Upon hearing that Monarch Chixiao had neither fled nor hidden, but had instead been sleeping in Shangqing Sect all along, everyone present exchanged bewildered glances.
Now, the leaders of every major sect and clan, along with Shangqing Sect's inner disciples, the Immortal Dynasty's Purple Gold Hall, and Crimson-Letter Sect's Zixiao Pavilion, had all gathered at the foot of Shangqing Sect Mountain, glaring with hostility, ready to denounce him. Who could have imagined he would still be in the mood to sleep?
How the hell could he still sleep?
This couldn't help but make people sigh in admiration. The Monarch was indeed the same Monarch Chixiao who had dominated the Ancient Times—still as dashingly unrestrained and untrammeled as ever.
However.
Many did not believe it.
Especially Liuguang Bing, Long Qi, and others. They had previously searched almost every corner of Shangqing Sect for Gu Qingfeng, including the courtyards in the back mountains, but found nothing. In their minds, if Monarch Chixiao had truly been resting on the red-leaf tree in the courtyard, he could not have escaped their Divine Sense.
Just as they were preparing to head to Shangqing Sect to see for themselves, someone suddenly shouted, "That's him! That's Monarch Chixiao!"
At that cry, the massive crowd gathered at the foot of Shangqing Sect Mountain all looked up. They saw a group of people descending from the mountain. Most were elders from Shangqing Sect's inner and outer sects, but two figures among them stood out particularly.
One was a man in a tight-fitting black robe, with a thin mustache, short and stout, resembling a dwarf.
Ahead of this dwarf, a man in white clothes was walking down the mountain, surrounded by an entourage.
The man in white wore only a simple, pale cloth robe, utterly plain without any decorative patterns. His black hair fell loosely behind him. On his rather handsome face hung a trace of confusion. His deep, dark eyes gazed at the crowd below the mountain as if greatly surprised, seemingly unaware there would be so many people.
Inside the pavilion.
Wuya stared intently at Gu Qingfeng descending the mountain and asked, "Ghost Elder, I also carefully searched Shangqing Sect earlier. I probed that courtyard multiple times with my Divine Sense, but I never detected his presence."
Ghost Elder furrowed his brows, also fixing his gaze on Gu Qingfeng, and said gravely, "That's because, using only Divine Sense, we simply cannot detect his existence."
"Impossible. I can detect his presence with my Divine Sense right now."
"Young Master can detect him now because you can see him with your eyes. If you close your eyes, or if he disappears from your sight, you will never be able to detect his existence with Divine Sense again."
Wuya tried closing his eyes. Sure enough, his Divine Sense could no longer detect Gu Qingfeng, as if he had never existed. But when he opened his eyes and saw Gu Qingfeng, he could detect him again. He tried several times in succession, with the same result.
"How can this be?"
Wuya had never encountered such a bewildering situation.
Ghost Elder shook his head. This was also the first time he had encountered something so strange and eerie.
"Ghost Elder, why is this? Could he have used some method to hide his physical body?"
The question came from Mei Ruolan, who also couldn't understand the reason.
"A physical body can perhaps be concealed. Spiritual aura can also be masked. If done perfectly, fooling Divine Sense isn't difficult. But the key issue now is that he is not hiding his body, nor is he masking his aura. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to detect his presence so easily right now."
Wuya's thoughts raced as he pondered. "What method did he use? Why can we detect him when we see him, but not when we can't? What on earth is the reason..." He couldn't figure it out.
Ghost Elder was equally perplexed.
"Young Master, do not forget what this old man told you before. Gu Tianlang's existence is likely far more complex than we imagined. Do not act rashly. Moreover..." Ghost Elder glanced at the crowd gathered at the foot of Shangqing Sect. "Moreover, the number of mysterious great powers who have come today is countless. Whether they are friend or foe, no one knows."
Wuya nodded very seriously. He had long since sensed that there were indeed many mysterious individuals present today. Some were hidden great powers from Shangqing Sect's inner circle, but more were ones he had never encountered before.
"You were sleeping on that tree the whole time?"
Upon seeing Gu Qingfeng, Su Hua immediately ran over to him.
"What else did you think?"
Gu Qingfeng replied, "I stretched my limbs a bit last night, got a little tired, so I fell asleep."
"What were you doing last night?"
Gu Qingfeng did not answer Su Hua's question. Instead, he looked at the sea of people below the mountain and asked, "Who are all these people?"
"What do you think!"
Su Hua shot him an exasperated look. "I told you yesterday that the major sects would bring many people today."
"But this is just too damn many!"
Gu Qingfeng swept his gaze across the scene. Good heavens, not only was the foot of Shangqing Sect Mountain packed, but the entire Weiyang Great Domain was also teeming with people—so many it was downright unsettling. He shook his head and said helplessly, "With this many people, I sure as hell don't have enough wine for everyone."
"You still have the heart to joke at a time like this."
Su Hua asked, "What do you plan to do?"
"Do you think, given the current situation, it's still up to me to decide what to do?"
Gu Qingfeng laughed. "These folks have come with their whole families in a grand procession, clearly intending to settle that old score from back in the day with me."
"You said today you would resolve the old grievances with them."
"Little sister, I never said I wouldn't. I'm not planning to fight them."
"Given today's situation, even if you don't make a move, they probably won't be able to hold back."
"What? Are you suggesting I go on another killing spree and slaughter them all?"
"That's not what I meant at all. I'm just saying some people today might try every possible means to test your depths."
"Let them test. Do I look afraid of being tested?"
"Kid Gu."
Wine Immortal Zhen Yang walked over. "The situation today is a bit complicated, you know. This whole mountain is crawling with people who've come to settle old scores with you. You better tread carefully. And it seems quite a few people are interested in you, kid."
Gu Qingfeng swept a casual glance over the crowd and nodded. "Hmm, there really are quite a few."
"Kid Gu, I won't waste words. You're not a kid anymore; you know what's what. I won't nag. In short, it's the same as back then: whatever you do, this old man unconditionally supports you. I'll back you up!"
"Now that's what I call loyalty, old friend!"
Gu Qingfeng patted Wine Immortal Zhen Yang on the shoulder, then suddenly paused, feeling something was off. "Wait, that sounds familiar."
"Nonsense. On the eve of the World Martial Assembly back then, I said the same thing to you, kid. Otherwise, did you think you'd dare to run wild on Shangqing Sect's turf?"
"Ah, right! That's exactly how it was. Back then, I believed your words, which is why I dared to fight those Shangqing Sect folks during the World Martial Assembly. But damn it, when the fight got heated later, I didn't see you come out to back me up!"
"You ran off right after the fight! What was I supposed to back you up for?"
"What the hell! You never showed up, old drunkard. What was I supposed to do if I didn't run? Wait to die?"
"I believed in your strength, kid."
"Bullshit!"
Gu Qingfeng laughed. "Today's situation looks even weirder than back then. Don't forget to back me up this time. You didn't show up last time, fine. But since you're here today, you won't be able to run even if you want to. With this kind of setup today, you'll back me up whether you want to or not. Especially those sneaky bastards lurking in the shadows—you have to keep them in check for me today."
Wine Immortal Zhen Yang's heart skipped a beat. He glanced at those mysterious great powers lying in ambush. "Those old-timers... I can't keep them in check."
"Don't worry. Just go ahead and pressure them. I'll have your back. If anyone dares to lay a finger on you, I guarantee they'll regret it!"