However, when traveling to more distant places, such as to another Heavenly Domain, one could no longer rely on spirit beast-drawn grand carriages.
Because within the Great Desolate, each Heavenly Domain was terrifyingly vast, and even the distance between two adjacent Heavenly Domains was immense.
After all, spirit beast-drawn carriages were ultimately pulled by spirit beasts. No matter how powerful a spirit beast was, it could not endure long journeys of constant travel and exertion.
Therefore, to reach another Heavenly Domain, one had to travel aboard a Xuantian Great Vessel.
The so-called Xuantian Great Vessel was, in fact, a magical artifact.
What set it apart from ordinary magical artifacts was this: crafting a single Xuantian Great Vessel required countless resources, innumerable formations, and the labor of countless people over countless years.
It was easy to imagine just how astronomically expensive a Xuantian Great Vessel was.
Typically, any major Immortal Realm with ancient heritage possessed its own Xuantian Vessel, as it was essential for large-scale expeditions of its disciples, whether for training or for travel.
This vessel could not only accommodate many people, but its navigation through the Great Desolate relied on profound formations. In other words, as long as there were sufficient spirit stones to maintain the normal operation of its formations, the Xuantian Great Vessel could sail continuously without end.
Most importantly, almost every Xuantian Great Vessel was equipped with countless defensive formations of various kinds. This meant that even if dangers were encountered in the Great Desolate, there was no need to live in fear.
In the Ancient Era, spiritual energy was sparse and resources were scarce. Those powerful Immortal Realms, in order to seize cultivation resources, would directly sail their Xuantian Great Vessels over to attack—and not just one vessel, but entire fleets would come sweeping in with overwhelming force. They would plunder and pillage, seizing the resources of one Immortal Realm before moving on to the next, continuing until they had looted every Immortal Realm across an entire Heavenly Domain.
In the Modern Era, spiritual energy was abundant, all things flourished, and resources were especially plentiful. Although conflicts over resources still occurred daily, and clashes between Immortal Realms were not unheard of, compared to the large-scale wars of the Ancient Era, the skirmishes between the major Immortal Realms of the Modern Era were truly insignificant.
Speaking of which, the stable development of the myriad realms within the Great Desolate in the Modern Era truly owed thanks to the Immortal Dao.
In the Ancient Era, the silence of the Heavenly Dao left the Three Thousand Great Daos leaderless. The Great Daos fought fiercely amongst themselves, plunging the entire Great Desolate, and even the myriad realms, into chaos.
In the Modern Era, although the Heavenly Dao remained silent, fortunately, the Immortal Dao held an absolute advantage, leading the charge and ascending to the pinnacle as the foremost among the Great Daos. After dominating the heavens and earth of the Great Desolate, it re-established order. It not only established Immortal Mansions across the major Heavenly Domains but also founded Immortal Dynasties throughout the myriad realms. To this day, whether in the major Heavenly Domains or across the myriad realms, the number of Immortals likely far exceeded the combined numbers of all beings from the demonic, ghostly, and monstrous paths.
It was also thanks to the order established by the Immortal Dao that the Great Desolate enjoyed such a stable environment. Nowadays, the Xuantian Great Vessels sailing through the Great Desolate might include those carrying disciples from certain Immortal Realms on large-scale training expeditions, but more often, they were merchant ships and passenger vessels belonging to various trade realms, shuttling between the Heavenly Domains.
Gu Qingfeng strolled alone through the void of the Great Desolate.
He didn't know how much time had passed. He only knew that after traversing the Mist Spirit Heavenly Domain, he had passed through four more Heavenly Domains in succession before he truly grew weary of running.
Crossing five Heavenly Domains in a row had thoroughly exhausted Gu Qingfeng.
This exhaustion was not just physical and mental; his spirit was weary too.
Although he had transcended the Great Dao and merged with heaven and earth, with each step covering at least a hundred and eight thousand li, each Heavenly Domain was no small place. While they might not span billions of li, tens of thousands of li was certainly possible.
But that wasn't the important part.
The important part was that Gu Qingfeng had only recently awakened after slumbering for ten thousand years. Although he had recuperated for several decades and his physical body had gradually begun to recover, it was still in the early stages of recovery. Both his body and spirit remained very weak.
Of course, that wasn't too critical either.
What was even more important was that Gu Qingfeng, having journeyed alone through the Great Desolate for so long, felt utterly bored and unbearably dull.
Coupled with his inherently lazy nature, for someone who would absolutely sit if he could avoid standing, and absolutely lie down if he could avoid sitting, crossing five Heavenly Domains in a row was already quite an achievement.
If it weren't for his desire to see Da Fuzi, to whom he owed a debt of rebirth, Gu Qingfeng would never have put himself through such torment, even if beaten to death.
"It seems I may have recuperated for too long. After all these years of rest, I'm practically becoming useless..." Gu Qingfeng sighed with emotion.
Recalling the past, when his very existence was intolerable to heaven and earth, and he was jointly hunted by the Three Thousand Great Daos, even while severely wounded, he could traverse dozens, even hundreds of Heavenly Domains without feeling tired. Now, uninjured but merely weakened, crossing just five Heavenly Domains left him feeling utterly spent.
Gu Qingfeng pondered carefully. Since the Ancient Cataclysm and his nirvanic rebirth in the mortal world, he had spent most of his time recuperating. Perhaps life had been too comfortable all these years, leading to a certain despondency of will.
Now, even if Gu Qingfeng wanted to exert himself, he felt a sense of powerlessness.
His abilities today might be far greater than in the past.
But after all these years of turmoil, he had long lost the arrogant, domineering, heaven-defying spirit of his youth.
After comprehending the Four Great Mental States and achieving transcendence, the more Gu Qingfeng perceived of the heavens, earth, Great Dao, and all living beings, the more tranquil his heart became. Many things he had seen through, he now regarded with indifference.
Especially after his recent profound enlightenment within the Original Sin Nightmare of the Illusory Land, where he emerged from self-delusion and inwardly accepted his Original Sin body and his Illusory Self, even the two words 'sentiment' and 'loyalty,' which Gu Qingfeng had always cared about most, were gradually fading in importance.
Not only that, but after this enlightenment, Gu Qingfeng felt as if everything—whether people or events—was slowly becoming distorted, blurred, and ethereal in his memory, as if fading away.
He even felt too lazy now to try and rid himself of Original Sin.
No!
It wasn't that he was too lazy to break free.
Nor was it that he couldn't break free.
And it certainly wasn't resignation to fate.
Rather...
He no longer cared whether he was an Original Sin body or an Illusory Self. He didn't even care whether he would become the True Lord of Original Sin or the True Self of Illusion.
He truly didn't care, and it truly didn't matter.
Everything was like this.
Gu Qingfeng did not like this version of himself.
Nor did he want to become such a person.
Yet, against his wishes, he had ultimately become someone he didn't like.
Gu Qingfeng mused that if this continued, he wouldn't be far from truly achieving the 'Four Great Emptinesses.' By then, becoming a Buddha wouldn't be an issue, nor would becoming a Sage.
But...
Was this what he wanted?
He didn't know.
Gu Qingfeng didn't even know what he wanted anymore.
Suddenly, he discovered another serious problem. Having after much effort emerged from self-delusion into enlightenment, he had now fallen into another kind of confusion.
Previously, he was confused because he couldn't recognize his true self. But now, having recognized himself, he no longer knew what he wanted.