Elders from the Four Great Families and Seven Great Sects immediately rushed forward to check the injuries of their respective Fortuned Heavenly Geniuses.
This inspection proved to be no small matter, as each one of them was filled with immense fury.
Without exception, these Fortuned Heavenly Geniuses were all battered and bruised. Some had their meridians completely severed, others had their Purple Mansions shattered, some even had their Primordial Spirit Dharma Manifestations dispersed, and worse still, some had their very Fortunes shaken to the point of being damaged or even scattered.
These Fortuned Heavenly Geniuses were the darlings of the Four Great Families and Seven Great Sects, disciples painstakingly cultivated by their respective sects with untold effort and resources. Now, injured, crippled, or ruined, all that hard work had seemingly gone to waste. How could they not be enraged?
However.
Fury was one thing.
Facing Gu Qingfeng in this place, none dared to utter a word.
Qiao Yu's Fortune was damaged, and Elder Li Yan of the Nandou Sect's eyes were red with rage.
Although the White Flame Treasure Body awakened by Li Juncai wasn't severely damaged, his Dantian Purple Mansion was shattered, requiring decades to recover. Elders like Xu Mu from the Taiji Sect, facing Gu Qingfeng, dared not speak either. Beyond anger, they felt more regret.
Not to mention them.
Zhou Ting's Minor Heavenly Destiny Fortune had been shattered into pieces by Gu Qingfeng. As for Shi Lingkai, the deputy branch master of the Juexin Branch with Chaoyuan cultivation, beyond anger, he felt no regret—only fear. Fear of Gu Qingfeng. For he faintly sensed a tremor of excitement from the Bloodsha Dragon-Elephant within him, a tremor that was both agitated and thrilled. This tremor from the Bloodsha Dragon-Elephant only intensified his existing fear.
Earlier, seeing that Gu Qingfeng was not a reincarnated individual, he hadn't taken it seriously.
When Gu Qingfeng exposed his past collusion with the Immortal Dynasty, it made him cautious once more.
Now, witnessing with his own eyes Gu Qingfeng's thunderous methods in defeating nearly a hundred Fortuned Heavenly Geniuses, and feeling the excitement from the Bloodsha Dragon-Elephant within, Shi Lingkai's heart grew increasingly terrified.
He was not alone.
The Yanluo Immortal Manor side was no exception.
Lü Tianze's over three hundred layers of Great Nature Colored Spirit had been utterly dispersed and vanished by a single palm from Gu Qingfeng. Led by Purple Cloud Immortal Official Qi Mu, the people from Yanluo Immortal Manor were filled with more than just anger—there was also shock and dread.
Although Qi Mu was a Return-to-Origin Earth Immortal and possessed the Purple Cloud Protection bestowed by the Immortal Dynasty, he could not have reduced Lü Tianze to such a state with one move. Especially recalling the power with which Gu Qingfeng had cracked space with a mere wave of his hand moments ago, it sent chills down his spine. He even urged Feiyu Yun Jue to leave quickly.
However, Feiyu Yun Jue paid no heed to Qi Mu's advice, merely staring fixedly at Gu Qingfeng, his eyes filled with astonishment and hesitation.
Astonishment because he couldn't believe Gu Qingfeng's physical body could be so powerful.
Hesitation because he wanted to act, yet feared Gu Qingfeng's mysterious and bizarre power.
"Ah!"
A sharp cry rang out as the Immortal Dynasty female noble, Bi Qiao, awoke from Xiao Zibai's embrace. Discovering her battered state, she ignored the pain, her eyes burning crimson as she glared at Gu Qingfeng and shouted, "You dog! You've injured me like this! My parents will tear you to pieces! They will!!"
"I showed mercy earlier because you are a woman. Since your mouth knows no bounds, do not blame me for being ruthless!"
Gu Qingfeng suddenly raised his hand, and the void seemed to churn. In an instant, Bi Qiao was inexplicably flung out. Xiao Zibai, who had been holding her, immediately summoned his own Fortune to resist, but it was useless—he too was hurled forward.
"Save me! Save me—" By the time Bi Qiao realized what was happening, she was already flung before Gu Qingfeng.
Fear! Extreme fear! Terrified, she flailed her limbs as if drowning in a deep sea, screaming madly!
"If I want to kill you, no one under heaven can save you!"
As his words fell, with a sickening thud, Gu Qingfeng slapped Bi Qiao's head clean off her shoulders and tossed it to the ground.
"Ah!! Die!"
Seeing his Dao companion killed, Xiao Zibai's face turned deathly pale, consumed by rage and losing all reason. He charged forward, intent on obliterating Gu Qingfeng. But the moment he moved, Gu Qingfeng's figure was already upon him. Reaching out, he seized Xiao Zibai by the throat and slammed a palm onto his crown. Xiao Zibai, hailed as one of Yanluo's Eighteen Young Masters, didn't even have time to grunt before he was reduced to a bloody pulp, thrown to the ground like a pile of mud.
"Zibai! Zibai!"
An Elder from the Nandou Sect rushed over and was horrified to find that not only was Xiao Zibai's cultivation crippled, but his meridians, bones, and sinews were all completely severed—rendered utterly useless.
First Qiao Yu was severely injured, now Xiao Zibai was crippled. The Nandou Sect had suffered grievous losses and could endure no more. Elder Li Yan pointed a trembling finger at Gu Qingfeng, his whole body shaking with rage as he roared, "You madman! You... you dare kill a disciple of our Nandou Sect! Our sect will absolutely... absolutely..." Before he could finish, Gu Qingfeng swept a glance his way. Li Yan instantly felt as if he had plummeted into an abyss. An overwhelming fear, like a violent storm, assailed his heart, shattering his spirit. He couldn't even stand steady, collapsing paralyzed on the spot.
"Killed is killed. What can your Nandou Sect do about it?"
Here and now.
Gu Qingfeng stood with his hands clasped behind his back. His white robes were purer than snow, his long black hair like ink. His cold, handsome face was exceptionally calm, and his deep, dark eyes were as silent as a dark abyss.
He was still himself.
Yet he was not himself.
Earlier, drinking in the pavilion, he had seemed leisurely and carefree, even somewhat frivolous.
Now, standing here with hands clasped behind his back.
He was like a solitary, towering peak of the Great Dao, his presence like an indomitable, all-devouring sea, his aura like the Nine Nethers Ancestral Flame that could incinerate heaven and earth.
He was a man of solitary pride and profound stillness.
His presence was one that looked down upon the world.
His aura was peerlessly domineering.
For a fleeting moment, many present felt an illusion—that he was not an imposter Monarch, but the true Lord Chixiao.
They genuinely felt this way.
At the very least, Yu Heng, Feng Xu, and the other Chixiao people present felt their long-dormant hearts trembling with excitement at this moment. Even the Bloodsha Dragon-Elephants within them stirred restlessly. Every one of them could clearly sense the Bloodsha Dragon-Elephants within them quivering with excitement and thrill, as if answering a summons or seeing their master, barely able to restrain themselves from bursting forth.
As for Tang Manqing, Liu Yue, and Lin Xiang'er, ever since they had known Gu Qingfeng, their impression had been of a sloppy, frivolous fellow who seemed like a good-for-nothing young master. They had never imagined that when this fellow got serious, he would be... so utterly unbelievable.
Yes.
Unbelievable.
The three of them simply could not connect the previously sloppy, seemingly fraudulent young master with the solitary, domineering, world-disdaining warrior-god before them now.
He was like two completely different people.
How could this be?
Suddenly.
Tang Manqing recalled the incident earlier in the Imperial Mausoleum's Jade Bamboo Forest. At that time, she had observed that Gu Qingfeng had neither proper standing nor sitting posture, his sloppy demeanor making it impossible for him to be Lord Chixiao. Old Monster Tang had then said that when Gu Tianlang was in a good mood, he was exactly that devil-may-care, but once he got serious, especially when angered, it was like he became a different person.
Thinking of this, Tang Manqing's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that this fellow wasn't a fraud, but the true Monarch?
But.
Was that possible?
Tang Manqing didn't believe it. To be precise, she dared not believe it.