"In recent years, I had been in closed-door cultivation, practicing the Heavenly Profound Ten Thousand Swords Art. This divine sword art was far too profound; I could never grasp its mysteries. Yet I was impatient for success, and nearly suffered a Qi deviation. At that moment, a Divine Sense Incarnation appeared as if out of thin air. Not only did it help me escape danger, but it also enlightened me, allowing me to comprehend the true essence of the Heavenly Profound Ten Thousand Swords Art."
Even today, Qiānlíng still remembered that day's events clearly. She continued, "That Divine Sense Incarnation said it was Spirit Wandering through the Great Desolate, passing by this place, and seeing me in trouble, it lent a hand."
"I always believed it, thinking my luck was truly great to have encountered a senior who was Spirit Wandering the Great Desolate. It wasn't until later, by chance, that I heard Qiānniǎo mention the Heavenly Profound Ten Thousand Swords Art."
"The Heavenly Profound Ten Thousand Swords Art was something I found in an ancient cave dwelling. I had never told anyone about this, not even Patriarch Danqing knew, and Qiānniǎo certainly couldn't have known."
"But when I asked her how she knew about the Heavenly Profound Ten Thousand Swords Art, she said she heard you bragging and mentioning it. It was only then that I realized the one who saved me from danger that day and enlightened me to comprehend the true essence of the Heavenly Profound Ten Thousand Swords Art wasn't some senior Spirit Wandering the Great Desolate at all. It was you."
Gu Qingfeng offered no explanation, nor did he refute it further.
He merely rubbed his face, his expression seeming somewhat helpless.
Indeed.
Although his physical body was in utter chaos and his cultivation and attainments had all vanished, his Divine Sense remained. If he wished, he could know every single movement within the Fengyue Small World with perfect clarity. Even without using his Divine Sense, his powerful mind alone could perceive every movement around him with perfect clarity.
At that time, he had been sunbathing when he detected an anomaly in the Xiaoluo Secret Realm.
He used his Divine Sense to take a look and found Qiānlíng had run into trouble during her cultivation, so he casually helped out.
To avoid drawing attention, he even lied, claiming to be a senior Spirit Wandering the Great Desolate.
As for when he might have let it slip while bragging to Qiānniǎo, Gu Qingfeng truly had no memory of that.
However.
Since Qiānlíng had seen through it, he couldn't be bothered to hide it anymore. He said, "Alright, sister, I admit it. The one who saved you that day was indeed me."
"Why did you hide it from me?"
"I didn't mean to hide it from you. It's just... how was I supposed to bring this up? Should I have run over and told you, 'It was me who saved you. Want to thank me? If you're grateful, then pledge yourself to me'? You wouldn't have been willing, right?"
"You!"
Qiānlíng gritted her teeth, staring at Gu Qingfeng. "Just what kind of person are you?"
"Sister, don't overthink it. I'm like most cultivators, just an ordinary person, nothing special!"
"No! You are absolutely not an ordinary person! That Heavenly Profound Ten Thousand Swords Art is especially profound. I contemplated it for a long time but couldn't grasp its true essence. Yet you, with just one look, were able to enlighten me to comprehend it. How dare you say you're ordinary? If you're ordinary, then there are no ordinary people in the entire Great Desolate! Moreover... moreover, the way you acted facing the Golden Crow Li Clan is definitely not how an ordinary person should behave."
Gu Qingfeng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "I say, sister, what exactly did I do?"
"You showed not a shred of fear facing the Golden Crow Li Clan."
"Nonsense. I had a stack of Heavenly Thunder Talismans in my hand. Why should I be afraid of them? I could smash them to death with those. If you had money, you wouldn't be scared either."
"No! It's not like that! Your fearlessness wasn't based on that stack of Heavenly Thunder Talismans, nor the Earth Fiend Mystic Orbs, nor that set of clothes worth two hundred million. It was... it was..." Qiānlíng truly didn't know how to describe that feeling. She shook her head and said, "You weren't relying on anything, nor did you have any backing. You weren't even fearless. You just seemed like someone who feared nothing, who wouldn't care even if the sky fell. The feeling you gave me was like you were just looking for amusement. Yes! That's right, you were just looking for amusement."
"Sister, although I don't want to admit it, I have to say you really are observant. But you're overthinking it."
"Then tell me, why do you seem to fear nothing?"
"Isn't that because of you?"
Gu Qingfeng said, "Others might not know, but I could tell. With your strength, dealing with those little brats would be more than enough. With you here, what do I have to fear?"
"No! You didn't care about me at all!"
Perhaps realizing her words sounded too ambiguous, Qiānlíng immediately corrected herself, "You didn't care whether I was there or not at that time. You didn't care about the Golden Crow Li Clan either. You give me the feeling that you don't care about anything, as if everything is meaningless to you. I don't know, and I can't imagine, what kind of person would have such a state of mind."
Gu Qingfeng sighed helplessly, shaking his head as he drank his wine. "Sister, what exactly do you want to know?"
"I just want to know what kind of person you were before."
"Why are you so interested in what I was like before?"
"I..." Qiānlíng didn't know how to answer.
She truly wanted to know what kind of person Gu Qingfeng had been before. Gu Qingfeng was like a riddle, his body seemingly hiding many secrets, making her endlessly curious. And as the years passed, her curiosity only grew.
Especially today, witnessing firsthand Gu Qingfeng's behavior facing the Golden Crow Li Clan, she could no longer restrain herself and was determined to get to the bottom of it. Just as she said, she didn't know and couldn't imagine what kind of person would find everything meaningless and not care about anything.
After a long silence.
Gu Qingfeng spoke, "Sister, the reason I claimed to have lost my memory wasn't to deliberately hide things. I just don't want to bring up the past anymore, nor do I want to live that life again, and I especially don't want to see old acquaintances."
"Then what kind of life do you want to live?"
"This current life is pretty good. Eating, drinking, playing, having fun—quite carefree and unrestrained. To be honest, since I was little, my dream has been to live this kind of life. Now I've finally achieved it."
"But... but do you plan to just keep living like this?"
"Yes, didn't I tell you? My dream is to live this kind of life."
As he spoke, Gu Qingfeng suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right. Even if you hadn't come looking for me today, I was planning to find you."
As he raised his hand, a jade token appeared in his palm, which he handed over.
Qiānlíng took the jade token and saw it was from a bank in the Fengyue Small World.
Sure enough, Gu Qingfeng said, "There are five hundred million Immortal Stones here. Take them for now."
"I don't want them!"
Just as Qiānlíng was about to hand it back to Gu Qingfeng, he said, "I never said I was giving them to you."
"You..." Qiānlíng was extremely embarrassed.