Fairy, please don't do this!

Even if he breaks through to the seventh rank, he has no chance of winning against Chanzi.

An Wanxi gently pinched his lower abdomen and smiled sweetly, "My little husband already has a solution?"

Although she hadn't spent much time with Gu Jinzhao, she already knew him quite well.

He won't act rashly unless he's certain of success.

"The True Yang Sword Manual contains a technique called 'Sword Nourishment,' which is the key to defeating him!"

Gu Jinzhao did not hide anything.

The art of sword nurturing, as the name suggests, involves nurturing a sword with one's own true yang fire.

In the game, this is a skill that unleashes rage, but it requires accumulating at least three months of True Yang Fire.

Simply put, the cooldown period is three months.

However, these three months were within the game, so Gu Jinchao didn't feel anything.

An Wanxi pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "If Zen Master is a late-stage sixth-rank cultivator who practices both divine and martial arts, I'm afraid that after using this sword, he will have no further chance!"

"Once I deliver this sword strike, there's no way I can lose!"

Gu Jinzhao shrugged, a meaningful smile appearing on his face.

Even Mu Yiren, who possesses double pupils, was outmatched by Chanzi's high offense and defense.

Of course, this is not because Mu Yiren is inferior to Chanzi, but because the other party started cultivating much earlier and is much older, which is why she won by being two minor realms higher.

Even so, Gu Jinzhao had a way to defeat him.

However, it requires extremely flexible movement and accurate prediction.

Coincidentally, Gu Jinzhao recently wanted to challenge his limits.

Zenko is a worthy opponent.

But before the fight begins, you not only need to fully charge up the [Sword Nurturing Technique] rage skill, but you also need to raise your Divine Path cultivation to the seventh rank.

……

Time flies, and three months have passed in the blink of an eye.

Only five days remain until the opening of the Six Outstanding Individuals Gathering.

Night fell, and the stars began to appear.

Inside Gu Jinzhao's room at Baicaotang.

He sat cross-legged on the bed, his eyes slightly closed. Within his spiritual palace, he concentrated his spiritual power, transforming it into a surging river that carried the profound foundation he had accumulated over the past three months, and suddenly crashed into that barrier.

boom--

Deep within his consciousness, a muffled, loud bang seemed to echo, a sound only he could hear.

A clear crack suddenly appeared, and then, as if the ice surface had been hit hard, spiderweb-like cracks spread wildly!

The next moment, the barrier completely collapsed, turning into a torrent of pure energy that nourished the entire body.

A surge of inspiration burst forth, stirring an invisible breeze in the room, which stirred the bed curtains before quickly receding and returning to calm.

Gu Jinzhao slowly opened his eyes, a flash of light appearing briefly before returning to its deep gaze.

"Seventh rank, achieved."

Without dwelling too much on the joy of his breakthrough, he flipped his wrist, and the ancient and mysterious [Earthly Branches Mirror] appeared in his palm.

After reaching the seventh rank, one's divine sense becomes stable, and one can attempt to enter the mirror world with one's divine soul, using its mysteries to slay inner demons and clarify one's Dao heart.

Only with a harmonious state of mind can one achieve twice the results with half the effort in future spiritual practice and avoid encountering many obstacles.

He focused his mind and delved his consciousness into the mirror.

In an instant, a dizzying sensation swept over me, as if I had been plunged into a turbulent whirlpool.

Gu Jinchao steadied himself and did not resist the pulling force.

When the dizziness subsided, he opened his eyes again and found himself in a strange space.

Above the sky, twelve runes, shimmering with light and containing endless mysteries, hang upside down; these are the twelve Earthly Branches.

The ground beneath their feet was not solid, but a smooth, mirror-like plane that clearly reflected the radiance of the runes above, stretching to the horizon.

This is the place within the Earthly Branches Mirror where you slay your inner demons, known as the "Heart Realm"!

Gu Jinzhao understood.

Without further hesitation, he raised his hand and formed a hand seal, his divine sense spreading out to try and communicate with the twelve earthly branches runes hanging in the sky.

As the magic seal was completed, a sudden change occurred!

The twelve earthly branches symbols shone brightly, their energy interconnected and circulating.

Immediately afterwards, as if drawn by some force, the corresponding phantom images of the ten Heavenly Stems appeared out of thin air, intertwining and rotating with the Earthly Branches, eventually transforming into an enormous ancient star chart.

As the star chart rotates, the mirror-like mental space begins to distort and ripple, like the surface of a lake tossed with pebbles.

At the center of the ripples, light and shadow gradually converge and solidify.

A figure quietly appeared.

She was a woman dressed in a long, embroidered palace dress with ink-wash brocade patterns. The dress was embroidered with beautiful phoenix and dragon patterns in gold thread, which covered her slender, graceful, and well-proportioned body.

She was extremely beautiful, but not like An Wanxi, a seductive and alluring femme fatale, nor like Mu Yiren, a cold and aloof fairy. Instead, she possessed a beauty that was both elegant and noble, yet unapproachable.

Especially those pale golden phoenix eyes, which seemed to be able to see through all illusions and understand people's hearts, carrying a sense of indifference and control over all living beings.

Simply by standing there, he seemed to become the center of the entire mental realm, impossible to ignore and even more unworthy of desecration.

Gu Jinchao was stunned.

How did his inner demon become Empress Dowager Xiao Qingyi?

That's right!

The proud woman standing before me is none other than Empress Dowager Xiao Qingyi, who holds absolute power and rule from behind the curtain!

In the setting of "Above the Sky", inner demons are the manifestation of a cultivator's own obsessions and desires. Their appearance usually originates from the mind and is another distorted or extreme self.

The mystery of the [Earthly Branches Mirror] lies in its ability to materialize these invisible inner demons and condense them into a form within the realm of the mind.

Simply destroy it, and you can break through the illusion, see your true self, and improve your mental cultivation.

But at this moment, the inner demons that should have been self-reflections have transformed into this eccentric and ruthless Empress Dowager!

Gu Jinzhao was shocked, truly taken aback by this unexpected turn of events.

Within her mental realm, Xiao Qingyi's pale golden phoenix eyes reflected the appearance of the young man before her, her tone carrying a hint of condescension as she questioned, "Who are you?"

"That's what I should be asking you."

Gu Jinzhao took a deep breath and met that indifferent gaze.

After countless failed attempts to win over this most difficult female lead, he had already learned a painful lesson.

When facing her, one must never show weakness, nor be overwhelmed by her natural aura of authority.

We must turn the tables and take the lead, overthrowing those above us!

If you are overwhelmed by her aura from the very beginning, all subsequent strategies will be ineffective, and you will ultimately be at her mercy, or even completely trampled under her feet.

Xiao Qingyi seemed quite surprised by his reaction, raising an eyebrow slightly: "You don't know who I am?"

"What appears here is nothing more than an inner demon," Gu Jinzhao said calmly. "Since it is an inner demon, why bother knowing its name?"

He roughly guessed why Xiao Qingyi would be here.

The Heavenly Stems Mirror and the Earthly Branches Mirror are the two opposite sides of the Destiny Chart, and there is a causal relationship between them.

When Xiao Qingyi entered the mental realm of the Earthly Branches Mirror, she was holding the Heavenly Stems Mirror. She likely sensed the unusual activity in the mirror as well and then entered this special space between reality and illusion.

However, there is no such dual-mirror linkage or mind-world convergence setting in the game.

Without a doubt, this is another special mechanism added to the harem mode to speed up the process of winning over the heroine.

Just like Yu Fengzhi's Red Lotus Sword before!

Since that's the case, why not turn the tables on them?

Pretend not to recognize her, and directly eliminate this sudden inner demon of the Empress Dowager, making her dislike you, and this marriage line will be worry-free.

As for whether it would affect his plan to become her confidant in the future, Gu Jinchao was not worried at all.

Although this female protagonist has a capricious personality, she is never swayed by personal preferences when it comes to employing people.

If someone is talented, we will still use them.

"You think I'm your inner demon?"

Xiao Qingyi's lips curled up slightly, forming a very faint arc.

That smile was like sunlight reflecting off ice, bright and dazzling, yet it offered no warmth whatsoever. Instead, it accentuated her stunning beauty and aloof, unapproachable demeanor.

Gu Jinzhao's gaze was deep and he asked with great interest, "Is it possible that I am your inner demon?"

Xiao Qingyi's faint smile vanished without a trace, and her tone instantly turned icy cold: "You dare to challenge me?"

The dramatic shift in emotions and temperament in that instant perfectly illustrates the unpredictability of divine authority and the capriciousness of human nature.

"Whether someone is a good match or not, words alone are not enough."

"All I know is that I entered this realm of the mind to slay demons!"

Gu Jinzhao shrugged, his palm filled with spiritual energy, which gradually transformed into a solid, three-foot-long green sword.

Before he could finish speaking, his figure suddenly blurred, leaving only a slowly dissipating afterimage.

The next instant, the sword's edge, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, struck straight at his face.

"Heh, that's interesting."

Xiao Qingyi chuckled, a strange light flashing in her beautiful eyes as if she had spotted an interesting toy.

She didn't even move an inch. She simply raised her slender, jade-like right hand, her index and middle fingers seemingly casually joined together, and in the blink of an eye, she precisely caught the lightning-fast sword tip!

Snap—Bang—

With a crisp cracking sound, the longsword, which was formed from spiritual energy, was crushed by her two fingers and dissipated into specks of spiritual light.

Chapter 65, "From this day forward, you will be my inner demon!" (3K)

"The most interesting part is yet to come!"

Gu Jinchao seemed to have anticipated that this probing attack would fail, and his offensive continued unabated.

As the sword shattered, his left fist was already poised to strike, the force of the punch fierce and violent, aimed directly at Xiao Qingyi's vital chest, clearly a martial arts killing move!

From the moment Xiao Qingyi appeared, Gu Jinzhao keenly sensed that the aura she was displaying was not that of a first-grade perfect master capable of suppressing mountains and rivers, but rather that of a seventh-grade early stage master!

This perfectly matches the rules of the Heart Demon Trial in the game.

how so?

This is naturally because a wisp of the Daoist aura of "Heavenly Mandate" left behind by the Sage of Destiny pervades this realm.

Here, no matter how high the cultivation level of the person entering is, as long as they have not surpassed the realm of the Life Saint in his lifetime, they will be forcibly balanced and suppressed to the same level as each other.

Simply put, this mental realm is an absolutely fair arena for PK (player versus player) battles.

There is no realm suppression; it's all about skill, awareness, mentality, and understanding of the essence of power.

Within the same realm, Gu Jinchao fears no one, not even the female warrior of the Cangyue Dynasty!

"Dual cultivation of divine and martial arts?"

A strange light flashed in Xiao Qingyi's eyes. Instead of dodging or avoiding, she turned her palm into a fist and fiercely met Gu Jinzhao's fist.

Even with his realm suppressed, the control over power and understanding of martial arts of a first-grade Dao Integration Realm cultivator are something that a mere seventh-grade cultivator like him cannot contend with.

Even if the other party is also a ninth-grade body cultivator!

However, at the very moment before the collision, Gu Jinzhao's fist suddenly changed!

Instead of confronting the opponent head-on, he used an unnatural, almost distorted posture to forcefully stop the punch, and his whole body slid and moved to the left like a fish.

At the same time, the spiritual power of the right index and middle fingers, brought together, condensed and transformed into an incomparably sharp sword finger, stabbing towards Xiao Qingyi's snow-white neck with lightning speed!