Gu Qingfeng sat casually on the ground, taking occasional sips of fine wine, his eyes closed in contemplation.
Da Xing the Mad Monk, meanwhile, tilted his head back and sighed with emotion. "The current situation is truly too chaotic. All sorts of demons, monsters, and ghosts have come out of the woodwork, and they've all gathered in this Desolate Ancient Era. Everyone is waiting. Faced with a variable as profound as you, the deepest Original Sin, everyone has no choice but to wait."
"They can only wait...
Wait for the so-called opportune moment, the so-called omen, the so-called will of heaven, and also wait for the so-called fate...
Perhaps...
Many existences don't even know what they themselves are waiting for."
"So what?"
Suddenly.
Gu Qingfeng, who had been meditating with closed eyes, asked a question.
This once again left Da Xing the Mad Monk confused. "What 'so what'?
What are you talking about, kid?"
"Da Xing, although I don't know you very well, I do know what kind of character you, an old bald donkey, are. You wouldn't spout all this nonsense to me for no reason. Out with it, what's your real meaning?"
"What real meaning?
Aren't you being a bit too unreasonable, kid? I, your old man, kindly analyzed your situation for you, and in the end, I didn't even get a word of thanks. Yet you...
you actually suspect I have ulterior motives?"
Gu Qingfeng lazily opened his eyes, glanced at Da Xing the Mad Monk as if he couldn't be bothered to engage, stood up, stretched his back vigorously, shook out his sleeves, and said, "Since you won't say, I won't force you. Let's leave it at that. We'll meet again if fate allows!"
"You're leaving, kid?"
Da Xing the Mad Monk instantly stood up, quickly blocking Gu Qingfeng's path. "Where are you going?"
"After listening to all your nonsense, I'm a bit tired too. Going out for a stroll."
"What's the hurry? I haven't finished speaking."
"Don't want to hear it anymore."
"Wait!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk took a deep breath and confessed, "Alright, I'll be honest with you!"
"Speak."
"Since you've seen through me, I won't beat around the bush. I might as well tell you outright."
Da Xing the Mad Monk cautiously asked, "Gu kid, let me ask you one last time, seriously. This time, are you truly determined to ascend to the pinnacle and become the True Lord of Original Sin?"
"I have no interest in any damn True Lord of Original Sin. I came this time solely to seek Original Sin."
"Isn't that practically the same damn thing for you, kid? Once you obtain Original Sin, you'll pretty much have ascended to the pinnacle as the True Lord of Original Sin!"
"If only by ascending to the pinnacle as the True Lord of Original Sin can I obtain Original Sin, then I don't mind competing for the position of True Lord of Original Sin either!"
"Sigh!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk sighed with great helplessness, then pleaded, "Gu kid!
No!
Master Gu, Ancestor Gu, I beg you, can you temporarily refrain from seeking Original Sin? Don't get angry yet, I mean temporarily. Wait until this period passes, then you can seek Original Sin later; it won't be too late."
"I say, Da Xing."
Gu Qingfeng looked at Da Xing in this place. "I'm baffled. What does my seeking or not seeking Original Sin have to do with you?
What, are you and Genggu Wuming involved?
Or have you, kid, also started playing with the laws of Karma?"
"I, damn it...
What damn involvement could a broken monk like me have with Genggu Wuming? Can't you speak a bit more politely, kid!"
"Then I'm even more baffled. Since you and Genggu Wuming aren't involved, why do you care whether I seek Original Sin or not?
What business is it of yours if I seek Original Sin?"
"Gu kid, can't you damn well not get angry and let me finish speaking first?"
"Fine, fine, fine. Speak, I'm listening."
"Let's put it this way. I was the one who brought you into the Desolate Ancient Black Hole. Although I don't want to admit it, I have to acknowledge this fact. Thus, a Karmic connection has formed between us. If you, kid, ascend to the pinnacle as the True Lord of Original Sin, then I would definitely be considered an accomplice."
"It's just ascending to the pinnacle as the True Lord of Original Sin, not some earth-shattering, heaven-destroying deed. What kind of accomplice are you?"
"If you ascend to the pinnacle as the True Lord of Original Sin, earth-shattering, heaven-destroying deeds aren't something you couldn't do. Of course...
that's not important. What I fear is that if, after you ascend to the pinnacle as the True Lord of Original Sin, that woman Genggu Wuming erases you...
then my conscience would never be at peace for the rest of my life."
"Don't give me that nonsense. Do you, an old bald donkey, even have a conscience?"
"How could I not have a conscience?"
Gu Qingfeng couldn't be bothered to argue with Da Xing the Mad Monk. "Alright, even if you have a conscience, there's no need to worry about my life or death. Moreover, as you said yourself, Genggu Wuming may not necessarily have the confidence to erase me."
"I..." Da Xing the Mad Monk felt like crying but had no tears. What Gu Qingfeng said was also his greatest pain point. If he died here, he'd take the blame. If Gu Qingfeng lived and ascended to the pinnacle as the True Lord of Original Sin, he'd still take the blame.
"Sigh!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk sighed again, looking utterly weary and dejected, speaking listlessly, "Actually...
Gu kid, the reason I don't want you to ascend to the pinnacle as the True Lord of Original Sin is indeed partly selfish, partly for my own sake. But it's only a small part. Mostly, it's for your own sake."
"Heh, let's hear it."
Gu Qingfeng chuckled, looking at Da Xing the Mad Monk as if very interested in what other nonsense he could come up with.
"I don't know if I should tell you these things, because they're just my speculations; I don't know if they're true or false. Just listen casually."
"Alright, go ahead and say it."
"Gu kid, have you ever considered a question?"
"What question?"
"If you, kid, are truly the fated True Lord of Original Sin, do you know what that means?"
"What does it mean?"
Gu Qingfeng thought carefully for a moment but couldn't quite figure it out.
"Original Sin is the root of erroneous Karma. You, kid, are both the deepest Original Sin and the greatest variable. It's no exaggeration to say that all erroneous Karma throughout the ages, in heaven and on earth, can be connected to you, kid."
"And then?"
"The problem lies right here. You, damn kid, are both the deepest Original Sin and the greatest variable. You could be said to have been born within the Karmic Black Hole. If...
you, kid, are truly the fated True Lord of Original Sin, don't you find that absurd and strange?
I'm not trying to alarm you; you can carefully ponder this statement."
Hearing Da Xing the Mad Monk say this, Gu Qingfeng pondered carefully, and the more he pondered, the more something felt off.
Thinking about it, it was true.
For Fate to be predestined, there is a very important prerequisite: the normal operation of the laws of Karma.
What cause is planted in a previous life will inevitably bear what fruit in a later life. This is predestined.
But the Karmic Black Hole is filled with erroneous Karma. Since this Karma is erroneous, it means Fate cannot be predestined.
If even the erroneous Karma within the Karmic Black Hole is like this, then Gu Qingfeng's existence, being both the deepest Original Sin and the greatest variable—the source of all erroneous Karma—means that any movement from him would cause all erroneous Karma within the black hole to change accordingly.
He is like the cause, and all other erroneous Karma are the effects.
Predestined Fate has always only manifested in the effects.
When would it ever manifest in the cause?