The massive mountain of corpses collapsed with a thunderous roar before the astonished eyes of Xu Fan and Wang Shan.
Gu Qingfeng's casual words still echoed in their minds.
"If I destroy all its physical form with just one sword strike, wouldn't that solve everything?"
As it turned out, he had spoken the truth - it really only took one sword strike.
From this moment on, their gazes toward Gu Qingfeng were filled with awe. They had originally thought he was just a brute at Qi Gathering Fourth Level who relied on external martial arts to show off, but now they realized how terribly wrong they were.
Could a warrior at Qi Gathering Fourth Level really execute such a powerful sword technique?
Forget about those at the Body Tempering Realm - even the other Demon Eliminators at the Internal Qi Realm under He Fenghua couldn't accomplish this, yet Gu Qingfeng had done it.
"Alright, you two can stop staring. We still haven't found the person who deceived me. Keep searching."
Hearing Gu Qingfeng's grudge-holding words, their newly developed reverence instantly diminished by half, replaced by profound speechlessness.
The two exchanged glances before quickly following Gu Qingfeng to continue their search in the Forest of Dead Bones.
In truth, even Gu Qingfeng was somewhat surprised by the Yama Demon's immense power. He hadn't expected the special fire oil to be so potent.
When ignited, the special fire oil could reach temperatures of over a thousand degrees Celsius, far exceeding ordinary flames. It was secretly crafted by the old blacksmith of the Demon Suppression Bureau.
The three continued deeper into the Forest of Dead Bones.
The owner of the blood-red eyes watched with growing interest as Gu Qingfeng and his companions drew closer.
He had thought the mountain of corpses would be enough to finish off Gu Qingfeng, but who knew this young man would possess such a powerful sword technique.
However, the stronger Gu Qingfeng was, the more excited he became, as this meant the blood quality would be higher.
"It seems I'll need to show some real skill," muttered the blood-red eyes.
......
"Sir, we've searched almost the entire Forest of Dead Bones but haven't found any spirits. Perhaps we should..."
"Stop right there! Don't let me hear the word 'return' again." Gu Qingfeng immediately cut off Wang Fatty's complaints.
"By the way, Bookworm Xu, since you read a lot, what do you think? Could there be some mysterious force at work in this Forest of Dead Bones that's preventing us from finding Hu Liang's spirit?" Gu Qingfeng casually asked while continuing to search.
However, after waiting for two seconds, he received no response from Xu Fan.
Beside him, Wang Fatty thought Xu Fan was spacing out again and turned to remind him, "Hey, Bookworm, Sir is asking you... Huh!? Where did he go?"
Gu Qingfeng quickly turned around and discovered that Xu Fan, who had been following right behind him, had vanished!
Just like the candy-selling vendor, the three children who had swindled money, and Village Chief Hu Liang - he had mysteriously disappeared without a trace.
Gu Qingfeng's sword-like eyebrows furrowed. What kind of demon was lurking here with such terrifying abilities?
Though he prided himself on his considerable strength, the enemy had repeatedly managed to make people vanish right under his nose.
"S-s-s-sir, could it be that Bookworm just got lost? Should we go back and look for him?" Wang Fatty asked with chattering teeth.
Gu Qingfeng gave him a sideways glance. "Do you even believe what you're saying?"
Wang Fatty's psychological defenses instantly crumbled, and he wore a tearful expression. "Sir, perhaps we should..."
"Shut up. Xu Fan is my subordinate. Since I brought him here, I must take him back."
Wang Fatty felt touched upon hearing this - who wouldn't want to follow a leader who cares for his subordinates? However, Gu Qingfeng's next words instantly chilled him to the bone.
"Wang Fatty, tell me, if I turn around now and stop looking at you, would you disappear too?" Gu Qingfeng asked with a serious expression.
Wang Fatty's heart skipped a beat, remembering that this was exactly how Village Chief Hu Liang had vanished.
He forced a smile worse than crying: "Sir, my most respected Sir, I beg you, please don't turn around."
As he spoke, he tightly grabbed Gu Qingfeng's arm.
Gu Qingfeng smiled slightly and patted Wang Fatty's shoulder. "Don't be afraid. I've figured out the pattern. I'll just turn around briefly and then quickly look back. Nothing will happen. This is the only way we can find out where Xu Fan and the person who deceived me have gone."
Wang Fatty, terrified and pale-faced, tried desperately to stop him. "Sir Gu, please, please don't turn around! I'm scared, I..."
Using tremendous strength, Gu Qingfeng gently pushed away Wang Fatty's hand and quickly turned around.
Something miraculous happened - Wang Fatty's terrified voice instantly cut off.
Gu Qingfeng's heart jumped, and he whirled back around like lightning.
Finally, he saw it!
Wang Fatty had become semi-transparent!
The air behind him rippled like water, and Wang Fatty struggled like a drowning man, his face full of terror, but unable to make a sound as he was gradually swallowed by the water-like air.
Gu Qingfeng, with his supreme martial arts skills, feared no demon.
He lunged forward with a swift step, deliberately plunging into the water-like air along with Wang Fatty.
Both their figures vanished from the Forest of Dead Bones.
As Gu Qingfeng entered the rippling air, he felt the scenery around him shift, as if traveling through time and space.
When he regained his senses, he found himself no longer in the Forest of Dead Bones.
He looked at his surroundings.
Here, the sun hung high, its light flooding everything below. The scenery was beautiful, filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers. Not far away stood a village with well-arranged houses, smoke rising from their chimneys. Children could be seen playing in the fields.
The distant sounds of crowing roosters and barking dogs could be heard.
It was a perfect scene of pastoral tranquility, like a paradise on earth.
However, everything looked strangely familiar.
Wasn't this exactly how Black Water Village had looked when they arrived during the day?
Gu Qingfeng was stunned. He also saw Bookworm Xu and Wang Fatty, who had disappeared earlier, standing not far away, staring blankly at the smoke rising from Black Water Village.
After a moment, the three came to their senses and gathered together.
"Bookworm Xu, have you been here the whole time since you disappeared?" Gu Qingfeng asked.
Xu Fan nodded and was about to speak when Wang Fatty interrupted him, looking at Xu Fan with extreme wariness: "Be careful, Sir! We can't be sure if this is the real Xu Fan!"
Xu Fan was stunned, then pointed at his own nose in shock: "You suspect I'm a demon in disguise?"
Wang Fatty nodded: "You were gone for quite a while. Who knows what happened during that time? The demon in Black Water Village has vast powers and strange abilities. We must be careful."
"You say I'm a demon, but I could say the same about you!" Xu Fan protested indignantly.
Wang Fatty smiled smugly: "Sir Gu and I arrived here together, and neither of us left the other's side. Sir Gu can vouch for whether I'm a demon or not."
"You! But I really am Xu Fan, not a demon!"
"Alright, alright, stop arguing, you two. How about this - each of you can take a slash at me first." Gu Qingfeng couldn't bear to listen anymore and stepped forward to mediate.
Both men were stunned and exclaimed in unison: "Slash you?!"
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
