"Me?"
Gu Qingfeng gestured for Fei Kui to bring two more cups, then poured wine for Xuanze and Old Monster Tang before responding, "My surname is Gu, given name Qingfeng, Dao Title Chi Yan."
Gu Qingfeng?
Young Master Chi Yan?
Neither Xuanze nor Old Monster Tang had heard this name before, nor did they have any impression of it. Old Monster Tang, however, was not one to stand on ceremony. He picked up his cup and downed it in one gulp, saying, "Kid, you've got the wrong person. I do know a fellow surnamed Gu, but he's not called Gu Qingfeng, and his Dao Title isn't Chi Yan either."
"Don't be in such a hurry; I haven't finished yet. That's just my current name and Dao Title."
Gu Qingfeng raised his cup and drank, then added, "Back when I knew you two, I was called Gu Tianlang, and my Dao Title was Chi Xiao."
Gu Tianlang?
Chi Xiao?
Upon hearing this, both Old Monster Tang and Xuanze were stunned. Neither had expected this seemingly mysterious and peculiar young man to claim he was that fellow Gu Tianlang.
"Heh, we were just talking about that kid Gu Tianlang, and now one pops up out of nowhere. This really takes me by surprise!"
Old Monster Tang sneered, looking Gu Qingfeng up and down as he scolded with a laugh, "Listen here, you little brat, when others pretend to be Gu Tianlang, they at least have some real skill. You think having a dwarf pseudo-earth immortal serve you is enough to impersonate Gu Tianlang? Do you think I'm blind or that my brain's been kicked by a donkey?"
"Hahahahaha!"
Gu Qingfeng couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Damn it! What are you laughing at, you little brat? Daring to trick me? Looks like you're asking for a beating!"
Old Monster Tang harbored deep resentment toward the real Gu Tianlang, so how could he have a good face for an imposter? He raised his hand, ready to slap him, but Xuanze beside him spoke up, "Old Monster, why don't we first hear what this young brother has to say."
Although Xuanze had been in seclusion for many years and never concerned himself with worldly affairs, he knew there were many imposters claiming to be Gu Tianlang in this world. He hadn't expected that just as they were discussing Gu Tianlang, someone claiming to be him would show up. If this person were ordinary, even if he possessed great fortune or carried the Mandate of Heaven, Xuanze wouldn't have such doubts. But the man beside him was not only unfathomable to his eyes but also impervious to his probing, making him quite mysterious.
"Old Monster Tang, Old Monster Tang, after more than four hundred years, how are you still so hot-tempered? Look at Senior Xuanze here—he's much more discerning than you."
Old Monster Tang was about to say something when he suddenly realized something was off. It wasn't strange for this imposter to know he was called Old Monster Tang, but how did he know Xuanze's name so clearly?
After all, Xuanze was a patriarch of the Taiji Sect, reclusive for many years. Even within the Taiji Sect, only a handful knew of his existence. How could this kid who popped out of nowhere know?
Hearing Gu Qingfeng speak his Dao Title, Xuanze was also particularly surprised and asked, "Young man, do you know this old man?"
"Senior, how could I not know you?"
Gu Qingfeng smiled faintly. He could be casual and disrespectful with Old Monster Tang, but he held deep respect for Xuanze. "Back then, you even taught me a supernatural ability. And if I remember correctly, it was right here in the Biluo Bamboo Grove, and what you taught was the Taiji Sect's Thunderous Thousand-Jin Nine Mysteries Supernatural Ability."
Upon hearing this,
Old Monster Tang was stunned, and Xuanze stared in astonishment.
Back then,
when he and Old Monster Tang were sparring in the Biluo Bamboo Grove, he had once used the Thunderous Thousand-Jin Nine Mysteries Supernatural Ability. Coincidentally, Gu Tianlang had witnessed it. What shocked him was that Gu Tianlang, after watching just once without even seeing the technique's method, had managed to grasp seventy to eighty percent of the essence of the Thunderous Thousand-Jin Nine Mysteries Supernatural Ability.
Xuanze was immediately awestruck and proceeded to teach the Taiji Sect's Thunderous Thousand-Jin Nine Mysteries Supernatural Ability to Gu Tianlang. He clearly remembered that Gu Tianlang had fully mastered the Nine Mysteries Supernatural Ability in less than a few days. Later, when sweeping through the four great families and six major sects, he had nearly annihilated the Southern Dipper Sect using this very Thunderous Thousand-Jin Nine Mysteries Supernatural Ability.
Many people in the world might know that Gu Tianlang understood the Thunderous Thousand-Jin Nine Mysteries Supernatural Ability, but absolutely no one could know that Gu Tianlang's Nine Mysteries Supernatural Ability was taught by Xuanze, the reclusive patriarch of the Taiji Sect. What further astonished both Xuanze and Old Monster Tang was that this person even stated the exact location of the teaching with perfect clarity.
Apart from the two of them, only Gu Tianlang in the entire world would know about this.
Could it be...
that this frail yet mysterious fellow before them was truly Gu Tianlang?
"You...
just who are you?!"
Old Monster Tang stared at Gu Qingfeng with suspicion, trying to see through him, but no matter how he looked, he couldn't discern anything.
"Didn't I already tell you? What, don't believe me?"
Gu Qingfeng sighed helplessly, pouring himself another drink. "It's one thing for those little brats not to believe me, but how come even you two experienced, sharp-eyed seniors don't believe me either?"
Indeed.
Both Old Monster Tang and Xuanze were reclusive experts, old monsters who had cultivated for who knew how many years. Their eyes might not see through all things in the world, but they weren't far from it. If it were anyone else, the two would naturally be able to tell truth from falsehood at a glance.
But when it came to Gu Tianlang, neither could be sure, because Gu Tianlang's existence was far too mysterious and bizarre. Mysterious like a mass of darkness, from which nothing could be discerned; bizarre like a chaotic mess, a complete disorder.
"You don't have any turbid aura on you. You're not someone who reincarnated either."
"That's right, I didn't reincarnate, didn't undergo rebirth, and didn't possess anyone's body. I just missed home, so I came back. That's all."
"Bullshit!
Back when that kid Gu Tianlang faced the Immortal Dao Judgment, I saw with my own eyes him turning to ashes!"
"Seeing something with your own eyes doesn't necessarily make it true. Such a simple principle—surely you understand it, Old Monster Tang?"
Gu Qingfeng smiled faintly. "For others, turning to ashes might mean complete death, but for me, Gu Tianlang, turning to ashes is merely dust returning to dust, returning to heaven and earth. But it's only a temporary return to heaven and earth. As long as I wish, I can undergo Nirvanic Rebirth and return from extinction at any time."
"You..." Old Monster Tang was left speechless. He glanced at Xuanze, who was similarly stunned.
Nirvanic Rebirth?
Return from extinction?
This was a legend, and also a taboo.
Both had heard of it, but only heard; neither had ever witnessed it.
If anyone else claimed to understand Nirvanic Rebirth and returning from extinction, Old Monster Tang would definitely call it nonsense. But if this person were Gu Tianlang, that was another matter entirely.
Gu Tianlang was shrouded in mysterious, bizarre, and heaven-defying fortunes, coupled with his peerless comprehension. That kid had even achieved something as inconceivable, impossible, and defying the laws of heaven and earth as the Immortal-Demon Twin Thrones. Who would dare say he couldn't comprehend the legendary, taboo Nirvanic Rebirth?