For some reason, when Ye Tianlan heard that Gu Qingfeng wanted to see his master, Old Master Zhenjue, she suddenly fell silent.
"What? Is it very difficult?"
"It's not difficult for me. I'm just afraid that Elder Zhenjue doesn't want to see you. It's precisely because he doesn't want to see you that he hid himself in the Shangqing Pagoda."
"Whether Master wants to see me is his business. Whether I see him is mine."
Ye Tianlan said nothing more, as if considering something. After finishing the wine in her cup, she said, "I'll take you there."
With a wave of her hand, in the blink of an eye, the two of them appeared within the Shangqing Pagoda.
The interior of the pagoda was a world of its own, as if forming a separate realm. Gu Qingfeng had no mind to appreciate this legendary treasure of the Shangqing Sect. After a short while, he followed Ye Tianlan to a great hall.
The hall was empty. Aside from a few paintings carved on the surrounding walls, there was nothing else. At the very back of the hall was a sealed stone door. Although Ye Tianlan didn't say anything, Gu Qingfeng had already sensed that his master was inside that stone chamber.
"I'll take my leave first."
Ye Tianlan tactfully departed from the Shangqing Pagoda once more.
Gu Qingfeng gazed at the stone door but said nothing. He simply knelt down and performed the kowtow ritual.
After a moment.
Gu Qingfeng finally spoke. "Master, your disciple has returned."
There was no response.
Gu Qingfeng continued, "I know you are very disappointed in me, that you no longer wish to acknowledge me as your disciple, and that you don't want to see me again."
"No matter what you think, Old Master, for me, Gu Tianlang, a teacher for a day is a father for life. In my heart, you will always be my master. You were in the past, you are now, and you will be in the future."
Gu Qingfeng was an orphan.
He had wandered the Chiyan Ridge area since childhood, essentially growing up on the kindness of strangers. Sometimes he even had to fight wild beasts for food. Later, he joined the Yunxia Sect. Throughout his journey, every day was lived on the edge of a blade, never knowing when his head might roll. He had suffered countless injuries and endured countless beatings; the hardships and bitterness were known only to himself.
Precisely because he had been alone and suffering since youth, he valued loyalty and righteousness more than anyone else. Even the smallest favor, a drop of water, he would repay with a gushing spring.
Back then.
He was notorious, hunted down by the Immortal Dynasty and various major sects. Not only was his cultivation crippled, but his life also hung by a thread. It was Elder Zhenjue who stepped forward and saved his life. Only later did Gu Qingfeng learn that to save him and to allow him to stay in the Shangqing Sect, Elder Zhenjue had staked the lofty reputation he had painstakingly accumulated over tens of millions of years.
Unfortunately.
Gu Qingfeng ultimately failed to turn over a new leaf. Not only did he not lay down the butcher's knife, he instead intensified his actions, wielding the blade and bathing the land in rivers of blood, turning this world upside down.
Because of this.
The highly respected Old Master Zhenjue, hailed as the world's number one immortal master, became a target of public criticism and scorn.
To atone for his sins, Old Master Zhenjue chose to sever himself from the world.
Every time Gu Qingfeng recalled this matter, his heart felt as if pierced by needles, filled with unbearable pain. In his five hundred years of cultivation, he asked himself if he valued loyalty and upheld righteousness, and his conscience was clear. But regarding Old Master Zhenjue alone, Gu Qingfeng felt he had let him down far too much.
After all.
Not only did Old Master Zhenjue save his life back then, but he also spent nine years teaching him the true meaning of the two words: 'Human' and 'Dao'.
Gu Qingfeng had fallen into demonic madness countless times, and his attainments were all heaven-defying, including major attainments that possessed self-awareness. The reason he could find his way back to himself time and again from demonic madness, and the reason he hadn't been devoured and his body usurped by the consciousnesses of those major attainments until now, was not just due to his own willpower, but more importantly, his comprehension of the true meaning of 'Human Dao'.
Return to your true nature, never forget your original heart.
These eight words were the last ones Old Master Zhenjue said to him when he was being judged by the Immortal Dao.
He had always kept them in mind.
He dared not forget, nor would he forget.
"Sigh..." Suddenly.
A hoary sigh came from within the stone chamber.
Gu Qingfeng's heart jolted. He looked up, excited. "Master!"
"Foolish child, oh foolish child..." Hearing his master's voice again, Gu Qingfeng felt both excitement and exhilaration deep in his heart, wishing he could break open the stone door to pay his respects.
However.
In the end, he restrained himself.
He was already very satisfied that his master had replied.
"Silly disciple, truly a silly disciple. The supreme Great Freedom Heart of the Buddhist Sect, in the end, cannot withstand the two words 'loyalty and righteousness' in the depths of your heart. Little do you know, the deeper the loyalty and righteousness, the heavier the tribulation. You were like this back then. Who would have thought that after hundreds of years, even today, you remain unchanged. Not only has it not diminished, it has grown even stronger. Perhaps this is fate... sigh..."
"'Return to your true nature, never forget your original heart.' This is the phrase you, Old Master, have always taught your disciple. Your disciple's true nature is just so. Even after tens of millions of years, it will not change. Although your disciple cultivates the Great Freedom, his true nature will absolutely not waver in the slightest."
"'Return to your true nature, never forget your original heart.' Good... very good..." Perhaps hearing his master's words made Gu Qingfeng too excited, so much so that he didn't quite understand the meaning behind his master's words.
"I originally thought you would be able to let go of what happened back then by now. Never did I imagine it would become a knot in your heart. So be it, so be it. Since that's the case, then this master will tell you the truth, hoping it can untie that knot."
"The truth?" Gu Qingfeng was puzzled. "What truth?"
"Disciple, do you still remember the question you always wanted to ask back then? Why did I save you?"
Gu Qingfeng certainly remembered, and remembered very clearly.
He had always wanted to know why his master had saved him at all costs back then.
Actually, regarding this matter, there were many theories at the time. Some said Old Master Zhenjue, out of compassion, saw Gu Qingfeng's extraordinary talent and hoped to enlighten him so he could benefit the world.
Others said Old Master Zhenjue saw that his fate was not yet sealed, but didn't want to release a tiger back to the mountains, so he planned to imprison him in the Shangqing Sect to prevent him from bringing calamity upon the common people.
What the real reason was, no one knew. Old Master Zhenjue had never spoken of it to outsiders.
Gu Qingfeng had also been troubled by this matter back then, but that was only back then. Although he still didn't know why the old master had saved him, he no longer cared about it.
"Many people say that this master saved you out of compassion, hoping to enlighten you for the benefit of the world. That is wrong. This master is not compassionate, nor would I enlighten you, because this master knows that a person's true nature cannot be enlightened."
"Others say that this master saved you because your fate was not yet sealed, to imprison you in the Shangqing Sect to prevent you from bringing calamity upon the common people. That is also wrong. Because this master knows even better that the tiny Shangqing Sect could never imprison you. As for bringing calamity upon the common people, that is even more unfounded. Although my disciple's temperament is aloof and unrestrained, he would never kill the innocent indiscriminately, much less bring calamity upon the common people."
"At the end of the Ancient Era, the Immortal Dynasty was corrupt, and the people lived in misery. Even without my disciple, others would have stood up to denounce the Immortal Dynasty and bring an end to the Ancient Era. This was destined by Heaven, an inevitable consequence of cause and effect."