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In the layers of clouds above the snowy mountains…

The hegemon of birds, the giant condor, flew through the skies. Gu Luolin sat atop its back. As for Ye Zichen….

"Hey! Don't I have human rights? Why am I being grabbed like this?" Ye Zichen hollered and glared. Up in the clouds, the winds were so strong that they got him right in the mouth, making his words indistinct.

But to his surprise, Gu Luolin, who sat atop the condor's back, heard every word. She wasn't stupid enough to try and swallow the wind, though, so she sent him a divine sense transmission.

"You're the one who wanted to make Big White your mount."

Before they set out, he really had said something along those lines.

Since he only had one arm, he couldn't help but think back to the classic historical fantasy Legend of Condor heroes, and to Yang Guo and his giant condor.

He'd brought it up mostly as a joke. He had absolutely no intentions of making Big White his mount.

"Don't talk nonsense! I just wanted to become brothers with Brother Condor! You haven't seen Legend of the Condor Heroes, but don't twist my words, okay?" Ye Zichen was at a loss. "Hurry up and tell Brother Condor to let me down! The winds are too strong! If I go on like this, before I even get to the palace, they'll have dried me into jerky!"

Up in the sky, the winds really were far more intense than on the ground.

Whatever else she might say about him, Gu Luolin saw Ye Zichen as her junior. She thought about it, then signaled to the condor, which immediately relaxed its grip.

"I…."

Without the talons holding him aloft, Ye Zichen experienced the thrill of freefall firsthand.

Fortunately, not long after, the bird turned 360 degrees in a display of acrobatics. Ye Zichen landed stably on its back.

"Wasn't that exciting?" Gu Luolin laughed wickedly. One look at her, and he knew that dropping him was her rotten idea, not the condor's.

Exciting?

It was too exciting!

If not for his strong kidneys, he might have gotten so excited, he lost control of his bladder!

Ye Zichen didn't want to talk to her. He sat off to the side, as if he were sulking. Gu Luolin glanced at him a few times, then inched closer. "Don't be angry! I was just joking around. Don't forget; Big White is only carrying you as a favor to me. If you keep scowling, I'll have him go back!"

"Don't!" They'd taken hold of his weaknesses, which was never a good feeling. Ye Zichen hurriedly relented, then inched closer to Gu Luolin.

….

….

….

The palace looked close, but it was actually a fair distance away from the condor's territory.

Ye Zichen used his phone to keep track of time, so he knew they'd already flown for an hour, but even so, the palace seemed neither near nor far.

"Hey." Ye Zichen nudged Gu Luolin.

"What?" She glanced at him.

"What exactly does your Gu Family do? Why were Kui Lin and the others so afraid of you, like your family was going to eat them or something?"

Never mind Jiao Hai or the other henchmen; Kui Lin was one of the three Realm Emperors, one of the highest ranked figures in the entire Upper Three Realms.

Yet even he, upon learning that Gu Luolin hailed from the Gu Family, didn't dare cause trouble. It was inevitable that Ye Zichen would wonder about the Gu Family's power after seeing that.

"You make it sound like you aren't a member of the Gu Family." She rolled her eyes, then said, "We're a family clan, and on the inside, the pressure is so intense, it can crush you. Everyone, from the main line descendants to the servants, is locked in constant competition. Those who remain are all exceptional talents. As for the losers? They're all dead."

When she spoke of those who failed, Gu Luolin's gaze was aloof. The expression seemed out of place for someone her age.

As if, despite being only a teenager, she'd long since seen her fair share of life and death, and thus, had learned indifference.

The capable survived, while the inept washed out and died. This was the cruelest way of sorting wheat from chaff out there.

But the core of the clan didn't stop this cruel process; they even supported it. This made it hard for Ye Zichen to think well of the Gu Family.

"Don't think us cruel. The Gu Family is different from other clans. If we want to intimidate the outside world in perpetuity, we need to stay sharp. So long as you visit the Gu Family, you'll see it for yourself: every last servant girl is at the level of a titled emperor. Why do we do this? So that other clans dare not provoke us."

"So you're saying, you, too, climbed over a mountain of corpses to remain in the family?" Ye Zichen looked at her, then sucked in a breath of cold air.

"I'm the young miss of the main branch. I'm different from other clansmen!" Gu Luolin rolled her eyes irritably. "My dad is the head of the clan. How could I possibly be like ordinary clansmen and servants?"

"Having a good father really makes all the difference," muttered Ye Zichen.

"Really! All of you say that!" Gu Luolin's spirits suddenly sank.

Ye Zichen had only said it casually, without any intention to offend. But when he saw Gu Luolin's expression, it seemed his words hit hard.

"Your clansmen say that about you too?

"They wouldn't dare!"

"I'm a daughter of the main branch, as well as my parent's only child. I'm like a pearl in my grandpa's hand. They wouldn't dare say something like that to my face; they're afraid of my parents and my grandfather."

"My dad dotes on me, to the point of spoiling me. If someone said that to me and I told him? Odds are, the offender's name would be stricken from the family registers." Gu Luolin drooped, then laughed bitterly.

"Then you…."

"They don't dare say things like that to my face, but they can say it in private. I'm not just guessing randomly, either; I've heard it with my own ears." Gu Luolin lay on the condor's back and gazed into the falling snow. "They all say I'm lucky to be an only child. My parents guide me personally, and I can do whatever I want all day, acting as wild as I want, but my cultivation never drops or slows. They think my parents are privately giving me all sorts of rare treasures of heaven and earth. Other clansmen have to compete to obtain resources, but there's no need for me to do that. They say I get special treatment, and that my parents personally enlighten me…. It's ridiculous, isn't it?"

"But in reality?" Ye Zichen arched his brow.

"In reality, I'm just really talented! No matter what I study, I learn fast! They cultivate bitterly for sixteen hours, and I can catch up in two. It's simple! My mom and dad are always telling me that if I worked as hard as my older clan brothers and sisters, I would have become an imperial sovereign a long time ago! I don't participate in the clan competitions, but that's because I'm afraid of hurting the others' self esteem. They've really got a persecution complex!"

"But in reality, the reason I'm so lazy about my cultivation is that I don't want to let them fall too far behind. I'm so kind and considerate, yet they slander me behind my back. Isn't that infuriating? Shouldn't I be angry?"

"….."

To tell the truth, a moment ago, Ye Zichen's heart had ached for her.

She was so young, just a little girl, yet people talked about her like that behind her back? Anyone would find it hard to take. And here he was expecting her to say that since she was the clan head's child, she actually worked far harder than ordinary clansmen….

But what did she actually say?

She was "just that talented"?

What other people could accomplish in sixteen hours of hard work, she could do in two?

If she'd taken her cultivation seriously, she'd be an imperial sovereign by now?

The only reason she didn't compete with her fellows was to avoid shattering their self esteem?

????

Ye Zichen looked utterly baffled.

This was the first time he'd seen someone with such pretensions of grandeur!

"You don't believe me?" Gu Luolin flipped over. "Everything I said is the truth. If you don't believe me, as your mom when you get back. Big Sister Rongrong is one of the few clansmen who recognize me. I share all sorts of things with her."

"My mom's visited your Gu Family?"

"Of course she did!"

"Then why didn't I hear about any of this from her?" Ye Zichen couldn't help but mutter to himself. Logically speaking, while he was in the God Realm, he was constantly stirring up one disaster after another. Ye Rong ought to have taken him to the Gu Family for safety, right?

But Ye Zichen figured his mom had her reasons, so he didn't dwell on it. Instead, he looked at the girl so troubled by her own shocking talent.

"If your dad dotes on you so much, how could he possibly let you come here? Much less come here on your own, without even a bodyguard or two? Logically, when the young miss of a major clan like yours goes out, she ought to have servants with her?"

"Heh heh, let me tell you a secret. Actually, I snuck out!" Gu Luolin giggled.

She really was the child of a big family!

"Then that jade slip you said your dad gave you, the one you used to intimidate Kui Lin…?"

"Ah, that? To prevent my parents from finding me, I even tossed the protective talismans they gave me. I was just putting on a show to intimidate them. Who knew they'd be stupid enough to believe it?" Gu Luolin laughed boisterously, with no shame at all. From time to time, she winked. "I was really convincing, wasn't I?"

"Jeez! What a brat!" Ye Zichen really felt the urge to slap her. She didn't have her dad's jade slip after all, and yet, she'd managed to scare off Kui Lin and his entire group.

Had Kui Lin called her bluff, both of them would have died there!

"Heh. Although I was just trying to intimidate them, some of what I said was true! Had they hurt me, there'd be nothing but annihilation of their whole clan waiting for them. What demons? What yao? So long as my parents take action, they're both doomed!

"What're your parents cultivations?"

"If I tell you, it might scare you to death!" Gu Luolin snorted.

"Try it. Tell me and see if it kills me or not," said Ye Zichen.

"I won't tell you. Before long, my dad will probably come looking for you anyway. You'll find out then." Gu Luolin stuck out her tongue. The way Ye Zichen saw it, her refusal to tell him meant that she'd just been putting on airs.

Jiao Hai and Tai Tan were kings of their respective yao kingdoms, while Kui Lin was the emperor of all demonkind. Now, Gu Luolin was telling him her parents could wipe out their entire races?

Did she think they were transcendents?

Ye Zichen had always thought himself quite good and bluffing and putting on airs. Now, it seemed he'd met his match!

Just as Ye Zichen was in silent awe of Gu Luolin's bluffing skills, the snowy winds came to a halt. This sudden change startled Ye Zichen. For a moment, he thought Gu Luolin was kindly blocking the winds, but when he investigated with his divine sense, he saw that she hadn't done anything.

He narrowed his eyes. "Why did the winds and snow stop all of a sudden?"

Ye Zichen only asked casually; he wasn't really expecting an answer. To his surprise, the condor let out a screech.

When Gu Luolin heard it, her expression turned solemn. "Big White, is that true?"

"Scree!" The condor cried out once more.

Ye Zichen couldn't help but ask, "What is it?"

"I have bad news for you. Please, don't get too worked up!" Gu Luolin patted him on the shoulder, then said, "The door to the palace has been opened!"