Gu Qingfeng stayed at Yunxia Sect for two or three days. After settling all necessary matters, he departed directly.
As he had said, he intended to find a quiet place to enter seclusion seriously for a period of time.
Having decided to stake everything on this gamble, Gu Qingfeng would no longer muddle through each day as he had before.
Upon careful reflection, throughout his many years of cultivation, Gu Qingfeng had never truly entered seclusion seriously. Whether it was the mysterious and sinister fortunes he possessed in the past, his current Original Sin body, his illusory self, the myriad phenomena of all living beings paying homage, or even his own Avici Asura soul—all these chaotic existences—he had never made a serious effort to understand them.
His journey had always been one of going with the flow, letting fate take its course. He approached everything this way, be it karma, destiny, or fortune—never taking the initiative, never forcing things, yet never refusing either. He took one step at a time, watching as he went. As a result, he had lived until now knowing nothing about himself. He wasn't even sure of his own capabilities.
Gu Qingfeng contemplated that this time in seclusion, he must figure himself out.
At the very least, he needed to understand what the hell these mysterious fortunes on his body actually were.
Especially Original Sin—he had to understand it. He could no longer turn a blind eye and muddle through.
Jun Xuanji had said that to seek Original Sin, one must become Original Sin. And once one becomes Original Sin, there is no escape, because after becoming Original Sin, you are Original Sin. How can you escape from yourself?
To be honest, Gu Qingfeng wasn't worried about this problem, nor did he bother thinking about issues after becoming Original Sin.
The only thing he wanted to do now was become Original Sin. Only by becoming Original Sin could he understand it more clearly.
As for whether he could escape after becoming Original Sin...
Sorry.
Gu Qingfeng hadn't become Original Sin yet, so he wouldn't think about that problem.
Before entering seclusion, Gu Qingfeng had one more thing to do.
That was to go to the Thousand Machines Heavenly Domain to see Da Fuzi.
A few years ago, in the Forbidden Land of Yixiantian, he had met the Great Mad Monk. The Great Mad Monk said a Buddha Dao prophet had appeared in the Thousand Machines Heavenly Domain. Gu Qingfeng knew immediately that this Buddha Dao prophet was none other than Da Fuzi, who had taught him Buddhist doctrines.
Since leaving the Ancient World in the Primordial Era, Gu Qingfeng had never seen Da Fuzi again. When the Present Era began and Gu Qingfeng returned to the Ancient World, he learned that Da Fuzi had been living in seclusion at the Changsheng Temple of Shangqing Sect. Unfortunately, by the time he received this news, Da Fuzi had already left.
He had only left behind a string of Buddhist prayer beads for him.
It was also through that string of beads that Gu Qingfeng learned Da Fuzi's true identity was actually an incarnation of the Buddha Dao Ancestor, the Great Vow Dizang Wang.
That's right!
Precisely that Dizang Wang who vowed, "Until all beings are liberated, I shall not attain enlightenment; until hell is emptied, I vow not to become a Buddha."
Legend has it that in the very distant past, the Bodhisattva Dizang Wang, seeing all beings of the Great Dao deeply mired in evil karma, made a grand vow: throughout all future kalpas, for all sinful and suffering beings, he would extensively establish expedient means to enable their liberation.
Since then, the Bodhisattva Dizang Wang began cycle after cycle of reincarnation. Each cycle was a tribulation, each rebirth a hardship. He endured countless cycles, countless rebirths, countless tribulations, all to liberate all beings.
Upon learning that Da Fuzi was an incarnation of the Great Vow Dizang Wang, Gu Qingfeng was quite astonished, but it was only astonishment—he wasn't particularly surprised.
Because from the Buddhist doctrines Da Fuzi had taught him, Gu Qingfeng had long guessed that Da Fuzi's identity must be one of the ancestral figures of the Buddha Dao.
He just hadn't expected it to be the Great Vow Dizang Wang.
There was one more thing Gu Qingfeng found rather puzzling: why had Da Fuzi, this incarnation of Dizang Wang, sought him out after reincarnating to teach him Buddhist doctrines?
Was it to guide and transform him?
Perhaps.
The exact reason, Gu Qingfeng did not know.
The only thing he knew was that Da Fuzi had shown him great kindness. Without Da Fuzi teaching him Buddhist doctrines, he would never have been able to suppress his Avici Asura soul. Not only would he have failed to suppress it, but he might have long since become the incarnation of the Avici Asura.
Gu Qingfeng had many questions he wanted to ask Da Fuzi.
He had originally planned to go to the Thousand Machines Heavenly Domain to see Da Fuzi much earlier, but he had been delayed by all the events that occurred after arriving in Lingluo Heavenly Domain.
The Thousand Machines Heavenly Domain wasn't far from Lingluo Heavenly Domain, separated by only two heavenly domains. For Gu Qingfeng, this was no difficult matter.
The Great Desolation remained the vast, boundless Great Desolation.
Limitless, endless.
There was no sky above, no earth below.
No alternation of sun and moon, no signs of life whatsoever. Apart from boundless darkness, there was only endless silence, as if even time did not exist.
Looking out, only the myriad heavens and worlds hung like stars in the night sky, emitting faint glimmers—dense, countless, and innumerable. Occasionally, a few Profound Heaven ships would pass by, or flocks of spirit beast-drawn carriages would roar past.
Gu Qingfeng traveled alone, drinking wine as he wandered through the void. With each step, the void shifted as if he were shrinking the earth to an inch, the stars turning and shifting. In an instant, he would appear tens of thousands of miles away.
As he walked, suddenly, Gu Qingfeng seemed to sense something. His expression changed drastically. He halted immediately, turned around in an instant, and stared intently.
A streak of light in the void, like a meteor, tore through the dark, silent firmament, shooting straight toward him.
This streak of light seemed to contain vast, surging power and an indestructible force. It shot forward at extreme speed, piercing through layers of space and barriers, accompanied by a dragon-like roar and the sound of tearing wind.
Closer, ever closer.
That was not a streak of light!
It was an arrow—a crystal-clear, crystalline arrow, more like a Cun Mang Arrow.
As it shot forth, the surrounding void trembled violently.
Whoosh!
It arrived in the blink of an eye.
In that critical moment, Gu Qingfeng suddenly raised his hand and grabbed the arrowhead of this Cun Mang Arrow. At the same time—Boom! Crack!
A terrifying force erupted, shattering the surrounding space. Gu Qingfeng grunted, sent flying backward by the power contained within the Cun Mang Arrow.
"So...
the famed Nine Nethers Emperor is nothing more than this!"
Suddenly.
A cold, arrogant voice came from the Cun Mang Arrow.
Gu Qingfeng firmly gripped the arrowhead, his body still unable to stop its backward flight. He could tell this Cun Mang Arrow contained a trace of divine sense. He asked, "Who are you?"
"Ye!
Tian!
Xiong!"
"Never heard of you."
With that, Gu Qingfeng exerted force violently. Planting his toes, he leaned forward as if taking root in the ground, stopping in mid-air.
The Cun Mang Arrow, tightly gripped by Gu Qingfeng, was like a trapped azure dragon, erupting with dazzling radiance.
"It doesn't matter if you haven't heard of me now. You'll hear it often from now on, because from this day forward, the name Ye Tianxiong will be your eternal nightmare!"