Chapter 77: Forging Insights and Returning Hearts (1)

Back in his cave abode after returning from the Outer Sect, Gu Yuan’s mind was filled with all kinds of thoughts.

Cultivators from the Black Desolation Sect, as well as those from the forces that had attacked it... many had died.

Is this what the cultivation world is really like?

Gu Yuan sighed at the thought. The war had been over for a month, yet its aftermath was still everywhere. The sect was already repairing its formations and rebuilding what had been destroyed, while the survivors simply returned to their daily lives as if such a massacre were nothing more than another part of cultivation.

Perhaps, to cultivators, it really was.

He suddenly remembered Ji Yue’s final words to him: cultivate diligently.

Yes, let’s cultivate.

With that thought, Gu Yuan took out a jade bottle from his storage ring, consumed a Golden Essence Pill, a pill specially refined to assist Golden Core cultivators in their cultivation, and began cultivating.

Two years passed peacefully.

When he finally opened his eyes again, he had broken through to the Seventh Stage of the Golden Core Realm.

He had planned to continue cultivating, but at the entrance of his cave abode, he sensed the presence of two people.

They were not the twins.

They were Lin Hao and one of his women.

"Gu Yuan, you’re still alive!" Lin Hao’s boisterous voice rang out the moment Gu Yuan let them in.

"Yes, still alive," Gu Yuan replied calmly. "It seems you survived the war too... or did you not participate?"

Lin Hao blinked before laughing. "Of course I participated. Is there any Black Desolation Sect disciple who didn’t?"

"Naturally there are," Gu Yuan said. "Those who were outside the sect during the war, for example."

"...Oh. I didn’t think of that," Lin Hao said with a chuckle.

At that obvious lie, Gu Yuan laughed, and Lin Hao found himself laughing as well.

Pei Qingluo, who had come along with Lin Hao, could only shake her head at the sight of them.

Two idiots.

Once their laughter died down, Lin Hao’s expression became more serious.

"Anyway, I’m genuinely relieved you survived."

"You too."

Lin Hao sat down across from Gu Yuan before gesturing toward the woman beside him.

"This is Pei Qingluo. You already met her during the Demonic Beast Garden mission. She’s a Forging Master."

Gu Yuan offered a polite smile. "Nice to meet you again, Senior Sister."

Pei Qingluo nodded lightly. "Where is the forging room? I’ll go do some practice while you two catch up."

Gu Yuan pointed the way. Once she had gone, the two men began to talk.

Surprisingly, the conversation wasn’t about women this time. Instead, the two men mostly grumbled about everything that had happened during the war, seemingly trying to outdo each other with their complaints. Eventually, the conversation moved toward the aftermath.

"You haven’t heard? It’s not five peaks anymore. It’s nine!" Lin Hao suddenly said, dropping a rather surprising piece of news.

Gu Yuan calmly asked, "Why did it become nine peaks?"

"When our Crimson Slaughter Saintess went after the sects that attacked us, she didn’t wipe them out completely. Instead, she only killed some of the cultivators from each force she attacked, while absorbing the remaining members into the Black Desolation Sect."

"Our?" Gu Yuan repeated, his tone becoming noticeably sharper.

He seemed less interested in the news itself than in that one word.

Lin Hao chuckled and raised his hands. "Relax, I meant our sect’s Crimson Slaughter Saintess. I value my life."

Lin Hao looked at Gu Yuan teasingly before asking, "Be honest. The Heavenly Twin Stars are the Dao Companions of that friend of yours... right?"

Friend?

Gu Yuan’s gaze became strange for a moment, but he quickly remembered the conversation he had with Lin Hao back when they had gone on that mission in the Demonic Beast Garden.

Back then, he had mentioned a friend who was having trouble dealing with his two Dao Companions.

"Maybe?" Gu Yuan replied vaguely before changing the topic back to the matter at hand. "So, the Crimson Flame Sect has become part of our sect now?"

Lin Hao smiled at Gu Yuan’s obvious attempt to avoid the question before nodding. "Yes. It’s the Crimson Flame Peak now. There’s also the Silent Valley Peak. The remaining two peaks are still unnamed for the time being."

Gu Yuan murmured, in an odd mood, "The enemies of yesterday are the comrades of today. Strange how things turn out."

"Not necessarily comrades," Lin Hao chuckled. "More like subordinates."

"The members of these four peaks won’t be treated like the rest of the sect immediately. It will take a long time before they completely integrate into the sect."

"Is that so?" Gu Yuan said, not finding it particularly surprising.

The two men continued talking for some time before Gu Yuan finally made his way to the forging room.

Pei Qingluo was using the forge, working on a small dagger. Gu Yuan watched her movements, studying a forging technique that was different from the one he used. Her approach was somewhat more delicate than his own, with greater attention given to the distribution of heat before each strike.

As it turned out, she was no beginner like Lin Hao had made her sound before.

Her skills were not that inferior to his own.

Gu Yuan seriously studied her work for a while until he heard Lin Hao’s grumbling voice from behind him.

"Don’t stare at my woman like that."

"Senior Brother, you know it’s not like that..."

"Even so." Lin Hao didn’t look entirely happy about an arrangement he had made himself.

Maybe that was only natural. The forge was hot, sweat clung to Pei Qingluo’s body, and under the glow of the flames, she did look rather alluring.

Even if Gu Yuan had no improper thoughts, perhaps it was only natural for her man to feel uncomfortable seeing another man stare at her so intently.

"I’ll have to be satisfied with exchanges of ideas and techniques later then..." Gu Yuan sighed as he left the forging room with Lin Hao.

Pei Qingluo, who had heard everything as the two men walked away, smiled to herself before quickly finishing the dagger she was forging.