Upon hearing that the mysterious man brought back from the Flowing Sands Minor Secret Realm ten years ago had inexplicably come back to life, the people of Xiaoluo Secret Realm found it hard to believe.
Even when they came to the stone cave and personally witnessed Gu Qingfeng standing there alive and well, everyone still felt it was utterly inconceivable.
Especially Xuehuan.
For the past ten years, she had been tirelessly treating Gu Qingfeng. Although she had made no progress or gains over the decade, she understood better than anyone just how chaotic and terrible the strange state of Gu Qingfeng’s Physical Body was.
In her mind, Gu Qingfeng should have been dead long ago. After all, his Acupoints, Meridians, Five Viscera and Six Bowels—his entire body—had all ‘rusted.’ The reason his Physical Body remained uncorrupted was likely due to mutation from the harsh environment of the Flowing Sands Minor Secret Realm. Even though there was still a faint trace of Life Breath, it was bound to extinguish sooner or later.
She never imagined that Gu Qingfeng could actually revive. To her, this was completely impossible, yet this impossible thing had indeed happened. If she hadn’t repeatedly confirmed the presence of Life Breath on Gu Qingfeng, Xuehuan would have thought it was a zombie resurrecting.
Just what was going on?
Not only did Xuehuan not know, even Danqing Laozu, who had cultivated for tens of thousands of years, wore an expression of shock.
They tried to ask, hoping to learn something from Gu Qingfeng’s mouth.
Alas.
Gu Qingfeng knew nothing of the three questions.
He neither knew his own name, nor his background and origins, nor where he came from or where he was going.
Since Gu Qingfeng had just awakened and his Physical Body was extremely weak, Danqing Laozu and the others dared not press further. They decided to let Gu Qingfeng rest and recuperate peacefully for a while.
As for Gu Qingfeng, he simply pretended to be an amnesiac and stayed on in Xiaoluo Secret Realm. Day after day, he did nothing but bask in the sun and sleep. Day followed day, year followed year, and in the blink of an eye, several more years passed.
Over those years,
Gu Qingfeng went from struggling to even walk at the beginning to gradually being able to hop and skip about. After all, he had slept for ten thousand years; being able to recover to this extent in just a few short years already satisfied him. Although he was still very weak, Gu Qingfeng was already accustomed to this. Before his slumber, during the five hundred years he cultivated, he had spent more than half that time in a state of weakness, having long forgotten what it felt like to be refreshed and vigorous.
As for his Physical Body, it remained the same as before.
It was still chaotic and terrible.
Whether it was his Meridians and Acupoints or his Five Viscera and Six Bowels, they all seemed as if they had decayed after countless ages.
If asked what his Physical Body had now become, Gu Qingfeng himself did not know. In his mind, it was probably due to igniting the Karmic Fire of Original Sin.
As for whether he was still the Incarnation of Original Sin, or whether he still had the Blood of Original Sin within him, Gu Qingfeng didn’t know either. Ever since awakening, he hadn’t sensed it. Not only could he not sense Original Sin, he couldn’t even sense the Human Ancestor Incarnation he had achieved earlier, the one who could reach the highest heavens and the deepest hells. He couldn’t sense his Avici’s Evil Asura Soul either, nor even the Silent Extinction Bone Jade…
Waking up felt as if everything had vanished.
Only, Gu Qingfeng didn’t know whether this disappearance was temporary, something he simply couldn’t sense for now, or whether everything had truly been burned away by the Karmic Fire of Original Sin…
Gu Qingfeng didn’t know.
Nor did he bother thinking about this question.
Whether it was temporarily beyond his senses or had been incinerated by the Karmic Fire of Original Sin, Gu Qingfeng didn’t care, nor did he mind.
After this awakening, he had finally lived thoroughly, seeing through everything.
Before, he might have wanted to know who he was, where he came from, and where he was going.
Now, he no longer wanted to.
Whoever he loved being, he was. Wherever he loved coming from, he came from. Wherever he loved going, he went.
What is Karma? What is Fate? What is Original Sin?
If I treat you as Karma, then you are Karma. If I don’t treat you as Karma, then you are not Karma.
If I treat you as Fate, then you are Fate. If I don’t treat you as Fate, then you are not Fate.
If I treat you as Original Sin, then you are Original Sin. If I don’t treat you as Original Sin, then you are not Original Sin.
Gu Qingfeng had finally attained enlightenment.
Having attained enlightenment, nothing mattered anymore.
In his youth, he saw mountains as mountains, saw waters as waters.
In his time as Monarch, he saw mountains not as mountains, saw waters not as waters.
In his time as the Nether Emperor, he saw mountains still as mountains, saw waters still as waters.
In his time as Original Sin, he saw mountains like waters yet like mountains, saw waters like mountains yet like waters.
And now, he saw mountains as waters yet also as mountains, saw waters as mountains yet also as waters.
Though the difference was but a single word, it represented an infinite distinction.
In his time as Original Sin, he was lost. Now, he was clear.
Time flowed on, and another five years passed.
Over these five years, the people of Xiaoluo Secret Realm had grown accustomed to his presence. In their leisure time, they would even sit down and chat with him.
During these five years, a major event occurred in Xiaoluo Secret Realm: Danqing Laozu recommended Qianling to become the Lord of Xiaoluo, to preside over Xiaoluo Secret Realm.
Qianling was the most outstanding among the many descendants of Xiaoluo Secret Realm, unparalleled in terms of innate talent, destiny, and mental state. Born with an Innate Dao Body, she achieved Golden Immortal cultivation at fifteen, and to this day was already a Grand Luo Golden Immortal.
The existence of a Golden Immortal could at most be considered an Indestructible Body.
But a Grand Luo Golden Immortal was nearly an Immortal, Undying Body.
Upon stepping into Grand Luo Golden Immortal, every move and technique contained the might of Grand Luo. Grand Luo Immortal Arts and Supernatural Abilities were ever-changing, containing boundless mysteries, far beyond what a Golden Immortal could compare to—the two were fundamentally different.
Most importantly, Qianling also possessed two Great Destinies: one was the Water-Moon Incarnation, the other was the Minor Thousand Mountains. Both of these Great Destinies were immensely powerful, to the extent that even Danqing Laozu, who had cultivated for tens of thousands of years, could not hope to match them.
Therefore, Qianling becoming the Lord of Xiaoluo and presiding over Xiaoluo Secret Realm could be said to be the expectation of all.
Moreover, everyone knew that the current situation in the Great Desolate was extremely chaotic. Even if Xiaoluo Secret Realm remained Non-Contending, it could not avoid conflict altogether. Since it was unavoidable, naturally they could not just sit and wait for death.
Although Danqing Laozu had long cultivated to Grand Luo Golden Immortal, possessing an ageless, undying body, the old master had, after all, cultivated within Xiaoluo Secret Realm for a very long time. Throughout the ten thousand years of the Present-Ancient Era, he had rarely ventured out, neither understanding the situation in the Great Desolate well nor retaining the heart and spirit for conquest.
Thus, at this time, Xiaoluo Secret Realm needed someone like Qianling, capable of standing alone in the outside world, to lead everyone to survive in this chaotic Great Desolate.
If asked who was happiest about Qianling becoming the Lord of Xiaoluo?
Naturally, it was Qianniao.
Because after Qianling became the Lord of Xiaoluo, she spoke up to the Ancestral Patriarch, pleading for Qianniao’s ban to be lifted. Since Qianling spoke, the Ancestral Patriarch had no choice but to agree.
How could Qianniao not be overjoyed?
Ever since the ban was lifted, Qianniao had been following Qianling around, busy outside. After Qianling assumed the role of Lord of Xiaoluo, although the people of Xiaoluo Secret Realm still conducted themselves with low profile and made concessions everywhere when outside, they would no longer make concessions without bottom line like before. At the very least, they would not swallow humiliation and accept injustice as they once did!