Previously, the chaotic currents within the Desolate Ancient Black Hole had surged and flowed like tumultuous waves.
But at this moment, the currents burned and spread like wildly raging flames.
Why had it transformed into this state?
Gu Qingfeng did not know.
He did not even know if this place was still the Desolate Ancient Black Hole.
He did not want to know these things now; he only wanted to know who the owner of this voice was, whether it was he who was shouting and roaring, shaking the entire Desolate Ancient Black Hole, and whether it was he who was summoning him.
Gu Qingfeng had far too many doubts in his heart.
"Hahaha!
What is there to fear in death?"
The other party inquired once more.
Gu Qingfeng responded, "Death holds no fear."
"Since it holds no fear, why then do you fear death?"
"Because I do not wish to die yet. At the very least, not now. Moreover..." Gu Qingfeng said solemnly, "Even if I must die, I must die with clarity. To die in such a muddled, confused manner—my heart would be unwilling, and I would deem it unworthy of myself."
This was his inner reflection, his true thoughts.
He did not fear death, nor did he dread it.
He did not seek a worthy death, nor a death of value.
He only sought to die with clarity, to die in a way that was worthy of the life he had lived.
He very much wanted to figure out just what thing was summoning him, but if the price was losing his own life, then it would be far too unworthy of the life he had lived.
"Hahahahaha!
You do not wish to die?"
"Hahaha!
Die with clarity?"
"Hahaha!
Your heart is unwilling?
You deem yourself unworthy?"
The roaring voice came, filled with disdain and mockery.
Whoever this other party was, his laughter was truly too terrifying, too horrifying.
It shook Gu Qingfeng's mind, making it tremble even more violently; his soul burned even more fiercely; his blood boiled even more intensely; his flesh twisted even more grotesquely; his consciousness grew even more blurred.
Everything about him was in an extremely perilous state.
This included the Asura of Avici Hell, the Yellow Springs of the Netherworld, the Blood Glutton that Devours Heaven and Earth, and even that ominous object—all were in the same condition.
Previously, whenever he heard the tremendous noise, heard this roaring voice, the Asura, the Yellow Springs, the Glutton, and the other great existences would begin to stir restlessly. Gu Qingfeng had never understood why this was so until this very moment. He now knew the reason: it was fear, it was terror!
That's right!
It was fear, it was terror.
And it was a deeply ingrained, root-deep terror.
Not only them, but even Gu Qingfeng himself felt a nameless dread.
He did not know what he was afraid of, nor what he was dreading, but he was afraid, he was filled with dread. This fear seemed to have been born with him.
Gu Qingfeng knew that whether it was the Asura of Avici Hell, the Yellow Springs of the Netherworld, the Blood Glutton that Devours Heaven and Earth, or that ominous object, all had once fused with the Blood of Original Sin in the Desolate Ancient Era, and all were true Child of Original Sin.
And he himself had also fused with the Blood of Original Sin, and could also be considered an Original Sin Son.
Now, all of them, these Original Sin Sons who had fused with the Blood of Original Sin, were filled with terror in their hearts. From this, it could be judged that the other party must be related to Original Sin, and his existence was likely beyond imagination.
"Young man!
How do you think you should die to make you willing, and how should you die to be worthy of this life of yours?"
Gu Qingfeng responded without hesitation, "When I feel I have lived enough, then I will be willing to die."
"Lived enough?
Hahahaha!
What counts as having lived enough?
How can it be considered having lived enough?"
"When I have no regrets left, when All Four Elements Are Empty for me, that will be the time I have lived enough."
The other party laughed heartily, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world, and shouted, "Young man, do you know what All Four Elements Are Empty represents?"
"I do not."
"It represents becoming a God!"
"Oh?
Is that so?"
Gu Qingfeng said, "If All Four Elements Are Empty represents becoming a God, then let's talk about it after I become a God."
"Hahahaha!"
The voice laughed again, and after laughing, he sternly roared, "Impossible!"
"Nothing is impossible!"
Here.
The various chaotic currents burned like a sea of fire, looking as terrifying as hell itself.
Gu Qingfeng sat cross-legged, eyes tightly shut, hands clasped together.
His mind still trembled, his soul still burned, his flesh still twisted, his consciousness still blurred.
No matter how Gu Qingfeng tried to regulate himself, it was of no use; instead, it grew increasingly intense. As if realizing something, he gave up regulating, let nature take its course, cleared his mind of distracting thoughts, and entered a state of self-forgetting, deathly stillness. He simply allowed his mind to tremble, his soul to burn...
"Young man!"
The voice shouted again, "As long as Fate lives for one more day, you will never be able to become a God!"
"Why?"
"Because Fate does not permit any existence to achieve All Four Elements Are Empty, to leap out of the Great Dao and become a God! It does not permit the existence of any God between heaven and earth!
If you wish to become a God, you must obliterate Fate. This is the only path you can take, and it is the path you are destined to walk!"
Listening to the other's words, Gu Qingfeng, upon careful thought, found them quite reasonable.
Fate could dominate all things between heaven and earth by relying on Karma. As long as one was within Karma, one would inevitably be controlled by Fate.
To avoid being controlled by Fate, one must leap out of Karma.
How to leap out of Karma?
Sever it?
Karma cannot be severed.
Then how can one leap out of Karma?
The answer: All Four Elements Are Empty.
Only, Gu Qingfeng truly did not understand who this other party was, and why he was saying these things to him.
"Just who are you?"
When he asked again, the other party once more laughed heartily, shaking Gu Qingfeng's flesh until it was no longer human in shape, swaying amidst the burning chaotic currents.
"Young man, my blood flows within you. Who do you say I am!"
Hearing this.
Gu Qingfeng's heart jolted violently, filled with shock and awe. His closed eyes snapped open. Although his flesh was now twisted beyond human recognition, it had not disintegrated. He opened his eyes, staring fixedly, and shouted, "Could you be... Wu Dao Daozun?"
He had heard others say more than once that the Blood of Original Sin within him might belong to Wu Dao Daozun.
Bai Chou had said such words, and the Old Monk of Extinction had said them too.
To be honest.
If someone claimed to be Wu Dao Daozun before Gu Qingfeng, he would not believe it at all.
Not because he thought Wu Dao Daozun had perished completely and could not possibly still be alive, nor because he doubted whether Wu Dao Daozun had ever truly existed.
But because, until now, he had not figured out whether the legendary Wu Dao Age belonged to the past or the future.
If it belonged to the past, why would Huode's past life, a person from the Wu Dao Age, know him?
If it belonged to the past, the Book of Fate recorded that the True Lord of Original Sin would open the Wu Dao Age. It could not be opening the Wu Dao Age of the past. Since it could not be the Wu Dao Age of the past, then the legendary Wu Dao Daozun likely was not of the past, but belonged to the future. In other words, the true Wu Dao Daozun had not yet been born.