That day.
Horse Lord drove the Nine-Headed Flame Cloud Crimson Blaze Tiger Grand Carriage as it toured the Fengyue Minor World.
Qianling, Qianniao, and the others stood inside the grand carriage, looking at each other, back and forth, none of them knowing what to say or what to do.
Gu Qingfeng, however, remained as leisurely as ever, reclining on that wide, comfortable chair with his eyes closed, resting his spirit. "What's the matter? Haven't you seen enough after all this time?"
Everyone exchanged glances, none daring to speak. In the end, it was Little Qianniao who mustered her courage and asked, "Little Drunkard, you..." Perhaps the previous scene had shaken her too profoundly, making her voice somewhat hoarse. Qianniao coughed once, then continued, "You... when did you become so powerful?"
"'Become'? I've always been powerful, alright."
"But... but... how come I never knew? I never heard you mention it either."
"Qianniao, little sister, I've always told you I'm powerful. You didn't believe me yourself, can't blame me for that."
Qianniao thought carefully and realized it was true. "You did say that. It's not that I didn't believe you, but... I thought you were just boasting!"
"That was just what you thought."
"Then you... then just what kind of person are you?!"
"Me?" Gu Qingfeng sat up, looking at her with a smile. "Guess."
"I can't guess!"
Qianniao widened her eyes, staring at Gu Qingfeng. "Could it be... you really were some Great Lord before?"
"Of course."
"But... but even if you really were some Great Lord before, you've lost all your cultivation now."
"So?"
"So how are you still this powerful? How exactly did you do it? How did you make Li Zhengshi's immortal spirit dissipate with just one sentence? And how did you scare those four Taibai Golden Immortals to death with just one shout?!"
"Guess."
"Could it be you really swallowed some Primordial Chaos Qi before, capable of blowing apart the Mysterious Yellow of Heaven and Earth above, and the Primordial Chaos of the Universe below?"
Gu Qingfeng grinned. "Don't you believe it?"
Qianniao shook her head. "No!"
"If you don't believe it, there's nothing I can do."
"You!" Qianniao then looked at Qianling. "Sister Ling'er, do you believe it?"
Qianling shook her head. Of course she didn't believe it. Anyone with normal intelligence wouldn't.
Qianniao said, "Little Drunkard, just tell us."
"You want to learn?"
Qianniao nodded heavily. "You'd teach me? Really?"
"That depends on your performance."
"Performance? What performance?"
"Come, give this lord a shoulder rub first."
"That's it? That simple?"
"Rub first, then we'll talk. Let this lord see your sincerity first."
If it were before, Little Qianniao would have cursed him out. But seeing how powerful Gu Qingfeng was, she no longer dared to treat him as she used to. Not only did her attitude become obedient, she even didn't dare to speak loudly anymore.
...
The Floating Island incident quickly spread throughout the Fengyue Minor World.
The Xiao Luo Secret Realm also gained great fame because of it.
Everyone knew the Xiao Luo Secret Realm had produced two remarkable figures.
One was a previously unknown Taibai Golden Immortal who not only possessed a great acquired fortune but also defeated over a hundred people with a single immortal sword technique.
In the Dual-Pole Heavenly Domain, there might be many Taibai Golden Immortals, but those who could defeat over a hundred with a single immortal technique were absolutely few and far between. And Taibai Golden Immortals possessing such a rare, great acquired fortune were even rarer.
Qianling's name also became widely known because of the Floating Island incident.
However, what people discussed was not Qianling, but that Rich Upstart from the Xiao Luo Secret Realm who had won 1.8 billion in one go.
First, he blew the Golden Aura Earth Fiend Tiger, a martial technique of that level, to dust and smoke with a single puff of Spiritual Tobacco.
Then, with one offhand sentence, he caused the immortal spirit of Li Zhengshi, a Great Perfection Taibai Golden Immortal, to dissipate.
And with one mighty shout, he scared four Taibai Golden Immortals to death on the spot.
Yet this very Rich Upstart had no cultivation to speak of, no fortune to speak of. How he managed to do it, no one understood, no one could deduce. To this day, it remained a mystery. As for just who this Rich Upstart was, no one knew either. Opinions varied widely.
Some said this upstart might truly have been a Great Lord who once dominated a heavenly domain, but not a Great Lord of the Immortal Dao. He might have been a Great Lord of the Monster Dao, the Ghost Dao, or even the Witch Dao or the Demonic Dao.
However, this speculation was quickly overturned.
Because in the ten thousand years of the current era, the Monster Dao and Ghost Dao had long existed in name only. After being subsumed under the Immortal Dao, so-called demons and ghosts had become demon immortals and ghost immortals. Even though there were still many ancient demons and ghosts within the Great Desolate who had cultivated for tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years, the demonic and ghostly auras on those ancient beings were each extremely powerful and impossible to conceal.
Moreover, that Rich Upstart didn't have any demonic or ghostly aura on him, only a human aura.
As for the Witch Dao.
It had always been a symbol of mystery and the bizarre.
Although in the current era, a few people claiming to be witch immortals occasionally emerged, these witch immortals were all secretive and mysterious. Not only could they divine fortunes, they were also proficient in ghost and deity arts. It was said they could even cast curses and the like. In the Dual-Pole Heavenly Domain, there had once been a witch immortal. Many had witnessed this witch immortal's bizarreness with their own eyes—just by reciting some nonsensical incantations, a group of Great Luo Golden Immortals had gone mad.
Later, there was even a highly cultivated Great Luo Golden Immortal who, it was said, was cursed by that witch immortal and to this day still lay in bed, groaning and moaning.
That Rich Upstart had caused Li Zhengshi's immortal spirit to dissipate with just one sentence, and scared four Taibai Golden Immortals to death with just one shout. Such methods were very similar to the ghost and deity arts of those witch immortals.
Therefore.
Most people suspected the Rich Upstart might be a mysterious, bizarre witch immortal.
Of course.
Apart from that, some also suspected the Rich Upstart might be an ancient demon.
In the Great Desolate, so-called demons were different from those in the mundane world.
In the mundane world, so-called demons couldn't even be called demons. At best, they were cultivators who took shortcuts, using some bloody methods to cultivate. Such people in the Great Desolate were often called evil immortals.
But the demons of the Great Desolate were true demons.
They had no physical bodies, no souls—just a wisp of demon spirit, born from the nurturing of the Great Desolate and the natural world itself.
Those worlds with extremely harsh natural environments, especially dark, gloomy places, could give birth to demon spirits after thousands or tens of thousands of years. The demon spirits born were also extremely powerful and terrifying. Powerful demon spirits could not only devour human souls but also control human consciousness. They could also silently possess a human body, undetectable by ordinary people.
The methods of these demons were even more unpredictable and bizarre than those of witches, truly ghostly and unfathomable. Who dared to say that the method by which that Rich Upstart scared four Taibai Golden Immortals to death with one shout wasn't that of a demon?