Bai Susu conjured thousands of little snakes once more. With another ethereal point of her finger, radiant light blossomed, layers of Profound Mysteries unfolding, enveloping the snakes. In an instant, all thousands of them froze in place.
Huadiexianzi sent out her Divine Sense to probe them, and to her astonishment, she discovered that every single one of the thousands of snakes, without exception, had severed meridians and shattered gallbladders.
"My ethereal point just now contained thousands of Profound Mysteries," Bai Susu explained. "The power of each Profound Mystery was different, calculated based on the force each little snake could withstand. That's why a single move could shake them all to the point of severed meridians and shattered gallbladders."
With a wave of her hand, the corpses of the thousands of snakes instantly dissipated into smoke, as if they had never existed. She said softly, "These little snakes were conjured by me, so I understood them perfectly. Based on their individual endurance, I could calculate the appropriate Profound Mystery. But if it were thousands of people..." Bai Susu shook her head slightly. "I might be able to instantly probe the cultivation strength of one person, or two, three, seven, eight, even dozens or hundreds. But thousands... I truly do not possess that ability."
"Even if I could see through the cultivation strength of thousands of people, with a single move, I could not cause all of them to have severed meridians and dispersed Immortal Energy. Forget thousands, even a thousand people, or even a hundred, I could not do it... After all, they were Golden Immortals, not little snakes I conjured. One of my Immortal Arts can contain thousands of Profound Mysteries and injure thousands of little snakes, but one Immortal Art containing thousands of Profound Mysteries absolutely cannot injure thousands of Golden Immortals."
"Yet he could. And he did not employ any Immortal Art, nor did he contain any Profound Mysteries. It was just a very ordinary, forceful shout that shook thousands of Golden Immortals into cripples. Do you know what this means?"
"It means his mastery of Divine Sense, his control over power, his reaction of will, his methods of inflicting injury, his understanding of Immortals... all of it is powerful beyond our imagination."
"How do you think mastery of Divine Sense is cultivated? How is control over power cultivated? The reaction of will, the methods of injury, especially the understanding of Immortals—this isn't something you can glean from reading a few ancient texts. It's achieved through fighting, through killing, through countless battles and killing many, many people, slowly accumulated and honed!"
After listening to Bai Susu's deductions, whether it was Huadiexianzi, Mu Lingyao, Qianling, or Qiānniǎo, they were all stunned into silence. Their expressions shifted repeatedly, their hearts pounding wildly. They opened their mouths as if to speak but then stopped, unsure of what to say.
"And that's not even the most terrifying part. The most terrifying thing is that he could, without a single change in expression, cause the Immortal Arts, as well as dozens of Great Nature Golden Immortals who had achieved the Five Luminosities Return to One, to all inexplicably freeze in mid-air."
"If this were some treasure, it wouldn't be strange. If it were some creation, it wouldn't be strange. If it were some divine ability or technique, it wouldn't be strange either. But the ironic thing is, he used neither treasure, nor creation, nor employed any divine ability or technique. He did nothing at all, not even glancing their way."
Bai Susu closed her eyes, as if recalling the scene at the Tower of Stolen Gold. At the time, although she hadn't revealed herself, she had been observing from the shadows and witnessed it firsthand. She remembered clearly how Huang He, Liu Ziyu, and dozens of other Great Nature Golden Immortals who had achieved Five Luminosities Return to One each unleashed their most powerful Immortal Arts. She remembered clearly that Gu Qingfeng truly hadn't even glanced their way; he was even turned away from them, pouring wine from a jug.
And then there was no 'and then'...
Whether it was the dozens of powerful Immortal Arts or the dozens of Great Nature Golden Immortals who had achieved Five Luminosities Return to One, they all inexplicably froze in mid-air.
How exactly did he do it? Bai Susu had racked her brains but couldn't figure out a reason.
"So, I advise you all to stay away from him. The farther, the better."
"Alright... alright."
Mu Lingyao was originally a person with a heavy curiosity, but hearing Bai Susu speak like this, she genuinely felt a bit scared. She felt it would be better to stay away from that fellow in the future.
"We can stay away from him, but... what about Ling'er and Qiānniǎo?" Huadiexianzi asked with concern. "He lives in the Xiaoluo Secret Realm."
"Ling'er, you must remember, no matter what, do not offend him. Absolutely do not."
Bai Susu had suffered a loss herself. During her first meeting with Gu Qingfeng, wanting to probe what kind of existence he was, she had attempted to charm him. The result was not only failing to charm him but being charmed by him instead—charmed to the point of burning with desire. In the end... she even had to beg him to...
Recalling this matter, Bai Susu felt anger and embarrassment in her heart, but more than that, she felt fear and terror.
Qiānniǎo was perhaps the only person present who remained unaffected. No matter how terrifying Bai Susu made Gu Qingfeng out to be, the little girl didn't seem to mind. She chuckled and said, "Sister Susu, maybe you don't understand Little Wino very well. Great Lord is really very easy-going. He won't hold such things against us. He hates it most when people are overly polite with him. When I said before that calling him 'Great Lord' felt awkward, he told me to just call him Little Wino. And, heehee, I firmly believe Great Lord is a good person. He would definitely never hurt us."
This was Bai Susu's first time meeting Qiānniǎo, but she had met countless people and could tell Qiānniǎo was a girl without much scheming, relatively pure-hearted. Regarding this, she simply shook her head and said nothing.
Beside them.
Qianling lowered her head in contemplation.
To be honest.
Even if Bai Susu hadn't spoken today, she already knew Gu Qingfeng's existence was terrifying.
To say she wasn't worried or afraid would be a lie.
She hadn't worried before because she hadn't known Gu Qingfeng's existence was terrifying.
Now that she knew, how could she not worry?
After all, she knew nothing about Gu Qingfeng.
A person of unknown origin, mysterious and eccentric, with terrifyingly powerful strength, living in her Secret Realm—that in itself was a terrifying matter.
Although she also believed Gu Qingfeng wouldn't harm the people of the Xiaoluo Secret Realm, who could guarantee there wouldn't be a single unexpected incident?
However.
She didn't need to worry now.
Because she suddenly remembered what Gu Qingfeng had said to her on the floating island. She clearly remembered that Gu Qingfeng had expressed an intention to leave, and this time he might not return to the Xiaoluo Secret Realm with her.
For some reason, thinking of this, her heart did not feel relief at the departure of such a mysterious and terrifying existence as Gu Qingfeng. Instead, she felt an indescribable sense of loss, even a trace of reluctance.
She had wanted to bring this up, but seeing Qiānniǎo beside her continuously talking about how good Gu Qingfeng was, she ultimately didn't speak.
She knew that during the decades Gu Qingfeng had lived in the Xiaoluo Secret Realm, Qiānniǎo had already developed a dependence on him. If Qiānniǎo learned that Gu Qingfeng was leaving, she would undoubtedly be unable to bear it.