Upon hearing that Gu Qingfeng was currently unable to take action, Huode scratched his head, looked at the surrounding crowd watching him like tigers eyeing their prey, and asked with considerable worry, "Then what should we do?"
"You ask me, who should I ask?"
Gu Qingfeng, however, wasn't worried in the slightest. He still sat there casually, drinking his wine with perfect composure. Seeing Huode's flustered state, he couldn't help but laugh. "I said I shouldn't come, but you, old man, insisted on dragging me here. Now we're in a pickle, aren't we?"
"How was I supposed to know something like this would happen?" Huode glared at him. "Besides, if you hadn't gone and provoked Immortal Su Hua for no reason, would all this have happened? And as for the Black-Raven Secret Realm incident—others might not know, but I dare bet it was definitely your doing. No one else has the skill, nor would they dare pull off such a stunt."
"..." Gu Qingfeng didn't respond. Instead, he jumped down from the Four-Steed Grand Carriage.
Seeing this, Huode was taken aback. "What? Not planning to leave?"
"Leave? Leave where?" Gu Qingfeng stretched lazily. "Forget about not being able to leave; even if I could, I'm not planning to. You can dodge the first day of the month, but you can't dodge the fifteenth. The monk can run, but the temple can't. If I leave today, these little brats will just come looking for me at the Yunxia Sect tomorrow. Rather than that, I might as well settle this matter now and save the future trouble. Hiding forever solves nothing. Whether these brats are causing trouble for me because of Su Hua or for some other reason, it doesn't matter. What matters is that the problem has arisen, so we find a way to solve it."
"That sounds like your style!" Huode looked at the surrounding people with a gaze of pity.
He knew Gu Qingfeng had a particular quirk: either he wouldn't act at all, but once he decided to act, it would be clean, swift, and thorough—uprooting the grass and eliminating the root of the trouble forever. In other words, once he decided to act, he would resolve every possible trouble this matter could cause, leaving none behind.
"You two go ahead first. I'll head back after I settle this."
Gu Qingfeng glanced over at Lan Feier and the others, who were nearly coming to blows with the Ten Little Hidden Dragons. He shook his head helplessly and said, "Alright, enough bickering."
As his voice fell, the noisy scene instantly quieted down. All eyes involuntarily turned toward him—some puzzled, some curious, some displeased, some disdainful—every kind of look imaginable was present.
"Judging by everyone's expressions, it seems there's no way I'm leaving today, is there?" Gu Qingfeng said indifferently. Then, noticing a few empty chairs on the Taixuan Platform, he walked over.
"Gu, you have sullied the Immortal's pure reputation! Today, you won't be leaving!"
"Gu Qingfeng, you coached that little girl to ruin our Hall Master's reputation! Today, you will surely pay a heavy price!"
Some accused Gu Qingfeng of sullying the Immortal's pure reputation, some said he had tarnished the honor of the five Phoenix Hairpins, others claimed he was impersonating Lord Chixiao's disciple, and still others said they sought justice for those from the Liuren Mountain. Opinions varied as they denounced Gu Qingfeng.
Huo Dong smiled. "This humble one has yet to witness Young Master Chiyan's martial prowess. Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"
The Ten Little Hidden Dragons and others, under the pretense of seeking instruction, wanted to test themselves against Gu Qingfeng.
"Gu Qingfeng, why aren't you leaving yet!" Xiao Danrou's secret voice transmission came.
Gu Qingfeng responded, "What do you mean, why aren't I leaving? Big sister, do you think I don't want to go? The key point is, I can't leave."
"You! Then what do you mean?"
"Since these little brats want to 'seek instruction' from me, I can only let them have their 'instruction.'"
"You're going to... you're going to fight them?"
"What else?"
"No! You can't fight! If you fight, everyone will immediately realize the Black-Raven Secret Realm incident is true!"
"Big sister, I don't want to fight either, but the key point is, you all can't suppress these brats either!"
"I..." Although Xiao Danrou and Qing Zhu were, respectively, the Valley Master of Xiaoxian Valley and the Hall Master of Cloud-Heart Hall, facing the Ten Little Hidden Dragons and the young masters of the Thirty-Six Splendid Pavilions, they were truly outnumbered and outmatched. Moreover, it wasn't just the Ten Little Hidden Dragons and the young masters of the Splendid Pavilions who wanted to denounce him; most of the crowd was joining in the commotion for fun.
In their desperation, the five Phoenix Hairpins sought out Immortal Su Hua. In their minds, probably only Immortal Su Hua could salvage the situation.
At this moment, Su Hua, dressed in pure white, stood quietly amidst the crowd, watching Gu Qingfeng as he walked toward them. She frowned slightly as she watched and said, "Things have come to this. You should just watch and see how things unfold."
"But, Immortal, we..." Xiao Danrou and Qing Zhu had originally thought of telling Su Hua about the Black-Raven Secret Realm incident. Letting one person know was better than having it exposed to everyone. But before they could finish, Su Hua spoke.
"In worldly affairs, where there is a cause, there must be an effect. Since the cause has already formed, the effect will inevitably occur sooner or later. Even if I forcefully intervene to stop it today, it won't change anything. They will still go looking for trouble with Gu Qingfeng afterward, and then the Black-Raven Secret Realm incident will still be exposed... I imagine Gu Qingfeng has also seen this point, which is why he has no choice but to accept the challenge."
"What! Immortal, you..." "Sister Su Hua, how do you... know..." Su Hua's words shocked all five Phoenix Hairpins. They could tell that Su Hua knew about the Black-Raven Secret Realm incident.
Indeed.
Su Hua knew.
When Little Jin'er mentioned the Hehuan Poison, she knew it was true because when she probed Gu Qingfeng's mind at the Yunxia Sect, she had also been affected by the Hehuan Poison. However, she wasn't particularly surprised. She knew Gu Qingfeng was not simple, perhaps even more complex than imagined. As for how he was not simple or how he was complex, Su Hua didn't know and couldn't imagine. She was just very curious, extremely curious, and very much wanted to see what kind of existence Gu Qingfeng truly was.
In the scene, everyone watched as Gu Qingfeng walked toward the Taixuan Platform, somewhat puzzled. Huo Dong flashed over, appearing in front of Gu Qingfeng, a smile playing on his lips. "Young Master Chiyan, since you've already accepted the challenge, why are you running?"
"When fighting, of course you need to find a spacious place."
Gu Qingfeng, holding an exquisite wine pot in one hand and the Taixu Cup in the other, leisurely walked toward the Taixuan Platform.
The Taixuan Platform was indeed very spacious, but that was because the dozen or so people sitting here were all big shots from the Four Directions Great Domain. No one dared to act recklessly here.
Among them were the Deputy Branch Master of the Thundercloud Branch, also the Grand Elder, Old Master Long Sheng.
The Deputy Sect Master of the Yuqing Sect, concurrently serving as Grand Elder, True Person Qianhua.
The Grand Elder of the Jinding Sect, True Person Gaofeng.
And also the Grand Elder of Xiaoxian Valley, the Grand Elder of Cloud-Heart Hall, the Grand Elder of the Murong Family, the Grand Elder of the Huwei Family.
These were all Nascent Soul old monsters who had cultivated for thousands of years, each having undergone the Great Perfection of the Eighty-One Nascent Soul Transformations. Besides them, there were also three reincarnated great powers: Senior Jin, Wan Huaiyu, and Qin Hao.
Having lived for thousands of years, what kind of people or events hadn't they seen? Naturally, these Nascent Soul old monsters had no interest in the crowd denouncing Gu Qingfeng. They sipped tea and chatted leisurely. Now, seeing Gu Qingfeng walking over, Old Master Long Sheng of the Thundercloud Branch, holding a cup of fragrant tea, sternly rebuked, "Ignorant junior who doesn't know his own mortality! Is this a place you can come to?"