Surprise Turns into Shock

"Why is everyone silent? Are you all too happy to see me back?" Gu Qingfeng said with a smile, addressing the crowd.

The stillness in the room was broken.

After another moment of silence, Jue Mingzi exclaimed in shock and disbelief, "Gu... Gu Qingfeng! Just who are you?"

"You still don’t know who I am? You were the one who brought me to the Dark Realm in the first place."

As soon as these words were spoken, Jue Mingzi could clearly sense the change in the way the others were looking at him—some even began to subtly tense up in caution.

Their gazes were as if they were looking at a traitor who had led the enemy into their village.

Gu Qingfeng paid them no further mind and instead turned his attention to Shang Xinyan, his wife whom he hadn’t seen in half a month.

She was as radiant as ever, though something seemed off—her face was unusually pale.

"Yan'er, do you like the surprise I prepared for you?" Gu Qingfeng asked with a gentle smile.

Shang Xinyan’s delicate frame visibly trembled. In an instant, all color drained from her face, as if every ounce of strength had been sapped from her body.

She bit down hard on her lip, her chest heaving violently.

After two seconds of silence, she finally spoke, her voice hoarse, almost torn. "Is this the surprise you prepared for me?"

"Yan'er, are you alright?" Seeing her state, Gu Qingfeng realized she must have misunderstood and quickly clarified, "Yan'er, don’t misunderstand. Over the past few days, I’ve crushed the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom. These demons are all my newly recruited subordinates. I brought them here today specifically to show you."

Despite his explanation, Shang Xinyan’s face remained deathly pale. Her eyes were icy—a coldness born of sorrow so deep it bordered on despair.

"Do you really enjoy lying to me this much?"

Shang Xinyan fought back the urge to cry, her gaze locked onto the man who had once shared countless intimate moments with her, whispering sweet nothings in her ear.

Gu Qingfeng was floored. He hadn’t expected Shang Xinyan to react so intensely. But the damn problem was—he was telling the truth!

He glanced around at the others in the Dark Realm and saw the same skeptical expressions—everyone looked at him as if he thought they were fools.

Clearly, no one believed his words.

And honestly, it made sense. The people of the Dark Realm had been hunted and forced into hiding by the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom for thousands of years. Now, out of nowhere, a newcomer shows up and claims to have crushed the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom and recruited over five hundred divine-realm demons as his underlings.

If anyone actually believed that, they’d have to be an idiot.

Gu Qingfeng was growing anxious, mostly because seeing Shang Xinyan like this pained him.

But how the hell was he supposed to explain this?

Suddenly, inspiration struck.

"Yan'er, believe me, I’m not lying. Here, watch."

Gu Qingfeng turned to the assembled demons and commanded, "Call me 'Master.'"

The five hundred-plus divine-realm demons immediately shouted in unison, "Master!"

Their voices boomed like thunder, shaking the heavens.

Gu Qingfeng nodded in satisfaction and turned back. "Now do you believe—"

His words froze in his throat.

Because what he saw was the divine-realm experts recoiling in shock and alarm, hastily retreating and drawing their weapons, their expressions tense and wary.

Their eyes were fixed on him as if he were the ultimate villain pulling the strings behind the scenes.

I’m done. My patience is gone.

"Yan—"

Gu Qingfeng tried to call out to Shang Xinyan, only to see tears streaming down her face.

Her expression was blank, but the tears fell like pearls, one after another.

At this moment, Shang Xinyan couldn’t even describe the storm of emotions inside her—hatred, fury, sorrow, despair...

All of it fused into an unbearable weight.

From that single word—"Master"—Shang Xinyan had already confirmed Gu Qingfeng’s identity.

The master of the demonic hounds could only be the Holy Race!

So what else could Gu Qingfeng be?

He had to be one of the Holy Race—or perhaps an incarnation of the Holy Race from the Upper Realm!

The moment this realization struck, her heart felt as if it had been torn apart.

The Holy Race was her sworn enemy, a hatred a hundred times deeper than the murder of her own father.

And now, this very enemy had deceived her, taken her body, and even married her.

The memories of their intimate moments together were enough to shatter her soul.

She could almost imagine the condescending amusement Gu Qingfeng must have felt while toying with her, invading every inch of her being, watching her reactions.

And worst of all—she had even...

"No, Yan'er, don’t cry! You’ve got it all wrong. I’m not lying to you. I really did crush the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom and recruited some demon subordinates. It’s the truth!"

But Shang Xinyan’s response was just two words: "Formation. Now."

At her command, the Dark Realm’s forces sprang into action, each taking their designated positions as their true essence surged.

Shang Xinyan herself produced a faintly glowing silver pearl—the formation’s core—and then conjured multiple clones of herself through a doppelgänger technique, each joining the formation.

Holy shit!

Are you seriously trying to murder your own husband?!

Gu Qingfeng never expected that the very formation designed to slay demons would first be used against him!

To be honest, he was starting to feel a little nervous. While he considered himself invincible in the Qing Realm, the "One Hundred and Eight Heavenly Demon-Slaying Formation" was something he couldn’t quite gauge.

First of all, it was a formation from the Upper Realm. Second, it didn’t just combine the power of one hundred and eight divine-realm experts—it also borrowed the power of the Heavenly Dao. Who knew how much force it could channel?

But that wasn’t even the worst part.

The worst part was—this thing didn’t count as a demonic attack!

Damn it!

He had wanted to give her a pleasant surprise, but instead, it turned into a nightmare—and now he was the one being scared out of his wits! Where was the justice in this?!

Since words weren’t working, Gu Qingfeng decided to act.

He couldn’t just stand there and wait for his wife to complete the formation. Not only was he unsure if he could withstand it, but he was also afraid the backlash might injure Shang Xinyan—not to mention the Dark Realm would likely be obliterated in the process.

So, in the next instant, Gu Qingfeng moved.

Before the formation could fully take shape, an overwhelming surge of divine soul power erupted from him, crashing down upon Shang Xinyan and the others like a collapsing sky.

The Dark Realm’s forces paled at the sight of Gu Qingfeng’s attack.

Shang Xinyan bit her lip hard and urged, "Hurry!"

But before her words even finished—

BOOM!

The divine soul power descended.

To the Dark Realm’s forces, it felt as if the heavens had fallen, pressing down upon them with the weight of the world. Their souls were pinned beneath an immovable mountain, rendering them completely paralyzed.

Every single one of them froze in place, as if struck by a petrification spell.

The half-formed formation instantly dissipated.

The entire Dark Realm fell into an eerie silence, as if smothered by an indescribable terror.

Despair began to spread.

Fear gripped every heart.

Anyone could guess the consequences of being completely immobilized in battle.

Gu Qingfeng, however, wasn’t the least bit surprised by the effect of his attack. After all, his current strength was equivalent to the combined power of over a thousand divine-realm demons.

As for the Dark Realm's side?

They had barely over a hundred Divine Realm cultivators. Even someone as powerful as Shang Xinyan was only equivalent to the combined strength of a few peak Divine Realm experts. The two sides were simply not on the same level—the disparity was more than tenfold!

Tap... tap... tap...

The sound of Gu Qingfeng's footsteps echoed.

He walked lightly toward the crowd of the Dark Realm, who were frozen in terror, their bodies immobilized, only their eyes darting frantically in panic.

There was nothing they could do but watch helplessly as Gu Qingfeng drew closer step by step.

Gu Qingfeng came to a stop and gazed at the people before him, letting out a sigh.

"Ah... was this truly necessary?"