"This...
Junior Sister, you're here too."
Da Xing the Mad Monk greeted Water Moon Bodhisattva when he saw her.
Water Moon Bodhisattva merely nodded, saying nothing more.
Although the two were senior and junior brother and sister, their relationship was not good. They had fallen out several times before, and it wasn't the first time they had come to blows.
After the decline of the Chan Sect, Water Moon Bodhisattva had been striving tirelessly to revive it. Over the years, she had poured countless efforts and dedication into this cause. Da Xing the Mad Monk not only refused to help but also stirred up trouble everywhere, tarnishing the Chan Sect's reputation, which gave the Pure Land Sect and the other seven Buddhist schools grounds to target and suppress the Chan Sect.
This was the fundamental reason why Water Moon Bodhisattva had left the Chan Sect back then.
In her view, the Chan Sect's current miserable state was, to a greater or lesser extent, caused by Da Xing the Mad Monk's own actions.
Therefore, she despised Da Xing the Mad Monk from the bottom of her heart and had once suspected that he was colluding with the eight Buddhist schools to covet the Chan Sect's supreme treasure.
Although Da Xing the Mad Monk had already clarified this matter, it did not dispel Water Moon Bodhisattva's inner suspicions. Even now, she still did not fully trust him.
Nearby, the Black Mountain Five Monsters kept asking Da Xing the Mad Monk all sorts of questions. The five monsters seemed to have never held Da Xing the Mad Monk in any regard, calling him "little bald donkey" as if he were a child. They not only looked down on Da Xing the Mad Monk but also seemed to disregard Gu Qingfeng.
Tudigong, the leader of the five monsters, appeared relatively normal.
As for Leigong, Dianmu, and Feng Siniang, none of them seemed to have a normal mind.
Especially Huo Toutuo, whose temper was notoriously explosive. Holding a pair of hammers, he found everyone displeasing. When they first met, he had wanted to test his skills against Gu Qingfeng. This time, seeing Gu Qingfeng again, he kept brandishing his hammers. If not for Tudigong stopping him, it seemed Huo Toutuo would have insisted on fighting Gu Qingfeng.
Inside the area.
With Gu Qingfeng's appearance, the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.
For the Blue Tusk Ghost King, Blood Toad Monster King, and others, Gu Qingfeng's appearance might only be shocking and terrifying.
However, for Eastern Peak Great Emperor Zhuge Yun and Duke Lingyin of the Purple Cloud Immortal Realm and Loulan Blessed Land, beyond shock, there was more anger!
Because they had all received news that not long ago, more than ten elders from the Purple Cloud Immortal Realm, including Patriarch Lieyin and Immortal King Yuyang, had died tragically in another ruin. The Loulan Blessed Land suffered even worse—over forty elders who had attained profound enlightenment died on the spot. Additionally, there were five Great Dao Star Monarchs, two Great Dao Throne Monarchs, and the leader of the expedition was a Great Dao Sovereign Monarch.
The culprit was none other than Gu Qingfeng!
Although the Purple Cloud Immortal Realm was a Great Desolate giant, losing more than ten elders and one Great Dao Immortal King at once was an absolutely devastating blow.
Especially for the Loulan Blessed Land. Not only did they lose over forty elders, but also five Great Dao Star Monarchs, two Great Dao Throne Monarchs, and one Great Dao Sovereign Monarch. This could no longer be described as a severe loss; for the Loulan Blessed Land, it was almost a catastrophic disaster.
It must be understood that those deceased elders were all experienced, knowledgeable, and highly cultivated seniors. Each was a backbone of the Loulan Blessed Land, almost all managing the resource lifelines of various worlds. Their deaths now meant the loss of resource lifelines across many worlds—the damage was undeniably severe.
Most importantly, this time the Loulan Blessed Land also lost five Great Dao Star Monarchs, two Great Dao Throne Monarchs, and one Great Dao Sovereign Monarch, all erased by Gu Qingfeng.
Everyone knew what the existence of a Great Dao Heavenly Mandate signified.
After all, they were individuals who bore the Heavenly Mandate, orthodox representatives of the Great Dao, complying with the will of heaven.
In other words, a Great Dao Heavenly Mandate not only represented the orthodoxy of the Great Dao but also the will of the Great Dao's heaven.
Legitimate and proper, their influence naturally could not be underestimated.
In a sense, calling them representatives of the future was not an overstatement.
Because no matter what changes occurred in the future, there would certainly be a place for Great Dao Heavenly Mandates.
Precisely for this reason, the Great Desolate giants and the Grotto Heavens and Blessed Lands spared no effort in nurturing Great Dao Heavenly Mandates.
And nurturing a single Great Dao Heavenly Mandate required efforts and costs unimaginable to ordinary people. Ordinary families, sects, and even some immortal realms could not afford to support one. Only long-established Great Desolate giants and deeply rooted Grotto Heavens and Blessed Lands could.
Now, the Loulan Blessed Land had lost so many Great Dao Heavenly Mandates at once. This was like severing one of the Loulan Blessed Land's arms. Although it might not cause the Loulan Blessed Land to decline from now on, it would definitely affect its status in the Great Desolate.
Moreover, at such a critical juncture determining the future, losing so many Great Dao Heavenly Mandates would inevitably cause them to miss numerous opportunities. The consequences that would follow were unimaginable. It was not impossible that the Loulan Blessed Land might decline from this point onward.
Therefore.
When the people from the Loulan Blessed Land heard that the man in white before them was the Nine Nethers Emperor, each one was filled with uncontrollable rage. Duke Lingyin, their leader, was so furious his face flushed crimson. Staring at Gu Qingfeng, he spat out each word through gritted teeth: "Surname!
Gu!
You!"
Gu Qingfeng raised an eyebrow, asking curiously, "What's up?"
"Do you recognize this old man?"
Gu Qingfeng, while drinking fine wine, glanced at Duke Lingyin, shook his head, and said bluntly, "No."
"This old man is Lingyin, a Grand Elder of the Loulan Blessed Land!"
"So?"
Gu Qingfeng looked at Duke Lingyin's furious expression and said, "Judging by your look, do we have some grudge?
Or what?"
"A grudge?
Hahahahaha!"
Duke Lingyin laughed in extreme anger, his laughter particularly piercing. His eyes turned blood-red as he gnashed his teeth and shouted, "Not long ago, in another ancient ruin, you killed over forty elders of our Loulan Blessed Land! Besides them, you also murdered five Great Dao Star Monarchs, two Great Dao Throne Monarchs, and even this old man's disciple, Sovereign Qingli, died tragically by your hand!"
If Duke Lingyin hadn't said this, it would have been fine. But once he did, it truly startled everyone else present.
Lady Water Mirror and the others from the Eternal Life Pavilion had not known previously that Gu Qingfeng had also come to the Primordial Black Hole, nor did they know about this incident. Hearing Duke Lingyin speak of it now, they all felt their scalps go numb. This included the Blue Tusk Ghost King, Blood Toad Monster King, Water Moon Bodhisattva, and Pure Robe Bodhisattva and his group.
They all knew that Gu Qingfeng's existence was mysterious, bizarre, terrifying, and dreadful.
But exactly how mysterious and bizarre, or how terrifying and dreadful, no one could be sure.
Hearing that over forty profoundly enlightened elders of the Loulan Blessed Land, five Great Dao Star Monarchs, two Great Dao Throne Monarchs, and even Duke Lingyin's disciple Sovereign Qingli had all died tragically at Gu Qingfeng's hands truly shocked them profoundly.
Everyone present, whether Water Moon Bodhisattva, Lady Water Mirror, Pure Robe Bodhisattva, or Eastern Peak Great Emperor, were all individuals of immense supernatural powers. They would not generally pay heed to ordinary profoundly enlightened old Mysterious Immortals; Great Dao Star Monarchs and Great Dao Throne Monarchs posed little threat to them.
But that was all.