This trip had been quite fruitful. Not only had he collected thousands of fragments of Purple-Gold Heavenly Shining Crystal, but he had also absorbed a vast amount of Zijin Fire.
Gu Qingfeng pondered that if he refined this Zijin Fire and combined it with the fragments of Heavenly Shining Crystal, it should be just about enough to rebuild his foundation.
The only thing that left him puzzled was that mixed-color crystal, the so-called dream within it, and who exactly that person in the dream was. She claimed to be a reincarnated soul, but who was she in her previous life?
And what connection did she have with this cave dwelling?
He couldn't figure it out, couldn't see through it, and couldn't be bothered to keep thinking about it.
After returning to Yunxia Sect, Gu Qingfeng immediately went into seclusion to begin refining the Zijin Fire.
Although his physical body had once been tempered by the Jiuyou Ancestral Flame, he had, after all, been judged by the Heavenly Dao and reduced to a mortal body. While he didn't fear the Zijin Fire, refining it wasn't that easy either. This thing, when you got down to it, came from the Sun itself—extremely violent and quite difficult to refine.
As Gu Qingfeng refined the Zijin Fire, he also studied the mixed-color crystal. And every time his divine sense entered the so-called dream, that woman's divine sense would appear immediately.
You could say the other party was quite persistent. Every time his divine sense entered, the woman would press him about his identity.
And Gu Qingfeng would respond each time that he was the reincarnation of Old Heaven.
The other party was angry, furious, and yet helpless.
Later, the woman simply stopped asking. Every time Gu Qingfeng's divine sense entered, she would try every possible method to obliterate his divine sense. Yet, each time she failed.
The woman didn't know who Gu Qingfeng was.
Similarly, Gu Qingfeng also couldn't figure out who she was. Of course, he wasn't in a hurry. He just treated it as finding some amusement; it wasn't bad to occasionally go in and tease her.
Days in seclusion were boring, and refining Zijin Fire was tedious. Apart from occasionally teasing the woman inside the mixed-color crystal, most of the time he spent observing that Little Turtle.
Gu Qingfeng couldn't tell what breed this little creature was.
He figured that since this little fellow had been sealed by the Great Bright King Six-Seal before it was even born, it must be extraordinary, very likely some ferocious Great Desolate demonic beast.
But after observing it for ten days to half a month, the little creature didn't look like a demonic beast at all.
Gu Qingfeng had seen Great Desolate demonic beasts. Those things were ferocious from the day they were born; even the weakest-blooded Great Desolate demonic beast could swallow a cultivator whole in one bite.
This Little Turtle, on the other hand, was full of hostility towards Gu Qingfeng at first. But after being tempted by him with all sorts of delicious delicacies, the little fellow completely turned into a glutton. It would accept almost anything edible—all kinds of spirit pills, all kinds of spirit stones, it would munch on them freely. And after eating, it showed no reaction at all. It even ate the fragments of Purple-Gold Heavenly Shining Crystal without hesitation.
Gu Qingfeng deliberately conjured a wisp of Zijin Fire for the little fellow to eat, and it ate that too without a second thought.
This truly shocked him. He pondered that his own body, tempered by the Jiuyou Ancestral Flame, was unafraid of Zijin Fire and could eat any spirit pill freely. But this guy had only been born a few days ago, how could it also withstand these things?
Gu Qingfeng tried again to see if he could budge the Little Turtle with his strength.
One hour, two hours...
Three hours passed. The physical strength of the Little Turtle completely exceeded his imagination. Even using almost all his strength, he couldn't budge the little creature.
"Just what the hell are you?"
Gu Qingfeng frowned deeply. Across from him, the Little Turtle was sitting on the bed—yes, sitting on the bed, its shell leaning against the wall, a pair of claws holding a Red Leaf Monster Fruit, eating nonstop. Perhaps because Gu Qingfeng had failed to move it earlier, the Little Turtle stretched its neck, offering its head forward as if to say: Come on, try again.
Seeing Gu Qingfeng shake his head.
The Little Turtle shot him a look of disdain—it really was disdain, its little eyes rolling, full of contempt—then sat back on the bed and continued eating the Red Leaf Monster Fruit.
"It's become a spirit..." Gu Qingfeng felt quite helpless inwardly. He thought to himself that he, after all, had once been the one who ascended to become the Jiuyou Emperor, yet now he was being looked down upon by a Little Turtle. It was truly laughable. He shook his head and sighed. "The Great Cataclysm of the Heavens, the rebirth of heaven and earth, the re-derivation of laws, the revival of all things... Who knows how many terrifying existences have revived after this cataclysm..."
...
On this day.
The blazing sun was like fire.
Within a courtyard of the Yuelai Villa in the Qingyang region.
A woman with a graceful figure sat inside a pavilion, propping her chin, seemingly lost in thought about something.
The woman was none other than True Monarch Qing Ning.
A month ago, after leaving that mysterious cave dwelling, she had originally intended to send the injured Mu Zibai and the other two back to Yunxia Sect. But the three of them absolutely refused to go back. Qing Ning knew Mu Zibai was probably afraid of losing face if people at Yunxia Sect found out. Left with no choice, she could only bring the three of them to this villa to recuperate.
A month had passed since the incident, but Qing Ning still couldn't forget what happened inside that cave dwelling. Every time she recalled it, she found it unbelievable, utterly bewildering. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't figure out who that person was, nor could she understand why his physical body was so formidable.
"Just who is he?"
She didn't know, truly didn't know.
"Qing Ning."
Hearing someone call her name, Qing Ning turned to look. A man walked out from a room—it was Mu Zibai.
After more than a month of recuperation, Mu Zibai's injuries were mostly healed, at least on the surface. But the proud, lofty demeanor he once had was completely gone from his expression, replaced only by gloom—a gloomy, angry gloom.
"How are your injuries?" Qing Ning asked.
"Mostly healed. With a bit more rest, I should fully recover."
"It won't delay your Yunxia Sect's Inner Sect Grand Competition, will it?"
Qing Ning was from the Nine-Hua Alliance and had many friends in Yunxia Sect, so she knew that in a while, it would be time for Yunxia Sect's Inner Sect Grand Competition.
"It won't."
Mu Zibai sat on a chair, holding a teacup, taking a light sip. He seemed to want to say something but hesitated. Qing Ning seemed to understand his meaning and said, "Don't worry, I won't speak of what happened in the cave dwelling to anyone."
"Then I thank you."
Mu Zibai said in a heavy voice, "After I return to the sect and participate in the Inner Sect Grand Competition this time, I will go into seclusion to cultivate. I must become stronger! I must."
"Zibai, I think you should let go of this hatred. Otherwise, it will be detrimental to your cultivation."
"Let go?" Mu Zibai suddenly stood up, furious. "I cannot let go! I cannot put it down! I, Mu Zibai, have never suffered such a great humiliation in my life, and I will absolutely not let that person go! I will definitely find him and tear him to pieces! Definitely!"
Qing Ning didn't continue to persuade him. She knew Mu Zibai was a person with extremely strong self-esteem, someone who valued face more than life itself. Asking him to let go of hatred? Utterly impossible.
"Sigh, as you wish. Since your injuries are mostly healed, I should be going back."
"Qing Ning, wait!"
The voice came. Qing Ning turned, asking puzzledly, "What is it?"
"This year, for our Yunxia Sect's Inner Sect Grand Competition... will you still come to watch?"
"I probably will. It's been a long time since I've seen Yeye as well. I might as well take the chance during your Yunxia Sect's Inner Sect Grand Competition to go see her."
Thinking of Ouyang Ye, Qing Ning suddenly remembered something interesting and smiled. "A while ago, I heard people say that Yeye brought that love-at-first-sight sweetheart of hers to your Yunxia Sect. What was his name again? Seems like it was... Young Master Chiyan? Hehe... I've been wanting to meet him for a long time now."