Chapter Fifty-Six: How Many Are Truly Extraordinary Talents

The black robe concealed Du Gu Peak's entire figure, but no one needed to see his face to know who he was. A biting wind swept through, and the whole sea of stars was shrouded in white snow. Even an army of millions, when facing Du Gu Peak, had only the path of defeat and destruction. Only a handful of leaders struggled to hold their ground—the halberd of Fang Tian was already cracked, and its wielder was about to follow the fate of the army; the three thousand strands of dust on the old Daoist in blue were utterly shattered, reduced to fine powder.

These leaders were by no means weak; they stood at the very pinnacle of the age. Yet, they faced Du Gu Peak, the solitary figure who severed an era, standing there as if even the heavens lost their luster before him.

Du Gu Peak ignored the plight of the few remaining; from the moment he appeared, his gaze had fixed unwaveringly in one direction, as if in his eyes, all living beings were invisible, irrelevant to his world.

In the direction of Du Gu Peak's gaze, a vague figure gradually emerged.

"I've long awaited this battle," the blurred figure's voice carried anticipation and an innate, unshakable confidence.

Du Gu Peak responded with a single raised fist. In a flash of lightning, a black great bell appeared before the shadow, blocking Du Gu Peak's blow. Simultaneously, using the bell to absorb the impact, the figure swung the bell toward Du Gu Peak in retaliation.

Watching this scene, Li Ruoyu could not help but wonder who this indistinct figure could be. To withstand Du Gu Peak's assault and counterattack in an instant—such individuals were exceedingly rare, perhaps only a handful in all existence, yet none among them were masters of the bell at this level.

Du Gu Peak pointed at the descending bell with a single finger—light as a dragonfly skimming the water, a mere touch and then retreat. Ripples of power spread from the contact, striking distant stars, which exploded in an instant like fireworks, scattering a rain of stardust across the starry sea.

"How many are true prodigies—untroubled, unmatched for a lifetime."

The words, spoken from within the black robe, were tinged with age and sighs, as if an old man, looking back on his life, uttered them with nostalgia and regret.

The blurred figure gave no reply, but with the bell in hand, advanced toward Du Gu Peak. At the level of Du Gu Peak and the shadow, each casual strike was an embodiment of the Dao. Their battle seemed calm, yet the aftermath triggered a cascade of explosions across the starry sea—stars perished, the void was shattered, all turned to ruin.

Li Ruoyu understood that these two had already merged their mastery of the Dao and their own power to a profound degree, so that each strike unleashed their utmost might.

"If I grieve, heaven and earth mourn."

"If I rejoice, heaven and earth smile."

"If I perish, heaven and earth decay."

With the black bell, the shadow launched three consecutive attacks upon Du Gu Peak, each more terrifying than the last. The world itself changed with each strike—sorrow, radiance, and destruction.

In the face of these three ultimate strikes, Du Gu Peak slowly produced an object. At the sight of it, Li Ruoyu's pupils contracted once more—it was an erhu, identical to the one played by the mysterious middle-aged man during the battle with the great serpent.

"I have long heard of your Silent Melody, said to be impossible for anyone to hear to the end. Today, I would like to try," the shadow's voice was unnaturally calm, but Li Ruoyu could sense the deep confidence in it.

Du Gu Peak began to play the erhu, unhurriedly, like an old fisherman at ease, steady as an ancient pine.

No sound emerged from the melody, yet under the silent tune and the shadow's three deadly blows, the starry sea was ground to dust. Millions of troops became drifting ash, the stars themselves turned to dust. Only a few of the leading figures and the one who had unleashed "The Yellow River Descends from Heaven" survived.

Spanning countless billions of miles, the region where Du Gu Peak and the shadow clashed was reduced to ashes—save for the ancient Shu Immortal Dynasty behind Du Gu Peak, all else was obliterated in the sea of stars.

Suddenly, as he played the erhu, Du Gu Peak turned his head to look in a particular direction, stopped playing, and pointed with a finger toward where he looked.

Feeling Du Gu Peak's gaze and the impending strike, Li Ruoyu felt a chill deep within. Though clearly separated by ages, Du Gu Peak's eyes seemed to pierce the barriers of time and see him as he was. Just as the strike was about to land, a drop of black blood appeared at the center of Li Ruoyu's brow, swelling from the size of a tear to enveloping his entire body, causing Du Gu Peak's attack to miss its mark.

Li Ruoyu was shaken—Du Gu Peak had actually attempted to kill him across the gulfs of time. Why? Was it because of the enmity with the owner of the black blood, or because he foresaw Li Ruoyu's future allegiance to the enemy, or some other reason? Li Ruoyu understood that beings on Du Gu Peak's level perceived the world far differently—what he saw, others could not. If not for the black blood, thought lost, saving him at the last moment, he would have perished then and there. He longed to escape this uncertain realm, whether illusion or reality, but found himself utterly powerless, compelled only to watch on in helplessness.

Du Gu Peak turned away and resumed playing the erhu, launching his Silent Melody once more at the shadowy figure.

The shadow was unyielding, using his finger as a hammer.

A resounding clang rang out as the black bell, struck by the shadow's finger, emitted a deafening sound. Du Gu Peak's black robe was instantly torn apart. For the first time, Li Ruoyu beheld this god of the ancient age—an aged face marked by the vicissitudes of time, white hair atop a thin yet vigorous body.

Though the bell's blow shattered the black robe, Du Gu Peak remained unscathed, his eyes as calm as dead water, regarding the shadow as one would a corpse. And sure enough, following his gaze, the shadowy figure finally revealed his true form—a man garbed in the attire of a scholar, exuding an air of elegance, his refined bearing at odds with the black bell in his hand. Yet, it was this scholar who could battle Du Gu Peak to a standstill.

"How many are true prodigies—untroubled, unmatched for a lifetime," the words from Du Gu Peak's lips. It was clear this scholar was no ordinary man. Yet, why was such a peerless figure absent from all relics of ancient history or records? It was as if all traces of him had vanished from history, utterly untraceable. This left Li Ruoyu deeply puzzled. Even more unsettling was the sense of strangeness pervading his experiences in Mount Huang—he seemed to have unwittingly fallen into a grand scheme spanning ancient times, the present, and the future, or perhaps it had all been set in motion long ago. The more he thought on it, the more terrifying it seemed.