"Gu? What about the surname Gu? There are plenty of people in the world surnamed Gu."
Old Hui didn't understand what Wei Qing meant by muttering about the surname Gu. As he pondered, he suddenly thought of something, his heart giving a violent jolt. He said in shock, "Young Master... you... you couldn't possibly mean... you couldn't possibly suspect he is Monarch Chixiao, could you?"
Wei Qing's face was full of worry. He shook his head slightly and remained silent.
"Monarch Chixiao suffered nine Immortal Dao Judgments in this world back then. Although the first few failed to erase him, the tenth was the Great Immeasurable Judgment, which reduced Monarch Chixiao to ashes. Many witnessed it with their own eyes. It's impossible for him to still be alive."
Old Hui bowed his body, head lowered, his heart filled with an indescribable, chaotic feeling he himself couldn't understand. Seeing Wei Qing silent, he continued, "Although there have been rumors all these years that Monarch Chixiao is still alive, that he didn't die completely from the Immortal Dao Judgment back then, but instead used a supreme method to deceive heaven and revive, then ascended to the Celestial Realm under an alias... but rumors are just rumors. This story has circulated for three hundred years. No one knows the truth."
"Moreover, the 'Nine Heavens' searched almost every corner of the Celestial Realm to uncover the truth and found no trace of Monarch Chixiao. Taking a step back, even if Monarch Chixiao wasn't completely judged to death back then, ascended under an alias, and hid away... even if he survived the calamity, he would have had to pass through the Gate of Reincarnation to be reborn. But... Gu Qingfeng has no aura of impurity, nor is he a reincarnated person."
"Could it be that Monarch Chixiao, like the Empress, used Bloodline inheritance to awaken?"
Wei Qing shook his head. "He has no Bloodline aura."
"But... then why would you suspect he is Monarch Chixiao?"
"I just had this strange thought occur to me by chance."
Wei Qing sighed.
To be honest, he also didn't believe Monarch Chixiao was still alive.
Just as Old Hui said, Monarch Chixiao committed heinous crimes in this world back then. The Immortal Dao wouldn't allow him to live, the Demonic Dao wouldn't allow it, and the Heavenly Dao certainly wouldn't either. Even if he truly hadn't died completely back then, if he were still alive, he would either have reincarnated or used Bloodline inheritance. There was simply no other path.
Yet Gu Qingfeng had no aura of impurity whatsoever. He was neither a reincarnated person nor a Bloodline inheritor.
He looked like an ordinary person, ordinary to the extreme.
But that was only in appearance.
Would an ordinary person's physical body be so formidable?
Would an ordinary person, merely at the Foundation Establishment stage, possess such powerful spiritual energy?
Would an ordinary person adhere to the Three Lives, Three Deaths path of slaughter?
The answer was certain.
Absolutely impossible.
As for who Gu Qingfeng truly was, even if Wei Qing racked his brains, he couldn't figure it out.
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, quietly sensing the countless people gathered around. At this moment, Wei Qing finally understood one thing.
Gu Qingfeng's massacre here was to intimidate, to intimidate everyone in the surrounding regions and eliminate unnecessary trouble.
Gu Qingfeng's deliberate use of the Three Lives, Three Deaths slaughter method earlier was to lure. With this move, he had lured out almost everyone related to the Soul Pearls. Thanks to Gu Qingfeng's lure, Wei Qing now knew that so many terrifying existences had been watching the Empress's Soul Pearls from behind the scenes.
There were those with Heavenly Edicts.
There were those with Buddha Edicts.
There were those with Immortal Edicts.
There were even those with Demonic Edicts.
At the same time, there were two mysterious individuals, two existences even Wei Qing didn't know. He could only sense that those two possessed extremely holy spiritual auras. And he knew that the meaning behind the existence of a holy aura was far too complex, so complex he didn't dare imagine.
This filled Wei Qing's heart with great terror and unease.
He couldn't understand.
The Empress's use of a great method indeed violated the laws of heaven and earth. The Buddha Edict came for karma, the Heavenly Edict came for the Heavenly Dao... but why did those with Immortal Edicts come?
And why the Demonic Edicts?
And those two holy mysterious individuals, why were they here?
Could they all be here for the Empress?
That couldn't be possible!
If that were truly the case, how could the Empress's Bloodline awaken?
Just thinking about so many Edict-holders appearing made Wei Qing's scalp tingle.
In the field.
Elder Sen knelt, kneeling respectfully, and trembling as he knelt.
Second Master Hai was the same.
Opposite, the white-robed man still stood with his hands behind his back, standing there, only slightly frowning as he gazed at the Lunar Seed on the table. Then he turned to look at the surrounding crowd.
"You there... is anyone among you here for me?"
Gu Qingfeng's expression was cold, his pair of dark eyes like a silent abyss, like an endless dead sea. Sweeping across, it was a gaze that looked down upon heaven and earth. His voice came, quiet yet overwhelmingly domineering to all living beings.
That contemptuous gaze, looking down upon the heavens, seemed capable of seeing through everything in the world.
That overwhelmingly domineering voice, arrogant and unrivaled, seemed capable of intimidating all things in the world.
In the distance, on the sand dune, Wei Qing lowered his head. He knew Gu Qingfeng's question was directed at those hidden in the crowd—the Heavenly Edict, Buddha Edict, and Immortal Edict holders.
Why was he asking?
What did he want to do?
Was he probing?
Probing what?
Thinking of this, Wei Qing's expression stiffened, his heart murmuring: Could it be that not all the Edict-holders who came today are here for the Empress?
Some are here for him?
But why?
He didn't know.
And couldn't figure it out.
Just as Wei Qing was puzzled, Gu Qingfeng's overwhelmingly domineering voice came again.
"If you're here for me, you can step forward now."
He was indeed probing.
Probing whether these Edict-holders came for the Empress or for him.
Time passed bit by bit. No one stepped forward.
Suddenly.
Brilliant light shimmered around Gu Qingfeng's body—a turbid radiance, burning like flames. Within the flames, countless sparks of lightning crackled and exploded, emitting crisp, crackling sounds that, upon reaching the ears, made scalps tingle and hairs stand on end.
Faintly, a palm-sized talisman appeared on his chest. The talisman flickered indistinctly, blurring and twisting within the flames.
Others didn't know what this talisman was.
But Wei Qing knew. It was a Heart-Destroying Soul-Control Talisman, an extremely sophisticated great method. Once planted with this talisman, one's heart would be destroyed and their soul controlled.
Clearly, at some unknown time, by some unknown person, a Heart-Destroying Soul-Control Talisman had been planted on Gu Qingfeng.
"What's this?"
Gu Qingfeng gently raised his hand, grabbing the Heart-Destroying Soul-Control Talisman imprinted on his chest in his palm. A trace of disdainful smile crossed the corner of his mouth. "Bold enough to plant this worthless thing on me, but not bold enough to step forward?"
With that, he clenched his five fingers into a fist. As he clenched, a series of crisp crackles sounded, and the Heart-Destroying Soul-Control Talisman was instantly crushed to dust in his grip.
Gu Qingfeng's dark eyes swept across the scene, then landed on an unfamiliar man in the crowd. That unfamiliar man's expression changed, and with a *whoosh*, he transformed into a streak of light and vanished into the sky.
"Clean up the manor. I'll come find you later."
Leaving these words, Gu Qingfeng tapped his toes. With a *zing*, he shot up like an arrow, straight into the clouds and sky.
At the same time, *whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!*
Several streaks of light from the crowd chased after him.