Gu Qingfeng had left.
His sole purpose in coming to the Shangqing Sect was to see his mentor, Elder Zhenjue. Beyond that, there was nothing else.
His reason for seeing the old master wasn't to make amends for anything, but simply to see him, that was all.
Whether it was guilt or self-blame, Gu Qingfeng had always borne such burdens alone.
As for why the old master had saved him back then—whether out of compassion for the world or fear that he would bring calamity upon all living beings—Gu Qingfeng didn't know. He hadn't known before, didn't know now, and had no desire to find out in the future, because he had never cared from the very beginning.
The only thing that mattered to him was that his mentor had saved him once. That was enough.
Although his master hadn't said it explicitly, Gu Qingfeng could more or less tell that his master was deeply worried about the revived Human Dao of the Present Era.
To be honest,
Gu Qingfeng had absolutely no interest in the position of Human Dao Sovereign, not even the slightest bit.
He had never been one for grand ambitions or lofty aspirations, not since he was young. Compared to so-called power and prestige, he preferred to be an unconstrained, carefree ordinary person.
Alas,
the tree may crave calm, but the wind will not cease.
A single drop of Original Sin blood had firmly bound him to the Wu Dao Era.
A single strand of All Beings Myriad Phenomena had firmly tied him to the Human Dao.
The existence of the Wu Dao Era was causally linked to the Cataclysm of the Present Era, making him an outcast of Heaven and Earth.
And the Human Dao was the very foundation of the Three Thousand Great Daos, which could not tolerate him either.
Gu Qingfeng understood clearly that he had long since reached a point where there was no retreat, and simultaneously, no path forward to take.
He had long been caught in the vortex of the Present Era's Cataclysm, surrounded on all sides by enemies, with no way forward, nowhere to flee, and nowhere to hide.
What to do?
He didn't know.
Nor did he want to know. He had never troubled himself over so-called dangers.
Worried?
Afraid?
No.
Neither worried nor afraid.
Because he was used to it. Ever since his days in the Great Northwest, he had walked this path all along. Back then, he also had no road to take—he had brutally carved one out through a river of blood. Now, with still no path before him, Gu Qingfeng wouldn't mind in the slightest carving out another blood-soaked road.
Of the old acquaintances in this world, he had seen almost all those he should have, and even those he shouldn't have. So-called grudges, debts of gratitude, and entanglements—those that could be settled had been settled; those that couldn't, he no longer intended to settle. Let it be.
Next, he only wanted to understand one thing.
That was his own karma.
The so-called karma.
It boiled down to three questions.
Who am I?
Where do I come from?
Where am I going?
These were questions that seemed simple but were actually complex, as if containing infinite mysteries.
Some said,
if you could understand these three questions, you would understand your own karma.
Understanding your own karma was equivalent to severing karma.
Severing karma would allow you to leap beyond Heaven and Earth.
Leaping beyond Heaven and Earth would enable you to ascend to the pinnacle of True Godhood.
This was a legend.
Gu Qingfeng didn't know if it was true or false.
To tell the truth, he had no interest in becoming a god either.
What exactly was a god?
He didn't know.
If he didn't even know what a god was, how could he have any interest?
If someone said that after becoming a god, one could live carefree and unrestrained, then Gu Qingfeng might have had a bit of interest.
But who could guarantee that after becoming a god, one would definitely be free from worries?
Completely without troubles?
No one could guarantee that.
Therefore, Gu Qingfeng wouldn't go to great lengths for something fundamentally uncertain, nor for some ethereal legend.
Not only did he have no interest in godhood, to be honest, he also had absolutely no interest in who he truly was, where he came from, or where he was going—the so-called karma.
If Gu Qingfeng were to answer these three questions of karma,
he would definitely answer: I am me. I come from Chiyan Ridge in the Great Northwest. As for where I'm going, I don't know, nor do I want to know. I just want to live this unrestrained, carefree life, drinking a little wine every day, basking in the sun, teasing a girl or two, flirting with a young lady, sleeping until I wake naturally.
This kind of life had been his wish since childhood.
It had never changed.
Why seek karma?
Wasn't that just being idle to the point of pain, looking for trouble?
If possible, Gu Qingfeng truly didn't want to seek this damned karma.
Unfortunately,
now he had no choice but to seek it, because he clearly understood he was already caught in a whirlpool of karma. Even if he didn't seek it, the so-called karma would come knocking. There was simply no hiding from it, no escaping it.
So then,
after leaving the Shangqing Sect, Gu Qingfeng prepared to have a good, long sleep.
Ever since awakening in this world, he had been in a weakened state. The journey from the Great Northwest all the way to the Shangqing Sect had truly exhausted him. It was time to sleep properly, to rest, to nourish his spirit, and to build up his energy to prepare for the imminent appearance of Wu Dao Mountain.
Ye Tianlan had said that the Three Thousand Great Daos would take the opportunity when Wu Dao Mountain appeared to make a move against him. Besides that, it seemed the people of Wu Dao Mountain also had that intention. Gu Qingfeng believed Ye Tianlan's words; he himself had that feeling too. Not only did he have that feeling, but he also believed that besides the Three Thousand Great Daos and Wu Dao Mountain, there might be many, many other messy individuals.
Who exactly these people were,
he didn't know.
Nor did he want to know, and he couldn't be bothered to investigate.
Whoever they were, so be it.
Killing one was killing, killing two was still killing, whether ten, a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand—it was all killing, with no difference.
When the time came, if he could fight, he'd fight. If he couldn't win, he'd run.
If he couldn't run away, the worst was death. If he didn't die, he would eventually rise again.
That's how simple things were.
And Gu Qingfeng was open-minded about it.
He wasn't afraid of death. He never had been.
Thus,
he found a quiet and secluded place and began to slumber. All the acupoints in his body were completely sealed, his meridians ceased their circulation, his blood stopped flowing, his heart stopped beating. His mind, his five viscera, even his soul began to enter a state of deep sleep. All vitality within his body gradually faded, making him resemble a corpse.
Slumber.
Sleeping and sleeping.
He didn't know how much time had passed when Gu Qingfeng faintly heard what seemed like a voice echoing by his ear.
The voice was ethereal, seeming to exist and yet not.
Very faint.
Gu Qingfeng tried to grasp this wisp of sound, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't capture it.
Another unknown length of time passed.
The ethereal and elusive voice sounded again, clearer than before.
But it was still very weak.
It felt as if it came from a place very, very far away.
Gu Qingfeng tried to grasp it once more, and this time he finally heard it clearly.
"Since there is wisdom, there is confusion, distinguishing object and self!"
"A hundred kinds of yang, a hundred kinds of yin, transforming into the harmony of Heaven and Earth!"
"Not seeing good, not seeing evil, only cause and effect remain!"
"A thousand kinds of sage, a thousand kinds of demon, let others say what they will!"
It felt familiar, as if he understood something, yet also as if he didn't, like viewing flowers through mist, or like moon reflected in water. He sank inexplicably into it, unable to extricate himself for a time.