The incarnations of the Heavenly Dao Venerable and the Earthly Dao Venerable vanished.
The incarnations of the Endless Venerables also vanished.
The source incarnations of the Three Thousand Great Daos vanished as well.
Only Jun Xuanji, Yun Nishang, and Canyang Wuyou continued to ceaselessly kill Gu Qingfeng.
Yet it was merely killing, nothing more.
No matter how they killed him, or in what manner, they could never truly kill Gu Qingfeng.
"Kill me...
Why won't you strike!
Kill me!"
Jun Xuanji slaughtered like a madwoman.
However,
she did not seem intent on killing Gu Qingfeng, but rather more like she wished to be killed by him.
"I've said it, I will not kill you!
Not in the past, not now, not in the future, never!"
Gu Qingfeng raised his hand and struck out with a palm, suppressing Jun Xuanji and the others.
Jun Xuanji sought death.
Canyang Wuyou also sought death.
Yun Nishang likewise sought death.
Yet,
they were not the only ones seeking death; Gu Qingfeng too was seeking death.
He lifted his head, gazed at Genggu Wuming, pointed a finger and shouted: "Genggu Wuming!
Why won't you strike!
Strike and kill me!
Killing me will end all of this!
Kill me!"
Genggu Wuming looked at him, his expression unreadable as he said: "I cannot kill you, nor can I end any of this!"
"Then I will kill you!"
Genggu Wuming responded: "You!
May!
Try!"
"Hahahaha!
Well said, 'you may try'!
Truly well said!
Hahahaha!"
Gu Qingfeng laughed uproariously, his laughter especially maniacal!
After his laughter subsided, he looked again at Wu Dao Mountain.
It was a mountain resembling a mysterious tortoise, a mysterious snake, or even the Black Tortoise. The tortoise seemed like a grave, the snake upon its back like a tombstone, and upon that tombstone stood a person, a person entirely wrapped in white cloth.
"Didn't you come to kill me too?
Why won't you strike either!"
Gu Qingfeng demanded sharply.
The mysterious figure wrapped entirely in white cloth did not respond; the eyes revealed merely stared at Gu Qingfeng.
"Strike and kill me!"
Gu Qingfeng roared in fury, leaping into the air as he shouted: "Or else I'll slaughter you!"
As his words fell, Gu Qingfeng threw a punch. With a *bang*, it struck the person wrapped in white cloth. The figure did not dodge, did not evade, nor did it retaliate, simply enduring Gu Qingfeng's punch squarely.
"Kill me!"
*Bang!*
Another punch!
"Kill me!"
*Bang!*
*Bang!*
*Bang!*
Gu Qingfeng did not know how many punches he threw. The person wrapped in white cloth simply stood there, enduring them, uttering not a word, the white cloth stained red with blood by Gu Qingfeng's blows, becoming twisted and blurred!
"Hahahaha!"
Gu Qingfeng did not strike again. Instead, he laughed uproariously, pointing at that person as he laughed: "I know who you are. You are not me at all!
You did not come to kill me; you came seeking death!
Hahahaha!
To think even you would come seeking death!
Hahahaha!"
"Hahahaha—" Gu Qingfeng stood upon the tombstone of Wu Dao Mountain, laughing wildly up at the sky.
He laughed with solitary pride, laughed with overwhelming dominance, laughed with fearlessness, laughed without dread, laughed with untrammeled freedom, laughed with unrestrained abandon.
He laughed away the wandering years of his youth at Chiyan Ridge, laughed away his initial entry into Yunxia Sect, laughed away the Great Northwest, laughed away the entire world, laughed away every place he had been in over five hundred years, every person he had met, every period of time he had passed through, every life-and-death experience he had undergone, and laughed away even more the five hundred-plus years of towering peaks, emptiness, confusion, and hesitation.
No one knew how long he laughed.
Finally, the laughter ceased.
He still stood upon the tombstone of Wu Dao Mountain. The radiance of Original Sin surrounding him enveloped the entire World of Wu Dao; the mist of Original Sin permeated the entire World of Wu Dao; the power of Original Sin even held dominion over this World of Wu Dao.
His head was tilted back, his eyes closed, standing with hands clasped behind his back.
His snow-white robes had long since turned to blood-soaked garments, the sleeves fluttering wildly within the radiance of Original Sin.
His ink-black long hair had long since turned white, the strands dancing madly within the mist of Original Sin.
His solitary form had long since become ethereal, his silhouette swaying violently within the power of Original Sin.
Again, no one knew how much time passed.
Gu Qingfeng let out a deep, long sigh.
No one knew what exactly he was sighing about.
He opened those blood-red eyes, his gaze sweeping over Genggu Wuming, Cang Yan, and the others one by one, then looked at the long-vanished incarnations of the Great Dao, shook his head, and sighed once more.
Still, no one knew what he was sighing about.
He looked again at Jun Xuanji, at Yun Nishang, at Canyang Wuyou, at the person wrapped entirely in white cloth, and released another long sigh.
Similarly, no one knew what exactly he was sighing about.
Only after these three long sighs did he speak lightly, as if it were nothing: "Is there anyone who can kill me?
If so, step forward quickly. Kill me now. As long as you kill me, all of this can end."
No one responded.
Because no one could kill him.
"My flesh, my soul, my destiny, everything about me has become Original Sin. Now, only a sliver of consciousness remains, barely holding on. But it's merely holding on; it won't last much longer. While I'm still relatively clear-headed, I'll ask once more: Is there anyone, anyone at all, who can kill me? If so, strike now."
"Time is running out. My self-awareness cannot hold on much longer either. Once my self-awareness succumbs, I will no longer be me, but the true incarnation of Original Sin. When that time comes, once this Wu Dao Mountain is opened, the Great Dao will collapse, Heaven and Earth will cycle, and the Age of Wu Dao will commence...
Is there no one?"
Still, no one responded.
"Since there is no one, then forget it...
Later, when I open Wu Dao Mountain, don't blame me. I wholeheartedly seek death; I too wish to end all of this. But if you cannot kill me, what can I do?
I am helpless; I am in despair..." "Don't expect me to strike and kill myself. Believe me, if it were possible, I would have done it long ago. It's not that I cannot kill myself. I am fully capable of killing myself; I have the confidence and the certainty. But that certainty is only for killing myself. The problem now is that my existence is no longer merely myself; it is also an incarnation of Original Sin. I am certain I can kill myself, but I am not certain I can kill the incarnation of Original Sin."
"You cannot kill me as the incarnation of Original Sin; I myself cannot kill myself as the incarnation of Original Sin either. What then?
Who can tell me what to do?"
Gu Qingfeng looked at Genggu Wuming and said: "Aren't you famed for knowing everything under heaven and earth?
Can't you think of a method?
How about... banishing me to Guixu?"
Genggu Wuming shook his head and said: "Guixu has long since collapsed."
"Collapsed, has it...
Then just find any place and seal me away first?"
Genggu Wuming shook his head again and said: "Sealing Original Sin is futile. I cannot seal you as the incarnation of Original Sin either."
"Cannot be killed, cannot be sealed...
Then you can only watch helplessly as I become the incarnation of Original Sin, open Wu Dao Mountain, and bring about the descent of the Age of Wu Dao..."