In the distance, Old Man Huo Wu, the Four Elders of Cloud-Heart Hall, and the Five Elders of Little Immortal Valley remained kneeling on the ground, their bodies trembling. They dared not raise their heads, dared not breathe, dared not speak—they simply continued kneeling. As for Huo Wu Chenyue, Xiao Shanrou, Qingzhu, and the others, they had long been petrified by the scene of frenzied, violent, and bloody slaughter unfolding before their eyes.
They knew Gu Qingfeng was mysterious and bizarre, but they had never imagined he could be so mysterious as to fail in forming his Golden Core yet remain so ferocious, so bizarre as to have an aura of weakness yet be so terrifying.
Nor had they ever imagined that a person, relying solely on the power of his True Body, could actually shake the void.
No!
Not shake!
But shatter it!
Every single move and technique he executed caused the void to crack and explode.
They could not fathom what level of power a person must attain to be able to shatter the void.
They had never seen it.
Never heard of it.
Not even in ancient texts had they encountered such a record.
It wasn't just them who didn't know; even Su Hua, who had lived two lives, was equally ignorant.
She too had never seen it, never heard of it, but she had once read about such a phenomenon in ancient texts.
It was said that when a person cultivated their physical strength to its absolute limit, broke through the Laws of Strength, and attained the Absolute, they could shake the spatial barriers. This kind of strength was called Absolute Force!
What did it mean to cultivate strength to its limit?
What did it mean to break through the Laws of Strength?
And what exactly was Absolute Force?
Su Hua did not know, nor could she imagine.
In her previous life, she had been a Celestial Immortal of the Nine Heavens, having seen countless Immortals, yet she had never heard of anyone who could cultivate the strength of their True Body to its limit. No one even knew what the ultimate limit of physical strength truly was.
Watching the void continuously shatter, Su Hua couldn't help but wonder: Had Gu Qingfeng's strength truly been cultivated to its limit?
Had he broken through the Laws of Strength?
Had he attained the legendary Absolute Force?
But he was just an ordinary mortal without any Fortune!
How could he possibly have cultivated his strength to its limit!
Su Hua did not know whether Gu Qingfeng's strength had reached its limit, nor whether he had broken through the Laws of Strength, much less whether he truly comprehended Absolute Force. But what she saw with her own eyes was clear and unmistakable: with every move, Gu Qingfeng was genuinely shattering space.
However, what truly frightened her to the core was not this so-called Absolute Force, but rather Gu Qingfeng's contemptuous killing intent, his overwhelmingly domineering murderous aura.
It truly looked down upon all under heaven! It was truly peerlessly overbearing!
Whether killing intent or murderous aura, both were a form of spirit, a form of will.
In other words, Gu Qingfeng possessed a spirit that looked down upon the world, and a will that was peerlessly overbearing.
The strength of one's spirit and will was of utmost importance to cultivators. The stronger the spirit and will, the more formidable the Heart-Mind, making one fearless against pressure and intimidation.
There were no shortcuts to cultivating spirit and will; it could only be tempered bit by bit through experience.
Yet Su Hua could not imagine what a person must have experienced, how they must have tempered themselves, to forge a spirit and will so contemptuous and so overwhelmingly domineering!
With such spirit, such will...
What kind of pressure could possibly intimidate him?
The pressure of nature?
The might of a Treasure Body?
No!
No matter how powerful the pressure of Fortune, it could not intimidate Gu Qingfeng's contemptuous and overwhelmingly domineering spirit and will. Forget Fortune—even Immortal Might, Demonic Might, the pressure of the Great Dao, or even Heavenly Might probably wouldn't work either.
Suddenly, Su Hua remembered several days prior, when Gu Qingfeng was condensing his Taiji Golden Core. The tribulation sources of the Five Directions Great Dao had descended upon him. Faced with the pressure of the Great Dao, Gu Qingfeng had been completely unaffected, utterly fearless. At the time, Su Hua couldn't understand why. Only now, having witnessed Gu Qingfeng's contemptuous and overwhelmingly domineering spirit and will with her own eyes, did she realize why Gu Qingfeng did not fear Heavenly Might.
An indestructible Absolute Force. A contemptuous and overwhelmingly domineering spirit and will.
Just who was Gu Qingfeng?
Who exactly was he!
The successor of Monarch Chixiao?
No!
Setting aside the question of truth or falsehood, even if he really were the successor of Monarch Chixiao, it would be impossible for him to possess Absolute Force, let alone such a contemptuous and overwhelmingly domineering spirit and will. Forget the successor of Monarch Chixiao—it was unknown even whether Monarch Chixiao himself had such capabilities!
“Y-Young Lady, are we just going to let Gu… Gu Qingfeng keep killing like this?”
Beside her, the three-meter-tall Qian Shan asked in a trembling voice. Her face was pale and ghastly; clearly, she too had been badly frightened by the scene. “Although I also think these people deserve to die… the way Gu Qingfeng kills is just too… too earth-shattering. How many have died already? And he still won't stop. Does he really intend to kill everyone who made a move?”
“Do you remember the three things Gu Qingfeng did before he started fighting?” Su Hua's tone was particularly heavy. “His first statement was 'those who kill shall be killed.' His second statement was that he would show no mercy. His third statement was that he would unleash a great slaughter. Three statements, three warnings—this constitutes the Three Lives. The first life, first warning, first respect for life. The second life, second warning, second respect for heaven and earth. The third life, third warning, third respect for parents.”
“He has already abided by the Law of Three Lives. After Three Lives comes Three Deaths. First death: kill the True Body. Second death: slaughter the Primordial Spirit. Third death: annihilate the soul. He said he would do this, and he is doing exactly that.”
“But… but… Young Lady, you are, after all, an envoy of the Immortal Dynasty. If we weren't here, that would be one thing, but we are here. If we let Gu Qingfeng continue killing like this, and the Immortal Dynasty holds us accountable later, I'm afraid… Besides, it's not good for your reputation either…”
“If the Immortal Dynasty holds me accountable, so be it… As for reputation, I have never cared about it…” Closing her eyes, Su Hua shook her head weakly. “Moreover, even if I were willing to intervene, I might not be his match…”
“How is that possible… Young Lady, you are…” Others might not know, but Qian Shan, who had followed Su Hua for many years, knew very clearly that the Young Lady's strength was peerless, her Heaven-Bestowed Fortune unmatched. She possessed Heaven-Bestowed gifts, Great Dao, and imperial edicts. With these, Su Hua feared no one in this world; even slaying Immortals was within her power. No matter how formidable or ferocious Gu Qingfeng's strength was, he was absolutely no match for the Young Lady.
Su Hua did not respond. She truly had no confidence in defeating Gu Qingfeng.
Even with her Heaven-Bestowed Fortune, even with her various Great Dao edicts, she still had no confidence.
According to legend, Absolute Force was the pinnacle of physical strength between heaven and earth, without equal, hailed as indestructible.
Just think—if even something like space could be shattered by it, what use were so-called Heaven-Bestowed Fortune or Great Dao edicts?
But this wasn't what made her most wary. What truly made her wary and unwilling to act was Gu Qingfeng's contemptuous killing intent, his domineering murderous aura. This kind of spirit and will was simply too terrifying. She did not dare face it, did not dare fight such a person. Once a fight began, what consequences might follow? She did not dare even think about it.
“Fairy Hua, you must not go up to stop him! Once Young Master Gu starts his killing spree, he recognizes neither kin nor foe—gods block, he kills gods; Buddhas block, he kills Buddhas! If you step forward to intervene, Young Master Gu will slaughter you without the slightest hesitation!”