Gu Qingfeng had been hesitating, truly unsure how he would face Jun Xuanji if she had indeed taken the Yanyang Heart.
However, facing her was only secondary; with a thick enough skin, it wouldn't be a big problem.
The key was that he genuinely didn't want to have any further entanglements with Jun Xuanji. After much thought, he decided to first go take a look at the Taixuan Stele. Dragging things out like this was no solution; what needed to be faced would eventually have to be faced.
Gu Qingfeng gulped down several cups of wine, preparing to sleep first and set off for the Nine-Hua Alliance's Taixuan Stele early the next morning.
Just as he was about to recline on the master's chair, he suddenly felt something was wrong. The slowly beating heart within his Purple Mansion suddenly began to throb violently. Immediately after, an extremely evil aura erupted instantly, assailing his heart. Gu Qingfeng felt his heart sink, realized something was amiss, and immediately focused his Heart-Mind to fortify it.
"Kid Gu, what's wrong with you?"
Beside him, Huode noticed that Gu Qingfeng, who had been fine just moments ago, suddenly turned extremely pale. He couldn't help but feel somewhat worried.
"A bit of... trouble."
As soon as Gu Qingfeng finished speaking, the Evil Heart beat even more fiercely, and its evil aura became even more terrifying. Not daring to delay, he immediately sat cross-legged, preparing to suppress it.
"Your condition... doesn't seem like just a bit of trouble..." In just this short while, Gu Qingfeng's face had not only turned deathly pale and ashen, but sweat also began to bead on his forehead. Huode didn't know what was happening and didn't dare ask too much, only able to stand by nervously.
Whoosh!
Why the Evil Heart had suddenly erupted, Gu Qingfeng didn't know, and he had no time to ponder the question now. He suppressed it with his own essence, energy, and spirit.
However, the evil aura of the Evil Heart was too frenzied, like a demon from primordial times, wildly trying to break free from its cage.
That was truly the feeling.
Although Gu Qingfeng didn't know what exactly this mysterious heart was, this thing had, after all, gestated from within him. His Heart-Mind was connected to it, allowing him to clearly sense the violent, evil nature of the Evil Heart.
He suppressed it, suppressing it frantically.
And the mysterious heart also struggled and throbbed violently.
Suddenly.
Gu Qingfeng realized another serious problem.
This damn Evil Heart was gestated from the fusion of that ever-regenerating Great Nature Seed, that mysterious Lonely Star Tear, and his own Nine Nether Fire. In other words, this Evil Heart had a connection with all of them.
Now that the Evil Heart was erupting, what about the Great Nature Seed, that Lonely Star Tear, and his own Nine Nether Fire...
Truly, what one fears most is what comes.
As soon as Gu Qingfeng realized this, the Great Nature Seed also began to mutate. Its ever-regenerating nature suddenly turned violent. Following that, the lifeless Lonely Star Tear abruptly showed signs of life and also turned violent. Then, even his Nine Nether Fire began to burn wildly.
Chaos!
Complete chaos.
At this moment, within Gu Qingfeng's Purple Mansion, chaos reigned. The mysterious heart, the Great Nature Seed, the Lonely Star Tear, and the Nine Nether Fire were all erupting violently.
Whoosh!
The violent turmoil in the Purple Mansion immediately affected his meridians, and then his Acupoints!
The countless Taiji Golden Cores hidden within his Acupoints were also affected, beginning to stir restlessly, attempting to break open the Acupoints Gu Qingfeng had sealed.
These were Taiji Golden Cores, hailed as the kings among cores, the most profound and powerful Golden Cores under heaven, bar none. Once they erupted, the consequences would be unimaginable. Moreover, Gu Qingfeng's Acupoints didn't contain just one Taiji Golden Core, but countless ones.
Even more terrifying was that once the Taiji Golden Cores were exposed, who knew if the Great Dao Tribulation Source would appear again.
Gu Qingfeng desperately guarded his Acupoints, causing his true body to tremble.
His true body possessed immense strength. As it trembled, the ground also began to shake, as if the entire Yunxia Sect was experiencing an earthquake.
"Kid Gu, you... what's happening to you!"
Beside him, Huode stared wide-eyed, his expression utterly horrified, continuously retreating because Gu Qingfeng at this moment was truly terrifying.
"Run! Run as far as you can! I don't know if I can hold on!"
Gu Qingfeng's urgent voice came through. Huode's heart skipped a beat. Without another word, gritting his teeth and stamping his foot, he activated his Golden Core and, with a swoosh, soared into the air.
Not long after he left, with a bang, the Spirit Seclusion Garden was reduced to ruins by the trembling force of Gu Qingfeng's true body.
Crack!
A fissure!
Crack!
Another one.
Fissure after fissure cracked open, spreading through Yunxia Sect like earth dragons.
Boom!
Suddenly!
The entire Yunxia Sect was shaken into collapse, turning into a pile of rubble.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The protective formations guarding Yunxia Sect collapsed one after another.
"Daring to act up in my territory? All of you, behave!"
Gu Qingfeng's Heart-Mind blazed with fury. A rolling killing intent surged skyward. His domineering will, his disdainful consciousness, instantly enveloped all the Acupoints of his body, suppressing the restless Taiji Golden Cores.
"In my territory, if you're a tiger, lie down; if you're a dragon, coil up. Even if you are a God, you will stand there obediently for me!"
Whoosh!
Gu Qingfeng employed his Heart-Mind's killing intent to suppress the Evil Heart.
If possible, Gu Qingfeng would absolutely not use his own killing intent, using violence to suppress violence.
To put it bluntly, his killing intent wasn't too stable either. It was too brutal, too bloody. It was the killing intent he had cultivated after falling into demonhood back then, losing his original nature, not knowing how many people, how many immortals, how many demons and ghosts, how many living beings he had killed to forge it.
Having fallen into demonhood nine times, he achieved the unique Evil Asura killing intent between heaven and earth. Once the killing intent was unleashed, he would transform into an Evil Asura, blood flooding the heavens and dyeing the firmament, living beings perishing to forge a purgatory.
Although after cultivating the Buddhist Great Freedom mental state, when he unleashed his killing intent, his Heart-Mind would not be affected. As long as his Heart-Mind remained unaffected, he would not transform into an Evil Asura. But that was only 'would not', not an absolute guarantee.
At the very least, Gu Qingfeng couldn't guarantee whether his Heart-Mind would be affected when he unleashed his killing intent.
However, to suppress the Evil Heart, he could no longer care about that.
Under the suppression of Gu Qingfeng's killing intent, the evil aura of the Evil Heart clearly receded a lot. The same went for the Great Nature Seed and the Lonely Star Tear.
However.
It was only a recession.
The Evil Heart had not given up. Not only had it not given up, but being suppressed by the killing intent, it instead became even more frenzied.
As it went wild, the previously subdued Great Nature Seed and that Lonely Star Tear turned violent again.
The only fortunate thing was that the Nine Nether Fire still obeyed his commands.
"Looks like you're determined to fight me to the death. Then let's have a go and see which is more ferocious, your evil frenzy or my killing intent's brutality!"
"Abandoning Buddha, forgetting self, the heart of slaughter."
"The intent of tyranny, the path of purgatory!"
"My heart is Asura, my spirit is Purgatory! Unleash—!"