Gu Qingfeng didn't know whether Da Xing the Mad Monk was telling the truth or not. The only thing he knew was that if Da Xing had truly searched through all nine palaces of the Desolate Ancient Era to find him, then it was enough to prove that Da Xing's existence was far, far more formidable than he had imagined.
If Gu Qingfeng were the one tasked with finding a single person within the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces, he wouldn't have the slightest bit of confidence.
It would be harder than finding a needle in a haystack—no, harder than finding a needle in an ocean.
How would one even go about it?
Using just the naked eye?
That was obviously unrealistic.
The naked eye was, after all, just the naked eye. Even if one cultivated Fiery Golden Eyes or opened some kind of Dharma Eye or Wisdom Eye, they were still limited in scope.
Whether it was Fiery Golden Eyes or Dharma Eyes or Wisdom Eyes, their use was essentially to see past the surface to the inner truth—for example, seeing past the physical body to the soul, and so on.
For finding a person, they were utterly useless.
One could only employ Divine Sense to probe.
Divine Sense was like one's own consciousness traveling outward, akin to the soul leaving the body. The more powerful the Divine Sense, the wider the area it could cover and the clearer the things it could detect.
A person with powerful Divine Sense could sweep it out once, and within its range, any movement, no matter how slight, would appear in their mind.
However.
Let's be clear.
This was no ordinary mortal realm; this was the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces. It was no exaggeration to say that each palace was comparable to the vast, boundless, and ethereal void of the Great Desolation. No matter how powerful your Divine Sense was, it would be of no avail.
Most importantly, Divine Sense consumed one's own spiritual energy. For short durations and small areas, it was manageable. But for a place like the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces, even exhausting oneself to spiritual depletion probably wouldn't be enough.
Gu Qingfeng considered his own Divine Sense to be fairly decent. But if he were to deploy it to search through all nine palaces of the Desolate Ancient Era, he would die of exhaustion before he could manage it. Forget all nine palaces; even deploying his Divine Sense to search through just this Li Palace was an almost impossible task.
If Da Xing the Mad Monk had truly searched through all nine palaces to find him, then Gu Qingfeng could only bow in admiration.
Of course.
He also knew.
This old bald donkey Da Xing's words were always half-truths and half-falsehoods. When he said he had searched through all nine palaces, there was probably a fair amount of exaggeration involved.
Knowing Da Xing's character, Gu Qingfeng couldn't be bothered to press him.
"Gu kid, where have you been all this time?"
"Nowhere in particular, just wandering around."
As for Da Xing the Mad Monk, Gu Qingfeng couldn't say he particularly liked him, but he didn't dislike him either. Even though he clearly knew Da Xing must have some little scheme brewing in his heart, he couldn't be bothered to pay it any mind.
"Just wandering around?"
Da Xing chuckled darkly, asking with an air of profound mystery, "Kid, were you looking for the source of that loud noise?"
Gu Qingfeng glanced at him, shrugged, and didn't hide it. "So what if I was?"
Da Xing quickly pressed on, "Then did you find it?"
"If I had found it, do you think I'd still be here?"
"Fair point."
As the two chatted, they continued probing deeper into the Li Palace. Da Xing kept asking, "Gu kid, did you see Wu Dao Mountain?"
Hmm?
Hearing Da Xing suddenly bring up Wu Dao Mountain, Gu Qingfeng abruptly halted. He narrowed his eyes, sizing up Da Xing from head to toe. He had indeed seen Wu Dao Mountain while searching for the source of the noise, but how did Da Xing know about this?
"Did you enter a mysterious space?
That space also had many floating ruins, but the difference was, those ruins would scatter like bubbles at the slightest touch. It was in that mysterious space that you saw Wu Dao Mountain. To be precise…" Da Xing said with a smile, growing more enthusiastic as he spoke, "The loud noise came from Wu Dao Mountain. Am I right, Old Monk?"
Good heavens!
Hearing this, Gu Qingfeng's heart was filled with even more astonishment, because what Da Xing said was exactly what he had experienced earlier.
He knew this old bald donkey Da Xing's existence was definitely more powerful than imagined.
He also knew Da Xing was a bit… peculiar.
But wasn't this a bit too peculiar?
"Impressive!
Da Xing!"
Gu Qingfeng said, "Not simple at all."
"Hahahahaha!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk laughed triumphantly, a laugh so maniacal it was downright sinister. "Of course!
When has Old Monk ever been simple, hahahaha!
Just tell me, kid, are you impressed or not!
Hahahaha!"
Gu Qingfeng didn't say much more and continued exploring deeper.
Although he very much wanted to know exactly how Da Xing had learned these things, he didn't show it. Based on his understanding of Da Xing, this old bald donkey was clearly playing coy with him, deliberately trying to whet his appetite.
Moreover.
He was also certain that as long as he acted indifferent, before long, Da Xing would spill the beans himself.
Sure enough.
Seeing that Gu Qingfeng didn't even ask but continued exploring downward, Da Xing quickly chased after him and asked, "Don't you want to know how Old Monk found out?"
Gu Qingfeng shook his head and replied with two words: Not interested.
"You damn kid…
How…" Da Xing was speechless. This feeling was like spending a long time backstage doing makeup, primping for ages, only to step on stage and find there wasn't a single audience member.
It made him feel utterly deflated and pointless.
Even so, Da Xing didn't reveal it. "Gu kid, no matter what, Old Monk is someone who has lived from the Primordial Era till now. I've played more tricks than you can imagine. Don't think Old Monk doesn't know what game you're playing!"
"Actually, you definitely want to know, but you're pretending not to care, planning to leave Old Monk hanging so I'll spill it myself, right?"
"Let me tell you, kid, you're still green! Old Monk today just won't say it. Let's see who can hold out longer!"
Gu Qingfeng shot Da Xing a glance—one that clearly said he couldn't be bothered.
This made Da Xing feel more frustrated than ever.
If it were anyone else, he might be able to read their thoughts. But facing Gu Qingfeng, he genuinely couldn't tell if Gu Qingfeng truly didn't care or was just pretending not to care to leave him hanging.
The reason he said all that was also to try and bluff him.
The two of them continued exploring downward.
During this time.
Gu Qingfeng didn't say a single word.
In the end.
It was Da Xing who couldn't hold out.
His original intention was indeed to play coy, but now that his coyness hadn't worked, his heart felt as if it were being scratched by a cat's claws—unbearably uncomfortable.
After enduring a while longer, Da Xing really couldn't take it anymore and could only honestly confess, "Alright, alright!
Old Monk will tell you!"
Gu Qingfeng still didn't stop, continuing to explore deeper.
"It was Mo Wentian!
Old Monk ran into that kid Mo Wentian not long ago in the Qian Palace!
He's the one who told Old Monk!"
Hearing it was Mo Wentian, Gu Qingfeng's heart immediately felt relieved. "Mo Wentian is in the Qian Palace?"
"Damn it!
Old Monk knew you little brat was pretending not to care just to leave me hanging!
Goddamn it!
You're just too shameless!"
Da Xing's heart was filled with resentment—resentment that Gu Qingfeng could hold out so well, and resentment that he himself couldn't hold out at all!