Mo Wentian was neither mocking nor ridiculing, nor was there any hint of sarcasm in his words. Instead, he genuinely admired and revered the mental state of Gu Qingfeng, which was comparable to that of a Great Dao Sage.
Cultivation is cultivation.
What is cultivated is not the body, nor is what is traversed a path.
Rather, it is the cultivation of one's mental state and the questioning of the Great Dao.
Deep cultivation and numerous fortunes do not necessarily equate to a high mental state.
Some chase after fame and fortune, others pursue power.
This is the mental state of most cultivators—living for their desires.
Some may have transcended the word 'desire,' looking down upon fame, fortune, and power, yet they cannot look down upon life and death.
And those who look down upon life and death are equivalent to having transcended the mundane.
But that is all there is to it.
Looking down upon life and death does not mean one can look down upon Fate.
This level of mental state is difficult to transcend, and many existences remain stuck at this realm, spending their entire lives defying the heavens and changing their Fate.
Ren Tianxing was exactly like this.
Although he looked down upon life and death, he could not look down upon his own Fate. Therefore, for the sake of his beloved, he had been trying to shake off Original Sin and defy Fate to change his destiny.
However.
Even if one looks down upon Fate, beyond Fate there is still Karma.
In other words, looking down upon Fate does not necessarily mean one can look down upon their own Karma.
Mo Wentian was a perfect example.
He looked down upon both life and death and Fate, yet he could never look down upon his own Karma. His reason for coming to this Primordial Black Hole was precisely to pursue his Karma.
This is the mental state.
The first realm: the realm of desire.
The second realm: the realm of life and death.
The third realm: the realm of Fate.
The fourth realm: the realm of Karma.
If a person can see through desire, see through life and death, see through Fate, and see through Karma, then that is the Buddhist concept of the 'Four Great Emptinesses,' also known as the legendary realm of the Great Dao.
In Mo Wentian's view, Gu Qingfeng's current mental state was precisely this Great Dao realm of the Four Great Emptinesses.
As for what exactly constituted the Great Dao realm and how one entered it, Ren Tianxing did not know, nor did Mo Wentian. If the two of them knew, one would not be trapped in the realm of Fate, and the other would not be trapped in the realm of Karma.
Mental state is not something you can see through just because you want to, nor is it something you can transcend just because you wish to.
Someone might gain sudden enlightenment in a single day and transcend.
Someone else might spend their entire life, traversing countless years, yet still be unable to see through the two words 'life and death.'
Precisely because of this, both Mo Wentian and Ren Tianxing admired Gu Qingfeng immensely.
However.
Gu Qingfeng himself did not see it that way. He did not feel his mental state was particularly profound, nor did he believe he had achieved the Four Great Emptinesses.
Had he seen through desire?
Gu Qingfeng certainly didn't think so. He felt he hadn't seen through desire at all; rather, he was inherently lazy, lacking great ambition, and simply couldn't be bothered to stir up trouble. Could that really be called seeing through desire?
Had he seen through life and death?
In Gu Qingfeng's view, that was somewhat nonsensical. He didn't believe he had seen through life and death either. At most, he had grown accustomed to it, given that he had experienced life and death several times on his journey and had become numb to it. Could that be called seeing through life and death?
As for seeing through Fate?
That was even more nonsensical.
Gu Qingfeng felt he had not seen through Fate. On the contrary, far from seeing through it, he had resigned himself to it.
If resigning oneself to Fate counted as seeing through it, wouldn't transcendence be far too easy, and too much of a joke?
Then there was Karma.
If someone said he had transcended Karma, Gu Qingfeng felt that was utterly laughable.
If possible, he would also like to pursue his own Karma. The problem was, his Karma consisted of inexplicable, chaotic strands. How was one supposed to pursue that?
And what if he did pursue it?
What would knowing his own Karma accomplish?
Would it allow him to become a God or a Sage?
What if he became a God?
What if he achieved Sagehood?
To be honest.
Gu Qingfeng wasn't particularly interested in becoming a God or a Sage. His greatest dream was simply to live freely and unconstrained; he had little interest in other matters.
If pursuing his own Karma could lead to Godhood or Sagehood, and if becoming a God or Sage meant he could live without worries...
Then Gu Qingfeng might consider pursuing his Karma.
But that was only a 'might'.
Because he had seen many existences who, in pursuing their Karma, had lost themselves. Yun Nichang, Jun Xuanji, Feng Zhuyue—they had all lost themselves in pursuit of their Karma, either going mad or experiencing multiple cycles of reincarnation.
If Karma were likened to a gambling game, winning meant becoming a God or Sage, while losing meant losing oneself.
Faced with such a gamble, Gu Qingfeng wouldn't even place a bet.
Firstly, he didn't want to lose himself. Secondly, he wasn't very interested in becoming a God or Sage. He just wanted to live as he was, nothing more.
To put it bluntly.
His current life, while not ideal, wasn't too terrible for Gu Qingfeng. At the very least, he could manage to live, and that was enough for him.
He truly couldn't be bothered to mess around with Karma and Fate. He'd rather spend that time watching some excitement or drinking a little wine.
Of course.
Dying wasn't a big deal for him either. After all, he felt he had lived long enough. He had experienced everything he should have, and even things he shouldn't have. The only thing missing was dying completely once. If he could experience a complete death, his life would be considered complete.
The current Gu Qingfeng lived day by day, finding joy in each day he lived. If one day he truly couldn't go on, then death was fine—a clean break, with nothing to miss and no regrets.
Like now, drinking a little wine with two close friends amidst the endless chaotic currents of the Primordial Black Hole, speaking from the heart, boasting, and chatting idly—this feeling was exceptionally good, even happier than seizing some Heaven and Earth treasure. In Gu Qingfeng's view, life should be like this.
Unexpectedly.
After Gu Qingfeng voiced his inner thoughts, Mo Wentian and Ren Tianxing admired him even more!
No!
It could no longer be called admiration; it was downright reverence. They raised their cups again and again, toasting him, almost kowtowing on the spot to express their profound admiration.
This left Gu Qingfeng somewhat embarrassed, because he truly couldn't figure out, nor understand, what about him was worthy of such admiration from existences like Ren Tianxing and Mo Wentian.
On the contrary.
He envied Ren Tianxing. He envied how this cold-blooded, merciless killing Human indiscriminate, knowing neither good nor evil, and devoid of emotions Demon figure (cold-blooded, merciless, indiscriminate killer of a demon who knew neither good nor evil and lacked emotions) had actually found true love, and was now, for the sake of that love, trying to defy Fate and change his destiny.
He was genuinely envious.
Thinking about it carefully, finding a beloved person to accompany one through life would undoubtedly be a happy thing.
Who wouldn't want to fly together with their beloved, wandering the ends of the earth?
The problem was, Gu Qingfeng simply couldn't find a woman who stirred such an impulse in him.
Although he had hooked up with quite a few women in this lifetime—whether due to inexplicable Karma or chaotic Fate—he had encountered many women.
Perhaps there were women who had moved his heart.
But they had only moved his heart.
To this day, not a single woman had made Gu Qingfeng feel the impulse to spend the rest of his life with her.
Thinking about it, this was quite a tragic (tragic/sad) thing.
This was also why he envied Ren Tianxing. Beyond envy, he even felt a bit jealous.
He, a living, emotionally rich person, had lived most of his life without finding true love, while this bastard Ren Tianxing, a demon, had actually found it.
Was there any justice in this?