"Great-Grandfather, what you've said... is it true or false?"
"What? You still don't believe your great-grandfather?"
"It's not that I don't believe you, it's just that..." Luo Xuan Mingyue truly wasn't disbelieving; she simply couldn't quite believe it, and somewhat couldn't accept it. More than anything, she was sighing in amazement, marveling that Lord Chixiao was far, far more terrifying than she had imagined. His existence was practically an epic, a world-shaking epic.
"Some arrogant young people in the Present Era always say that the Gu kid's success was entirely due to luck. That's the funniest joke this old man has ever heard. Luck? If the Gu kid had relied on luck, he would've died who knows how many times over long ago."
Luo Xuan Ancestor also sighed with emotion. "The fortunes and opportunities on you so-called prodigies and geniuses of the Present Era are all bestowed by the heavens. But the fortunes on the Gu kid were snatched right out of the heavens' hands by force."
"Even so, those little brats still want to compare themselves to the Gu kid. Compare with what? One relies on heavenly gifts, the other snatches from the heavens by force. Is there any comparison?"
"By the way, Great-Grandfather, you said earlier that Female Sect Leader often went to our house to drink soup back then. Is that true too?"
"Nonsense, of course it's true."
"So that means, before the World Martial Gathering, the Monarch was already together with Female Sect Leader?"
"Naturally. Didn't I tell you? Most of what's spread outside about the Gu kid and that Ye girl are rumors. It's true that the Gu kid gambled on Immortal Fate with that Ye girl during the World Martial Gathering. But do you know who proposed the Immortal Fate gamble first?"
"You... you're not going to say it was Female Sect Leader who first brought up the Immortal Fate, are you?"
"Correct! It was that Ye girl."
"Heavens! This... this... it can't be, can it?"
Perhaps the shocks she had received today were too great, making Luo Xuan Mingyue's mind a bit muddled. She said, "Although I've never met Female Sect Leader, I often hear people mention her. They say Female Sect Leader's personality is as cold and proud as frost, that her word is her bond, and that she's extremely domineering. How could someone with Female Sect Leader's personality possibly be the first to propose Immortal Fate to the Monarch?"
"Precisely because that Ye girl's personality is cold, proud, and domineering, after she proposed Immortal Fate and was rejected by the Gu kid, she gambled on Immortal Fate with him. If the Gu kid lost, he had to form an Immortal Fate bond with her. Do you know what they gambled on first? They gambled on the Heavenly Sword Divine Ability! At the time, it was said that if the Gu kid couldn't comprehend the Heavenly Sword Divine Ability within a year, he would have to form the Immortal Fate. And the result? As you know, the Gu kid comprehended it in less time than it takes an incense stick to burn."
"This..." Having learned the truth, Luo Xuan Mingyue's heart was filled with nothing but shock.
"That Ye girl might have been unwilling to admit defeat, or she might have truly taken a fancy to the Gu kid. After losing, she still wouldn't let it go. On the eve of the World Martial Gathering, she proposed gambling on Immortal Fate again. The Gu kid didn't agree. Later, it seemed he was so annoyed by her pestering that during the World Martial Gathering, he took the initiative to propose the Immortal Fate gamble. The Gu kid originally thought that by proposing the gamble in front of the whole world and then intentionally losing to that Ye girl, she wouldn't be able to go back on her word."
"But..." Remembering this, Luo Xuan Ancestor couldn't help but laugh. "But the Gu kid never imagined in a thousand years that while he was scheming against that Ye girl, she was also scheming against him. The Gu kid wanted to lose to that Ye girl in front of the world, and that Ye girl also wanted to lose to the Gu kid in front of the world. In the end, that Ye girl was more skilled. She lost to the Gu kid flawlessly and without a trace. That way, that Ye girl's scheme succeeded. In front of the whole world, the Gu kid couldn't very well renege and truly suffered a bitter defeat in silence."
"This is really... too... too unbelievable."
Luo Xuan Mingyue never imagined that the Immortal Fate gamble that had spread like wildfire throughout the world actually had such an incredible truth behind it. She frowned deeply and said, "So that means, back then, it wasn't the Monarch intentionally teasing Female Sect Leader, but rather Female Sect Leader was the one constantly pursuing the Monarch? And after being rejected by the Monarch, she... she repeatedly forced the Monarch to form a bond with her?"
"That's pretty much how it was."
Luo Xuan Mingyue's expression was quite complex. In her mind, Female Sect Leader's existence was like a goddess high above. She truly couldn't imagine that the goddess-like Female Sect Leader not only actively pursued the Monarch back then, but also... after losing the Immortal Fate gamble, repeatedly went back on her word.
"Why did the Monarch reject Female Sect Leader back then? Did he... did he look down on Female Sect Leader?"
"This old man asked the Gu kid that question at the time. He didn't say he looked down on that Ye girl. He just said, 'That woman Ye Tianlan is very strange...' Yes, that's exactly what he said. Those were the Gu kid's exact words."
"Strange? How was she strange?"
"That, this old man doesn't know. But I reckon it was probably because that Ye girl's personality was too strong-willed. The Gu kid didn't much like strong-willed women either."
"Alright... alright, this is just too..." Luo Xuan Mingyue shook her head. She didn't know how to express her feelings at this moment and murmured, "I truly never imagined the Monarch and our Shangqing Sect's Female Sect Leader had such a hidden past."
"That's why I've always told you that all those rumors spreading outside are nonsense. Saying the Gu kid is a heartless, faithless scoundrel, even fabricating that 'Twenty-Four Sects Heartless Crime'—utter rubbish. If the Gu kid were truly heartless and faithless, your Shangqing Sect would have been slaughtered to the last man by that kid long ago."
Luo Xuan Mingyue also said, "Yes, thinking about it now, the Monarch back then probably showed mercy to our Shangqing Sect out of consideration for Female Sect Leader's sake."
"Perhaps there was that Ye girl's influence. But even without her, the Gu kid wouldn't have slaughtered Shangqing Sect. After all, Old Master Zhenjue had an immense kindness towards him."
Remembering Zhenjue, Luo Xuan Ancestor continued, "I don't have any respect for any of those old fogies in your Shangqing Sect. The only one I genuinely admire is Zhenjue. That old master truly possessed a heart of compassion. And he also had unique insight. Back then, the old master withstood all pressure to guarantee the Gu kid's life. Besides compassion, I reckon the old master must have also seen that the Gu kid was a peerless genius unmatched through the ages. If he could be guided and taught, he could likely have brought blessings to the world."
"What a pity! A true pity. It's a pity the old master had the heart to teach the Gu kid, and the Gu kid back then also had the heart to reform. It's just that a bunch of old fogies in Shangqing Sect wouldn't give them that chance. If Shangqing Sect had been willing to give the old master that chance back then, the Gu kid wouldn't have had to walk that path of defying the heavens, that road of no return."
"It's all fate!"