"Your Majesty, please, for the sake of Jade Dragon Flying Star's youthful ignorance, forgive him this once. We offer our apologies to you here."
Elder Lingyun and several dozen others from the Immortal Court bowed and cupped their hands in apology.
"Elder Lingyun! Save me! Save me quickly!" Upon discovering Elder Lingyun's arrival, Jade Dragon Flying Star screamed desperately, heedless of all else. Yet Gu Qingfeng remained silent, standing quietly, only ceasing to toy with the string of prayer beads. Perhaps the deepening silence of the place only intensified Jade Dragon Flying Star's terror, his body trembling violently in fear.
"Lord Chixiao, you should know that Jade Dragon Flying Star possesses a Great Heavenly Destiny. He is a Heaven-bestowed Child of the Constellations, under the protection of the Heavens Above! If you dare kill him today, you will inevitably incur the wrath of Heaven!"
Elder Lingyun also flushed red, shouting loudly.
At this shout, Jade Dragon Flying Star glared at Gu Qingfeng and roared, "That's right! You surnamed Gu! I, Jade Dragon Flying Star, am a Child of the Constellations who possesses a Great Heavenly Destiny, blessed by the Heavens Above! If you dare lay a single finger on me today, the heavens will not forgive you! The Heavens Above will immediately descend judgment to punish you!"
Perhaps his earlier fear had been so overwhelming that Jade Dragon Flying Star had forgotten he was a star-incarnate descended with a Heavenly Destiny. Hearing Elder Lingyun's warning now, he finally remembered. And with that memory, he seemed to regain some backbone, frantically trying to rise, his face twisted into a snarl as he glared at Gu Qingfeng and bellowed, "You surnamed Gu! Just try to touch a single hair on my head!"
From beginning to end, Gu Qingfeng had not spoken a single word, not even a syllable. His stern face was expressionless, his dark eyes devoid of any ripple. Gazing at Jade Dragon Flying Star was like looking at a weed—utterly devoid of any emotional color.
He slowly raised his hand, fingers splayed open. Light shimmered in his palm—dark yet seemingly bright, yin yet seemingly yang. Within the darkness was light; within the yin was yang. Whether it was darkness or light, yin or yang, no one could tell. It resembled a chaotic radiance, all-encompassing.
His palm descended, landing lightly upon Jade Dragon Flying Star's head.
What was he doing? Could he really be planning to kill Jade Dragon Flying Star?
No! That wasn't it.
At the very least, Su Hua knew that if Gu Qingfeng wanted to kill Jade Dragon Flying Star, a single kick would have ended him on the spot. There was no need for such trouble.
But if he didn't intend to kill Jade Dragon Flying Star, what was he doing placing a hand on his head? And what was that light in his palm?
No one knew. No one understood.
Everyone watched intently, their hearts suspended, tense and panicked.
Suddenly.
"No! No!—!"
Jade Dragon Flying Star knelt on the ground, his entire body trembling and convulsing, his flesh blurring and distorting as if enduring excruciating pain. Simultaneously, the stars in the night sky began to flicker, trembling as they did so. The sensation was as if the stars were about to fall from the heavens.
What was happening? What exactly was he doing?
"He's extracting... extracting Jade Dragon Flying Star's Heavenly Destiny Stellar Fate!" Nalan Qianqiu uttered each word with horrified slowness.
Hearing this, Su Hua was so frightened she nearly fell from mid-air. Killing a Destiny-bearer was already a grave taboo that invited heavenly punishment. Yet Gu Qingfeng was actually preparing to extract Jade Dragon Flying Star's Heavenly Destiny Stellar Fate? What on earth did he intend to do?
At the foot of Shangqing Sect, Wine Immortal Zhen Yang also discerned Gu Qingfeng's intent. Terrified by the sight, he staggered, his body beginning to tremble.
"You... you... you dare extract Jade Dragon Flying Star's Heavenly Destiny Stellar Fate... you..." High in the sky, the Immortal Court's Elder Lingyun was also frightened pale by this scene. Pointing a trembling finger at Gu Qingfeng, he stammered, "You... you will incur Heaven's wrath!"
Boom! Crack!
A thunderclap exploded, shaking heaven and earth.
Immediately after, an immense pressure descended from the sky, weighing upon everyone's hearts, inspiring awe and reverence.
Heavenly Might! This was Heavenly Might!
Feeling the descent of Heavenly Might, the Immortals of Weiyang Great Domain dared not delay, immediately prostrating themselves on the ground!
Every single one of them did the same. Faced with Heavenly Might, they possessed an innate sense of reverence—a reverence stemming from the very source of their souls. This reverence was unbearable, irresistible. No matter how formidable one's power, it was useless. The sect masters and ancestral elders of various sects were no exception; Wine Immortal Zhen Yang and True Court Immortal Master who had cultivated for millions of years, including Immortal Court Elder Lingyun and the others, all prostrated themselves. Even Su Hua and Nalan Qianqiu, upon sensing the Heavenly Might, immediately knelt in reverence.
The Heavenly Dao was the leader of all Great Daos. The Three Thousand Great Daos had to bow in submission, and all living beings were even more so.
The descent of Heavenly Might typically occurred in only three situations: either a celestial phenomenon, heavenly retribution, or heavenly punishment.
Given the current situation within the field, with Gu Qingfeng extracting the Heavenly Destiny Stellar Fate from Jade Dragon Flying Star's body, this was certainly no celestial phenomenon. This was heavenly retribution!
Boom!—Crack!
Another thunderclap roared.
It shook the Great Nature itself, causing it to retreat and vanish.
The earth trembled violently.
Above the night sky, dark clouds rolled—purple-gold dark clouds. The clouds filled the sky, pressing down like a raging river tide. Within the clouds flashed bolt after bolt of purple-gold lightning, like thousands of purple-gold flood dragons swimming through a sea of clouds.
Boom! Crack!
Yet another thunderclap exploded.
The purple-gold dark clouds intensified. The Heavenly Might surged boundlessly. The Immortals of Weiyang Great Domain prostrated on the ground were filled with terror and trepidation.
Su Hua, forcing herself to endure her tingling scalp, looked over and was shocked to discover that Jade Dragon Flying Star was already on the verge of death, limp on the ground like a pile of mud, not a trace of blood color left on his body, only exhaling with no breath left to inhale. And in Gu Qingfeng's palm now rested something—a faintly glowing stone, resembling a heart, even more like a star.
Although Su Hua had never seen a Stellar Fate Heavenly Destiny before, she was certain that the object in Gu Qingfeng's palm was undoubtedly the Present Era Heavenly Destiny extracted from Jade Dragon Flying Star's body—the Heart of the Constellations.
What did he want to do? What exactly was his aim?
"Senior Sister, what do you think he intends? Could he be planning to tread that old path from the Ancient Era again? Seizing Heavenly Destiny to fuse with himself? He seized the Heavenly Destiny Throne in the Ancient Era; does he now want to seize the Present Era's Heavenly Destiny Stellar Fate as well?"
Nalan Qianqiu, also prostrate on the ground, stared intently and replied, "From my understanding of him, he should not walk that old path again, nor seize Heavenly Destiny to fuse with himself."
"Why?"
"He seized Heavenly Destiny in the Ancient Era because back then he didn't know what Heavenly Destiny truly meant. Now, he understands its meaning better than anyone. I dare say, even if you offered him Heavenly Destiny now, he wouldn't give it a second glance."
Su Hua also knew that once one undertook a Heavenly Destiny, while gaining the status, position, and power many dreamed of, one simultaneously lost freedom. In other words, accepting Heavenly Destiny meant accepting a mission arranged by the Heavens Above, compelled to obey their commands.
How could someone as solitary, proud, and domineering as Gu Qingfeng possibly obey the commands of the Heavens Above?
Moreover, given his identity, even if he wished to undertake a Heavenly Destiny, the heavens likely would not acknowledge him.
"But if he's not seizing Heavenly Destiny for himself, then what exactly is he trying to do?"
Nalan Qianqiu shook her head. She didn't know either.
Boom!—Crack!
Another thunderclap roared.
The purple-gold dark clouds pressed down fiercely. The sky filled with endless purple-gold lightning bolts crackled. The vast Heavenly Might rolled and surged, as if proclaiming the Heavenly Dao's hegemony to all living beings, and also like issuing a final ultimatum to Gu Qingfeng.