Epic Defensive Rotation

Senior Ano was clearly unaware of the system notification that had appeared before Gu Chengming.

To Gu Chengming's surprise, the girl seemed to quite enjoy the action of being gently "lifted" by him just now.

Noticing that Gu Chengming's hands had suddenly paused, she even subconsciously adjusted her posture, as if wanting to turn her head to see why he had stopped moving.

On the other side, it took Gu Chengming quite a while to finally figure out what this so-called "Swinging" meant.

But on second thought, the physical body of the cultivation world's number one body cultivator should, by all logic, be significantly tougher than any Dharma artifact.

If he could truly swing this senior as a weapon, even a True Monarch would be heavily injured if they took a hit, wouldn't they?

Gu Chengming imagined the scene for a moment, then quickly shook the sacrilegious thought out of his head.

How could a senior be used for random swinging!

Feeling a bit guilty, Gu Chengming lifted Ano a little higher.

Realizing that Gu Chengming had finally reacted, Ano turned her head back in satisfaction and continued to stare at the map before her.

"It really is quite different now from our time." She extended a finger and tapped a certain spot on the map, adding, "In my time, this was still a mountain."

Gu Chengming looked in the direction she pointed, and a sudden doubt arose in his heart.

The place she pointed to was currently a plain within the borders of Daqian.

According to what he knew, she was a figure from the same era as the Life-Defying Calamity-Slaying True Monarch and True Monarch Jiajing. According to the timeline, that was only a few thousand years ago.

Could a few thousand years be enough for a mountain to become a plain?

Gu Chengming was puzzled. Just as he was about to speak, a familiar voice suddenly rang out from outside the courtyard.

"Young friend? When did you return? And who is this?"

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu's words interrupted Gu Chengming's thoughts. Looking toward the sound, he saw her standing before the hall, her moon-white hem gently fluttering in the wind. After asking, True Monarch Liuyun Suyu's gaze rested on the unfamiliar girl for a moment, and her brow furrowed slightly.

Hearing the True Monarch's question, Gu Chengming chose his words carefully and explained everything from the beginning—starting from when the Master took him into the Imperial Academy's secret room to the origins of Senior Ano.

Upon hearing the words "remnant soul of a Seventh Realm True Monarch," a solemn expression suddenly surfaced on True Monarch Liuyun Suyu's face.

Ano, meanwhile, seemed to finally notice the visitor and turned around from the map.

She raised her eyes to look at True Monarch Liuyun Suyu, and her eyes lit up. "Are you from Penglai?"

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu was slightly stunned. She clearly hadn't expected the other party to see through her origins at a glance.

The Penglai Immortal Sect was a great sect from ten thousand years ago. Its branches had passed through many hands to eventually become the Cloud Moon Sect that occupied its own region today. True Monarch Liuyun Suyu was a core elder of this sect.

Seeing the other party name her origins instantly, True Monarch Liuyun Suyu gained a bit more understanding of this Seventh Realm True Monarch. Just as she was feeling wary, she heard Ano nod with quite a bit of joy. "Penglai is good."

Immediately after, she started her Ano-logic again: "Penglai is Penglai when it exists, and Penglai is still Penglai when it doesn't."

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu: "?"

She subconsciously tilted her head toward Gu Chengming, who returned a quite helpless look, his eyes clearly saying, This senior is indeed like this.

Following the topic of "Penglai," Ano continued with great interest, "My best friend back then was also from Penglai."

Calculating by this senior's seniority, the "best friend" she mentioned would actually be a junior to True Monarch Liuyun Suyu.

However, when True Monarch Liuyun Suyu was trapped in the crack of time, the main Penglai Immortal Sect still existed. She struggled within that crack for ten thousand years, and by the time she escaped back to the present world, Penglai had already vanished. It was only then that she learned Penglai was gone.

As a former member of the Penglai Immortal Sect, saying she wasn't a bit sad would obviously be a lie.

Now that the other party mentioned it, she couldn't help but ask about the situation of that friend.

Ano thought back with effort for a moment. "She was the Sect Master of Penglai at the time."

According to her words, Penglai still existed at least a few thousand years ago?

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu had originally thought Penglai had perished quickly after she was trapped, but now it seemed Penglai had continued for at least another ten thousand years or more.

Though it was eventually gone, during those thousands of years, Penglai must have produced many extraordinary figures.

For a moment, True Monarch Liuyun Suyu was filled with mixed emotions. Ano didn't notice her complex expression and continued talking to herself.

"She was very impressive."

Her expression was quite proud, as if she were showing off her most impressive childhood playmate.

"She even refined the Karma Dao Throne to the highest level. With one look, she could fix the past, and she could even deduce life, death, and the future."

Just as she was thinking of asking more, Ano added with regret, "Unfortunately, I can't remember her Dao title for the moment."

Hearing this, True Monarch Liuyun Suyu couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

However, having heard so much information from her already, she should be satisfied. She thanked the other party, then looked somewhat melancholic, as if remembering something.

Gu Chengming did not speak to disturb them.

Ano, however, was in high spirits and started talking about the deeds of that "best friend whose Dao title she couldn't remember."

Right at this moment, the sound transmission jade slip within True Monarch Liuyun Suyu's sleeve—the one exchanged on the day she established the "Senior Alliance" with Zhou Qingmu—suddenly trembled slightly.

She subconsciously swept it with her divine sense, and the words inside the jade slip slowly emerged.

【The alliance strategy has shown initial results. I hope the True Monarch will continue her efforts.】

Logically, this transmission was still within the scope of the alliance's "exchange of information," but the more she read it, the more she felt the tone between the lines was a bit off.

Clearly, she and Zhou Qingmu had politely established an alliance before, but after only a few days, this Director of the Night Guard Division had already left her far behind.

Exchange of information? Everything being exchanged was Zhou Qingmu's good news!

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu sighed.

She quietly tucked the jade slip back into her sleeve, her gaze resting again on the young friend in the hall who was listening to Ano tell old stories of Penglai.

Ano was having a great time reminiscing, gesturing quite passionately about how her old friend had "fixed the past with one look" back then.

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu chose her moment and gave a salute.

"What you said just now is of great significance to me. Thank you, Fellow Daoist."

Ano waved her hand dismissively. "No need to be polite."

Immediately after, she started her Ano-logic again: "Me telling you is you telling me, and you telling me is me telling you."

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu: "..."

She suppressed the subtle feeling in her heart and turned to look at Gu Chengming. "Young friend, the moonlight is quite pleasant tonight. Would you care to sit with me under the osmanthus tree in the courtyard?"

Gu Chengming was slightly stunned.

This invitation came quite suddenly, but he caught a glimpse of True Monarch Liuyun Suyu's expression and didn't ask further, nodding formally in agreement.

Ano was in the middle of a lively chat and leaned over curiously. "Then I'll go too!"

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu was almost choked by those words for a moment.

Fortunately, Gu Chengming reacted quickly. He chose his words and spoke gently to Ano: "Senior, you've chatted so much with the True Monarch just now, you must be tired. I remember you slept for a long time in the secret room. Your spiritual sense might not have fully adapted to the outside world yet. Why not return to my forehead to rest for a few days? You can come out again once your aura has stabilized."

Ano nodded quite seriously. "That's true."

She stepped in front of Gu Chengming and transformed into light, sinking back into his forehead.

Gu Chengming felt a sense of subtlety in his heart.

He had only mentioned it casually, but it really had such a function? It really was becoming more and more like a Dharma treasure.

...

The night grew deeper.

Under the old osmanthus tree in the courtyard, moonlight covered the stone steps.

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu and Gu Chengming sat opposite each other at the stone table under the tree. On the table sat a pot of warmed osmanthus brew and two small wine cups.

Logically, a True Monarch would not drink common wine, but this pot of osmanthus brew had been personally warmed by True Monarch Liuyun Suyu. She even broke her own precedent by picking up the cup and taking a small sip.

Gu Chengming watched from across the table, and the feeling that something is not quite right tonight grew even deeper.

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu hesitated for a moment and finally spoke first.

"When you were listening to Senior Ano talk about the old days of Penglai just now, did you notice my expression?"

Gu Chengming nodded. "Your expression was filled with quite a bit of emotion, Senior."

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu gave a light smile.

"I was born of the main Penglai sect." She looked up at the thick osmanthus tree, her tone suddenly slowing down. "The osmanthus in Penglai back then bloomed even more densely than this. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, the entire mountain was golden. From afar, it looked as if the moon had fallen onto the mountain."

Gu Chengming listened quietly.

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu took another sip of wine.

"The year I was trapped in the crack of time, I had originally intended to return to the sect to see the osmanthus." Her tone carried a rare hint of melancholy. "That fight happened too suddenly. I didn't even have time for one last look."

"By the time I struggled out of the crack, Penglai was gone."

Gu Chengming's heart stirred.

Logically, with True Monarch Liuyun Suyu's temperament, she would never mention such a matter to a junior, yet tonight she had broken precedent and spoken of it.

He did not interrupt, only listening in silence.

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu looked at the moonlight, her expression softening a bit.

"Just now, hearing Senior Ano speak of a Sect Master ten thousand years ago who had refined the Karma Dao Throne to the peak, the sadness I had suppressed for so long eased quite a bit." Having said this, she didn't continue, only holding her wine cup and watching the moon.

Gu Chengming didn't press her either, only accompanying her in watching the moon.

The night breeze brushed through the osmanthus branches time and again. After an unknown amount of time, True Monarch Liuyun Suyu suddenly laughed softly, as if she had abruptly remembered a quite mundane matter during their conversation.

"Speaking of which." She raised her eyes to look at Gu Chengming, her tone as casual as if she were chatting about daily life. "You probably don't know my true name yet, young friend."

The wind in the osmanthus branches brushed lightly, and from the distant alleys came the faint sound of watchman's drums.

Gu Chengming felt a sense of subtlety. He had known the True Monarch for some time, but she had always presented herself as "Liuyun Suyu," and he had never thought to ask.

According to the rules of the cultivation world, a True Monarch's name was not to be revealed. If someone were to actively inquire, they would be considered no different from a mortal enemy.

Yet now, these words had come directly from her own mouth.

Gu Chengming chose his words for a moment and said, "What do you think, Senior?"

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu took a deep breath and finally spoke.

"I hope that in the future, when we are alone together, I can hear you call me by my true name."

"Wangshu."

Hearing this, Gu Chengming also felt quite a bit of pressure.

By telling him her true name, True Monarch Liuyun Suyu was essentially placing her most secret path-related weakness into his hands.

Gu Chengming looked at her. True Monarch Liuyun Suyu's expression was still gentle, but there was a hint of nervousness in the depths of her eyes. She didn't seem very good at speaking too boldly.

But in her own way, she had already said everything she could.

Gu Chengming suppressed the thought in his heart, seriously put away his jade slip, and gave her a bow. "Senior Wangshu, I have remembered it."

Hearing this, True Monarch Liuyun Suyu finally let out a sigh of relief.

She didn't mention her name again, nor did she mention Penglai. She simply chatted with Gu Chengming quite leisurely about recent mundane affairs in the capital, and Gu Chengming didn't bring up the previous topic either.

As the hour grew late, True Monarch Liuyun Suyu rose to take her leave.

When she paced to the courtyard gate, she suddenly paused and looked back at Gu Chengming, who was still sitting under the osmanthus tree, her lips curving into a smile.

"The moonlight is very good tonight."

Gu Chengming's heart stirred, and he also nodded formally to her. "It is indeed very good."

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu turned and faded into the night.

...

At the same time.

Yu Wenqiu looked at the modified "Emerald White Jade" outfit before her. Recalling the "humiliation" the True Monarch had dealt her before, she suddenly felt a bit relieved.

At this thought, she put on the scallions...

Though last time was a blunder, Little Gu seemed to quite like it.

Yu Wenqiu thought so with great anticipation.

That night, Elder Yu, dressed as a pancake with scallions, went hopping along and ran straight into a ghost wall.

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu's epic defensive rotation!

Elder Yu suffered a total defeat.