Gu Qingfeng's thunderous voice exploded within the grand hall, shaking the eardrums of everyone present with a painful, buzzing sensation and causing the entire hall to tremble violently.
Everyone in the hall wore ashen, terrified expressions, their eyes wide with fear. Especially as they gazed at the bloody remains on the floor that had once been Gu Xin, no one could remain calm. Whether it was True Person Da Qian, who had cultivated for over a thousand years, weathered his longevity tribulation, and possessed a pure Golden Core, or Murong Fei and the others from the Nine-Hua Alliance who had been watching from a distance, all felt a chilling sense of dread in this moment.
"You..." True Person Da Qian drew a deep breath, trying to calm his panicked heart, but it was useless. No matter how deeply he breathed or how he tried to compose himself, his heart, tempered by a millennium of cultivation, still trembled uncontrollably. Pointing at Gu Qingfeng, he stammered in horror, "How could you... how could you kill someone so casually!"
"Killed is killed."
At this moment, Gu Qingfeng stood tall, his hands clasped behind his back. His white robes were as pristine as snow, clean and neat, his long hair casually draped. A few strands at his forehead fluttered slightly against his cold, stern face.
He was quiet.
He had been from the very beginning.
The only difference was that when he arrived, his expression had been somewhat leisurely. Now, that leisureliness had vanished completely, replaced only by a silence—a silence that inspired fear, a silence that felt suffocating.
He simply stood there, gazing at True Person Da Qian opposite him, and said in a low, firm voice, "So what if I killed him?"
So what?
Yes.
So what if he killed him?
Who could do anything about it?
Although over a hundred people were gathered in the grand hall, including various Golden Core experts and Color-Spirit prodigies, who among them dared to do anything?
This man had just slapped Gu Xin—who possessed one ordinary and two golden Color-Spirit attributes—to instant death with a single palm. The might of his voice alone had left the eight elders of the Lingdu Sect in an unknown state, dead or alive. Facing such a person, who dared to do anything?
Everyone looked toward True Person Da Qian, hoping he would step forward.
But would he dare?
The answer was certain.
He would not.
If he dared to step forward, True Person Da Qian would have done so the moment Gu Qingfeng made his move. Why wait until now? Others might not know, but True Person Da Qian knew perfectly well in his heart: when he had earlier tested with his sonic might, Gu Qingfeng had been completely unaffected, not even the slightest bit. What Da Qian found most unbelievable was that he had unleashed three waves of sonic might, each stronger than the last.
Yet none had worked.
True Person Da Qian still couldn't understand this bizarre situation.
Precisely because he couldn't understand, he didn't dare to act.
However, he did hold considerable prestige in the surrounding regions. If he didn't step forward now, how could he continue to operate in the future?
Especially under the expectant gazes of those around him, True Person Da Qian felt that even if he was deeply apprehensive, he couldn't show any trace of fear, nor could he retreat.
He weighed the pros and cons, deliberated repeatedly, took a deep breath, steeled his heart, gritted his teeth, and opened his mouth to speak: "Esteemed sir, this old one..." But he had barely begun, his words not even half-finished, when Gu Qingfeng cut him off.
"Don't give me that nonsense!"
Gu Qingfeng's cold, stern shout cut through the air as he glared at True Person Da Qian. "If it weren't for your advanced age and your earlier well-intentioned advice, I would have slaughtered you the moment you unleashed that sonic might!"
"You...!" True Person Da Qian's face burned with humiliation, but more than that, with terror. Pointing at Gu Qingfeng, he stammered 'you, you, you' for a long moment, not daring to continue.
"A bunch of fools who don't know what's good for them!"
Gu Qingfeng's dark eyes swept across the hall, his presence cold, stern, and overwhelmingly domineering. He spoke in a deep, resonant voice: "If you're raiding this cave dwelling, then raid it properly. You raid yours, I'll raid mine. Let's all keep the peace. Don't go looking for trouble where there isn't any."
"If you want to talk about rules, I'll talk rules with you!"
"But if you ignore the rules and go looking for trouble to make yourselves uncomfortable, then don't blame me for being merciless. Killing one is killing, killing ten is still killing. Slaughtering you lot of brats is as easy as butchering pigs and dogs. Don't you dare be so ungrateful!"
With that, Gu Qingfeng turned and entered the stone gate fraught with danger.
The hundred-plus people in the grand hall looked at each other. Who dared to say anything?
It was also at this moment that they realized a terrifying truth.
The rumors about Gu Qingfeng were true.
Initially, they had all thought the rumors were somewhat exaggerated, especially after seeing Gu Qingfeng's leisurely and frivolous demeanor before the cave dwelling opened. They had felt the gossip about him was overblown. But now, no one felt the rumors were exaggerated anymore.
Not only were they not exaggerated, but they also felt this person's existence was even more mysterious, more bizarre, and more terrifying than the rumors suggested.
They felt this way.
And Murong Fei, who had remained silent in the distance, also wore an unpleasant expression. Even after Gu Qingfeng left, his brow remained deeply furrowed. Like everyone else, when he first saw Gu Qingfeng, he had thought the rumors were exaggerated. Even Wei Qing's reminder hadn't concerned him. Only after witnessing the scene just now did he realize Gu Qingfeng was far more powerful than he had imagined.
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and asked doubtfully, "What do you think is the deal with his physical body?"
The seven or eight people behind him all wore bewildered expressions before shaking their heads.
"Young Lord, we've been probing continuously, but unfortunately, we can't detect anything. His body appears utterly ordinary, no different from anyone else's. He doesn't emit any special spiritual aura. He's neither a reincarnated person nor someone who seized a body for rebirth. He has no Color-Spirit, no bloodline, isn't a treasure body... he has nothing..."
"It's very ordinary..."
"It's as if he's not even a cultivator. There isn't even the slightest trace of spiritual aura on him..." "We truly can't figure out why his physical body is so formidable."
They couldn't understand this question, and neither could Murong Fei. After a moment of contemplation, he asked, "What do you think the outcome would be if I fought him using my bloodline power?"
"This..." Faced with this question, the people behind him found it difficult to answer. Although they clearly knew Murong Fei's bloodline was powerful, terrifyingly so, the key issue was: just how formidable was that man's physical body? No one knew. It was like an endless dead sea—calm on the surface, but no one knew where its limits lay, nor how deep it truly was.
"This person is too mysterious and bizarre. Unless absolutely necessary, we believe it's best not to engage him..." "We share the same opinion."
"Lord Wei Qing has always been low-key and cautious. Even he remained silent in the face of this person. We believe..."
"Hmph!" Murong Fei snorted coldly and opened his eyes, about to say something when he suddenly realized something was amiss. Because after Gu Qingfeng entered that stone gate just now, it seemed...
The mechanisms inside hadn't been triggered.
How was that possible!
Murong Fei hurried over. The seventy or eighty mechanism formations inside the stone gate were still intact, completely untriggered.
How did he get past them?
Where was he?
Had he just vanished?
Just then, three people rushed out from another stone gate. It was True Being Ziyun, Qin Wanli, and Mu Yulong, who had gone ahead to scout. The three immediately sensed something was wrong upon seeing everyone's grim expressions. Then they saw the eight elders of the Lingdu Sect kneeling on the ground, bleeding from all seven orifices, their condition unknown, dead or alive. There also seemed to be a pool of indistinct flesh and blood on the floor.
Witnessing this scene, the three were greatly shocked.
"What happened to our Lingdu Sect elders? And whose corpse is that on the floor?"
"It's... it's... it's Young Lord Gu Xin's..."
"What!" Mu Yulong and the others were horrified, suppressing the shock in their hearts as they demanded, "Who did this?"
"It was... it was Gu Qingfeng!"
"Gu! Qing! Feng!"
Mu Yulong instantly flew into a rage, shouting hoarsely, "Where is he?"
Someone pointed toward another stone gate. Without a second thought, Mu Yulong immediately charged toward it. But the moment he stepped into the stone gate, True Person Da Qian quickly stopped him: "Young Master Mu, you mustn't..."
"Let go of me! I'm going to kill that Gu Qingfeng!"
Mu Yulong's eyes blazed with fury as he screamed like a madman, the triple-colored golden light around him flashing wildly.
Whoosh!
Perhaps his spiritual energy fluctuations were too powerful. In an instant, he triggered the mechanism formations inside the stone gate. One after another, in less than a single breath, all seventy or eighty mechanism formations activated. Various profound formations interwove chaotically, forming a massive vortex.
Mu Yulong, terrified, hastily retreated, then grabbed a person nearby and threw him into the vortex.
That person was swept into the whirlpool. Without even a grunt, he was shredded into pieces.
"Young Master Mu, you... what are you doing!" No one had expected Mu Yulong, in order to test the power of these mechanisms, would... would suddenly throw a living person in just like that. True Person Da Qian shouted angrily, but Mu Yulong paid him no heed. Instead, he demanded, "True Person Da Qian, with you here, how could my junior brother Gu Xin still be killed by that Gu Qingfeng!"
"This old one... this old one..." True Person Da Qian's mind raced as he responded sorrowfully, "This old one also deeply grieves Young Lord Gu's death. However, when this old one was breaking the mechanisms earlier, I expended a great deal of spiritual energy, leaving my Golden Core depleted and my spirit utterly exhausted. I simply couldn't..."
Mu Yulong glared at the hundred-plus people around him, shouting hoarsely, "And what about the rest of you!"
"That Gu Qingfeng's strength is exceptionally formidable. We are no match for him... how could we dare..."
"A bunch of useless trash! What good are you!"
Mu Yulong drew his flying sword and swung it. Over ten people were instantly cut in half at the waist!