Whether it was night or day now, no one could tell anymore.
All they knew was that the sun and moon hung together in the sky.
However.
This sun was not a scorching sun, but a Sun of Light.
This moon was not a bright moon, but a Blood Moon.
The Judgment Eye of the World rotated in the sky like a vortex, churning the entire heavens.
Dark clouds rolled.
Fierce winds howled.
Rain and snow swirled.
Even nature itself was transforming.
The void was in utter chaos.
The cultivators of the Weiyang Great Domain—no, to be precise, the entire world—whether from the Cloud End Immortal Dynasty or various great sects, whether they were Great Luo Golden Immortals, geniuses of creation, or ordinary practitioners, all were staring at the figure who held Xiao Jinr in one arm while propping up the World Judgment—a judgment as vast as a giant hand of the world or an ancient, primordial dragon.
They watched without blinking.
Utterly focused.
Holding their breath.
They simply stared.
After an unknowable length of time, the white-robed man slowly raised his head, revealing to the crowd a stern face, an aloof expression, dark eyes, a gaze that looked down upon everything, and a demeanor of profound stillness.
When the crowd clearly saw the white-robed man's features, the world seemed to erupt in a collective gasp of astonishment.
Everyone recognized this white-robed man. It was none other than the overlord who once shook the heavens and earth in the Ancient Era—Monarch Chixiao, Gu Tianlang.
A name carries weight, a tree casts a shadow.
The name of Monarch Chixiao was known throughout the heavens and the earth; none were ignorant, none unaware.
His cultivation had been broken and rebuilt nine times, his fate had faced life and death nine times, his achievements encompassed both nine Immortals and nine Demons, he had ascended to the peerless throne, defying all creation as the sole exception, destroying immortal dynasties, slaying immortal rivers, dominating the Nine Heavens, treading upon the Nine Palaces, defying the Nine Skies, hailed as the one and only across the Three Thousand Infinite Great Worlds since time immemorial—there had never been a second like him.
The former overlord had returned, and before the eyes of all under heaven, before the Three Thousand Great Daos, and even before the heavens themselves, he had severed the Mandate of the Present-Ancient Era, and the Heavens had only sent down divine wrath, not heavenly retribution!
Then he vanished.
No one knew why he disappeared, nor where he had gone.
Just like in the Ancient Era.
Now.
More than ten years later.
He had returned again.
Without uttering a single word, he simply held Xiao Jinr in one arm and propped up the World Judgment with the other. His dark eyes swept out, passing over everything. He glanced at the Sun of Light, rising with vast immortal majesty, but it was only a glance. Then, he looked at the Blood Moon sealed by the Buddhist Swastika Seal, and finally raised his gaze to the various Great Daos lurking in the firmament above.
Lastly, he looked toward the Judgment Eye at the center of the sky.
Still, he said nothing.
As the right hand that propped up the World Judgment slowly lifted upward, that colossal and terrifying Judgment was lifted bodily by him. This scene left everyone dumbfounded and speechless, as inconceivable as witnessing a tiny ant hoisting up a mountain peak.
Gu Qingfeng might not be a tiny ant.
But this was no mountain peak either—it was a Judgment born from the convergence of the World's Laws, emanating from the very origin of the World!
Its mere aura was enough to press people down, making them unable to lift their heads.
Its mere ripples forced even Shangguan Yu, Shi Tian, the Female Sect Leader, and the Three Mysterious Giants to retreat.
So how could he lift the World Judgment so effortlessly!
Just as the crowd was marveling, an even more exaggerated scene unfolded. Gu Qingfeng spread his five fingers, palm facing upward. No radiance flashed, no power erupted. He simply struck out fiercely.
Crack!
The World Judgment instantly split with a fissure, followed by a second, a third...
Countless fissures erupted.
With a thunderous explosion, the Purple-Gold World Judgment, before the eyes of all, was utterly shattered by Gu Qingfeng's single palm, vanishing without a trace, not even leaving behind dust, as if the Judgment had never descended at all.
Silence!
Stillness.
The stillness was profound.
The silence was deathly.
No one dared to speak.
Everyone knew Monarch Chixiao was powerful, powerful beyond comprehension, whether in the Ancient Era or the Present-Ancient Era.
Yes.
Everyone knew. No one had ever doubted, no one dared to doubt, and no one had the right to doubt Monarch Chixiao's strength.
However, knowing was one thing, not daring was another.
Witnessing Gu Qingfeng shatter the World Judgment with a single palm still delivered a heavy blow to the hearts of everyone present, not only shattering their spirits but utterly crushing their limits of endurance.
Even Shangguan Yu, the Tai Chi Prodigy who had received the True Mandate, couldn't help but turn pale with fright at this sight.
Similarly, not far from him, Shi Tian—the one who feared nothing, lawless and unrestrained, possessing the Pure Yang Overlord Body, one Ancient Throne, three Present-Ancient Constellations, and four Heavenly Mandates—also turned ashen-faced.
Neither of them had ever taken Gu Qingfeng seriously before, especially Shi Tian, who had even openly clamored to erase Gu Qingfeng. But now, facing a Gu Qingfeng who had shattered the World Judgment with one palm, forget about erasing him—Shi Tian didn't even have the courage to make a move, to stand firm, or to shout defiantly.
Who would dare!
No one dared.
The Female Sect Leader did not dare.
The three enigmatic Mysterious Giants did not dare.
The Great Luo Golden Immortals from Cloud End did not dare. Even Lie Shan, the World Enforcer holding the Immortal Dao Command Token in his left hand and the World Command Banner in his right, was now alternating between pale and flushed, staring wide-eyed at Gu Qingfeng, opening his mouth but not daring to utter a single word.
At that moment.
A figure flew toward Gu Qingfeng.
It was none other.
It was Su Hua.
She looked utterly disheveled and terribly weak—disheveled as if she had endured a great battle, weak as if her strength were completely drained.
However.
Puzzlingly, she was smiling.
She truly was smiling.
As if she were very happy.
Indeed.
Su Hua was happy.
Happy from the depths of her heart.
Earlier, in utter despair, she had gambled everything, burning her own Immortal Spirit just to see if she could summon Gu Qingfeng.
In that gamble, she had staked not only her Immortal Spirit but also her life.
Because if she lost, she had no intention of living on.
She hadn't thought she would win that gamble. She truly hadn't.
But that no longer mattered.
What mattered was that Gu Qingfeng had come.
As long as Gu Qingfeng had come, Xiao Jinr would not die.
There was no reason.
She simply believed Gu Qingfeng could do it.
"How is... Xiao Jinr?"
"Not clear for now. Her physical body is unharmed, but her consciousness is in a coma, and her soul is extremely unstable... Moreover, her soul..." Gu Qingfeng frowned slightly and asked, "What exactly happened here?"
"They say... Xiao Jinr is a Calamity Star, and moreover, the Calamity Star of the Daoless Age."
Hearing this, Gu Qingfeng was slightly taken aback. He continued asking, "How could Jin'er be the Calamity Star of the Daoless Age?"
Su Hua shook her head slightly. She didn't know either. She said, "Jin'er didn't want to implicate you. She destroyed her own heart-link bracelet long ago. Jin'er would rather sacrifice herself than implicate anyone, or hurt anyone."