After much thought, Gu Qingfeng deduced that this place must have been influenced by some mysterious and terrifying force, causing all things here to mutate. If not, the sky-blotting dark clouds, the crackling lightning, the desolate ruins—none of them would all contain that same eerie, oppressive might.
As for what terrifying force had caused this, Gu Qingfeng didn't know, nor could he imagine.
He continued probing forward.
The place was vast, seemingly endless.
Everywhere were floating mountain ranges, everywhere were bottomless chasms.
Beyond that, there was nothing.
Only utter dead silence.
He didn't know how long passed.
Gu Qingfeng simply wandered on, discovering nothing along the way, not even the outline of a single ruin or relic.
It was as if this place had been burned clean by a great fire—nothing but ruins upon ruins.
He kept wandering, kept investigating.
Another unknown stretch of time passed.
Gu Qingfeng stopped his exploration.
Having searched for so long without finding so much as a bird's feather, continuing seemed pointless.
However, just as he was about to turn back, he suddenly sensed something amiss. Something seemed to be rushing towards him at incredible speed. Gu Qingfeng immediately looked over and saw a streak of light shooting towards him from the distance, like a meteor.
Was that... a person?
Correct!
It was indeed a person.
And a woman at that.
A woman with peerless, breathtaking beauty that could topple cities and kingdoms.
A woman dressed in white as pure as snow, ethereal as mist within smoke.
A woman radiantly holy, as if a celestial fairy had descended to the mortal realm.
Good heavens!
It was Su Hua.
Seeing Su Hua, Gu Qingfeng's brow furrowed deeply. He hadn't expected to run into an acquaintance in this bizarre place, and of all people, Su Hua.
"You?"
When Su Hua appeared and saw Gu Qingfeng, her shock seemed to exceed his own by threefold. She exclaimed in astonishment, "How are you here?"
"I say, Sister Su, you really are everywhere, aren't you? Wherever I go, I bump into you."
Thinking back carefully, since awakening in this world, Gu Qingfeng had lost count of how many times he'd met Su Hua. The impression he had was that this woman was omnipresent, infiltrating every corner; no matter where he went, he'd run into her.
"How did you get in?" Su Hua pressed.
Gu Qingfeng countered, "The same way you did."
"You have a Fragment Core too?" Su Hua stared at him. "I checked your storage pouch before. It only had one Fragment Crystal, no Fragment Core. Could it have been on you all along? But I've never seen you here before, which means you must have obtained the Fragment Core recently. And you've been in Yanluo Kingdom all these days..." Su Hua seemed to realize something. "Did you get the Fragment Core in your hand from the Yanyue Ruins in Yanluo Kingdom? Or perhaps I should ask—did you snatch that Fragment Core from Chu Jiaohong?"
Su Hua was indeed Su Hua, truly brilliant.
Not only was she omnipresent and all-pervasive, now she seemed omniscient too.
Gu Qingfeng, however, shook his head, flatly denying it. "Who's Chu Jiaohong? I don't know her. As for any Fragment Core, I have no idea what that thing is."
Su Hua stared at him and said bluntly, "You're really lying with your eyes wide open!"
"Little sister, don't go slandering people. I truly don't know any Chu Jiaohong."
"That deep crimson Vermilion Bird thumb ring on your hand belongs to Chu Jiaohong. You still dare say you don't know her?"
"Oh, you mean this!" Gu Qingfeng glanced at the ring on his finger, realizing the jig was up. He felt somewhat awkward, but still brazenly said, "So that woman was Chu Jiaohong. I thought you were talking about someone else."
"What did you do to Chu Jiaohong?"
"Why? Are you two close?"
"Not close. We've met a few times."
"Since you're not close, then don't ask so much."
"Chu Jiaohong has been looking for you. She was present at Coiling Dragon Mountain too, so she must know you're the Chixiao King she's been searching for. Did she come to seek revenge? And you... took the chance to kill her? Stole her Fragment Core?"
"No, I've long since turned over a new leaf. I rarely take lives anymore."
Hearing this, Su Hua said nothing at first, just stared at Gu Qingfeng. After a long while, she finally spoke. "Aren't you embarrassed saying that?"
Gu Qingfeng didn't want to dwell on this topic. He asked, "What is this place?"
"A lost ruin from the Wu Dao Age."
"That's obvious. Specifically?"
"How would I know specifically? It's a barren wasteland here, nothing at all."
"From what you just said, it seems you come here often?"
"Not often. Over the years, I've come a few times intermittently."
"Over the years?" Gu Qingfeng asked, "Where did you get the Fragment Core in your hand?"
"Found it by chance nine years ago when the Heavenly Mandate descended." Su Hua shot him a glance. "When the Heavenly Mandate descended, even the Original Sin Blood of the Wu Dao Age appeared. And you yourself were a firsthand witness. A mere Fragment Crystal from the Wu Dao Age is nothing in comparison."
"Hearing you say that, it really does seem that way." Gu Qingfeng rubbed his chin. "Are there many?"
"Many what?"
"I mean Fragment Cores from the Wu Dao Age."
Su Hua asked cautiously, "What do you want to do?"
"Little sister, don't jump to conclusions. I'm just asking casually."
"I don't know exactly how many, but over the years, I've seen quite a few people here."
"Quite a few is how many?"
"Should be over a dozen."
"That many?" Gu Qingfeng frowned in thought, then continued, "What kind of people are they?"
"Some I know, some I don't. I have no idea who some of them are."
"Who are the ones you know?"
"Why are you asking in such detail?"
"No reason, just asking casually."
As his words fell, Gu Qingfeng sensed something strange again. He looked up and, good heavens, another streak of light like a meteor was rushing towards them.
"They probably sensed your presence too." Su Hua's voice came.
Gu Qingfeng was baffled. "They?"
"Besides me, there are three other people here right now."
Before Su Hua could finish, the meteor appeared before them.
It was also a woman.
A woman with a surging, sky-filling demonic aura.
Her snow-white hair danced wildly in the violent wind. Her face was exquisitely beautiful, a beauty so unrestrained it seemed to dare compete with the sun and moon in brilliance, a radiance so flamboyant it bordered on arrogance. Surrounding her was a grayish-white radiance, like eerie cold flames, burning everything around her.
"You?"
When the woman saw Gu Qingfeng, her shock mirrored Su Hua's.
Similarly, seeing the woman, Gu Qingfeng was also quite taken aback.