After Long Qianren and Liuguang Que rushed forward, Feiyu Xianjue, who held the Edict of Humanity, also charged out.
Having been humiliated earlier at Yunchuan Garden when Gu Qingfeng’s mere voice caused his seven orifices to bleed, he had come this time precisely to wash away that shame.
He knew Gu Qingfeng’s strength was mysterious, bizarre, and unfathomable, but with Long Qianren and Liuguang Que leading the charge, he naturally had nothing to fear. Moreover, with thousands from the Immortal Dynasty behind him, he felt utterly fearless.
Following Feiyu Xianjue’s charge, over two hundred other Immortal Dynasty nobles all surged forward.
They shared Feiyu Xianjue’s thoughts: with so many experts from the Immortal Dynasty present, that Gu Qingfeng surely couldn’t stir up much trouble.
However,
their thinking did not represent the views of everyone else in the Immortal Dynasty.
At the very least,
the True Immortals and Loose Immortals within the Immortal Dynasty did not dare act rashly. Watching as nearly all the Dynasty nobles rushed out in a swarm, the Chief Steward Xun Nian hurriedly tried to stop them. He was just about to speak when Liuguang Tao stopped him.
“Chief Steward Liu, what do you mean by this? You clearly know that Gu Qingfeng’s strength is unfathomable, why aren’t you stopping them!”
“It is precisely because this fellow Gu’s strength is unfathomable that I’m letting Que’er and the others test the waters.”
“Some people are not to be tested!”
Xun Nian said gravely, “Even Senior Wan and the other reincarnated predecessors treat him with such reverence. Gu Qingfeng’s existence is definitely far more terrifying than we imagine. If you let Liuguang Que and the others go test him and something goes wrong, how will we explain it to the Immortal Dynasty?”
Although the Immortal Dynasty was teeming with prodigies, geniuses like Long Qianren and Liuguang Que were still rare. If not for this, the Dynasty wouldn’t have specially arranged for two reincarnated great powers like Wan Huaiyu and Qin Hao to accompany and protect them this time.
“It won’t happen. With so many of us standing here, even if that fellow Gu has the greatest courage, he absolutely wouldn’t dare harm Que’er and the others in the slightest. If he does hurt Que and the others, we won’t let him off, and the Immortal Dynasty certainly won’t either. I think such a simple principle is something that fellow Gu should understand.”
“Don’t forget Wan Huaiyu said he is Monarch Chixiao. Is there anyone in this world Monarch Chixiao wouldn’t dare harm?”
“That’s just what Wan Huaiyu said. How do you know it’s true?”
“Even if he isn’t Monarch Chixiao, he dared to kill dozens of Dynasty nobles nine years ago!”
“If his courage were truly that great, he would have acted long ago. He probably wouldn’t have waited until now. The fact that he hasn’t made a move yet means he’s either putting on a mysterious act, or he simply lacks the nerve.”
“You!”
Xun Nian then reported to Yun Bao, hoping Yun Bao would intervene.
But Yun Bao did not respond, his gaze fixed intently on Gu Qingfeng.
He seemed to have tacitly approved Liuguang Que and Long Qianren’s actions.
And indeed, that was the case.
He had stopped Liuguang Que earlier because Wan Huaiyu’s reverent attitude toward Gu Qingfeng had truly frightened him. But after calming down and thinking it over, he also felt Chief Steward Liuguang Tao’s words held some truth. If Gu Qingfeng were truly fearless, he definitely wouldn’t have waited until now without acting. Since he hadn’t acted, he was either putting on a show of mystery, or he feared the Immortal Dynasty and didn’t dare act.
There was another point, and the most important one.
Earlier, Tang Laoguai had publicly recounted the humiliation Yun Bao suffered back then, and now this Gu Qingfeng was posing as Monarch Chixiao. In Yun Bao’s mind, even if Gu Qingfeng was impersonating Monarch Chixiao, he must be torn to pieces today.
However,
he was a cautious and careful man. Without absolute certainty, he dared not act rashly. Now that Long Qianren, Liuguang Que, and the other Dynasty nobles were charging out, it suited his intentions perfectly. Moreover, he firmly believed that even if Gu Qingfeng truly was Monarch Chixiao, in this Modern Era, he would absolutely not dare oppose the Immortal Dynasty again.
Without further thought,
Yun Bao issued orders, instructing all members of the Immortal Dynasty to prepare. If the situation turned unfavorable, they were to heed his command and act immediately.
Yun Bao understood clearly that Long Qianren and Liuguang Que were, after all, nobles the Immortal Dynasty focused on cultivating. If anything happened to them, he, as the Immortal Court emissary, would inevitably face severe consequences. Everyone else was aware of this as well. The thirty-six True Immortals and over five hundred Loose Immortals all secretly circulated their Immortal Spirit, their bodies shimmering with faint radiance. The moment they detected something amiss, they would act immediately.
As the Immortal Dynasty’s True Immortals and Loose Immortals made their preparations,
over at the Southern Dipper Sect,
Sect Leader Wei Chang,
the more than twenty Loose Immortal Ancestral Patriarchs, plus two hundred Earthly Immortal elders, and over a hundred geniuses of various levels of Creation, all responded to the call at once. Their bodies shone with radiance, each more dazzling than the last. The two prodigy brothers, Guan Jin and Guan Yu, also charged forward.
At the same time,
the sect leaders of the Four Great Families and Six Great Sects, along with their Loose Immortal Ancestral Patriarchs, also responded to the Immortal Dynasty’s call, secretly circulating their Immortal Spirit, poised to strike.
They didn’t know whether Gu Qingfeng was truly Monarch Chixiao.
Nor was it too important to them.
Because even if he wasn’t Monarch Chixiao, Gu Qingfeng had killed many of their direct disciples earlier at Yunchuan Garden. That grudge must be avenged.
And if Gu Qingfeng truly was Monarch Chixiao, then back in the day, Monarch Chixiao had swept through the Four Great Families and Six Great Sects, nearly causing their annihilation. That grudge was even more pressing to settle.
In other words, regardless of whether Gu Qingfeng was Monarch Chixiao or not, the Four Great Families and Six Great Sects would not stand idly by today. With the Immortal Dynasty also present, they had nothing to fear.
At that moment,
a group from the Taiji Sect also charged forward.
Leading them was the Deputy Sect Leader, Cang Yun.
Earlier at Yunchuan Garden, his only direct disciple had been beaten half to death by Gu Qingfeng and remained unconscious to this day. Cang Yun had long been unable to restrain himself, but that wasn’t the important part. What mattered was that in the Ancient Era, he was hailed as the number one expert of Yanluo Kingdom, yet was beaten half to death in public by Monarch Chixiao. Not only did he lose all face, he lost everything—not just the woman he loved, but also his position as Sect Leader of the Taiji Sect. It could be said he bore a deep-seated hatred for Monarch Chixiao.
His situation was similar to Yun Bao’s. Today, regardless of whether Gu Qingfeng was truly Monarch Chixiao, even if he was a fake, Cang Yun would publicly execute him to wash away the humiliation of that year.
Over at the Taiji Sect, Sect Leader Cang Kong and Elder Xu Mu did not want the sect to get involved in today’s affairs.
Although the Taiji Sect had always maintained good relations with the Yanluo Royal Family, they dared not offend the Immortal Dynasty for the sake of helping the royal family.
Yet if they openly submitted to the Immortal Dynasty like the Four Great Families and Six Great Sects to suppress the Yanluo Royal Family, the Taiji Sect would later bear the stigma of treachery.
On one side was reputation, on the other survival.
The Taiji Sect had been unable to decide.
They had come this time intending to assess the situation before acting.
But they never expected that the moment the Immortal Dynasty side took action, Deputy Sect Leader Cang Yun led a group to respond to the Dynasty’s call and charged forward.
What surprised Cang Kong and Xu Mu even more was that the dozens of Ancestral Patriarchs in the Taiji Sect’s inner council had tacitly approved Cang Yun’s actions. Not only did they approve, they were also secretly circulating their Immortal Spirit, poised to strike. Even the Old Sect Leader was doing the same.
Cang Kong and Xu Mu exchanged a glance, finally realizing that the true inner thoughts of the council’s Ancestral Patriarchs had always been to pledge allegiance to the Immortal Dynasty. They had simply refrained from saying it outright out of consideration for face. Moreover, from the furious glares of these Ancestral Patriarchs, they could tell that these elders likely still harbored deep resentment over the incident when Monarch Chixiao had crippled Cang Yun back then. Especially the Old Sect Leader; his gaze fixed on Gu Qingfeng was filled with killing intent.