If slaying one who bears the Mandate of Heaven is something the Azure Heaven cannot tolerate...
Then slaying one who bears the True Mandate is something the very Heavens and Earth cannot abide.
It must be understood that anyone who bears a True Mandate, whether born of fortune or calamity, is intrinsically linked to the life and death, survival and destruction of all things in this world.
What is a True Mandate?
It is both cause and effect, and it is destiny.
It is a causality that transcends the Great Dao, and it is a fate that concerns the very Heavens and Earth.
In other words, the birth of any True Mandate bearer is never an accident; it is the inevitable result of causality, the deliberate arrangement of fate.
Moreover, Shangguan Yu is the Taiji Human Prodigy who bears the True Mandate from above. What does this signify?
It signifies he is very likely the destined overlord who will dominate the Human Dao in this current era. And the Human Dao is hailed as the very foundation of the Great Dao. Today, the Heavenly Dao, the Immortal Dao, and the Buddha Dao have all cast aside their dignity to threaten Xiao Jinr's life, forcing Gu Qingfeng to hand over the All Beings Pay Homage to the Floating Pagoda—all for the sake of obtaining the Human Dao.
Given this, how could the Great Dao possibly allow Gu Qingfeng to slay Shangguan Yu so easily?
Not only would the Great Dao forbid it, but I'm afraid even this very Heaven and Earth would not permit it.
Gu Qingfeng is already locked in an irreconcilable conflict with the Great Dao. He clearly knows that killing Shangguan Yu would utterly enrage the Great Dao, yet he insists on doing exactly that.
Has he gone mad?
I don't know.
Su Hua truly doesn't know. At this moment, she lies paralyzed on the ground, her mind long since unclear, her consciousness blurred, her thoughts in complete disarray. She simply stares, stares at Gu Qingfeng.
Now, her eyes hold only him.
Within the scene.
Just as Shangguan Yu was forced to his knees midair by Gu Qingfeng's mighty roar, Gu Qingfeng took a step forward, intending to obliterate Shangguan Yu on the spot. Suddenly, an enraged roar, filled with utmost fury, echoed through the sky.
"Sinful wretch!
How dare you attempt to slay the Taiji Human Prodigy who bears the Mandate of Heaven! This Heavenly Dao Judgment shall surely destroy you!"
BOOM! CRASH!
—A deafening roar erupted.
Like the flowing magma of the Great Dao, like rolling river torrents, like a boiling sea of clouds, it carried a vast, terrifying, and inexhaustible power. Accompanied by the crushing might of the heavenly authority, it pressed down, causing this world, this void, to continuously explode and tremble. The scene was like the very Azure Heaven collapsing, crushing everything in the mortal realm—utterly terrifying.
"Merely the Heavenly Dao's Judgment of Destruction. What can it do to me!"
As the Heavenly Dao's Judgment of Destruction pressed down with overwhelming force, that man in white, Gu Qingfeng, stood firm in the sky. Not only did he not dodge or evade, he instead leaped upward, charging straight up! He raised both arms, fingers splayed, palms facing the sky, as if to challenge the Azure Heaven itself!
BOOM!
CRACK!
A powerful shockwave erupted, causing the great void to shatter, splitting open with countless fissures and gaping holes.
Fortunately, this was the great void, part of the grand natural order. If this had occurred on the ground, one could scarcely imagine the horrific catastrophe it would have caused.
Even so, the powerful shockwave still caused the protective formations on the ground to scatter and explode.
As for the cultivators who had long since retreated to a safe distance, though greatly affected, no one cared or paid it any mind at this moment. The gazes of every single one were fixed intently on the sky above. They stood there like statues, stunned, eyes wide as if witnessing a divine miracle.
No!
This scene was even more exaggerated, more unbelievable, more jaw-dropping, more awe-inspiring than any divine miracle!
Within the void.
The pressing Judgment of Destruction halted its descent, blocked mid-air.
Beneath the Judgment of Destruction, the man in white stood like a solitary peak, his raised hands physically holding up this collapsing Azure Heaven!
This was a Judgment!
And not just any Judgment, but the Heavenly Dao's Judgment of Destruction, akin to the boundless Azure Heaven itself falling! Yet now, it was being held back by Gu Qingfeng.
Who had ever witnessed such a maddening scene?
No one!
Never before!
The three mysterious giants—Purple Firmament King, Third Prince, and the Great Heir Apparent—had not.
Su Hua had not!
Female Sect Master Ye Tianlan had not.
Even the Living Buddha, Great Monk Dian Seng, had not!
What does it mean to stand firm between heaven and earth, unyielding?
This is what it means!
"Old Heaven!
In the Ancient Era, you couldn't do anything to me!
In this Current Era, you still can't do anything to me! Give you another hundred million years, and you'll *still* be powerless against me!"
That aloof, supremely domineering man in white, hands propping up the Heavenly Dao Judgment that resembled the Azure Heaven, roared with a voice that condensed into sharp force: "Get the hell back up there for me!"
CRACK!
As he exerted force with his arms, he actually shook the Heavenly Dao Judgment, forcing it to move upward!
"Sinful wretch!
Prepare to die!"
Suddenly, the world erupted with radiance. Boundless, infinite radiance madly enveloped Gu Qingfeng. It was as if billions of stars were all crashing down upon him. But everyone knew these were not stars; they were Judgment—the Immortal Dao's Judgment of Purification!
Where there is light, purification does not cease!
How terrifying is the Immortal Dao's Judgment of Purification?
No one knows.
It is only known that once enveloped by the Immortal Dao's Judgment of Purification, no matter how powerful one's strength, they would be reduced to ashes in an instant!
However.
Gu Qingfeng, enveloped by the Judgment of Purification, was not reduced to ashes. But his physical body seemed as if it had been baked and steamed through, emitting wisps of white smoke.
Yet.
That was all.
Gu Qingfeng, fearless and undaunted, swept his gaze across and fixed it upon that radiant sun hanging in the sky. He roared with overwhelming dominance: "A mere Nine Heavens Immortal Dao dares dream of purifying me?
If I will this world to have radiance, only then may it dare to be radiant. If I will this world to plunge into darkness, it shall never again dare to be bright. For me—VANISH!"
Gu Qingfeng, his left hand still propping up the Heavenly Dao Judgment that mimicked the Azure Heaven, raised his right hand and pointed a finger into the sky. The radiant sun immediately plummeted, and the world instantly plunged into darkness. This was true darkness, a darkness where no trace of radiance remained.
BOOM! CRASH!—Thunder rumbled, and Buddhist chants arose. It was the Judgment of Transcendence from the Buddha Dao! Within the darkness, a colossal Buddha figure seemed to flicker in and out of existence, as if chanting sutras—specifically, the sutras of transcendence!
The sound of the chanting was solemn, dignified, sacred, and inviolable.
This transcendent sound rolled forth, seeking to transcend Gu Qingfeng.
Gu Qingfeng, single-handedly holding up the sky, found his physical body also beginning to blur.
"You wish to transcend me?
Your Western Heaven isn't qualified!"
Gu Qingfeng's voice exploded like divine thunder, like demonic howls, seeming to come from all directions, from both heaven above and earth below. Each word shook the heavens, each syllable rocked the earth, each sound could end the world, each surge of might brought profound silence, each display of power ushered in utter stillness!
With each word that exploded forth, the vast transcendent sound weakened by several degrees. After a few words fell, that flickering colossal Buddha figure dispersed and vanished. The vast transcendent sound also ceased completely.
The Immortal Dao's Judgment of Purification: where there is light, purification does not cease.
The Buddha Dao's Judgment of Transcendence: where there is thunder, transcendence does not cease.
Yet Gu Qingfeng, with a single pointed finger into the sky, caused the Immortal Dao's radiant sun to fall and vanish, causing this world to have no more radiance.
With the might of a single roar, he caused the Buddha Dao's sacred sun to fall and vanish, causing this world to have no more sound.
At this moment.
This world had not only plunged into endless darkness, but also into endless silence.