Upon hearing 'Karmic Flower,' Gu Qingfeng was dumbfounded.
The Karmic Flower was a legend.
And an extremely ancient one at that.
In the legend, Karma was not without trace, and Fate was not immutable.
If one could gestate a Karmic Flower, they could deduce their past and future based on their own Karma, thereby changing their Fate.
But gestating a Karmic Flower was no simple matter. It required an immense price and unimaginable suffering.
It was said that only after enduring countless cycles of Reincarnation, countless rebirths, and countless Karmic tribulations, until one touched the Other Shore, could a Karmic Flower be gestated.
Thus, the Karmic Flower was also known as the Flower of Life, Death, and the Other Shore.
Of course.
Legends were just legends.
No one knew if they were true.
Even if someone believed the legend was real, they might not necessarily attempt to gestate such a Karmic Flower.
Putting everything else aside, just the countless cycles of Reincarnation, countless rebirths, and countless Karmic tribulations were enough to deter anyone.
Exactly how many cycles of Reincarnation, how many rebirths, and how many tribulations were required? No one knew.
It was an unknown number.
Perhaps three cycles of Reincarnation, or nine, eighteen, thirty-six, eighty-one, and so on.
No one knew.
It was only known that one must touch the Other Shore and achieve perfection before a Karmic Flower could be gestated.
And one cycle of Reincarnation, while defined as from the beginning of life to its end—who knew how many years, how many epochs, that beginning to end might be?
Perhaps a hundred years, perhaps a thousand, perhaps ten thousand, or even longer.
Moreover, each cycle of Reincarnation required enduring Karmic tribulations. Who knew what Karmic tribulation awaited them?
That wasn't important.
What was important was that even if one finally truly touched the Other Shore, achieved perfection, and gestated a Karmic Flower, who knew if they could definitely change their Karma?
No one knew.
After all, legends were just legends.
Their truth or falsehood remained unknown.
Just like the legend of the Daoless Age, which claimed that only by severing Karma could one become a God.
Over so many years, countless great powers had attempted to sever their Karma, but who had succeeded?
No one. It was only heard that those who tried to sever their own Karma ultimately fell into the bitter sea and were lost...
Gu Qingfeng had originally thought that the so-called Flower of Life, Death, and the Other Shore was merely an ancient legend. He also believed that even if the legend of the Karmic Flower were true, no one would be foolish enough to willingly endure countless cycles of Reincarnation and countless tribulations to gestate a so-called Karmic Flower.
It wasn't until he heard Man Tu Fan say that the Joyful Union Flower he had snatched back then was her Karmic Flower that Gu Qingfeng realized this ancient legend was not only true, but someone really had been foolish enough to gestate a so-called Karmic Flower.
What made it even more unbelievable to him was that the Karmic Flower Man Tu Fan had gestated had been snatched by him, and not just snatched, but refined.
This...
Gu Qingfeng stood there stunned, unable to regain his senses for a long time.
Although he was no good man.
He had done plenty of deeds like robbing homes, killing, burning, looting, and plundering in this lifetime.
But when he learned that the Joyful Union Flower he had snatched back then was Man Tu Fan's Karmic Flower, he still felt deeply uncomfortable inside, and somewhat guilty.
After all, that was Man Tu Fan's Karmic Flower, gestated after who knew how many cycles of Reincarnation and who knew how many tribulations.
And he had just refined it like that.
This was even more painful than killing her countless times.
"Tell me!
What will you use to compensate me!
You can't possibly compensate me!"
Man Tu Fan roared in furious despair, unable to endure it any longer. In an instant, a grayish-white radiance shot into the sky, a powerful aura erupted, and vast demonic energy surged forth. Gu Qingfeng immediately fell into a mysterious, bizarre, and terrifying mental world.
"Bastard!
Die!"
The space of the mental world twisted and transformed, each twist containing infinite power, each transformation containing endless profundity. Infinite power and profundity madly besieged Gu Qingfeng's mental avatar.
In this world, this space, Man Tu Fan was the master.
This was her mental domain. She was passing Judgment on Gu Qingfeng.
Mad mental power twisted, the mad world-space passed Judgment.
Gu Qingfeng merely stood there, unmoving. Not only did he not move, he did not even raise a hand to resist, simply allowing Man Tu Fan, as master of this world-space, to use its mental power to pass Judgment upon him.
One, ten, a hundred, a thousand...
Ten thousand...
Within her own mental domain, Man Tu Fan unleashed who knew how many Judgments, each more frenzied than the last, yet she still could not erase Gu Qingfeng.
No matter how frenzied or powerful the Judgments Man Tu Fan unleashed, Gu Qingfeng's mental avatar simply stood there. Though it appeared very weak, this seemingly frail and feeble mental avatar was like indestructible diamond, like something undying and imperishable.
Perhaps realizing she fundamentally could not shake Gu Qingfeng's mental avatar.
Finally.
Man Tu Fan ceased her Judgment.
Following that.
Her mental domain gradually dissipated.
The two reappeared amidst the mountain ruins of the illusory realm.
Gu Qingfeng still stood as before.
Man Tu Fan, however, had collapsed to the ground, utterly dispirited. It wasn't due to mental exhaustion or depletion of strength, but a kind of despair. Nor was it despair from being unable to shake Gu Qingfeng; it was despair because Gu Qingfeng had refined her Karmic Flower.
Within the scene.
Gu Qingfeng remained silent.
Just as Man Tu Fan had said, he fundamentally could not compensate her for that Flower of Life, Death, and the Other Shore.
"Heh heh..." For some reason, Man Tu Fan began to laugh bitterly again and again. This bitter laughter contained immeasurable helplessness, immeasurable pain, and also immeasurable anger, immeasurable disappointment.
"It's destined...
Everything is destined. Fate is fundamentally irreversible, Karma cannot be changed. Everything, everything, is just futile effort. Karma cannot be severed, nor can it be buried. In the end, disordered Karma only becomes more disordered the more one tries to sever it. Disordered Karma is ultimately disordered Karma. Cursed Karma is ultimately cursed Karma. Original Sin Karma is ultimately Original Sin Karma. Even if I shed my Karma, I cannot shed Original Sin..." "It's destined...
Everything, everything, was already destined long ago..." Man Tu Fan muttered to herself, murmured. Her expression no longer held anger, no longer helplessness, no longer pain, no longer disappointment.
There was only despair. Endless despair.
"I accept my Fate...
I accept it. I should have accepted it long ago. Even you, after igniting the Original Sin Karmic Fire, could not shed Original Sin Karma. Even if I buried my own Karmic Flower, I probably still couldn't shed Original Sin Karma, heh heh...
I accept my Fate, truly accept it...
And can only accept it, isn't that right?"
Looking at Man Tu Fan here, Gu Qingfeng felt quite complex inside.