In the elegant room of the pavilion.
Tang Manqing watched, just watched, as if she had lost her spirit.
At this moment, she finally understood why this person appeared so leisurely and carefree—leisurely enough to disregard everyone, carefree enough to seem unconcerned about any matter.
Previously, she had always thought this fellow was bluffing, relying on the villa's rules and knowing Peng Jia wouldn't dare to act, which was why he dared to be so arrogant.
Now she realized that all of this was merely her own assumption.
This person had never been bluffing from the start; he was truly fearless and unafraid, truly unconcerned, and truly disregarded everyone.
Indeed.
How could someone who remained completely unaffected by the dual imposing might of the Great Nature Transcendent Creation and the Great-Sun Radiance Dharma Form possibly feel fear?
How could someone whose mere shout of might could shatter the heart-minds of everyone present possibly regard these people with any importance?
At this moment.
Tang Manqing felt a strong urge to laugh—to laugh at her own ignorance.
Such a mysterious, unknown, and powerful person, and she had actually...
Actually suspected that he had lost all his cultivation and gone insane?
Yet she couldn't understand: a person with no visible cultivation, no fortune, whose spirit and physical body were both utterly weak—how exactly had he remained unaffected by the dual imposing might of the Great Nature and the Great-Sun Radiance? And how had his single shout of might intimidated the heart-minds of everyone?
She didn't understand!
She could rack her brains and still not comprehend.
It completely defied all the common knowledge of cultivation she was familiar with.
It simply didn't conform to reason.
She didn't understand, couldn't figure it out.
Peng Jia within the venue understood even less, and was even more unable to figure it out.
He stood there dumbfounded.
Like a statue, his face deathly pale, his eyes bulging wide as if he had seen ghosts or gods, his body trembling uncontrollably, his features somewhat distorted.
Previously, he hadn't believed it, nor could he accept it.
Now, he still didn't believe it, still couldn't accept it.
But in this world, many things aren't untrue just because you don't believe them, nor do they not happen just because you can't accept them.
"Little brat."
Gu Qingfeng narrowed his eyes, looking at Peng Jia, his expression very calm, his tone even more placid—devoid of joy or sorrow, anger or worry—as if merely chatting, he said lightly, "With just this bit of skill, you dare to learn from others how to swagger about?"
Opposite him.
Peng Jia finally realized that this person before him was someone he couldn't afford to provoke.
But it was already too late.
He wanted to run.
But he simply couldn't move.
He couldn't even feel the existence of his own physical body.
Why?
He didn't know.
Completely enveloped by a deep sense of terror, as if he had fallen into an endless dark abyss, no matter how he struggled, it was useless—it suffocated him and filled him with utter despair.
"I am a noble son enfeoffed by the Immortal Court, and a direct disciple of Nandou Sect! My parents are both Immortals, both elders of Nandou Sect! If you...
If you dare to lay a single finger on me, my parents, Nandou Sect, the Immortal Court... none of them will...
None of them will let you off!"
Peng Jia was finally afraid, afraid to the marrow of his bones, afraid to the depths of his soul. He brought up his family background, hoping to make the other party wary.
"Heh."
Gu Qingfeng chuckled, raised his cup to drink, shook his head, and laughed, "Don't be afraid. This master rarely kills these days. In the past, you'd have died who knows how many times. Besides, you haven't really done anything to me, so I won't kill you."
Having said that, Gu Qingfeng looked at the Great-Sun Radiance Dharma Form suspended above Peng Jia's head in the venue's air, and said, "This thing should be the so-called Great-Sun Radiance Dharma Form, right?
Looks pretty impressive. Mind if this master plays with it a bit?"
As he spoke, without waiting for Peng Jia's response, he simply waved a hand. In an instant, with a whoosh, the Great-Sun Radiance Dharma Form was instantly sucked over to him.
This was a Nascent Soul Dharma Aspect nine meters in size, containing the imposing might of the Great Sun and the power of Radiance. Now held in Gu Qingfeng's palm, he toyed with it as if examining some curious object.
"Not bad, it's got some heft to it."
Gu Qingfeng lifted his hand, and the Great-Sun Radiance Dharma Form flew upward, then fell back into his palm. He lifted it again, and it fell once more, repeating this several times.
Everyone knew this was the Great-Sun Radiance Dharma Form, the symbol of an Immortal Court noble son. Yet now, it was being tossed back and forth by Gu Qingfeng like a balloon.
Since the beginning of the Present-Ancient Era a hundred years ago, no one had ever done such a thing.
Because the Great-Sun Radiance Dharma Form contained an extremely domineering Great Sun imposing might and vast, rolling Radiance power; few could withstand it.
That wasn't the important part.
What mattered was that the Great-Sun Radiance was not only a symbol of noble sons but also a symbol of the Immortal Court itself.
Toying with the Great-Sun Radiance Dharma Form wasn't just an insult to an Immortal Court noble son—it was a blasphemy against the dignity of the Immortal Court!
Under such circumstances, who would dare do such a thing?
Now, this person dared!
Moreover, with each toss, the Great-Sun Radiance Dharma Form inexplicably shrank by one circle. After seven or eight tosses back and forth, the originally nine-meter Great-Sun Radiance Dharma Form had become as small as a fist.
"You...
You..." Opposite him.
Peng Jia remained suspended in mid-air, unable to move, his body trembling even more violently, even becoming blurred and distorted. After all, this was his Nascent Soul. Each time Gu Qingfeng tossed it, Peng Jia's acupoints, meridians, dantian, and purple mansion were greatly affected. He appeared to be in excruciating pain, as if his soul were being squeezed.
"Give...
Give my Nascent Soul Dharma Aspect back to me...
Otherwise...
Otherwise...
I, Peng Jia, swear...
Swear I will...
I will definitely make you die without a burial place!
Definitely!
!!"
"Oh?
Then this master will return it to you."
A trace of a smile crossed Gu Qingfeng's lips. He flicked the Great-Sun Radiance Dharma Form, now only the size of a thumb, sending it flying into Peng Jia's body.
He clapped his hands as if brushing off dust, then stood up, stretching lazily. "This master said I wouldn't kill you, so I definitely won't kill you. However, since I was little, I've had a habit—call it an old flaw—and that is I don't like being hit. If someone hits me, I hit back. That was true in the past, is true now, and will be no exception in the future. Since you took action against me, you'll have to bear the consequences of that action."
As his words fell, Gu Qingfeng raised a foot and kicked directly at Peng Jia's chest!
Crack!
With that single kick, Peng Jia, frozen in mid-air, instantly had his skin torn and flesh split. All the bones and tendons throughout his body were completely shattered, his dantian and purple mansion exploded and dispersed, his Nascent Soul Dharma Aspect vanished, and his Great Nature Transcendent Creation was destroyed. He fell to the ground, already like a pile of mud—truly a pile of mud, without even a human shape left.
Ruined.
Completely ruined.
Not only was his cultivation ruined, but all his fortune was ruined, and he himself was ruined—utterly and thoroughly ruined. Every inch of his skin, every acupoint, every meridian was shattered beyond recognition. There was no trace of vitality left in his entire body.
Even so.
He was still alive.
Gu Qingfeng had said he wouldn't kill him, so he definitely wouldn't kill him.
And he was indeed still alive.
But he was on his last breath.
Only drawing in air, not exhaling it.