By evening, the sun was setting in the west.
The Taixuan Platform was pitted and scarred, a landscape of ravines, deep pits, deserts, and ruins—a scene of utter devastation.
The cultivators who had originally gathered here had already fled in panic when Gu Qingfeng's chaotic Spiritual Power caused the earth to tremble. However, they had only retreated, not truly left. Because just before Gu Qingfeng departed, many had witnessed with their own eyes how, after a few cups of wine, his cultivation realm had soared from the first level of the Purple Mansion to the ninth. Even more bizarrely, not long after Gu Qingfeng flew into the sky, a vast, ocean-like expanse of Spiritual Power blotted out the clouds and heavens. Immediately after, anomalies occurred in the Great Nature, and faintly, heavenly omens and strange phenomena manifested.
No one knew what was happening.
Some speculated that Gu Qingfeng was gestating a Golden Core, and that causing such anomalies in the Great Nature meant it must be an extraordinarily remarkable core.
Many craned their necks, gazing at the sky, all wanting to see what terrifying Golden Core Gu Qingfeng had gestated.
The dozen or so Nascent Soul old monsters, the Ten Little Hidden Dragons, and the Thirty-Six Huage Young Masters were no exception. Although they had all been affected earlier by the might of Gu Qingfeng's shout, their Nascent Souls wounded and their Spiritual Power thrown into chaos, their lives were not in danger. Now, they too were hiding in the distance, waiting.
Gone was their previous arrogance and bluster. The Ten Little Hidden Dragons and the Thirty-Six Huage Young Masters looked particularly wretched, their faces etched with anger, hatred, and boundless resentment.
This time, they had first joined forces to besiege him, yet failed to budge Gu Qingfeng an inch. Then, they were wounded in their Nascent Souls by the might of a single shout. Afterward, when Gu Qingfeng's Spiritual Power went chaotic, merely the fluctuations of his power had shaken them so badly they couldn't even stand. They had utterly lost face.
The Ten Little Hidden Dragons and the Thirty-Six Huage Young Masters couldn't imagine that if Gu Qingfeng gestated some great, heaven-defying Golden Core, they might not even have a chance for revenge.
At the same time.
Within the area, Lan Feier, Shui Yunruo, Huo Wu Chenyue, and the other Phoenix Hairpin ladies, big and small, were also waiting in place. They too wanted to see what kind of terrifying Golden Core such a mysterious and bizarre fellow as Gu Qingfeng would gestate. Originally, when Gu Qingfeng flew toward the clouds, they had followed. However, the astral winds at the Cloud End were too powerful; with their cultivation, they couldn't endure for long and could only wait on the ground.
Nearby, Huode was pacing back and forth anxiously.
He also didn't know what was happening at the Cloud End, nor did he know Gu Qingfeng's current situation. It was just that the Great Nature had inexplicably undergone anomalies, and heavenly omen phenomena had appeared, which worried him greatly. He feared that Gu Qingfeng had gestated some terrifying Golden Core and attracted a tribulation.
Gu Qingfeng had always regarded Huode as family, and likewise, Huode felt the same.
Although Gu Qingfeng's existence had long since surpassed Huode's understanding, he was still deeply worried, afraid that Gu Qingfeng might do something else to displease the heavens. If divine judgment descended, it would be irreparable.
As time passed.
The sunset gradually faded, dusk began to fall, yet there was still no sign of Gu Qingfeng.
However, right at that moment, a commotion rippled through the crowd. It seemed someone was shouting something about an Immortal. Huode looked over and was shocked to see a woman slowly descending in mid-air.
The woman wore a pure white dress, her long, silky black hair neatly cascading down her back. Her face was flawlessly beautiful, capable of toppling cities and kingdoms, her bearing peerless and transcendent. Who else could it be but Su Hua.
Seeing Immortal Su Hua appear, many grew excited, especially Lan Feier, Shui Yunruo, and the others, who immediately surrounded her. They all knew that Gu Qingfeng and Su Hua had disappeared one after the other earlier; the Immortal must know what had happened above the clouds. However, when they asked, Su Hua did not respond.
"Sister Su Hua, your complexion looks terrible. Are you alright?"
Lan Feier noticed something was off and was very puzzled. Hearing her words, the others also suddenly realized that Immortal Su Hua's complexion was indeed poor. Not just her complexion—her entire person seemed dazed and confused, as if severely frightened and utterly disheartened.
This made many even more curious. Just what had happened above the clouds to leave Immortal Su Hua in such a state?
"Sister Su Hua, you... what's wrong with you?"
Lan Feier and the others inquired with concern. Su Hua shook her head, her face somber, remaining silent as if she hadn't yet regained her senses. Her spirit seemed listless, her thoughts somewhat disordered.
Indeed.
What had happened above the clouds far exceeded her capacity to endure, leaving her spirit still in a state of collapse.
The vast, boundless, inexhaustible, and endlessly flowing Spiritual Power.
The inconceivably violent and terrifying Punitive Thunder. The once-in-a-millennium Taiji Golden Core with the potential of a Human King, a rare treasure of the world.
The heavenly omen phenomena, the Five-Direction Great Dao, and the inexplicably motionless tribulation sources.
The mysterious, bizarre, calm and composed, yet seemingly madly rambling Gu Qingfeng.
All of this, every bit of it, was immensely shocking and horrifying to Su Hua. In just a few short hours, she had experienced more strange and wondrous events than in two lifetimes combined, past and present. Especially witnessing Gu Qingfeng gestate the Taiji Golden Core with her own eyes, and then witnessing him destroy it with her own eyes—the feelings this evoked still left her unable to find peace.
"This... Immortal, what about the Gu kid? He... he didn't run into any trouble, did he?"
Huode also walked over. Seeing Su Hua's poor complexion, his already worried heart immediately sensed something must have gone wrong.
"He..." Su Hua hesitated for a moment before replying softly, "He should be fine... right?"
Should be fine? What kind of answer was that?
Huode pressed, "Then where is the Gu kid?"
"I don't know. When I came down, he had already left... Didn't you see him?"
"No! I've been waiting here the whole time, haven't seen a trace of the Gu kid!" Huode was extremely worried. "What exactly happened up there at the Cloud End?"
"Yes! Sister Su Hua, what happened above the clouds?"
"What about Gu Qingfeng? Was he gestating a Golden Core? Did he succeed?"
"Sister Su Hua, the anomalies in the Great Nature, the heavenly omen phenomena—are they related to Gu Qingfeng? What kind of Golden Core was he gestating?"
Lan Feier and the other girls were burning with curiosity, questioning incessantly. However, what puzzled them was that Su Hua first nodded, then shook her head.
"Immortal, did the Gu kid succeed in forming his core?"
Seeing Su Hua shake her head again, Huode's heart immediately leapt into his throat, his voice trembling as he asked, "Don't tell me... the Gu kid failed in forming his core?"
Unexpectedly, Su Hua shook her head once more.
This drove Huode to distraction. Neither succeeding nor failing—what did that mean?
Under his relentless questioning, after a long while, Su Hua finally responded in a heavy voice, "He... first succeeded in forming the core. Later... later..."
"Later what? Immortal, please, speak!" Huode was frantic. Lan Feier, Shui Yunruo, and the other girls also widened their eyes, pricking up their ears to listen. Not just them—the dozen or so Nascent Soul old monsters, the Ten Little Hidden Dragons, and the Thirty-Six Huage Young Masters in the distance were doing the same.
"Later... he himself... he... he personally ignited and destroyed his own Golden Core..."