To roam the mortal dust with sword in hand is madness enough; with wine, I stride straight into the heavens!

At the bottom of the East Sea!

The Dragon Palace stood majestic and solemn in the depths of the sea, a hundred thousand feet below the surface.

At that moment, hearing Tongtian's words, Ao Guang stared in stunned disbelief, his face twitching incessantly.

"Drunken sleepwalking?!"

"Hmph! Even if a saint looks down upon the entire universe, he cannot toy with us of the Dragon Race as though we were fools!"

"If it were merely one of his disciples, how could he possess such terrifying, peerless sword intent?"

Ao Guang muttered furiously, seething with indignation.

Yet scarcely had his words fallen.

Boom!

Outside, another towering surge of sword intent suddenly descended, tearing the firmament apart and overturning the East Sea.

Cries of alarm erupted throughout the Dragon Race.

Even the Dragon Palace where Ao Guang stood shook incessantly, as though it would collapse and sink into ruin.

"Again?!"

Ao Guang flew into a rage. He could no longer endure it.

"I shall see how you explain yourself this time, Saint Tongtian!"

With that, Ao Guang leaped up and transformed into a Five-Clawed Divine Dragon. Churning up boundless waves, he appeared above the East Sea in an instant, intent on seeing what was happening within the Interception Sect.

Though the Dragon Race had been confined to the Four Seas, they were only forbidden from leaving their territory.

They could still rise above the sea's surface.

And at some point, Tongtian had generously withdrawn the concealing power around Golden Ao Island altogether.

This allowed Ao Guang, along with the mighty figures outside, to witness Gu Changqing's world-shaking sword strike.

In an instant, everything on Golden Ao Island lay plainly before Ao Guang's eyes.

He focused his gaze and froze on the spot.

All he saw was a young man of graceful, jade-like bearing, his face flushed with drunkenness, who appeared no more than twenty years old.

"This... truly wasn't Saint Tongtian's doing?"

"Are even the younger generation of a saint's lineage so outrageously powerful?"

Having witnessed it with his own eyes, Ao Guang had no choice but to believe.

His heart reeled with shock, unable to settle.

As the patriarch of the East Sea Dragon Clan, Ao Guang also possessed a keen, discerning eye.

He could tell that Gu Changqing had cultivated for merely a few thousand years.

In the Primordial World, that was no more than the flick of a finger.

Yet in so short a time, he had cultivated strength powerful enough to shake the East Sea.

To describe such aptitude with the mere word "genius" seemed woefully inadequate.

"What a monster!"

Ao Guang marveled inwardly.

More importantly, as he studied Gu Changqing closely,

he found no recollection of Gu Changqing whatsoever.

Could he be a personal disciple Saint Tongtian had recently taken in?

Had Ao Guang known that Gu Changqing was merely a disciple of the Outer Sect, his eyes would likely have popped out in shock.

While Ao Guang pondered this,

the bleary-eyed Gu Changqing seemed, at one point, to hear his barely audible exclamation.

He then noticed the Five-Clawed Divine Dragon stretching across the firmament.

His gaze locked onto Ao Guang, and the sword in his hand rang fiercely, its ringing shaking the high heavens, piercing metal and splitting stone.

At that moment, Ao Guang's expression grew grave.

Facing Gu Changqing, even he felt his heart pound with apprehension.

Their gazes met for a moment.

In the end, Ao Guang was the first to yield.

"This brat is absurd!"

"Even I cannot fathom his true depths!"

Ao Guang grew increasingly alarmed.

It stood to reason: even Saint Tongtian could not probe Gu Changqing's true depths, much less Ao Guang.

After a moment's consideration, Ao Guang made a decisive choice and immediately turned to leave.

His enormous body plunged downward, vanishing into the East Sea in the blink of an eye.

It was an exceedingly wise move.

After all, just as Tongtian had said, Gu Changqing appeared to be sleepwalking after getting thoroughly drunk.

In that state, he was capable of doing anything.

If the brat hazily swung his sword at Ao Guang, the latter might not perish, but he certainly would not come away unscathed.

Only after returning to the Dragon Palace did the unease in Ao Guang's heart gradually fade.

"That brat... is extraordinary!"

Ao Guang sighed, and his gaze toward the Interception Sect-or rather, toward Gu Changqing-took on immeasurable gravity.

Meanwhile, the Interception Sect was in an uproar, shaken to its core.

Duobao and the others watched Ao Guang arrive in a towering fury, then depart without a word, leaving them rather bewildered.

A moment later, they recovered their senses, their faces filled with disbelief.

"Gasp... was Dragon King Ao Guang of the East Sea frightened off by Junior Brother Changqing's aura?"

"From the looks of it, that's exactly what happened!"

"Even Ao Guang fears Junior Brother Changqing's sword intent?"

"Heavens, our junior brother is so dazzling! He's utterly captivating!"

"Even Brother Gongming falls a little short of him."

Everyone drew sharp breaths.

Bixiao's eyes practically sparkled as she gazed at Gu Changqing's figure with open admiration.

Hearing this, Zhao Gongming rolled his eyes dramatically.

His sister's words truly stabbed him in the heart.

Yet Zhao Gongming's expression was solemn too.

They had already known that Gu Changqing was somewhat extraordinary.

But Ao Guang's behavior today undoubtedly deepened their astonishment.

Even a dragon king had been frightened away. At that moment, Gu Changqing seemed unfathomable even to the Eight Great Personal Disciples.

After frightening Ao Guang away, however, Gu Changqing seemed to succumb to the wine-or perhaps to exhaustion.

He staggered, and the towering sword intent surrounding him instantly shattered, dissolving into nothingness.

Only then did the phenomena filling the sky finally dissipate.

Gu Changqing paid no heed to anyone's reaction. Carrying his wine jar, he headed back to his own cave abode.

It was as though this bout of "sleepwalking" had merely been to display the transcendent swordsmanship he had comprehended within his great dream.

The disciples of the Interception Sect quietly let out long breaths of relief.

Facing Gu Changqing as he stood proudly in the high heavens with sword in hand, they had involuntarily felt an overwhelming pressure.

But immediately afterward, someone cried out in surprise.

"What is that?"

Everyone looked toward the voice and saw an enormous sword silhouette emerging in the space where Gu Changqing had stood.

Duobao's pupils contracted sharply in shock, before he realized what it was.

"A sword dao imprint!"

"This is a sword dao imprint left by Junior Brother Changqing! It contains endless profound truths of the sword dao!"

"Hurry and contemplate it! This is a priceless opportunity!"

Duobao's words brought everyone to their senses.

If they could comprehend the mysteries of this sword dao imprint, perhaps they could cultivate the earth-shaking sword technique Gu Changqing had unleashed earlier.

Without time for further thought, they immediately stilled their hearts and focused their minds, immersing their divine senses fully in the sword dao imprint.

As for Gu Changqing!

After returning to his cave abode, he seemed unconcerned with everything outside.

Yet when he heard Duobao urging the disciples to contemplate the Dao, a knowing smile appeared on Gu Changqing's face.

Then he lowered his eyes and examined himself.

"Heh, so I've broken through to late Primordial Unity Golden Immortal?!"

"As the saying goes, to roam the mortal dust with sword in hand is madness enough; with wine, I stride straight into the heavens!"

"It seems I'll have to seek out some even finer materials before I can brew wine of a higher grade..."