Seeing Qian Shan trying to persuade Su Hua to go and stop Gu Qingfeng, Huode immediately spoke up with a warning. He understood better than anyone that once Gu Qingfeng's killing intent was unleashed, he would recognize neither kin nor foe. Back in the day, because he had tried to persuade him, Huode had almost been slain on the spot by Gu Qingfeng.
"Don't even say he has the capability—even if he did, give him three times the courage and he still wouldn't dare lay a finger on my young lady."
As Qian Shan's voice came through, Huode scoffed with a laugh. "Big sister, believe this old man. When that kid Gu kills, there's never any 'dare' or 'dare not'. If he wants you dead, it doesn't matter if your own father is the King of Heaven himself."
"You!"
Qian Shan was indignant and about to retort when Su Hua, staring at Huode, asked a question: "Huode Zhenren, can you tell me, just what kind of person is Gu Qingfeng?"
"Immortal Hua."
Huode took a fierce drag from his large tobacco pipe and said, "That question, you'd better ask the kid Gu yourself."
"Ask him?"
Just as Su Hua was speaking, a sudden, shocking change occurred within the arena.
They saw that as Gu Qingfeng leaped into the air, a strange and turbid radiance flickered around his body. It seemed to intertwine black and white, resembling both light and darkness. The radiance transformed and evolved, mysterious and profound as the Two Forms of Yin and Yang, yet also wondrously intricate as the Four Symbols and Eight Trigrams.
"Since none of you want to live, then all of you shall die for me!"
In mid-air, Gu Qingfeng swung his arms. With a shake of his body, the turbid Golden Core radiance around him ignited like a raging inferno. A vast, boundless Spiritual Power erupted forth. Immediately, the Great Earth trembled violently. With a deafening roar, the earth split apart like a volcano. In an instant, a massive crater nine meters wide exploded open. The powerful force shook the surroundings, leaving not a blade of grass standing, transforming the area into a desert-like ruin!
Boom!
Another one!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The Great Earth continued to tremble, craters exploding one after another. Those who had taken action within the arena died one by one, with no place for burial.
No one knew how many had died. No one knew. The arena was filled with cries of anguish.
Fear!
Everyone was afraid, fleeing desperately without regard for anything else.
"I said, whoever made a move today, not a single one will be spared! All of you must die for me!"
Gu Qingfeng struck out with a palm in the Void. A gigantic Tornado condensed and formed, resembling a colossal dragon. It churned the dark clouds in the heavens, swept across the ruined earth, devouring all things. Those fleeing had no idea what was happening before they were instantly swept into the Tornado, their bodies shattered on the spot, reduced to ashes and scattered smoke.
No one knew how much time had passed.
When the Great Earth ceased its trembling, ceased its splitting, and gradually came to a stop.
When the Tornado ceased its devouring, ceased its sweeping, and gradually dissipated.
When everything, everything, returned to tranquility, there were no more Immortal Arts within the arena, no more fortunes, and no more cries of anguish.
Silence.
A deathly stillness.
Within a radius of a hundred li, aside from the garden of the Wind-Cloud Branch Hall which remained intact, all other structures had turned into ruins. Looking out, the scene was one of utter devastation.
Huo Wu Hengsheng, Huo Wu Chen Yue, and the others of the Huo Wu family still knelt on the ground.
Xiao Danrou, Qing Zhu, and the others from Little Immortal Valley and Cloud-Heart Hall also knelt in worship on the ground.
Many within the arena had collapsed, trembling all over in terror, their faces twisted. They were too scared to lift their heads, too scared to speak, even too scared to breathe.
That they were alive was not due to their own great abilities, nor was it due to any kindness from Gu Qingfeng. It was simply because these people had not taken action, nothing more.
Inside the garden of the Wind-Cloud Branch Hall, Lan Feier, Shui Yunruo, and the others had long since collapsed in terror. They were geniuses of the current era; it wasn't that they hadn't witnessed madness before. But a scene as bloody as this very moment—none of them had ever experienced it.
Bloody?
No!
Not bloody at all. There was neither blood nor corpses within the arena, because all those who had taken action were dead...
And they had died utterly cleanly, with no place for burial, no chance for reincarnation or rebirth, dead without even a trace of ash remaining.
Gazing at that terrifying Gu Qingfeng in mid-air, filled with a murderous aura, Shui Yunruo, Lan Feier, Ouyang Ye, and the others couldn't believe their eyes. In their impressions, Gu Qingfeng had always been a guy with a cheeky grin, casual in his actions, somewhat lazy, somewhat cynical. None of them had imagined that such a seemingly sloppy fellow could kill with such madness.
A madness that, in the blink of an eye, had slaughtered everyone who had taken action in one breath.
What made them feel even more terrified was that Gu Qingfeng's face, from beginning to end, showed no emotional color whatsoever. There was no anger before killing, no ferocity during killing, no remorse after killing. Nothing at all. There was only calmness.
It was as if killing was as commonplace to him as eating a meal, completely habitual. It was even more as if these people weren't killed by him, as if all of this had nothing to do with him.
This couldn't help but remind Lan Feier and the others of a statement Gu Qingfeng had made before taking action. He said he had killed many people in his life, so many he couldn't even remember them all. He had long grown numb to life, long grown accustomed to it. The lives of these people were like ants and weeds in his eyes.
They had originally thought Gu Qingfeng was just being mysterious and putting on an act.
Now, they realized Gu Qingfeng was not being mysterious or putting on an act.
He truly was a mass murderer. The lives of these people truly were like ants and weeds in his eyes.
Thinking of this, whether it was Ouyang Ye, Lan Feier, Shui Yunruo, or Xiao Danrou and Qing Zhu in the distance, they all realized how foolish they had been before—foolish enough to have dared, heedless of death, to confront Gu Qingfeng. They felt a belated fear, and even more, they felt fortunate—fortunate that they were still alive now...
At this moment, they all secretly swore in their hearts that in the future, they would stay as far away from Gu Qingfeng as possible upon seeing him. This guy was far too mysterious, far too bizarre, far too terrifying, far too horrifying!
Failed to form his Golden Core, possessing no Spiritual Power, yet his strength was still so terrifying. Simply...
Wait!
Failed to form his Golden Core?
Possessing no Spiritual Power?
Lan Feier and the others calmed down, carefully recalling the scene just moments before. They seemed to remember that when Gu Qingfeng leaped into the air, an incredibly turbid radiance had erupted from his body.
That was a Spiritual Power radiance!
That's right!
It was a Spiritual Power radiance!
Moreover, that gigantic Tornado he finally condensed was an Immortal Art!
Hadn't he failed to form his Golden Core?
How could he still have Spiritual Power?
He didn't have any Spiritual Breath on him!
No Spiritual Breath?
No!
When Lan Feier, Shui Yunruo, and the others realized this issue, they all looked over in unison. To their shock, they discovered that Gu Qingfeng's body now bore a Spiritual Breath—one that, to their disbelief, was none other than the breath of a Golden Core.
Golden Core breath?
Impossible!
Lan Feier doubted if her eyes were playing tricks on her. She closed her eyes, opened them, closed them again, opened them again, repeating this process. Then she released her divine sense to probe, once, twice...
After probing a full ten-plus times, they finally confirmed: the Spiritual Breath on Gu Qingfeng's body truly was the breath of a Golden Core!