The Nascent Soul is a symbol.
A symbol of a master, and a symbol of a grandmaster.
If the Golden Core is the essence of a cultivator, then the Nascent Soul is the spiritual source of a cultivator, a second life born from the condensation of one's own essence, qi, and spirit.
After a cultivator shatters the core to form the Nascent Soul, not only does their true body become stronger, but their Spiritual Power also undergoes a qualitative transformation.
The gap between the two is simply incomparable. Even one who has just given birth to a Nascent Soul can easily handle over a dozen True Beings at the peak of the eighty-one-circulation Golden Core.
Most importantly, after cultivating a Nascent Soul, one's Immortal Arts not only become infinitely variable but can also reach the profound. Once an Immortal Art reaches the profound, even an ordinary profound mystery contains terrifying power, capable of summoning wind and rain, moving mountains and overturning seas.
The Branch Masters of the Wind-Cloud and Fire-Cloud Branch Halls were both Nascent Soul experts. Their appearance had already given Jin Yu, Ren Shen, Jin Can, and the others hope. And now, with the Fenghui Sect arriving with over a thousand True Beings and more than ten Nascent Soul experts, this was no longer just hope for Jin Yu and Jin Can—it was excitement.
"Master, it's this evil demon surnamed Gu who killed the Grand Elder!"
As the Heir Apparent Disciple of the Fenghui Sect, Jin Can was used to receiving looks of admiration wherever he went. He had never suffered such a humiliating disgrace as today, and he swore to repay it tenfold.
Jin Yu, his face flushed red, scrambled over on his hands and knees, shouting, "I beg the Sect Head, all Supreme Elders to... to avenge Grand Elder and the others!"
The Sect Head of Fenghui Sect was a middle-aged man. He looked at his disciple Jin Can, then at Jin Yu, before his gaze fell upon several corpses. These were all Elders of their Fenghui Sect. Among them, the one with head and body separated was the Grand Elder of Fenghui Sect, Bai Hong. When he looked at Elder Shi Tong, bleeding from all seven orifices, the expressions of all the Fenghui Sect Elders changed repeatedly.
Like the Wind-Cloud and Fire-Cloud Branch Halls, the people of Fenghui Sect did not make a move.
They had all cultivated for many years, becoming shrewd with age and widely experienced. Moreover, the situation was unclear, and this evil demon was mysterious and bizarre, making them dare not act rashly.
As time passed, more and more people arrived. Looking around, the entire Liuren Mountain was already packed to the brim. The Ten Great Sects, the Three Caves and Five Mountains, plus the two major Branch Halls of Wind-Cloud and Fire-Cloud, had gathered nearly over ten thousand people. Among them, there were nearly three to four thousand True Beings, and twenty-six Nascent Soul experts had already appeared.
It was no exaggeration to say that practically every notable figure in the Liuli Great Region was here today, whether they were renowned Senior experts or outstanding Color-Spirit geniuses.
Such a scene, such a spectacle.
Not only in the Liuli Great Region, but even across the Four Great Regions, this was absolutely the first time since the Great Calamity a hundred years ago.
In the distance.
Chen Yue looked at the dense crowd on Liuren Mountain, feeling as if she could hardly breathe. She had never experienced such a scene and was naturally very nervous inside.
"Heavens! The experts of the Liuli Great Region are almost all here."
Xia Pan'er huddled in Chen Yue's arms, trembling as she murmured, "Senior Brother Xiao Fan also sent out a message talisman earlier... Our Jiangzhu Mountain Patriarch will probably come too... When that happens... the upstart... the upstart... what will we do... Sister, think of something, can you help the upstart? He's annoying, sure, but he did help us in the Black-Raven Secret Realm..."
"Save him?" Chen Yue opened her mouth, her expression grim. She shook her head. "The Ten Great Sects, the Three Caves and Five Mountains, the two major Chixiao Branch Halls of Wind-Cloud and Fire-Cloud... practically all the experts of the entire Liuli Great Region are here. Even if I had heaven-defying abilities... I couldn't help him."
Just as Chen Yue said, the experts of the Liuli Great Region had almost all appeared, surrounding Gu Qingfeng in layer upon layer, leaving him no room to escape. Everyone stared at him with a mix of shock and suspicion.
A person with only Purple Mansion cultivation had effortlessly crushed over a hundred Golden Core True Beings and over a hundred Color-Spirit geniuses—among them were True Beings at the peak of the eighty-one-circulation Golden Core and geniuses with nine-color spirits. Yet now, this young man had beaten them to death or injury.
Such a bizarre event was something they had never seen, nor even heard of.
An evil cultivator?
But this person carried not a trace of evil aura, not even a hint.
Moreover, even if he were truly an evil cultivator, it was nearly impossible for someone with mere Purple Mansion cultivation to crush over two hundred Golden Core True Beings.
How did he do it?
And who was he?
Everyone was pondering this question, yet no one could figure it out.
Although they were all old-timers who had cultivated for many years and could be called exceptionally experienced, precisely because they had cultivated for so long and experienced so much, they had long lost the hot-blooded impulsiveness of youth. What they had now was caution, wariness—especially towards mysterious and unknown existences. Without absolute certainty, they absolutely could not act rashly, or they would regret it too late, and millennia of bitter cultivation would be wasted.
Especially in this era of universal revival, where reincarnated and body-snatching individuals were a dime a dozen—who knew what lay behind such mystery and strangeness.
Not far away.
Shui Yunruo stood together with Lan Feier among the crowd of the Wind-Cloud Branch Hall.
The two looked at the dense crowd around them, both feeling their scalps go numb and their hearts pounding.
"Yunruo, are you afraid?"
Shui Yunruo nodded.
"Even we are afraid, so how come this guy doesn't look afraid at all."
"Yes..." Shui Yunruo and Lan Feier had been watching Gu Qingfeng all along.
This guy was just standing there quietly, one hand behind his back, the other clamped over Elder Shi Tong's head, his fingers pinching and forming one spiritual seal after another. No one knew what he was actually doing.
He stood there, his expression very placid, his gaze very calm. Facing so many people, he showed not a trace of fear, not a hint of terror, not even worry or the slightest apprehension. It was as if... as if the over twenty thousand cultivators surrounding him on Liuren Mountain weren't surrounding him, but someone else.
Whether it was Lan Feier, Shui Yunruo, or Chen Yue, all three women knew Gu Qingfeng was powerful. Back in the Black-Raven Secret Realm, even Xiao Danrou and Qing Zhu, both Nascent Soul experts, had been unable to do anything to him.
But!
But the ones who had come to Liuren Mountain now weren't Xiao Danrou or Qing Zhu—they were the Ten Great Sects, the Three Caves and Five Mountains, Wind-Cloud and Fire-Cloud, a full thirty-plus Nascent Soul experts, thousands of True Beings, over twenty thousand cultivators!
Even if each person used just one Immortal Art, forget someone with Purple Mansion cultivation—even a Great Daozun who had cultivated a Primordial Spirit to soar through the heavens and earth would have his soul scattered to the winds.
Why wasn't he afraid?
And why was he so fearless and unflinching?
He even looked... even looked as if he didn't regard these people in the slightest. That was truly the feeling. No matter how many people came to Liuren Mountain, no matter who came, he hadn't even glanced at them once.