Gu Qingfeng gazed at the ceaselessly flowing spatial chaotic currents before him, simply gazing, his pair of profound eyes filled with endless confusion.
He had always believed that behind this grand chess game of Heaven and Earth, it was Original Sin and Fate playing against each other.
He never imagined that besides Fate and Original Sin, there was also the Great Dao and Heaven and Earth.
At the same time, he found it increasingly difficult to comprehend what kind of existence Original Sin truly was.
Gu Qingfeng had always felt that the existence of Original Sin was a mistake, the source of a karmic error. This erroneous source was like a virus, causing the chaos of karma today.
Even now, he still believed this.
What he didn't understand was, how did this erroneous karmic source called Original Sin come into being? And what was the purpose of its existence?
Was it arranged by Fate, or was it brought about by karma?
If it was arranged by Fate, then that meant Fate gave birth to Original Sin, letting it slaughter the Great Dao, cause Heaven and Earth to be reborn, and open the Daoless Age?
Why would Fate do this?
What benefit would Fate gain from slaughtering the Great Dao and the rebirth of Heaven and Earth?
Most importantly, Fate itself was one of the Great Daos. If the Great Dao were slaughtered, wouldn't that mean Fate itself would also be destroyed?
This didn't quite make sense.
But if it wasn't arranged by Fate, could it be that the existence of Original Sin was brought about by karma?
In other words, a certain antecedent gave birth to Original Sin as its consequence.
The purpose of its existence was to slaughter the Great Dao and open the Daoless Age?
But...
What kind of antecedent would give birth to a consequence like Original Sin?
Or rather, as recorded in the Book of Fate: when Original Sin finds its True Lord, the Great Dao falls, the Present-Ancient Era ends, Heaven and Earth are reborn, and the Daoless Age opens.
All of this was predestined long ago, something even Fate itself could not change.
He didn't understand.
The more Gu Qingfeng thought, the more confused he became; the more he thought, the more chaotic it felt. He shook his head and sighed heavily. At that moment, a rumbling boom echoed again.
"Fate never ends, Original Sin never ceases!"
"Fate never rests, Original Sin never perishes!"
"The true essence of the Great Dao, the mysteries of Heaven and Earth, all lie within Original Sin, all are but illusions..." It was that voice, both familiar and strange.
Gu Qingfeng racked his brains but couldn't figure out who was shouting within this Primordial Black Hole, who the owner of this voice was, and why every time it shouted, it evoked such a complex feeling within his heart—like excitement, like unease, even more like a summons.
Suddenly, he remembered what Ancestor Xuanming had said. Ancestor Xuanming said that in the Desolate Ancient Era, Original Sin once gave birth to an independent, autonomous consciousness. It was precisely this autonomous consciousness that slaughtered the Great Dao and opened the Daoless Age. But later, for some unknown reason, the Daoless Age mysteriously closed again, and that autonomous consciousness birthed by Original Sin also disappeared without a trace.
Sensing the shouts coming from somewhere within the Primordial Black Hole, Gu Qingfeng pondered: if Original Sin truly had given birth to an autonomous consciousness, and this autonomous consciousness had indeed slaughtered the Great Dao and opened the Daoless Age, then could these shouts belong to that very consciousness?
Whether it was "Fate never ends, Original Sin never ceases" or "Fate never rests, Original Sin never perishes," both phrases carried a sense of resentment and anger—resentment towards Fate, anger towards Fate.
This left Gu Qingfeng somewhat puzzled.
In his mind, if Original Sin truly gave birth to an independent consciousness, and this independent consciousness truly slaughtered the Great Dao and opened the Daoless Age in the Desolate Ancient Era, logically speaking, it should have accomplished its mission.
Whether predestined by fate or brought about by karma, it had already completed the mission belonging to Original Sin.
If so, why the resentment?
And resentment towards Fate at that?
Was this resentment about unwillingness to be Fate's pawn, or resentment about Original Sin's fate being arranged this way?
As he thought, Gu Qingfeng suddenly felt a splitting headache. The messy affairs between Original Sin, Fate, the Great Dao, and Heaven and Earth were about to make his head explode.
If possible, he really didn't want to get involved in this mess. However, he was already within the game. No matter how much he didn't want to, he had no choice but to get involved. He originally planned to maintain an ordinary heart and let everything follow its natural course. But after coming to the Primordial Black Hole, he found that even if he wanted to follow nature, he couldn't. Too many mysterious and bizarre things entangled him, leaving him utterly conflicted.
Moreover, he discovered that his state of mind had begun to change at some point. He could no longer follow nature as easily as before, nor could his mind remain peaceful. This feeling was like being trapped in the mysteries of the Desolate Ancient Era, only wanting to find answers and unravel the confusion in his heart.
Saying he was trapped in the mysteries of the Desolate Ancient Era, Gu Qingfeng felt more like he had fallen for someone's scheme, a feeling of being deceived.
Either he had been subtly influenced by the words of Genggu Wuming, his state of mind changing imperceptibly, or he had fallen for Da Xing the Mad Monk's tricks, his mind affected by that old bald donkey.
"Damn it! Whether it's Genggu Wuming or Da Xing the Mad Monk, their schemes run deeper than the last. Even though I've been on guard against them, I still fell for their tricks."
As he spoke, Gu Qingfeng sighed heavily again.
Regardless, since things had come to this, he could only take it one step at a time now.
Boom! Crash!
"Fate never ends, Original Sin never ceases!"
"Fate never rests, Original Sin never perishes!"
"The true essence of the Great Dao, the mysteries of Heaven and Earth, all lie within Original Sin, all are but illusions..." The tremendous sounds came again, accompanied by the mysterious shouts.
After careful consideration, Gu Qingfeng decided it was best to first figure out the source of this voice.
Boom—The rumbling sounds continued to come, shaking the entire Primordial Black Hole violently. Various chaotic currents rolled and roared wildly. Nine massive chaotic current vortices slowly rotated, like nine heavenly deities piercing through the Primordial Black Hole, or like primordial behemoths devouring one chaotic current after another.
Here, a golden figure was sprinting at extreme speed amidst the currents, looking like a headless fly darting about everywhere, as if searching for something.
This figure wore a tattered gray monk's robe, a worn-out hat on his head, a broken fan hanging on his left waist, and a wine gourd hanging on his right.
It was none other than Da Xing the Mad Monk.
Ever since Gu Qingfeng left, Da Xing the Mad Monk had been searching desperately.
Although he possessed an Immovable Golden Body and feared not the Primordial chaotic currents, searching within the currents for so long had truly exhausted him.
What drove Da Xing the Mad Monk to distraction was that after searching for so long, he still hadn't found Gu Qingfeng. The Primordial Black Hole was simply too vast, practically boundless.
What to do?
Da Xing the Mad Monk didn't know what to do either.
He clearly knew that searching for Gu Qingfeng in the Primordial Black Hole was millions of times more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack, yet he still had to search. Because besides searching for Gu Qingfeng, he didn't know what else he should do.