Although Da Xing the Mad Monk's previous life was from the Desolate Ancient Era, he had reincarnated before the Desolate Ancient Cataclysm occurred. He was unclear about exactly how the Desolate Ancient Cataclysm happened or how the Desolate Ancient Era truly ended.
Over the years, he had traveled far and wide to investigate the truth behind the Desolate Ancient Cataclysm. In his mind, the end of the Desolate Ancient Era must have been inextricably linked to Original Sin. The more he thought about it, the more he believed the fundamental cause that triggered the cataclysm might have been someone opening the Daoless Age during the Desolate Ancient Era.
Otherwise, why would so many of Those with Original Sin have emerged during the Desolate Ancient Era?
The appearance of numerous Those with Original Sin would inevitably lead to increasingly chaotic Karma. It was even possible for the entire Law of Karma to collapse.
Furthermore, those Great Dao Progenitors were all immensely powerful, transcending life and death, unifying all laws. It was no exaggeration to say that as long as they did not wish to die, no one in heaven and earth could erase them.
If that was the case, why did the Great Dao Progenitors all fall during the Desolate Ancient Cataclysm?
There was only one possibility.
That was, the Karma of the Great Dao Progenitors had also become disordered, drawing them into the Karmic Black Hole. They had no choice but to sacrifice themselves to end the Desolate Ancient Era.
Perhaps the original intention of those Great Dao Progenitors was to completely erase Original Sin and correct the erroneous Karma.
Unfortunately.
For some unknown reason, they failed to completely erase Original Sin. The erroneous Karma continued to persist.
And those Great Dao Progenitors likely realized this as well. Hence, starting from the Primordial Era, the Three Thousand Great Daos had been constantly erasing Those with Original Sin—killing them if possible, and if not, banishing them to the Guixu or Huangxu. In this way, they could suppress the spread of Original Sin.
The problem was that Original Sin had continued from the Primordial Era, through the Ancient Era and the Archaic Era, all the way to this Present-Ancient Era.
If the Great Dao could have continued to suppress the spread of Original Sin, it wouldn't have been a bad thing. But yet in the Present-Ancient Era, the Guixu disintegrated, and nearly all of Those with Original Sin who had been suppressed in the Guixu emerged. As for those who had been wandering in the Huangxu, probably eight or nine out of ten had also come out.
What was terrifying was that the Present-Ancient Era was also an era of the Awakening of All Things. Original Sin was one of those 'things'. In the Present-Ancient Era, it sprouted everywhere across the Myriad Heavens and Worlds like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. As for exactly how many of Those with Original Sin had been born, no one knew. Based on Da Xing the Mad Monk's travels over the years, he felt the number of Those with Original Sin born in the Myriad Heavens and Worlds was no less than, if not more than, the number of Great Dao Mandates.
However.
That wasn't the most terrifying part. The most terrifying part was that in the Present-Ancient Era, a Gu Qingfeng had also emerged—the deepest Original Sin, the greatest Anomaly.
It was precisely because of this that Gu Qingfeng had become the most watched person in the Present-Ancient Era, bar none.
Whether from the heavens or the underworld, whether from sacred grounds or forbidden lands, or from the Guixu or Huangxu, almost every existence was watching him.
Because everyone knew that Gu Qingfeng's life and death were directly related to the fate of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth and all living beings.
"Kid Gu, there's one thing I wonder if you've ever thought about."
"What thing?"
"I remember hearing you say that not long ago, Genggu Wuming sought you out, right? And she said a whole bunch of confusing things to you. It seemed like you even said her words confused you, and you didn't know if she was intentionally hinting for you to contend for Original Sin or trying to stop you from contending for it."
"That did indeed happen."
Gu Qingfeng nodded, not understanding why Da Xing the Mad Monk had suddenly brought up Genggu Wuming out of the blue.
"I thought about this matter carefully afterwards. I think Genggu Wuming is probably also conflicted. She herself likely doesn't know whether she hopes you'll contend for Original Sin or wants to stop you from contending for it."
"What's there to be conflicted about?"
"Kid Gu, let me ask you: if you were the incarnation of Karma, facing so many erroneous Karmic chains, what would you do?"
"I would, of course, spare no effort to repair the erroneous Karma."
"There are so many erroneous Karmic chains. Could you repair them all? Over the years, haven't the Three Thousand Great Daos been constantly erasing Those with Original Sin in an attempt to repair Karma? And what was the result?"
"Then you just need to find the source of the erroneous Karma. That is to say, find that True Lord of Original Sin."
"Exactly! Facing the current situation, the only way is to find the True Lord of Original Sin and completely erase him. Only then can the problem be solved once and for all. This old monk reckons that if Genggu Wuming hopes you become the True Lord of Original Sin, this is her purpose."
"You mean..." Gu Qingfeng rubbed his chin, pondering for a moment, then said, "Genggu Wuming hopes that after I become the True Lord of Original Sin, she'll completely erase me?"
"After thinking it over, that seems to be the only possibility. You're not the True Lord of Original Sin yet. Killing you now would be meaningless. Only after you become the True Lord of Original Sin, then erasing you would be equivalent to strangling the root of Original Sin!"
"Listening to you, it seems to make a lot of sense."
Gu Qingfeng thought carefully, and the more he thought, the more sense Da Xing the Mad Monk's words made. "Damn it! That woman Genggu Wuming really didn't have good intentions. The pit she dug for this master is really quite deep."
"This pit was dug by Genggu Wuming for you, but also for herself. If you, kid, really become the True Lord of Original Sin, that woman Genggu Wuming might not necessarily be able to completely erase you. She probably lacks confidence. If she were confident, she wouldn't have gone to see you in person."
Gu Qingfeng shook his head and suddenly said, "That's not right!"
"What's not right?"
"Whether Genggu Wuming can erase me or not, I don't know. But there's one thing I can sense: Genggu Wuming doesn't want to kill me. If she wanted to kill me, I'm afraid I would have died long ago and wouldn't have lived until now!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk retorted impatiently, "Nonsense! If Genggu Wuming wants to repair the erroneous Karma, the True Lord of Original Sin must appear. If she killed you, who would ascend to become the True Lord of Original Sin?"
"I'm not the destined True Lord of Original Sin."
"Hahaha!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk burst into loud laughter, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world, or as if he had seen an utterly shameless murderous demon king claim to be a kind and good person.
After his great laughter, Da Xing the Mad Monk glared with wide eyes, his expression very serious. "Kid Gu, let me ask you: dare you confirm that you are not the destined True Lord of Original Sin?"
This question truly stumped Gu Qingfeng.
Gu Qingfeng shook his head.
It wasn't that he confirmed he was the destined True Lord of Original Sin, nor was it that he couldn't confirm he wasn't the destined True Lord of Original Sin.
He simply had no idea about this question.
"That settles it then. Even you dare not affirm whether you are the destined True Lord of Original Sin or not. How could Genggu Wuming dare to affirm it? If even Genggu Wuming cannot affirm it, then who in all of history, in heaven and earth, would dare to affirm it?"
Da Xing the Mad Monk said, "The answer is certain. No one knows whether you, kid, are the destined True Lord of Original Sin or not. Absolutely no one! Even more so, no one knows if, after killing you, the True Lord of Original Sin would choose someone else. This is a mystery. You, kid, should also be glad it's a mystery. If it weren't a mystery, you definitely wouldn't have lived until now."