"That sounds good. But before we go, there's one more thing I'd like to inquire about."
"What else does the Worthy One wish to know?"
"Ten thousand years ago, when this Small Hidden Realm first manifested, quite a few people from outside must have barged in, right?"
Seeing Guntong nod, Gu Qingfeng asked further, "Do you know what became of them?"
"When this Small Hidden Realm manifested back then, it was as if the heavens collapsed and the earth split open inside. Many demons, monsters, ghosts, and goblins perished. Those Immortals who forced their way in from outside were no exception—most of them died."
"And the minority?"
Gu Qingfeng said, "From what I know, some should still be alive."
"Indeed, back then, a small number of people fled into the One-Line-Sky Forbidden Land to escape the disaster. Whether they are alive or dead now, no one knows."
"One-Line-Sky Forbidden Land?"
"It's an ancient Ruins, extremely perilous. Over all these years, almost no one who has entered has ever come out. That's why we all call it the One-Line-Sky Forbidden Land."
"Oh? Something so sinister exists?" Gu Qingfeng rubbed his chin and asked, "An ancient Ruins? How ancient? From what era?"
"This humble one does not know."
"Is that so..." Gu Qingfeng pondered for a moment, then said, "Do you know where this Ruins is located?"
"I do."
"Then I'll trouble you to take me there."
"This... Worthy One, that Ruins is extremely dangerous. Even those secluded seniors within the Small Hidden Realm dare not rashly enter. You see..."
"It's fine. I know what I'm doing."
"This... Alright."
Guntong gave some instructions at Black-Scale Mountain, then led Gu Qingfeng towards the One-Line-Sky Ruins. Zijin and Ziqing had been waiting in the grand carriage at the foot of the mountain. Upon hearing that Gu Qingfeng had found a lead on their master, they were very excited and deeply grateful to him.
One had to say, Guntong truly lived up to being an old monster who had cultivated in the Liúshā Small Hidden Realm for tens of thousands of years. As he led the way ahead, the other little monsters they encountered not only didn't block their path but actually made way for them.
Clearly, Guntong commanded great respect here. Whether their minds were enlightened or not, all demons held him in esteem.
Sitting on the chair at the front of the grand carriage, Gu Qingfeng chuckled, "You carry quite some weight around here."
"The Worthy One jests. This humble one merely teaches them some cultivation methods in my spare time, trying my best to help them enlighten their minds. Only with enlightened minds can demons gradually learn to restrain their innate nature, which also reduces some of the slaughter."
Gu Qingfeng nodded in agreement.
Before their minds are enlightened, Demons do possess self-awareness, but this awareness is dominated by their innate nature. They have no concept of good or evil, nor morality. Being bloodthirsty and cruel is a normal thing for them. Once their minds are enlightened, with increased experience, they are no longer as ignorant as before. They might still not understand what good, evil, or morality are, but at least they come to understand gratitude, respect, and fear.
Actually, in Gu Qingfeng's eyes, Demons, Humans, Immortals, and even Demons were not fundamentally different.
Some Demons might be innately cruel, but that was just their nature. Compared to those Immortals who spouted benevolence and morality on the surface but were sinister at heart, the innate cruelty of Demons was truly nothing.
To be honest, having cultivated for over five hundred years and dealt with all manner of Great Daos, the friends Gu Qingfeng made were either Demons or Demons. As for Immortals, he looked down on them from the bottom of his heart. It wasn't because he had been besieged by the Immortal Dao back in the day, but because those Immortals were simply too hypocritical. They loved to stand on the moral high ground at every turn, often using the names of eradicating Demons, defending the Dao, and ridding the people of harm to carry out shameless deeds.
Gu Qingfeng detested such hypocrites the most.
"I heard the Monster Dao has split from the Immortal Dao. Do you know about this?"
"This... This humble one has heard some rumors."
"Over all these years, hasn't the Monster Dao sent any envoys over to inform you all?"
The Immortal Dao liked to establish immortal dynasties throughout the myriad realms, teaching all beings to cultivate immortality. This way, they could monopolize the resources of the small worlds, the number of Immortals would increase, and the Immortal Dao would grow stronger.
Of course, besides the Immortal Dao, the Monster Dao also engaged in such practices. While the Immortal Dao established immortal dynasties throughout the myriad realms, the Monster Dao would establish demon mountains and the like, gathering Demons together to teach them. With more Demons, the Monster Dao would also grow stronger.
Now that the Monster Dao had split from the Immortal Dao, Gu Qingfeng reckoned the Monster Dao should also send envoys to teach and enlighten the Demons here whose minds were still unenlightened, preparing for the eventual war with the Immortal Dao.
"Not yet. There aren't many Demons in our Small Hidden Realm."
"Not many, but certainly not few either, right? Like your Black-Scale Demon Mountain, how many are there here?"
"Several hundred."
"With several hundred demon mountains, that's not considered many? Each demon mountain must have at least tens of thousands of Demons, right? And each mountain should have one or two old monsters like you? If you gathered them all, it would absolutely be a powerful demon army. Even if it couldn't shake the Immortal Dao, occupying a celestial domain in the Great Wasteland would be quite easy."
Hearing Gu Qingfeng's words, Guntong's face changed drastically in fright. He hurriedly explained, "The Worthy One must not misunderstand! We absolutely have no such intention! And although there are several hundred demon mountains here, they do not coexist peacefully. Fights and killings happen frequently between them. How could they possibly unite to occupy a celestial domain? No, no, absolutely not."
"Hahaha! What are you afraid of? I'm not an Immortal, and I won't go reporting to the Immortal Dao or anything. Besides, if you all occupied an Immortal Dao celestial domain, I'd be clapping and cheering, not complaining."
"Regardless of whether the Worthy One is an Immortal or not, we will not occupy any Immortal Dao celestial domains. The reason this humble one chose to leave the Great Wasteland back then and come to this Small Hidden Realm was precisely to distance myself from the conflicts of the Great Daos."
"Leave the Great Wasteland? Distance yourself from the conflicts of the Great Daos?"
Gu Qingfeng smiled and shook his head. "The myriad realms are all within this heaven, earth, and Great Wasteland. How can you truly leave? And distancing yourself from the conflicts of the Great Daos? You yourself are within the Monster Dao, so how can you distance yourself from these conflicts? Taking a step back, even if you could distance yourself from conflicts between the Great Daos, you couldn't distance yourself from conflicts between living beings. Humans fight Humans, Immortals fight Immortals, Demons fight Demons. Where there are living beings, there will be conflict. This has been true since ancient times. You can't distance yourself from it. No one can."
Perhaps because Gu Qingfeng's words struck a chord within him, Guntong suddenly stopped walking. He glanced at Gu Qingfeng, then let out a long, heavy sigh—a sigh that seemed to exhaust all the helplessness in his heart.
Indeed, just as Gu Qingfeng said, back when he left the Great Wasteland and came to this Small Hidden Realm, he had wanted to distance himself from conflict. Although the Liúshā Small Hidden Realm had vanished from the Great Wasteland for nearly ten thousand years and had indeed distanced itself from conflicts between the Great Daos, within the Hidden Realm itself, conflicts and fights between Demons had never ceased. Not to mention conflicts between Demons of different tribes, even Demons of the same tribe, sharing the same bloodline, were constantly fighting.
It was simply impossible to escape. There was no escaping it.