Watching Elder Mu De crash to the ground, his flesh torn and bleeding, everyone finally realized just how terrifying Gu Qingfeng was. If they had held onto a sliver of hope before, that moment extinguished it completely, leaving only despair and fear.
That was Elder Mu De! A Golden Core True Person who had cultivated for over seven hundred years!
And he had just been kicked until his flesh split open!
Under such circumstances, who would dare harbor any improper thoughts?
What hope remained?
What hope could they possibly dare to have?
None.
Absolutely none.
Not a single shred.
When Elder Mu De was sent flying, several people in the arena were so frightened they collapsed on the spot: Mu Zibai, Li Can, Li Sen, Yun Hong, Ye Hui...
They had all had conflicts with Gu Qingfeng before and had also clung to a sliver of hope. Now it was gone, replaced by utter despair. Their faces ashen, they lay paralyzed on the ground. In that moment, they finally understood how foolish they had been, foolish enough to provoke Gu Qingfeng.
"Cough! Cough!"
In the distance, Elder Mu De clutched his chest, enduring the pain of his torn flesh as he struggled to his feet, trembling. He pointed at Gu Qingfeng, trying to speak.
At that moment, Gu Qingfeng, who had been silently floating in mid-air, suddenly spoke. Pointing at Elder Mu De, he said in a low, heavy voice, "Move again, and I'll take your life."
Mu De didn't dare move another muscle.
"Kneel!"
Gu Qingfeng's roar was like a thunderclap, sharp as lightning, deafening. The sheer force of that single shout caused Mu De's seven orifices to bleed. With a thud, he knelt on the ground.
Silence.
A silence boundless and endless.
The eardrums of everyone present buzzed. The power of Gu Qingfeng's shout echoed in their minds, impossible to dispel or forget.
Elder Ren De was also severely shaken by that shout, trembling in fear. Feeling something odd with his ears, he cautiously touched them. That touch revealed blood. Lifting his head to look around, he was horrified to discover that the ears of everyone in the arena... were all bleeding.
Heavens!
Seeing this, Ren De nearly fainted, almost failing to catch his breath.
No one knew how much time had passed. Everyone had forgotten time itself.
Gu Qingfeng descended from the air and landed on the ground, his gaze falling upon Fei Xue.
Fei Xue knelt there, trembling, her hair disheveled, her entire body covered in blood, her head already battered and bleeding.
She wasn't dead, nor had she lost consciousness.
It wasn't because she was particularly strong, but because Gu Qingfeng hadn't allowed her to die or lose consciousness. She was acutely aware of everything that had happened in the arena; only, the fear in her heart was more intense than anyone else's.
When Gu Qingfeng walked towards her, Fei Xue felt as if she were hearing the footsteps of Death itself.
"Save... save me..." Save? Who would dare? Who could possibly save her?
No one.
"My father is from the Nine Flowers Alliance..." She tried to bring up her father, to invoke the Nine Flowers Alliance, but before she could finish, Gu Qingfeng slapped her.
That single slap broke Fei Xue's neck, leaving her head lolling on her shoulder. She opened her mouth but didn't dare utter another word.
"Fei Kui."
Gu Qingfeng called Fei Kui's name.
Fei Kui jolted, looked up, his face filled with terror, and asked in a trembling voice, "Y-Young Master... this lowly one... is here."
"Bring me the Written Bond she just signed and sealed."
Fei Kui hurriedly found Fei Xue's bond from the stack of documents and handed it over with trembling hands.
Gu Qingfeng took it, glanced at it, and threw it in front of Fei Xue. "See clearly. This is your Written Bond."
The Written Bond... He was... was he going to start collecting lives now?
"Weren't you always wondering what would happen if I stopped being polite? Now I'll tell you."
Gu Qingfeng raised a hand. The Written Bond was sucked into his palm. Then, with a single slap, he pressed it against Fei Xue's skull. A series of crisp cracking sounds echoed, like bones shattering. Immediately after, Fei Xue went limp on the ground like a pile of mud.
One palm strike.
All her meridians were severed.
Her Spiritual Root dissipated, her dantian shattered, every bone in her body pulverized.
"I'll spare your life. Spend your next life lying in bed, thinking clearly about this problem."
Gu Qingfeng turned and said, "Bring me Guang Yuan's Written Bond."
Fei Kui handed it over.
Hearing this, Guang Yuan was so terrified he scrambled up from the ground and knelt, begging for mercy. "I... I was wrong! I surrender! Spare me... spare me!"
Gu Qingfeng raised a hand. The Azure Nether Wind Cave Vortex appeared, and Guang Yuan was sucked over.
"I gave you chances, more than one. You didn't cherish them yourself."
At this moment, Gu Qingfeng was like Death itself, collecting lives. He raised his arm, the Written Bond in his palm, and slapped it against Guang Yuan's head. Another series of crisp cracks echoed. All the tendons, bones, and meridians in his body were severed. He went limp on the ground like mud.
"And you! Mu De! Get over here!"
Gu Qingfeng raised a hand. Mu De was sucked over by an Azure Nether Wind Cave Vortex.
"This is your Written Bond. See it clearly!"
A slap came down. All tendons, bones, and meridians were severed. His Purple Mansion dantian dissipated. Mu De's Golden Core vanished into nothingness. His entire cultivation base dissipated and disappeared, leaving only his Spiritual Root behind.
"I'll spare your life too. Spend your next life lying in bed, living off your Spiritual Root!"
Dead? No.
Whether it was Fei Xue, Guang Yuan, or Mu De, none of the three were dead. They were all alive, but only barely breathing. Not only was their cultivation crippled and their meridians severed, but they would also be bedridden for the rest of their lives, unable to move.
And that was more terrifying than death!
He was collecting lives, using the signed and sealed Written Bonds to collect lives.
Everyone in the arena who had signed a Written Bond was scared out of their wits, leaping into the air to flee.
"I said today, unless I nod, no one leaves. All of you, get down here!" Gu Qingfeng's domineering roar, vast and mighty, exploded across the sky like thunder. In an instant, everyone attempting to flee in mid-air was blasted down, blood spurting from their mouths and noses as they crashed to the ground.
Gu Qingfeng raised a hand and grabbed the five who had led the escape. These five, disheveled and ragged, their clothes torn, black smoke rising from their bodies, were the five members of the Li Clan.
"Demon monster, you dare! Our Li Clan..." One of them snarled and struggled, but before he could finish, Gu Qingfeng slapped his palm against the man's head, forcing him to kneel on the ground!
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Immediately after, the other four didn't even have time to grunt before he forced them to kneel as well.
Gu Qingfeng swept his gaze over them, holding the stack of Written Bonds in his hand. "Who signed a Written Bond, I know, and you know. What's written on the bond, you know, and I know too. One bond, one life. You all owe me a life. However..." His tone shifted, and he spoke calmly, "However, today I'll spare your lives. But only today. In the future, if anyone dares to offend me, I'll kill one for every one who comes, ten for every ten, however many come, I'll kill them all. I will show no mercy!"
Gu Qingfeng found the Written Bonds of the five Li Clan members from the stack. He threw one bond in front of one person and slapped his palm down. One Li Clan member's entire skeletal structure shattered.
"I don't care who you are."
Another slap came down!
Another person's entire skeletal structure shattered.
"I don't care what family, what gang, or what alliance you're from!"
Thud!
Another slap came down. The third Li Clan member's skeletal structure shattered, his body like a pile of mud.
"Even if your father is the King of Heaven himself, even if your backer is the Immortal Court, I'll kill you all the same!"
Thud!
The fourth Li Clan member's skeletal structure shattered, his body like mud!
"Take it as a warning or a threat. I'll only say this once, and it's the last time. Whether you listen or not is your business. I don't want to know."
Gu Qingfeng threw the last Li Clan Written Bond over and continued, "But there's one thing you must remember: today, you can stand because I allow you to stand. You can live because I allow you to live. Don't be so ungrateful!"
A palm strike landed!
With this strike, the skeletal structure of the last Li Clan member did not shatter, because Gu Qingfeng's palm instantly pulverized the man's physical body. It was truly pulverized—flesh and blood flew in all directions...