Chapter 1657: Arrogant and Despotic

Gu Luolin’s smug pride was in stark contrast with the Demon Emperor’s group’s silent endurance.

It was already clear that they dared not use violence against her. Ye Zichen couldn’t tell what the Demon Emperor was thinking, but it was clear from Jiao Hai and Qiu Guang’s behavior that they were afraid down to their very bones.

A young miss of the Gu Family’s direct line, a pearl in the palm of two half-step transcendents.

Even if they ate bears’ hearts or leopards’ gallbladders to boost their courage, they wouldn’t dare harm a hair on her head.

But their concessions didn’t win them peaceful coexistence. Gu Luolin pushed further ahead, and when she told them to kneel and apologize, their faces practically went green.

It didn’t matter whether you looked at the Demon Emperor, Jiao Hai, or Qiu Guang. All of them were well-known, respectable figures.

Going down on their knees to apologize to a mere vicious beast? Just asking it was like stepping on their heads and trampling their dignity.

Ye Zichen glanced at the pipe-smoking Tai Tan. It seemed he had no intentions of attacking.

So Ye Zichen simply ignored him, then watching Gu Luolin and the Demon Emperor with great interest.

As spectacles went, their “battle” was far more interesting than his.

Demon Emperor Kui Lin, Jiao Hai, and Qiu Guang, all kneeling and apologizing at once? Even if he waited ten thousand years, he might not encounter such a sight.

After a lengthy silence, a set of armor and a set of pearls appeared in Jiao Hai’s hands. He walked up to Gu Luolin and proferred them. “Miss Gu, we offended you earlier. This divine battle armor is ranked in the top hundred of the divine armor leaderboards. This string of magical beads is also in the top hundred, but as an auxiliary treasure. It has a calming effect, and boosts concentration. Please, consider this my apology. I humbly request that you accept them!” 

When Qiu Guang saw this, he cursed inwardly. That Jiao Hai is crafty indeed!

Prostrating themselves before a beast would hurt their pride. Even if they dared not offend the girl any further, giving compensation was by far the best method.

“Miss Gu, this is a set of wings. They’re pure white and transparent, and they suit you perfectly.” Jiao Hai and Qiu Guang cautiously presented their ultimate treasures, filled with hope that Gu Luolin would accept them as their apology.

And Gu Luolin really did smile and walk over. The pair of them smiled appeasingly back.

Then, they watched as she smacked their ultimate treasures out of their hands and onto the ground. Her tender, youthful face filled with utter disdain. “Who do you think I am? If you thought that garbage is enough to smooth things over, you thought wrong.”

Ye Zichen suddenly felt anger was over him, and he let out a sputtering cough.

Look at her!

The treasures Jiao Hai and Qiu Guang offered were ultimate treasures, yet Gu Luolin described them as “garbage”? 

Poverty truly restricted one’s imagination. To tell the truth, had they offered him those treasures, Ye Zichen would have long-since accepted them and been done with it.

Besides, he wasn’t injured. Losing nothing and leaving with those treasures meant turning quite a heavy profit!

But of course, she was doing this for the giant condor. Ye Zichen wasn’t as close to the bird as she was, nor did he know just how important it was to Gu Luolin.

Had the injured party been Yang Jian, the Great Sage, or someone close to him, Ye Zichen likely wouldn’t have agreed either.

After their treasures were smacked away, Jiao Hai and Qiu Guang’s expressions turned unsightly, but this wasn’t because of resentment. Rather, their minds were awash with terror.

Resenting the daughter of the Gu Family? Did they have that kind of courage?

“A set of lousy armor, lousy magic pearls, and lously wings? You think that’s enough to buy me off? Please, think it over: who exactly am I? I’ll let you once more: My name is Gu Luolin. My father is Gu Xuande, and my mother is Qing Li! Your treasures are so low-class, not even our servants would fancy them. Offering them to me? Are you trying to disgust me? Or do you think our Gu Family is so easily bought that such garbage is enough to smooth things over?”

When they heard that, both Jiao Hai and Qiu Guang knelt, their knees thudding against the ground. “Young Miss Gu, we have absolutely no intentions of looking down on the Gu Family. No matter the occasion, the Gu Family is a transcendent existence.” 

They knelt!

Finally, Jiao Hai and Qiu Guang actually knelt. The corners of Gu Luolin’s mouths arched upwards. He raised her legs and kicked them each on the shoulder. They endured, not daring to take even half a step back. 

Suddenly, her gaze landed on Kui Lin. “Although their offerings were humble, they contained the right sentiments. But what about you… What are you just standing there for like some sort of statue? I told you to kneel, so kneel! Or do you not understand what I’m saying?”

In Ye Zichen’s memory, Gu Luolin was the first to dare speak to Kui Lin in such a way.

When they heard such offensive, provocative words, Jiao Hai and Qiu Guang could only mourn on Kui Lin’s behalf. They didn’t dare so much as look at him.

Kneeling and begging for mercy meant they had no dignity left. If they met Kui Lin’s gaze…

They’d be so ashamed, they might bash their heads against a nearby boulder, die, and be done with it!

Meanwhile, hidden within his sleeves, Kui Lin’s fists were clenched incomparably tightly.

He really did feel the urge to crush this girl, who didn’t understand the height of the heavens or depths of the earth, who knew nothing but relying on her family background, and vent his fury.

But he daren’t not gamble! 

Half-step transcendents were only halfway into transcendence, but that was still a height they couldn’t match.

If, the instant they attacked, Gu Luolin shattered the jade slip her father had given her, if he stepped through the skies and arrived, Kui Lin’s entire group would shatter like pottery. They might not even get the chance to fight back before they were annihilated.

Tens of thousands of years of cultivation, gone in an instant.

Kneel!

That was absolutely impossible!

No matter what, he was the emperor of demonkind! Even if Gu Luolin was a direct descendent of the Gu Family, Kui Lin had his dignity as the Demon Emperor.

If he knelt and begged for mercy, it was like letting the Gu Family trample the entire demon race.

“What are you doing? Sneakily clenching your hands into fists inside your sleeves? Do you want to fight?” The prospect of Kui Lin attacking didn’t seem to scare her at all. She raised her head proudly, then walked right up to him and snorted. “If you’re angry, don’t hold back. If you restrain yourself too much, you’ll get sick. That’s not good! If you want to attack, go right ahead and do it! That is, if you aren’t afraid of my dad obliterating your entire clan.”

As she spoke, Gu Luolin summoned a lustrous jade slip and started fiddling with it. 

When it appeared, Jiao Hai, Qiu Guang, and Kui Lin’s pupils constricted.

So, Gu Luolin wasn’t just making empty threats! That really was Gu Xuande’s jade slip.

“Hit me! Come on! Hit me!” She pushed her head closer and closer towards Kui Lin, her hands tightly wrapped around the jade slip. “You’d best kill me in a single. But of course, even if you kill me, so long as the jade shatters, my dad will be here in a flash. But hey, at least the entire demon race will follow you to the grave.”

“You’re quite the joker, Miss Gu.”

“You know perfectly well whether I’m joking or not, now don’t you?” Gu Luolin forcefully poked Kui Lin in the chest. Jiao Hai and Qiu Guang sensed the change in Kui Lin’s aura, and were suddenly terrified that he really would lose his temper, attack, and drag them down with him.

“Demon Emperor, that’s the daughter of the Gu Family!”

“Demon Emperor, endure! Whatever you do, don’t use force! If you can’t take it, just apologize!”

….

Several transmissions burst into Kui Lin’s sea of consciousness. Gu Luolin’s provocations had merely infuriated Kui Lin, but Jiao Hai and Qiu Guang’s cowardice left him shaking with rage.

He was really starting to regret joining forces with them. And here he’d thought the allies he’d found were among the most wealthy and well-connected leaders of the Upper Three Realms. 

With them as his allies, their group wasn’t much inferior to Ye Zichen’s alliance.

And yet, a direct descendent of the Gu Family had scared them this badly. Even if the Gu Family was a nigh-transcendent existence, with their pitiful, quivering demeanor, how could they hope to accomplish anything?

Even if they obtained transcendent fortune, the moment a Gu Family member scared them, they’d obediently hand it over!

“Silence, you pack of garbage!” When Kui Lin responded, it wasn’t through a divine sense transmission. Gu Luolin was so startled, her hands trembled. She covered her mouth, and seemed like she was on the verge of tears. 

Ye Zichen rushed over and patted her on the shoulder. Kui Lin’s expression contorted continuously as he looked over the pair of them. “Young Miss Gu, Star Lord Ye, this time, I’ll admit defeat. I am no longer interested in the treasures here! But don’t think you’ve won! We’ll meet again!” 

Kui Lin cupped his fists, then transformed into a puff of demonic energy and disappeared into heaven and earth. However, he left all of his subordinates behind, effectively throwing them away. 

Jiao Hai, Qiu Guang, and Tai Tan looked at each other. They hadn’t thought Kui Lin so faithless as to abandon them, just like that. 

“Big White, let’s chase him!”

“Scree!” 

The condor was just about to heed her call when Ye Zichen tugged Gu Luolin back. “What do you think you’re doing? Do you even have any idea where he went? Besides, he’s the Demon Emperor! There’s no way he’d give up his dignity so easily!”

“But he scared me just now! Hmph! I’ll let him run, but when I get back, I’m telling my mom and dad!” Gu Luolin pouted.

At the end of the day, she was still a little kid. Ye Zichen patted her head, then glanced at Tai Tan. Tai Tan seemed at a loss; he clearly wanted to run, but he also clearly didn’t dare.

“What are you just standing there for? Get over here, bow to the condor, and apologize! Or are you sure you want to run like Kui Lin?”

Tai Tan considered running, but Gu Luolin was already looking at him. He didn’t dare!

Tai Tan gnashed his teeth and approached the pair of them, glanced at his already-kneeling allies, then knelt after a moment’s hesitation. “Miss Gu, Star Master Ye, I apologize for offending you.”

“Tell me, what are you people thinking? Didn’t Gu Luolin say you had to apologize to the condor?” Ye Zichen was at a loss for words. 

“Who said you could call me by name? You’re my nephew!” shouted Gu Luolin. 

“Okay, okay, okay! You’re my senior!” Ye Zichen looked exasperated, but when the group kneeling on the ground heard that, massive waves stirred their hearts.

With his status as Master of the Stars, Ye Zichen was hard enough to deal with already. But didn’t Gu Luolin’s words mean he was a member of the Gu Family too?

They suddenly recalled Ye Zichen’s surname.

If you flipped the character “Ye”, “叶”, around, it became the character for “Gu”, “古” didn’t it?

Jiao Hai and the others couldn’t help but gulp. They only hoped that they were overthinking things. After all, Ye Zichen’s surname was still Ye. He shouldn’t have any relationship with the Gu Family at all. 

If Ye Zichen wasn’t just the Master of the Stars, but also a member of the Gu Family, what was the point in struggling? …..Better to just hurry up, profess their loyalty, and become his lackey!