The Gu Family's backyard.
Meng Peng walked in from outside, respectfully saluted, and then said, "I report to the Family Head, an hour ago, the Supreme Elder of the Heavenly Cloud Sect, Yun Changkong, descended upon White Stone City and personally went to the Qin Family to demand an explanation."
Upon hearing this news,
Gu Qingfeng appeared slightly surprised, "Yun Changkong... I remember that he seemed to have been in seclusion all along, right?"
The Supreme Elder of the Heavenly Cloud Sect, Yun Changkong, was a master at the Late Stage of the Blood Refining Realm.
The opponent was the stabilizing force of the Heavenly Cloud Sect, always in seclusion, striving to achieve Blood Refining Perfection. This news wasn't a secret, and Gu Qingfeng was naturally not unfamiliar with him.
*Even if he hadn't seen Yun Changkong, he had heard of the latter's name and deeds.*
*"For him to leave seclusion and come to White Stone City, could it be that he successfully broke through?"*
Gu Qingfeng seemed to have thought of something.
Meng Peng nodded, looking serious, "The Sect Master's words were not wrong, Yun Changkong did break through to Blood Refining Perfection. He came with great momentum, even alerting the ancestor of the Qin Family.
The two parties discussed matters in the Qin Family, but the specifics were beyond what I could find out.
However, not long after Yun Changkong entered the Qin Family, an intense battle broke out, and then Yun Changkong left in a rage, suggesting that their talks ended unpleasantly."
Upon hearing this, Gu Qingfeng nodded.
The purpose of Yun Changkong's visit to the Qin Family was obvious; it must have been related to the Fiery Sun Divine Palm.
If the Qin Family's people ambushed members of the Heavenly Cloud Sect outside of White Stone City, and if Yun Changkong hadn't broken through, he could have just endured the situation in silence.
But now that Yun Changkong had successfully broken through, things were different.
Both at Blood Refining Perfection, who could say they were stronger?
Yun Changkong came with force, but clearly, the Qin Family didn't give him a satisfactory answer. Now that the Supreme Elder of the Heavenly Cloud Sect had left, it's feared that a grudge will be formed between them.
"Yun Changkong, after leaving the Qin Family, shouldn't have returned directly to the Heavenly Cloud Sect, right?"
Gu Qingfeng inquired again.
Meng Peng nodded, "The Family Head's words are correct. After leaving the Qin Family, Yun Changkong went directly to the Iron Bone Gang. However, there was no conflict between the two. Instead, the Iron Bone Gang courteously invited Yun Changkong inside."
"Interesting..."
Gu Qingfeng smiled slightly and then spoke to Meng Peng.
"Continue to observe the movements of the Iron Bone Gang and the Qin Family, don't bother with anything else. If White Stone Dao is going to be chaotic, then it's White Stone Dao's business.
With me here, the Gu Family won't fall into chaos."
"The Family Head's cultivation has reached a transcendent level, with you overseeing the Gu Family, there are naturally no problems!"
Meng Peng said with full admiration and respect.
Gu Qingfeng's strength and astonishing achievements were still vivid in his mind.
In Meng Peng's eyes, Gu Qingfeng's strength could at least rank in the top three in White Stone Dao.
Even when compared to the Qin Family ancestor or the Iron Bone Gang Leader, he wasn't necessarily weaker by even half a point.
With such a strong figure overseeing the Gu Family, even if White Stone Dao were to be turned upside down, it wouldn't be a problem.
——
After he sent Meng Peng away, Gu Qingfeng continued to cultivate the Fiery Sun Divine Palm.
For him,
nothing was more important than a breakthrough in his own cultivation level.
The next day.
Meng Peng brought news again.
He reported that Yun Changkong and the Iron Bone Gang had a delightful conversation, and the Iron Bone Gang Leader Luo Yu personally escorted him out of White Stone City.
Regarding this,
Gu Qingfeng wasn't surprised.
From the moment the Iron Bone Gang treated Yun Changkong politely, he already guessed the gang's intentions.
In the past, White Stone Dao was stable because there were only two strong persons at Blood Refining Perfection on the surface.
One was in the Iron Bone Gang.
One was in the Qin Family.
With two masters at Blood Refining Perfection maintaining the situation, the entire White Stone Dao was in a delicate balance. Even though this balance couldn't guarantee peace in White Stone Dao, it prevented major upheavals.
But now, with the emergence of a third strong person at Blood Refining Perfection, the original balance in White Stone Dao was bound to subtly change once more.
This change,
could possibly stir up storms of blood in the whole of White Stone Dao.
However,
Gu Qingfeng paid little attention to these affairs.
He instructed Meng Peng to monitor the activities of Yun Changkong and the Iron Bone Gang, only to have some understanding of the situation, not to intervene himself.
To him, Gu Qingfeng, even if White Stone Dao were to be turned upside down, as long as it didn't affect him, he couldn't be bothered to care.
...
A month later.
Gu Qingfeng successfully reached the Beginner level of the first layer of the Fiery Sun Divine Palm.
The difficulty of cultivating this mid-grade superior technique was even higher than he had imagined.
Even with Gu Qingfeng's cultivation at the Blood Refining Realm, it took him a full month's time to reach the Beginner level of the first layer of the Fiery Sun Divine Palm.
"If it were the me from the beginning, I fear it would have taken ten or eight years just to reach the Beginner level of the first layer of the Fiery Sun Divine Palm!"
Gu Qingfeng shook his head inwardly.
His talent in martial arts could only be described as mediocre.
The deeper the martial arts, the greater the difficulty of cultivation.
Not to mention,
the cultivation of the Fiery Sun Divine Palm required corresponding medicine baths, each costing a hundred taels of silver. Only because Gu Qingfeng's family was large and wealthy could he sustain such expense.
For an ordinary person, even if they acquired the Fiery Sun Divine Palm, it would be difficult for them to ever successfully cultivate it.
However,
after reaching the Beginner level of the first layer of the Fiery Sun Divine Palm, Gu Qingfeng felt a subtle change in his qi and blood, as if they carried a trace of scorching aura.
Though this scorching aura was extremely faint, almost imperceptible,
such a change was real.
In this regard,
Gu Qingfeng was amazed by the mystique of top mid-grade martial arts.
Merely reaching the Beginner level already had an effect comparable to that of the Small Success or even Great Success of other low-grade martial arts.
Realizing the benefits of the Fiery Sun Divine Palm, Gu Qingfeng became even more frantic in his cultivation.
In three months,
Gu Qingfeng brought the first layer of the Fiery Sun Divine Palm to Perfection.
Then,
he began to cultivate the second layer of the Fiery Sun Divine Palm.
As Gu Qingfeng's strength steadily increased, during those few months, White Stone Dao also underwent tremendous changes.
First,
the Iron Bone Gang took the lead, breaking the long-standing peace of White Stone Dao and launching an attack on the other dominating force, the Qin Family.
In several months, they had clashed no fewer than dozens of times, each resulting in significant consequences, with both the Iron Bone Gang and the Qin Family suffering casualties.
As the two major forces tore their faces off, other forces attached to them were also involuntarily dragged into this war.
As a result,
the entire White Stone Dao was thrown into chaos.
Only a few forces like the Gu Family, which had martial artists in the Blood Refining Realm, could truly maintain neutrality.