I Am the Fated Villain

Chapter 1792. Judge Deeds, Not Intentions — The Divine Kingdom Departs into the Distance

After returning to the Daochang True Realm, Gu Changge began making arrangements to take the Divine Kingdom away with him as well. As for Xiyao’s matter, he did not hide it from Yue Mingkong.

Yue Mingkong expressed understanding, because she still remembered that during the wedding banquet long ago, there had been a solitary figure sitting silently in the corner, drinking alone.

She simply had not expected that Empress Xiyao would ultimately choose such an ending. Had she truly become so utterly disheartened that she wished for death?

She could not help but think of the memories from before her “rebirth.” Back then, she herself had probably been no different from Empress Xiyao.

“Are you planning to keep her by your side?” Yue Mingkong asked as she looked toward the clean white jade porcelain basin Gu Changge had brought back.

Inside it was an exceptionally beautiful fish, swimming freely and carefree. Its moist, pretty eyes carried both innocence and spiritual intelligence.

She just wondered—when Empress Xiyao eventually recovered the memories of her previous life and realized that Gu Changge had truly fulfilled her wish and turned her into a fish, would her mind be filled with black lines?

Yue Mingkong smiled softly, her eyes narrowing slightly. She was actually looking forward to that scene a little.

“There happens to be a pond in my courtyard. Let her stay there,” Gu Changge said.

Yue Mingkong nodded gently. “Next, I’ll be going back into seclusion again.”

“This time, I’ll stay by your side,” Gu Changge said with a faint smile.

“Mhm.”

“But aren’t you going to visit the Hall of Destiny?” Yue Mingkong suddenly asked as she leaned her head against Gu Changge’s chest.

Although she had only recently emerged from seclusion, very little that happened in the Daochang True Realm could escape her notice. She also kept track of the many women connected to Gu Changge.

“Xiao Ruoyin is actually quite pitiful too. And she is also your woman,” she said as she lifted her clear eyes to look at him.

“You really aren’t jealous at all? So generous?” Gu Changge chuckled.

Seeing Yue Mingkong glare at him and seemingly prepare to pinch the flesh at his waist, he quickly added, “I’ll go.”

After experiencing the matter with Empress Xiyao, Gu Changge had actually begun thinking about something.

If, from the very beginning, he had been just a little colder and crueler—if he had not told her the truth directly, but instead fabricated a reason, an excuse—perhaps Empress Xiyao would have felt better.

Even if those words had only been lies.

Judge deeds, not intent.

But in the end, he had still softened. He could no longer bear to continue deceiving her.

As for Xiao Ruoyin’s situation, it was actually quite similar to Xiyao’s. At the start, theirs had also been a relationship built on mutual exploitation.

Gu Changge had used her to scheme for the Creation Immortal Boat, while she coveted his power and status.

Now, however, times had changed, and so had their circumstances. In Gu Changge’s eyes, Xiao Ruoyin was merely a stranger with whom he once had a relationship—nothing more.

Yet just as Yue Mingkong had said, she was still his woman.

The Hall of Destiny was even lonelier and quieter than Gu Changge had imagined.

When he stepped inside, the woman dressed in shrine maiden ceremonial robes with a long ponytail had not yet noticed him. She was quietly lighting candles by herself.

“A Void Destiny Physique…”

Gu Changge knew her identity, her origins, and also why Xiao Ruoyin had brought her here.

He did not disturb the woman. Instead, he walked into the inner hall and saw Xiao Ruoyin seated cross-legged upon a meditation cushion, cultivating.

“Seeking life through death—quite a remarkable resolve. Unfortunately, if I hadn’t come, you still would have failed.”

With a single glance, Gu Changge saw through Xiao Ruoyin’s problem.

Inner demons entangled her; flaws existed within her Dao heart. She had already attempted once to break through the threshold of the Dao Realm, and this time she intended to wash away all mortal impurities and sever every flaw.

But those flaws had long seeped through her Dao heart like thick ink staining paper.

If she wished to cut them away, then unless she shattered her Dao heart and began cultivating anew from the beginning, the result would remain unchanged.

To resolve it, there were only two paths.

Either she reconstructed her Dao heart and removed the flaw from its very root—

Or she attained the Dao through the flaw itself.

The moon waxes and wanes; perfection and imperfection coexist. A Dao heart did not necessarily need to be flawless and immaculate. It depended on whether she could comprehend it, whether she could accept it.

Since she herself was never a flawless person to begin with, why obsess over that single imperfection?

Accepting herself and acknowledging herself—was that not also a form of purity within the Dao heart?

“Your Majesty…”

Xiao Ruoyin’s eyes suddenly opened. Her gaze was calm and undisturbed.

Gu Changge had not concealed his aura, so naturally she had sensed his arrival.

“I don’t like that title. I still prefer when you called me Young Master Changge as you did before,” he said while casually sitting on a jade stool nearby and pouring himself a cup of tea.

The tea had long gone cold. No one knew how long it had been sitting there.

Xiao Ruoyin stared at him blankly for a moment before gracefully standing up. “I’ll brew a fresh pot.”

“No need.” Gu Changge waved his hand. “I’m only sitting here for a while.”

Xiao Ruoyin nodded. Confusion flickered in her eyes, as she did not know why Gu Changge had come.

Although deep down she had wanted to see him and hoped he would come, now that he truly stood before her, she no longer knew how to face him or what to say.

“Sit. No need to stand,” Gu Changge said with a smile.

Xiao Ruoyin hesitated briefly before gathering her skirt and sitting upon the jade stool beside him.

A few strands of hair slipped down along her cheeks and fell beside her ears. Just as she was about to tuck them back, she suddenly felt a warm hand reach over and gently brush the strands behind her ear for her.

She stared blankly into the gentle gaze so close before her.

“Have you grown accustomed to living in the Hall of Destiny? I see you’ve taken in a disciple. Are you planning for her to inherit your legacy?” Gu Changge asked casually, as though discussing ordinary trivial matters over tea.

Xiao Ruoyin softly acknowledged him.

“Her name is Wu Qi. I happened to find her in a lower realm. Since she possesses the same Void Destiny Physique as me, I felt her future achievements might surpass mine, so I brought her here and guided her personally.”

“The Hall of Destiny is a little too desolate. Having someone to talk to and relieve the boredom isn’t bad,” Gu Changge nodded.

Xiao Ruoyin looked toward the outside of the inner hall.

“Wu Qi is very diligent. The daily cleaning of dust and lighting of candles within the Hall of Destiny are all handled by her, which saves me quite a bit of trouble. It gives me more time to study and comprehend fate itself…”

Gu Changge nodded in agreement.

Xiao Ruoyin spent her days cultivating within the Hall of Destiny year-round and almost never stepped outside. If one asked about her daily life, then aside from seclusion, cultivation, seclusion, cultivation… she probably had nothing else to say.

Wu Qi’s presence, however, gave her an opportunity to finally open up.

Thus Gu Changge asked further about her everyday interactions with Wu Qi.

Xiao Ruoyin also seemed to forget that Gu Changge had originally said he would only sit for a while. Thinking about the liveliness and joy Wu Qi had brought into her previously monotonous life after arriving at the Hall of Destiny, she gradually began talking…

Gu Changge did not interrupt. He quietly listened to her speak.

Whenever she looked toward him during her narration, he would respond with a smile.

Later, he began asking about her cultivation, her insights into the Dao of Destiny, and her areas of study and expertise.

Once the conversation reached topics she excelled at, Xiao Ruoyin’s words became far more plentiful.

Coincidentally, she also had many unresolved questions regarding fate and destiny, so she took this opportunity to ask Gu Changge all of them.

She knew that Gu Changge’s current cultivation had already reached an unimaginable level.

Although he had not specifically cultivated the Dao of Destiny, the three thousand Great Daos all ultimately converged upon the same destination.

Gu Changge answered everything without reservation, carefully explaining his own understanding of fate and destiny to Xiao Ruoyin. He even personally demonstrated certain concepts for her…

During this time, Wu Qi, who had planned to visit Xiao Ruoyin, witnessed an extremely strange scene.

The usually cold and detached Xiao Ruoyin, who rarely smiled, now had a faint smile hanging upon her lips.

Beside her sat a handsome and transcendent man of unmatched elegance. The two conversed happily together, so much so that Xiao Ruoyin seemed to have completely forgotten Wu Qi’s existence.

“So that is the current Alliance Leader?”

“He really looks so young. He and Lady Ruoyin are truly well matched.”

Wu Qi shrank her head slightly. She did not even know when Gu Changge had arrived.

But seeing her lady finally reveal such a smile after so long, she sincerely felt happy from the bottom of her heart.

Thus, she quietly closed the hall doors and left.

“Sometimes when I returned to the Daochang True Realm, time was too limited, and I couldn’t come see you. It wasn’t intentional neglect…” Gu Changge explained calmly.

“I understand. I can understand that. The fact that Your Majesty… Young Master Changge was willing to come see me already satisfies me.”

Xiao Ruoyin corrected herself midway.

Since Gu Changge disliked the title “Your Majesty,” she would return to addressing him as she once had before.

For a brief moment, she seemed transported back to those old memories filled with worldly ambition and material desire—when she had chased wealth and status and longed to cling to the powerful.

As for whether Gu Changge’s words were true or false, it no longer mattered.

What mattered was that he had come.

“In the next few days, I plan to take the Divine Kingdom away. At that time, the Hall of Destiny will also be brought into the Heaven-Defying Alliance within the Boundless Expanse. If you’re unwilling, I can leave the Hall of Destiny behind,” Gu Changge said.

Xiao Ruoyin froze slightly before softly replying,

“It makes no difference where I am. Whether it is the Boundless Expanse or Daochang… where the heart finds peace, there lies my home.”

Gu Changge nodded and then rose to leave.

Her eyes trembled slightly as she suddenly asked,

“Tonight… can you stay and rest here?”

Gu Changge also seemed somewhat surprised, but then nodded.

“Alright.”

A flush of red immediately spread behind Xiao Ruoyin’s ears.

Several days later, the entire territory of the Divine Kingdom—including portions of the Upper Realm’s chaotic regions, an ancient city within the Eight Desolations and Ten Domains, and even a village named Qingshan—began rumbling loudly beneath endless divine radiance.

A hazy passageway seemed to appear between heaven and earth, connecting from outside the Daochang True Realm toward an unknown land.

The Daochang True Realm shook violently.

All races and Daoist factions understood that Gu Changge had opened a passage from the Daochang True Realm into the Boundless Expanse.

From this day onward, the Daochang True Realm would truly become connected to the Boundless Expanse.

For all clans and powers, whether this would become a blessing or calamity, an opportunity or danger, remained entirely unknown.

At the same time, while the Divine Kingdom rumbled and rapidly departed, many powerful cultivators sensed an overwhelmingly tyrannical aura emerging within it.

A new Dao Realm expert had been born within the Divine Kingdom.

The Great Dao of heaven and earth roared as countless phenomena manifested across the skies.

No one knew which existence it belonged to.

As for the place where the Divine Kingdom had originally stood, only a vast blank void remained behind.

The Heaven-Defying Alliance within the Daochang True Realm also began relocating after the opening of the passage into the Boundless Expanse, migrating outward into the greater world.

“So… they’ve all left…”

“But why does the aura left behind by the Ancestor grow increasingly faint? Did I overlook something?”

The Ancestor of the Gu Family did not leave the Daochang True Realm. Instead, he remained behind with many members of the Gu clan.

Yet as he gazed toward the disappearing Divine Kingdom, his brows furrowed tightly, feeling as though he had forgotten something crucial.

After waiting through endless ages, the distant ancestor still had not returned.

That existence which once sought to touch the True Land had clearly left behind signs and legacies here for a reason.

“Could it be… I need to return once to the clan lands within the Nine Heavens?”

He frowned deeply and fell into contemplation.