"What melody would the Great Lord like to hear?"
Qingqing walked to a table. As she raised her hand, a flowing light shimmered, and a guqin with an antique elegance appeared on the table.
"Anything is fine. This master isn't too picky, I can listen to anything."
Gu Qingfeng reclined on the chair, one leg propped up on the table, enjoying Lixin Xianzi's massage. He picked up a small cup of wine and smiled, "How about this? Play the one you're best at, let's have a listen."
"The one I'm best at?"
Qingqing pondered for a moment, then gave a slight bow. "This junior will show her poor skills. If the performance is lacking, I beg the Great Lord to offer some guidance."
With that, she raised her hand and touched the strings.
The moment the notes sounded, it was as if the vast, boundless, dark, and deathly silent Great Desolate itself was stirred. This was truly the case, not an exaggeration in the slightest.
It wasn't because Qingqing's melody was particularly profound, but because the Great Desolate was simply too desolate. Therefore, when the music began, the silent Great Desolate seemed to suddenly come alive, giving one a feeling of vibrant vitality.
Gu Qingfeng had heard this piece Qingqing was playing before. If he remembered correctly, its name should be 'Inquiry of the Dao'. In his memory, it was created by a remarkable woman from the Ancient Era—one who, in the end, cultivated herself into a state of demonic obsession.
It was said this remarkable woman endured three calamities, six hardships, and nine tribulations, undergoing successive reincarnations as an Immortal, Buddha, human, demon, ghost, and other various Great Dao paths, all in pursuit of the True Essence of the Great Dao. Unfortunately, the more she cultivated, the more lost and bewildered she became. In the end, not only did she fail to grasp the True Essence of the Great Dao, but she fell into demonic obsession, her heart succumbed to madness, and her consciousness was lost…
Thus, later came this soul-stirring Ancient 'Inquiry of the Dao'.
Gu Qingfeng had listened to this famous Ancient 'Inquiry of the Dao' before, and not just once. But at the time, he hadn't felt anything particularly special about it.
Listening to it again now, the sentiments in his heart were many.
Thinking about it carefully, this piece truly resembled his current situation. The present Gu Qingfeng also felt more lost and bewildered the more he cultivated. As for what the True Essence of the Great Dao was, he couldn't articulate it either. Each time he thought he had touched it, only upon truly reaching it did he realize it wasn't the so-called True Essence of the Great Dao at all—it was merely what he himself had presumed it to be.
Although he had comprehended the Great Nirvana, the Great Freedom, the Great Compassion, and the Great Illusion.
He had transcended Life and Death, transcended the Mortal World, transcended All Sentient Beings, and transcended even the Great Dao itself. If he wished, he could even see through all the truths, falsehoods, and illusions between heaven and earth.
But in reality?
It wasn't so.
The Life and Death he transcended was merely the so-called Life and Death.
The Mortal World he transcended was merely the so-called Mortal World.
The All Sentient Beings and the Great Dao he transcended were also merely the so-called All Sentient Beings and the so-called Great Dao.
The so-called Life and Death, the so-called Mortal World, the so-called Great Dao—they were all nothing but a kind of so-called order, a kind of so-called law. And whether order or law, they were merely rules established by the ancestors. They were not the true Life and Death, nor the true Great Dao.
What is Life and Death? And what is the Great Dao?
What is the Mortal World?
What are All Sentient Beings?
What is truth and falsehood?
What is illusion?
To be honest.
Gu Qingfeng truly did not know.
He felt that this path of cultivation had no conceivable end. You cross one mountain, and another lies behind it. You cross that mountain, and yet another awaits you. No one knows how many mountains there are on the path of cultivation; it feels endless.
Fortunately.
Gu Qingfeng was not one to obsess over details. He was not only grateful to be a lazy person but also grateful that he did not possess a heart stubbornly dedicated to pursuing the Great Dao. Otherwise, after cultivating all these years, transcending this and transcending that, only to discover in the end that the so-called transcendence was utterly meaningless, and moreover, feeling as if one was regressing the more one lived, becoming more lost, more bewildered, and more ignorant the further one cultivated…
If that were truly the case, Gu Qingfeng reckoned he would have long been lost. Even if not lost, he would certainly have fallen into demonic obsession or collapsed entirely.
Now.
Gu Qingfeng had long since come to terms with it.
The True Essence of the Great Dao could belong to whoever it wished.
The beings between heaven and earth could belong to whoever they wished.
He couldn't be bothered to worry about such matters.
Now, he lived one day at a time, took one step and looked at the next. When the day came he could no longer live or walk, he would simply find a place to end it himself. That way, at least he would have lived with carefree, with joy, and would not have lived in vain, nor made this journey through the world for nothing.
As Gu Qingfeng listened to Qingqing play the Ancient 'Inquiry of the Dao', he raised his cup and drank it down in one go, unable to suppress a sigh of emotion: "Upon first hearing, one knows not the meaning within the melody; upon hearing it again, one is already a person within the song."
Here.
Qingqing was playing.
Gu Qingfeng was sighing.
Lixin Xianzi was massaging.
And on the other side.
When the notes from Qingqing's guqin sounded, the several thousand people on the dozens of surrounding Xuantian great ships all emerged from their cabins almost simultaneously. After all, the purpose of their coming here was to follow Upper Immortal Qingqing. If they could listen to a melody played by Upper Immortal Qingqing, this trip would naturally not be in vain.
However.
At this moment, most of the people gathered around had neither the inclination nor the mood to appreciate the music played by Upper Immortal Qingqing. This was especially true for Mo Baiyu, Fu Ying, Yun Zhou, Mu Feng, and others. When they saw Gu Qingfeng leisurely reclining in the chair, Lixin Xianzi massaging him, and Upper Immortal Qingqing standing opposite, clearly playing the guqin for Gu Qingfeng alone, they simply couldn't believe their eyes.
It wasn't that they didn't know the Lingyu Sword nurtured by Upper Immortal Qingqing was a rare and precious Immortal weapon.
Nor was it that they couldn't understand Lixin Xianzi and Upper Immortal Qingqing inviting Gu Qingfeng aboard to drink together as an expression of their heartfelt gratitude.
Yes.
They knew.
And they could completely understand.
However.
What they couldn't comprehend was this: even if the Lingyu Sword was extraordinary, and even if Lixin Xianzi and Upper Immortal Qingqing were immensely grateful, inviting this fellow aboard to drink, setting out a table of delicacies, even presenting three ten-thousand-year Vermilion Fruits, and further agreeing to let this fellow state any condition he wished…
Wasn't that already going above and beyond, fulfilling all righteousness?
Didn't that already give this fellow immense face—face so immense it couldn't be any more immense?
So why was Upper Immortal Qingqing now specially playing music for this fellow alone?
And Lixin Xianzi went even further—she was actually…
Actually massaging this fellow?
Heavens!
Was this still the Lixin Xianzi renowned for her prestige as an Ancient Immortal, captivating an entire region?
Was this still Upper Immortal Qingqing, famed throughout the Great Desolate, bestowed with the peerless title by the decree of the Nine Heavens?
Was she still the direct disciple of the Floating Life Emperor Monarch?
Was she still a member of the Seventy-Two Blessed Lands' Changsheng Pavilion?
If this matter spread, where would the dignity of the Floating Life Emperor Monarch lie?
Where would the face of Changsheng Pavilion be?