Beneath the vast sky, above the clouds.
The moon was dark, the wind high.
The moon was a dark moon, the wind a fierce wind—a fierce wind sharp as blade qi, capable of tearing an ordinary cultivator to shreds in an instant.
Within the void, Gu Qingfeng stood suspended in the air. His pristine white robes flapped loudly in the fierce wind, his black hair danced wildly in the gale. His cold, stern face held a severe expression, his dark eyes held a deep silence, and the corner of his mouth held a strange, faint smile.
"Another doppelganger, another transformation, another concealment, another derivation. Striking without form, executing the heart and controlling the soul. You truly live up to being a Bearer of the Immortal Edict. Wielding the name of the Immortal Dao, you play more sinisterly than the Demonic Dao. You're cut from the same cloth as the Immortal Dao."
Standing opposite him was an eerie man.
The man was like wind, like rain, even more like mist—very blurry, flickering and unstable. Vaguely, one could make out a very ordinary-looking face. His expression was alert as he spoke, "Who are you!"
Gu Qingfeng's voice was cold. "You don't even know who I am, yet you dare to dream of controlling my soul!"
"Seeking death!"
The Bearer of the Immortal Edict roared in anger. His flickering figure suddenly became even more ethereal and elusive, like a man of mist.
He threw a punch. A punch that seemed ordinary, yet was layered with profound mysteries. Its might was like a mountain range, its momentum like rivers and mountains, like rolling river waves, like a raging tsunami.
At the same time, Gu Qingfeng also threw a punch. Unlike the man opposite him, his punch held no mysteries—it was pure force.
Boom!
Crack!
The two fists collided, producing a thunderous sound. A powerful shockwave spread out, instantly dispersing and annihilating the fierce winds in the void.
"Hmph! I thought you had some heaven-defying ability. You can't even withstand a single punch from my doppelganger's transformed form. You're nothing special!"
After speaking, the Mysterious Man suddenly felt something was wrong. He realized that Gu Qingfeng had vanished.
When did he disappear?
Unknown.
How did he disappear?
Unknown.
Where was he now?
Also unknown.
In that instant.
The Mysterious Man sensed something. He jerked his head up to see a massive palm pressing down from above. This palm's might was immense, its momentum overwhelming. As it pressed down, its five fingers were like celestial peaks, its force like the great firmament. Its palm lines resembled deep ravines, and the vast Spiritual Power within its palm was like rolling dark clouds, mixed with countless millions of lightning bolts.
By the time the Mysterious Man reacted, it was already too late.
With a bang!
The Mysterious Man's form was instantly shattered and dispersed, turning into countless points of starlight. Strangely, the countless starlight points instantly coalesced and reformed—he had come back to life.
At that moment, Gu Qingfeng appeared out of thin air. He grabbed the man by the throat with one hand, raised his other arm, fingers splayed, and slammed his palm onto the top of the Mysterious Man's head.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Three palms, three impacts. Each time the Mysterious Man was shattered, he would instantly reform, a truly miraculous sight.
"This doppelganger of mine was refined using the Dark Moon and stars! How dare you think you can destroy me!"
The ethereal, blurry Mysterious Man snarled viciously, roaring with a hoarse voice. Dazzling starlight erupted from his body as he struggled to break free.
Swoosh!
Gu Qingfeng held the Mysterious Man in a fierce grip with one hand. On his cold, stern face, his expression held a lawless, solitary arrogance. Between his brows was an unbridled, rampant audacity. In his eyes was a gaze that looked down upon the heavens. When he spoke, his voice was a domineering, earth-shattering, vast resonance.
"A mere insignificant doppelganger. So what if you were refined from the Dark Moon and stars? Even if your doppelganger was refined from the heart of the Azure Moon, I, your father, would still destroy you!"
As his words fell, Gu Qingfeng took a step forward. The Spiritual Power within his body instantly coursed through all his meridians. Suddenly, a series of crackling sounds erupted as all ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine acupoints on his body opened at this moment.
Swoosh!
The fiery lightning radiance around him instantly surged, reaching nine meters in height. The flames grew more ferocious, the lightning more furious.
Gu Qingfeng raised his hand and slammed his palm onto the Mysterious Man's head. Ferocious flames burned the Mysterious Man, furious lightning blasted him.
He took another step forward.
Another series of crisp crackling sounds. Another ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine acupoints opened completely. The flames and lightning around him surged again, another nine meters in height. The flames grew even more ferocious, the lightning even more furious!
Another palm slammed onto the Mysterious Man's head.
The Mysterious Man's form shattered again, then reformed and coalesced once more. But this time, the speed of reformation was much slower. The reformed doppelganger also became more ethereal, more vague.
With every step Gu Qingfeng took, ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine acupoints all over his body would burst open. The flames around him would surge. With every slap that landed, the Mysterious Man's reforming doppelganger would become increasingly vague, increasingly weak.
With the third step, Foundation Establishment Third Level. The flames and lightning around him surged to three times nine, twenty-seven meters.
Fourth step, Foundation Establishment Fourth Level...
Eighth step, Foundation Establishment Eighth Level, flames and lightning surged to seventy-two meters.
Ninth step, Foundation Establishment Ninth Level. All billions of acupoints on his body opened completely. Flames and lightning surged to a colossal nine times nine, eighty-one meters.
One step, one level of heaven. Millions of acupoints open.
Ferocious fires scorch the sky's edge, furious lightning blasted the void!
Spiritual Power vast, nine transformations. Nine transformations, nine derivations, slaughter fills the sky.
The colossal eighty-one-meter-tall flames and lightning burned and blasted wildly in the void. Gu Qingfeng's white robes snapped crisply amidst the flames, his black hair flew wantonly within the lightning. In this place, at this moment, he was like a true God descended from the Nine Heavens, divine might vast and boundless. Yet also like a true Demon erupting from the Nine Nethers, demonic might overwhelming the heavens. In his dark eyes, a rolling tide of killing intent.
As for the Mysterious Man's form, it was now vague to the point of being almost indistinguishable, thin as a cicada's wing, weak to the extreme, like a candle flickering in the wind, as if it could be extinguished at any moment. He seemed to sense Gu Qingfeng's killing intent and snarled viciously.
"I am a Bearer of the Immortal Edict! If you dare destroy my doppelganger, I will make sure you die without a place to be buried!"
"I, your father, kill precisely Bearers of the Immortal Edict like you!"
As his voice fell, his arm rose. His five fingers splayed like ancient pagodas. Within his palm, turbid Spiritual Power, flames filling the sky, lightning overwhelming. One palm descended. With a thunderous roar that echoed through the heavens, the Mysterious Man was blasted into nothingness. The countless points of starlight could no longer reform, for they had been utterly annihilated, completely.
Dead.
Utterly dead.
The Bearer of the Immortal Edict had been erased by him just like that.
Although it was only a doppelganger, with its destruction, the true body would inevitably be affected. The flesh body would be, the soul would be, the mind and spirit would be—everything would suffer repercussions. Recovering would not be easy, not even for a Bearer of the Immortal Edict.
At the very least, Gu Qingfeng could ensure this bastard wouldn't show up again for a while.
Within the void.
In the distance.
A fat monk had been craning his neck to watch. It was a monk who looked rather sleazy, draped in a greasy kasaya, with two hammers hanging at his waist. It was none other than Monk Bu'er.
He liked to eat meat.
But at this moment, he was no longer eating.
His face was ashen, his mouth agape, he stood there dumbfounded, his eyes also filled with endless terror.
When Gu Qingfeng's gaze swept over, Monk Bu'er was so frightened he plopped down and knelt in mid-air. With a mournful face, he stammered, "Master! Great Master! This humble monk... this humble monk isn't here to cause you trouble... Absolutely not! This humble monk dares to swear, if there's half a lie, may I be struck by five thunderclaps, never to reincarnate."