That night.
The moonlight was bright, the starlight brilliant.
Beneath the glow of the stars and moon, the Yunchuan Garden Pavilion appeared exceptionally beautiful.
Yet tonight, no one was appreciating this nocturnal beauty.
For those gathered in the Qinggui Garden, this night was a dark night, a night of violent storms, a night of gathering dark clouds, as if the sun had fallen and day had turned to night. The silence filled their hearts with endless fear. Even the gently caressing night breeze had, for some reason, become like the bone-chilling, blade-like wind of deep winter, scraping against their skin with a tearing pain.
The man in white stood with his hands clasped behind his back, rooted to the spot. His pair of dark, profound eyes were silent and unadorned, like an abyss, or even more like the void—holding nothing, only silence, boundless silence, endless silence.
The stillness was profound tranquility.
The silence was deathly stillness.
Sweeping his gaze across, no one dared meet his eyes.
"Is there anyone else who wishes to come out and test their skills?"
The voice came.
It was also very plain.
Devoid of imposing aura, devoid of sonic power, plain as boiled water—colorless, tasteless, without sorrow or joy, without anger or worry, devoid of any emotional hue.
Who else?
There was no one else!
Nearly a hundred Fated Prodigies had been wounded, maimed, or crippled by him in a single move. Who would dare step forward now?
Zhou Ting, who possessed a Lesser Mandate, had been kicked into a cripple by him. Xiao Zibai, hailed as one of the Yanluo Eighteen Young Masters, couldn't even withstand a single move from him. Li Yan, with his Spirit-Origin cultivation, couldn't even stand steady after a mere glance from him. Under such circumstances, who would dare step forward?
The answer was certain.
No one dared.
The elders of the Four Great Families and Seven Great Sects all turned their gazes towards the Juexin Branch Hall of Chishitou and the Yanluo Immortal Manor.
In their minds, if there was anyone within the grounds who could deal with this mysterious and bizarre individual, it could only be the Juexin Branch Hall and the Yanluo Immortal Manor.
Led by Shi Lingkai, the Juexin Branch Hall had brought quite a few experts today—over ten of them, all Spirit-Origin or even Chaoyuan Earth Immortals from the ancient era. Shi Lingkai himself was a Chaoyuan Earth Immortal of the Chixiao Sect, possessing a Bloodsha Dragon-Elephant guardian, making his strength exceptionally formidable.
However, when everyone looked over, the dozen or so experts all appeared deeply apprehensive, standing there without daring to utter a word. Shi Lingkai was especially flustered, his face alternating between green and pale.
Everyone could see that the Juexin Branch Hall, led by Shi Lingkai, was also scared out of their wits.
Nevertheless.
Fortunately, there was still the Yanluo Immortal Manor.
And the Yanluo Immortal Manor had brought dozens of Immortal Officials today, among them many Spirit-Origin and Chaoyuan Earth Immortals. The leader, Immortal Official Ziyun, was a Guiyuan Earth Immortal. But that wasn't the important part. What mattered was that Feiyu Yun Jue, who possessed the Earth Fiend Tiger Might bloodline and carried the Human Dao Edict, had yet to make a move.
Everyone believed that as long as Feiyu Yun Jue took action, relying on the power of the Earth Fiend Tiger Might and the Human Dao Edict, he would surely be able to capture this bizarre individual impersonating the monarch.
But that was merely their own belief.
Whether it was Immortal Official Ziyun Qimu or the other Immortal Officials, they all faced Gu Qingfeng here with terror and apprehension. Even Feiyu Yun Jue, bearer of the Human Dao Edict, was no exception. Although he was very confident in his own strength—capable of fighting not just Guiyuan Earth Immortals, but even Loose Immortals or True Immortals—he hesitated when facing the unfathomable Gu Qingfeng.
Loose Immortals were not frightening.
True Immortals were not frightening either.
Even the most powerful Fated Prodigies were not frightening.
Because power was just power; no matter how powerful, it always had its limits.
But this person impersonating the monarch? His existence was like an endless abyss or a boundless sea. You simply couldn't know how deep that abyss was, nor how vast that boundless sea truly was.
That was the most terrifying part.
This was precisely why Feiyu Yun Jue had been hesitating, not daring to act.
Not far away.
Shi Lingkai of the Juexin Branch Hall was already thinking of retreat. As the agitation transmitted by the Bloodsha Dragon-Elephant within his body grew increasingly intense, his inner fear also swelled. Just as he prepared to take Zhou Ting and leave, as if sensing something, he looked up and was shocked to find Gu Qingfeng staring directly at him.
That single glance.
Without a word spoken, it frightened Shi Lingkai into freezing on the spot, not daring to move a muscle. His face turned deathly pale, devoid of any color, as if he had plummeted into an endless abyss, or as if the sky had collapsed and the earth had split, leaving him swaying unsteadily, barely able to stand.
"Hand over your Bloodsha Dragon-Elephant."
One sentence.
A casually uttered sentence.
Yet when it reached Shi Lingkai's ears, it was like a thunderclap from a clear sky, frightening him into panting incessantly. He took a deep breath, trying to suppress the fear in his heart, but it was utterly useless. The more he suppressed it, the more intense the fear became—a fear that seemed to come from his heart, from his mind, even from his very soul, pressing down on him until he was drenched in sweat and gasping for air.
"You...
you...
just what kind of person are you!"
Perhaps due to excessive terror, Shi Lingkai's voice became hoarse, stammering and trembling uncontrollably: "You...
you have no turbid aura on you at all, you're not a reincarnated soul... it can't be him...
it's impossible..."
Suddenly.
Gu Qingfeng, who had been silent, abruptly raised his hand, pointing at Shi Lingkai and roaring angrily: "Hand it over to me, now!"
Such a mighty roar truly carried overwhelming momentum and peerless dominance. The dozen or so Spirit-Origin Earth Immortal experts of the Juexin Branch Hall were instantly shaken until their hair stood on end, their skin split and flesh tore, blood flowed from their seven orifices, and without even a grunt, they fell to the ground, lifeless.
Dead?
That's right.
Dead.
With just the might of a single roar, over a dozen ancient Spirit-Origin Earth Immortal experts were shaken to death on the spot.
This scene was nothing short of breathtaking.
Every single person present, without exception, was terrified by the sight before them as if they had seen ghosts or gods, their hair standing on end as they retreated uncontrollably.
Tang Manqing, Liu Yue, and Lin Xiang'er were directly scared witless.
Immortal Official Ziyun Qimu of the Yanluo Immortal Manor was also frightened until his aged face turned deathly pale. Even Feiyu Yun Jue, bearer of the Human Dao Edict, couldn't help but take a deep breath and instinctively step back. As for Yu Heng, Ben Lei, Feng Xu, and the other dozen or so Chixiao people from the Meishan Branch Hall of Chishitou, their expressions all changed drastically.
As for Shi Lingkai, he was shaken by this mighty roar until he knelt on the ground, covered in blood.
Awoo!
A colossal entity burst forth from within him. This behemoth resembled both a dragon and an elephant. The dragon's roar shook the heavens, the angry elephant's might subdued the earth. It was precisely the Bloodsha Dragon-Elephant.
Awoo!
After rushing out, the Bloodsha Dragon-Elephant did not guard Shi Lingkai. Instead, it circled excitedly around Gu Qingfeng, its demeanor as if meeting a long-lost master—overjoyed, elated, and thrilled.
According to rumors, a few days ago, that person impersonating the monarch had, with the might of a single roar at the Shanhe Branch Hall, shaken out the Bloodsha Dragon-Elephants of Tan Tong and over a dozen other Chixiao people from the Mingyu Branch Hall. Moreover, the Bloodsha Dragon-Elephants had shown him immense reverence, as if he were the true Chixiao Monarch.
But these were merely rumors; no one had witnessed it firsthand.
Whether it was true or false, many were deeply skeptical, considering it exaggerated. It was very likely a fabricated show of force by Old Master Heifo.