These various rumors intensified over the course of the month.
Gu Tang had heard quite a few.
He could even imagine how some people would laugh at and ridicule him in front of Gu Nuo.
Gu Nuo looked so aggrieved today, probably because she even got into a fight with someone over it, and was ridiculed quite a bit.
Otherwise, his obedient and sensible son, although he was indeed very talented in cultivation, was never a competitive or combative person.
Looking at the small bruises on Gu Nuo's face, Gu Tang felt a sense of relief.
"Nuo'er." Gu Tang basically guessed what his son was thinking.
He gently pinched Gu Nuo's chin, half-forcing him to look into his eyes.
Then she winked at him encouragingly and said, "Nuo'er, do you want to see Qin Junche?"
Gu Tang's gaze was sincere, without a trace of mockery or sarcasm, only encouragement and care for Gu Nuo.
Looking at his father, Gu Nuo suddenly felt an inexplicable surge of courage welling up from the bottom of his heart.
This courage swept over him and quickly filled his young heart!
In that instant, and even many, many years later, Gu Nuo always remembered that scene—
Sunlight streamed through the open door into the father and son's simple yet cozy room, outlining Gu Tangjun's handsome and refined features.
His father led him onto a path of spiritual practice that was completely different from anything he had ever known before.
“Father!” Gu Nuo spoke again, his tone becoming firm.
He shouted, “I want to see another father! I want him to tell everyone that I didn’t lie, and that you, Father, would never lie! We don’t need to lie! We, father and son, can live well and become great!”
"Good son!" Gu Tang was even more pleased.
He ruffled Gu Nuo's little head as a reward, then asked, "Did you get into a fight today?"
“…Hmm.” Gu Tang’s topic changed so quickly that Gu Nuo felt as if all the courage she had just mustered had been punctured.
He lowered his head, nuzzled against Gu Tang's chest, and whispered, "I didn't mean to hit them, but they said Daddy..."
"It doesn't matter what they say about me." Gu Tang pinched Gu Nuo's chin again, making him look up at him.
His gaze was more sincere.
His eyes were bright, like the stars in the sky: "It's okay to fight on purpose."
As Gu Tang spoke, he smiled brightly at Gu Nuo, revealing a row of neat, white teeth: "What are we cultivating for? To become stronger!"
He paused, then said, "The ultimate goal of becoming stronger is naturally to break through the void and ascend to immortality. But in the process, we can set some small goals first. For example, beat those who don't like you so that they can only obediently listen to you."
Gu Nuo nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.
"So, fighting isn't a problem, the key is to win every time." Gu Tang smiled again. "Tell me, did you win today?"
Gu Nuo's face flushed red again.
He paused for a moment, then said somewhat angrily, "I had won, but they cheated. When they realized they couldn't beat me, they all rushed at me, seven or eight against one. So I lost..."
He is only six years old. The oldest of the children who attacked him today is almost ten years old, and the youngest is about the same age as him.
Moreover, Gu Nuo didn't have the opportunity to cultivate before, but these children have been cultivating with their parents since they were young.
In the end, Gu Nuo was humiliated by being trampled on the ground by the oldest child.
The other person's muddy feet stepped on his face, pressing his head deep into the ground.
Then those people surrounded him, mocked him, and forced him to say that he and his father were both liars.
Gu Nuo grew angrier the more she thought about it, her face turning bright red.
“Hmm…” Gu Tang touched his chin.
He patted Gu Nuo on the shoulder and comforted him, "It's alright. You've only been cultivating for a month, and you can already beat these little fools who have been cultivating for several years in a one-on-one fight. Your father is very pleased."
"But I still lost..." Gu Nuo said softly, feeling wronged.
Gu Tang leaned down and looked into his son's eyes: "This is not your fault, it is your father's fault."
Um?
Gu Nuo looked up at Gu Tang, somewhat confused.
"Father shouldn't have only taught you the cultivation techniques, but not the methods to use them," Gu Tang said. "It's alright, from now on, we'll learn both. As long as you can endure the hardship, one month... no!"
He thought for a moment, those kids with no talent, with Gu Nuo's aptitude, wouldn't need that long: "At most ten days, we'll get our revenge."
"Nuo'er isn't afraid of hardship!" Gu Nuo clenched her two little fists tightly and nodded vigorously. "Nuo'er will win!"
"Good!" Gu Tang patted Gu Nuo on the shoulder and praised him, "You have ambition! You are worthy of being my son."
He searched through his pile of magical techniques and said, "Starting tomorrow, Father will add another sword technique for you."
"Father, is it okay to start today?" Gu Nuo asked.
“It is possible…” Gu Tang hesitated for once, “but your injury…”
"They're just minor injuries, it's nothing." Gu Nuo shook her head vigorously.
He wants to become stronger!
Become incredibly strong!
Not only must they protect their father, but they must also ensure that no one dares to look down on them anymore.
"Good son!" Gu Tang was even happier.
In fact, Qin Junche had come to see him many times during this period and also wanted to see Gu Nuo.
However, Gu Tang always brushed him off with the excuse that "we cannot disturb Nuo'er's cultivation."
The other party seemed unwilling to give up, yet did not want to resort to violence against his savior.
Each time, I would sit quietly at his place for half a day, and then leave dejectedly.
Gu Tang did it on purpose, of course!
He didn't want Gu Nuo to rely on others, whether it was him or Qin Junche.
The path to true strength is always a solitary one.
And he said, "Can emotions be more interesting than spiritual practice?"
Look at Gu Nuo, isn't he already completely focused on cultivation?
His other father, Qin Junche, was someone he could forget about in a heartbeat.
Gu Tang was feeling quite pleased with himself.
[Ding!] Suddenly, that long-lost, crisp voice rang in his mind, this time giving a warning before slowly continuing, "[The protagonist's storyline has changed; mission completion rate reduced by fifty percent!]"
【Um?!】
[Please complete this task diligently, host. Failure will result in celestial tribulation lightning, causing your death and the dissipation of your cultivation.] The voice continued, [To correct the main storyline that the host has led astray and to make up for the quest progress, a side quest is now issued: Form a Daoist partnership with Qin Junche, the Palace Master of Feiyun Palace, and give the protagonist a complete and warm home.]
【！！！】
Chapter 12 The Son's Father is the Demon Lord (12)
【…What the heck?!】
For a moment, Gu Tang almost thought the other person was joking with him.
He understood every single word of that sentence, but why was it so difficult to comprehend it as a whole?
[In order to correct the main storyline that has been led astray by the host and make up for the progress of the mission, a side mission is now issued: Become a Daoist partner with Qin Junche, the master of Feiyun Palace, and give the protagonist a complete and warm home.] The other party obviously thought he had not heard clearly and patiently repeated the so-called side mission.
[What will happen if I don't finish?] Having raised Gu Nuo by his side, Gu Tang now finds it easy to accept.
But Gu Tang didn't think it would do him any good to spend his time getting entangled with Qin Junche.
[Mission failed, attracting the Heavenly Tribulation, resulting in death...]
[Stop, stop, stop!] Gu Tang was unusually speechless.
[Since this is the first world, if the host doesn't know how to complete the side quests, here's a brief walkthrough.] The cheerful voice, unperturbed by the interruption, cheerfully continued, [Palace Master Feiyun likes to brew tea with dewdrops from the pine needles on Feiyun Mountain. The host can…]
"No need, thank you!" Gu Tang interrupted the other party again without any mercy.
He guessed what the other person wanted to say, but why go through all that trouble?!
He took a deep breath and turned to look at Gu Nuo, who was already focused on his cultivation.
What a wonderful child! Why must he have to endure this extra hardship?!
"Father?" Perhaps Gu Tang's gaze was too focused, Gu Nuo, who was originally immersed in cultivation, opened her eyes and looked back at him blankly.
"It's nothing," Gu Tang waved his hand.
He thought for a moment, walked to the bedside, and leaned down to look at his son: "Nuo'er, Daddy is going to Feiyun Palace. In order not to delay your cultivation, you must stay obediently in Danxin Pavilion. Daddy will ask Elder Zhu to take good care of you."
"Father." Upon hearing this, Gu Nuo immediately reached out her little hand and grasped the hem of Gu Tang's clothes. "Nuo'er wants to go with Father."
"In the path of cultivation, if you don't advance, you fall behind." Gu Tang earnestly taught Gu Nuo, "If you stay here obediently and diligently practice your cultivation techniques, plus the sword techniques that your father just taught you, in ten days at most you will be able to defeat those little brats who bullied you today, and they will never dare to act wildly in front of you again."
“If it were a one-on-one fight, Nuo’er could have defeated them long ago,” Gu Nuo said in a low voice, sounding aggrieved. “But there were several of them fighting against Nuo’er alone…”
"Hmm." Gu Tang pondered for a moment, then revised his statement: "In less than ten days, you won't have to worry about them swarming at you. You can easily win against multiple opponents."
Gu Nuo: "..."
"If you train for another three months, as long as the inner disciples of Danxin Pavilion don't attack you, you'll be able to sweep through the entire Danxin Pavilion," Gu Tang said again.
Gu Nuo: "..."
"If I train for another year, apart from Ning Wan, you will be invincible among your peers in Danxin Pavilion," Gu Tang said confidently.
Gu Nuo: "...Really?"
"Trust your father!" Gu Tang nodded vigorously. "Of course, being invincible among your peers in Danxin Pavilion is nothing special. There are countless paths to enlightenment, and the entire cultivation world is full of experts. You must seize every minute and second to cultivate so that you can quickly sweep across the world."
He sighed and rubbed Gu Nuo's little head: "But if you go to Feiyun Palace with your father, it will take ten days to go there and back. You'll lose ten days of cultivation time, which is equivalent to going back ten days, so you'll waste a total of twenty days. Sweeping through the outer gate of Danxin Pavilion will have to be postponed by twenty days. The plan to sweep through the entire Danxin Pavilion will also take an extra twenty days..."
"I'm not going!" Gu Nuo said. "I want to cultivate myself."