This was indeed Canyang Mountain.
However, it was a blurred and flickering Canyang Mountain, swaying like the faint flame of a candle in a fierce gale, as if it could be extinguished at any moment.
Sure enough.
When a sacred and pure radiance blossomed forth, Canyang Mountain instantly turned to dust and vanished, as if it had never existed, disappearing without a trace. All that remained was a beam of Heavenly Destiny Light that pierced the clouds and shot straight into the heavens.
The Taohua Old Daoist plopped down on the ground, his face deathly pale with fright. He had thought Gu Qingfeng was just trying to scare him earlier, never imagining that a Heavenly Destiny would truly appear at Canyang Mountain!
Heavens above!
The Taohua Old Daoist couldn't believe it, nor could he accept it. Muttering to himself, he said, "The great calamity of the ages births heaven and earth, three cycles of reincarnation reveal the ancient past, past lives and present causes and effects meet, whose fate belongs to whom depends on heaven... The legend has already begun...
The mysterious Era of No-Dao will truly reappear in the world during this era, and the Black Hole Karma will also descend in the near future..." Although the Taohua Old Daoist did not belong to the Era of No-Dao, nor did he possess any Karma from that era.
Even these legends had nothing to do with him.
But he was still afraid.
Because he was worried about the Taohua Lady.
Suddenly.
Whoosh!
A figure suddenly darted into the beam of Heavenly Destiny Light.
Immediately after, another followed...
In the blink of an eye, seven or eight figures had already charged inside.
Seeing this, the Taohua Old Daoist hurriedly scrambled to his feet, also preparing to rush in and take a look. Just as he was about to go, he suddenly noticed Gu Qingfeng still standing there in a daze, looking up at the sky. He asked in surprise, "Kid Gu, you...
You're not planning to go take a look?"
"You go first."
"What do you mean, I go first?
Where are you going?"
"It seems someone doesn't want me to go."
Gu Qingfeng tilted his head back and drained a whole jar of wine in one go.
"Who doesn't want you to go?"
"I'd like to know who the hell doesn't want me to go, too."
With that, Gu Qingfeng's figure vanished without a trace.
"Kid Gu!"
The Taohua Old Daoist searched all around but could no longer sense Gu Qingfeng's presence.
"Damn it!"
After searching for a while, the Taohua Old Daoist had no choice but to give up. He hurriedly charged into the beam of Heavenly Destiny Light.
The moment he made contact.
The Taohua Old Daoist instantly felt a majestic and imposing aura. It was a sacred aura, one that also intimidated the soul. Furthermore, within it seemed to be an extremely terrifying power, a power vast and boundless, as if it could crush everything.
The Taohua Old Daoist's soul trembled uncontrollably under the intimidation of the sacred aura, and his physical body was crushed and distorted into a blur by that terrifying, vast power.
Gah!
The Taohua Old Daoist was intimidated until blood flowed from all seven orifices. He immediately summoned his Ancient Zen True Power to protect his spirit, but it was still no use.
"Damn it all!
I don't believe I can't get in!"
The Taohua Old Daoist cursed angrily. As he raised his hand, a jade pendant suddenly appeared in his palm. The pendant was shaped exactly like a peach blossom. He formed hand seals with both hands, and the pendant immediately erupted with dazzling radiance, enveloping his entire body.
Although it was slightly better than before, it was only slightly. Both his physical body and soul still suffered the intimidation and crushing pressure of the sacred aura and terrifying power.
This couldn't help but drive the Taohua Old Daoist to distraction, because the pendant he had just summoned was the Taohua Jade Pendant, and the power he mobilized was the Primordial Source Power of the Taohua Secret Realm. Even so, it actually couldn't contend against the sacred aura and terrifying power.
The only thing he felt fortunate about was that, although he couldn't contend against it and every step was difficult, like treading on thin ice, he could still barely hold on and persevere. He only hoped to charge in as quickly as possible.
...
At the same time.
In the void, above the clouds, lay the Nine Heavens Forbidden Land, also known as the Forbidden Zone of Heaven.
Fierce astral winds howled wildly.
Vast Heavenly Might rolled down with crushing pressure.
Gu Qingfeng stood with his hands behind his back in this place, his long hair dancing wildly under the Heavenly Might, his sleeves fluttering in the unrestrained astral winds.
His expression was one of aloof pride.
His gaze was one of looking down upon the world.
His aura was one of absolute dominance.
He simply stood there.
Like an immortal, yet also like a Buddha; like a demon, yet also like a god; resembling light, resembling darkness, resembling sanctity, yet also resembling evil.
Killing Intent!
Killing Intent filled the sky.
It was everywhere, blotting out the heavens and covering the earth.
As if it came from the heavens above, or from the earth below, or even from ancient eras, or from the legendary Primordial Era.
Gu Qingfeng didn't know where this Killing Intent came from, nor did he know who was behind it.
The only thing he knew was that when Canyang Mountain appeared, when a beam of Heavenly Destiny shot out from beneath Canyang Mountain, this Killing Intent had enveloped him like a violent storm.
Obviously.
Someone didn't want him to enter the Life Vein of Canyang Mountain.
This kind of situation was not the first time Gu Qingfeng had encountered it. Throughout his five hundred years of cultivation, he had always been accompanied by all sorts of Killing Intent, never ceasing. He even knew that among them were several mysterious strands of Killing Intent that would appear every now and then. As for who was behind these Killing Intents and why they were fixated on him, that question remained a mystery to this day.
Regarding this Killing Intent.
Gu Qingfeng was also extremely helpless, because he simply didn't know where it came from, so he didn't even have a chance to test it out.
Let alone not being in this world, he even suspected whether the source of this Killing Intent was within this Heaven and Earth was an unknown.
Right at this moment.
Suddenly.
A radiant orb slowly rose from the western horizon.
The radiance resembled a yin moon, yet also a yang sun.
Similarly, it resembled light, yet also darkness; the light was changing, the darkness transforming.
It resembled sanctity, yet also evil.
That radiant orb was like a bloody sun and moon. As it appeared, half the sky was dyed a bloody hue. The blood-red color seemed to boil, or perhaps to burn. Accompanying it was an utterly terrifying aura, an aura that seemed capable of melting the very Heaven and Earth.
Gazing at the blood-red sky, at that radiant orb resembling a bloody sun and moon, feeling this aura that seemed to melt everything, Gu Qingfeng's brow couldn't help but furrow slightly.
He remembered a person.
A woman.
A woman who had once nearly killed him.
Also a woman who had once driven him to madness and demonhood.
At the same time, a woman who stirred both love and hate within him.
Even more so, a mysterious and unknown woman he had never been able to see through.
He didn't want to see this woman.
Not in the slightest.
But she had come nonetheless.
Sure enough.
A woman emerged from the bloody moon.
Three thousand strands of white hair.
A robe of blood-red.
A woman of peerless elegance, stunning beauty, and matchless grace, yet also one who appeared incomparably poignant and beautiful.
Her beauty was so radiant it seemed to dare compete with the sun and moon, so stunning it made all things in the world pale in comparison before her.
The blood-red dyed the sun and moon.
Filling the entire sky.
World Honored Lady, Jun Xuanji.
As she appeared, her stunningly beautiful face, which seemed not to belong to the mortal world, seemed to tremble with emotion. Looking at Gu Qingfeng, her expression seemed one of longing, of entanglement, yet also of resentment, of anger...
Numerous emotions were chaotically mixed together, exceedingly complex. Yet, what dominated was hesitation, confusion, and also loss.
"Don't...
Don't go...
Alright?"