A single Taiji Golden Core was already enough to shake the past and dazzle the present.
Now, Qian Shan was actually saying that Gu Qingfeng had condensed two Taiji Golden Cores back then?
Good heavens!
This time, not only were Ouyang Ye and Han Dong's minds blank, but even Aunt Xue was stunned, unable to regain her composure for a long time.
"I might have been mistaken, but Su Hua definitely wasn't. And..." Although the incident had passed long ago, thinking of it still made her heart tremble uncontrollably. Qian Shan closed her eyes and said solemnly, "And at the time, Gu Qingfeng even offered that Taiji Golden Core to Su Hua...
Su Hua didn't dare accept it, so he personally destroyed it."
Hearing that Gu Qingfeng had offered the Taiji Golden Core to Su Hua, all three of them felt their scalps tingle and a sense of dizziness.
"It wasn't until we were at the Wind-Cloud Branch, witnessing with our own eyes Gu Qingfeng wielding the power of the Taiji Golden Core with a mere wave of his hand, that Su Hua and I realized he hadn't condensed one Taiji Golden Core, but two."
After saying this, Qian Shan took a deep breath, as if to calm the trembling in her heart. After a moment, she continued.
"Su Hua speculated that Gu Qingfeng's inexplicable disintegration into ashes before the Taixuan Stele might have been due to the Taiji Golden Core. Perhaps, unbeknownst to us, he suffered a Great Dao Tribulation, causing his soul to scatter. If that were truly the case, even with heaven-defying abilities, he could not possibly come back to life."
"In other words, if he really is still alive, then it means he survived the Great Dao Tribulation and achieved a true Taiji Golden Core. And that Lao Jiu's Golden Core is not a Taiji Golden Core, which also confirms that he is not, and cannot be, Gu Qingfeng."
Ouyang Ye, Han Dong, and Aunt Xue just stood there, none of them uttering a word. All they felt was regret, endless regret.
After hearing Qian Shan's words, they didn't know what else to say.
Indeed.
Faced with someone who achieved two Taiji Golden Cores yet died because of them, what could one say besides regret?
Nothing at all.
And for Ouyang Ye, it wasn't just regret; there was more sorrow.
Only today did she learn the true cause of Gu Qingfeng's death.
Her heart ached terribly.
Closing her eyes, tears silently streamed from the corners.
Qian Shan had spoken these words today not just to prove that Lao Jiu wasn't the real Gu Qingfeng, but also to sever the lingering hope in Ouyang Ye's heart. She knew that besides Xiao Jinr's firm belief that Gu Qingfeng wasn't dead, Ouyang Ye also harbored this notion deep down—at the very least, she had doubted it, wasn't entirely certain, and might even have been waiting.
This was something most taboo for cultivators.
If it persisted, it wouldn't just hinder her cultivation progress; it could eventually lead to inner demons and mental obstacles.
Xiao Jinr was still young, but Ouyang Ye was different. She was already on the path of cultivation and possessed the unique, peerless fortune of Nature's Endless Life.
If inner demons truly arose because of this, the consequences would be extremely dire.
For the sake of her future, she had to completely cut off that hope in her heart, make her face reality, and gradually accept it.
This was what Su Hua had specifically instructed before they came.
...
Ever since Gu Qingfeng, in front of everyone, crushed a Nature's Seven-Colored Treasure Crystal into sand and then, like a magician, molded the seven-colored sand into a vivid seven-colored phoenix, the name Young Lord Chiyan had once again spread throughout the Great Northwest.
Most of those who had doubted his identity no longer did so.
Of course.
It was only most people who believed. There were still quite a few who firmly held that someone who had disintegrated into ashes could not possibly come back to life. This was a law, a principle that no one could defy—not even a true successor of the Chixiao Lord.
Although some still doubted, no one came to test him.
Not that they didn't want to.
But they didn't dare.
Someone who could crush a Nature's Seven-Colored Treasure Crystal into sand with bare hands, even if he wasn't the real Young Lord Chiyan, was definitely no ordinary figure. Others, even if they wanted to test him, had to weigh whether they had the capability.
Previously, when Gu Qingfeng kicked Bi Lan until he bled from all seven orifices, Han Dong knew that Yao Yue Palace would definitely not let the matter rest. Worried that people from Yao Yue Palace would come to cause trouble for Gu Qingfeng and that things might escalate beyond control, she went alone to Yao Yue Palace the next day to handle the matter. After all, she was the Heir Apparent of Yao Yue Palace.
After Han Dong left,
Ouyang Ye's mood remained very low. She often stared blankly at the setting sun by herself.
Just as Qian Shan had said.
Deep down, she had never quite believed that Gu Qingfeng was truly dead. Even after witnessing his disintegration into ashes three years ago, she hadn't fully believed it. To be precise, a sliver of hope remained in her heart, hoping that Gu Qingfeng was still alive.
But that last vestige of hope had dissipated like smoke with Qian Shan's revelation of Gu Qingfeng's cause of death.
She desperately wanted to forget, to stop missing him, but she couldn't control herself. Whenever she closed her eyes, for some reason, as the sun set each day, the figure of Gu Qingfeng from three years ago would involuntarily surface in her mind.
This made her feel utterly broken and frantic.
Qian Shan saw Ouyang Ye's sorrow and felt heartache for her. To prevent Ouyang Ye from dwelling on these messy thoughts, she suggested going out to clear their minds. Ouyang Ye happened to have the same idea, so they took Xiao Jinr out for a stroll.
If it were before, she would never have left Gu Qingfeng alone to go out.
First, she worried about Gu Qingfeng's safety and feared someone might expose his identity.
But now,
she wasn't worried anymore.
In Ouyang Ye's mind, since she had exhausted all her strength without budging this guy an inch, it was probably impossible for anyone else to harm him.
As for Gu Qingfeng's identity,
Ouyang Ye was even less concerned.
Even she, who knew the truth, had almost been fooled into thinking he was the real Gu Qingfeng, let alone those kept in the dark.
That wasn't important.
What was important was that the distraught Ouyang Ye really didn't want to see that fake Young Lord Chiyan in the garden right now.
Thus, the vast Xiao Zhe Manor was left with only Gu Qingfeng.
He first enjoyed a good, long sleep, and it wasn't until noon the next day that he rode out on his old horse.
Although he was a Mundane Person and an idle Human,
he wasn't so vulgar as to only know how to flirt with girls, nor so idle as to idle away all day with nothing to do.
His purpose in coming to the Star Moon Domain was not to seek karma, but to repay emotional debts.
Now that Feng Zhuyue had vanished without a trace, her fate unknown, Gu Qingfeng had no leads for the time being and could only take things one step at a time.
Setting aside the debt to Feng Zhuyue, he still owed many people in the Great Northwest.
The one that weighed most on his mind was Senior Kumu of Five Colors Mountain. Some time ago, he had by chance encountered Senior Kumu's disciple in the swamp and learned that Senior Kumu was busy. Now that so many days had passed, he figured the senior should be about done.