Chapter 60: The pugilistic world is hardly as treacherous as Gu Fangchen

This eye planted upon the frontier battlefield belonged to Zhuo Liu, a Grade-A member of the Eye of Heaven Directorate.

The Eye of Heaven Directorate was divided into four grades: Grade A, B, C, and D. Its twenty-eight Grade-A members corresponded directly to the twenty-eight administrative circuits of the Great Wei Empire.

The Directorate's unique mystical technique, "All-Seeing Eye," allowed a practitioner to cultivate hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of eyes, achieving true omnipresence where every move and sight was monitored.

The Grade-A members all possessed a thousand eyes and at least a Fifth-Rank cultivation base, which was why they were also referred to as "Thousand-Eye Grade-A Supervisors."

Above them stood the "Yin" and "Yang" Eyes, who were the two supreme directors of the Eye of Heaven Directorate.

What Zhuo Liu managed was the Qiu'an Circuit, one of the six circuits of Northern Shuofang.

This also encompassed the border regions where the Qingman tribes and Great Wei forces clashed, and some of his subordinates were responsible for relaying military intelligence back to Great Wei.

When he sensed that this particular eye of his had been disturbed, Zhuo Liu's immediate reaction was that disaster had struck—the battlefield must have expanded and engulfed that sector.

Just as he prepared to mentally control and relocate the eye, someone reached out and pressed their hand firmly over it.

Zhuo Liu was startled at first, followed by a cold sneer in his heart.

So he had been discovered after all...

How utterly presumptuous. Was his eye something that anyone could just casually seize?

To think this person even dared to attempt a transaction with him using such means! Those who traded with the Eye of Heaven Directorate always had to queue up and beg for an audience. Who did this person think they were, daring to speak with such an arrogant attitude...

However, the fact that the adversary had been able to locate the exact spot where he planted his eye caused a flicker of caution to arise in Zhuo Liu's heart, making him curious to see what tricks the person intended to play.

Yet, the moment the other party spoke, the matter instantly involved two major powers.

Gu Yuye's daughter possessed a sacred artifact of the Matriarch Sect?

Zhuo Liu frowned. This fellow really just blurted out whatever came to mind; even fabricating lies required some basic logic, didn't it?

How many years had it been since the Matriarch Sect's sacred artifact went missing? Even the Eye of Heaven Directorate had been unable to track it down. How could it suddenly appear on the young Princess of the Northern Suppression Prince's Estate?

There was not the slightest connection between the two.

Zhuo Liu said in a cold voice:

"What evidence do you have to prove the authenticity of this intelligence?"

Gu Fangchen leisurely replied:

"Oh, I have plenty. Just capture Gu Lianqian, carve away her flesh, strip off her bones, and drink her blood; naturally, you will understand what is meant by the 'Lotus Hidden in the Womb'."

That Gu Lianqian was the reincarnation of Kong Zhao was purely a coincidence, devoid of any prearranged conspiracy, and naturally, no tangible evidence existed.

The sole piece of evidence was Gu Lianqian herself.

Peacocks undergo a reincarnation cycle every five hundred years, and as it happened, she had been exactly cast into the womb of Gu Lianqian.

In the game, this side quest concerning Gu Lianqian was titled [When Will the Lotus Bloom].

She foolishly believed herself to be the pride cultivated by Gu Yuye, stupidly sacrificing her life for him. In her youth, she thought she was upholding justice in the martial world; as she grew older, she believed she was defending her country and its people. In reality, every single action she took merely added bricks and mortar to the Northern Suppression Prince's ambition, slaughtering countless truly loyal and righteous men and women in the process.

Even when Gu Yuye's true colors were eventually exposed, she still insisted that all the evil deeds were the work of the demonic cults and that Gu Yuye had been framed.

It was not until she followed Gu Yuye all the way in fleeing to Qingman that she finally learned Gu Yuye had long since betrayed Great Wei.

It was at that very moment that Gu Lianqian experienced a sudden, painful awakening. Amidst crushing regret and mental collapse, she raised her sword against Gu Yuye for the very first time, attempting to persuade him to turn back.

Little did she know, in the eyes of the heavily wounded Gu Yuye at that moment, she was nothing more than a living heavenly treasure.

The day the lotus bloomed marked the moment her life would be forfeit.

Utilizing the "Lotus Hidden in the Womb," Gu Yuye reshaped his mortal foundation, advanced to the Second-Rank, and formally aligned himself with the Qingman faction.

An utter and complete tragedy.

"Absurd!"

As everyone knew, Gu Lianqian was the apple of the Northern Suppression Prince's eye. For this fellow to actually plot to kill her—

Had he grown tired of living?

Zhuo Liu instantly felt as though he had been toyed with. He laughed out of sheer fury:

"If Gu Lianqian has the 'Lotus Hidden in the Womb,' why don't you just tell me where it is? What kind of logic is carving flesh and drinking blood..."

He paused mid-sentence, suddenly falling silent as realization dawned.

Back in the day, the "Lotus Hidden in the Womb" was supposed to have vanished alongside the sixth-generation holy maiden.

And that holy maiden happened to belong to the peacock lineage...

If she had brought the "Lotus Hidden in the Womb" along with her when she reincarnated into Gu Lianqian, then wouldn't Gu Lianqian herself be the embodiment of the "Lotus Hidden in the Womb"?

Zhuo Liu snapped back to his senses, drew in a sharp breath, and suddenly felt a chill creep up his spine.

Yet he immediately recovered his composure and rebuked coldly:

"Utter nonsense! Since you have no evidence, what are you here to trade for?"

Gu Fangchen shook his head and chuckled:

"You've misunderstood. This isn't the intelligence I'm selling you; it's the price you must pay—"

"I want you to spread this news at the absolute fastest speed possible. Within a day, it must be known to everyone under heaven. As for evidence, hmm... you can figure something out yourselves."

"As for the intelligence you need to purchase, that is a separate matter."

Gu Fangchen waved his hand, casually conjuring a simple phantom projection of a map of Great Wei.

Zhuo Liu was on the verge of being laughed to anger, feeling as though he had encountered a madman:

"Who hasn't seen a map of Great Wei? You're trying to sell this to me?"

Gu Fangchen smiled amiably:

"Then why don't you take a closer look?"

Zhuo Liu did not believe for a second that he could glean anything extraordinary from it, but Gu Fangchen's bizarre words and actions actually provoked a rebellious mindset in him: *Let's see what other mad nonsense you can spout.*

In reality, he had already begun secretly signaling his subordinates in the Qiu'an Circuit to teach this clueless wretch a bitter lesson.

However, the moment he fixed his gaze upon the map, his hand seals froze instantly.

Zhuo Liu stared at the dense array of markers dotted across the map, and a single bead of cold sweat slowly slid down his forehead.

Those symbols marked upon it were precisely the positions where he had planted his observation eyes!

Every single one of them throughout the entire Qiu'an Circuit, without a single omission!

Gu Fangchen said with a tone of mild regret:

"My memory isn't all that great either, so the specific coordinates might be slightly off, but the deviation shouldn't be too large."

Of course, the observation points of the Eye of Heaven Directorate could be altered, but large-scale adjustments were a troublesome affair, which was why they were mostly fixed in certain locations.

Gu Fangchen could only pull off this stunt once.

Next time, the Directorate would undoubtedly relocate all its vantage points.

However, at this very moment, as a means of deterrence, this information was more than sufficient.

The most unfathomable and mysterious aspect of the Eye of Heaven Directorate lay precisely in these clandestine observation points, which formed the core of their intelligence-gathering network.

To put it simply, they were equivalent to pinhole security cameras planted everywhere.

Once the locations of these cameras were exposed, the Directorate's intelligence network would instantly collapse... because this would inevitably implicate the informants who provided them with intelligence in the first place.

Zhuo Liu asked with great difficulty:

"Who on earth are you?"

"Me?"

Gu Fangchen grinned widely:

"Just a dead man. Whoever you think I am, that is who I am."

"Well then, are you going to buy this intelligence or not? Of course, you are entirely welcome to come looking for me, but I cannot guarantee how many people will know about your secrets before that happens."

Zhuo Liu remained silent for a moment. After seeking instructions from the Yin Supervisor and receiving an affirmative reply, he said:

"We'll buy it."

A sigh escaped his heart.

He had no idea what kind of grudge this person held against the Gu family to resort to such venomous means against that young princess.

Once this news spread, Gu Lianqian would immediately become the target of hunted pursuit by every immortal sect, both openly and in the shadows. The temptation of the "Lotus Hidden in the Womb" was simply too overwhelming.

Gu Fangchen, on the other hand, was thoroughly satisfied.

Pity poor Gu Lianqian, who thought that stepping out into the martial world meant the greatest danger was the malice of Jianghu, but in reality—

The martial world held nothing even remotely as perilous as Gu Fangchen...

————

ps: Another chapter coming up shortly.