Da Xing the Mad Monk had no idea just how powerful Gu Qingfeng truly was, only that it was utterly terrifying and beyond imagination.
He also knew that if Gu Qingfeng were to strike, that Senior Sister Pure Robe Bodhisattva, who was acting all youthful, would be no match at all. She would undoubtedly be beaten by Gu Qingfeng until even her parents wouldn't recognize her.
However.
In Da Xing's view, if Gu Qingfeng wanted to kill Pure Robe Bodhisattva, it probably wouldn't be an easy task.
Because he knew that those who cultivated to the Bodhisattva realm were practically immortal, undying existences. Even if you could annihilate their physical body, you couldn't annihilate their soul. Even if you could annihilate their soul, you couldn't annihilate their spirit. And even if you could annihilate their spirit, you couldn't annihilate their divine sense.
As long as a single wisp of divine sense remained, a Bodhisattva would not die nor perish.
It wasn't just Bodhisattvas who were like this; those Fate Emperors were much the same. Even some Golden-Bodied Arhats and Fate Throne holders were incredibly difficult to utterly erase.
Moreover, whether they were Bodhisattvas or Fate Emperors, which one of them didn't possess a body full of powerful fortune?
Which one didn't have a trump card treasure tucked away?
Which one didn't have a life-saving trick up their sleeve?
It had to be said, wanting to obliterate them was truly a difficult endeavor.
At the very least, with Da Xing the Mad Monk's own abilities, he had neither absolute certainty nor absolute confidence in erasing any single Bodhisattva or Fate Emperor.
Furthermore, if such existences were really that easy to kill, there wouldn't have been so many people throughout the ages who were merely banished into the Void Abyss.
It was precisely because they couldn't be completely erased that they had no choice but to be cast into the Void Abyss.
Actually.
These points weren't lost on Gu Qingfeng.
He naturally also knew that the higher one's cultivation, the harder it was to be erased.
He could be said to have deeply experienced this himself. The most vivid memory was of his battle with the Great Emperor Changfeng back in the day, fighting all the way from the Nine Heavens down to the Nine Netherworlds. He didn't even know how long they fought. By the end, he was utterly exhausted and still couldn't kill the Great Emperor Changfeng. From this, one could imagine just how difficult it was to erase a single Fate Emperor.
Although Gu Qingfeng's strength in the present day was something even he himself didn't fully grasp, on the other hand, precisely because he didn't know, he had always wanted to find someone to test it on.
Originally, Da Xing the Mad Monk would have been a perfect sparring partner. Unfortunately, this old bald donkey always liked to hide his true strength. Fighting him wouldn't reveal anything.
Now that he had finally run into a Bodhisattva, Gu Qingfeng's fingers were truly itching for a fight. But as he gazed at the Ancient Ruins of the Primordial Age, bathed in the light of a setting sun, he thought about it and decided to let it go.
This place was not only somewhat sinister, but the more he observed it, the stronger that sense of déjà vu grew, which greatly puzzled him.
When it came to this indescribable, inexplicable feeling of familiarity, Gu Qingfeng could be said to be extremely sensitive.
In his experience, every time this sense of déjà vu appeared, it was often connected to his own karma.
This was true for both people and objects.
Could it be that this place was also connected to his karma?
He shook his head.
Gu Qingfeng couldn't figure it out for the moment.
"Kid Gu! Look over there! There seems to be a person!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk's voice came through. Gu Qingfeng followed the sound and looked over. Sure enough, on a distant mountain, there seemed to be a person standing.
It might have been a person.
This figure was tightly wrapped from head to toe in white cloth, revealing only a pair of eyes as dark and deep as an abyss.
Seeing this person, Gu Qingfeng was first stunned, then exclaimed in surprise, "Why is she here?"
Da Xing asked, puzzled, "You know her?"
"I do."
Gu Qingfeng leaped into the air, arriving instantly, and called out the name, "Bai Chou!"
When Bai Chou saw Gu Qingfeng, a flicker of surprise seemed to pass through her eyes, but it quickly faded into acceptance. She said, "You... as expected, you've come too."
It was a meaningful statement.
Gu Qingfeng asked, not understanding, "You knew I would come?"
"Those who are meant to come will come. Like you. And like me..." "What do you mean?"
"Don't you find this place very familiar?"
"You feel it too?" Gu Qingfeng couldn't hold back, asking, "What exactly is this place?"
"This is a place you've been to before."
"I've been here?" Gu Qingfeng thought hard but truly couldn't remember ever coming to this place. Thinking further, it seemed impossible. This was a damn Ancient Ruins of the Primordial Age, and he had never been to any such ruins before.
"Heh, your memory really is terrible. You don't even remember the place where you fused with the Blood of Original Sin back then."
Hearing this, Gu Qingfeng's heart grew even more confused.
What did she mean, the place where he fused with the Blood of Original Sin back then?
Gu Qingfeng remembered that the place where he fused with the Blood of Original Sin back then was in the Mortal Realm, specifically in the Great Northwest of the Mortal Realm.
Could this place be the Great Northwest of the Mortal Realm?
Impossible, right?
How could the Great Northwest of the Mortal Realm appear within an Ancient Ruins of the Primordial Age?
"'The setting sun resembles the world.' Could it be... you still can't recall?"
Bai Chou's words came again. Upon hearing the phrase 'setting sun,' Gu Qingfeng's heart suddenly stirred. He looked up at the chaotic vortex in the sky, shimmering with golden-red radiance, then looked back at the Ancient Ruins of the Primordial Age, bathed in the light of a setting sun.
Muttering the words 'setting sun' under his breath, he finally remembered. He exclaimed in shock, "This is... could this be Canyang Valley?"
"You've finally remembered."
"Good heavens!" Gu Qingfeng couldn't help but suck in a cold breath.
Yes.
He had finally remembered.
He had finally realized why he had felt this place so familiar ever since he entered.
This damn Ancient Ruins of the Primordial Age was actually Canyang Valley.
Canyang Valley was a mysterious place.
It appeared to be located in the Great Northwest of the Mortal Realm, but that was only an appearance. The true Canyang Valley belonged neither to the Great Northwest nor to the Mortal Realm. As for where it truly belonged, Gu Qingfeng did not know.
If it were any other place, it wouldn't have caused Gu Qingfeng to lose his composure like this.
The truth was that Canyang Valley held far too many secrets, and all these secrets were connected to Gu Qingfeng. It could even be said that his origins, including the Blood of Original Sin within his body, even his karma and destiny—everything was connected to Canyang Valley.
Exaggerated?
No!
Not in the slightest.
Gu Qingfeng was born in the Great Northwest of the Mortal Realm.
And from the day he was born, he was a person of Original Sin.
Later, he learned that his birth was connected to that single drop of the Blood of Original Sin in Canyang Valley.
Later still, he came to Canyang Valley, found that drop of the Blood of Original Sin, and fused with it. It wasn't that he wanted to fuse with it, nor was he forced to. Rather, that drop of the Blood of Original Sin had called to him, as if it had originally belonged to him.
Even now, he still didn't understand what kind of relationship existed between him and that drop of the Blood of Original Sin.
The only thing he knew was that the one guarding that drop of the Blood of Original Sin was a woman called Lady Wuyou.
In the past, he had heard people say that Lady Wuyou used the Blood of Original Sin to gestate people of Original Sin, and he was one of them.
Later, he met Lady Wuyou once. Lady Wuyou said it wasn't her using the Blood of Original Sin to gestate people of Original Sin, but that drop of the Blood of Original Sin gestating them on its own.
As for the truth of the matter, Gu Qingfeng still hadn't figured it out to this day.