For the past two days, nearly the entire Four Great Regions had been abuzz with talk of the events at the Taixuan Platform.
Especially the news of Gu Qingfeng's failure to condense a Golden Core had spread like wildfire.
Some lamented it, while others clapped their hands in glee.
The lament came because since his debut, Gu Qingfeng had defied all odds, using his mortal origins to crush various geniuses blessed by fate. This gave many ordinary cultivators without such blessings a glimpse of hope in life. They had been looking forward to Gu Qingfeng condensing a powerful Golden Core, so that when the hundred-year period arrived, there would at least be one powerful figure capable of standing against the Nine Blossoms Alliance.
Alas, he failed in his Core condensation.
It was said he first succeeded in forming the Core, then personally ignited and destroyed it.
This outcome was also within many people's expectations. That day at the Taixuan Platform, Gu Qingfeng's spiritual power had been extremely chaotic, utterly unsuitable for Core condensation. Yet he stubbornly insisted on proceeding. Moreover, before condensing his Core, he had frantically boosted his cultivation base, rushing for quick success—a major taboo in cultivation. His failure could not be blamed on others; it was entirely his own doing.
Of course, besides those who lamented, many more clapped their hands in approval.
The reason was simple.
Gu Qingfeng had flirted with the five Phoenix Hairpins, both elder and younger, in the Black Crow Secret Realm—that could be overlooked—but he had also publicly defiled Su Hua Fairy. This was simply unforgivable. His failure in Core condensation was well-deserved retribution, his just deserts.
If one were to ask who was most thrilled by Gu Qingfeng's Core condensation failure, it would naturally be the Ten Little Hidden Dragons and the Thirty-Six Huage Young Masters. That day at the Taixuan Platform, their combined assault had failed to budge Gu Qingfeng an inch. Then, they had been shaken so badly by a single shout from him that they could barely stand steady. They had utterly lost face.
Upon learning the news of Gu Qingfeng's failure, the Ten Little Hidden Dragons and the Huage Young Masters immediately headed for the Yunxia Sect, aiming to reclaim the face they had lost at the Taixuan Platform.
Unfortunately, they found no trace of Gu Qingfeng at the Yunxia Sect.
Subsequently, the Ten Little Hidden Dragons and others led their men in a carpet search, but still found no sign of Gu Qingfeng.
Some said that by igniting his own Golden Core, even if Gu Qingfeng wasn't dead, he was certainly half-dead, and had probably long since gone into hiding to recuperate from his injuries.
Indeed.
The Golden Core was the essence of a cultivator. If the Golden Core dissipated, without the nourishment of spiritual power, the meridians would gradually clog, the acupoints would slowly seal, the Purple Mansion would wither, the foundation would rot, and the essence, qi, and spirit would all gradually drain away. Various ailments would follow one after another...
In short, with a dissipated Golden Core, one would become an ordinary person from then on, with very slim hope of cultivating anew.
The Ten Little Hidden Dragons and the Huage Young Masters led their men in a frantic search throughout the Four Great Regions, scouring for several days and nights without success. In the end, they could only leave. Although they failed to reclaim their face, with Gu Qingfeng gone, the Ten Little Hidden Dragons and others would have nothing to fear in the Four Great Regions from now on.
But...
Had Gu Qingfeng truly disappeared?
Of course not.
He hadn't gone anywhere. He had been staying in the Spirit Seclusion Garden of the Yunxia Sect all along, drinking small cups of wine every day, basking in the sun, and observing the mysterious heart that had condensed from his Golden Core formation within his Purple Mansion.
Apart from being somewhat frenzied when it first condensed, this thing had been very quiet the rest of the time, truly pulsing slowly like a heart. It contained extremely evil and powerful energy, terrifyingly so, something rarely seen in a lifetime.
Gu Qingfeng had pondered over and over but still couldn't figure out how exactly this thing had condensed.
However, one thing was certain.
This thing was a mixture of his own Nine Underworlds Flame, that Great Nature Seed, and the Lonely Star Tear.
The Great Nature Seed was endlessly vital, having nothing to do with evil. Far from being evil, it was pure and Divine Saint.
As for his own Nine Underworlds Flame...
This thing was one of the Ancestral Flames between heaven and earth, and moreover, it was the Source flame of the Nine Underworlds.
What kind of place was the Nine Underworlds?
Hailed as the Forbidden Zone of Immortals, also known as the Forbidden Land of the Celestial Realm, and even the legendary Demon Prison, it was reputed to be the most chaotic and evil place between heaven and earth. As the Source flame of the Nine Underworlds, the Nether Flame was naturally evil.
But evil was evil.
No matter how evil the Nine Underworlds Flame was, Gu Qingfeng could completely control it.
The key was that the evilness of this mysterious condensed heart far surpassed that of the Nether Flame.
Could it be that Lonely Star Tear?
This thing had mysteriously appeared in his Purple Mansion when the Great Dao Flux occurred. And the Great Dao Flux only happened when the Great Dao Laws were in chaos or even collapsing. Therefore, Gu Qingfeng dared not recklessly speculate what this Lonely Star Tear actually was. The only thing he could confirm was that it should be related to some kind of Great Dao, and possibly an evil one at that.
As for which evil Great Dao it was.
Gu Qingfeng didn't know.
Although he had spent his entire life dealing with various Great Daos, those Daos all belonged to the Radiance Great Daos. He had very little contact with evil Great Daos.
Because he understood that while it was said there were three thousand Great Daos, that was just talk. The true number of Great Daos was far more than three thousand—they were countless.
A single flower contains a world; a single leaf holds enlightenment.
Birth, aging, sickness, and death are all Dao; joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness are likewise.
No one could say for sure just how many Great Daos there were.
After wrestling for several days in a row, Gu Qingfeng still couldn't figure it out, so he simply stopped thinking about it. Too lazy to wrestle any more, he let it be.
In his five hundred years of cultivation, from the initial Purple Mansion, Golden Core, Nascent Soul stages to later becoming the Nine Underworlds Emperor, he had encountered countless blessings and fortunes along the way, each one mysterious and bizarre, with no historical records to consult. Gu Qingfeng had long grown accustomed to this.
It was high noon, under a blazing sun.
Gu Qingfeng lay reclined on a lounge chair, basking in the sun while chatting idly with Huode.
Since returning from the Taixuan Platform, Huode noticed that Gu Qingfeng ate, drank, and slept as usual, seemingly fine. So he didn't ask much—not that he didn't want to, but he was afraid that if he learned the truth, his little heart and mind wouldn't be able to handle it.
"The Nine Blossoms Alliance's Taixuan Monument will open in a few days, right?" Gu Qingfeng suddenly asked out of the blue.
Huode scratched his head and replied, "About seven or eight days."
Huode knew Gu Qingfeng had been waiting for the Taixuan Monument to open, aiming to find the Yunxia Sect's Flaming Sun Heart. He also knew Gu Qingfeng sought this thing for the so-called karma. Hearing Gu Qingfeng's question now, Huode thought for a moment and said, "Kid Gu, what if the Flaming Sun Heart is gone by then?"
"Gone?"
Gu Qingfeng tilted his head back and drained his cup of wine in one gulp, shaking his head. "It won't be."
"How can you be so sure?"
"A feeling."
"A feeling? Since when did you start believing in that stuff?"
"I've always believed in it."
Huode rolled his eyes, then remembered something and asked, "I recall you saying that the Nine Blossoms Alliance people taking the Flaming Sun Heart wasn't accidental but deliberate. What for exactly? Could it really be someone targeting you, kid?"