"You ignorant, reckless little brat! You want to save face, do you? Well, today I'll let you have a good, hard dose of it!"
Li Xin Xianzi had one hand clamped around Bai Ze's neck, while the other slapped him viciously across the face.
One had to say that Li Xin Xianzi truly lived up to her ancient, formidable reputation as an Immortal. Her strikes were ruthlessly cruel. And these slaps were not merely infused with raw immortal power; each blow was like the hand of heavenly thunder, with countless Dao insights condensing and manifesting within her palm, transforming into purple-gold heavenly lightning that struck Bai Ze's body.
Bai Ze tried several times to resist and fight back, but he failed each time. It wasn't that he didn't dare; it was that before Li Xin Xianzi, he was utterly powerless. After just a few slaps, he was not only beaten until blood streamed from his seven orifices and his skin split and flesh tore, but his immortal power was also scattered into disarray. His consciousness grew hazy, and he looked half-dead.
Watching this scene, Mo Baiyu and the others all underwent drastic changes in expression, their eyes filled with shock and horror. No matter how they tried, they couldn't comprehend it. Bai Ze had merely stepped forward and spoken a few harsh words—though his tone might have been severe, it was all to uphold the dignity of the Eternal Life Pavilion. Yet now, Li Xin Xianzi had beaten him nearly to the point of ruin.
This inevitably made people question: What had happened to Li Xin Xianzi?
That so-called 'Upper Person' was merely the owner of the Lingyu Sword. Why was Li Xin Xianzi showing him such deference?
Showing deference to the point of disregarding her own image and reputation, as well as the face and prestige of the Eternal Life Pavilion, in front of a vast public—massaging him was one thing, but now she had even struck Bai Ze of the Eternal Life Pavilion like this.
Could it be that the Lingyu Sword was truly some profoundly mysterious immortal weapon, to the extent that it made Li Xin Xianzi and High Immortal Qingqing lower themselves so humbly and servilely?
Or perhaps...
Was there another reason behind this?
On the deck, Granny Golden Flower had been standing silently all along and did not step forward to intervene. She understood very clearly that neither Qingqing nor Li Xin would lower themselves to flatter someone merely for the sake of an immortal weapon, nor would they do anything to damage the Eternal Life Pavilion's dignity for a weapon.
Yet both Li Xin Xianzi and High Immortal Qingqing had done exactly that.
Granny Golden Flower knew things could not be so simple. Although Li Xin Xianzi had previously only told her that Gu Qingfeng's existence was extraordinary, just how extraordinary it was, Granny Golden Flower did not know. Despite having cultivated for tens of thousands of years and possessing rich experience, she still could not imagine what kind of existence Gu Qingfeng was, to make Li Xin Xianzi disregard the Eternal Life Pavilion's face and prestige and massage him in public.
After the beating, Li Xin Xianzi pressed Bai Ze down onto the deck, forcing him to kneel before Gu Qingfeng. At the same time, she herself also knelt down and said, "Bai Ze is a disciple of our Eternal Life Pavilion. As his elder, I failed to discipline him properly. This is my responsibility. I beg the Great Old Master to punish me."
This scene was far too bizarre.
So bizarre that everyone present found it hard to believe.
Including Granny Golden Flower.
No one had ever imagined that Li Xin Xianzi would...
Would actually kneel and apologize?
However.
She was not the only one kneeling to apologize. The moment Li Xin Xianzi knelt, High Immortal Qingqing also knelt respectfully and said, "Great Old Master, Bai Ze is young and inexperienced, ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth. That is why he dared to offend you. We beg... we beg the Great Old Master to forgive him!"
Heavens!
Watching Li Xin Xianzi and High Immortal Qingqing kneeling on the deck, the thousands gathered in the air above were as shocked as if they had seen ghosts or deities. Their hearts were filled with utter astonishment and profound confusion. They simply could not understand why two individuals of such esteemed status as Li Xin Xianzi and High Immortal Qingqing would show such deference to some random 'Upper Person'.
Silence.
Dead silence.
At this moment, no one dared to make a sound, nor did anyone dare to speak. Everyone stared at this scene in utter disbelief.
Across from them.
Gu Qingfeng was still reclining in his chair, one leg crossed over the other and propped on the table, his head tilted slightly, brows furrowed.
Ever since his awakening, when he noticed the respectful attitude Li Xin and Qingqing held towards him, Gu Qingfeng had already guessed that the two of them must have figured something out. Now, looking at Qingqing and Li Xin kneeling before him, he was almost certain that these two had, nine times out of ten, discovered his identity.
Only, Gu Qingfeng was somewhat puzzled.
He hadn't told them. Huode wouldn't have either.
From where had these two discerned his identity?
After thinking it over, Gu Qingfeng reckoned it could only be that Cloud-Water Sword.
Had he known earlier that the Cloud-Water Sword would give him away, he wouldn't have gifted it.
It wasn't that he feared his identity being exposed.
To be honest.
Gu Qingfeng had never deliberately concealed his identity, nor did he care in the slightest whether it was revealed. He simply didn't want his identity to cause unnecessary trouble or calamity.
Shaking his head, he drained the wine in his cup, stood up, stretched lazily, rubbed his face, and sighed, "Seems like I made a mistake gifting that sword this time."
Hearing this.
Qingqing's heart clenched. Not daring to hesitate for even a moment, she immediately summoned the Cloud-Water Sword, raised it with both hands, and said, "This junior knows she is unworthy of the Cloud-Water Sword. I beg... I beg the Great Old Master to take it back."
"Enough. What's the point of taking it back now that it's already been gifted? Besides, you've served me fine food and drink, played music, given massages... you've even beaten one of your own to this state. Even if I wanted to take it back, I wouldn't have the face to do so."
Gu Qingfeng walked over, glanced at Bai Ze, who was covered in blood and beaten half-dead by Li Xin Xianzi, and said, "I say, Sister Li Xin, weren't your strikes a bit too harsh? No matter what, he's your junior. A lesson would have sufficed. Did you have to beat him to within an inch of his life? Look at what you've done to him... It'll probably take him decades to recover."
"Bai Ze, ignorant of life and death, dared to speak offensively to the Great Old Master. Sparing his life is already a tremendous act of mercy from the Great Old Master."
"What kind of talk is that?" Gu Qingfeng said with extreme exasperation. "I'm telling you, Sister, even if you two figured something out through the Cloud-Water Sword, there's no need for this, is there?"
As he spoke, Gu Qingfeng squatted down, right in front of Li Xin Xianzi, and asked, "And what do you mean, 'sparing his life is already a tremendous act of mercy from me'? I'm baffled. In your mind, am I really that bad? So bad that I'm cold and ruthless, bloodthirsty and cruel? That I view life as worthless grass? The type who would slaughter indiscriminately at the slightest provocation?"
"Great Old Master... This little woman does not mean that, it's just..." Confronted with Gu Qingfeng's question, Li Xin Xianzi truly did not know how to answer. In truth, in her heart, the Ancient Nine Nethers Emperor was precisely a cold, ruthless, bloodthirsty, cruel being who viewed life as worthless grass and would slaughter indiscriminately at the slightest provocation. If it weren't so, she wouldn't have beaten Bai Ze half to death. In her thinking, if she were the one to act, at least Bai Ze could keep his life. If the Great Old Master were to act, forget whether Bai Ze could survive, forget about herself and Qingqing—whether the thousands of people here could survive would be an unknown.
Only.
Though she thought this in her heart, she absolutely dared not say it to Gu Qingfeng's face.