he dared not step a single inch into the Endless Forest, not even hovering above it, fearing that the forest’s vengeful lord of the mystical beasts would indiscriminately snap him up, which would be terribly disadvantageous.

...

After clamping down on his remaining patience and lying in wait for another two days, the assassin elder finally could no longer hold back and revealed himself.

“May I ask if you are indeed Gu Changqing, the Young Sect Leader Gu?”

“Hmm? And you are?”

“Dear young friend, please don’t misunderstand me—I mean no harm. I just happened to pass by, and seeing your heroic bearing, fresh elegance, and exceptional temperament...”

“I was hoping to meet you and forge a friendly bond.”

“Oh? You think so too? I’ve always thought myself heroic, fresh and elegant, handsome, dashing, spirited, and extraordinary...”

“You certainly have a keen eye. Great minds think alike. Just for this, I must reveal myself.”

“Very well, I would be honored. Young friend, come here. I have some fine wine, rare in this world.”

Listening to this brat’s endless self-praise with what little patience he had left, the assassin elder was ready to strangle him on the spot. Yet he still dared not step into the Endless Forest, only taking out a large wine gourd, its runic light shimmering brightly.

Like an act of flattery, he swiftly opened the gourd’s lid, releasing a rich aroma of wine that filled the air and lingered.

Seeing the brat licking his lips, enticed and stepping gradually outward, the assassin elder’s excitement was barely contained.

“Just a bit more... that’s right... just a little more...”

But when Gu Xiaopang, who was almost out of the forest, suddenly stopped, the elder became as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

“Elder? Patriarch? Are you there?”

“There’s an old bastard trying to trap me.”

“I’m no match for him. Please, elder, come out and help me capture him...”

Before the elder could finish his coaxing words, Gu Xiaopang suddenly looked up and shouted toward the empty sky.

The assassin elder’s hairs stood on end as if ambushed from all sides, and he instinctively leapt far away.

One breath, two breaths...

“Hahaha, young friend, what are you shouting for? Calling for me? I’m a timid man.”

“Rest assured, I mean no harm to you. If I truly wished to harm you, I would have done so long ago when we were only meters apart!”

“We’re merely drinking companions, friends across generations...”

The elder, inwardly stifled, thought bitterly: I am an assassin! In all my years of killing, have I ever acted so pretentiously?

If I can’t take down this brat now, my reputation is truly ruined. I’d have no face to show the people of Jiangdong ever again.

Thus, he feigned calm and continued his relentless seduction.

“Elder? Patriarch? If you don’t come out soon, I really will leave the forest!”

“Brat!”

Just as Gu Xiaopang raised his head and shouted again, about to step out, suddenly Nangong Hongbo, cloaked in the high sky, could no longer hold back and shouted a curse.

In an instant, he appeared beside the assassin elder, and before the startled old man could react, he slammed him hard onto the unyielding ground and sealed his cultivation.

Poor assassin elder was thus easily captured.

Nangong Hongbo, the Supreme Elder who witnessed the whole scene and personally captured the assassin, was both amused and exasperated. In all his cultivation years, he had never seen such a pathetic assassination attempt—especially from a veteran Divine Transformation assassin—who ended up being caught like a helpless fool.

The elder, cultivation sealed, was filled with despair, cursing Gu Xiaopang’s ancestors countless times in his heart.

If you had a tribulation-stage powerhouse as your bodyguard, you should have said so earlier! Or better yet, just let them take me down from the start—why toy with me for so long?

The Divine Transformation elder felt deeply wronged.

“Thank you, Supreme Elder, for your intervention.”

“The patriarch’s merits are unparalleled, heroic and mighty, able to bear the heavens, invincible...”

Seeing Gu Xiaopang’s sincere and earnest expression of gratitude, as genuine as spiritual stones, Nangong Hongbo’s rough, tree-bark-like skin prickled with goosebumps. Without even casting a glance, he vanished into the void, leaving only Gu Xiaopang scratching his head and the deeply aggrieved assassin elder behind.

Like a dead weight, Gu Xiaopang lifted the elder by his waist sash and turned back into the Endless Forest.

Bailing Ling’er was not surprised that the assassin was captured. She only thought that the poor old man had been terribly unlucky and humiliated being toyed with by Gu Xiaopang.

But she also agreed with Gu Xiaopang.

Given his own status, quitting the pursuit would have been the best course, and all could have been well.

But if the assassin truly intended to bully a lowly false Golden Core brat with his Divine Transformation cultivation, then he deserved everything he got.

Thus, although the elder pursued Gu Xiaopang relentlessly for days and nights, he was also given chances to retreat. It was his own failure to seize them, so Gu Xiaopang need not feel guilty.

“Tell me, what is your name?”

“Hmph!”

“Oh? Quite stubborn, huh? I promise in a moment you won’t be so tough.”

“Hmph! I’ve lived so long, seen everything...”

“Ah...”

“Stop! Stop, young friend! Please stop! Ah...”

Without further ado, Gu Xiaopang concentrated all his spiritual power and stabbed deeply into the elder’s mind, who was already powerless to resist.

Like ants devouring an elephant, countless spiritual needles pierced one after another, until after withstanding dozens, the elder began to beg for mercy.

But Gu Xiaopang was no negotiator—once he started, he didn’t stop.

He continued until the elder’s mind was covered in barbs like a porcupine’s, then finally ceased.

The poor Divine Transformation expert trembled uncontrollably, subdued by a mere false Golden Core brat.

After extracting a sliver of his soul into an ancient, plain scroll, Gu Xiaopang enslaved the elder.

“Your humble servant, Puyang De, pays respects to the young lord.”

High above, Nangong Hongbo was stunned. He had been curious how Gu Xiaopang managed to subdue a host of Nascent Soul disciples, but never imagined he could so easily capture a Divine Transformation expert.

His shock deepened, and his confidence in Gu Xiaopang grew even stronger.

...