On the way back, Fei Kui's short legs scurried to catch up. Bowing his body, he laid on the flattery: "Young Master, you truly are a divine being. My admiration for you is like a surging river, unstoppable..." The Li family had been arrogant and overbearing in Yunxia Sect for a long time, and Fei Kui had long disliked them. However, the Li family was a prominent clan in the Qingyang region and colluded with Elder Jinde. Even if he disliked them, there was nothing he could do.
Witnessing Gu Qingfeng use a Great Perfection Blaze Thunder Art to beat Li Can until his skin split and flesh tore, while Li Ziheng could only stand there and glare helplessly, had truly allowed Fei Kui to vent a long-held resentment.
And then there was True Person Feixue.
He and Feixue were considered disciples of the same generation. He knew full well how arrogant this woman had been since childhood. Over the years, Fei Kui had suffered no small amount of humiliation from her. Seeing the look of frustration on Feixue's face earlier, Fei Kui had almost burst into song.
Although he didn't know who Gu Qingfeng was.
Nor did he know exactly how capable Gu Qingfeng was.
One could say he knew nothing about Gu Qingfeng.
However, Fei Kui was a tactful person. He knew what to ask and what not to ask.
Gu Qingfeng glanced at this short, rotund fellow whose body was as round as a groundhog and chuckled, "You're quite slick with the flattery."
"Young Master, you jest. I genuinely admire you."
As he spoke, Fei Kui launched into another round of flattery.
Gu Qingfeng shook his head, cutting him off. "Alright, that's enough. The old man said that once I become an inner disciple, I should go compete for that so-called Twelve Courtyards Chief position, right? Help me arrange it."
Since his awakening this time, Gu Qingfeng still didn't know what he wanted to do or what he should do. But no matter what, he couldn't just idle away his time at Yunxia Sect. He figured he should quickly help Huode settle this matter so he could make his exit.
"Young Master, I'm afraid the matter of competing for the Twelve Courtyards Chief position will have to wait."
"Why's that?"
"It's like this. The position of Twelve Courtyards Chief can only be contested during the annual Grand Competition."
"Must it be the Grand Competition? Can't I go challenge for it tomorrow?"
"Young Master, that doesn't conform to Yunxia Sect's rules." Fei Kui smiled wryly. "And even if you went to challenge, you wouldn't find anyone. Most of the Twelve Courtyards Chiefs are out on training journeys. Those who haven't left are in seclusion. They only emerge during the Grand Competition."
"I see..." Gu Qingfeng took out a Redleaf Monster Fruitlet and began eating it. "When is the Grand Competition?"
"In a little over a month."
"That long? No other way?"
"Young Master, I don't know if the old man mentioned it to you, but our plan must proceed according to the established procedures. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to manage in the end."
Huode had indeed mentioned that they must follow the procedures. Although in Gu Qingfeng's view, this was completely unnecessary—like taking off your pants to fart—Huode had, after all, been mixed up in Yunxia Sect for seven or eight hundred years. No one understood the situation in Yunxia Sect better than he did. If he said to follow the procedures, there must be a reason.
"Fine. A little over a month it is. We'll just have to go with that."
"Young Master, you've had a tiring day today. If you need anything, just give the order. I'll definitely handle it properly for you."
"Need anything?" Gu Qingfeng rubbed his chin, thinking carefully before replying, "Go get me some resources."
"What resources does Young Master need?"
"Storm-Silver Soul Crystal, Nine-Fierce Clear-Dew Pearl, Red-Copper Profound-Moon Stone..." Gu Qingfeng rattled off thirty or forty types of resources in one breath, leaving Fei Kui utterly bewildered because he hadn't heard of a single one. Of course, not knowing was one thing, but Fei Kui didn't say so—that would be too embarrassing. He decided to agree first and then go ask around outside.
Returning to the rear mountain's Spirit Concealment Garden.
Gu Qingfeng drank a few small cups of wine, chatted casually with Wang Dashan, and when night fell, he began his cultivation.
The pills and some spirit stones Huode had sent had long been refined by him.
Gu Qingfeng could only absorb the spiritual energy of Yunxia Sect for now.
To be fair, Yunxia Sect's spiritual energy was quite decent.
After all, it occupied a Fiery Sun Fire Spiritual Vein. This type of spiritual vein generated fire spiritual energy, which belonged to the Five Elements spiritual energy and was superior to the ordinary spiritual energy between heaven and earth. Moreover, fire spiritual energy was relatively fierce and vigorous, making it most suitable for tempering the physical body and opening meridians. The spiritual power converted from it was also quite potent. Back in the day, the reason Yunxia Sect could become the largest sect in the Qingyang region relied precisely on this fire spiritual vein.
Fire spiritual energy might be very useful for ordinary cultivators, but for Gu Qingfeng, this stuff was just so-so. It didn't have much effect on him. After all, his physical body had once been tempered with Nine Nethers Fire—this was a Primordial Fire. A mere fire spiritual energy was not even dregs in the face of Primordial Fire.
After absorbing for a while, Gu Qingfeng didn't continue. He thought for a moment, then released his Divine Sense and began spirit-wandering.
The existence of Divine Sense was a collective entity integrating the eight consciousnesses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, mind, etc. It belonged to mental will, a kind of perception. It could perceive all subtle existences, things the eyes couldn't see, things the nose couldn't smell, things the ears couldn't hear.
Everyone was born with Divine Sense; it just needed to be awakened. There was no specific cultivation method for this thing; it could only be honed bit by bit. The stronger the Divine Sense, the more subtle the things it could perceive, and the wider its range of perception.
At this moment, Gu Qingfeng was releasing his Divine Sense to wander outside, pondering whether he could find something good.
Usually, few people would release their Divine Sense to wander outside. Even if they did, they wouldn't dare wander too far. If they encountered any mishap and their Divine Sense suffered a setback, it would affect their own consciousness. If their consciousness scattered, they would become a vegetable.
However, Gu Qingfeng didn't care in the slightest. His Divine Sense was very strong. Although it had been affected to some extent after the Heavenly Dao's judgment and was far from what it used to be.
As the saying goes, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. Moreover, Gu Qingfeng's Divine Sense wasn't starved, just temporarily weak. Even so, it wasn't something just anyone could shake.
Gu Qingfeng wandered with his Divine Sense while observing the scenery of the Qingyang region.
It was vastly different from his memories of his youth.
Five hundred years ago, the Qingyang region could be considered a backwater, sparsely populated despite its vast land.
Now it seemed much more prosperous, with manors of all kinds everywhere, and there were also many more cultivation sects than before.
This made Gu Qingfeng sigh with emotion: the impact brought by the revival of all things was truly not small.
Of course, revival was revival, but it didn't mean that after revival, a desert could turn into grassland.
Many places in the Qingyang region were still barren.
His Divine Sense leaped over a stretch of wild mountains and desolate hills. There were actually several people fighting here, and they were fighting fiercely.
Gu Qingfeng watched for a while but lost interest. Just as he was about to continue probing forward, he suddenly realized something was amiss.
In this stretch of wild mountains and desolate hills, there was an inconspicuous small hill. The surface of this small hill shimmered with a faint radiance. The radiance, like mysterious runes, was dissipating.
Gu Qingfeng probed carefully. Good heavens!
It was actually a formation.
And a minor natural formation at that.
Once this type of formation activated, it would merge with the great nature, becoming invisible and formless. The naked eye couldn't detect it, and Divine Sense also found it difficult to perceive. Usually, this kind of formation was often used to conceal cave dwellings.
The reason this minor natural formation was shimmering with radiance now was because its structure was dissipating. It wouldn't be long before it completely collapsed.
Gu Qingfeng had often engaged in the business of excavating cave dwellings in the past and was all too familiar with this thing. He clearly knew that if the structure of a minor natural formation was dissipating, there was only one possibility: the formation's eye had dried up. The formation eye was the source maintaining the formation's normal operation. Once it dried up, it was like a person losing their soul—the body would age. The formation was the same. With the formation eye dried up and no spiritual energy to sustain it, the formation's structure would also dissipate.
No wonder these people were fighting. So they were competing for the cave dwelling hidden within the minor natural formation.
Gu Qingfeng was hesitating whether to come here and take a look when suddenly a woman arrived. Without a word, she summoned a flying sword and with one slash, cleaved open the dissipating minor natural formation.
A series of crackling crisp sounds rang out. The minor natural formation completely dissipated. The previously barren small hill vanished, replaced by a cave entrance. The cave entrance shimmered with violet-blue radiance, and wisps of violet-blue mist drifted out.
This was...
Violet-Blue Dusk Cloud Breath?
This was a rare spiritual breath. If a cave dwelling emitted such a spiritual breath, there must be treasures hidden inside.
Gu Qingfeng didn't hesitate any longer. He quickly withdrew his Divine Sense and prepared to rush over to take a look.
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