One sentence.
"Will you do it yourselves, or shall I send you on your way?"
The voice was calm.
It carried no imposing momentum, nor any sonic might.
There was no thunderous explosion, just a very quiet statement.
Yet, when these words were spoken, the Three Elders of Yunxia on the high platform were so terrified they could no longer stand steady. With a *thump*, they collapsed to the ground, their ashen faces devoid of any trace of blood filled with boundless fear.
When a person is gripped by fear, their spirit collapses. Moreover, the fear of the Three Elders of Yunxia did not stem from their hearts, but from their very souls.
The three elders lay sprawled on the ground, trying to breathe, but the more they tried, the more they suffocated.
This was a feeling of despair.
As despair-inducing as falling into an endless abyss.
Suddenly, True Person Yunhe seemed to remember something. He looked towards Wei Qing not far away, scrambled to his feet, knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and shouted, "Lord Wei, we are willing to submit to the alliance! We are willing! Save us..."
Wei Qing stood there, head lowered, offering no response.
He dared not look up, dared not respond.
He was afraid.
Everyone could see it.
The Three Elders of Yunxia also seemed to realize that this Lord Wei Qing from the Nine-Hua Alliance was afraid.
This plunged the three elders into even deeper despair. Then, they turned their gazes towards Huode, Ren De, and Tu De standing there.
"Ren De, save me..." "Tu De, I am your martial uncle!"
Ren De also stood there, head lowered, not daring to speak.
He was like this, and Tu De was no exception.
Ren De dared not look up or speak because he had witnessed everything that had just happened with his own eyes.
Tu De was afraid because he knew Gu Qingfeng's identity, and he knew even more that Gu Qingfeng's terror was a hundred, a thousand, even ten thousand times more horrifying than the scene that had just unfolded!
"Huode, save me... please! On account of your master, save us..." The three elders knelt on the ground, pleading.
Huode glared at them, stole a glance at Gu Qingfeng, then said angrily, "I warned you bastards long ago! You didn't listen!"
"I was wrong... We'll appoint him as the heir apparent now, make him the sect head..."
Huode didn't dare speak too loudly, his voice choked and hoarse as he shouted, "Where the hell were you earlier! It's too late now!"
At that moment.
The Three Elders of Yunxia were utterly, completely despairing.
They had pleaded with the Nine-Hua Alliance, and they had pleaded with Ren De, Huode, and Tu De. The only one they hadn't pleaded with was Gu Qingfeng, who held their lives in his hands.
It wasn't that they didn't want to.
They didn't dare.
Yes.
They didn't dare.
In front of Gu Qingfeng, they didn't even have the courage to beg for mercy.
Gu Qingfeng didn't speak. He just stood there with his hands behind his back, his cold, handsome face expressionless—devoid of sorrow or joy, of kindness or malice, of anger or indignation. It was serene, even deathly still.
Yet, it was precisely this serenity, as serene as a Nine Nethers Demon God.
This deathly stillness, as still as the God of Death from hell.
A silent Gu Qingfeng was terrifying enough, but a Gu Qingfeng submerged in serenity and deathly stillness could no longer be described as merely terrifying.
Tu De knew this. Huode knew even better.
Time passed bit by bit. Long since despairing, and finding no avenue for rescue, the Three Elders of Yunxia were like deflated balloons, lying limp on the ground, faces deathly pale, hair disheveled and faces dirty, wanting to scream but unable to make a sound.
The longer Gu Qingfeng remained silent, the more afraid and fearful they became.
This fear, this terror, deeply enveloped their souls, making it impossible for them to breathe, even numbing their bodies.
Gu Qingfeng did not act.
It wasn't because he was merciful, nor because he was kind-hearted.
It was because he knew the Three Elders of Yunxia were a shackle in Huode's heart. It wasn't that he couldn't kill them; the timing just wasn't right yet.
He was waiting. Waiting for Huode. Not to have Huode kill them, but to have him watch.
Silence.
Boundless silence, endless stillness.
True Person Yunhe stared at Gu Qingfeng, staring fearfully. Within that fear was a touch of dullness, a touch of numbness. Using all his strength, he cried out in a hoarse, weak voice, "Monster-Demon... He is... He is a Monster-Demon, he is... a Monster-Demon. A body that failed Foundation Establishment... could never possibly be this powerful, never possible... He must be a Monster-Demon..." "Kill him, kill him now... otherwise... this Monster-Demon will definitely slaughter you all... definitely..."
At the mention of Monster-Demon.
The people within the venue also became tense and fearful!
Yes!
A mutated body resulting from a failed Foundation Establishment, no matter how mutated, could never possibly be this powerful!
Perhaps... perhaps only the body of a Monster-Demon could be this powerful!
Could it be... could he really be a Monster-Demon?
The people present couldn't help but become afraid as well, because in the rumors, the bodies of Monster-Demons were said to be... very powerful.
Those with such thoughts weren't limited to the big shots of the Qingyang Region; even Ouyang Feiyue began to suspect, as did Ren De, and Wei Qing as well.
Right at that moment, a booming thunderclap suddenly rang out from the sky.
*Boom— Crack!*
The originally clear, sunny sky suddenly became overcast with dark clouds, thunder rumbled, and lightning flashed and crackled!
*Boom— Crack!*
What was happening?
Why had the weather suddenly turned so foul?
Suddenly.
Someone noticed something was wrong, because the previously silent Gu Qingfeng within the venue was becoming... becoming blurry. His entire body was enveloped in a layer of turbid spiritual power, within which crackled electric sparks. With a series of *crackling* crisp sounds, Gu Qingfeng's physical body grew increasingly indistinct.
This was...
What was this situation?
This looked like... Foundation Establishment?
Everyone had undergone Foundation Establishment before, and at this moment, Gu Qingfeng's condition closely resembled it.
Could he really be undergoing Foundation Establishment?
*Boom— Crack!*
*Whoosh!*
At this moment, the sky was overcast with dark clouds, rolling thunder pressed down as if doomsday had arrived.
*Boom—*
What was this?
No one knew why, nor did anyone know why, with Gu Qingfeng undergoing Foundation Establishment here, the sky would suddenly be filled with lightning and thunder.
*Boom— Crack!*
The sky exploded with sound, shaking the earth violently.
Within the venue.
The turbid spiritual power enveloping Gu Qingfeng had vanished at some unknown time. Gu Qingfeng's physical body was no longer blurry.
He looked like himself, yet also different.
To be precise, his spiritual aura had become...
Hmm?
Wait!
This is a foundation!
This is the aura of a foundation!
Heavens!
He has succeeded in Foundation Establishment!
At this moment, no one dared believe their eyes. Gu Qingfeng had clearly failed Foundation Establishment and produced a mutated body, so how could he...
Moreover, when he underwent Foundation Establishment, why did the sky become overcast with dark clouds and rolling thunder?
No one knew.
At this moment.
Gu Qingfeng, clad in white robes, stood with his hands behind his back. His three thousand strands of black hair danced wildly in the fierce wind, his robes flapping loudly. He slightly raised his head, a pair of eyes fixed on the heavens.
*Boom— Crack!*
In the sky, the dark clouds grew denser, the rolling thunder even more frenzied!
Gu Qingfeng did not move, did not utter a word. Only, the expression on his cold, handsome face was no longer deathly still. It had become aloof, become cold and severe, become utterly arrogant. Within his eyes was an incalculable domineering arrogance, also an endless contempt.
"Scram!"
A condensed shout shot straight into the sky. With a *boom*, it exploded, shattering the dense dark clouds.
Every single one of the thousand-plus people gathered at Yunxia Sect, without exception, had their seven orifices bleed on the spot from this word 'scram'.
The Three Elders of Yunxia died instantly!
The twenty-plus members of the Li Clan died instantly!
At this moment, everyone's minds went blank in an instant, their thoughts froze, their ears roared, their bodies stiffened, and they collapsed to the ground!
The big shots of the Qingyang Region were.
Ren De, Huode, Tu De were.
Wei Qing was, Ouyang Feiyue was.
*Boom!*
Yunxia Sect's protective formation instantly disintegrated, the momentum exploding outwards. The tens of thousands of people gathered outside all had their seven orifices bleed at this moment, their bodies stiffened, and they collapsed to the ground. No one was an exception. No one!
! Today is New Year's Day, the first day of the new year. Thank you all for your support. I will do my best to release more chapters...
Thank you!
! Once again, I bow in gratitude for everyone's support!