In the sky above, the winds surged and the clouds churned, roaring like a vast sea.
Dark clouds rolled and tumbled, as if boiling!
Thunderclaps resounded continuously, shaking the mountains and rivers.
Crack!
Another Crimson Thunder, like a flood dragon, condensed and manifested from the dark clouds, exploding in the mid-air.
Ten bolts!
A hundred bolts!
Three hundred bolts!
One after another, Crimson Thunders continuously condensed and detonated.
Five hundred bolts!
Six hundred bolts! A full nine hundred and ninety-nine bolts of Crimson Thunder.
Looking out, it was as if nine hundred and ninety-nine crimson dragons were baring their fangs and brandishing their claws in the sky, a sight both terrifying and horrifying.
Everyone in the Five-Color Gardens raised their heads, filled with terror and shock. Some faces flushed red, others turned deathly pale. There was excitement, fear, and panic.
Just moments ago, Gu Qingfeng's performance of "Wind Rises Over Daqing Mountain" producing nine hundred and ninety-nine Profound Mysteries was already unbelievable.
After achieving Great Perfection in the mysteries, the surging momentum of wind and clouds was even more incredible.
And now, at this very moment, the vivid and mighty appearance of nine hundred and ninety-nine bolts of Crimson Thunder flashing and exploding had left everyone dumbstruck.
Everyone knew that "Wind Rises Over Daqing Mountain" contained nine hundred and ninety-nine Crimson Thunder mysteries. However, because many of the melodies in the piece were created by the Monarch himself, no one knew how to play them out. Therefore, the mysteries everyone had been playing were merely pseudo-mysteries—they had the sound of Crimson Thunder but failed to draw down the real Crimson Thunder from the heavens.
This person.
This white-robed man had not only played out the nine hundred and ninety-nine mysteries but also evoked the surging momentum of wind and clouds. And now, even more terrifyingly, he had actually drawn down the genuine Chixiao Thunder from the heavens.
Startling thunder resounded in the sky!
Winds surged and clouds transformed!
The sky was blotted out and the sun obscured!
The Chixiao Thunder raged!
This was precisely the artistic conception of "Wind Rises Over Daqing Mountain"!
Among the present crowd, musical prodigies like Wuhen and Li Qianhua all wore complex, uncertain expressions, as if they couldn't believe and were unable to accept this scene. Qing Xi was no exception. Like everyone else, she looked up, dumbfounded, at the spectacle of Crimson Thunder in the sky. Her heart was agitated, surging, and enchanted, but more than anything, filled with doubt and shock.
She had lost count of how many times she had studied the original score of "Wind Rises Over Daqing Mountain" and how many times she had played it.
Yet, to this day, she could only play out a little over six hundred mysteries. Calling them mysteries, she knew in her heart, was a stretch—they were merely thunderclaps, far from the true Crimson Thunder mysteries.
She also knew there were some melodies in the score created by the Monarch. She had been contemplating them, but to this day, she still couldn't truly play them out. Those melodies were simply too bizarre. She didn't know what fingering to use, nor how to guide her spirit, control her divine sense, or channel her spiritual power to perform them. For this, she had consulted many reincarnated experts, only to be disappointed that even those great reincarnated powers were at a loss when faced with this piece.
She had never imagined that someone could not only evoke the surging, transformative momentum of "Wind Rises Over Daqing Mountain" but also bring forth the artistic conception of the raging Chixiao Thunder.
It was truly inconceivable!
She just stared, gazing at the artistic conception of the raging Chixiao Thunder, even able to imagine the scene from back when Lord Chixiao slaughtered Daqing Mountain.
She was born in the current era and hadn't experienced those events, yet she could still imagine it.
As for some of the Musical Arts masters present, each with over a thousand years of cultivation—they were all seniors of the Great Northwest. Some of these masters had even witnessed with their own eyes Lord Chixiao using this very piece, "Chixiao Wind Cloud Thunder," to slaughter thousands from over ten sects on Daqing Mountain.
The scene back then was exactly like now.
Winds and clouds suddenly changed, startling thunder exploded, the sky was blotted out, and Crimson Thunder bolts rained down.
Lord Chixiao stood in the mid-air, his black hair dancing wildly in the gale, his robes flapping furiously. His hands danced over the guqin, unpredictable, leaving afterimages. Bolt after bolt of Crimson Thunder struck Daqing Mountain, striking those who had nowhere to flee, shattering them to pieces. When the piece ended, Daqing Mountain was already a river of blood...
Even now, recalling that scene still made one's blood boil and sent shivers of fear down the spine.
At this moment.
Grand-Uncle Ku Mu stood beside the pavilion, looking up at the artistic conception of the raging Chixiao Thunder in the sky. He appeared extremely agitated, his face flushed red, his body trembling uncontrollably. He just stared, his mind in turmoil, his thoughts a blank slate.
When Gu Qingfeng's hands ceased their dance, the piece also came to an end.
The great wind gradually subsided, the thunderclaps grew fainter.
The sky-blotting dark clouds slowly dissipated, and the flood dragon-like Crimson Thunders flickered in and out of sight...
No one knew how much time had passed.
Truly no one knew. No one paid attention to the passage of time. Everyone present seemed immersed in the artistic conception of the raging Chixiao Thunder from "Wind Rises Over Daqing Mountain," unable to extricate themselves. Only when the wind completely ceased, the thunder vanished, the dark clouds disappeared, and everything returned to normal—as if after a storm the sky cleared, or like rebirth after a calamity—did the crowd slowly come back to their senses.
But they had only regained their senses. No one spoke; some even forgot to breathe. They all looked at the white-robed man standing in the pavilion with strange eyes, as if gazing at a ghost or a god, both unable to believe and unwilling to accept.
At this moment, they were all pondering one question.
Was the white-robed man in the pavilion truly Young Lord Chiyan?
Everyone knew the real Young Lord Chiyan possessed an Unshakable Body and Absolute Power, and his mastery of Musical Arts was peerless in the world.
Although many had witnessed this man crushing a Nature Treasure Gem bare-handed at Xiao Zhe Manor, they still harbored doubts. After all, crushing a Nature Treasure Gem only proved a formidable Physical Body. Young Lord Chiyan having a formidable Physical Body didn't mean anyone with a formidable Physical Body was Young Lord Chiyan. Moreover, no one believed someone who had been reduced to ashes could die and come back to life.
However, now they didn't know whether to believe or not.
Someone with a formidable Physical Body might not be Young Lord Chiyan. But if a person not only had a formidable Physical Body but also possessed Musical Arts mastery as peerless as Young Lord Chiyan's, it became hard to disbelieve.
An imposter?
Appearance could be faked. Cultivation could be faked.
A formidable Physical Body could be imitated. Peerless Musical Arts could be mimicked.
But when these four traits appeared together in one person, it became very difficult to fake.
Where could one find someone with a formidable Physical Body, peerless Musical Arts, Golden Core cultivation, and who looked exactly like Young Lord Chiyan?
Not only were people pondering whether Gu Qingfeng was Young Lord Chiyan, some were also wondering if he was the Monarch's successor.
Everyone knew that if the person before them was truly the Young Lord Chiyan who had been reduced to ashes three years ago, then he very likely was indeed the Monarch's successor. Because defying the natural order by dying and resurrecting after being reduced to ashes—such an act that violated the laws of heaven and earth—under the vast sky, probably only the successor of Lord Chixiao could accomplish it.