Gu Qingfeng was an orphan, having been alone and destitute since childhood, with neither father nor mother.
Although he bantered casually with Huode without regard for seniority, in his heart, he had always regarded Huode as his closest family.
If Huode was in trouble, he would absolutely not stand idly by.
Now, Huode's self-awareness had inexplicably vanished, and the consciousness of his previous life had suddenly emerged. Since this was the first time encountering such a situation, Gu Qingfeng didn't know how to resolve it for the moment. Most importantly, the consciousness of Huode's previous life was still insane and frenzied, unable to communicate normally, darting around like a headless fly in the vast expanse of the Great Wasteland.
Gu Qingfeng could only follow closely behind, pondering a solution as he went.
To speak of it, Huode's previous life was truly a handful. Whenever he encountered a world, he would dive right in, go on a rampage inside, then dart out again. Then he'd bump into another world, dive in again, go on another rampage, and dart out once more.
And so, Gu Qingfeng trailed behind Huode's previous life, scurrying through one world after another.
If it were just following behind Huode's previous life, it wouldn't be a big deal. The key issue was that this old fellow was insane, and his Ancient Power was exceptionally formidable. He didn't know restraint; wherever he passed, not a blade of grass was left standing. When he encountered mountains, they collapsed; when he encountered land, it split; when he encountered seas, they surged in terror. He destroyed whatever he came across, and who knew how many living beings were annihilated to ashes because of him.
Fortunately, this old fellow was fast enough, vanishing in a flash. Otherwise, running amok like a madman inside others' worlds, who knows how many would be hunting him down by now.
Initially, Gu Qingfeng tried to clean up the mess behind him. But seeing Huode's previous life rampaging endlessly, he grew tired of mopping up. So he simply decided to suppress Huode's previous life outright.
Don't mention it.
The abilities of Huode's previous life were far greater than Huode's own. Not only was his Ancient Power vast and boundless, but he also wielded various ancient divine arts as if they were second nature, executing them with such mastery that his strength was undeniably formidable.
It was only because he ran into Gu Qingfeng. If it were anyone else, forget suppressing Huode's previous life; whether they could even survive under his hands was an unknown.
Even Gu Qingfeng, in his current state, dared not underestimate Huode's previous life when they clashed. Yet, in the end, he still failed to suppress him.
It wasn't that Gu Qingfeng lacked the capability. Truth be told, although the current Gu Qingfeng had no cultivation base or any destiny, and was extremely weak, his physical body had grown so strong that even he himself didn't know its exact limits. In his current state, he didn't need any cultivation or destiny at all; a casual wave of his hand was enough to rival any powerful divine art.
Moreover, nowadays, even without taking action, a mere thought from him contained terrifyingly potent spiritual power.
If he were truly determined, suppressing Huode's previous life would be no problem at all.
Alas.
Huode's previous life was insane and his consciousness was muddled. Even if suppressed, this old fellow showed no sign of stopping, struggling and resisting frantically. Gu Qingfeng was genuinely worried that the old fellow might harm himself in the process. What if he ended up annihilating his own physical body to ashes? Then, even if Huode's consciousness were restored, the old fellow would become a wandering ghost without a body.
In the end, having no other choice, Gu Qingfeng simply opened up a spatial pocket and tossed Huode's previous life inside, letting him wreak havoc on his own.
Having accompanied Huode's previous life on this chaotic journey for so long, Gu Qingfeng was thoroughly exhausted. Seizing this opportunity, he rested, sipped some wine, and observed Huode's previous life.
The old fellow's mouth was still spewing insane ramblings. One moment he'd say everything was dead, the next he'd say nothing had died. Then he'd babble about the past, then about the future. He also muttered that life was death, death was life; truth was falsehood, falsehood was truth; the past was the future, and that the previous life was the present life, and so on—a complete mess that gave Gu Qingfeng a headache.
Gu Qingfeng had long transcended life and death, seen through worldly matters, and moved beyond truth and falsehood. In his view, life was death, death was life; truth was falsehood, falsehood was truth. These statements weren't wrong; he believed so himself.
The so-called life and death, the so-called truth and falsehood—they were nothing but elusive rules, mere appearances.
It was like humans and ghosts. To humans, ghosts were dead, but to ghosts, they were alive, merely with a different form of existence. One could even say that in the eyes of ghosts, they were the living ones, while humans were the dead.
As for truth and falsehood, that was even more elusive than life and death. What was true? What was false?
If many people called a genuine thing false, then it became false. The true turned into the false.
If many people called a false thing true, then it became true. The false turned into the true.
The simplest example: what the naked eye saw was completely different from what Divine Sense perceived.
The naked eye saw appearances, while Divine Sense probed the essence.
In other words, the naked eye observed the physical body, while Divine Sense explored the soul.
Was the appearance of the physical body false? Or was the essence of the soul false?
This was a question probably no one could answer clearly.
What puzzled Gu Qingfeng were the two issues Huode's previous life kept muttering about: "the previous life is the present life" and "the past is the future." He truly couldn't wrap his head around them, especially since Huode's previous life mentioned that the concepts of previous life/present life and past/future were related to the Wu Dao Age.
Huode's previous life repeated these phrases over and over. Gu Qingfeng pondered that he must be lost, lost in whether the Wu Dao Age belonged to the past or the future.
Actually, Gu Qingfeng had also thought about this question.
Previously, he believed the Wu Dao Age should belong to the past. Otherwise, where did people like Jun Xuanji from the Wu Dao Age come from?
Later, as he experienced more events and delved into the Original Sin, he began to suspect whether the Wu Dao Age belonged to the future. Because why would the Book of Fate record prophecies of the Present-Ancient Era? "When the Original Sin finds its True Lord, the Great Dao will fall, the Present-Ancient will end, heaven and earth will be reborn, and the Wu Dao Age will begin..."
But if the Wu Dao Age belonged to the future, then what about people like Jun Xuanji from that era?
Could it be they traveled back from the future?
Even if people like Jun Xuanji from the Wu Dao Age all traveled back from the future, what about the Wu Dao Mountain that represented the Wu Dao Age? It had manifested before, and Gu Qingfeng had personally visited it. Could even that thing have traveled back from the future?
The key was the Original Sin Blood. That thing was tangible; Gu Qingfeng had personally fused with it, including the Illusory Self. He was certain that both the Original Sin Blood and the Illusory Self belonged to the Wu Dao Age and to Venerable Wu Dao.
Could it be said that one day in the future, Venerable Wu Dao vanished, leaving behind the Original Sin Blood and the Illusory Self, which were then fused by his past self?
If that were truly the case, wouldn't it mean time flowed backward?
That made no sense at all.
So, whether the Wu Dao Age was the past or the future, Gu Qingfeng didn't know.
He couldn't be bothered to dwell on such a damned question. It was incomprehensible and a waste of mental energy. He'd rather spend that time enjoying a sip of wine—much more carefree.