Nostalgia?
Perhaps.
Gazing at the Dragon-Elephant Profound Mystery before him, Gu Qingfeng's long-still heart stirred faintly. Perhaps it truly was nostalgia.
He had once raised a Dragon-Elephant, and for a very long time at that. They had gone through life and death together, fought bloody battles across the land. Not only had it rendered outstanding service, but it had also saved Gu Qingfeng's life on multiple occasions.
Gu Qingfeng had always regarded it as a brother. Unfortunately, when he faced the Immortal Dao Judgment back then, the Dragon-Elephant was implicated and perished in the judgment. The reason he later created the Great Hidden Dragon-Elephant Formation was to commemorate that Dragon-Elephant which had followed him through thick and thin. The name 'Dazang' was the Dragon-Elephant's own name.
At this moment, looking at this vivid, lifelike Dragon-Elephant Profound Mystery, Gu Qingfeng couldn't help but think of Dazang from all those years ago.
Perhaps it had stirred memories deep within his sea of consciousness, making him reluctant to destroy the Dragon-Elephant Profound Mystery before him.
He watched it for a while longer.
He closed his eyes, then opened them again. The complex nostalgia in his deep, dark eyes was gone. He thought to himself: Go back. Once I obtain the karma, I will definitely find you.
With that, he raised his arm, fingers splayed, and gently placed his palm upon the Dragon-Elephant's head.
Wait for me.
Once I find the karma, I will definitely find you!
Whoosh!
Light flashed in his palm as turbid spiritual power erupted from it. Streaks of lightning, like coiling dragons, condensed and extended from his five fingers, instantly wrapping around the Dragon-Elephant. A series of crisp crackling sounds echoed, and the Dragon-Elephant Profound Mystery instantly disintegrated!
"What! How dare you!"
Perhaps never imagining that the Dragon-Elephant Profound Mystery would be so effortlessly and instantly dispersed in Gu Qingfeng's hand, Wu Xingyao, hidden within the formation, was utterly horrified. He was just about to activate the Great Hidden Dragon-Elephant Formation again.
Gu Qingfeng took a single step forward. The earth shook and mountains trembled. The surrounding ruins and rubble instantly turned to dust, crushed into a sandy wasteland. A vast, overwhelming aura erupted, an absolute stillness sweeping out to blanket the heavens and earth.
At this moment, light seemed to vanish.
Dusk descended. Darkness enveloped everything.
The cold, stern face of Gu Qingfeng, his previously indifferent expression, now turned aloof and proud. The calm in his deep eyes disappeared, replaced by a sharp, icy severity. His presence was no longer tranquil, becoming utterly domineering.
"Get down!"
He raised his arm, fingers splayed, palm facing downward, and struck out fiercely. Boom! The earth exploded, blasted into a deep pit—an abyss-like chasm. Whoosh!
From the abyss, as if from a volcanic eruption, a massive surge of spiritual power surged forth, coiling upward like a giant dragon, accompanied by rolling thunder and lightning, shooting straight into the sky.
Boom!
The Great Hidden Dragon-Elephant Formation was instantly scattered into nothingness. Wu Xingyao and the others hidden within the formation didn't even have time to grunt before their skin split and flesh tore, falling to the ground in a bloody, mangled mess, their bodies shattered on impact.
Witnessing this scene, the dozens from the Murong Clan and the hundreds from the Bingxuan Sect were scared out of their wits. Disregarding the terror in their hearts, whoosh! whoosh! whoosh!
They flashed away, attempting to retreat.
Gu Qingfeng swept his arm. Light flashed brilliantly as tens of thousands of lightning bolts condensed and manifested. Streaks of violet-gold lightning appeared out of thin air, instantly blasting the hundreds of cultivators until their skin split and flesh tore, blood streaming from their seven orifices as they plummeted to the ground.
Earlier, these hundreds had besieged Gu Qingfeng alone with various immortal arts, exhausting all their abilities yet failing to budge him an inch.
Now, with a single move from Gu Qingfeng conjuring tens of thousands of lightning bolts, they couldn't even withstand a single one of his strikes.
No one could!
Neither Murong Zhan nor the hundreds from the Bingxuan Sect could.
Murong Zhan and the dozens with him struggled back to their feet from the ground, roaring in fury. Blood mist boiled around their bodies, their eyes crimson. They opened their mouths, revealing sinister fangs.
"You choose to be a dead man instead of a living one. Since that's the case, then be a thorough, complete dead man forever!"
Gu Qingfeng swept his arm again. Light flashed once more, and dozens more lightning bolts condensed and manifested.
Crack!
Murong Zhan and the others were instantly blasted into a bloody pulp, limbs flying.
"Today, I'll ensure you die without even the chance of reincarnation!"
Gu Qingfeng swept his arm yet again. Light flashed similarly, but this time it didn't transform into tens of thousands of lightning bolts. It was more like a beam of light and shadow carried by the wind, or like the blazing sun shining everywhere. A dazzling radiance exploded in the darkness of night. The corpses of Murong Zhan and the others instantly turned to ash, returning to dust, not even a speck remaining.
Dead.
Completely dead.
Wiped clean from existence.
Here.
Silence.
A deathly silence.
The ruins were long gone, transformed into a pile of sandy waste, crushed into dust by absolute power.
The ground that hadn't turned to sand was crisscrossed with bottomless ravines.
The entire mountain villa was littered with corpses, with severed limbs and bloody remains everywhere.
No.
None could.
The Spirit-Capital Sect couldn't. The Bingxuan Sect couldn't. The Murong Clan of the Nine-Hua Alliance couldn't. Not even the Great Manor Lord of Crimson-Letter Manor activating the Great Hidden Dragon-Elephant Formation could.
Some dead, some annihilated, some injured, some crippled, some maimed, some kneeling.
True Person Yubing was still kneeling, but only kneeling. Disheveled, face full of terror, eyes vacant. He was dead.
Scared to death.
Earlier, he had said he wanted to see what Gu Qingfeng was capable of. Gu Qingfeng let him look. He had looked, and finally knew the extent of Gu Qingfeng's capabilities. It was just too late. He simply couldn't bear it, couldn't accept it, and was literally scared to death by Gu Qingfeng's boundless, absolute stillness.
Wu Han was still kneeling. Wen Huayu and True Person Lianggong of the Bingxuan Sect were still kneeling. Murong Tai and the others were still kneeling. Their faces were equally ashen. Though not scared to death, it was nearly the same. Wu Han and Murong Tai had both believed their fathers' arrival would surely kill Gu Qingfeng. Wen Huayu had also believed the Bingxuan Sect's people would come and surely avenge her.
But that was only what they believed.
Wu Han's father came, and died.
Murong Tai's father came, and died.
The Bingxuan Sect's people came, hundreds of them. At this moment, each one was skin-split and flesh-torn, covered in blood. Either dead or injured, either crippled or maimed. Not a single one could still stand.
The mountain villa's Great Hidden Dragon-Elephant Formation was destroyed. Most of Crimson-Letter Manor had turned into sandy waste. In the distance stood many people. They watched, they gazed, they were shocked, they were terrified, they were afraid. No one dared to speak.
Night.
The moon was dark, the wind high. The night wind howled fiercely.
The white-robed man stood tall, his white robes fluttering in the wind, his black hair dancing wildly in the air. He stood with his hands behind his back, his expression somewhat indifferent, his eyes somewhat deep and dark. In the darkness, under the moonlight, his silhouette appeared especially lonely.
"The Lunar Seed is right here."
Gu Qingfeng beckoned with his hand. The Lunar Seed placed on the table was tossed before him. He asked, "Who else wants to snatch it?"
The Lunar Seed was a priceless treasure.
Who wouldn't want it?
But who would dare?
The answer was certain.
No one.
Gu Qingfeng's dark gaze swept out, scanning his surroundings. None of the gathered crowd dared to respond.
"Who else wants revenge?"
Gu Qingfeng's gaze swept over them. No one in the area dared to speak.
"Is there anyone who wants to call for reinforcements?"
"You!"
Gu Qingfeng raised his hand in a beckoning motion. Murong Tai was dragged before him. He asked, "Do you have anyone to call?"
Murong Tai was still alive, but only barely. Never mind that he was hanging on by a thread; even if his cultivation were intact, if he could still shout and call out, facing Gu Qingfeng here, how would he dare to speak?
Gu Qingfeng didn't even look at him, simply raised his hand and tossed him aside.
"You."
Gu Qingfeng beckoned with his hand, dragging an old woman before him. It was precisely the Grand Elder of the Bingxuan Sect, True Person Yubing.