Gu Qingfeng had not anticipated that a single sentence from him would cause such a massive misunderstanding among the various great sects.
Upon hearing from Su Hua Fairy that all the sect leaders had returned to discuss the matter and were even planning to bring large contingents tomorrow, Gu Qingfeng didn't take it too seriously.
Let them misunderstand.
He would deal with it tomorrow.
Afterwards, Gu Qingfeng, Zhen Ting, and Zhen Yang strolled towards the Rear Mountain, chatting casually along the way. Their conversation mostly revolved around his venerable master, Zhenjue.
“Kid Gu, let bygones be bygones. Don't torment yourself over what happened back then. My senior brother, well… how to put it? He spent his whole life pursuing and delving into Buddhist teachings, almost to the point of obsession. He was overly fixated on cause and effect, good and evil, and compassion. He was always worrying about the world's troubles before they even happened. Put nicely, he was selfless and fearless; put bluntly, he was worrying about things that weren't his business.”
Wine Immortal Zhen Yang knew Gu Qingfeng had always been haunted by the events of the past, so he spent the entire journey earnestly trying to persuade him.
“In that Ancient Era, everyone struggled just to survive. What good and evil were there? And besides, who can truly distinguish between good and evil? Even the Buddha himself probably couldn't discern what is truly good and what is truly evil. My senior brother was purely making trouble where there was none.”
Looking at the silent Gu Qingfeng, Wine Immortal Zhen Yang continued, “To be honest with you, kid, there's something you probably still don't know to this day.”
“What is it?”
“Back when you were besieged by the various sects, my senior brother saved you. Firstly, it might have been genuine compassion on his part. Secondly, he also saw that your essence wasn't bad and that you were a promising talent. Thirdly, and most importantly, my senior brother had already deduced back then that your fate was not meant to end.”
“That's why he saved you despite everyone's opposition. The reason he took you as a disciple was genuinely to educate and guide you. However, my senior brother wasn't without his own motives. Besides wanting to educate you, he also wanted to keep you confined within the Shangqing Sect. That way, even if you couldn't be reformed, at least you wouldn't go out and wreak havoc upon the world.”
Gu Qingfeng merely smiled and said nothing.
At that moment, Immortal Master Zhen Ting, who had remained silent, spoke up, “Tianlang, don't listen to my junior brother's nonsense.”
“How is it nonsense?”
Ignoring Wine Immortal Zhen Yang, Immortal Master Zhen Ting said to Gu Qingfeng, “Your master's level of thought had long since transcended the mundane, far beyond what we can comprehend. His actions were always profound and unfathomable, and nothing he did was as simple as it appeared on the surface. We think about the present, while senior brother thought about the future—about karma.”
Gu Qingfeng nodded in agreement.
To be honest, Gu Qingfeng had originally thought, as Zhen Yang suggested, that Venerable Master Zhenjue intended to educate and reform him. However, as he experienced more over the years, Gu Qingfeng increasingly realized that Venerable Master Zhenjue had no intention of reforming him; he hadn't even spoken of good and evil.
During the nine years at the Shangqing Sect, Venerable Master Zhenjue had only explained to him the true meaning of two words: the Human Dao.
It was precisely the true meaning of these two words, the Human Dao, that had benefited Gu Qingfeng endlessly. Whether it was awakening from his demonic madness, moving freely between the immortal and demonic realms, or later ascending to the Nine Nethers Emperor's throne and manifesting as an Asura, he owed it all to the Human Dao's true meaning for finding his true self again.
Not only that.
Gu Qingfeng knew that his earlier condensation of the Taiji Golden Core in the Northwest and his subsequent gestation of the Myriad Forms Pagoda were also influenced by the true meaning of the Human Dao.
Why Venerable Master Zhenjue had explained the true meaning of the Human Dao to him was something Gu Qingfeng still couldn't understand.
Perhaps it was exactly as Immortal Master Zhen Ting said: we think about the present, while Venerable Master Zhenjue thought about the future—about what is called karma.
If it was karma.
What karma was it?
This was also the true purpose of Gu Qingfeng's visit this time.
“Tianlang, the doubts in your heart, this old man cannot answer, nor can Zhen Yang. Under the heavens, only your master can provide the answers.”
“My master… did he truly enter the Shangqing Pagoda?”
Immortal Master Zhen Ting nodded solemnly.
“Did he enter voluntarily, or was it related to Ye Tianlan?”
Immortal Master Zhen Ting shook his head and sighed, unsure whether he didn't know or had some unspeakable difficulty.
Gu Qingfeng didn't press further.
The three of them continued chatting as they walked until late into the night before parting ways.
That night.
The stars were brilliant, and the moonlight was bright.
Gu Qingfeng wandered alone in the Rear Mountain.
Compared to the foot of the Shangqing Sect's mountain, the Rear Mountain felt much more desolate. Even during ordinary times, few people came here.
Because the Rear Mountain was either a burial ground, a place for retirement, or a place of punishment…
It was considered somewhat inauspicious.
The reason Gu Qingfeng wandered the Rear Mountain was that during his cultivation years at the Shangqing Sect, he had lived in the retirement area of the Rear Mountain.
The so-called retirement area, as the name implies, was a place for retirement.
Disciples of the Shangqing Sect who had cultivation mishaps, lost all their cultivation due to battles—whether from spirit core disintegration or failed tribulations—as long as they lost their cultivation, they would generally be placed here to retire.
Gu Qingfeng, being a convict back then, was also placed in the retirement area.
Generally speaking, almost every sect had a retirement place. However, without exception, those retirement places were rather austere. After all, having lost one's cultivation meant becoming useless to the sect. It was already good enough that the sect would support you; one couldn't hope for something like a spirit-gathering array.
However.
The Shangqing Sect was different. The retirement area in the Rear Mountain of the Shangqing Sect was relatively decent. Almost every courtyard, every house, was enveloped by a spirit-gathering array. Not only was spiritual energy abundant, but the climate was also suitable. Even if one couldn't cultivate, it ensured good health and freedom from worries about food and clothing.
Those retiring here drank tea, played chess daily, living free from worldly strife, which was quite comfortable.
Gu Qingfeng found the courtyard where he had lived back then. He looked up at it; the courtyard seemed to have been sealed. Gu Qingfeng walked over, waved his hand to break the seal, and entered directly. The moment he pushed open the door, memories from that time burst forth from the depths of his mind like a breached flood.
It was an ordinary courtyard with three rooms. In the yard stood a Scarlet-Leaf Tree he had personally planted back then.
The Scarlet-Leaf Tree had long since grown into a fiery-red tree over ten meters tall, with lush branches and leaves. Whether by coincidence or not, the Scarlet-Leaf Tree was laden with bright red fruits—none other than the Scarlet-Leaf Monster Fruits that Gu Qingfeng had loved to eat during his childhood wanderings around the Chiyan Ridge in the Northwest.
He was an orphan, born without parents, wandering Chiyan Ridge from a young age, using Scarlet-Leaf Monster Fruits to stave off hunger. Even after leaving the Northwest, he would carry Scarlet-Leaf Monster Fruit seeds with him.
When he planted this Scarlet-Leaf Tree here back then, Gu Qingfeng wanted to constantly remind himself that if he could survive as a child at the foot of Chiyan Ridge, a mountain teeming with tigers and wolves, he could also survive now within the Shangqing Sect, which was comparable to a dragon's pool and a tiger's den.