In the sky above,
The twelve Chixiao People, led by Ziyang, were seething with fury, their killing intent palpable, shrouded in a blood-stained aura as their Dragon-Elephant Spirits roared forth. They stared fixedly at Ma Qian, who was hiding amidst the crowd of the Nine-Hua Alliance—just staring, without taking action.
They were Chixiao People who had waded through seas of blood to get here.
Though their rage burned within them at this moment, it had not blinded them with hatred; they still maintained clear-headed rationality.
They understood perfectly well that with the protection of the Nine-Hua Alliance's Twelve Royal Lords and the Twenty-Four Virtuous Dao Venerables, even if they struck with all their might, they could not guarantee a single, fatal blow against that beastly creature Ma Qian.
If they were to spare no cost to execute Ma Qian, it wasn't that they couldn't do it. But they did not know Gu Qingfeng's true strength, and feared that if they went to kill Ma Qian, Gu Qingfeng might be besieged by others.
By now, they had largely come to believe that Gu Qingfeng might indeed be the heir of Lord Chixiao. And for Chixiao People like Ziyang, protecting Gu Qingfeng's safety was the paramount concern.
"Although your father lost all his cultivation, the Dragon-Elephant Spirit could have preserved his organs from decay and granted him long life. Yet, he did not keep it. He gave it up. Not only did he give it up, but he also endured the agony of a thousand torments and ten thousand destructions to pass the Dragon-Elephant Spirit on to you. Sadly, you were unworthy, utterly incapable of bearing the Dragon-Elephant Spirit. In the end, your father had no choice but to pass it on to your son."
Gu Qingfeng was no longer drinking. Even the Voidless Cup he had been toying with earlier had vanished at some point. He stood in the void, hands clasped behind his back, and spoke in a deep, heavy voice. "Even so, before his death, your father passed his last remaining soul-flame to you. For your sake, he willingly gave up even the chance to be reborn. Why, then, did you use his blood to refine that so-called Dragon-Elephant Seed?"
"Kneel. Face the heavens, and before your father's spirit in the sky, kowtow and pay your respects!"
In the distance,
Ma Qian, hiding within the Nine-Hua Alliance crowd, looked utterly wretched, his body trembling uncontrollably, the muscles at the corners of his mouth twitching.
He was terrified!
He was afraid!
He did not know why he was afraid, nor why he was terrified!
He only knew that under the gaze of Gu Qingfeng's dreadful eyes, he felt as if every secret of his had been laid bare, as if he had plummeted into an endless abyss. His heart stopped beating, and his soul felt as if it were being crushed, suffering unbearable agony. He wanted to scream, but not a single word could escape his lips.
With a sudden rush!
His Heart-Mind collapsed, his Nascent Soul instantly going out of control. Ma Qian plummeted from the sky.
Crashing to the ground, he immediately tried to circulate his Nascent Soul, but it was useless. His Heart-Mind was lost, his divine sense unable to coalesce, his spirit in chaos—he simply could not control his Nascent Soul. He attempted to fortify his Heart-Mind and re-gather his divine sense, but it was no use. The more he tried to fortify it, the more afraid he became; the more he tried to coalesce it, the more terrified he grew.
Witnessing this scene,
The Nine-Hua Alliance's Twelve Royal Lords, the Twenty-Four Virtuous Dao Venerables, and even the sect masters of the various major factions were all filled with shock and horror.
They simply could not comprehend it. Gu Qingfeng had done nothing, merely spoken a few words—how could he have frightened Ma Qian to such a state?
Even if what Gu Qingfeng said was true, that Ma Qian had indeed used his father's blood to refine the Dragon-Elephant Seed, surely that wasn't enough to scare him like this?
Since Ma Qian had chosen to defect to the Immortal Dynasty, he naturally wouldn't care about such matters. Moreover, he was already a man of the Immortal Dynasty, and with the Twenty-Four Virtuous Dao Venerables present, he had no reason to fear.
They did not know.
Everyone found it profoundly bizarre.
Especially since Huo Wu Hengsheng, the Cloud-Heart Four Elders, and the Little Immortal Valley Five Elders were still kneeling on the ground in worship, and now Ma Qian was so terrified that not only had his Heart-Mind collapsed and his body trembled, but he couldn't even stand steady.
"Kneel!"
From the sky, Gu Qingfeng's furious roar echoed, ancient and domineering.
Crack!
Ma Qian was instantly shaken until blood flowed from his seven orifices, and he knelt on the ground.
Seeing this, everyone present drew a sharp, cold breath.
They all knew Gu Qingfeng had no spiritual aura about him at all. And while his angry shout just now might have been supremely overbearing, it wasn't some mighty sonic force—so how had it shaken Ma Qian until he bled from his seven orifices?
No one knew what was happening.
All eyes were fixed on Gu Qingfeng in the sky.
At this moment,
The great sun had set, the twilight had vanished, dusk enveloped the land, and night began to descend.
Gu Qingfeng's snow-white robes fluttered, his three thousand strands of black hair danced wildly.
That carefree, indifferent aura about him had vanished along with the twilight. As night fell, it was replaced by a ruthless silent stillness—a cold, silent stillness.
The indifference on his face was gone, replaced by a stern severity.
The laziness in his eyes vanished, replaced by a murderous chill—a murderous solemnity!
The untrammeled, unconstrained man in white was gone. In his place stood a solitary, proud, and supremely domineering Gu Qingfeng.
"Ah—Demon!"
Ma Qian, kneeling on the ground with blood streaming from his seven orifices, made a desperate gamble. Burning his own Heart-Mind, with a rush!
The power of his Nascent Soul erupted, and immediately after, two blood-stained Dragon-Elephant Spirits coiled forth.
"Demon!
I've burned my own Heart-Mind! I have no fear left! What can you do to me!
!"
Burning one's Heart-Mind meant having no fear.
Without a Heart-Mind, there was no fear.
Few people would do this, because although burning the Heart-Mind could render one fearless, attempting to reforge it was as difficult as ascending to heaven. If one failed to reforge it, one's divine sense would remain forever chaotic, one's cultivation uncontrollable, and falling into qi deviation was only a matter of time.
Yet, at this moment, Ma Qian could not afford to care about any of that. He only wanted to kill Gu Qingfeng.
"Demon surnamed Gu!
Die!"
The moment Ma Qian struggled to his feet, Gu Qingfeng's figure flashed into appearance. His hand rose and his palm fell, slamming down onto the crown of Ma Qian's head!
Boom!
The two blood-stained Dragon-Elephant Spirits instantly disintegrated!
Boom!
The Nascent Soul disintegrated!
Boom!
The Purple Mansion disintegrated!
Boom!
The foundation disintegrated!
Destroyed!
One palm!
With just one palm, Ma Qian was ruined—utterly, completely ruined. Everyone saw clearly: with that one palm strike, the two blood-stained Dragon-Elephant Spirits Ma Qian had refined with blood, his Nascent Soul, his Purple Mansion, his foundation—all disintegrated in an instant.
This couldn't help but make people doubt.
Wasn't it said that Gu Qingfeng had failed in forming his Golden Core and was severely injured?
Why was the power of his true body still so formidable?
No one knew.
Just as everyone was finding it hard to believe, a pure, holy, milky-white radiance began to shimmer around Ma Qian's body, followed by a Divine Saint's halo—a sacred halo enveloping him.
Gu Qingfeng didn't even glance at it. Another palm strike descended, and the halo instantly disintegrated.
If the previous palm strike, which shattered Ma Qian's entire cultivation and destiny, had left people incredulous, then Gu Qingfeng's palm strike now, shattering the Ring of Radiance, could no longer be described as merely unbelievable. It was terrifying to the point of human horror—terrifying to the point of horror.
After all, Ma Qian's Ring of Radiance was hailed as the Immortal's Protection!
Though Ma Qian had only just obtained it and had nurtured it for but a few days, it was still the Immortal's Protection, the Ring of Radiance. Earlier, Ziyang had failed to kill Ma Qian precisely because Ma Qian was protected by this Ring of Radiance. Yet now, Gu Qingfeng had shattered it with a single palm.
Was it over?
No!
Gu Qingfeng grabbed Ma Qian by the throat, lifted him up, and with his right hand formed into a fist, punched through Ma Qian's abdomen. From within, he pulled out a seed—precisely the Seed of Radiance. Throwing Ma Qian back onto the ground, Gu Qingfeng tossed the Seed of Radiance right before his eyes.