The three rooms were completely bare. One room contained only a stone meditation cushion, where Gu Qingfeng had once cultivated in stillness. Another held only a stone bed, where he had slept and rested. The middle room had nothing at all; it was the place he had used to practice immortal arts. However, during his nine years at Shangqing Sect, he had never once meditated on that stone cushion, nor had he ever practiced any immortal arts. Thus, he had never actually entered those two rooms.
Gu Qingfeng returned to the courtyard, casually plucked a Redleaf Monster Fruit, took a bite, then pulled out a jug of wine. Sipping the wine and eating the fruit, he slightly closed his eyes as if reminiscing about the events of those years.
He didn't know how much time had passed.
When Gu Qingfeng opened his eyes again, another person had appeared in the courtyard.
It was a woman.
A woman with a cold, beautiful face and an extraordinary, peerless aura.
Gu Qingfeng didn't know her, but according to Su Hua, she seemed to be Ye Tianlan's disciple and was currently the heir apparent of Shangqing Sect. It was said she had been a Congenital True Immortal from birth and also possessed a Mandate of the Heavenly Dao, making her a well-deserved Heaven's Favored Daughter.
Gu Qingfeng sat casually on the ground, leaning against the red-leaved tree. He tilted his head slightly, squinting his eyes as he looked Yun Wan up and down, unable to resist a sigh of admiration.
Congenital True Immortals were rare. Even in the Primordial Heaven Realm, they were few and far between. Such existences were often hailed as Heavenly Immortals.
As the name implied, they were immortals born of heaven.
They possessed a unique Congenital Immortal Body, free of any impurities, exceptionally pure.
The aptitude, potential, and fortune of a Heavenly Immortal were beyond anyone's imagination. Their power was also unimaginable to ordinary people. Immortals who attained the Dao through later cultivation were separated from them by a chasm as vast as heaven and earth—a gap that, in a sense, could not be bridged by cultivation level alone.
In the Primordial Heaven Realm, Heavenly Immortals, Heavenly Demons, Heavenly Devils, and even Heavenly Ghosts were almost without exception not to be trifled with.
This woman hadn't grown to her full potential yet. Once she did, not only in this world but even in the Primordial Heaven Realm, she would be a formidable force. Moreover, she carried a Mandate of the Heavenly Dao on her person, clearly having caught the attention of the Heavenly Dao itself. Her future achievements would be limitless.
After all, the existence of the Heavenly Dao stood above the Three Thousand Great Daos and was the ruler of the heavens.
One had to say, the Heavenly Dao truly lived up to its name—its strikes were swift, precise, and ruthless. Though the Immortal Dao had bestowed many mandates, all those favored by the Immortal Dao combined probably weren't worth this single one favored by the Heavenly Dao.
"What is it?"
Gu Qingfeng asked lazily, "Something you need?"
"Are you truly Monarch Chixiao, Gu Tianlang?"
Yun Wan stared at Gu Qingfeng, her voice solemn as she inquired.
Gu Qingfeng shrugged, neither confirming nor denying.
"You are far from the Monarch Chixiao I imagined, but I believe you are the real one."
"How so?"
"An impostor claiming to be Monarch Chixiao would not and would not dare to enter our Shangqing Sect."
"Why wouldn't or wouldn't dare an impostor enter your Shangqing Sect?"
"Because within our Shangqing Sect resides not only Monarch Chixiao's revered master but also the woman he once wronged. An impostor would not and would not dare to face his revered master or the woman he wronged."
"That does sound plausible at first hearing."
"Why did you wrong my master back then!"
"Wrong?"
Gu Qingfeng stood up, stretched lazily, and asked, "Your master told you that?"
"My master has never spoken of anything concerning you."
"Then how can you say I wronged your master?"
"It is a fact."
"You are not your master herself. How can you know it's a fact?"
Gu Qingfeng's words left Yun Wan unable to refute. After a moment, she said, "Then tell me, what is the truth?"
"Ask your master yourself later."
"If you won't say, then it means you wronged my master."
Seeing Yun Wan's somewhat aggressive stance, Gu Qingfeng simply admitted it outright. "That's right, I did indeed wrong your master. What do you plan to do about it?"
"I!"
Yun Wan's expression grew heavy.
What to do?
She truly didn't know what to do.
She was not an impulsive person, nor was she a naive young girl. Though she wished to seek justice for her master in her heart, it was merely a thought; she wouldn't actually act on it. For one, she didn't know the truth of what happened back then. For another, even if Monarch Chixiao had truly wronged her master, it was a matter between her master and him. As a disciple, what right did she have to interfere in her master's affairs?
"Alright, little girl, if there's nothing else, go back."
Gu Qingfeng leaped up, landing on the tree branch, picking Redleaf Monster Fruits.
Yun Wan did not leave. She continued asking, "Why have you come to Shangqing Sect this time?"
"To see my master."
"But Elder Zhenjue has entered the Shangqing Tower."
"That's why I have no choice but to wait for your master to emerge from seclusion."
"If my master emerges and you meet..." Yun Wan seemed to be vaguely worried about something. After hesitating for a moment, she said, "Could you leave? Don't meet with my master..."
"Why?"
"I'm afraid something unpleasant might happen between you again. You harmed my master enough back then. I don't want her to be hurt because of you again."
Hearing this, Gu Qingfeng fell silent for a while. He had been here for some time but hadn't inquired about Ye Tianlan's situation. Now, hearing Yun Wan mention it, he thought for a moment and asked, "How is your master now?"
"I don't know. I've never met my master."
"Wait, all this time, and you've never even met your master?"
"Though I have never met my master in person, she often instructs me in my dreams."
"That's not a bad method."
"Though my master has never mentioned you in front of me, I know you hurt her deeply back then, so deeply that she hasn't recovered even now. After you left this world, my master sealed away her true body. Her consciousness remains deranged to this day; only a trace of residual awareness maintains clarity."
"Your master sealed her true body? And her consciousness is deranged?"
Hearing this, Gu Qingfeng immediately jumped down from the tree, asking seriously, "Why?"
"You heartlessly rejected my master back then, driving her into demonic madness and clouding her sanity. Have you forgotten?"
"Are you sure your master's loss of sanity was solely due to demonic madness?"
"I... I don't know."
Gu Qingfeng asked no more, his expression somewhat somber.
Yun Nishang had been buried and reborn through her soul.
Feng Zhuyue was sealed in slumber.
Tang Henghuang was the same.
Jun Xuanji had lost herself.
Could it be... damn it, even Ye Tianlan had also...
Perhaps Gu Qingfeng's reaction piqued Yun Wan's curiosity. She couldn't help but ask, "If my master's loss of sanity wasn't because you drove her into demonic madness, then what else could it be?"
Gu Qingfeng shook his head, offering no response, only drinking his wine continuously.