The Old Monk's underlying meaning seemed to be one of resignation.
And indeed, that was the case.
The Old Monk was a person from the Wu Dao Era. Back then, because the Wu Dao Era vanished, he had no choice but to hide within this Bone Jade of Annihilation.
He thought that from then on, he could escape the curse of the Wu Dao Era.
However, he never expected the Bone Jade of Annihilation to choose Gu Qingfeng. Even more unexpected was that Gu Qingfeng was actually a person of Original Sin. Most unexpected of all was that Gu Qingfeng was not only a person of Original Sin but had also fused with the Blood of Original Sin, and it was a drop of Blood of Original Sin filled with unknowns and variables.
Finally,
the Old Monk realized he had ultimately failed to escape the karmic curse of the Wu Dao Era.
However,
he did not give up.
To prevent the curse from cycling again, he hoped to use Buddhist Dharma to enlighten and convert Gu Qingfeng.
Alas.
By the end of his Buddhist teachings, not only had he failed to convert Gu Qingfeng, but he had instead enabled Gu Qingfeng to comprehend not only the Buddhist Great Freedom but also the Buddhist Great Nirvana Silence, both of which are supreme, peerless existences within Buddhism.
Since then, the Old Monk never dared to lecture Gu Qingfeng on Buddhism again. He began to persuade, to persuade Gu Qingfeng to abandon karma.
But it was only persuasion.
No matter how he tried to persuade, Gu Qingfeng remained self-willed from start to finish.
If back when Gu Qingfeng first fused with the Blood of Original Sin, the Old Monk still held onto a sliver of hope and fantasy, then when the Blood of Original Sin within Gu Qingfeng's body began to awaken, that last remaining sliver of hope and fantasy also vanished into thin air.
Therefore,
the Old Monk resigned himself to fate.
He could only resign himself to fate.
At this time, on this day, aside from resigning himself to fate, he could do nothing!
However,
Gu Qingfeng seemed not to believe in these things. He said, "Enough, Old Monk, don't play these empty tricks with me. I may not know what kind of existence you are, nor do I know what this Bone Jade of Annihilation truly is, but there is one thing I am quite certain of: your existence is definitely not as simple as just being a monk from the Wu Dao Era. This Bone Jade of Annihilation is definitely not just a broken piece of bone jade from the Wu Dao Era. Your appearance within this Bone Jade of Annihilation is absolutely not a coincidence, especially after the Blood of Original Sin awakened. I am even more certain of this point, particularly regarding the Bone Jade of Annihilation."
Gazing at the ethereal world within the Bone Jade of Annihilation, Gu Qingfeng said, "If my guess is correct, this Bone Jade of Annihilation is probably also intricately connected to the Blood of Original Sin. I've heard the Blood of Original Sin is the blood of that Venerable Wu Dao. I wonder if this Bone Jade of Annihilation also belongs to that Lord Wu Dao."
The Old Monk merely chanted a low "Amitabha Buddha" and did not respond.
After a long silence,
the Old Monk asked again, "I wonder if Layman Gu knows what kind of existence the Chaos Incarnation you achieved is?"
"It should be that gentleman from back then, 'From Azure Heaven to Yellow Springs,' right?"
"It seems Layman Gu already knew."
"Nonsense. Over a decade ago, ever since that fellow emerged from the All Beings Pay Homage to the Floating Pagoda, I had it pretty much figured out. Among the Ancestors of Humanity, only that lord is the ancient taboo that heaven and earth cannot tolerate."
"Then does Layman Gu know why he was deemed an ancient taboo that heaven and earth cannot tolerate?"
"I've heard. It seems to be said that that lord swallowed the sun and moon like pills, trampled the Three Thousand Great Daos underfoot like grandsons, and later seemed to go mad and demonic?
He smashed several holes in heaven and earth. Isn't it said that Nüwa patched the sky for this reason?
Of course, these are just legends. What the truth was back then, we don't know."
"Although they are legends, they are not far from the truth."
The Old Monk said, "Layman Gu, do you know the fate of this taboo ancestor?"
"It's said he was beaten to ashes by the myriad gods and then cast into the Endless Ruins by Fate."
"Now this taboo ancestor of humanity has already revived. Is Layman Gu not the least bit curious?"
"What?
You want to tell me the Endless Ruins have already collapsed?"
"This old monk does not know either."
"If even you don't know, how could I possibly know? But I don't want to know either. Whether the Endless Ruins collapse or not has nothing to do with me."
Gu Qingfeng shook his head and laughed. "Thinking about it carefully, this brother is quite unlucky. He finally crawled out of the Endless Ruins, only to run into me. Running into me isn't a big deal, but the key is the Blood of Original Sin in my body has awakened...
This brother also cannot avoid being eroded by the Blood of Original Sin...
Who knows what he'll turn into in the future."
This time, the Old Monk still said nothing, chanting another "Amitabha Buddha."
Afterward, he finally asked, "Layman Gu, may this old monk ask you a question?"
"Of course."
"I wonder what plans Layman Gu has for the future?"
"Plans?
No plans?
Take one step at a time. Having come this far, what kind of plans do you think I can still have?"
"Layman Gu has already prepared for the worst, correct?"
Gu Qingfeng raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
"Layman Gu should have already felt the call of Wudao Mountain. Moreover, Layman Gu must certainly feel that when Wudao Mountain descends, something terrifying will happen. Layman Gu may not know exactly what terrifying thing will happen, nor what will truly occur after the Blood of Original Sin perfectly fuses."
"Therefore, Layman Gu has long prepared for the worst. And this worst-case scenario is to protect those you care about at all costs."
"For this, Layman Gu opened the Dao of Silence, the Dao of Absoluteness, the Dao of Slaughter, the Dao of Life, the Dao of Death, the Dao of Purgatory...
and gathered all these forbidden Daos into your body, awakened the Avici-Wicked Asura Soul, awakened the taboo incarnation of the human ancestor 'From Azure Heaven to Yellow Springs,' refined the Wu Dao Blood Moon, and awakened the Blood of Original Sin!"
"Layman Gu said you would slaughter all Three Thousand Great Daos, annihilate all heaven and earth, and even Fate and karma would be no exception. Layman Gu said this and is prepared to do so."
Gu Qingfeng retracted the smile from the corner of his mouth, fell silent for a moment, then looked up at the ethereal temple on the ethereal mountain and said, "Do I have any other choice?
I remember you said that all things in heaven and earth begin with karma and are determined by Fate. Perhaps my existence is to live for this purpose. No!
Not perhaps. Looking back on my life, more and more I feel my existence was born to destroy this heaven and earth."
Gu Qingfeng closed his eyes and said quietly, "From the very beginning, this world could not tolerate me. This realm could not, this world could not, this Great Dao could not, and heaven and earth even more so could not. I ask myself, I have walked this path with a clear conscience, yet fate plays tricks on people. Perhaps it is not that this world cannot tolerate me, nor that heaven and earth cannot tolerate me, nor even that Fate cannot tolerate me, but that the karma belonging to me was simply like this from the start."
"Amitabha Buddha!"
The Old Monk chanted another "Amitabha Buddha," only this time it was more ancient, more solemn, and more dignified than ever before!
"It seems the Blood of Original Sin has already begun to affect Layman Gu's consciousness and spirit."