Yaoyue Palace.
Feng Hua, Feng Lie, and several other Supreme Elders, along with some inner cabinet elders like Zihao, had gathered in the main hall.
Liuguang Jiaoying's proclamation to the entire Great Northwest via the radiance of the Immortal Office had been heard clearly by everyone, and Yaoyue Palace was no exception. Especially the part about anyone who knew or was acquainted with the felon Gu Qingfeng must report to the Immortal Office for interrogation, or face execution without mercy. This had thrown everyone in Yaoyue Palace into a state of panic.
In ordinary times, they wouldn't dare offend the Immortal Office, let alone now when the Immortal Office housed a full thousand nine-star Immortal Officials with Great Law Manifestations, a hundred Hundred Tribulation Elders, and dozens of Immortal Dynasty Nobles.
And Yaoyue Palace didn't have a single Great Law Manifestation cultivator among its ranks. How could they not be afraid?
How could they not be terrified?
How could they not feel imperiled?
Feng Hua, Feng Lie, and the other Supreme Elders were somewhat better off, remaining silent without a word.
But Zihao and the other elders were as frantic as ants on a hot pan, pacing back and forth in the hall, even beginning to complain.
"I warned you all long ago! That Gu Qingfeng's origins are unclear, his identity murky, and he might very well be a swindler. We should have kept our distance from him. But what did you do? You refused to listen! And now look! He killed Immortal Officials of the Immortal Office. Now the Immortal Dynasty Nobles are sparing no effort to find him, and our Yaoyue Palace is going to suffer terribly because of him!"
"Although Gu Qingfeng performed the Great Awakening for Elder Feng Lie, he did kill so many Immortal Officials after all. He is a criminal. If our Yaoyue Palace gets implicated because of him, it would be truly unjust!"
"Exactly! Now the entire Northwest knows that Han Dong and that Gu Qingfeng are cultivation partners. Even if it's fake, how can we possibly explain it clearly?"
Elders led by Zihao were rather traditional. Back when Second Elder Feilu was still around, they had remained neutral, not supporting the Second Elder but never opposing him either. Now, Zihao and the others somewhat regretted it. They regretted not supporting the Second Elder back then. If they had supported the Second Elder in accepting the Immortal Dynasty's conferment, Yaoyue Palace wouldn't be facing such a calamity now.
"Palace Mistress Feiyan, Honored Ancestors, given the current situation, before the people from the Immortal Office come to kill us, we should obediently go to the Immortal Office and explain this matter clearly. If that really doesn't work... we have no choice but to accept the Immortal Dynasty's conferment."
"You want us to surrender to the Immortal Dynasty?"
Feng Hua, Feng Lie, and the other Supreme Elders were old-timers who had cultivated for thousands of years. In other words, they had suffered under the Immortal Dynasty's oppression for millennia during the ancient era. Speaking of it was a bloody, tearful history too painful to recall. Deep in their hearts, they bore a deep-seated hatred for the Immortal Dynasty. They would rather die than surrender to it.
"To preserve Yaoyue Palace, we can only resort to this last resort. Otherwise... if we wait for those Immortal Officials with Great Law Manifestations to come kill us... our Yaoyue Palace will be completely finished!"
Feng Lie snorted coldly. "At worst, it's just death. A true man of honor, how could he cling to life in disgrace? I, Feng Lie, cannot bear such shame. If you're afraid of death, you can go yourself."
"Afraid of death? I'm doing this to save our Yaoyue Palace!"
At this moment, Feiyan, who had been silent all along, suddenly sighed. "If our Yaoyue Palace is truly destroyed by the Immortal Dynasty because of Gu... because of Young Master Gu... perhaps it is fate."
No one knew why Feiyan felt such sentiment, just as no one knew why he had respectfully knelt before Gu Qingfeng.
However, Zihao and the other elders had no mind to ponder this question now. He shouted angrily, "Feiyan! Ever since that Gu Qingfeng appeared, you've become all mystical and strange, even kneeling to him in reverence. I don't care if Gu Qingfeng is the successor of the Lord or not, but the fact is he killed many Immortal Officials. If you're counting on Gu Qingfeng to step forward himself, I advise you to wake up! Since the Immortal Dynasty Nobles descended, that Gu Qingfeng hasn't shown his face again. He must be hiding in fear. There's no way he'll step forward."
"Fear?" Feiyan chuckled as if hearing a ridiculous joke, shaking his head with a wry smile. Then he added, "The ones who should truly be afraid are not Young Master Gu, but those reckless Immortal Dynasty Officials who don't know their own mortality."
If Zihao's claim that Gu Qingfeng was afraid was a joke to Feiyan, then Feiyan's statement that the Immortal Dynasty Officials should be afraid was equally a joke to Zihao and the other elders.
"Feiyan, have you gone mad or lost your mind? Let's not even discuss whether Gu Qingfeng is truly the successor of the Lord. Even if he is, so what? The Immortal Dynasty has brought over a thousand nine-star Immortal Officials with Great Law Manifestations! Over a hundred Hundred Tribulation Elders! And dozens of Immortal Dynasty Nobles! They even killed those reincarnated experts whose previous lives were True Immortals!"
Zihao's face flushed red as he roared furiously, "Now, to hunt down Gu Qingfeng, the Immortal Dynasty has already started moving against the eighty-plus branch halls of the Northwest Chizitou! And you're still here spouting nonsense, saying the Immortal Dynasty Officials should be afraid? Who do you think Gu Qingfeng is? Never mind that he's just a questionable successor of the Lord; even if he were the true reincarnation of Lord Chixiao himself, it would be useless!"
"Moving against the Northwest Chizitou only proves their ignorance. Beyond that, it proves nothing."
Feiyan closed his eyes and murmured, "They cannot touch Chizitou. As long as he is here, no one in this world can touch Chizitou. No one can touch it..."
"Madness! Utter madness!" Elder Zihao cried out in panic. "You want to die, but this old man does not! Those who don't wish to die, follow me to the Immortal Office!"
Zihao dared not stay any longer. He feared that if he delayed further, not only would they miss the chance to accept the Immortal Dynasty's conferment, they might not even get a chance to explain.
No one is unafraid of death.
Elder Zihao was afraid. The other elders were afraid too. So they all followed Elder Zihao towards the Immortal Office.
Soon, only Feiyan, Feng Hua, Feng Lie, and a few other ancestors remained in the great hall.
Feng Hua and Feng Lie were also afraid of death. But if living meant surrendering to the Immortal Dynasty, they would rather die. There was another question they had never been able to figure out: Gu Qingfeng's identity. After Zihao and the other elders left, Feng Lie asked, "Feiyan, can you tell us, just who is Gu Qingfeng? Why do you..."
"Feng Lie, you shouldn't ask me that question. You should ask yourself. He performed the Great Awakening for you. Who is he? What kind of person is he... Could it be... you truly cannot figure it out? Or do you not dare to think it?"
"This..." Feng Lie was stunned. He could tell there was hidden meaning in Feiyan's words. His mind recalled what Gu Qingfeng had said when they first met in the swamp, Feiyan's attitude towards Gu Qingfeng... and the reverence the dragon-elephant spirits of the Chixiao people showed him... All these things made Feng Lie think of a certain person. Just as Feiyan said, it wasn't that he couldn't figure it out, but that he didn't dare to.