Gu Qingfeng laughed.
His laughter was unrestrained, wild, full of mockery, and also full of self-deprecation.
He laughed.
Not at the ignorance and foolishness of these people.
But at the helplessness in his own heart.
Back in the Great Northwest, when he said he was Gu Tianlang, no one believed him. Even after condensing the Chixiao Seal, even after playing the unique 'Youth's Journey', even after making the Chixiao Dragon Spirit revere him, still no one believed. Most were only half-convinced.
However.
Suspicion was suspicion, but at least it was a case of being half-believing and half-doubting.
Now?
Now, claiming to be Gu Tianlang again, he was actually being treated as a mentally deranged fraud.
This gave Gu Qingfeng a feeling that was both laughable and tearful, and he also felt this matter was so damn infuriating it couldn't be more damn infuriating.
"Looks like if I don't show you something real today, you bastards will really think I'm just playing around with you."
After his laughter subsided, Gu Qingfeng lifted his wine pot, tilted his head back, and drained it in one gulp. He stood up, his eyes wide open as he swept his gaze across the crowd. Raising a hand, he pointed and roared angrily, "All of you, shut the hell up!"
Such an angry roar, its momentum vast, its sonic might rolling forth like a thunderclap in a clear sky, like the might of the Nine Heavens Immortals, like the demonic might of the Nine Nethers, and even more like the tyrannical might of ancient times. It entered the ears of the crowd, shaking their Heart-Minds to the point of collapse, blurring their consciousness, and making their very souls tremble.
Whoosh!
One person collapsed to the floor.
Then a second, a tenth, a hundredth. In the main hall, the crowd that had been watching the spectacle, in the span of an instant, almost all collapsed to the floor like piles of mud.
Yue Jinghong and the dozen or so other Immortal Dynasty officials protected by the dynasty were among them.
Mei Yuanhua, Xiao Ziying, and other young prodigies were among them.
Even Peng Jia, the Immortal Dynasty noble scion with over a hundred levels of Great Nature Color Spirit and the invincible Great-Sun Radiance Dharma Form, was no exception.
Simultaneously, Elder Wei, an old monster who had already reached the Earth Immortal realm back in ancient times, also collapsed to the floor in an instant.
On the high platform, Lin Xiang'er was no longer enchanting, no longer alluring. She slumped in her soft chair, as if someone had drugged her, her entire body weak and limp.
She was like this.
In the VIP pavilion.
Shui'er collapsed on the floor, her consciousness hazy, unaware of what had happened.
Not far away.
Tang Manqing was similarly slumped on the floor, one hand tightly gripping the windowsill, her beautiful face pale, her lovely eyes filled with endless shock, terror, and panic.
What had happened?
She didn't know.
She only remembered a furious roar coming, and then... there was no 'then'...
She had no idea what was going on. Her Heart-Mind was instantly shattered by that one roar. The feeling was like someone suddenly shouting right next to you when you were completely unprepared, scaring her witless. It was exactly like that.
It was truly terrifying.
Even now, she could feel her soul trembling.
She could also feel her Heart-Mind, shattered and scattered.
Her consciousness was somewhat dazed, her mind somewhat unclear.
What exactly had happened?
Who had suddenly shouted?
Tang Manqing tried to recall. Suddenly, she remembered. The shout wasn't from anyone else. It was Gu Qingfeng.
His one Powerful Roar actually...
Actually shattered everyone's Heart-Minds?
How was that possible!
It was common knowledge that Sound Might could intimidate the Heart-Mind.
But it was only intimidation. At most, it would throw the opponent's Heart-Mind into panic, serving to disturb it. But to directly shatter an opponent's Heart-Mind with a single roar? Tang Manqing couldn't do it, and few could, unless the opponent's Heart-Mind was very fragile.
Even then, one had to focus completely and concentrate the Sound Might. If trying to intimidate two people simultaneously, the power of the Sound Might would inevitably be greatly diminished. Covering three people, it would be even weaker. Covering seven or eight people, it would only get weaker and weaker. Not just Sound Might, all ten arts of the Immortal Dao were the same. The more concentrated a powerful Supernatural Ability was, the stronger it became. Once dispersed, it would inevitably weaken.
But now?
That one Powerful Roar from Gu Qingfeng had actually shattered the Heart-Minds of the hundreds of people present.
These weren't hundreds of stray cats and dogs. They were hundreds of cultivators. Among them were not only Immortal Dynasty noble scions like Peng Jia, but also ancient Earth Immortals like Elder Wei. Especially Tang Manqing herself. She didn't know about the state of others' Heart-Minds, but no one understood the strength of her own Heart-Mind better than she did.
The Heart-Mind was extremely important to any cultivator.
Because the existence of the Heart-Mind guarded one's Soul.
However, the existence of the Heart-Mind was neither visible nor tangible; it could only be felt.
The strength of a person's Heart-Mind was related not only to their spiritual sense but also to their spirit.
Those with a strong Heart-Mind could resist mental confusion, reduce the risk of qi deviation during cultivation, and also not fear intimidation by might.
Conversely, those with a weak Heart-Mind were not only easily confused mentally, prone to mishaps during cultivation, and often had unstable spirits, but also, during combat, once intimidated by an opponent's might, the consequences were even more terrifying.
Why?
Because if the Heart-Mind was in chaos, one's thoughts would inevitably be affected, and so would one's spiritual sense. Affected thoughts meant an inability to control the primordial spirit. Affected spiritual sense meant an inability to execute Supernatural Abilities.
Therefore.
Many people placed great emphasis on cultivating their Heart-Mind.
However, cultivating the Heart-Mind was very difficult. There were simply no shortcuts. One had to temper one's spirit day after day, year after year. It was a painful and lengthy process, extremely tedious and agonizing. So, many people gave up in the end because they couldn't persevere.
However.
Tang Manqing was different.
Since childhood, her mental state had been extraordinary, and she had always focused on the growth of her Heart-Mind. To this day, her Heart-Mind had achieved modest success. Perhaps it still couldn't withstand powerful Immortal might, but so-called Supernatural Ability might, or even Creation might, couldn't shake her Heart-Mind at all. Even if the opponent was a True Immortal, using Supernatural Abilities or Creation might, they couldn't easily intimidate her Heart-Mind.
But what Tang Manqing never, ever expected was that today, her Heart-Mind had been shattered by a single Powerful Roar from Gu Qingfeng.
Why?
He had no cultivation aura on his body at all!
How did he even execute a Supernatural Ability?
Forcing down the panic in her heart, Tang Manqing carefully recalled. She discovered that Gu Qingfeng's Powerful Roar wasn't some kind of Supernatural Ability Sound Might. If it had been a profound Sound Might technique, she definitely would have sensed it. But there was none. It was just a pure, powerful roar.
Could it have been some kind of mental technique?
No!
Upon recollection, Tang Manqing found that roar didn't contain any mental power either.
It wasn't a Supernatural Ability, nor was it mental power.
Then what was it?
Could it be...
That his pure roar was already powerful enough to rival Immortal might?
No!
Absolutely impossible!
The power of the physical body always had limits. No matter how powerful a pure roar was, if it didn't contain Supernatural Ability or mental power, it would at most be ear-piercing. How could it possibly shatter the Heart-Mind?
Not only was the Heart-Mind shattered, but consciousness was also blurred, and the Soul was trembling.
This situation was the first time Tang Manqing had ever encountered it, and it was the first time in her life she had her consciousness blurred and her Soul trembling from a pure roar.