The Extinct Bone Jade.
The ethereal world within it was undergoing inconceivable changes. The once-blurred space was no longer indistinct, gradually becoming clear.
"Amitabha!"
The Old Monk chanted a Buddhist phrase in a low voice, as if sighing over something.
This sigh was one of astonishment.
A sigh of helplessness, a sigh of uncertainty.
Immediately after, the mysterious woman hidden within the Extinct Bone Jade seemed to realize something and asked, "What's happening? Why is the Extinct Bone Jade changing? Is it related to him? What has he comprehended now?"
"Without substance, it is called emptiness; opposing truth, it is called illusion. This is my Buddha's supreme Great Illusion."
The Old Monk's voice came through. The mysterious woman was utterly shocked. "Great Illusion? You're saying he has comprehended the Buddhist supreme Great Illusion? That's the Great Illusion! How could he possibly comprehend..." Though not a Buddhist cultivator herself, the mysterious woman knew full well what the Buddhist Great Illusion represented.
In legend,
Buddhism possessed four supreme realms.
Great Freedom, Great Extinction, Great Compassion, and Great Illusion.
Comprehend Great Freedom, and one transcends Dao and Law, no longer bound by any Great Dao or principle.
Comprehend Great Extinction, and one transcends life and death, no longer subject to any cycle of life and demise.
Comprehend Great Compassion, and one transcends good and evil, no longer affected by any retribution for kindness or sin.
Comprehend Great Illusion, and one transcends truth and falsehood, no longer blinded by any truth or illusion.
"Mortals see a mountain as a mountain, water as water," the Old Monk said. "Those of the Great Dao see a mountain not as a mountain, water not as water."
"Sacred beings see a mountain still as a mountain, water still as water."
"But Ancient Benefactor Gu, having comprehended the supreme Great Illusion, sees a mountain as both mountain and water, sees water as both water and mountain. Mountain is mountain yet also water; water is water yet also mountain. In his eyes, mountain and water have lost their essential distinction. Mountain and water are, the Great Dao is, Heaven and Earth are, all living beings are."
The mysterious woman exclaimed in astonishment, "So you mean... after comprehending Great Illusion, the Three Thousand Great Daos, Heaven and Earth, all living beings... hold no secrets for him anymore. If he wishes, a single glance can pierce through illusion and perceive the true essence of all things."
"Amitabha!"
The Old Monk chanted another Buddhist phrase.
"Gods above!"
The mysterious woman was utterly flabbergasted. After a long while, she remembered something else and hurriedly asked, "Old Monk, I've heard that if one comprehends all four supreme realms—Great Freedom, Great Extinction, Great Compassion, and Great Illusion—legend says one can achieve Sagehood, leaping out of this Heaven and Earth. Is that true or not?"
"So the rumors go."
"That fellow has already comprehended Great Freedom, Great Extinction, and now Great Illusion. So, if he comprehends Great Compassion as well, he would leap out of Heaven and Earth and become a Sage?"
"Perhaps."
The Old Monk's voice came through. The mysterious woman was thoroughly frightened, murmuring, "Thank goodness he hasn't comprehended Great Compassion yet, otherwise... if he leaps out of this Heaven and Earth and becomes a Sage, then... who could possibly kill him?"
"Let alone Ancient Benefactor Gu achieving Sagehood, even as he is today, this Great Dao, this Heaven and Earth, this Fate... none have the confidence to erase him." The Old Monk's voice was aged, imbued with endless helplessness and uncertainty. "If they previously had a fifty percent chance of erasing Ancient Benefactor Gu, now that Gu Qingfeng has comprehended Great Illusion, I'm afraid they don't even have a thirty percent chance..."
"What? Not even thirty percent? Not even Fate?"
"Fate is no exception. This old monk has said, Ancient Benefactor Gu is a variable, a variable of the Daoless Age. As a variable, Heaven and Earth cannot know him, Fate cannot determine him, Karma cannot follow him. The only one who can know, determine, or follow... is the variable himself."
After a silence, the mysterious woman's voice came, despondent: "So you mean... when the Daoless Mountain descends, whether the Great Dao will be destroyed, whether Heaven and Earth will cycle, whether the Curse will end, whether the Daoless Age will revive... all of this, we don't decide, the Great Dao doesn't decide, Heaven and Earth don't decide, Fate doesn't decide. The only one who decides... is him."
...
A dream.
Gu Qingfeng had fallen into a Nightmare.
And another person had also fallen into a Nightmare.
It was none other than Su Hua.
In Gu Qingfeng's Nightmare, a woman kept muttering to herself.
And in Su Hua's Nightmare, a woman also kept muttering to herself.
"Since having wisdom, since having confusion, distinguishing object and self!"
"A hundred kinds of yang, a hundred kinds of yin, transforming into Heaven and Earth's harmony!"
"Not seeing good, not seeing evil, only Karma and effect remain!"
"A thousand kinds of sage, a thousand kinds of demon, let others say what they will!"
In the Nightmare,
The woman repeated these lines.
This was not Su Hua's first time falling into this Nightmare. As for how many times, she could no longer remember. She only recalled that ever since she had memories from her past life, she would often fall into this Nightmare. Each time, that woman would repeat these lines.
As for what these lines truly meant, even to this day, she did not understand.
In the Nightmare, there was no sun or moon, no Heaven or Earth, no light or darkness. There was nothing, only chaos, endless chaos.
Su Hua drifted through the chaos like a lonely ghost.
Her consciousness was not blurred. On the contrary, it was very clear. She clearly remembered that after Gu Qingfeng annihilated the Immortal Dao's nine Purification Dragons and the Buddha Dao's five Wrathful Manifestations of the Ming Kings, the Primordial Gate opened, the Sacred Judgment descended, and then Gu Qingfeng summoned the Avatar of Ascending to Azure Heaven and Descending to Yellow Springs.
And then...
And then there was no 'and then'...
What happened afterward, Su Hua truly did not know.
Her memory ended there, and she entered this Nightmare.
"Do not forget! Must not forget! Never... ever forget!"
In the Nightmare, the voice sounded again.
"Do not believe in Karma, do not believe in Fate... and do not believe in them..."
"False, all false, all Illusion, everything is Illusion..."
Who was the voice in the Nightmare?
Su Hua did not know.
What was the meaning of these words? Su Hua knew even less.
What exactly was she not supposed to forget?
And why should she not believe in Karma and Fate...
All of it, Su Hua did not know.
Precisely because she did not know, she had reincarnated, searching for her own Karma.
Primordial Nameless had told her that only by finding her own Karma could she unlock the secret of the Nightmare.
Su Hua had found her Karma: it was Gu Qingfeng.
She could also faintly sense that to truly unlock the secret of the Nightmare, she must wait until the Daoless Mountain descends.
"The Curse..."
"We are all cursed... They are also cursed... All cursed by Karma, also cursed by Fate..."
"Our clansmen are... Their clansmen are also..."
"Do not believe in Karma, do not believe in Fate..."
"Never... ever..."
"Find that person. Only by finding that person might we completely shatter this Curse..."
"You must find that person!"