Nie Li slightly narrowed his eyes. It’s indeed: ‘waves come just after the last one calms’. It seems like he won’t be able to have any peace from now on!

The leader, Gu Bei’s older cousin Gu Heng, walked towards Nie Li.

“You must be Nie Li!” Gu Heng’s face had a faint smile, “Obtaining rank three of the Saint Soul Board as a newcomer and mercilessly stepping over Long Yuyin, you’re indeed formidable! I’m Gu Heng of the Gu Clan!”

At Gu Heng’s words, Nie Li glanced at the group of people standing behind Gu Heng and narrowed his eyes. “I wonder what your distinguished countenance seeks me for?”

Nie Li had never heard of the name ‘Gu Heng’ before. In his previous life, the strongest person of the Gu Clan was Gu Bei!

A youth who stood to the side proudly announced, “Our Young Master is the first in line to succeed the Gu Clan!”

First successor? But in the end, he failed to succeed the Gu Clan? The corner of Nie Li’s mouth curled as he eyed the arrogant youth. It seemed that this Gu Heng would be Gu Bei’s competitor.

Gu Heng waved his hand, signaling his underling to silence himself. He then lightly smiled and said, “My purpose in coming here is to make friends with you geniuses!”

Lu Piao slapped his chest and straightforwardly said, “Make friends? I like making friends, we’re friends now!”

Gu Heng paused. Did Lu Piao really not hear the hidden intent in those words, or was he just acting as though he didn’t understand?

Nie Li laughed inwardly. Lu Piao was acting like a nitwit, but he knew what he was doing. Nie Li smiled, “I have the same intentions. If Young Master Gu wants to be friends, we’ll be glad. From now on, we can get along as friends!”

Gu Heng’s face turned slightly cold; however, he patted Nie Li on the shoulder and said, “I like your character. If you have some spare time, do make a visit to our Gu Clan. We of the Gu Clan would definitely be more than happy to welcome geniuses such as yourselves!”

Nie Li maintained some distance with Gu Heng as he said monotonously, “We also like being friends with people like Young Master Gu. Except that we’re all used to being free, so joining the Gu Clan might not suit us.”

At Nie Li’s words, Gu Heng’s eyes flashed with a ray of chilling light as he smiled, “With talents like yours, you could reach the Heavenly Fate Realm in half a month if you have sufficient cultivating resources! Please do consider the offer! The Gu Clan will forever keep its door open to you!”

Gu Heng finished his words and walked past Nie Li and his group. Upon seeing that, the people from the Gu Clan also dispersed.

Nie Li turned his head back to watch Gu Heng’s silhouette.

It seemed that this Gu Heng was from the Gu Clan as well. Lu Piao furrowed his brows and asked, “Nie Li, that fellow intends to recruit us? Based on his tone, he’s an extremely proud type of guy. He’s trying to recruit us, yet he still has that superior look. He’s absolutely different from Gu Bei. What’s his relationship with Gu Bei, anyways?”

“Don’t worry about him.” Nie Li lightly smiled and continued, “He’s just another opinionated fellow. Trying to recruit us under his wing and without even understanding if he himself is capable of it! He’s just the first successor to the Gu Clan. He doesn’t even have any real authority within the Gu Clan, and yet he’s already treating the entire Gu Clan as his!”

Xiao Yu was silently standing to the side. He hadn’t spoken a word since the beginning. After pondering for a while, he finally said, “Nie Li, you have to be careful. Since you’ve displayed such astonishing talent on the Saint Soul Board, the major families will definitely have their eyes on you!”

“There’s no harm. We should find someone to spread the news that we’ll only consider joining families after we’ve completed our training in the Skysoul Institute!” Nie Li said, “It’ll be fine if we just keep delaying it. We’ll talk about it later, after we’ve finished our training. Before our training has completed, those families probably won’t try to offend us too badly and risk pushing us towards the other families!”

Xiao Yu nodded after giving it a thought, “That’s a pretty good idea.”

Gu Heng stood some distance away with a sullen expression.

“Those arrogant bastards. They really thought I wanted to make friends with them? How could they be fit to be friends with me?” Gu Heng coldly laughed. How could he not perceive the faint rejecting from Nie Li? “It’s already considered to be a praise to be on terms as friends as for those that had pledged allegiance to me! Those who’re unwilling don’t even have the qualifications to be my friends!”

A youth who stood next to him agreed with his words. “Indeed, those three don’t know how to appreciate kindness!”

Gu Heng cursed uncontrollably. “So what if he’s talented? In the end, all the so-called geniuses still joined one family or another. It’s absolutely impossible for a single person to shake a family. Our Gu Clan can let him be or have him dead. If it wasn’t for the Skysoul Institute’s rule, they’d already be dead!”

The power struggle between the various families of Divine Feathers Sect was too intense; therefore, Gu Heng didn’t want to make too much gossipping material for others.

Gu Heng’s eyes flashed with a chilling light. “Since you’re unwilling to pledge allegiance to me, then you can just dream about reaching the Heavenly Star Realm for the rest of your life!”

Within the Draconic Ruins Realm, cultivating was an extremely hard task. If one didn’t actively go out to train and obtain spiritual stones for themselves, the Skysoul Institute wouldn’t be able to provide the sufficient cultivating resources for them. However, going to the various places in Draconic Ruins Realm meant high danger and there would be constant death.

Naturally, once a student reached the Heavenly Fate Realm and placed their first Fate Soul in the Soul Hall, they wouldn’t have to worry about their soul dissipating. However, every death would consume a level of cultivation in exchange. Therefore, trying to step into higher realms without the help of others would be an extremely tough task.

Once they entered the Heavenly Fate Realm and obtained sufficient cultivating resources, they’d be able to rapidly raise their cultivation. However, every level would exhaust large quantities of cultivating resources. Since there were countless other experts fighting over the limited cultivating resources, there would naturally be deaths among them.

At that point, it would become very easy for a family to control a single person’s cultivation.

Regardless, Nie Li’s refusal had angered Gu Heng. It’s just that Gu Heng hadn’t fully fallen out with Nie Li yet.

In a deep valley of the Divine Feathers Sect stood a straw hut surrounded by peach blossoms, like a garden full of peaches.

Such beautiful scenery was beyond spectacular!

A variety of mysterious, glowing arrays wandered around this straw hut.

Inside the hut, was a beautiful girl who sat in silence. There were six mysterious devices around her, each with round balls that revolved like stars. Each device formed and released pulses of mysterious energy.

This girl was Ying Yueru.

Both of her eyes were closed and brows were furrowed; she seemed to be deep in thought over something.

After a few hours had passed, she suddenly opened her eyes.

Ying Yueru looked as if she’d figured everything out. “So that’s what’s going on! No wonder I sensed such familiarity when I looked at him.” She smiled lightly and muttered to herself, “The Temporal Demon Spirit Book is indeed extraordinary, to reverse time and space. However, if you’re unable to defy the heavens and change your destiny, then everything will turn back into nothing. Once you reach the Heavenly Axis Realm, the Sage Emperor will slowly begin to sense your presence. What I can do to help you is shift your fate to myself. When the Sage Emperor performs his divination this time around, it will be me he finds, not you! Your Master can only help you this far; as to whether can you truly defy the heavens and change your destiny, that all depends on you!”

Ying Yueru’s gaze fell into distant space.

“My mother was a human, but the blood of the Demon God also flows within me. My existence was already destined to be intolerable. I hope that you can continue to live with my teachings and expectations.”

She remained there like a fairy that had descended into the mortal realm, uncorrupted by the world’s dust. Her gentle gaze was as clear as water.

She was a woman who was as serene as the moon.

Ever since she was born, she’d been an observer of destiny. She’d performed divinations on too many people; from her perspective, the lives and deaths were too normal. Because of this, she didn’t even view her own life and death with much importance.

She continued her calculations as Nie Li’s fate and her own started show little changes.

A day passed quickly. Inside Venerable Redsoul’s courtyard, the majority of students were already seated and waiting for Venerable Redsoul to arrive.

Nie Li and Lu Piao walked into the training room and sat in their own seats.

When the students saw Nie Li and Lu Piao enter, the quiet training room instantly burst into a commotion.

“Are you aware? That guy called Nie Li totally crushed Long Yuyin beneath his feet on the Saint Soul Board!”

“Shh, lower your voice. Aren’t you afraid that Long Yuyin will hear us?”

“I heard that Long Yuyin even got served with three lashes. She was so proud, so now that she was lashed three times, the shame is probably even harder for her to bear than death!”

As of this moment, nearly every student directed their attention towards Nie Li and Lu Piao.

Long Yuyin quietly sat there, wearing a tight-fitting outfit. She was the most beautiful girl in the class due to her impressive figure and flawless looks. The only flaw was that, at this point of time, she bore a rather ugly expression as she tightly clenched both fists on her knees.

How could she not hear the students’ discussions?

But on the Saint Soul Board, she’d indeed lost. However, the fact was that she was still very prideful in her heart.

Long Yuyin looked at Nie Li as her eyes flashed with a fighting spirit. ‘It’s only the Saint Soul Board, it can’t prove that your talent is stronger than mine. I will thoroughly beat you in other ways!’ She definitely wouldn’t allow herself to lose to anyone else that’s the same age as herself.

She’d been brought up by her mother. And throughout childhood, her mother had always told her that a woman must depend on herself. She must be a true expert and crush all men beneath her feet.

Ever since she was young, she’d displayed a powerful talent. Right now, she was already the seventh in line to succeed the Dragonseal Family. This was her glory; however, it was still far from enough. She wanted to become the most powerful!

Now, on the Saint Soul Board, Nie Li had crushed her mercilessly, which nearly made her go insane. However, she definitely won’t admit defeat!