Gu Qingfeng Don't Make Any Rash Moves

Faced with Gu Qingfeng's blatant disregard, the expressions of the Celestial Court's Holy Master and the Netherworld's Lord instantly darkened.

These two were figures whose mere stomp could shake the entire Cangming Realm. When had they ever been so openly disdained?

They immediately prepared to take action.

Meanwhile, the earlier commotion had drawn the attention of their subordinates from the Celestial Court and the Netherworld.

Given the delicate relationship between the two factions, the Holy Master and the Netherworld Lord had been holding private talks in the hall, much like two underworld bosses negotiating. As usual, their followers stood guard outside.

At the slightest disturbance, these underlings would swarm in.

But this time, when they rushed in, they immediately sensed something amiss. They had assumed it was just friction between their leaders, but the situation seemed far more serious.

Seeing their subordinates charge in, the Holy Master and the Netherworld Lord sneered, "Surround them. Don’t let a single one escape."

"Yes, Holy Master (Lord)!"

Over twenty Heavenly Venerates swiftly dispersed, encircling Gu Qingfeng and his companions while sealing the surrounding space.

"Gu Qingfeng, today you won’t escape even if you grow wings!" the Celestial Court's Holy Master said coldly, his gaze icy as if staring at a lamb awaiting slaughter.

Crack!

Gu Qingfeng casually cracked another spirit-essence sunflower seed, lounging leisurely on the dragon throne as if he were in his own home. His indifferent eyes swept over the twenty-plus Heavenly Venerates bristling with hostility.

The Holy Master and the Netherworld Lord felt their veins bulge at Gu Qingfeng’s nonchalance. Just as they were about to speak—

Rustle!

Gu Qingfeng tossed the pile of seed shells onto the ground.

He had finished eating.

Pat pat.

He clapped his hands together, brushing off the crumbs, then—under everyone’s watchful eyes—snapped his fingers.

The snap acted like a signal. The surrounding space trembled violently.

Then, a figure emerged from the void. Followed by a second, a third, a fourth... until over a hundred figures stood in the hall.

The once-spacious hall was now packed with over a hundred people.

Each of them had hollow eyes and expressionless faces, yet their auras surged like tidal waves, threatening to crush the entire Celestial Court under their pressure.

The Holy Master, the Netherworld Lord, and their followers were utterly stunned at the sudden appearance of over a hundred Venerates.

"This... this... what is this?!"

"How is this possible?! Where did so many—"

"We pay our respects to the Supreme One!"

The thunderous roar of over a hundred Venerates shook the heavens, deafening all present and leaving the Celestial Court and Netherworld forces dumbfounded.

The... the Supreme One?! Gu Qingfeng?!

Seated high on the dragon throne, Gu Qingfeng gave a calm nod before speaking indifferently, "Surround them. Don’t let a single one escape."

He threw the Holy Master’s own words right back at him.

"Yes, Supreme One!"

Another hundred voices boomed in unison, shaking the entire hall.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Over a hundred explosive surges of power erupted as the enslaved Venerates unleashed their full might. Their respective Daos manifested—the Dao of Five Elements, the Dao of Slaughter, the Dao of Stars, the Dao of Annihilation...

Infinite runes blazed, and world-shaking phenomena materialized one after another, as if the ten thousand Daos had descended upon the world.

Rumble—!

Under the combined pressure of over a hundred Venerates, the Celestial Court’s grand hall instantly collapsed into ruins.

At that moment, the entire Celestial Court’s attention was drawn to the scene. The terrifying aura spread across a radius of ten thousand miles.

Countless disciples paled in horror, feeling as though the sky had fallen. Their hearts clenched as if gripped by an invisible force, suffocating them.

They stared in terror at Gu Qingfeng’s direction, at the towering figures of the Venerates—each one majestic and godlike, as if deities had descended to the mortal realm.

"What’s happening?! Why are there so many Venerates?! Have the other holy lands united to attack our Celestial Court?!" a panicked elder cried out.

"Whose forces are these?! I don’t recognize a single one!"

"Has the Celestial Court provoked the entire world? Why have so many come?!"

Suddenly, the hundred-plus enslaved Venerates moved. In flashes, they formed an even larger encirclement, trapping the Holy Master and his twenty-plus Venerates, sealing the space completely.

The Holy Master and the Netherworld Lord no longer carried their earlier arrogance. Their faces were etched with fear as they stared at the overwhelming force before them, their hairs standing on end.

"Who... who are you people?" the Holy Master demanded, struggling to maintain composure.

The hundred and ten enslaved Venerates stared at him blankly, silent.

Gulp.

The Holy Master swallowed hard, scanning the crowd before finally locking eyes with Gu Qingfeng.

"Gu Qingfeng! Which factions have you allied with to target my Celestial Court?!"

Gu Qingfeng didn’t answer. Instead, he cast a disdainful glance at the Holy Master before raising his right hand. A female enslaved Venerate instantly appeared, bowing to support his hand and help him rise from the dragon throne.

Gu Qingfeng stood slowly, dusting off nonexistent specks from his robes, then strode leisurely toward the Holy Master and the Netherworld Lord.

He stopped before them, eyeing them with undisguised mockery.

"To deal with two old mutts like you, do I really need allies?"

"You dare?!" the Holy Master roared. "Numbers mean nothing! This is still the Celestial Court! With tens of thousands of years of accumulated power, we have multiple Quasi-Emperors in slumber! Do you think a mere hundred Venerates can shake us?!"

"Keh keh keh..."

Gu Qingfeng burst into maniacal laughter, his gaze wild and unyielding.

"Quasi-Emperors? So what? Go ahead—wake them up! Let’s see if those old fossils kill me first... or you!"

The Holy Master’s face twisted. Gu Qingfeng had struck his weakest point.

Under normal circumstances, awakening Quasi-Emperors during a crisis wouldn’t be an issue—after all, no one knew how long the Great Contention Era would last. It might never even arrive.

But now, the Great Contention Era had begun. The Path to Emperorhood was about to open. The Quasi-Emperors saw hope—none would willingly wake prematurely.

The timing of the Path’s opening was unpredictable. It could be years or even decades after the Great Contention’s arrival.

If awakened now, only to find the Path still decades away, the Quasi-Emperors would wither and die before it ever opened.

To rouse them prematurely was to sabotage their Dao—a sin worse than patricide.

"Gu Qingfeng, don’t get cocky. Even if the Quasi-Emperors won’t awaken lightly, they won’t stand by and watch the Celestial Court fall. I advise you not to act recklessly."

"Keh keh keh... What’s wrong, old mutt? Lost your nerve? Weren’t you just boasting about flaying my soul and parading it for all to see? Now you’re ‘advising’ me to stand down?"