"Senior? A woman, I presume?"
"How did the Worthy One know?"
"Nonsense. This tulip wine is so yin-soft. If a man brewed this stuff, he'd have to be a eunuch."
Gu Qingfeng was a connoisseur of fine liquor. While he dared not claim to have tasted all the exquisite wines under heaven, when he encountered one, he never let it pass him by. He considered himself something of an expert in the art of wine.
It wasn't that a man couldn't brew a yin-soft, elegant wine, but this tulip wine wasn't merely yin-soft. A single cup, finished in one go, was light, elegant, and serene, like a jade-green pool under moonlight. Moreover, when poured, it resembled a violet-rose flame blooming and burning.
Such flamboyance, paired with such a light, delicate taste. Your average, normal man couldn't brew this kind of wine meant for delicate women.
"Earlier, outside, I heard the Worthy One wished to inquire about some matters. Might I ask what the Worthy One wishes to know?"
Guntong sat upright, occasionally rising to refill Gu Qingfeng's cup. "I shall speak all I know without reservation."
While Gu Qingfeng loved wine, he favored only strong, potent liquors—the fiercer, the better. He had little interest in such light, elegant wines; to him, they tasted like plain water. He waved his hand, signaling Guntong not to pour for him, and instead pulled out the wine he had purchased earlier in the Fengyue Small World. Taking a hearty swig, he asked, "It's nothing major, really. How long have you been cultivating in this Liúshā Small Secret Realm?"
"This..." Perhaps surprised by the question, Guntong frowned and pondered for a moment before replying, "I haven't calculated it precisely. It should be around thirty to forty thousand years."
"You've been cultivating here that long?"
Gu Qingfeng's heart stirred. He pressed on, "Then you must know something about what happened here ten thousand years ago?"
Hearing Gu Qingfeng mention events from ten thousand years ago, Guntong's expression shifted slightly. He asked cautiously, "Does the Worthy One wish to inquire about that incident from ten thousand years ago?"
"Correct."
"If the Worthy One is asking about that incident from ten thousand years ago..."
Guntong shook his head slightly, a look of helplessness crossing his features. "I'm afraid I am powerless to assist."
"What? Don't tell me you weren't here when that event occurred ten thousand years ago?"
"No, I had not left when that incident happened ten thousand years ago."
"Then how can you not know?"
"This..." Guntong seemed troubled, as if unsure how to phrase it. After a pause, he said, "Although I was in this Small Secret Realm when that event occurred, I truly do not know what exactly transpired."
"You must know something, however little."
Gu Qingfeng stated, "I won't make things difficult for you today. Just tell me what you do know."
Guntong looked at Gu Qingfeng and sighed. "At that time, I was in secluded cultivation. Suddenly, the Secret Realm began to tremble violently. When I emerged to investigate, I found the realm in utter chaos, as if a great calamity had struck. The heavens darkened, the earth quaked, and the Great Nature itself seemed on the verge of collapse. Many of the demons and monsters within the Secret Realm perished as a result. I only survived back then because a senior intervened to save me."
"And then? Why did this calamity befall the Secret Realm?"
"As for the specific reason, I do not know. It was likely that something terrifying suddenly descended upon this Secret Realm... or was born within it."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because when the calamity struck, over a dozen terrifying existences tore through space, barged into the Secret Realm, and engaged in a fierce battle, as if fighting over something. At the time, not only did it stir many reclusive seniors within the realm, but even the Empress Wuyou, who presides over this Secret Realm, emerged."
"Who? Who did you say?"
Upon hearing the name 'Empress Wuyou,' Gu Qingfeng's heart jolted in shock. "Which Empress Wuyou are you referring to?"
"I... I do not know. I only heard others mention that Empress Wuyou has always presided over the origin of this Secret Realm. Although I have cultivated here for tens of thousands of years, I have never laid eyes on Empress Wuyou."
Gu Qingfeng held a cup of wine to his lips but did not drink. The name 'Empress Wuyou' echoed relentlessly in his mind.
He pondered whether this Empress Wuyou was the same Empress Wuyou he had met at the Can Yang Valley in the Great Northwest.
If they were indeed the same person... then the waters of this affair ran unimaginably deep.
It was crucial to remember that Gu Qingfeng had been born in the Great Northwest all those years ago precisely because of the Drop of Original Sin.
And that very Drop of Original Sin had been in Empress Wuyou's possession all along.
Even though Empress Wuyou had been lost, and even though she had claimed she didn't know whether it was the Drop of Original Sin that had chosen him or fate and karma... Gu Qingfeng was certain the situation was far from that simple. Nor was Empress Wuyou that 'innocent.'
He even suspected that his fusion with the Drop of Original Sin back then was likely inextricably linked to Empress Wuyou.
Now, he had undergone Nirvana and rebirth in this Liúshā Small Secret Realm. Yet, to his utter astonishment, Empress Wuyou turned out to be the ruler of this very realm.
Even a fool could guess there was some hidden scheme behind this that he was unaware of.
However, whether the Empress Wuyou Guntong spoke of was the same one from Can Yang Valley, Gu Qingfeng couldn't ascertain for the moment. Shaking his head, he downed the wine in his cup and asked again, "You mentioned earlier that over a dozen people tore through space and barged into this Secret Realm back then. Who were they?"
"This... I do not know."
"What did they look like?"
"I couldn't see clearly either. They were all existences shifting between reality and illusion, unpredictable and elusive."
Hearing 'shifting between reality and illusion,' Gu Qingfeng immediately thought of the Wu Dao Persons. In his impression, Wu Dao Persons were precisely such hazy, untraceable existences, ethereal and indistinct.
But if they were all Wu Dao Persons... what were they fighting over here? What object could possibly be worth a dozen or more Wu Dao Persons engaging in a fierce battle? So many of them? Who in the blazes were they?
After a moment of contemplation, Gu Qingfeng continued, "Was there a madwoman among them?"
"Not only was there a madwoman, but there was also a crazed old man."
If the madwoman was truly Jun Xuanji, then who was the crazed old man? Could it be that deranged old man he had encountered in the ruins of the Wu Dao Era? Thinking it over, it was probably him.
"How come I heard that Geng Wu Ming also appeared here back then?"
"This..." Guntong's brow furrowed deeply. "That madwoman did indeed call out Geng Wu Ming's name back then. As for whether Geng Wu Ming was truly present, I do not know, nor did I ever see him."
After speaking, Guntong pleaded, "Worthy One, regarding the events of that year, this is all I know. Moreover, most of it I heard from others. I cannot vouch for its truth or falsehood. I hope the Worthy One will not take it as absolute fact."