Brilliant light suddenly erupted around Yu Dingxing, blazing like mad flames, within which four hues bloomed.
Azure Foundation.
Azure True Body.
Azure Purple Palace.
Illusory Golden Core.
Three azure and one illusory—the four hues of the Great Natural Order blossomed like flowers, layer upon layer, dazzling and vast.
At the same time, a torrent of Spiritual Power burst forth with astonishing momentum, its powerful ripples spreading out. With a single step forward, the ground beneath his feet instantly shattered into pieces. A fierce wind howled across the scene, whipping up dust and debris.
At this moment, Yu Dingxing was clad in the radiance of four hues, Spiritual Power surging around him. His face was twisted with rage, fury burning in his eyes. Roaring, he swung his arms, the colorful light around him swirling in tandem with his movements.
"Gu!
Prepare to die!"
Whoosh!
The myriad lights instantly coalesced into a giant beast.
The beast was some seven or eight meters tall, resembling a fierce tiger, solid and tangible. As it formed, a ferocious tiger's roar echoed forth, shaking the surrounding air.
This was the Thunderous Fierce Tiger Art.
A Yellow-grade martial art.
Observing the tiger, its aura was ferocious, containing a full seventy-two tiger-aura mysteries.
And Yu Dingxing himself possessed the cultivation of the eighth revolution of the Golden Core. He was unleashing his full power, augmented by the three azure and one illusory mysteries of the Great Natural Order. Its might was unimaginable.
Roar!
The massive Thunderous Fierce Tiger bared its claws and pounced fiercely.
Opposite.
Inside the pavilion, the short, fat Fei Kui kept his head bowed, too scared to look.
Beside him, the man in white remained seated on the stone stool as calmly as ever, his handsome face still composed. There was no fear, no panic—only an endless, profound tranquility. Even as such a ferocious Thunderous Fierce Tiger hurtled toward him, his brow didn't even twitch. Holding a wine cup in his right hand, he continued to drink.
The Thunderous Fierce Tiger arrived in an instant.
The man in white moved, but only to slowly raise his left arm. No light erupted, no Spiritual Power surged forth. He simply opened his five fingers and, with the strength of his palm, blocked Yu Dingxing's attack—a strike imbued with the three azure and one illusory mysteries of the Great Natural Order and the seventy-two tiger-aura mysteries, backed by the power of an eighth-revolution Golden Core.
Effortlessly.
Truly effortlessly.
With casual ease, neither hurried nor slow, he simply blocked it.
He drained the wine in his cup in one gulp. With a casual flick of the left arm that blocked the Thunderous Fierce Tiger—again, no light erupted, no Spiritual Power surged—*pa!* The Thunderous Fierce Tiger instantly disintegrated and vanished.
Witnessing this scene.
Everyone present couldn't help but suck in a cold breath.
Gu Qingfeng's cultivation had always been a mystery.
No one knew his true cultivation level or strength.
They only knew his cultivation wasn't high, his Spiritual Power was unusually murky, yet he was astonishingly powerful.
They also knew his physical body, due to his mutated constitution, was exceptionally robust.
But just how robust, no one had a concrete idea.
Now, witnessing with their own eyes how he casually waved a hand and caused Yu Dingxing's Thunderous Fierce Tiger to vanish into thin air, many finally realized a terrifying truth: Gu Qingfeng was not only mysterious and bizarre in background, but his cultivation and strength were equally enigmatic and possibly even more frightening than imagined.
"This matter has nothing to do with you. Don't involve yourself."
Gu Qingfeng patted his hands, brushing off some crumbs of red-leaf demon fruit, then slowly stood up. He walked out of the pavilion, stood with his hands behind his back, and gazed expressionlessly at Yu Dingxing opposite him, saying softly, "As for Leng Yanqiu, I've said I won't become her Dao companion, much less engage in dual cultivation with her."
Yu Dingxing glared furiously at Gu Qingfeng, his face contorted with rage. The four-colored light shimmering around him gradually became shrouded in a layer of icy mist.
This was the Bing Xuan Seed!
Everyone knew that after Leng Yanqiu fused with the Bing Xuan Heart, the Nine Sons and Eighteen Chiefs of the Bing Xuan Sect had each fused with a Bing Xuan Seed.
Previously, Xu Xingchen, the head of the Eighteen Chiefs, had relied on the power of the Bing Xuan Seed to effortlessly obliterate a genius from the Thousand Expeditions Hall who was his equal in strength.
After fusing with the Bing Xuan Seed, Xu Xingchen's power had skyrocketed.
If even he was like that, how much more so for Yu Dingxing, the head of the Nine Sons?
At this moment, as Yu Dingxing summoned the Bing Xuan Seed, his entire person became like an ice sculpture. The surrounding temperature plummeted straight down, bitingly cold, the air seeming to freeze into frost.
Seeing that he still intended to attack, Gu Qingfeng's brow finally twitched slightly. His originally narrowed eyes gradually opened, their dark pupils as still as an abyss. His expression shifted from initial tranquility to a profound depth. "I said this has nothing to do with you. Don't overstep your bounds."
"I don't believe you're really that powerful!"
As if having lost his senses, Yu Dingxing roared. A flash of light, a movement of frost—and his entire body instantly transformed into a long, sharp blade of ice. As it shot forward, it seemed to cleave the earth itself, carving a fissure over a meter wide lined with ice.
Opposite.
Gu Qingfeng stood there, his hair unmoving, his sleeves undisturbed, hands behind his back. As this blade of ice shot toward him, he abruptly kicked out. Again, no light erupted, no Spiritual Power surged.
Crack!
The ice blade shattered into pieces under his kick, instantly disintegrating.
Yu Dingxing's body was revealed, sent flying sideways before *thudding* to the ground in utter disarray. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, his face ashen. Before he could even feel shock or terror, he forced himself to stand despite the tearing pain throughout his body, gritting his teeth and shouting, "You're nothing special either!"
With that, he tried to circulate his Golden Core to fight again.
But the moment he tried—Crack!
His Purple Palace Golden Core instantly exploded.
Gah!
Yu Dingxing vomited blood from his mouth and nose, collapsing to his knees with a *thump*. Pointing at Gu Qingfeng, his twisted face was filled with nothing but panic and fear.
Before, he hadn't believed Gu Qingfeng was truly this powerful.
Now, he finally believed.
But it was too late.
If he had known his limits and retreated when faced with difficulty, perhaps his Golden Core wouldn't have shattered.
Unfortunately, this world had no 'if's.
He knelt on the ground, straining to lift his head, wanting to say something, but not a single word could emerge.
Within the scene, whether it was the elders of the Bing Xuan Sect or the Nine Sons and Eighteen Chiefs.
Each and every one stood there, faces pale, eyes wide with terror.
Yu Dingxing possessed the three azure and one illusory mysteries of the Great Natural Order, the cultivation of the ninth revolution of the Golden Core, had fused with a Bing Xuan Seed, and cultivated a Yellow-grade great martial art. Going all out, he hadn't shaken Gu Qingfeng in the slightest. Instead, he'd been kicked so hard his Golden Core had exploded.
Who would dare step forward now?
Seeing him in this state, Jingtao was the first to rush over, immediately checking Yu Dingxing's injuries. To his shock, Yu Dingxing's Golden Core hadn't just shattered; his Purple Palace and even his Foundation had collapsed. One could say the man was completely crippled.
With just one kick.
And without using any Spiritual Power at that—a purely physical kick had just crippled Yu Dingxing!
Just how formidable was this man's physical body?
Jingtao's heart was filled with immense dread, but even more so with rage. He took a deep breath, stood up, pointed at Gu Qingfeng, and shouted harshly, "You have some nerve!
How dare you injure my sworn brother!"
Gu Qingfeng did not respond, not even bothering to glance at him. He simply looked at the kneeling Bing Xuan Ancestor and said calmly, "You may rise."