Gu Qingfeng stood up, walked out of the pavilion, and came to the edge of the floating island. He poured the remaining wine in his cup down below and said, "If you all hadn't rescued me back then, I might still be lying in that so-called Flowing Sand Little World. After waking up, I freeloaded and mooched in the Xiaoluo Secret Realm for decades... everyone treated me quite well..." Before Gu Qingfeng could finish, Qiānlíng said, "We didn't save you for money."
"Nonsense! When you rescued me, I didn't have a single piece of clothing on my body. Even if you wanted money, I didn't have any."
"How can you be like this..."
"No choice, that's just how I am. Take this bit of money and help me buy some little trinkets for everyone. Consider it a token of my appreciation."
"We won't accept your things."
"Whether you accept or not is your business. Whether I buy or not is mine. Besides, you are just you; you don't represent everyone."
Qiānlíng found herself completely unable to communicate with Gu Qingfeng. His words were too abrasive. Somewhat angry, she said, "If you want to buy, buy them yourself."
"If I knew what to buy, I wouldn't need your help. Isn't it precisely because I don't know what to buy? You know better than anyone what each person in the Xiaoluo Secret Realm needs. No one else can handle this matter; only you can do it properly. As a favor, for the sake of me guiding you in comprehending the Heavenly Profound Ten Thousand Swords Art, help me out, alright?"
Qiānlíng's small mouth opened and closed slightly. The words reached her lips but stopped there. Looking at the jade token worth five billion in her hand, she seemed to realize something and asked, "You... don't plan to return to the Xiaoluo Secret Realm with us?"
"Originally, if you hadn't come looking for me today, I would have planned to find you in a few days. This time I've come out, I reckon I won't be going back with you."
Qiānlíng asked anxiously, "If you don't return with us, where can you go?"
"Don't know. I'll see when the time comes."
"But... but... what about Qiānniǎo? All these years, she has long regarded you as family and has grown dependent on you. If you just leave without a word, Qiānniǎo will go crazy."
"That's precisely why I'm looking for you."
"I can't do it. You know Qiānniǎo's temperament. If you leave without saying goodbye, she will definitely search for you recklessly, no matter the cost. I'm certain she will."
"Don't worry, I won't run off anytime soon. I reckon I'll play around in the Fengyue Small World for a while. Even if I really do leave, I'll make proper arrangements for Qiānniǎo."
"But..." After saying 'but,' Qiānlíng didn't know how to continue.
"Alright, it's getting late. I'm a bit tired."
Gu Qingfeng stretched and yawned, saying, "I need to go back and sleep. You should go rest too. After waking up, we can all go have some fun, find some amusement."
Watching Gu Qingfeng's departing figure, Qiānlíng mustered her courage and asked, "I won't ask what you were before, but... can I know your name?"
"I have many names, so let's not mention them. But I only have one surname. My surname is Gu, the Gu of 'since time immemorial.'"
"His surname is Gu, the Gu of 'since time immemorial'..." Qiānlíng watched Gu Qingfeng walk further and further away, murmuring as if lost in thought.
...
After returning to the Firecloud Grand Chariot, Gu Qingfeng went straight to his bedroom to rest.
For some reason, he had recently been feeling something unusual about his Physical Body. It felt as if his body, which had been slumbering for ten thousand years, was about to awaken.
It truly felt that way.
He carefully sensed the changes in his body.
He discovered that his interior was still filled with countless impurities, tightly shrouding his acupoints, meridians, bones and sinews, and even his internal organs.
These impurities were extremely turbid. Gu Qingfeng guessed they might be residues left after igniting the Original Sin karma fire.
However,
what puzzled him was that previously, his Bloodline had also been tightly clogged by this kind of turbid impurity, and the blood within had long dried up, leaving only some dried bloodstains inside the Bloodline. But recently, these dried bloodstains seemed to have received some kind of nourishment, showing signs of revival.
Like a long drought meeting sweet rain, a bit of turbid blood had actually seeped out from the dried-up Bloodline.
What was going on?
Could it be that drinking some Rolling Blade Burn, eating the Bitter Bodhi fruit, and taking some Great Luo Meridian-Cleansing Pills had actually taken effect?
No!
That wasn't it.
Gu Qingfeng guessed it was probably because, after awakening, he had recuperated in the Xiaoluo Secret Realm for decades. The Spiritual Energy in the Xiaoluo Secret Realm was relatively pure and abundant. Even though he had never actively absorbed it, with every breath he took, he still inhaled quite a bit of Spiritual Energy.
Could it be that receiving a little nourishment from Spiritual Energy caused the dried-up Bloodline, like a long drought meeting sweet rain, to begin reviving?
That shouldn't be the case.
The tiny amount of Spiritual Energy from mere breathing was completely negligible.
It also shouldn't be possible to nourish a dried-up Bloodline, right?
Suddenly,
Gu Qingfeng remembered that when he was in the gambling city, he had drunk over four hundred pots of Bitao wine. That stuff could be considered a great tonic; otherwise, one pot wouldn't sell for over thirty thousand Immortal Stones.
He reckoned it was probably due to the nourishment from those over four hundred pots of Bitao wine that his dried-up Bloodline was gradually beginning to revive.
Gu Qingfeng originally wanted to try absorbing some Spiritual Energy to see if that was the case.
But after a moment's thought, he gave up.
After this awakening, he only wanted to eat, drink, and enjoy himself. He really couldn't be bothered to cultivate anymore, nor to stir up trouble.
And there was an even more important reason: Gu Qingfeng couldn't be sure that if his Physical Body awakened, would other things awaken along with it?
For example, the incarnation that traversed the highest heavens and the deepest hells?
For example, the soul of the Evil Asura from the Avici Hell?
What worried him most was whether the Original Sin would revive.
Whether that thing had truly dissipated or not, Gu Qingfeng wasn't entirely sure either.
If the Original Sin had really dissipated, but after his Physical Body revived, the Original Sin revived along with it, then all this effort would have been for nothing. After all, Gu Qingfeng's body was now filled with countless turbid impurities, and these turbid impurities were most likely produced after igniting the Original Sin karma fire. Who knew if, after the Physical Body revived, these turbid impurities would turn into Original Sin.
Furthermore,
even if the incarnation that traversed the highest heavens and the deepest hells, the soul of the Evil Asura from the Avici Hell, and the Original Sin didn't revive along with the Physical Body,
that still wouldn't stop other messy Fortune from coming knocking.
Fortune can come knocking on its own?
Correct.
For others, this might be an inconceivable thing.
But for Gu Qingfeng, it wasn't the first or second time he had encountered some inexplicable Fortune coming knocking.
After the ancient cataclysm, after the throne and imperial seal were seized, Gu Qingfeng could be said to have nothing left. Yet he just casually laid a foundation, and then...
The Mother of Nature forcibly bestowed upon him an endlessly regenerating Fortune, and there was also the Dao Heart that inexplicably fell from the sky—that was absolutely Fortune that came knocking.
Later, the ancient taboo that took the sun and moon as its eyes and the void as its body, didn't that also come knocking on its own?
Gu Qingfeng ultimately embarking on a path of no return might be related to his own personality, but it was undeniable that there were messy Karmic Fate messing around behind the scenes.
Therefore, Gu Qingfeng had learned to be smarter this time: if he could avoid cultivating, he would avoid it. As long as he didn't cultivate and didn't get involved with any great Daos, those messy Fortune wouldn't come knocking either.
As for everything else, let it be as it may.
Without thinking further, Gu Qingfeng lay down and fell asleep.