Looking out, Liuren Mountain was enveloped in a deathly silence.
In the pools of blood and flowing streams lay corpses, some supine, others prone. Tens of thousands of people sprawled across the mountain, bleeding from all seven orifices, their bodies stiff, eyes wide and mouths agape in unconsciousness.
No one knew how much time had passed.
It was only when the sun set in the west and dusk arrived that people on Liuren Mountain gradually began to awaken, one after another. They were dazed and terrified, their minds severely shaken. Not only were their senses blurred, but the qi and blood within their bodies, even their Spiritual Power, were in utter chaos. They couldn't even stand steadily.
No one knew what had truly happened.
As they tried to recall, their memories were equally chaotic. They only remembered Gu Qingfeng inexplicably leaping into mid-air, and then...
Then it was as if the sun had fallen, twilight had descended... and then there was nothing more...
Wait.
Where was Gu Qingfeng?
The Twelve Chixiao People were still there. Jiangzhu Ancestor was also there. Shui Yunruo, Lan Fei'er, Chen Yue, and the others—even Huode was still present. Only Gu Qingfeng had vanished.
Similarly, no one knew how he had disappeared.
Not even the Twelve Chixiao People knew. They were the last to lose consciousness and the first to awaken. As for where Gu Qingfeng had gone, they didn't know either.
"Grandfather Ziyang, esteemed Seniors... just who is Gu Qingfeng?"
Lan Fei'er sat slumped on the ground, legs bent, looking utterly disheveled. She gazed at the Twelve Chixiao People and asked numbly.
The Twelve Chixiao People all shook their heads in response. "We don't know."
Don't know?
Lan Fei'er and the others wondered if they had misheard.
What did they mean, they didn't know?
You Twelve Chixiao People actually knelt and paid respects to him without even knowing who he was?
The Twelve Chixiao People only knew that Gu Qingfeng possessed the Chishang Seal Token.
As for who he was, they truly didn't know. They only knew that Gu Qingfeng's existence was terrifying, utterly terrifying. His tone, his gaze, his way of doing things... they resembled a certain person.
But they didn't dare ask. Instead, they all looked toward Huode.
Huode was squatting on the ground, washing the blood from his mouth, ears, and nose while muttering curses under his breath. "Damn it all, not again... I shouldn't have come."
Not far away.
"Ancestor! Ancestor! You... sob... you've finally awakened!"
Seeing Jiangzhu Ancestor regain consciousness, Xia Pan'er was both shocked and overjoyed.
Jiangzhu Ancestor scrambled to his feet, eyes wide as he scanned his surroundings as if searching for something. After a while, seemingly finding nothing, he asked, "That... that person... where is he?"
"Ancestor, are you looking for... for Gu Qingfeng?"
"Where is he?"
Xia Pan'er shook her head in response. "We don't know. None of us know where Gu Qingfeng went."
Perhaps having confirmed that Gu Qingfeng had left, Jiangzhu Ancestor slumped to the ground as if a great weight had been lifted, muttering, "Gone is good... gone is good..."
"Ancestor, do you know Gu Qingfeng? Who exactly is he?"
"Who is he?" Jiangzhu Ancestor looked utterly dispirited. He shook his head and murmured, "That's a good question. Who is he... I don't know who he is. I don't know... I truly don't know."
"You don't know? Ancestor, you don't even know who that guy is, so how did he scare you into unconsciousness?"
"I don't know, I really don't know... I don't know."
Jiangzhu Ancestor seemed as if he had been scared witless, just shaking his head, the words 'I don't know' tumbling endlessly from his lips.
Like the Twelve Chixiao People, he truly didn't know who Gu Qingfeng was.
To be precise, he didn't want to know, and he didn't dare to know.
Yes.
He didn't dare to know.
He only wanted to run, to flee far away, and never emerge again.
"I don't know, I really don't know!"
With a sudden leap, Jiangzhu Ancestor sprang into the air. Throwing his head back, he mustered all his strength and roared madly, "I don't know! I don't know! I truly don't know!"
Jiangzhu Ancestor was a three-thousand-year-old Nascent Soul monster. Now, using all his might in this frenzied roar, its power was as one can imagine, shaking Liuren Mountain violently.
The sight was unnerving. Jiangzhu Ancestor looked as if he had gone mad, disregarding his wounded mind, shouting incessantly as if making some kind of declaration. He glared furiously at Huode below and yelled, "Did you hear that? I don't know! I really don't know!"
Huode rolled his eyes, couldn't be bothered to respond, and casually lit his pipe.
"I don't know!" Jiangzhu Ancestor continued shouting as he flew away, disappearing into the distance. Even long after he had left, his voice still echoed in everyone's ears.
Shui Yunruo, Lan Fei'er, Chen Yue, and the others watched Jiangzhu Ancestor depart, then glanced at the Twelve Chixiao People with their troubled expressions.
None of them knew who Gu Qingfeng was.
Yet one group had knelt and paid him respects, while the other had been scared into outright madness.
Just why... why was that?
The three women racked their brains but couldn't comprehend this question that filled them with eerie dread, horror, and boundless fear.
...
News of the events on Liuren Mountain spread throughout the Four Regions almost overnight.
The name Gu Qingfeng, already shrouded in profound mystery and strangeness, became even more enigmatic.
Previously, many had believed Gu Qingfeng might have some personal connection with Old Sen of Crimson-Letter Manor. Now, it seemed that wasn't the case. If it were merely a personal connection with Old Sen, why would the other eleven Chixiao People kneel to him and be reprimanded so severely they didn't dare lift their heads?
Most terrifying of all was Jiangzhu Ancestor being scared into madness and fleeing. No one knew why, and everyone found it exceptionally bizarre.
Some said that since Gu Qingfeng was neither a reincarnated soul nor a body-snatcher, he must possess an incredibly powerful Chixiao background.
And this background likely involved Chixiao People of extraordinary status.
Perhaps he was the rumored Chixiao Banner Lord.
Or possibly the legendary Chixiao Dragon Head or Elephant Beast.
Maybe even the rumored Chixiao Earth Fiend, or even the Chixiao Heavenly Fiend, or a Chixiao Prince or Marquis.
Only such a formidable Chixiao background could explain why Old Sen, Ziyang, and the other twelve Chixiao elders treated him with such reverence and respect, and why Jiangzhu Ancestor had been scared half to death. After all, whether it was the Chixiao Banner Lord, the Chixiao Dragon Head, the Elephant Head, or the Chixiao Earth Fiends—all were now overlords who commanded awe across the lands.
...
Cloud Mist Sect.
Gu Qingfeng sat cross-legged.
Ever since returning from Liuren Mountain, he had been regulating his breathing.
There was no other choice.
The Spiritual Power within his Purple Mansion Dantian was simply too vast, too immense.
Since his awakening and re-establishing his foundation, Gu Qingfeng had rarely actively absorbed any spiritual energy. His physical body was rather special, having long since merged with heaven and earth. As long as he breathed, all the pores and apertures of his body would autonomously draw in the spiritual energy of the world. In other words, he was cultivating every single moment. One could imagine just how astonishing the rate of growth of his Purple Mansion's Spiritual Power was.
But that wasn't the important part.
The important part was that during his foundation establishment, the Great Nature had also stuffed him with a Great Nature Colored Spirit Seed.
The Great Nature was hailed as the source of life, endlessly regenerative. The Great Nature Colored Spirit Seed was even more so.
This thing continuously condensed and multiplied within his Purple Mansion, and his Spiritual Power followed suit, regenerating endlessly.
That wasn't the important part either.
The most crucial thing was that earlier on Liuren Mountain, the Tear of the Lonely Star within his Purple Mansion, which had originally shown no signs of life, had suddenly sprouted vitality. This directly caused his Spiritual Power to surge wildly.