"Who!
You say you're who?"
Upon hearing this, Da Xing the Mad Monk was as if struck by heavenly lightning, so shocked he even doubted his own hearing. Pointing at Gu Qingfeng, he shouted, "Say your name again!"
Gu Qingfeng chuckled and repeated, "Surname Gu, Dao title Chixiao, original name Tianlang, also known as Qingfeng."
If the previous moment felt like heavenly lightning to Da Xing the Mad Monk, then at this very instant, when Gu Qingfeng once again declared his name and Dao title, it felt like the heavens were collapsing and the earth rending for Da Xing. He could barely stand steady, feeling as if he had been hollowed out in an instant, falling from the air to the ground.
A long time passed before he finally snapped out of his profound shock. He leaped up again, flying to stand atop the Buddha statue's head, and stammered in astonishment, "You say...
you are...
you are that kid Gu Tianlang?"
"Who else?"
Da Xing the Mad Monk stared fixedly at Gu Qingfeng, unleashing his divine sense, opening his wisdom eye, scrutinizing Gu Qingfeng up and down. After another long while, he shook his head and said resolutely, "Impossible!
Kid Gu is dead. He died long ago, ten thousand years past. And back then, I was there, witnessed with my own eyes as Kid Gu ignited the Original Sin Karmic Fire and was utterly reduced to ashes, vanishing without a trace."
Da Xing the Mad Monk glared wide-eyed and shouted, "Even if Kid Gu comprehended the Great Nirvana Silence and transcended Life and Death, he still couldn't possibly die and come back to life, because what he ignited was the Original Sin Karmic Fire."
If others might not understand what Original Sin is, Da Xing the Mad Monk, being a Living Buddha between heaven and earth, naturally knew very well what Original Sin signified.
What is Original Sin?
Karma.
Igniting Original Sin is equivalent to igniting Karma.
What is Karma?
Life and Death are Karma, Nirvana Silence is also Karma, everything is Karma.
In other words, without Karma, there can no longer be Life and Death, nor can there be Nirvana Silence and rebirth.
Given this, how could Gu Qingfeng possibly still be alive?
Wait!
Da Xing the Mad Monk reconsidered and felt something was off.
If others ignited the Original Sin Karmic Fire, they might truly die.
But that didn't necessarily mean Kid Gu would definitely die.
Da Xing thought about it. Ever since he had known Gu Qingfeng, not a single thing that happened to this kid could be judged by common sense. Every last one of them was utterly extraordinary, beyond imagination, as mysterious as could be, as bizarre as could be, as inconceivable as could be.
The phenomenon of all living beings bowing in worship, the myriad phenomena paying homage—that went without saying.
The taboo of ascending to the highest heavens and descending to the Yellow Springs.
The taboo of the Avici Asura of the Uninterrupted Hell.
And so on, each one a miraculous taboo between heaven and earth.
This kid had even managed to comprehend the Four Great Buddhist Mental States, nearly achieving sainthood as an Original Sin incarnation.
Who dared say that igniting the Original Sin Karmic Fire would definitely reduce him to ashes?
No one dared.
Not even the ancestral founders of the Three Thousand Great Daos dared.
Truly dared not.
Back when Gu Qingfeng ignited the Original Sin Karmic Fire, Da Xing the Mad Monk had once asked his own master, also a founder of the Buddhist Dao. He clearly remembered that even his master dared not say whether Gu Qingfeng was truly dead.
He hadn't just asked his master; he had also asked Gengu Wuming.
Back then, Gengu Wuming had also shaken her head, indicating she did not know and could not be sure.
And whether it was the founder of the Buddhist Dao or Gengu Wuming, they both said Gu Qingfeng was a variable.
Being a variable meant his fate was undeterminable, his Karma unknowable, everything about him was unknown.
Thinking of this, when Da Xing the Mad Monk looked again at the mortal man standing atop the Buddha statue's head, he finally understood why he had found this fellow so familiar.
Even though he didn't know why this fellow, without cultivation or destiny, merely a mortal flesh-and-blood body, was still so powerful.
Or why he could remain unaffected by the Great Compassion, Great Mercy Life-and-Death Fan.
Yes.
He didn't know.
But for Da Xing the Mad Monk, this was no longer important.
Because this fellow was Gu Qingfeng.
Therefore, even without cultivation or destiny, merely a mortal flesh-and-blood body, he would definitely be this powerful.
And could definitely remain unaffected by the Great Compassion, Great Mercy Life-and-Death Fan.
As long as he was Gu Qingfeng, then anything was possible. Never mind being unaffected by the Great Compassion, Great Mercy Life-and-Death Fan; even if the heavenly and earthly primordials collapsed, the Three Thousand Great Daos crumbled, all living beings perished, and only Gu Qingfeng alone remained alive, Da Xing the Mad Monk would not have the slightest doubt.
"Kid Gu, it's really you!
You kid really came back to life, hahaha!
Wuwuwu..." After confirming that the person before him was indeed Gu Qingfeng, Da Xing the Mad Monk was so agitated he didn't know whether he was laughing or crying, his emotions particularly complex.
"Damn it!
I knew it was you, kid!
In all the heavens and earth, only you, kid, would dare confront me like this!
Damn it!
How in the world did you come back to life?
What you ignited was the Original Sin Karmic Fire, damn it! How on earth did you manage to come back? If even this can't kill you, who could possibly finish you off in the future? Is there any place left for reason!"
"No helping it, this master's life is just that tough!
You can't help but accept it!
Hahahaha—" Gu Qingfeng laughed heartily with pride.
After learning that the person before him was Gu Qingfeng, although Da Xing the Mad Monk was very excited inside, he wanted even more to know exactly how Gu Qingfeng had come back to life.
Regarding this question, Gu Qingfeng took a swig of wine, looked at him, and asked, "You want to know?"
"Yes!
Especially want to!"
"You want to know, but this master wants to know even more than you."
"What?"
Da Xing the Mad Monk was stunned and asked, "You don't know either?"
"Nonsense!
If this master knew, I probably wouldn't have come here."
Da Xing the Mad Monk didn't quite understand and asked, "What do you mean?"
Gu Qingfeng didn't beat around the bush either, saying, "This master inexplicably underwent Nirvana Silence rebirth in the Liusha Small Hidden Realm, recuperated outside for a few decades, and now I've come back to take a look, incidentally to figure out why I underwent Nirvana Silence rebirth in this little hidden realm."
"Wait!
You say you were reborn in the Liusha Small Hidden Realm?"
"What about it?"
"Impossible!"
"What's so impossible about that!"
"How could you be reborn in this small hidden realm?"
"What about it?"
Noticing Da Xing the Mad Monk's expression was somewhat strange, Gu Qingfeng grew curious and asked, "Why can't this master be reborn here?"
Da Xing the Mad Monk didn't speak further, as if pondering something.
"Da Xing, you were also present back when the Dao-less Mountain appeared, right? After this master ignited the Original Sin Karmic Fire back then, what exactly happened?"
"You don't know?"
"Nonsense!
This master was reduced to ashes back then, how could I possibly know."
"Oh right!
That's true."
"Don't you play dumb with me. What exactly happened back then? I heard something happened later in the Liusha Small Hidden Realm too, that Jun Xuanji and Gengu Wuming both came here. Since you, old bastard, are also here, you probably got involved in what happened back then, didn't you?"