The three raised their cups, making a pact that after the Desolate Ancient Black Hole, they would drink to their hearts' content, drink until the heavens and earth turned dark, and not stop until they were thoroughly drunk!
Yet.
All three knew in their hearts that this pact would likely be difficult to fulfill.
Because none of them had any confidence they could leave the Desolate Ancient Black Hole alive.
Mo Wentian didn't. Ren Tianxing didn't. Gu Qingfeng didn't either.
But they still raised their cups and made the pact.
Calling it a pact.
It felt more like a blessing, a farewell.
Mo Wentian left.
Ren Tianxing left as well.
Once they departed, none would know whether they lived or died.
Only Gu Qingfeng did not leave. He simply stood there within the Desolate Ancient Black Hole, a jug of wine in hand, drinking as he watched Mo Wentian and Ren Tianxing grow ever more distant, just watching.
His ink-black hair, three thousand strands long, flowed and danced amidst the chaotic currents.
His pristine white robe, whiter than snow, fluttered without wind, swaying like a reflection.
On Gu Qingfeng's ordinary, unremarkable face hung a touch of desolation, a touch of loneliness, and an incalculable depth of solitude.
He drank, continuously, one cup after another, one jug after another.
As if seeing off Mo Wentian and Ren Tianxing.
Even after the two had completely vanished into the vast, boundless expanse of the Desolate Ancient Black Hole, he still did not leave. He merely sighed, gazing at the endless chaotic currents.
If possible.
He, too, wished to leave.
The question was, where to?
He didn't know.
Ren Tianxing had his own path to walk. Mo Wentian had his own path to walk. But Gu Qingfeng did not.
This was also why he envied Ren Tianxing and Mo Wentian.
Although the paths they were to walk were fraught with peril, filled with unknowns, at least they knew what they wanted, what they should do.
And Gu Qingfeng?
He didn't even know what he himself wanted.
Like a wandering ghost without consciousness or thought, drifting aimlessly.
Did he truly enjoy living like this?
Gu Qingfeng had questioned his own heart more than once.
What did he truly want?
To seek the cause and effect?
To change fate?
To ascend as the True Lord of Original Sin?
No!
He wanted none of those.
It wasn't that he didn't want them at all, but rather, he lacked that intense desire. He felt that although his current life couldn't be called carefree and without worry, at least he could muddle through. He didn't want to, nor could he be bothered, to stir up trouble.
Turning it over and over in his mind, Gu Qingfeng truly couldn't figure out what he wanted.
Or perhaps, as Mo Wentian had said, his state of mind might have already reached the 'Four Great Emptinesses,' having cultivated the Great Dao?
Was that possible?
He didn't know.
In any case, Gu Qingfeng himself felt nothing of the sort.
Pondering and ruminating, he figured he might genuinely enjoy living like a wandering ghost.
"Sigh…"
After gulping down an entire jug of fine wine, Gu Qingfeng sighed again.
Perhaps after Mo Wentian and Ren Tianxing left, he truly felt somewhat lonely and desolate, drinking continuously, sighing repeatedly.
For no reason.
He recalled the words Mo Wentian had spoken earlier.
Mo Wentian said he suspected he might be the Ego Incarnation of another.
To be honest.
Gu Qingfeng also had his suspicions.
However.
He wasn't suspecting that he himself might be someone else's Ego Incarnation. Rather, he suspected the entirety of Original Sin, suspecting that all bearers of Original Sin might be the Ego Incarnations of the True Lord of Original Sin.
Think about it.
All bearers of Original Sin, in their quest to ascend as the True Lord of Original Sin, progress from Original Sin Incarnation, to Original Sin Retribution Body, then to Original Sin Response Body, and finally to Original Sin Dharmakaya.
At the stage of Original Sin Incarnation, one becomes like a mad demon, the self-consciousness begins to blur—this is a manifestation of losing the self.
Upon reaching Original Sin Retribution Body, the self-consciousness is essentially lost—this is a manifestation of losing the fundamental self.
At the stage of Original Sin Response Body, the self-consciousness is almost completely lost…
One becomes entirely a puppet of Original Sin—this is a manifestation of selflessness.
If one can gestate a new self-consciousness, then that becomes the Original Sin Dharmakaya. If one cannot gestate a new self-consciousness, then one will forever remain a puppet of Original Sin.
The terrifying part is that this newly gestated self-consciousness is born from Original Sin. In other words, you have already lost your self and your fundamental self. Even though this newly gestated consciousness still belongs to you, your new fundamental self is now Original Sin, no longer your original self.
From this perspective, the deeper one sinks into Original Sin, the more profound the loss of self becomes. If one sinks to the level of Original Sin Dharmakaya, it is equivalent to completely losing one's fundamental self.
Gu Qingfeng didn't know if his speculation was correct. He hoped it was wrong.
If this were truly the case, then for someone like Mo Wentian, who had already become an Original Sin Incarnation, seeking the True Self would be utterly meaningless. Just imagine, after becoming an Original Sin Dharmakaya, having even lost the fundamental self, how could one possibly find the True Self?
Even if one found the True Self, it would be the True Self of Original Sin, not his own True Self.
And what is the True Self of Original Sin?
Four words immediately surfaced in Gu Qingfeng's mind: True Lord of Original Sin.
It's the True Lord of Original Sin again!
It seems that whether seeking cause and effect or changing fate, one truly cannot avoid the True Lord of Original Sin.
Ren Tianxing, wishing to break free from Original Sin, had no choice but to strive for the True Lord of Original Sin.
And if Mo Wentian wished to seek his True Self, he, too, would have to strive for the True Lord of Original Sin.
Gu Qingfeng had always thought the two were walking different paths. Only now did he understand that Ren Tianxing and Mo Wentian were likely walking the same path, or perhaps it should be said that the paths they walked shared the same final destination.
"Such is fate…" Gu Qingfeng had never believed in the words 'fate' before.
Having lived this long, he was increasingly feeling that this thing called fate might truly be predetermined by heaven.
He stood up, stretched lazily, shook his sleeves, twisted his neck, flexed his limbs, then took a step and flew towards the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces.
Although he had no interest in seeking cause and effect or changing fate, nor did he wish to ascend as any True Lord of Original Sin, he couldn't just sit there drinking aimlessly. His life was already meaningless enough as it was; if he continued in such boredom, he feared he would truly become a wandering ghost without thought or consciousness.
Gu Qingfeng figured that since he was idle anyway, he might as well find some amusement. After all, he couldn't get out, couldn't run away, and even whether he could survive the Desolate Ancient Black Hole was an unknown. Given that, he might as well find some fun.
To live one day happily was always his motto.
The Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces resembled nine massive whirlpools slowly rotating, devouring the chaotic currents.
They looked like nine colossal pillars piercing heaven and earth, like nine solitary peaks supporting the sky, and even like nine divine statues guarding the Desolate Ancient Black Hole.
Mo Wentian had said that the appearance of the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces signified that everything was about to begin.
This 'everything' included cause and effect, fate, Original Sin, also included this heaven and earth, this Great Dao, and even more included the truth behind the end of the Desolate Ancient Era, the secret of the opening of the Daoless Age, the birth of the True Lord of Original Sin…
Mo Wentian also said that once the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces appeared, Great Dao experts from above and below, the Nine Heavens and Nine Netherworlds, the Desolate Ruins and Returned Ruins, Sacred Lands and Forbidden Lands, Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands—those who should appear and those who shouldn't—would all emerge. Even those who had been lurking in the shadows would surface one after another.
The Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces were both the prologue and the tomb.