Gu Qingfeng did not beat around the bush. He went straight to the point: "Is my master Zhenjue still inside Shangqing Tower?"
"You're looking for Ancestor Zhenjue?"
Yun Wan asked cautiously, as if somewhat suspicious of Gu Qingfeng's identity. She asked warily, "You say you are the Nine Nethers Emperor. How am I to believe you?"
Recently, news of the Nine Nethers Emperor's death and return had spread throughout the myriad heavens and worlds, and Yun Wan had naturally heard of it. However, no one knew whether this Nine Nethers Emperor was real or fake, and Yun Wan was no exception. Even though she had seen the Nine Nethers Emperor back in the day at Shangqing Sect, that was all ten thousand years ago. Therefore, faced with Gu Qingfeng's sudden appearance, aside from shock, she harbored more doubts.
Yet Gu Qingfeng paid no heed. He merely glanced at Yun Wan, then inexplicably vanished, disappearing without a trace.
Yun Wan was both shocked and suspicious. She immediately searched throughout her cave abode but found no trace of Gu Qingfeng.
Where did he go?
Just as she was wondering, she suddenly noticed something amiss with Shangqing Tower.
Could it be...
Suppressing the shock in her heart, Yun Wan hurriedly entered Shangqing Tower. Sure enough, upon entering, she found Gu Qingfeng's figure.
First, he had silently infiltrated Shangqing Sect. Then, he had inexplicably appeared in her cave abode. And now, he could even enter Shangqing Tower at will?
It had to be known that Shangqing Tower was the supreme treasure guarding Shangqing Sect. Above, it could blot out the heavens and shake immortals and buddhas; below, it could penetrate the earth and awe demons and devils. Even masters of the Great Dao dared not act rashly in the face of Shangqing Tower. How could he silently enter and leave at will?
Could he truly be the Nine Nethers Emperor?
Yun Wan didn't know whether she should believe it.
She saw Gu Qingfeng standing silently within the tower for a long time. After much thought, Yun Wan spoke up, "If you really are the Nine Nethers Emperor, then I can tell you: Ancestor Zhenjue is not cultivating inside the tower."
After Gu Qingfeng entered Shangqing Tower, he had also realized his master was not inside. He asked indifferently, "When did my master leave?"
"Ancestor Zhenjue left after the Desolate Mountain descended back then."
"Where did he go?"
"I do not know."
Actually.
Even before Gu Qingfeng came to Shangqing Sect, he had already guessed that his master should have long since left Shangqing Sect.
Yes.
He knew.
He could also sense it.
The reason he still came to Shangqing Sect was perhaps to try his luck, or perhaps simply to see the place where his master had once lived in seclusion. That was all.
At this moment.
Gu Qingfeng stared at a wall inside the tower. Several large characters were inscribed upon it:
Heaven and Earth, Mysterious and Yellow; Universe, Vast and Desolate.
Cause and Fate, the Dao's Law is Natural.
All phenomena are illusory, like a dream or an illusion. Keep your true nature, do not forget your original heart.
Gu Qingfeng gazed at these two phrases for a long, long time before finally looking away.
As he turned to leave, Yun Wan's voice came: "Wait."
Gu Qingfeng stopped and glanced at her.
"You...
Are you truly the Nine Nethers Emperor?"
"What of it?"
"I..." Yun Wan was momentarily at a loss for words, unsure how to respond. Being stared at by Gu Qingfeng, she felt an inexplicable fear within. She said, "I just wanted to tell you that today's matter... I...
Will not speak of it to outsiders."
Gu Qingfeng shook his head slightly, as if smiling somewhat helplessly. Without a word, he directly departed.
Yun Wan, unwilling to let it go, chased after him.
He was not in the cave abode.
He was not in Shangqing Sect.
Gu Qingfeng had vanished just like that.
Vanished without a trace, as if he had never appeared.
Yun Wan didn't know why she had chased after him. Standing in the sky above Shangqing Sect, Yun Wan murmured, "Is he really the Nine Nethers Emperor?"
Perhaps.
Yun Wan truly did not know.
Back when the Desolate Mountain descended, although she had not been present, she had heard her master Ye Tianlan speak of what happened at Desolate Mountain. She also knew that Gu Qingfeng had ignited the Original Sin Karmic Fire back then and turned to ashes.
Yun Wan had once asked her master whether the Nine Nethers Emperor was truly dead.
Ye Tianlan had said the Nine Nethers Emperor might be dead, or he might not be.
Yun Wan asked why.
Ye Tianlan replied that because the Nine Nethers Emperor was the greatest variable, cause and effect could not be deduced, fate could not be determined. No one knew his past, no one knew his future. Everything about him was unknown.
And precisely because the Nine Nethers Emperor was the greatest variable.
When he became entangled in this vortex, it was already destined that the Heaven and Earth's Great Dao, the myriad living beings, this illusory Original Sin, this cause and fate, this past and future, and all other things would become murky and ambiguous because of his existence.
...
The sun set in the west, dusk approached sunset.
After leaving Shangqing Sect, Gu Qingfeng had been wandering nearby.
In his memory, there was a mountain near Shangqing Sect.
The mountain was named Changsheng Mountain.
On Changsheng Mountain, there was a Daoist temple named Changsheng Temple.
It was said that Changsheng Temple was an ancient relic. Some said it was a relic from the Ancient Era, others said from the Primordial Era, and still others claimed it was from the Desolate Era. Exactly which era Changsheng Temple belonged to, no one was clear.
People only knew that inside Changsheng Temple lived an old Daoist priest named Elder Daoist Changsheng.
Gu Qingfeng had visited Changsheng Temple twice before.
The first time was during his youth in the Ancient Era when he was cultivating at Shangqing Sect. Bullied by disciples of Shangqing Sect, he fled to Changsheng Temple.
The second time was in the Present Era, after returning to his hometown following his trial. Learning that Grandmaster was in seclusion at Changsheng Temple, he went there.
Gu Qingfeng thought that since he had come to Shangqing Sect, he might as well visit Changsheng Temple and pay respects to Elder Daoist Changsheng.
Only.
When he arrived at Changsheng Mountain and entered Changsheng Temple, he found the temple empty, with dust covering the entire place.
Changsheng Mountain was still that desolate Changsheng Mountain.
Changsheng Temple was also still that dilapidated Changsheng Temple.
Only Elder Daoist Changsheng, who had always lived in seclusion within Changsheng Temple, was long gone.
Changsheng Temple was not large. Gu Qingfeng wandered for a while and arrived at the backyard of Changsheng Temple.
The backyard was overgrown and desolate. Inside stood an ancient tree that had already withered. Beneath the ancient tree was piled with broken branches and dead leaves.
Gu Qingfeng waved a hand, and the broken branches and dead leaves all dissipated.
Two stone stools and one stone table beneath the ancient tree came into view.
On the stone table was an engraved chess game.
Gu Qingfeng walked over and looked at this chess game.
It was a Heaven and Earth Endgame.
Gu Qingfeng still clearly remembered that when he first barged into Changsheng Temple, he woke up having attained enlightenment. According to the old Daoist priest, it was because he had seen a Heaven and Earth Endgame and entered a state of Sudden Enlightenment.
The second time he came to Changsheng Temple, gazing at this Heaven and Earth Endgame, he attained Sudden Enlightenment once again.
This time, revisiting the old place and gazing at this Heaven and Earth Endgame, he entered Sudden Enlightenment yet again.
The difference was.
The first Sudden Enlightenment enlightened him to the Dao's Law being natural.
The second Sudden Enlightenment enlightened him to the truth that Buddha is originally Dao.
This time, during Sudden Enlightenment, Gu Qingfeng did not enlighten to anything at all.
However.
He shook his head and smiled, saying: "The Great Dao becomes emptiness, Heaven and Earth become emptiness, life and death become emptiness, cause and effect become emptiness. Nothing left to enlighten to, all four elements are empty."