Xuan Yun had once heard Qianniao say that Gu Qingfeng's mind had gone astray and become problematic due to the complete loss of his cultivation, causing him to speak incoherently and boast excessively.
Xuan Yun believed this as well. He had personally probed Gu Qingfeng's body and found it truly chaotic and disordered, devoid of any cultivation base, and his words were indeed quite nonsensical.
Yet, looking at the utterly calm and composed Gu Qingfeng before him, Xuan Yun couldn't help but recall the scene on the Floating Sky Island.
Back then, this nouveau riche had sat just as leisurely and fearlessly in that wide, comfortable chair, boasting about swallowing a breath of Chaos Qi, bragging about the heavens, earth, the profound and the yellow above, and the primordial chaos of the universe below. Everyone had thought he was just blowing hot air, including Qianling and Qianniao. Yet, he had truly dispersed Li Zhengshi's immortal spirit with a single puff of spiritual smoke and terrified four Taibai Golden Immortals to death with a single shout.
Now.
This nouveau riche was once again sitting in that wide, comfortable chair with the same leisurely ease, his demeanor calm and composed, as if everything was within his grasp.
This couldn't help but fill Xuan Yun with deep worry. Could he really ascend to the twenty-seventh layer of the Tower of Stolen Gold?
No!
Absolutely impossible!
No one could guarantee they would definitely ascend to the twenty-seventh layer of the Tower of Stolen Gold. No one!
Absolutely no one!
Moreover, this nouveau riche had never even attempted the Tower of Stolen Gold before. It was even more impossible for him!
He must be mentally unstable!
He must be!
The more Xuan Yun thought about it, the more frightened and anxious he became, constantly trying to persuade and comfort himself inwardly.
Such were his thoughts.
Over at the carriage drawn by the nine-headed Fire Cloud Crimson Flame Tigers, Flower-Butterfly Immortal, Mu Lingyao, Qianling, and the others were also speculating whether Gu Qingfeng was truly mentally unstable or genuinely confident he could ascend to the twenty-seventh layer.
If one said he was unstable, aside from his penchant for boasting, this fellow didn't seem to have any other issues. Furthermore, both on the Floating Sky Island and at Babaozhuang, they had witnessed the mysterious, bizarre, and eerie, almost sinister, abilities he possessed.
Could he really be confident about ascending to the twenty-seventh layer?
Was that possible?
Although they had all witnessed Gu Qingfeng's strange skills, when it came to ascending the twenty-seventh layer of the Tower of Stolen Gold, neither Flower-Butterfly Immortal, Mu Lingyao, Qianling, nor Qianniao really believed it.
"Little drunkard, you…
Are you really confident about reaching the twenty-seventh layer of the Tower of Stolen Gold?"
Qianniao asked the question everyone wanted to ask, the question whose answer everyone wanted to know.
"Nonsense. If I wasn't confident, would I dare to make a bet with someone?" Gu Qingfeng said dismissively. "If I lose, I'd have to kowtow ten million times. Do you really think there's something wrong with my brain?"
"But that's the twenty-seventh layer of the Tower of Stolen Gold." Mu Lingyao asked, "You've never even attempted it before. What gives you such confidence?"
"What gives me confidence?
Nothing gives me confidence."
Gu Qingfeng pointed to his own head and said, "Is this supremely intelligent, peerlessly perceptive head of mine enough?
With just these formations in the Tower of Stolen Gold, once I open my Dharma Eye and take a glance, I'll grasp their mysteries. I could reach the highest eighty-first layer in minutes."
"This…" Mu Lingyao was on the verge of tears, utterly speechless. "Just keep blowing your horn. I told you not to gamble, but you had to show off and bet with them. When you lose, let's see what you'll do then. That's ten million kowtows! Even if you knock your supremely intelligent head until it bleeds, you still wouldn't finish them."
"Relax. I've never lost a bet in my life."
"You…
I really don't know what to say to you anymore."
Mu Lingyao looked at Qianling, then at Flower-Butterfly Immortal, noticing that both remained silent. She asked, "Ling'er, why don't you say something? And Sister Hua Die, why are you just standing there dumbfounded too? Don't tell me you both believe his nonsense?"
Believe it?
Qianling didn't know whether to believe it. Whether she could or should believe what Gu Qingfeng said was a question she had been pondering all along. But after thinking for so long, she hadn't reached an answer. Instead, her thoughts grew more tangled, her mind nearly bursting.
Flower-Butterfly Immortal was no exception. From the very beginning, she had felt Gu Qingfeng's existence was shrouded in mystery, and even more so now.
At that moment.
Liu Shuangyan and Qianxing Young Lord, who had left earlier, walked over again. Liu Shuangyan, with her heavy makeup, still wore that annoyingly smug expression—at least, that's how Mu Lingyao saw it.
"Oh my, watching others make bets earlier made this young lady incredibly envious."
Liu Shuangyan walked over, toying with an exquisite bracelet in her hand, and smiled. "Flower-Butterfly Immortal, how about we make a bet too?"
"Liu Shuangyan, I advise you to get as far away from me as possible." Mu Lingyao was utterly fed up with Liu Shuangyan and said viciously, "While this lady can still control her temper, get lost now!"
"Mu Lingyao, are you mistaken?
This young lady wasn't talking to you, but to Flower-Butterfly Immortal. What's it to you?"
"Sister Hua Die doesn't want to bother with you!"
"Who doesn't know that the famous Flower-Butterfly Immortal is approachable and amiable? How could she ignore me?
Even if I offended Flower-Butterfly Immortal in the past, I believe she wouldn't hold it against me. Everyone in the Dual-Pole Celestial Domain knows Flower-Butterfly Immortal is a very magnanimous person."
One had to admit, Liu Shuangyan was truly sharp-tongued. Her words were riddled with traps; one careless step and you'd fall into her scheme. If you ignored her, you'd be petty. If you engaged with her, who knew what despicable trick she'd try to play next.
"If I recall correctly, Flower-Butterfly Immortal just said today she would break her previous record, didn't she? How about we bet on whether you can break your previous record of the nineteenth layer? Of course, let's keep the stakes small. If Flower-Butterfly Immortal truly breaks her record, then I will also kneel and kowtow to apologize to you. If you fail to break your previous record, you kneel and kowtow to this young lady. How about that?"
No sooner had Xuan Yun left than Liu Shuangyan arrived. Xuan Yun wanted to bet, and now Liu Shuangyan wanted to bet too. Even the despicable tactics they used were the same—both employing provocation.
Before she could finish speaking, Mu Lingyao shouted, "Liu Shuangyan, you cheap slut! Sister Hua Die never said she would break her record today. That's your own nonsense. Now you want to use breaking a record to bet with Sister Hua Die? Why don't you just go die!"
Mu Lingyao was so furious she started cursing outright.
Liu Shuangyan, however, turned a deaf ear, completely ignoring Mu Lingyao's insults. She just stared at Flower-Butterfly Immortal and smiled. "Oh, it's just a bet for one kowtow. That nouveau riche and Young Master Xuan Yun bet ten million kowtows. Moreover, they bet on the twenty-seventh layer of the Tower of Stolen Gold, while we're only betting on Flower-Butterfly Immortal's previous record of the nineteenth layer. Are you even afraid to play with such small stakes?"
Without waiting for Flower-Butterfly Immortal's response, Liu Shuangyan continued, "Could it really be as the rumors outside say, that ever since being eliminated at the third layer of the Tower of Stolen Gold last time, you haven't dared to attempt it again?
Is your self-esteem that fragile?
Scared by one loss?
If that's really the case, as long as Flower-Butterfly Immortal says so, I certainly won't force you. If you can't afford to lose, then don't play."
"Liu Shuangyan, you cheap slut!
Who are you saying can't afford to lose?!"