At this very moment.
On a small hill outside the mountain villa stood an old man and a youth. The youth had a face like carved jade, handsome and transcendent, yet his expression was extremely grave. He kept his eyes closed, carefully observing the situation inside the villa with his spiritual sense, not daring to get too close, only probing the periphery.
Beside him stood a gray-robed elder. The elder also kept his head lowered, likewise carefully probing with his spiritual sense. The difference was, the elder's expression was even more solemn than that of the young man beside him.
These two were none other than Wei Qing and Elder Hui.
Originally, they had been in a private room of the restaurant. But when Gu Qingfeng warned the crowd, Wei Qing had taken Elder Hui and left.
Wei Qing stood quietly, eyes closed, not uttering a word.
Elder Hui beside him wanted to speak several times but held back. This time, however, he couldn't restrain himself any longer. He raised his head and asked in a deep voice, "Young Master, what exactly is that man trying to do?"
To be fair, Elder Hui was someone who had seen the world.
He had seen the arrogant before, the wild before, and the domineering before. But someone like that white-robed man inside the villa was a first for him.
His strength and arrogance weren't like others' wanton recklessness; it was more a sense of casualness.
Yes.
Casualness. A very offhand, casual ease. The feeling was as if he simply didn't care, didn't care who you were, what your cultivation was, what your background was, and so on. He didn't care in the slightest; he simply didn't regard any of it.
His wildness wasn't like others' lawless audacity; it was more a sense of free-spiritedness.
Yes.
Free-spiritedness. Also an offhand, free-spirited ease. That feeling was one of indifference, just like his strength—he didn't care, didn't regard it.
His domineering nature wasn't like others' overbearing arrogance; it was more a sense of stillness.
A stillness like the Sea of Death, like an abyss of death.
That stillness was very quiet, so quiet it was like the calm before a storm, more like the stillness before light vanishes and darkness descends.
Elder Hui couldn't figure it out, couldn't understand what kind of person could be so casually, freely, stillly strong, wild, and domineering to such a degree.
"He probably wants to solve it once and for all," Wei Qing murmured with closed eyes, his voice dazed. "Since he's made a move, he might as well resolve this trouble in one go. Even if he can't resolve it completely, he can at least make others wary. That way, he'll have fewer unnecessary troubles in the future. He's probably just tired...
Tired of those blind fools, so he's decided to do this."
Elder Hui furrowed his old brows and asked, "But...
Is he not afraid at all?"
Forget the Spirit-Capital Sect.
But within the Bingxuan Sect, there were Zhu Xia and Leng Yanqiu. They had used the Ice-Profound Heart left by Her Majesty to refine the nine personal disciples into something utterly terrifying. That Leng Yanqiu, having received the Ice-Profound inheritance and fused with Her Majesty's Blood Spirit, possessed strength so fearsome.
Was Gu Qingfeng not afraid at all?
And the Nine-Hua Alliance—Elder Hui knew very well that the alliance was a den of crouching tigers and hidden dragons. Did Gu Qingfeng not care in the slightest?
Even more terrifying was the Crimson-Letter Sect's mountain villa. This was the Crimson-Letter Sect founded by the Red Flame Monarch! Once Elder Sen arrived and the Crimson-Letter Token was invoked, Gu Qingfeng would immediately be placed on the Crimson-Letter Sect's blacklist, hunted by Crimson-Letter forces across the world.
The Crimson-Letter Sect.
A hegemon of the Northwest, comparable to the Immortal Court.
Was he not wary at all?
"I don't know. I can't figure it out either...
Why he would make an enemy of the Crimson-Letter Sect." Wei Qing shook his head slightly, his brow furrowed into deep lines as he murmured, "But what makes me even more uneasy is..."
"Is what?"
Wei Qing did not respond, only shook his head.
He could see that earlier, Gu Qingfeng had deliberately displayed the Way of Slaughter. He didn't know whether Gu Qingfeng had ever fallen into demonhood or not, but that wasn't important. What was important was that there was still a person of the Heavenly Edict hidden within the villa.
Demons were sin, and it was a heavenly sin.
To follow the Way of Slaughter was itself already a sin.
The key point was, Gu Qingfeng clearly knew there was a person of the Heavenly Edict hidden in the villa. Not only did he not restrain himself, he deliberately displayed the Way of Slaughter.
What did he mean?
Was he provoking that person of the Heavenly Edict?
No!
Although Wei Qing didn't understand Gu Qingfeng, based on his observations over these past days, he believed Gu Qingfeng was absolutely not someone so idle and bored that he would go provoke a person of the Heavenly Edict.
But if it wasn't provocation, why was he doing this?
Could it be a test?
Testing the Heavenly Edict?
And what was the purpose of testing?
Unclear.
Wei Qing had been pondering this question, but the more he thought, the less he understood, and the more he thought, the more afraid he felt. He didn't know why he was afraid, only that this matter carried a strange, eerie air.
...
Within the ruins of Chixu Manor.
Hundreds of people knelt there, bleeding from all seven orifices, faces ashen, hair disheveled.
Wu Han of the manor, Murong Tai of the Murong Clan and others, Wen Huayu, Liang Gong and others of the Bingxuan Sect lay paralyzed on the ground, wailing and roaring. Gu Qingfeng had thrown them over, telling them to go call their people. But each of them had been beaten so badly earlier—some had their foundations destroyed, some had all their bones broken, others had their Golden Cores shattered, their spirit hues in chaos. Forget calling people, they couldn't even stand up.
However, everyone knew whether Wu Han, Murong Tai and the others went to call people or not was no longer important. Even if they didn't go, it wouldn't be long before people from the Bingxuan Sect and the Nine-Hua Alliance arrived. Such a major incident had occurred here, and it happened within a Crimson-Letter Sect manor. It couldn't be concealed. People from the Bingxuan Sect and the Nine-Hua Alliance were probably already on their way.
At this moment.
The white-robed man stood amidst the ruins. With a wave of his hand, he collected the fragments of Blue Nurturing Frost Crystal he had scattered on the ground earlier into his possession. However, he did not put away that Taiyin Seed. Instead, he placed it on a table.
Looking across the entire restaurant, almost all the tables and chairs had been crushed and shattered by the force fluctuations of the battle. Only this one table remained completely intact. Not only was the table undamaged, even the fresh fruits on it were neatly arranged. Fei Kui had been standing beside this table the whole time, bowing, head lowered. Seeing Gu Qingfeng walking over this way.
Fei Kui hurriedly took out an exquisite wine pot and a ceramic wine cup that looked rather ancient, as if it had some years on it.
The wine was the Shuiyun Wine bought earlier in the manor. The cup was one Gu Qingfeng had crafted in his leisure time from Purple-Gold Heaven-Shining Crystal and Blue Nurturing Frost Crystal, using the solar spiritual qi and lunar spiritual qi within, naming it: Taixu Cup.
Fei Kui poured a cup of wine. Gu Qingfeng picked up the Taixu Cup, gently swirled it. The originally clear Shuiyun Wine immediately began to boil, then congealed into ice. The ice essence reached its boiling point, yin and yang fused, turning turbid. Without even looking, Gu Qingfeng directly downed the cup of wine in one gulp.
Outside the manor, many people had gathered. They had all heard that someone was killing people inside a Crimson-Letter Sect manor, so they had come to watch the spectacle. As time passed, more and more people arrived upon hearing the news. Chixu Manor was practically surrounded three layers deep, packed tight. The crowd gathered, discussing animatedly. Not long after, someone shouted that people from the Spirit-Capital Sect had arrived.
Everyone looked over. In the sky, hundreds of people were flying over on swords in a grand procession. At the lead was a group of old men radiating killing intent. Everyone recognized them—True Being Jin Shi, True Being Liu Ying, True Being Lian Hua...
These were all council elders of the Spirit-Capital Sect, each a renowned expert, with second-turn Golden Cores, third-turn...
Even fourth-turn.
Besides them, almost all of the Spirit-Capital Sect's spirit-hue geniuses had arrived, along with several personal disciples.
At the very front were an elder and a man.
That elder was known to all—the current sect head of the Spirit-Capital Sect, True Being Guang Qi.
And that man was also known to all—the heir apparent disciple of the Spirit-Capital Sect, Liao Dingsheng.