Gu Qingfeng had cultivated for five hundred years, ascending to the thrones of both Immortal and Monster Kings, and even the Nine Nethers Emperor's seat. He did not rely on innate talent.
His natural aptitude wasn't particularly good; in fact, it fell into the poor category. If it weren't for that, he wouldn't have been turned away by Yunxia Sect back in the day.
His ability to laugh proudly across a world, to carve a bloody path through the Heavenly Realm, depended not only on his own efforts and a bit of luck but also on the help of several benefactors.
He had encountered quite a few benefactors in this life, and Huode was one of them, along with several others.
But when it came to guidance on the great path of cultivation, the one who had instructed him the most was undoubtedly the Bone Jade of Annihilation.
To be precise, it was the old monk residing within the Bone Jade of Annihilation.
He had found the Bone Jade of Annihilation within the ruins of an ancient Buddhist temple. As for what this thing actually was, Gu Qingfeng had studied it his entire life without ever figuring it out.
He only knew an old monk lived inside.
Who the old monk was, what his identity might be—Gu Qingfeng didn't know that either. He had asked. Perhaps the old monk was too ancient; he didn't know what the Bone Jade of Annihilation was, nor even who he himself was. However, he possessed considerable understanding of the affairs of heaven and earth. Back then, Gu Qingfeng's ability to deceive the heavens and cross the seas during the Immortal Dao's Judgment was largely thanks to the old monk's guidance.
Sensing an unusual fluctuation from the Bone Jade of Annihilation,
Gu Qingfeng immediately projected his divine sense into it.
The Bone Jade of Annihilation didn't contain a spatial dimension per se. It was more like a spiritual world, similar to a sea of consciousness, yet different.
The old monk had said that Buddhism emphasizes that a single flower, a single blade of grass, is a world; all things between heaven and earth possess their own world.
The world belonging to the Bone Jade of Annihilation was hazy.
Within it stood an indistinct mountain.
Upon that hazy mountain stood an even more indistinct temple, and within the temple resided an old monk.
As for what mountain it was, Gu Qingfeng did not know and had never 'seen' it clearly.
As for that old monk, he had never laid eyes on him either, not even once.
At this moment, as his divine sense entered the world belonging to the Bone Jade of Annihilation, it seemed no different from before—still hazy, blurred like chaos. He could faintly make out a massive mountain in the distance, upon which sat an unremarkable-looking temple.
"Old Monk, are you awake?"
Gu Qingfeng tried to communicate.
Back when the Heavenly Dao had descended its Judgment, the old monk had said he didn't know if they would meet again...
After Gu Qingfeng was judged by the Heavenly Dao, upon awakening, he had tried to communicate with him more than once, but there had never been a response.
He didn't know if the old monk had vanished. But the unusual fluctuation from the Bone Jade of Annihilation just now gave him a familiar feeling. "Old Monk?"
Gu Qingfeng called out again. Still, no one answered.
"Master Nameless?"
The old monk had no name. Gu Qingfeng often called him 'Old Monk,' occasionally addressing him as Master Nameless.
"Old Monk?"
He tried communicating once more, but again, there was no response.
Just as Gu Qingfeng was growing puzzled, from within the hazy mountain, from that temple, finally came an ancient, weathered voice.
"Hmm...
The Heavenly Dao truly lives up to its reputation as the leader of the Great Dao...
The might of its Judgment...
is truly formidable..." The voice was very weak, also aged, and extremely unpleasant to hear. Each word felt like a spiritual torment, as if someone were scraping glass beside your ear with their fingernails. And the old monk's voice was a hundred, a thousand times more painful than that.
Fortunately,
Gu Qingfeng was used to it. Hearing it often, he not only didn't find it particularly unpleasant anymore, but if he went a while without hearing it, he even missed it somewhat.
Hearing the old monk's voice now, he felt extremely excited.
"You really are still alive..." Gu Qingfeng was a very nostalgic person. Moreover, this mysterious old monk was the greatest among his benefactors. Learning that the other was still alive naturally filled him with indescribable joy.
"Gu...
Patron Gu, it has been a long time. I trust you have been well..." Perhaps sensing the weakness in the old monk's voice, Gu Qingfeng asked with concern, "Did the Heavenly Dao's Judgment affect you as well?"
"The Heavenly Dao is, after all, the Heavenly Dao. Since it judged you, it necessarily judges everything about you. You and the Bone Jade of Annihilation have long since fused into one. As this old monk resides within the bone jade, I naturally could not avoid it..." Gu Qingfeng responded with a hint of guilt, "It was I who implicated you..." "Ha, it seems Patron Gu is still the same. You clearly know that you and the Bone Jade of Annihilation are inseparable, fundamentally beyond talk of 'implication.' Why bother saying such mundane words to this old monk?"
"I have always been a mundane person. A mundane person naturally speaks mundane words."
"Ha..." The old monk laughed, a laugh filled with gratification. "For Patron Gu to maintain a heart of Great Freedom even after being judged by the Heavenly Dao is truly rare, rare indeed..." "Enough. The two of us can be considered old friends. Let's skip the formalities. After being judged by the Heavenly Dao, I never expected to still be alive. I don't know why I'm still alive either. Do you know the reason?
Could it be because of the Bone Jade of Annihilation?"
To be honest, ever since the Heavenly Dao's Judgment, Gu Qingfeng had been very curious about why he had survived. He didn't know if it was truly because of the Bone Jade of Annihilation.
"This matter... this old monk does not know either...
Not only do I not know why Patron Gu survived, even my own survival is quite unexpected. Since ancient times, it's not that there have been none who survived the Heavenly Dao's Judgment. However, they either possessed an indestructible soul, or retained a wisp of divine sense, a trace of spirit, a fragment of thought. But someone like Patron Gu, who had everything stripped away by the Heavenly Dao and was beaten back to a mortal flesh body...
this old monk is encountering for the first time."
After a pause, the old monk continued, "However, in the affairs of heaven and earth, there is inevitably cause and effect within the unseen workings. Patron Gu need not be overly troubled. What you are meant to know, you will know. What you are not meant to know, even if you pry into the secrets of heaven and earth, will be of no avail."
"Heh heh..." Gu Qingfeng chuckled. Since he cultivated the Great Freedom, he naturally did as he pleased. If he had doubts, he asked. If he didn't know, he pondered. If pondering yielded no answer, he pondered again. If it still remained unclear, he would think no more of it.
"Another great calamity..." "After each great calamity of heaven and earth, a new Heavenly Destiny is derived. The Eternal Calamity derived a Heavenly Destiny of Laws. The Primordial Calamity derived a Heavenly Destiny of Dao Lineages. The Ancient Calamity derived a Heavenly Destiny of Thrones. I wonder what Heavenly Destiny the Progenitor Calamity derived?"
As the old monk's voice came through, Gu Qingfeng shook his head. He knew that each great calamity of heaven and earth signified the end of one era and the beginning of another. An era would inevitably give rise to the Heavenly Destiny belonging to that era. Just as the old monk said, after the Eternal Calamity, the derived Heavenly Destiny was Laws. The Primordial Calamity derived a Heavenly Destiny of Dao Lineages. The Ancient Calamity's Heavenly Destiny was Thrones. As for what Heavenly Destiny was derived after the Progenitor Calamity, Gu Qingfeng did not know.
"Perhaps the Heavenly Destiny of the Current Era has not yet condensed and derived. However, the birth of Heavenly Destiny is merely a matter of time. Why does Patron Gu not prepare early?"
"Tired...
Don't want to struggle anymore..." Gu Qingfeng was a man from the end of the Progenitor Era. His ability to successively ascend to the Immortal-Monster King's throne, and even the Nine Nethers Emperor's seat, wasn't because he wanted to. Various circumstances had forced him onto this path. The myriad sufferings he endured along the way were known to him alone. What Heavenly Destiny the Current Era would birth, he did not know, nor did he wish to know.
"Tired...
Don't want to struggle anymore...
Heh heh..." The old monk repeated Gu Qingfeng's words, his tone carrying a hint of laughter, as if somewhat surprised. Then he sighed and said, "In cultivation, there is no reckoning of years. Patron Gu has only cultivated for five hundred years and already feels tired. Then what of those who cultivate for a thousand years, five thousand, ten thousand, fifty thousand, a hundred thousand, a million years..." "You can't put it that way. Each person has their own way of living. I've never had much ambition since I was a child, no great aspirations. Ascending to the Nine Nethers Emperor's seat was something I was forced into. You should know, I'm a lazy person. My greatest wish in life is to idle about waiting for death, to sleep until I wake naturally, drink some wine, listen to some tunes, tease a girl or two... Living leisurely and freely is just fine."
Gu Qingfeng sighed and added, "In the past, all that fighting and killing was unavoidable, forced by circumstances. I ended up on a road of no return, forced to keep killing my way forward. But now...
although I suffered the Heavenly Dao's Judgment, I've also gained some peace and quiet. I no longer want to struggle...
Once was enough. I don't want to go through it a second time..." The old monk did not respond immediately. He waited a moment before replying.
"One lifetime of sin, endless lifetimes of sin..." "Patron Gu, from the moment you first incurred the Heavenly Dao's Judgment, you had already set foot on a road of no return. Let alone your current state where the Heavenly Dao stripped you of everything and beat you back to a mortal flesh body. Even if your flesh body were destroyed, even if your soul were extinguished, even if the flame of your life were snuffed out—as long as a wisp of your consciousness, a trace of your spirit, a fragment of your thought still existed between heaven and earth, the Heavenly Dao would not let you go...
It would judge you endlessly, ceaselessly, until it had judged you completely, utterly clean..."