The dark clouds of the Great Natural Order Storm blotted out the firmament.
The grayness of the Great Dao-Meteor Stream devoured the heavens.
The gray Great Dao-Meteor Stream and the Great Natural Order Storm stood in fierce opposition.
Boom!
Crack!
The sounds of wind and rain intermingled, of thunder and lightning, of falling meteors, and of the sky burning filled the air without end.
No one knew how much time had passed, but gradually, the gray Great Dao-Meteor Stream began to dissipate, and the Great Natural Order Storm also started to vanish.
As time trickled by, until both the Great Dao-Meteor Stream and the Great Natural Order Storm had completely disappeared, the sky returned to its former state.
The night was still a silent night.
The Gang Wind still howled atop the clouds.
Everything was just as it had been, as if none of this had ever happened.
Gu Qingfeng still stood atop the clouds, only the expression on his face had grown more solemn, and his eyes were filled with bewilderment.
During the confrontation between the Great Dao-Meteor Stream and the Great Natural Order Storm, he had already successfully opened his Purple Mansion.
Moreover, it was a Purple Mansion opened based on his Nether Flame Seed.
Although the Purple Mansion still contained the Endless Colors of the Great Natural Order,
this was within expectations.
Gu Qingfeng did not find it strange. The reason for his solemnity and confusion was because he discovered that within his Purple Mansion, besides containing the Endless Colors of the Great Natural Order, there was also a peculiar thing.
At this moment,
his Purple Mansion resembled a small world of flames.
Within this small world of the Purple Mansion was a vast ocean, turbid and boiling, its churning waters mingled with thunder and lightning.
This was his spiritual power.
The entire Purple Mansion was filled with fiercely burning violet Nether Flame, burning wildly, ceaselessly, like a flame of life—inextinguishable, burning without end, growing more vigorous by the moment. Simultaneously, the turbid spiritual power grew even more turbulent.
However,
peering through the violet Nether Flame, one could vaguely see a layer of color contained within, colors infinite and endless, shifting and transforming without limit.
The violet Nether Flame burned without cease, and the myriad colors shifted without end.
The violet Nether Flame was Gu Qingfeng's Nether Flame Seed, and the Endless Colors were precisely the Great Natural Order Seed.
Yet,
besides these, there was also a touch of grayness within.
This touch of grayness was like a dim Lonely Star, resting quietly there.
It did not burn wildly like the Nether Flame, nor did it bloom madly like the Endless Colors of the Great Natural Order. It simply rested there silently, appearing very faint, as if it might vanish at any moment under the burning of the Nether Flame and the blooming of the Endless Colors.
But,
only Gu Qingfeng knew that no matter how wildly the Nether Flame burned, or how vigorously the Endless Colors of the Great Natural Order bloomed, this gray Lonely Star remained utterly unaffected. It simply rested there, unmoved, devoid of any vitality, neither generating nor evolving.
What was this thing?
Gu Qingfeng did not know.
But one thing was certain: it must be related to the earlier Great Dao-Meteor Stream.
As for how this thing had appeared within his Purple Mansion,
to tell the truth, Gu Qingfeng himself could hardly believe it. He clearly remembered that the moment he opened his Purple Mansion, this gray Lonely Star had naturally appeared, and it had even fused with the Purple Mansion, becoming inseparable.
It was truly so.
That feeling of naturalness, without any abruptness, was as if it had been there since birth, even more harmonious than his Nether Flame Seed.
Gu Qingfeng cautiously probed it with his senses, but could sense nothing.
No vitality.
No generation.
No evolution.
Nothing at all.
What was going on?
Was it dead?
Or something else?
Unclear.
He did not know.
And what made him even more incredulous was that, upon sensing it, this gray Lonely Star gave him a feeling of strange familiarity.
How could this be?
Gu Qingfeng pondered for a long time but could not figure out why.
After repeatedly confirming that this thing had no effect on him, he grew too lazy to continue thinking about it.
Although the familiar feeling from the gray Lonely Star lessened Gu Qingfeng's hostility somewhat, it was only a slight reduction. After all, not knowing what this thing was, it was better to remain cautious. He planned to observe it again in a few days.
He had originally intended to press on and condense a Golden Core in one go.
But just thinking about the earlier Great Dao-Meteor Stream made Gu Qingfeng feel deeply unsettled.
After careful consideration, he decided to forget it. The Great Natural Order Seed alone was already giving him enough of a headache. Now, this inexplicable gray Lonely Star brought by the Great Dao-Meteor Stream had appeared—things were truly becoming abnormal.
It was said that after a great calamity, an era entered its most chaotic period. It was possible that the Heaven and Earth Origin had not yet completed its rebirth, the Great Dao had not yet fully evolved, and a new era would come to an end once more...
In the past, Gu Qingfeng hadn't felt this much, but now he was beginning to sense it, more or less.
Moreover,
for some unknown reason,
Gu Qingfeng suddenly felt a small thrill of excitement, an inexplicable excitement.
"It seems this old man's heart still harbors some unwillingness. Just thinking about the chaos of heaven and earth makes me want to go seek revenge on the heavens!"
Gu Qingfeng shook his head, smiled faintly, and then departed.
...
More than ten days had passed since the Bingxuan Sect's celebration.
The events that occurred at the Bingxuan celebration had long since spread throughout the Four Great Territories. Almost everyone knew that the Yunxia Sect had produced a mysterious, bizarre, powerful, and ferocious Young Master Chi Yan—Gu Qingfeng.
At first, the rumors were relatively truthful, but as they spread, they gradually became exaggerated. Some said Gu Qingfeng was definitely a reincarnated being; others claimed he was a soul possessing a new body; some insisted he must possess a treasure body or a special bloodline.
The rumors about Gu Qingfeng's existence grew increasingly exaggerated—various immortal roots, immortal fates, immortal lineages, heavenly gifts... By the end, some even said Gu Qingfeng was a demon, because only a demon's physical body could be so formidable.
In recent days, the Qingyang Region could be said to be exceptionally lively.
Cultivators from other outer territories, having heard about the events at the Bingxuan celebration, flocked here hoping to catch a glimpse of the legendary Young Master Chi Yan, Gu Qingfeng. Some had even prepared name cards, intending to visit his mountain gate to curry favor and establish connections.
Unfortunately,
since the Bingxuan Sect's celebration, the Yunxia Sect had activated its protective formation, closed its gates, sealed the mountain, and refused to receive any guests.
As the largest manor in the Qingyang Region, First-Class Manor benefited greatly from this. For several consecutive days, it was packed to capacity almost every day. Even the strange natural phenomena of the Great Natural Order two days prior had not affected the manor's business in the slightest.
Regarding this,
the mistress of First-Class Manor, Ouyang Feiyue, was naturally very pleased.
What pleased her even more was her little niece, Ouyang Ye.
Ever since the little girl returned from the Yunxia Sect a month ago, her bloodline had never acted up again.
Not only that, but after returning, the little girl seemed to have gained an immortal fate and become enlightened. Her cultivation speed was astonishingly fast—so fast that Ouyang Feiyue could hardly believe it. In the short span of a month, she had advanced directly from the Foundation Establishment realm to the True Body realm. Just a few days ago, she had even opened her Purple Mansion.
One month, from Foundation Establishment to Purple Mansion.
Such an exaggerated cultivation speed was a hundred times more prodigious than the legendary geniuses.
The only thing that worried Ouyang Feiyue was that since returning, the little girl had been listless and melancholy all day, often lost in thought. Especially at sunset, during the twilight hour, she would always stop cultivating and sit in the pavilion, gazing at the setting sun.
Today was no exception.