Within the arena.
Black Buddha, Black Water, and the other three hundred-plus Chixiao People remained kneeling on the ground. Some wept with aged tears, others wailed uncontrollably, utterly unable to restrain the emotions that had been suppressed deep within their hearts for over three hundred years.
Yet Gu Qingfeng paid them no heed, his gaze fixed on the distance.
There, another group of people knelt upon the earth.
It was none other than Zhou Taihe, Ma Hai, and the other hundred-plus Chixiao People.
Unlike Black Buddha, Black Water, and their comrades, these Chixiao People kneeling on the ground were neither weeping nor wailing. Instead, they trembled and shook, each face ashen with terror and dread.
The loose Immortals and Earth Immortals who had accompanied Zhou Taihe earlier had long since fled. At this moment, only Zhou Taihe, Ma Hai, and these Chixiao People remained.
They had not run. They had not fled.
It was not that they did not wish to, nor that they could not, but that they dared not.
For they knew that if Gu Qingfeng was not the Chixiao Monarch, there was no need for them to flee.
And if Gu Qingfeng truly was the Chixiao Monarch, then fleeing would be utterly useless.
Upon hearing Immortal Su Hua utter the name Chixiao Monarch Gu Tianlang, several of Zhou Taihe's sons and grandsons had collapsed to the ground in fright, unable to stand.
As for Zhou Taihe's disciple, Dongfang Jian, he had not collapsed, nor had he knelt.
However.
This did not mean he was unafraid or un-terrified.
Though he was a proud son of heaven in the Present-Ancient Era, having never experienced the madness of the Ancient Era, he had still heard of the fearsome reputation of the Chixiao Monarch.
But that was not what mattered most.
What mattered was that Gu Qingfeng had just slaughtered thirty-six Immortals of the Immortal Dynasty like butchering pigs and dogs, wiped out over two hundred noble scions of the Immortal Dynasty with a wave of his hand, and turned hundreds of loose Immortals to dust between his fingers. Even if he did not fear the reputation of the Chixiao Monarch, he was utterly terrified of this Gu Qingfeng who killed as easily as breathing.
"Master, even if he really is Gu Tianlan, you have no need to kneel. This is the Present-Ancient Era, not the Ancient Era. What are you afraid of?"
Dongfang Jian's face was pale, his voice strained. "Moreover, we are all under Third Imperial Prince's banner. With the Third Imperial Prince backing us, I don't believe this Gu Tianlan would dare do anything to us."
No matter what Dongfang Jian said, Zhou Taihe remained unmoved, merely bowing his head, kneeling upon the ground.
"Master, you disappoint me too much."
Dongfang Jian tried to pull Zhou Taihe to his feet, but it was useless. Zhou Taihe knelt as if he were already dead.
"Master, you..."
The more unmoved Zhou Taihe was, the more afraid Dongfang Jian became. The more afraid he was, the more chaotic his mind grew. Yet, to kneel on the ground like Zhou Taihe and these other Chixiao People was something he absolutely could not bring himself to do. His pride would not allow it; he could not bear the loss of face.
Turning around, Dongfang Jian glared at Gu Qingfeng. He took several deep breaths in succession, yet still could not suppress the fear in his heart. Gritting his teeth, he let out an angry roar, as if to bolster his own courage, and shouted, "I am a man of His Highness the Third Imperial Prince! I warn you, if you dare lay a single finger on me, Dongfang Jian, today, the Third Imperial Prince will never forgive you! And what's more..." He was still speaking, his words unfinished, when Gu Qingfeng raised his hand. The surrounding space rippled like a vast ocean. Before Dongfang Jian could understand what was happening, his entire body was instantly yanked forward. Gu Qingfeng seized him by the throat and, with a raised palm, struck.
*Bang!*
Dongfang Jian didn't even have time to grunt. His Creation scattered, his cultivation was utterly lost, and he was reduced to a cripple. Four Bloodsha Dragon-Elephants roared forth from within Dongfang Jian's body, swirling and circling around Gu Qingfeng.
Gu Qingfeng flung the half-dead Dongfang Jian, tossing him before Zhou Taihe.
"I don't want to hear any more superfluous nonsense. Hand over the Bloodsha Dragon-Elephants yourselves, and I will spare your lives. Then get the hell out of my sight, as far away as possible."
Gu Qingfeng's voice rang out, causing Zhou Taihe, Ma Hai, and the other hundred-plus kneeling Chixiao People to tremble even more violently.
"Monarch, we... we know we were wrong... We dare not, we truly dare not anymore."
"Monarch, we never wanted to follow Zhou Taihe, nor did we wish to pledge allegiance to the Immortal Dynasty... but... we had no choice..."
"Monarch, please, for the sake of our past service in the Chixiao Sect, even if we had no great merit, we still toiled hard. Please show us mercy."
Over a hundred Chixiao People were explaining, pleading, kneeling, and kowtowing.
Across from them.
Gu Qingfeng stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his expression impassive. "It is precisely because you were all once members of the Chixiao Sect that I do not wish to take action against you yourselves. Hand over the Bloodsha Dragon-Elephants. Do it for your own sake, and to give an account to all the Chixiao brothers who died back then."
"Monarch, we..." They still wished to explain, but Gu Qingfeng had no interest in listening further. He roared in anger, "HAND THEM OVER!"
With that furious roar.
Dark clouds gathered, thunder cracked, the earth trembled, and space itself seemed to fracture.
*Awooo!*
The Bloodsha Dragon-Elephants within the bodies of the hundred-plus Chixiao People were forcibly shaken out by the sheer might of Gu Qingfeng's roar, all of them swirling and soaring upwards to circle around him, creating a spectacular scene.
The Bloodsha Dragon-Elephants had long since fused as one with each Chixiao person, inseparable. Having lost their Bloodsha Dragon-Elephants, the hundred-plus Chixiao People each seemed to have half their life force drained away. In an instant, they aged considerably, collapsing weakly to the ground.
Looking across the arena, only Zhou Taihe remained kneeling.
From beginning to end, he had knelt like this, not daring to utter a single word or syllable, not even daring to lift his head, merely trembling as he knelt.
"Zhou Taihe, back in the Chixiao Sect days, you secretly colluded with the Immortal Dynasty. It was your mentor, Senior Huang Yuan, who knelt before me, begging me to spare you."
"For Senior Huang Yuan's sake, I did not pursue the matter back then. I did not even expel you from the Chixiao Sect. I never once mentioned that incident."
"Monarch."
Senior Huang Yuan was also present today, and had been all along. Hearing Gu Qingfeng bring up the events of the past, Senior Huang Yuan knelt and begged for punishment. "It was this old fool's mistake! It was all this old fool's momentary folly back then that led to today's grave error... This old fool is ashamed before you, Monarch... This old fool is willing to atone with his death..."
As Senior Huang Yuan spoke, he moved to end his own life in atonement. But before he could act, he was immobilized by Gu Qingfeng's restraint.
"Heaven's transgressions may yet be forgiven."
Gu Qingfeng raised a hand and pointed straight into the sky. A rift suddenly tore open in the air above. Through the rift, one could see a man seated cross-legged within a secret chamber. Seeing that man, Black Water, Black Buddha, and the others recognized him at a glance—it was Zhou Taihe's True Body.
Within the rift, Zhou Taihe's True Body likely never imagined that Gu Qingfeng could discover his True Body, nor that he would use some unknown method to directly tear through space and locate it. He was scared out of his wits and tried to flee, but it was too late. By the time he reacted, his True Body was already kneeling at Gu Qingfeng's feet.
"But self-made transgressions cannot be lived down."
Hand rose, palm fell.
Zhou Taihe's True Body was instantly reduced to dust on the spot.
With his True Body destroyed, the Immortal body Zhou Taihe had seized through possession was now clinging to its last breath, a mere remnant of consciousness that was gradually dispersing.