At first,
when Xuan Yun learned that Gu Qingfeng was the upstart who had won 1.8 billion in a single bet, he was filled with contempt and looked down on such a nouveau riche from the bottom of his heart.
Later, on Floating Sky Island, witnessing with his own eyes how Gu Qingfeng's mere voice had terrified four Great White Golden Immortals to death, although Xuan Yun was still unconvinced, he had begun to feel wary of Gu Qingfeng.
Then, just moments ago, seeing Gu Qingfeng effortlessly ascend to the Eighty-First Layer of the Tower of Stolen Gold, Xuan Yun finally realized that Gu Qingfeng's existence might truly have once been that of a Great Lord. Deep down, he not only grew wary but even somewhat fearful of Gu Qingfeng.
However,
when Dan Lei advanced by retreating, extending courtesy before force, and issued his veiled threat, and when Xuan Yun saw that Gu Qingfeng dared not refuse, the fear in his heart vanished, leaving only wariness.
When he discovered that Gu Qingfeng was talking about repaying a favor to him, deliberately finding a way to save face, the wariness in Xuan Yun's heart also disappeared.
When he heard Gu Qingfeng call himself an honest man who didn't want trouble, Xuan Yun's heart once again filled with scorn and contempt. He finally realized that this mysterious Great Lord had always been nothing but a facade, feigning composure. He was certain that this so-called Great Lord simply didn't dare to stand up to him.
This made Xuan Yun incredibly excited, so excited he could hardly wait to trample Gu Qingfeng underfoot, to completely vent the fury that had been weighing on his heart, and to reclaim the face he had lost to Gu Qingfeng tenfold, a hundredfold.
However,
he did not do so.
Because this was the Tower of Stolen Gold, and its surroundings were crowded with tens of thousands of people.
And Xuan Yun was well aware that he had lost this bet. He had only regained face now by relying on the elders from the Lotus Secret Realm. If he were to attack Gu Qingfeng again, it would be a bit too much like bullying with one's power, a bit too overbearing.
Xuan Yun was in no hurry.
Before, not knowing Gu Qingfeng's depths, he hadn't dared to act rashly. Now, knowing that Gu Qingfeng feared his Lotus Secret Realm, Xuan Yun felt assured.
"The green mountains remain unchanged, the blue waters ever flow. As long as the Great Lord does not provoke me, this Young Master will absolutely not seek trouble with you. But if the Great Lord provokes me... heh...
this Young Master wouldn't mind letting the Great Lord learn just how high the sky of the Great Wasteland is, and how thick its earth."
"Is that so?"
Gu Qingfeng looked at him, shaking his head with a wry smile. "Alright, I got it."
"Hmph!
Good that you know!"
A disdainful sneer played on Xuan Yun's lips as he cupped his hands. "Great Lord, this Young Master will take his leave then."
With that,
Xuan Yun and the others swaggered away.
"My Great Lord!"
Mu Lingyao jumped onto the carriage, very displeased. "Why are you so spineless? Are we just going to let this matter go?"
"What else can I do if I don't admit defeat?
You want me to actually make them kowtow ten million times?"
"So what if we make them kowtow?"
"And then what? They send out a Message Talisman, and a thousand troops and ten thousand horses come charging over. What am I supposed to do then?"
"With this Young Lady backing you up, what are you afraid of!"
"You?"
Gu Qingfeng looked Mu Lingyao up and down, highly skeptical.
"What?
You don't believe me?
If they dare call for people, can't this Young Lady call for people too?
They have people from the Lotus Secret Realm, doesn't this Young Lady have people?
They can summon a thousand troops and ten thousand horses with one Message Talisman, and this Young Lady can do the same!"
"Really?"
"Of course it's true!"
As she spoke, Mu Lingyao pulled out a stack of Message Talismans with a rustle—yes, a whole stack—and said, "This is my eldest brother's Message Talisman. My eldest brother is the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Fire Pavilion. With one word from him, he can summon a group of experts. This is my second uncle's. My second uncle is the Law Enforcement Elder of the Fengyue Small World, holding the law enforcement authority here. This is my Aunt Susu's Message Talisman. My Aunt Susu is the famous demon immortal Bai Susu, and she's even a Heaven-appointed Immortal. No one in the Dual-Pole Celestial Domain dares not give her face. And this is..." Mu Lingyao introduced the Message Talismans in her hand to Gu Qingfeng, each one capable of summoning an expert, and these experts all sounded like first-rate, major figures.
"What Lotus Secret Realm, what prestigious Bai Family, what Golden Crow Liu Family—if they dare call for people today, this Young Lady will make sure they never leave the Fengyue Small World!"
"Sounds pretty impressive."
Gu Qingfeng rubbed his chin, teasing, "So, should I call them over now and make them kowtow to me?"
"Call them!
Call them right now!
This Grandmother wants to see just how arrogant they can be!"
"Yao'er, don't cause trouble!"
Huadiexianzi walked over and said, "It's not some deep-seated hatred. Why make such a huge fuss? Do you have to push things to an irreparable point before you'll stop?"
"I'm not the one who wants to blow things up, but Xuan Yun and the others are just too arrogant! The Great Lord has already agreed not to pursue the bet, but not only is Xuan Yun ungrateful, he's still there gloating and making sarcastic remarks. It really infuriates this Grandmother!
They're only so arrogant because they see the Great Lord has lost his cultivation and is all alone!"
"Xuan Yun and the others are indeed too arrogant, relying on their Secret Realm and families to back them up and act so domineeringly."
Huadiexianzi said, "However, regarding today's matter, Dan Lei and those other seniors have already stepped in and even made Xuan Yun and the others kneel and apologize. Although what they sought was a Tyrant's Sentiment and what they offered was a Tyrant's Courtesy, it is precisely because of this that the Great Lord cannot pursue the bet further. Anyone in this situation would find it hard to press the issue. Even if you call your eldest brother and the others over, the result in the end would still be the same. Even if you called your father over, it would be no different. Unless it's a deep-seated hatred where one side cannot tolerate the other, neither party will let such a minor matter escalate into irreconcilable conflict. In the end, it will all come to nothing."
What Huadiexianzi said, Mu Lingyao wasn't ignorant of. On the contrary, she understood it better than anyone.
Because she had been causing trouble outside since she was little, often bullying this one, hitting that one. In the end, when the elders from both sides showed up, it always ended with apologies and the matter being dropped.
"I know!
I just can't stand Xuan Yun's look of a petty man getting his way. He'd better not fall into this Young Lady's hands. If one day he does, this Grandmother will definitely make him regret it!"
Mu Lingyao comforted, saying, "Great Lord, don't be angry either. You haven't lost anything anyway, and you even won ten trillion in prize money. Let them be jealous and hateful."
"What, do I look angry to you?"
Hearing Gu Qingfeng say this, Mu Lingyao then noticed that this Great Lord had been sitting here all along, leisurely drinking his little wine and smoking his spirit smoke. He didn't look angry at all.
"You can swallow this grievance?"
"What grievance?"
"The bet!
You won, but in the end, Xuan Yun and the others didn't kowtow to you."
"I never intended to make them kowtow in the first place."
"If you didn't intend to make them kowtow, then why did you even climb the Tower of Stolen Gold?"
"Little sister, I climbed the Tower of Stolen Gold for that ten trillion prize money, not to make a bet with them."
"Oh, right."
At that moment, a dark, dense mass of people suddenly appeared in the distant sky. Looking over, goodness, there were at least several thousand of them.
Huadiexianzi, Mu Lingyao, and the others focused their gaze and discovered that the leaders of the group were actually people from the Golden Crow Li Family. Mu Lingyao wondered, "Why has the Golden Crow Li Family come to the Tower of Stolen Gold with such a massive show of force?"