"The Great Desolate Magnates secretly cultivate Sons of Original Sin for the purpose of seizing the Three Great Opportunities, and also..." The Black Pig Monster King was cut off mid-sentence. Gu Qingfeng asked in confusion, "What the hell are these 'Three Great Opportunities' you're talking about?"
"Lord Gu, you don't know about the Three Great Opportunities?
Don't kid me."
Gu Qingfeng sighed helplessly. "I truly don't know what the Three Great Opportunities are. I've never even heard of them. You tell me, what exactly are they?"
"The Desolate Ancient Era is one great opportunity. Original Sin is another great opportunity. The Wu Dao Age is the third great opportunity."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
Gu Qingfeng let out a wry chuckle. He had thought the Black Pig Monster King's 'Three Great Opportunities' would be something more specific. Turned out he was simply referring to the Desolate Ancient Era, the True Lord of Original Sin, and the mystery of the Wu Dao Age.
Come to think of it, though, the demon king wasn't entirely wrong.
The Wu Dao Age was the most mysterious era between heaven and earth, burying all the secrets of creation: the origin of the Great Dao, its true essence, its profound mysteries, and even legends of becoming gods or saints.
Whoever could take a step ahead into the Wu Dao Age would gain an advantage.
That indeed was a great opportunity.
Legend, as recorded in the Book of Destiny, stated that when Original Sin found its true master, the Great Dao would fall, the Present Era would end, heaven and earth would be reborn, and the Wu Dao Age would begin...
This meant whoever became the True Lord of Original Sin could open the Wu Dao Age.
How does one become the True Lord of Original Sin?
No one knew.
The only known fact was that to become the True Lord, one must be a person of Original Sin—what the Black Pig Monster King called a Son of Original Sin.
Seizing Original Sin was, in itself, seizing an opportunity.
Even if one ultimately failed to become the True Lord, they would at least be able to enter the Wu Dao Age ahead of ordinary people.
That was another great opportunity.
Gu Qingfeng had once heard Da Xing the Mad Monk say that the Desolate Ancient Era was not merely an era following the end of the Wu Dao Age, but one intricately linked to it. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call the Desolate Ancient Era an extension of the Wu Dao Age.
One thing Da Xing had said left a deep impression on him: the intricate connection between the Desolate Ancient Era and the Wu Dao Age was none other than Original Sin.
It was Original Sin that connected the Desolate Ancient Era to the Wu Dao Age. It was because of Original Sin that the Desolate Ancient Era became the continuation of the Wu Dao Age.
In other words,
if the Wu Dao Age buried the origin, essence, and mysteries of the Great Dao, then the Desolate Ancient Era likely buried the origin, essence, and mysteries of Original Sin.
These were the so-called Three Great Opportunities.
To seize the opportunity of the Wu Dao Age, one must be the True Lord of Original Sin.
To seize the opportunity of becoming the True Lord of Original Sin, one must rely on the Desolate Ancient Era.
The existence of Original Sin acted as a bridge connecting the Wu Dao Age and the Desolate Ancient Era.
Currently, the Wu Dao Age remained elusive.
However,
the Desolate Ancient Era was already faintly visible.
Only by entering the Desolate Ancient Era could one find the bridge of Original Sin. Only by crossing that bridge could one find the Wu Dao Age.
When it came to the Great Desolate Magnates, the Black Pig Monster King couldn't be more contemptuous. He cursed viciously, "Those Great Desolate Magnates are the height of hypocrisy! On one hand, they secretly cultivate Sons of Original Sin; on the other, they spread rumors throughout the Myriad Heavens, claiming the Book of Destiny says the True Lord of Original Sin will bring calamity upon all living beings and destroy heaven and earth."
"So despicable! So sinister!
Utterly shameless!"
With a cold snort, the Black Pig Monster King said scornfully, "Their purpose is to make the other people of Original Sin targets of public outrage. Every person of Original Sin who dies is one less competitor. Thus, they move one step closer to becoming the True Lord. Over the years, countless people of Original Sin have been harmed or killed because of the rumors they spread."
Gu Qingfeng nodded. He had deep personal experience with this.
Precisely because of his identity as a person of Original Sin, he had faced endless troubles over the years, constantly provoking public outrage. This was true in the Mortal World, and even more so in the Great Desolate.
And it wasn't just him.
The Black Pig Monster King was also one of the victims. Back then, he had submitted to the Nine Heavens and become the Domain Lord of Lingluo Sky Realm entirely to repay a favor to Genggu Wuming.
After his act of seizing a person of Original Sin to refine Acquired Original Sin was exposed, he was not only judged by the Nine Heavens but also jointly hunted by the Great Desolate Magnates. If Genggu Wuming hadn't secretly saved his life, the Black Pig Monster King wouldn't have survived to this day.
His agreement back then to go to Lingluo Sky Realm as Domain Lord was partly to repay the favor and partly to hide his identity and live incognito.
The Black Pig Monster King grew more animated as he spoke, especially when mentioning the Great Desolate Magnates. His teeth ground with hatred, his anger palpable even between his teeth, as if he wished he could slaughter every last one of them.
Indeed.
He was born in the Ancient Era.
Back then, he was just an ordinary pig demon, nothing special.
Later, relying on being ruthless, vicious, despicable, and shameless, he gradually made a name for himself in the demonic path. He gathered a horde of demon followers, and at the height of his power, he occupied a secret realm with over a million followers.
But at his peak, he accidentally killed a dozen disciples of Great Desolate Magnates who were out training. And then...
The secret realm he occupied was slaughtered by the Great Desolate Magnates. Millions of his followers died or were injured in countless numbers. The Black Pig Monster King was also wounded and forced to flee, going into seclusion to heal.
This seclusion directly caused him to miss the opportunity of the Heavenly Mandate Throne in the following era.
Fortunately,
the Black Pig Monster King didn't give up. He made a comeback and, relying on his own skills, forcefully seized a Great Dao Throne Mandate from a demonic family.
Although he seized the throne, it also meant he could no longer operate in his old demonic territory.
Firstly, the demonic family he robbed had a powerful background he couldn't afford to provoke. Secondly, his reputation for being despicable, sinister, murderous, and a plunderer had spread throughout the demonic path, tarnishing his name.
With no other choice, he could only go to the territories of the Great Desolate's immortal path to continue his operations.
Relying on his Great Dao Throne Mandate, the Black Pig Monster King flourished in the Great Desolate, robbing magical treasures one day, seizing fortunes the next. Because his entire sect had been annihilated by the Great Desolate Magnates in the Ancient Era, he specifically targeted the disciples of the Great Desolate Magnates.
The result was predictable.
He was wanted by the Great Desolate Magnates, making it impossible for him to gain a foothold in the Great Desolate. He was forced to follow Gu Qingfeng to venture into the Nine Nethers.
After enduring until the Present Era, although he didn't seize any Heavenly Mandate opportunities, he at least managed to seize a person of Original Sin and refine Acquired Original Sin, which offered some consolation.
Little did he expect that after his Original Sin identity was exposed, he was again suppressed and hunted by the Great Desolate Magnates, nearly being annihilated. In the end, he had no choice but to agree to Genggu Wuming's offer to become the Domain Lord of Lingluo Sky Realm and live an incognito life.
He thought everything was finally over.
He missed the opportunities of the previous era, missed the opportunities of the Present Era, and now the opportunities of the Desolate Ancient Era were about to arrive.
The Black Pig Monster King was beyond excited. For this, he had made ample preparations, bringing almost his entire life's savings—all the treasures and resources he had plundered or seized over the years—just to gamble once in the Desolate Ancient Ruins.
If he gambled right, the Black Pig Monster King would ascend to the heavens in a single step.
If he gambled wrong, he would face eternal damnation.
However, what he never expected was that not long after entering, before he could even do anything, he was beaten half to death. What made the Black Pig Monster King utterly unable to endure was that this time, it was once again those damned Great Desolate Magnates!