Gu Qingfeng held no favorable opinion of Genggu Wuming.
Not only did he hold no favorable opinion, but he had always been deeply displeased by her very existence.
To put it plainly,
Genggu Wuming had never caused Gu Qingfeng any harm—not even once.
Counting them up, the two had only met twice.
Moreover,
during their first meeting, Gu Qingfeng hadn't even known the other party was Genggu Wuming.
Their second meeting was when Mount Wudao descended; at the time, Gu Qingfeng couldn't be bothered to pay her any mind.
Yet even so,
Gu Qingfeng still felt an aversion to Genggu Wuming's existence.
This aversion seemed innate, deeply rooted, as if an instinctual displeasure toward Genggu Wuming was etched into his very bones.
Gu Qingfeng had always felt that Genggu Wuming was like a specter watching him, following him, clinging to him like a stubborn plaster that couldn't be shaken off.
All sorts of inexplicable karma at play, all kinds of chaotic arrangements of fate.
It had always displeased Gu Qingfeng greatly, and he resented Genggu Wuming from the bottom of his heart.
Who told her she was the embodiment of karma, the messenger of fate?
If she didn't shoulder this blame, who would?
If Gu Qingfeng didn't settle accounts with her, with whom else could he settle them?
"Heh!"
Gu Qingfeng chuckled, loosened his collar, cracked his neck, and with a wicked smile curling at the corner of his mouth, said, "I wasn't going to look for her, but she delivered herself to my doorstep. Fine then—new debts and old, I'll settle them all with her this time."
Beside him, hearing Gu Qingfeng speak like this, Huode was so frightened his heart leaped into his throat. He rushed over to block Gu Qingfeng, his face flushed red as he shouted, "Kid Gu! What are you thinking of doing?
Don't you dare act recklessly!
That's Lady Tianji!
She's the embodiment of karma, the messenger of fate! In the Myriad Heavens, she's revered like a deity! Even the Three Thousand Great Daos dare not breathe heavily in her presence!
You absolutely must stay calm, kid! Don't you dare piss her off, or she might banish you into the Guixu Abyss! Then you'll truly be crying out to heaven with no answer, crying out to earth with no response—you won't even have a place to weep!"
"I'd like to see her try to banish me to the Guixu Abyss. I'm just afraid she won't make a move!"
With that,
Gu Qingfeng directly flashed into Yunxia Sect.
"You kid—!" Huode was frantic with anxiety and hurriedly followed after him.
At this very moment,
within Yunxia Sect, in a courtyard garden.
Five women were chatting and laughing merrily inside a pavilion.
One of them was a young girl wearing a light red dress with a white gossamer outer robe, her long hair cascading naturally. She gave off a very lively, clever, and adorable feeling—this was Xiao Jinr.
Xiao Jinr was talking and laughing, looking extremely happy.
Standing beside the pavilion were two other women.
One woman was dressed in magnificent, formal attire, appearing dignified and noble, her face solemn and unsmiling, giving off a rather coldly beautiful air.
This woman was the senior sister of Holy Maiden Su Hua and also an esteemed Immortal Dao Lady—Nalan Qianqiu.
Standing beside Nalan Qianqiu was another woman dressed in dark red robes, her hair tied in a ponytail. Her features looked rather ordinary, not particularly beautiful, but her eyes were pitch-black like ink, deep as abysses.
She was the ruler of the Immortal Dynasty in the Genggu World—Mo Ruyi.
Whether it was Nalan Qianqiu or Mo Ruyi, both stood properly to the side. Though their expressions weren't overly stern, one could tell they seemed to harbor a sense of reverence. They were both very quiet, watching the three people chatting and laughing inside the pavilion, neither daring to casually interject.
Inside the pavilion,
one woman sat upright, wearing a black formal gown, her long hair coiled high. Her appearance was stunningly beautiful, dignified and grand.
Her beauty was breathtakingly gorgeous, enchanting and moving, beautiful in a myriad of charming ways, beautiful in a peerless, era-defining manner.
Her aura was matchless in the world, both like the great sun—sacred and luminous—and like the dark, tranquil Gloom Moon in the night sky.
Her existence was mysterious and elusive, like a celestial being of the Nine Heavens or a demonic god of the Nine Nethers, both illusory and real, true and false, impossible to see through, giving people a very unreal feeling.
Sitting on the chair, though her every smile and frown seemed casual, it was as if she were an empress descending from the heavens above, supremely noble, inspiring awe in all who beheld her.
This woman was precisely the eldest senior sister of Nalan Qianqiu and Su Hua, with the Daoist title Cang Yan.
She was the master of one of the Thirty-Six Cave Heavens—Langya Cave Heaven—and also a legendary woman renowned throughout the Great Wilderness. It was said that during the great Immortal-Demon War of the Primordial Era, she wielded a Great Dao treasure—the Zhutian Qin. With a single melody, 'Shaking the Eight Wastes,' she shook the Nine Heavens, trembled the Nine Nethers, stirred the cosmos, startled heaven and earth, threw the void into chaos, and caused the Immortals and Demons to cease their fighting.
Throughout the ages in the Great Wilderness, she was absolutely a well-deserved legendary woman.
And sitting across from Cang Yan
were two young girls.
One was Xiao Jinr; the other girl looked about the same age as Xiao Jinr, perhaps fourteen or fifteen, wearing a simple, plain white dress.
However,
this white-clad girl was not as innocent and artless as Xiao Jinr, nor did she possess any adorable charm (qiao guai ke ai - clever cuteness). What she had was a plainness that shouldn't belong to one of her age.
She was truly ordinary.
So ordinary that one couldn't find any shining qualities on her. Ordinary like weeds on the grassland, ordinary like droplets in the vast sea, even more ordinary like a speck of dust in this world—insignificant, as if once you closed your eyes, you could no longer remember her appearance.
Even now, as she sat there chatting and laughing with Xiao Jinr, it was still difficult for anyone to notice her presence.
Her countenance was like this.
Her voice was like this.
Her eyes were like this.
Her very person was like this.
From head to toe, even every strand of hair seemed utterly ordinary, as if she were indistinguishable from the pavilion, indistinguishable from Xiao Jinr, indistinguishable from the flowers and plants in the courtyard garden, from the rich spiritual energy of Yunxia Sect, from the natural Yin-Yang and Five Elements, from all things between heaven and earth.
The reason Nalan Qianqiu and Mo Ruyi were so reverent, standing properly to the side, was not only because Cang Yan was present but more so because they both knew that this white-clad girl who seemed plain and ordinary, laughing and chatting with Xiao Jinr, was none other
than the legendary Lady Tianji, who knew the past and future, held the reins of fate and karma, deduced the cosmos and primordial chaos, comprehended the mysteries of heaven and earth—the embodiment of karma, the messenger of fate—Genggu Wuming, a woman omniscient and revered like a deity throughout the Myriad Heavens.
Just then,
a man walked in.
Seeing this man, Nalan Qianqiu and Mo Ruyi's expressions changed slightly, and a strange light flickered in their eyes, but neither spoke.
When Cang Yan saw the man, she seemed unmoved, merely wearing a faint smile.
And when Genggu Wuming saw the man, her utterly ordinary face showed no change whatsoever.
"Big Brother!"
Xiao Jinr saw Gu Qingfeng and ran over to him joyfully, calling out, "Why did you only come back now? We've been waiting for you for ages!"