Gu Qingfeng remained standing just like that.
Whether facing Si Qianhua's Sage's Salute or Zhu Xia, who was currently kowtowing and bowing her head, he offered no response, remaining unmoved. His deep, dark gaze remained fixed on Leng Yanqiu.
He was pondering a question.
Namely, how to deal with Leng Yanqiu.
To be precise, how to deal with the Bing Xuan Heart within Leng Yanqiu's body.
Because just moments ago when he took action, several powerful divine senses had locked onto him.
Clearly, these individuals did not want him to obtain the Bing Xuan Heart.
Gu Qingfeng understood very well in his heart that if he reclaimed the Bing Xuan Heart from Leng Yanqiu, it would be equivalent to fully intervening in this matter.
Those Agents of the Decree hiding in the shadows, who originally came for Yun Nishang, would almost certainly turn their focus toward him.
What awaited him might be a pile of troublesome affairs.
Of course, trouble was just trouble.
Gu Qingfeng was not afraid. What truly made him hesitate was the so-called Karma.
Obtaining the Bing Xuan Heart not only meant inviting a heap of trouble but also meant setting one foot into the Sea of Bitterness that was Karma. It was easy to get in, but difficult to get out later.
He had been contemplating this issue all along.
Across from him, Leng Yanqiu had thought that by lowering her status and agreeing to dual cultivation, she could avoid this conflict. However, she never expected that Zhu Xia would actually say something about Gu Qingfeng reclaiming her Bing Xuan Heart.
The Bing Xuan Heart was her reliance.
It was also because of the Bing Xuan Heart that she received so much admiration from others.
In Leng Yanqiu's view, losing the Bing Xuan Heart was no different from losing her life.
How could she be willing!
In a fit of rage, she leaped up. Radiant light flashed wildly around her body, and simultaneously, a tremendous power erupted from her. It was not Spiritual Energy, but an extremely special kind of power.
As this power was unleashed, goose-feather snow suddenly descended from the sky. A bitingly cold wind blew, and the surrounding air instantly froze into ice. Spiritual Energy was sealed in ice, and the freezing rapidly spread. Wherever it passed, everything turned to ice.
One meter, two meters, three meters, nine meters, ten meters, a hundred meters...
Within a hundred meters, everything was frozen. The air was, the Spiritual Energy was, people were, flowers, grass, and trees were. And Leng Yanqiu herself transformed into an ice sculpture.
Everyone realized a terrifying fact: Leng Yanqiu had utilized the power of the Bing Xuan Heart!
"You worthless trash named Gu! I don't believe you can withstand the power of the Bing Xuan Heart!
Die!"
As the ice-sculpted Leng Yanqiu charged forward, the power of the Bing Xuan Heart erupted completely. The snowflakes froze, suspended in mid-air. The formidable power of Bing Xuan surged wildly toward Gu Qingfeng with Leng Yanqiu's charge.
For a moment, the sky darkened, as if the entire world had been sealed by Bing Xuan.
It was utterly horrifying, utterly terrifying.
However.
The Gu Qingfeng opposite still did not move. He merely stood with his hands behind his back. Suddenly, radiant light flashed around his body. Turbulent radiance, like raging flames, burned wantonly, mixed with various strange flashes of lightning and sparks, crackling with a sizzling sound.
"Ignorant!"
Gu Qingfeng uttered two words lightly, then his voice suddenly turned thunderous: "Get down from there!"
As his rolling voice fell, a deafening roar erupted, filling the sky with startling thunderclaps!
Boom!
Crash!
Crack!
The leaders of various sects and associations over a kilometer away had no idea what was happening. They only felt as if the sky had plunged into darkness in an instant, followed by startling thunderclaps filling the heavens, and then...
And then there was no 'then.' Most people were knocked unconscious on the spot by this sound. Even experts with decent cultivation levels were left dizzy and disoriented, blood spurting from their mouths and noses.
After the might of that single sound fell, only a handful of people at the foot of Bing Xuan Sect could still stand.
Forcing down the fear in their hearts, they looked around. The surrounding ice instantly shattered. The myriad snowflakes frozen in mid-air were dispersed and vanished by the shockwave. The Bing Xuan power unleashed by Leng Yanqiu also dissipated into nothingness in that instant. She, who had turned into an ice sculpture, was forced back to her original form, bleeding from all seven orifices, and crashed heavily to the ground.
Heavens above!
What kind of power was this sound?
How could it be so terrifying!
What Leng Yanqiu had just unleashed was the power of the Bing Xuan Heart!
A legendary treasure of nature.
Once unleashed, snow fell from the sky, and the earth froze.
Yet such a powerful and profound Bing Xuan power was so utterly insignificant before the white-robed man, dispersed by the might of a single sound.
Too insane!
Too spine-chilling!
And too terrifying!
Within the arena.
Leng Yanqiu slowly climbed up from the ground. She was still alive, not dead.
After all, she had successively fused with two great treasures: the Bing Xuan Heart and the Bing Xuan Source.
Most importantly, she could live because Gu Qingfeng allowed her to live.
But she did not know this. As she stood up, a thunderous roar came.
"Kneel!"
The voice was like startling thunder, the sound like rolling thunder. It exploded forth, shaking the blood within Leng Yanqiu's body until it seeped from her pores. It shook her hair upright, tore her clothes, and split the skin all over her body. She knelt on the ground, her form barely human. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but her mouth was full of blood. Not a single word could come out.
Opposite her.
Gu Qingfeng lifted his foot and walked toward her.
He had thought it over and finally decided to reclaim the Bing Xuan Heart.
In other words, he had finally decided to set foot on this path of Karma from which there was no return.
Whether it brought a pile of trouble or the legendary Sea of Bitterness, he was too lazy to think about it anymore.
With one step, he covered ground instantly, arriving before her in a flash.
"Young Lord Gu...
Please spare her life..." Zhu Xia continued to kowtow and bow her head.
Gu Qingfeng paid no heed. Raising his hand, his five fingers spread open. Radiant light flashed in his palm, enveloping Leng Yanqiu within it. Before long, a crystal-clear stone emitting a cold, misty radiance was drawn over. This stone resembled a heart, brimming with vital life force. It was precisely the Bing Xuan Heart. And Leng Yanqiu, like a deflated ball, collapsed on the ground.
"I thank the Young Lord!
I thank the Young Lord!"
Zhu Xia knew that Gu Qingfeng had only extracted the Bing Xuan Heart, leaving the Bing Xuan Source within Leng Yanqiu's body. This was equivalent to sparing her life.
Glancing at the Bing Xuan Heart in his palm, Gu Qingfeng slowly put it away. Then he leaped into mid-air. His eyes swept across, scanning the four directions of east, south, west, and north. Immediately after, a voice like rolling thunderclaps spread out.
"From now on, I'm taking the Bing Xuan Heart.
"Yun Nishang's sin, I'll bear it for her.
"I don't care who you are. Those who came for her before, come for me from now on.
"Whether you want to fight, kill, or pass judgment, come at me. I'll take it all on."
No one knew what Gu Qingfeng's words truly meant. At least, no one present understood.
He stood in the void, hands behind his back, his robes flapping sharply, his black hair flying wildly. His expression was no longer indifferent but had become aloof. His eyes were no longer calm but had turned disdainful. His words were no longer low but had become domineering.
Even more bizarrely, it had been a bright noon sun just moments ago, but now, without anyone noticing, it was sunset, dusk.
A kind of gloomy twilight gradually enveloped everyone's hearts.
"Who's first, or are you coming together?"
No one responded.
Time passed bit by bit. The dusk gradually faded, and darkness seemed ready to descend at any moment.
"Since you don't dare to make a move, then get the hell out of here, as far as you can! If I ever catch sight of your shadows again, I'll kill you every time I see you, slaughtering you until you're completely extinct!"