"Well now, girl, being able to say such words shows you've truly grown up."
"How many times have I told you, don't call me 'girl'! Call me Immortal!
Immortal!
Immortal!"
"Alright, alright...
Immortal!
My lady, you are an Immortal, okay?"
Facing Qianniao's repeated corrections, Gu Qingfeng really didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "It's just a form of address, is it really that important to you?"
"Of course it's important! This Immortal is going to become a great figure renowned throughout the Great Desolate in the future. How can I let you keep calling me 'big girl'? If word gets out later, I'd have no face at all."
"A great figure renowned throughout the Great Desolate?
How great do you want to become?"
"How great?"
Qianniao tilted her head and thought for a moment. "Anyway, the bigger the better. You know the Empress Saintess is this Immortal's idol. In the future, I want to be like the Empress Saintess, enlightening all living beings and being revered by the world."
"Empress Saintess?
You mean...
Su Hua?"
"Obviously! Is there a second Empress Saintess in the Great Desolate?"
Hearing Qianniao mention Su Hua, Gu Qingfeng let out an "oh" and fell silent.
Since awakening, he had heard Qianniao mention Su Hua's name more than once. Learning that Su Hua was now a revered Empress Saintess made him very happy for her. Learning that Su Hua wandered the heavens and earth, enlightening all beings solely to wait for him filled Gu Qingfeng's heart with nothing but sighs.
Back then,
the only reason he told Su Hua to wait for him was because he didn't want her to follow him to her death, nothing more.
Because igniting the Original Sin Karmic Fire meant everything was unknown. Gu Qingfeng had no idea if he could survive at all. And Su Hua had said that if he died, she wouldn't live on alone. Therefore, Gu Qingfeng could only tell her to wait for him. In his mind, as long as Su Hua lived, that was enough. Time could wash away everything.
Gu Qingfeng never expected he would survive.
Even less did he expect that Su Hua would keep waiting for him, and for over ten thousand years at that, still waiting.
Gu Qingfeng had always viewed emotions lightly.
This awakening, he had seen through many things and comprehended many things, especially regarding karma and fate. He was no longer as lost and confused as before, but understood much more.
If it were before, learning that Su Hua had waited for him for ten thousand years, Gu Qingfeng would have been filled with guilt and would have sought her out regardless of everything.
But now,
perhaps because he had seen through it, or perhaps because he had broken through it, perhaps because he had comprehended it, or perhaps because he understood it, learning that Su Hua was still waiting for him stirred no special emotion in his heart. His heart was as still as water, without a ripple. He had no intention of seeking Su Hua out, nor would he deliberately avoid her. He would let everything follow its natural course.
So it was with emotions.
And so it was with karma and fate. Gu Qingfeng would no longer pursue them, nor would he deliberately avoid them. He would not force things, not take initiative, nor would he refuse. He would let everything follow its natural course.
"Hey, Little Drunkard, what are you thinking about, so lost in thought?"
"Nothing much."
Gu Qingfeng stood up and stretched. "Just feeling a bit sentimental."
"Sentimental?
Sentimental about what?
You, this guy, do nothing but eat and sleep, sleep and eat every day. What is there to be sentimental about?"
"So according to you, I don't even have the right to be sentimental?"
"I'm not saying you don't have the right to be sentimental. I just feel...
You, this guy, waste your time away every day. Don't you think that's meaningless?
Don't you think life is boring?"
"Not at all. I think it's quite meaningful, and I don't find it boring. Time is meant to be wasted, after all."
"You...
really...
you're hopeless! Like mud that can't be plastered on a wall!
Little Drunkard, let me ask you, don't you have any dreams?
Any aspirations?"
"I do!"
"What dreams?
Tell me."
"My dream is to waste time away, basking in the sun every day, sipping some wine. I think things are pretty good now."
"You!"
Qianniao pointed at Gu Qingfeng, her eyes filled with frustration at his lack of ambition, utterly speechless at him. She wanted to scold him harshly, but then thinking of Gu Qingfeng's strange physical condition, Qianniao couldn't help but console him: "Little Drunkard, I don't know what happened to you before that made your body so bad, but you can't just give up on yourself like this. I believe that as long as you don't give up, everything will get better!"
"Girl, I'm not giving up on myself. I genuinely think things are good now."
"Don't you want to cultivate?
Don't you want to become an Immortal?"
"No."
"You!
You really infuriate me!
I've never seen anyone as unambitious as you!"
Qianniao suppressed the anger in her heart and earnestly advised: "Although I can't experience your pain, I can definitely understand it. Listen to me, nothing is absolute in this world, everything is possible. Think back then, the trials You Di endured were much more painful than yours. Before he even became an Immortal, his cultivation base was crippled nine times. Yet You Di never gave up. Each time his cultivation was crippled, he stood up again, and later even ascended to the peerless throne of Immortal and Demon."
"During the Primordial Cataclysm, You Di's peerless throne of Immortal and Demon, and even his Nine Nethers Emperor's throne were taken away by Heaven. But so what? Didn't You Di stand up again, comprehending the ultimate of Humanity, receiving the worship of all living beings, and gathering the Six Forbidden Great Daos upon his person? With the Avici-Wicked Asura Soul and the Human incarnation reaching from the highest heavens to the Yellow Springs, he fought the Three Thousand Great Daos, fought Heaven and Earth until they cried out for mercy. If You Di back then hadn't been for the sake of Heaven and Earth, he would have long since achieved Sagehood."
"Look at You Di, then look at you. Back then, You Di was besieged by the Three Thousand Great Daos, suppressed by Heaven and Earth, and even Karma and Fate wouldn't let him go. Even so, You Di never gave up. Now you, with just a slightly decayed body—it's not like you're doomed never to cultivate again—and you're already giving up on yourself. Isn't that too spineless?"
Gu Qingfeng shook his head, able only to smile bitterly. "Girl, listen less to these unreliable stories in the future. They're all fabricated nonsense meant to fool people. That so-called You Di wasn't unwilling to give up. On the contrary, he very much wanted to give up. The key point is, giving up wouldn't have helped anyway. Heaven, Earth, and the Great Dao still wouldn't have let him go."
"What do you mean fabricated nonsense and unreliable?
You, this guy, don't understand, so don't talk nonsense!"
"Alright, alright, my lady, I don't understand, okay?"
"Of course! The trials You Di endured back then are beyond our imagination. It's not as simple as you make it sound."
Gu Qingfeng didn't want to say too much on this topic and only sighed. "Big girl, everyone has their own aspirations; there's no need to force them. Some cultivate for wealth and glory, some for fame and prestige, others to live a better life, some want to become gods or sages. And my wish since childhood has been to live freely and unrestrained, just like now, basking in the sun, sleeping. It's good. This kind of life might seem simple to you, but to me, it's a great luxury."