Within the Purple Mansion Dantian.
The Nine Nether Fire burned slowly.
The Evil Heart pulsed gently.
The Great Nature Seed bloomed gradually.
The Lonely Star Tear also shimmered faintly.
Everything had returned to normal.
Gu Qingfeng's divine sense roamed his Purple Mansion for a round, confirming that these unknown existences had all returned to normal. With a thought, a Buddha statue appeared within the Purple Mansion.
This Buddha statue looked like a worn-out ancient Buddha, with kind brows and benevolent eyes, a serene countenance, sitting cross-legged with hands clasped together, its eyes also closed.
It was none other than the Wrath Incarnation of Great Sun Tathagata.
Originally, the Wrath Incarnation of Great Sun Tathagata had been undergoing refinement bit by bit by the Nine Nether Fire within his Purple Mansion. However, the moment the Evil Heart erupted, Gu Qingfeng had immediately hidden the Wrath Incarnation within his body.
After all, this was the Wrath Incarnation of Great Sun Tathagata.
Who was Great Sun Tathagata? That was the Buddha Lord.
Now, while its eyes were closed, it was merely a Buddha statue. Yet once it opened its eyes, it would become the true Wrath Incarnation.
Gu Qingfeng had witnessed the power of this thing at the Tai Xuan Monument. If it were influenced by the Evil Heart again, who knew what it might become.
Now that the Evil Heart had regained its usual calm, he tossed the Wrath Incarnation of Great Sun Tathagata back into his Purple Mansion, letting the Nine Nether Fire slowly refine it once more.
Truth be told, this thing was really tough.
Having been refined by the Nine Nether Fire for so long, although the Buddha statue had been completely refined, it was still just a statue. Only when this statue opened its eyes would it become the true Wrath Incarnation of Great Sun Tathagata. However, for all this time, the eyes of the Wrath Incarnation had never opened.
"Had I known you were this tough, I shouldn't have moved you earlier. I should have let those other guys mess with you a bit, to see if your Wrath Incarnation of Great Sun Tathagata could withstand it."
Gu Qingfeng was in no hurry. He didn't even expect to completely refine this Wrath Incarnation of Great Sun Tathagata. The reason he had brought it over was simply to let these unknown existences within his Purple Mansion restrain and balance each other.
However.
The timing wasn't right yet. Gu Qingfeng pondered observing for a while longer.
Emerging from his Purple Mansion, with nothing better to do, he glanced at Ouyang Ye. The little lass was wholly focused on refining that Cloud-Color Sword.
He watched for a while, secretly offering some pointers in passing.
As the sun set in the west, Gu Qingfeng lay back in the hammock to rest. Suddenly, his mind jolted violently. Immediately after, his slightly closed eyes snapped open. He released his divine sense to investigate and couldn't help but laugh.
"Seems the little fellow finally couldn't hold on anymore!"
The 'little fellow' he spoke of was none other than the little turtle he had released earlier.
While the little turtle's shell was indeed indestructible and its bite formidable, it had a fatal flaw: aside from its strong bite, it had no means of self-defense. Relying on its shell, others naturally couldn't do anything to it. However, if someone cast a spell, even a minor one, it wouldn't be able to escape.
Therefore, when the little turtle left, he had specifically left a talisman mark on its shell.
If the little turtle's shell encountered any profound power, he would know immediately.
And just now, his mind had stirred. It seemed the little fellow had run into some trouble.
Without hesitation, Gu Qingfeng vanished in a flash.
This night.
The night sky was somewhat gloomy, the wind somewhat chilly.
The Great Northwest borderlands were vast and expansive.
In ancient times, it was a place where all sorts of demon monsters ran rampant. Having previously experienced the chaos of the demon monster era, and now with the Crimson-Letter Manor presiding over the various great domains of the Northwest, plus the existence of an immortal manor in the Star-Moon Domain, the demon monsters of the Northwest had either died or perished. Those still alive hid within secret realms, not daring to emerge.
Of course.
This didn't mean the Northwest was devoid of demon monsters.
Even today, there were still a few places along the Northwest border where demon monsters frequently appeared.
Black Pond Marsh was one of them.
It was a vast muddy marsh, filled with all sorts of evil auras. No one knew how this muddy marsh had formed. It was only known that influenced by the ancient calamity, it started as a strange muddy pond. Over time, a hundred years later today, it had slowly transformed into a massive marshland.
Because this place was filled with evil spiritual auras, even if ordinary people dared to enter, they wouldn't dare linger for long.
It must be known that some spiritual auras were called evil auras because they were filled with uncertainty. Some even contained potent toxins. Forget absorbing them, even slight contamination could instantly turn one into a puddle of blood. Others could cause one to lose their mind, driving them to madness.
Even if these evil auras weren't toxic and were relatively stable, ordinary people still wouldn't dare absorb them.
After all, cultivation emphasized purity.
The purer the spiritual power, the stronger the power, and the less likely one was to suffer Qi deviation.
Conversely, if contaminated by other spiritual auras, causing one's own spiritual power to become turbid, having scattered spiritual power was a minor issue. Failing to condense a Golden Core, failing to form a Nascent Soul, failing to manifest a Primordial Spirit—by then, regret would be too late.
However.
These evil auras were the favorite of all sorts of demon monsters. This was also why marshlands often had specters and demons appearing.
Not only were they the favorite of demon monsters, but also of those demonic cultivators.
Demonic cultivators, after all, walked the crooked path.
Once contaminated by evil auras, turning back was extremely difficult. Contamination was easy, but purification was akin to scaling the heavens. One could only walk the dark path to its end.
Gu Qingfeng drank wine as he rode the wind through the air above this marshland.
He didn't see any demon monsters, but he encountered quite a few demonic cultivators.
He could sense the little turtle was ahead. He wasn't in a hurry, leisurely flying through the air, letting the little fellow suffer a bit more, letting it know the outside world wasn't easy to navigate.
Suddenly!
Roar!
A fierce tiger's roar came, causing Gu Qingfeng to raise an eyebrow.
If it were just an ordinary tiger's roar, it naturally wouldn't have caught his attention. The truth was, he could tell this tiger's roar was roared out by a person.
Could it be the Tiger Might Bloodline?
Yes.
But it wasn't an ordinary Tiger Might Bloodline.
Although Tiger Might Bloodlines weren't numerous in this world, they were certainly not few. Gu Qingfeng had some research into bloodlines and was quite familiar with the Tiger Might Bloodline. He clearly knew that even if a Tiger Might Bloodline manifested its bloodline true form, it would at most be imposing and majestic. The tiger's roar would at best be fierce and mighty.
However.
This tiger's roar was different!
Not only was it fierce and mighty, but it also brimmed with a kingly aura, that kind of domineering 'who but me' presence.
That wasn't the important part.
The important part was that within this tiger's roar, aside from the kingly aura, there was even more savagery, cruelty, and baleful aura.
"This is Tiger Balefulness!
And it's the rare Kingly Tiger Balefulness!"
Between heaven and earth, all those with bloodlines were descendants of true spirits.
Like the most famous and common Four Great True Spirits: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Black Tortoise, Vermilion Bird.