Chapter 16: Control

Upon leaving the city, Gu Feihong pulled out his jade transmission pendant. “Your Highness, I am outside the city. Where is Su Chen?”

Chu Jiangyu replied, “They’re still there. They haven’t moved at all.”

Haven’t moved?

Gu Feihong was stunned.

Since Gu Qingluo had discovered that she was under the Swan-Catching Demon Seal’s surveillance, why hadn’t she tried to escape?

However, it was better if they didn’t try to escape. That way, he wouldn’t have to chase them forever in a long, drawn-out chase.

He turned around and said, “After them!”

A large group of subordinates flew forward with Gu Feihong.

Very soon, they arrived at the mountain that Su Chen was supposedly at.

“Are they still there, Your Highness?” Gu Feihong asked.

“Yes,” Chu Jiangyu replied as he continued to examine the other members of the Gu Clan. After pointing out the location to Gu Feihong, Chu Jiangyu had no interest in continuing to observe Gu Qingluo’s movements. Instead, he placed his focus on observing the other members of the Gu Clan.

Since the dot representing Gu Qingluo was still there, then that meant that he hadn’t escaped yet.

“It seems like they aren’t afraid of you,” Chu Jiangyu added on after a moment of thought.

“They will regret this!” Gu Feihong said, his expression contorted.

They dared looked down on him? Then they would definitely pay the price for it.

Upon arriving at the designated site, Gu Feihong found Su Chen and Gu Qingluo standing side by side, with Iron Cliff and the others close behind.

“Su Chen?” Gu Feihong squeezed out these two words.

“Gu Feihong?” Su Chen chuckled.

“You dare directly refer to my Young Master by name?” a guard by Gu Feihong’s side barked.

Su Chen was very familiar with this person.

“Gu Liu’an,” Su Chen muttered.

“You recognize me?” Gu Liu’an was stunned. He had never met Su Chen before this.

“Of course.” The corners of Su Chen’s lips danced in a smile.

Even though he didn’t know what Su Chen meant with these words, Gu Liu’an still understood that he was being mocked.

“Courting death!” Gu Liu’an barked as he clawed out at Su Chen.

Even though Gu Liu’an was Gu Feihong’s subordinate, he had started as someone whose bloodline had just awakened and was transferred into the main branch. Later on, he had served Gu Mingwei for some time before finally being given the task of protecting Gu Feihong.

He possessed a cultivation base at the Spirit Burning Realm. With the support of his Shining Dragon Bloodline, his strength was quite impressive, and he was strong enough to pick a fight with a low-layer Thought-Manifestation Realm cultivator.

Su Chen was merely at the Light Shaking Realm. What right did he have to pick a fight with Gu Liu’an?

He was absolutely sure that he would be able to take his opponent’s life with a single strike.

But just as he was about to attack, Su Chen suddenly began to utter a strange chant.

This chant was low and melancholy, and it possessed a strange rhythm. As it entered Gu Liu’an’s ears, he felt his heart palpitate. A mysterious power began to surface from within his body, completely enveloping him in moments.

“This is……” Gu Liu’an opened his eyes wide in shock

He wanted to yell, but he discovered that he couldn’t utter a single word, and his body twisted to the side, completely against his control.

This claw was not aimed at Su Chen but at Gu Feihong, who was standing off to the side.

Gu Feihong never would have expected Gu Liu’an to attack himself. He was so caught off-guard that the claw strike actually landed on him, and he said with shock, “Gu Liu’an, what are you doing?”

He saw Gu Liu’an staring wide-eyed at him, making guttural noises as if he wanted to speak but couldn’t.

Gu Liu’an’s hand continued to wrap tighter and tighter around Gu Feihong’s neck.

“Release the Young Master!”

Thankfully, Gu Feihong had brought more than a single Gu Liu’an with him. The other soldiers from the residence charged forwards and pulled Gu Liu’an off of him.

“Old Liu, Old Liu, what’s wrong with you?” A middle-aged man yelled as he pinned Gu Liu’an down. This person was called Gu Baiye. He was also at the Spirit Burning Realm, and his strength was not weaker than Gu Liu’an’s in the slightest.

“Ah! Ah……!” Gu Liu’an frothed at the mouth as his body trembled uncontrollably.

Contorted lines appeared across his face, weaving into a strange emblem.

Gu Baiye trembled when he saw this.

“Capricorn Curse? How is this possible?”

“Capricorn Curse?” Gu Feihong was badly frightened when he heard that.

The contorted lines on Gu Liu’an’s face were obviously an indication that the Capricorn Curse was in effect.

“How could this be?” Gu Feihong was stunned.

Who was it?

Who in the Chu Clan had suddenly made a move at that moment, activating the Capricorn Curse latent in Gu Liu’an’s body?

While Gu Liu’an was spinning around, looking for a culprit, Su Chen’s lips quirked in a smile as he began to chant even more rapidly.

Gu Liu’an tilted his head back and groaned before suddenly leaping at Gu Feihong again.

“Young Master, out of the way!” Gu Baiye hurriedly moved, stoppin Gu Liu’an in his tracks.

In terms of pure strength, the two of them were roughly equal. However, Gu Liu’an was obviously not being completely controlled, as he was still doing as much as he could to resist the effects of the Capricorn Curse. As such, his attacks were much weaker, and he was quickly subdued by Gu Baiye.

“See? Your control of the Capricorn Curse is still a bit insufficient,” Gu Qingluo sighed.

The true Capricorn Curse could perfectly control someone. Gu Liu’an would never be able to resist its influences like ithe was right now.

Even though Su Chen had managed to control the Capricorn Curse, it was still less effective than using the Capricorn Staff in terms of control over them.

Su Chen, however, chuckled slightly and didn't say anything. However, his chant lowered some in pitch, and Gu Qingluo watched in shock as Gu Baiye's body trembled. He also began to lose control of his body, and the Capricorn Curse's signature emblem also began to appear on his face.

"How is this possible?" Gu Qingluo was stunned.

The Capricorn Curse could directly control the target's movements, making it an extraordinary curse.

This curse had one weakness, however - it could only be used on one person at a time.

The Swan-Catching Demon Seal could be used without restriction, as all of the Gu Clan's members had appeared in the mirror once it was activated.

As for the Origin Dream Killer Curse, the user needed to physically see the target in order to bring them under the influence of the curse. The curse would then slowly erode away their life force until they died.

However, the Capricorn Curse Su Chen was using had broken through these limitations, and he was now controlling two Gu Clan members......

No, even more!

Su Chen continued to chant. Another Gu Clan member also joined the fray, having lost control of His own body.

"How is this possible? How is this possible?" Gu Feihong was stunned when he saw this, and he cried out with shock.

At this moment, his subordinates had begun to revolt one after another and attacked their own comrades.

The controlled members attacked the members who weren't controlled, forcing the uncontrolled members to fight back and defend themselves.

"So that's how it is! Even though your use of the Capricorn Curse can't control the targets as well as the Capricorn Staff, it can affect more targets." Gu Qingluo had already realized what was different about Su Chen's implementation.

The Capricorn Staff was using a tool to control the target, while Su Chen Chen relied on his chants. In terms of depth of control, the staff was more powerful, while in terms of breadth of control, Su Chen's chanting was superior.

Gu Qingluo was half-right.

The Capricorn Curse was more effective when controlled by the Capricorn Curse, but the other aspect of it was the strength of the user's consciousness.

This was because the Capricorn Curse was in and of itself a method for controlling an opponent's consciousness. The Capricorn Origin Substance affected a person's consciousness, forcefully wresting control away from the target.

Chanting the Capricorn Curse could control more targets depending on how powerful the combined consciousness of the targets were. In other words, the collective consciousness power of the targets could not exceed the consciousness power of the user of the curse.

The closer in level the two parties' consciousness energy was, the greater the burden on Su Chen would be, and the duration he could control them for would also decrease.

Thankfully, Su Chen's consciousness was powerful enough, which allowed him to control multiple targets at one. If his consciousness was normal for his cultivation stage, then he wouldn't have been able to control even a single Spirit Burning Realm cultivator.

In that sense, the Capricorn Chant was indeed inferior to the Capricorn Staff.

However, the strength of the inventor greatly mitigated this flaw, allowing him to demonstrate the ability of the curse to control multiple targets to the greatest extent.

At this moment, the entire entourage was locked in battle - Su Chen had taken control of more than ten people in but an instant, including two Spirit Burning Realm cultivators and three Light Shaking Realm cultivators.

The reason he didn't control Gu Feihong was because he wanted to relish the expression of defeat on Gu Feihong's face.

"How is this possible? How are so many of them being controlled?" Gu Feihong couldn't believe what was happening.

He turned to look at Su Chen again, listening to the strange words coming out of Su Chen's mouth. As the chant entered his ears, a strange sensation surfaced in his heart, as if the chant was demonic in nature. He felt an uncontrollable desire to submit in that moment.

He finally realized what was happening.

"It's you? You were the one controlling them? How is that possible?" Gu Feihong was so badly surprised that he felt like his soul was about to leave his body.

Why would Su Chen possess the secret technique used to control the Gu Clan's bloodline?

However, there was no time for him to try and figure out the answer, because the moment of danger was already upon him.

The Capricorn Curse was still being activated, and Gu Clan member after Gu Clan member fell into a state of confusion.

Su Chen had no intentions of showing mercy. Since his opponents wanted him dead, there was no need for him to be polite to them either.

He activated the Capricorn Curse to its greatest extent, controlling Gu Liu’an, Gu Baiye, and others into attacking their comrades. Even if they were killed, it was of no consequence, as he could just control another one.

And despite the fact that so many people were being controlled, their combined consciousness power was still lower than Su Chen’s, so Su Chen was entirely capable of playing around like this for a long time.

Gu Feihong, however, was already running out of strength.

“No. No!” he cried out as he attempted to escape.

But how could Su Chen allow him to get away?

A monotonic hum began to sound out from an unknown source.

Gu Liu’an changed directions and turned to charge at Gu Feihong, unleashing a shocking wave of energy with his hands.

Su Chen had increased his control this time, and Gu Liu’an’s attack was significantly more powerful than before. A wave of seemingly boundless energy scattered in all directions.

When faced with such tremendous power, Su Chen actually felt a formless weight press down on his body, and even breathing became difficult.

This was the power an Origin Beast Bloodline individual should have possessed, and Gu Liu’an obviously hadn’t fully activated it to its full potential.

Gu Feihong knew that the situation wasn’t good. He activated his bloodline to its fullest extent, simultaneously unleashing a similar wave of energy.

Unfortunately, he was only at the Light Shaking Realm, and it was impossible for him to be stronger than Gu Liu’an. As a primal aura continued to spread from Gu Liu’an, the wave of energy emanating from Gu Feihong was gradually suppressed.

This suppression came purely from cultivation base. When the bloodlines were identical, the person with the higher cultivation base would have the advantage.

Gu Feihong’s bloodline activation was rendered of no use, and Gu Liu’an’s claw descended.

Just as it was about to slam into Gu Feihong, Gu Feihong’s body suddenly began to glow intensel, blocking this palm strike from Gu Liu’an as he simultaneously turned into a streak of light and shot off into the distance.