Chapter 440: I Offer My Thanks

As they arrived at Gu Jue’s residence, his voice drifted out from the cave dwelling. "You’re here. Come in."

The voice was the same, but... Lu Sangjiu frowned slightly, feeling that something was different.

Entering Gu Jue’s cave dwelling, the sight of him sitting cross-legged sent a jolt of shock through both Lu Sangjiu and Xie Ningyuan.

"Mr. Gu, how could you be..."

Lu Sangjiu didn’t know how to describe it, but the aura emanating from Gu Jue was indeed different from yesterday. She could even... faintly sense the aura of the Heavenly Dao!

Gu Jue lifted his gaze and swept it over Lu Sangjiu. His look was indifferent, serene, and utterly devoid of emotion.

He possessed a natural authority. Without saying or doing anything, his mere presence inspired a profound sense of awe.

This feeling... Lu Sangjiu had never felt it from anyone before!

Someone couldn’t change so drastically overnight. Lu Sangjiu instantly became guarded. "You’re not Gu Jue. Who are you?"

Xie Ningyuan grabbed her arm. "Don’t be rash."

He narrowed his eyes at Gu Jue. "Mr. Gu, could you perhaps explain?"

Gu Jue said flatly, "I asked you here today precisely to tell you. Sit."

He was still cold and detached, but he didn’t seem to harbor any malice...

Lu Sangjiu and Xie Ningyuan exchanged a look, finally suppressing their anxiety and sitting down as told.

Just as they sat down, Gu Jue glanced at Lu Sangjiu again.

It was still an emotionless gaze, as if he simply wanted to look at her for a moment.

When his gaze swept over her, Lu Sangjiu’s heart tightened, and she subconsciously sat up straighter.

In truth, Gu Jue was just thinking... ’So this is what it feels like to have all mortal emotions and desires purged?’

The person whose mere glance used to make his heart flutter, he now looked at her and felt only a placid stillness, like calm water.

There was no difference between looking at her and looking at a flower or a blade of grass.

The memories were all there; he still remembered every little moment with her. But those memories no longer stirred the slightest ripple in his heart.

All things in the world had become completely equal in his eyes... He truly would never again feel a sense of preference for any person or thing.

He couldn’t even feel loss or sorrow.

Without sparing Lu Sangjiu another glance, Gu Jue spoke. "As you can see, I have now... become the Heavenly Dao of the Spirit Void Realm."

His first words were earth-shattering.

The Heavenly Dao—an existence that reigned above all things, controlling the rules of a realm.

Everyone knew of the Heavenly Dao, but no one had ever truly seen it, let alone known that it could have a physical manifestation!

Lu Sangjiu’s astonishment was beyond words. It was all so inconceivable that her mind felt like a complete mess. "Wait a minute... what do you mean by that?"

"You became the Heavenly Dao?"

Gu Jue took a sip of tea, then calmly recounted his encounter with the Heavenly Dao in that small world.

Long after he finished his story, Lu Sangjiu and Xie Ningyuan were still struggling to process it, both inwardly digesting the staggering news.

After a long while, Lu Sangjiu, having collected herself, looked up at Gu Jue again and spoke with difficulty. "So... you, right now, have had all your mortal emotions and desires purged, and you’ve truly become the Heavenly Dao, controlling the authority over the rules of the Spirit Void Realm?"

Gu Jue nodded with perfect composure. "That’s right."

Lu Sangjiu looked at this person before her—so familiar in appearance, yet so utterly strange in feeling—and an inexplicable tightness gripped her heart.

’A regular Cultivator has become the Heavenly Dao. As his friend, I should be happy for him, right? This is the Heavenly Dao, an existence that reigns above all things in the Spirit Void Realm.’

’Ageless and undying, eternal and indestructible... This is something countless people could never hope to achieve in their entire lives.’

’But... what’s the point of such an eternal life?’

’Without desire or want, without sorrow or joy... Just existing forever as the Heavenly Dao, a protector of this realm.’

After a long silence, she opened her mouth. "Then yesterday..."

Gu Jue nodded. "I was saying goodbye to you before my mortal emotions and desires were purged."

Lu Sangjiu froze, then couldn’t help but ask, "If it was a farewell, then why... was it only me?"

Gu Jue fell silent for a moment, then said with complete frankness, "Before you, I also said a proper farewell to my master and fellow disciples."

"As for saving you for last..."

He paused, his gaze landing dispassionately on Lu Sangjiu, and told her in the calmest tone possible, "Because I like you."

His tone held not a trace of fluctuation, as if he were merely commenting on the weather.

"The me of yesterday didn’t want to tell you this. Since it could lead to nothing, I felt there was no need to trouble you."

"But you asked today, so I answered. Besides, a person with a firm Dao heart like you presumably won’t be troubled by such a small matter. There’s really no need to hide it."

The confession Gu Jue never spoke was the last piece of tenderness he left for Lu Sangjiu.

Yet now, that tenderness was casually spoken in the most ordinary tone by the him who had lost all mortal emotions and desires.

Lu Sangjiu stared at him blankly, suddenly understanding. The Gu Jue before her was still Gu Jue, and yet he was not.

A wave of sadness washed over her, not because she had only now realized the affection Gu Jue had hidden in his heart.

But because... ’The gentle Mr. Gu of the past,’ she thought, ’if he knew that the affection he had treasured in his heart would be spoken of so dismissively by his future self... he would be sad, wouldn’t he?’

Gu Jue saw the redness in Lu Sangjiu’s eyes and a hint of confusion appeared in his own. "Are you... sad?"

"Why are you sad?"

Xie Ningyuan gently patted her hand, his own heart heavy as he looked at the current Gu Jue.

After a moment of silence, he stood and gave Gu Jue a deep bow. "Gu Jue... there are not many people in my life whom I have truly respected. You are one of them."

"On behalf of myself, and for all living beings in the Spirit Void Realm, I thank you."

As he spoke, Lu Sangjiu also rose and bowed deeply to Gu Jue.

"Mr. Gu... I am in your debt."

And it was a debt she would likely never be able to repay in this lifetime...

Gu Jue couldn’t quite comprehend their feelings and said flatly, "Becoming the Heavenly Dao was my own choice, and protecting all living beings is my own will. You don’t need to thank me."

"The reason I told you all this today is also because of... that existence."

Turning to business, Lu Sangjiu forcibly pushed aside her complex emotions and said seriously, "You mean... the Upper Realm Cultivator who has control over a portion of the Spirit Void Realm’s Heavenly Dao Authority?"

Gu Jue nodded, then his gaze shifted to Xie Ningyuan. "This matter... must begin with Mr. Xie."

Lu Sangjiu had always had her suspicions about these things. Now that the moment of revelation was finally here, she perked up and asked eagerly, "Xie Ningyuan... could it be that you were once an Upper Realm Cultivator too?"