Hai Dongsheng was not like Fatso Wang, who founded a kingdom and became emperor, nor did he occupy a mountain to declare himself king. He didn't even have a single Crimson-Letter branch hall under his command.
The reason he was hailed as the Emperor of Shenzhou was solely because of his heroic and righteous character, with brothers and friends spread across the world. From heroes and champions of all walks to local ruffians and scoundrels, from the three teachings and nine schools—he seemed to know everyone across the Divine Land, whether they were celestial or earthly immortals, demons, ghosts, or monsters.
Back in the day,
it was said that Hai Dongsheng had a conflict with a group of Immortal Court nobles. Those nobles called in many immortals, intending to eradicate Hai Dongsheng.
When news of this spread, brothers from the five lakes and four seas traveled thousands of miles to lend a hand. Setting aside how many Chixiao brothers rushed over that year, just the number of various immortals who showed up reached several thousand—including elders from major sects, reincarnated great powers, demon immortals, ghost immortals, fiend immortals, and even ancient true immortals. Even immortals from the Cloud Realm actually went.
It was said that the group of Immortal Court nobles were nearly scared to death on the spot. Even the immortals they had summoned were too terrified to utter a word. Not even the intervention of the Immortal Court could suppress the situation, nearly triggering a Present-Ancient Era war. In the end, it was Hai Dongsheng himself who stepped forward and forcefully persuaded all those friends to leave.
This incident was enough to prove how terrifying Hai Dongsheng's connections were. Remember, he hadn't said a single word that time; those friends had merely heard the news and actively went to help. If he had actually spoken up, it was unimaginable how many people would have rushed to his aid.
Friends spread across the world, brothers filling the land—that was the Emperor of Shenzhou, Hai Dongsheng.
In Gu Qingfeng's impression, Hai Dongsheng was exactly that kind of person—someone who would disregard life and death for a friend and take a blade for a brother. That's how he had been back in the Chixiao Sect—a man who valued righteousness more than his own life. Having many friends and brothers was only natural.
"Why did he issue the Chi-Shang Seal Token out of the blue?"
"I heard from Old Master Fo that Great Chieftain Hai also didn't want to see the Crimson-Letter Sect split apart and perish, so he wanted to gather the brothers to discuss matters."
"From what you said, not many responded?"
At the mention of this, Elder Fengxu couldn't help but sigh mournfully.
Indeed.
Back when Hai Dongsheng issued the Chi-Shang Seal Token to summon the various banner leaders of the former Chixiao Sect, not many had responded.
Not to mention the various banner leaders, even among the Seventy-Two Earth Fiends, the Thirty-Six Heavenly Guardians, and the Eighteen Marquis-Kings, few had answered the call.
He said, "Those of us who were Chixiao brothers back then have either gone into seclusion or entered closed-door cultivation, long since withdrawing from worldly affairs. Moreover, in this Present-Ancient Era, the Chi-Shang Seal Token has been...
...been abused by several imposters pretending to be you, Your Majesty. Hardly anyone obeys the Chi-Shang Seal Token anymore."
The Chi-Shang Seal Token was once the supreme symbol of the Chixiao Sect.
As the saying went: The Chi-Shang Seal commands the world; none dare disobey.
Once the Chi-Shang Seal Token was invoked, bloodfiend energy would fill the sky, and dragon-elephants would roar. All Chixiao people could sense it immediately.
Unfortunately,
for some reason, there were over a dozen so-called Chixiao Monarchs across the world whose authenticity couldn't be determined to this day, yet all could manifest the Chi-Shang Seal Token. Moreover, when they invoked it, bloodfiend energy would also fill the sky, and dragon-elephants would roar. It was precisely because of this that the Chi-Shang Seal Token was no longer an edict that Chixiao people dared not disobey.
The Chi-Shang Seal Token had been personally created by Gu Qingfeng back then. It contained not only the essence of bloodfiend energy and dragon-elephant spirit but also his own spiritual will. He firmly believed that aside from himself, no one else in the world could manifest the true Chi-Shang Seal Token.
As for those imposters pretending to be him who could also manifest the Chi-Shang Seal Token, he reckoned it definitely wasn't the real thing—they must have used some method to imitate it.
However.
Just who the hell had so much free time on their hands to impersonate him?
Remembering that there was also someone impersonating him in Yanluo Kingdom, Gu Qingfeng asked, "There's someone impersonating me in Yanluo Kingdom too?"
"That's right."
"Do you know his whereabouts?"
"This..." Elder Fengxu shook his head and replied, "I've never met that imposter pretending to be you in Yanluo Kingdom either, nor do I have any news about him. As for his whereabouts, I'm afraid only Old Master Fo would know."
"When is Dong Laohu coming back?"
"Old Master Fo said he would definitely return before this year's Yanluo Temple Fair."
"Specifically when?
How many days left?"
"Roughly over thirty days."
"That long!"
Gu Qingfeng rubbed his chin. He now had a general understanding of the situation in Yanluo Kingdom and a preliminary plan in mind. However, before implementing the plan, he absolutely had to meet Dong Laohu first. After some thought, he asked again, "Do you know the whereabouts of that little bastard Zhou Taihe?"
Elder Fengxu shook his head again. "Zhou Taihe has always operated from behind the scenes, secretly planning and directing. Very few know his whereabouts. Old Master Fo has also searched for him for many years but hasn't found him to this day."
Gu Qingfeng now only wanted to resolve these messy matters in Yanluo Kingdom as soon as possible. But with Dong Laohu not here and that little bastard Zhou Taihe's whereabouts unknown to anyone, he found it quite troublesome and somewhat didn't know where to start.
Finding people was the most headache-inducing task.
Especially finding an unfamiliar stranger—it was undoubtedly like searching for a needle in a haystack.
If he were familiar with Zhou Taihe's spiritual aura, it would be easier to handle. The key was that Gu Qingfeng hadn't seen Zhou Taihe for a full three hundred years, so naturally, he didn't know what his spiritual aura was like now. Trying to find Zhou Taihe in this vast Yanluo Kingdom was truly a difficult task.
Most importantly, Gu Qingfeng had just awakened from his slumber. Both his physical body and spirit were extremely weak, and he couldn't use his divine sense to sweep the entire Yanluo Kingdom.
"Is there any way to force him out?"
"Force him out?
I'm afraid it's very difficult. Old Master Fo also tried many methods, but Zhou Taihe is just too cautious. He never shows his face. Moreover..." Fengxu glanced at Tan Tong and the others lying in the pool of blood and said, "Moreover, you just took action and extracted the bloodfiend dragon-elephants from Tan Tong and the others. If this news reaches Zhou Taihe's ears, he'll definitely become even more cautious."
"Is there really no fucking way to make Zhou Taihe show himself?"
"May I ask why you're looking for Zhou Taihe?"
Fengxu's sudden question genuinely caught Gu Qingfeng off guard. After a moment, he snapped, "What the hell do you think I'm looking for him for!"
Fengxu was startled, opening his mouth but hesitating to speak.
"I say, Fengxu, after all this, you still fucking doubt my identity and don't really believe me, do you!"
Fengxu lowered his head, unsure how to respond.
He did have some doubts.
When the bloodfiend dragon-elephants first surged out from within him, he had indeed felt that Gu Qingfeng was the Chixiao Monarch. It was an instinctive feeling. But as his emotions gradually calmed, he felt he shouldn't blindly believe, nor should he kneel and worship a monarch whose authenticity couldn't be determined.
After careful consideration, he raised his head and said solemnly with a cupped fist salute, "We truly cannot determine whether you are the real Monarch. If you really are, please forgive our discourtesy. We've really been deceived too many times over the years and don't know who to believe or not believe anymore. If you have some purpose in impersonating the Monarch... we..." At this point, Fengxu didn't know how to continue. If the guy before them was really an imposter pretending to be the Chixiao Monarch, given their strength, they could do nothing about it and couldn't take any action.
"You people..." Gu Qingfeng pointed at Fengxu and the other Chixiao people, shaking his head and sighing in exasperation. "I'm convinced. I'm fucking convinced!"