Neither Zijin nor Ziqing understood what Gu Qingfeng meant by 'the liveliness'.
However.
From Gu Qingfeng's few words, both were speculating whether he might be one of those legendary great masters who had revived alongside the Modern Era.
In their minds, probably only those resurrected great powers could be so mysterious, eccentric, and unfathomable.
As Horse King drove the Firecloud Grand Carriage forward, more and more monsters came swarming.
Horse King asked, trembling with fear, "Heavens, so many monsters! It's simply too terrifying!"
Horse King had only known that monsters roamed the Liúshā Small Secret Realm, but he never imagined there would be so many.
Sitting inside the Grand Carriage, Zijin and Ziqing felt the same. Although they had been traversing the Liúshā Small Secret Realm for years in search of the Yunhua Cave elders, and had even risked sneaking into its depths, they had never imagined so many monsters resided deep within. Looking at the densely packed, countless monsters ahead, both felt a sense of retrospective fear and also relief—relief that they hadn't been discovered when they had risked sneaking in here before. Otherwise...
They truly wouldn't have known how they died.
"Great Lord, do you think there might be a Monster King in this Liúshā Small Secret Realm?"
Horse King had never seen a Monster King in his life and was very curious about such legendary beings. "If there really is a Monster King here, I wonder if this Monster King is Heaven-conferred, Dao-appointed, or self-proclaimed."
In the Great Desolate,
'King' was a symbol of nobility.
The so-called 'Heaven-conferred' referred to the Heavenly Mandate Throne.
The so-called 'Dao-appointed' meant appointed and enfeoffed by the Great Dao.
The so-called 'self-proclaimed,' as the name implied, was claiming kingship over a mountain.
Generally speaking, a Heaven-conferred King was a true King. Of course, the Heavenly Mandate was, after all, the Heavenly Mandate—sacred, inviolable, and exceedingly rare. Therefore, the Three Thousand Great Daos would sometimes enfeoff some Great Dao Kings, and not just the Immortal Dao; the Demonic Dao, the Monster Dao, and others were the same.
Besides these, there were also many self-proclaimed mountain kings, and their numbers were not small.
One should not underestimate some self-proclaimed mountain kings. Among them, perhaps many were mere pretenders, but there were also quite a few terrifying existences.
"Hard to say."
Gu Qingfeng shook his head in reply.
If it were the Ancient Era, he might have been able to discern some clues.
But this was the Modern Era. After all, he had been asleep for ten thousand years and knew nothing of the changes over that time. Moreover, in the Modern Era, either various Heavenly Destinies were being born, or various Patriarchs were reviving. The situation in the Great Desolate might seem clear on the surface, but in reality, it was probably already a chaotic mess.
"Mountain!
Mountain!
Great Lord!
Look!
There's a mountain ahead!"
Horse King faintly saw a mountain in the distance and couldn't help shouting excitedly. As the distance closed, he realized what he saw wasn't just one mountain, but an unbroken mountain range.
The mountain range was majestic, with strange peaks standing in rows, jagged rocks everywhere, thousands of towering peaks, and undulating ridges. Black mist coiled around it, and demonic aura billowed upward. It looked like a giant demonic dragon's skeleton lying there—spectacular, but even more terrifying.
On the mountain range were densely packed caves, countless and endless. As Horse King drove forward, many monsters rushed out from the caves, blotting out the sky and covering the earth, making Horse King's scalp prickle with fear.
"G-great Lord, what do we do? S-should we...
should we still go forward?"
Group after group of monsters rushed out from the caves, tens of thousands of them, like a demon army forming a huge encirclement, surrounding the Nine-Headed Firecloud Crimsonflame Tiger Grand Carriage.
"Just stop here."
Gu Qingfeng raised his head and swept his gaze over the countless surrounding monsters. "There really are quite a lot of monsters here, and many have developed intelligence."
As his words fell,
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A group of over ten demon beasts rushed over, appearing opposite the Firecloud Grand Carriage.
These dozen or so demon beasts were enormous, each ten to twenty meters tall, with powerful demonic auras. Moreover, they held magical artifacts. Clearly, they not only possessed developed intelligence but were also old monsters who had cultivated for who knew how many years.
"Who exactly are you, sir!"
The leading demon beast stepped forward, a pair of glowing green yet reddish eyes fixed on Gu Qingfeng. "Why have you trespassed into our territory without permission?"
"I was wondering why you looked so familiar."
Gu Qingfeng looked at this monster and laughed. "It was you earlier outside, wasn't it?"
"It was indeed I!"
Sitting inside the Grand Carriage, Zijin also recognized this monster as the one that had been scared off by Gu Qingfeng earlier.
When this monster had appeared before, Zijin had been extremely weak and overly frightened. Seeing its soaring demonic aura, she had thought it might be some Monster King. Now, looking carefully, she realized this monster's demonic essence was unpredictable, each transformation aligning with Yin-Yang spiritual communion, each manifestation fine-tuning the Five Elements.
The essence's transformations—changing to commune with Yin-Yang spirits, manifesting to fine-tune the Five Elements—this was Spiritual Communion and Fine-Tuning.
Those who achieved Spiritual Communion and Fine-Tuning not only integrated with nature but became a part of it, a spirit within Heaven and Earth. Only by becoming such a spirit could one achieve true immortality.
Nature was Heaven and Earth, and Heaven and Earth were the Great Desolate. Therefore, those with Spiritual Communion and Fine-Tuning were, in the Immortal Dao, Great Desolate Spirit Immortals, more revered than Great Luo Golden Immortals.
In the Monster Dao, they were Great Desolate Spirit Demons.
In other words, this old monster was actually a Great Desolate Spirit Demon who had achieved Spiritual Communion and Fine-Tuning.
No!
Not just this old monster; the dozen or so old monsters accompanying it were all Great Desolate Spirit Demons.
Good heavens!
No wonder their demonic auras were so powerful!
It was truly terrifying.
Indeed.
One must know that in the Dual-Pole Celestial Domain, a Great Desolate Spirit Immortal was absolutely a great power who could summon wind and rain, and each was a Patriarch dominating a region. Now, over a dozen Great Desolate Spirit Demons had emerged from the depths of the Liúshā Small Secret Realm. How could it not be terrifying?
Sitting on the wide, comfortable chair at the front of the Grand Carriage, Gu Qingfeng shifted his posture, tilting his head as he asked, "What should I call you?"
"I am Haha'er."
"Haha'er?"
Gu Qingfeng repeated the name, finding it rather amusing. "What an interesting name."
"You still haven't answered my question, sir. Why have you trespassed into our territory without permission?"
At that moment,
A resonant voice suddenly rang out: "Haha'er, do not be rude!"
In response, a group of over ten figures appeared.
To be precise, these dozen or so were not Humans, but monsters—only, they had taken on Human form. Yet, even in Human form, their demonic essence was particularly intense. Especially the white-haired elder at the forefront, leaning on a Bone-Jade Scepter; the demonic essence on him was as vast as an ocean, exceedingly terrifying.
While Zijin and Ziqing could judge the cultivation and strength of Haha'er and these dozen or so old monsters from their demonic essence, they could not discern the cultivation of this white-haired old monster. However, one thing was certain: this white-haired elder leaning on the Bone-Jade Scepter was definitely extraordinary, and his existence might even exceed imagination.