"As for the wine, I'm not planning to treat you all anymore. Even if you wanted some, I don't have that much."
Gu Qingfeng shifted his posture. As he set down his wine cup, Fei Kui beside him immediately picked up the wine pot and refilled it.
"Since that's the case, let's have a chat then. Let's talk about those matters from back in the day. Consider it catching up."
Hearing that Gu Qingfeng only wanted to reminisce and had no intention of wiping out everyone present, Wine Immortal Zhen Yang and Su Hua, who knew him well, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Actually, come to think of it, it seems there isn't much old history between us to catch up on, is there?"
Gu Qingfeng shook his head, smiled helplessly, then sighed and added, "The reason everyone's gathered here today is because of those past matters, right?"
The bigwigs from the various major sects and families exchanged glances. Although they had all come for this reason, none of them spoke up at this moment.
"Silence means consent."
Gu Qingfeng's tone was light, betraying no joy or anger, as if chatting casually with friends. "As for those matters from back then, how to put it... In one sentence, it was all my fault."
No one had ever imagined that Monarch Chixiao from the Ancient Times—that ruthless, aloof, domineering, and earth-shaking figure—would actually admit his mistake in front of the entire world.
The title 'Monarch Chixiao' was synonymous with cruelty and bloodthirst in many people's minds, the very incarnation of a demon-god. Witnessing this demon-god voluntarily admitting his mistake now truly left everyone present feeling utterly unbelievable.
"Back then, I was young and impetuous, eager to prove myself, vengeful over the slightest grievance, and acted without ever considering the consequences. Because of this, I hurt many people, many families, and many innocent lives perished by my hand. Here, I offer my apologies to you all, and to the world."
As he spoke, an even more jaw-dropping scene unfolded. Gu Qingfeng stood up and bowed deeply to the world.
This single bow was no small matter; it shocked everyone present without exception, each and every one filled with shocked and horrified.
Wine Immortal Zhen Yang, who knew Gu Qingfeng well, widened his eyes, his mouth agape as if witnessing some divine miracle manifesting—or more accurately, something even more shocking and awe-inspiring than a divine miracle.
He felt this way.
And the shock in Su Hua's heart was beyond words. Yesterday, when Gu Qingfeng said he would apologize, she hadn't taken it seriously at all. She understood Gu Qingfeng and had even conducted investigations. Although she had never interacted with him before, her understanding of him far exceeded even that of Wine Immortal Zhen Yang.
She knew very well that Gu Qingfeng had been orphaned and alone since childhood. Coupled with the endless hardships he had endured along his path, his brushes with death, his personality was aloof and cold, his spine proud and unbending. He had never bowed his head to anyone or anything. Even when facing the severe Judgment of the Immortal Dao back then, he had never lowered his head to admit fault. Even when his most respected master, Elder Zhenjue, had knelt to the world on his behalf and later took his own life to atone for him, Gu Qingfeng had never admitted his mistake to Elder Zhenjue—not even a single word.
What Su Hua remembered most vividly was that Gu Qingfeng had said more than once: in this life, he knew his mistakes and corrected them, but he would absolutely never admit them.
And today.
He had actually voluntarily admitted his mistake. Not only voluntarily admitting his mistake, but also bowed in apology.
Others might not know, but Su Hua understood best. With Gu Qingfeng's strength, he had absolutely no need to bow and apologize to these people. It was no exaggeration to say that even if Gu Qingfeng slaughtered everyone here today, no one could do anything to him. The Immortal Dynasty couldn't, Shangqing Sect couldn't, the Cloud End couldn't, the Immortal Dao, nor even the Three Thousand Great Daos could stop him.
Even so.
He still voluntarily bowed and apologized.
This couldn't help but make Su Hua wonder: could it be that Gu Qingfeng had truly changed?
Suddenly.
Su Hua remembered a phrase Gu Qingfeng had been repeating these past few days. He said he was tired, didn't want to stir up trouble anymore. He also said that after experiencing so much, people change, their thinking gradually matures, and he had come to realize he had committed too many sins in the past. If possible, he wanted to atone for all his past mistakes.
Hearing those words at the time, Su Hua had found them laughable.
It was as laughable as hearing a bloodthirsty Hell Monster King claim he was an honest man.
Now, she finally realized that the laughable one wasn't Gu Qingfeng, but herself.
This fellow might, perhaps, have truly changed...
"Of course, apologies and bows, even kneeling, cannot possibly make up for the mistakes I committed back then. So, today, I don't expect to gain your forgiveness. I've merely come to realize I did many wrong things in the past and want to offer you all an apology. That's all. What you think is your business. I don't know, nor do I wish to know."
Gu Qingfeng turned around, tilted his head back, and drained the wine in his cup in one go.
Not far away, Wine Immortal Zhen Yang also drank his wine and sighed, "The kid Gu is still the same kid Gu from back then. Though his mind has opened up considerably, his thinking matured, and his temper seems to have been worn smooth, the innate, bone-deep solitary arrogance hasn't diminished in the slightest. In all my years, I've seen countless people apologize, but I've never seen anyone apologize like this kid. Apologizing merely because he realized his own mistakes, and that's it?
Whether the other party forgives him or not, he simply doesn't care?
Only this kid could make an apology sound so domineering. Can't help but admire."
Gu Qingfeng glanced at the sun hanging in the sky, stretched lazily, and sat back down in his master's recliner. Crossing his legs, he looked at the crowd and continued, "Let's leave the apologies at that. No need to say more; it would just sound pretentious. Today, let's settle the grievances from back then once and for all."
Hearing Gu Qingfeng wanted to settle the old grievances, the bigwigs from the various major sects and families immediately grew cautious and tense. They all wanted to know how Gu Qingfeng intended to settle them.
"As for how to settle those old grievances, according to the old rule, 'a life for a life, a debt repaid.' That's the Dao principle since ancient times. However..." Gu Qingfeng's tone shifted. "However, I won't repay with my life. The reason is simple: I still have some things to do. I don't want to die just yet."
"Killing all of you would also settle all grievances in one stroke. But I no longer wish to kill. I've killed far too many people in this lifetime. I'm numb, and sick of killing... too lazy to kill anymore..." Everyone knew that the Monarch Chixiao of the Ancient Times had always been recklessly arrogant and lawlessly overbearing.
But they never expected that the Monarch Chixiao of the Present Era would be even more arrogant and overbearing than in ancient times.
No.
This was no longer mere arrogance and overbearing.
It was a form of contempt.
A naked, naked contempt.
That tone held not a hint of arrogant, nor any overbearing, yet it was like that of a God, carrying a sense of looking down upon all living beings.
As if those present were not the bigwigs of major sects, but a swarm of ants, not worth mentioning in his eyes.