Qian Palace, Kan Palace, Gen Palace, Zhen Palace, Zhong Palace, Xun Palace, Li Palace, Kun Palace, Dui Palace—these were the Nine Palaces.
Although the emergence of the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces determined the fate of the Great Dao Heaven and Earth, and also determined the fate of the Original Sin of No-Dao, Gu Qingfeng had no interest in the Great Dao Heaven and Earth, nor in the Original Sin of No-Dao. Therefore, he couldn't be bothered to ponder what profound mysteries the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces contained, and directly plunged headfirst into the Zhen Palace.
The reason for choosing the Zhen Palace was simple: it was the closest to his location.
Previously, when entering those Desolate Ancient ruins, without exception, most had no Source, no Laws, not even a semblance of Order. Above was only a massive chaotic vortex, below only an endless stretch of desert.
However,
the Zhen Palace was different.
Upon entering the Zhen Palace, Gu Qingfeng's first impression was that it resembled the void of the Great Desolation.
There was no sky above, no earth below.
In the void of the Great Desolation, various world paradises floated like stars in the night sky.
And within the Zhen Palace, it was similarly brilliant with starlight.
The difference was,
these points of starlight were not various worlds, but more like mountain ranges, vast stretches of ruins, like fragments floating in the void.
What was even more bizarre was that these mountain range ruins were slowly rotating, like dust in a vortex spinning along with the water flow. Although the rotation speed was extremely slow, they were indeed rotating.
To be precise, they were changing, changing along with the Zhen Palace. However, this change was very subtle and profound. Not only could the physical body not perceive it, even if one released their divine sense to carefully investigate, it was difficult to detect.
Gu Qingfeng looked around, observing the changes of the Zhen Palace. He just watched, and the more he watched, the more he felt the changes of the Zhen Palace were profoundly mysterious to the extreme, like the mysteries of the Great Dao, containing endless principles of the Dao, mysteries and wonders.
He didn't know how long he watched. Gu Qingfeng shook his head, sighed, and withdrew his thoughts. The changes of the Zhen Palace were simply too profound, so profound that he found it impossible to comprehend.
However,
there was one thing he could be sure of: within this Zhen Palace, there were Laws and there was Order. The countless floating mountain range ruins within the Zhen Palace were changing in accordance with the Laws and Order of the Zhen Palace.
Since there was Order and Laws, it meant the Zhen Palace must also have a Source.
If the Zhen Palace had a Source, then the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces probably each had their own Sources.
As for what the Source of the Zhen Palace was, or what the Sources of the other Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces were,
that was unknown.
Gu Qingfeng didn't dwell on it much. He strolled through the void of the Zhen Palace, taking a single step that covered vast distances. As his figure flickered, he had already appeared atop a mountain range floating within the Zhen Palace.
The mountain range was huge, much larger than Gu Qingfeng had imagined. This thing was more like a vast stretch of ruins than a mountain range.
Ordinary ruins, due to various factors, would eventually turn into deserts, or even completely vanish into dust. For example, ruins in various worlds, influenced by the natural environment, would ultimately dissipate.
Even if not affected by the natural environment, they would be influenced by the Laws of the world, or other Laws, and so on.
However,
the ruins here had not only not turned into deserts or dissipated, but also gave Gu Qingfeng a very fresh feeling.
That's right!
Fresh.
As if they had been destroyed not long ago and turned into ruins.
Could it really be so?
Gu Qingfeng shook his head, dismissing this thought.
After stepping onto this stretch of ruins, he felt a sense of ancient desolation. This feeling was like facing an ancient Buddha statue; even with his eyes closed, he could sense the ancient majesty of that statue, accumulated over countless years.
That was exactly the feeling the ruins beneath Gu Qingfeng's feet gave him.
Moreover, when he released his divine sense to investigate, he discovered that these ruins had long since 'died out completely,' from the inside out. Every piece of land, every stone, every broken wall on the ruins was utterly dead.
All things between heaven and earth possess Life. Immortals, Buddhas, humans, spirits, demons, ghosts, monsters, even humble ants, a blade of grass—all have their own Life. When Life fades, flowers and grass wither, trees dry up, humans decay, dust returns to dust, earth to earth, until they vanish completely.
What surprised and puzzled Gu Qingfeng was that these ruins, clearly having died out completely, were still perfectly intact.
Although this was the Desolate Ancient Black Hole, without the Natural Order's influence, and thus unaffected by the natural environment, it still shouldn't be so perfectly intact without a single bit of influence.
Furthermore,
the Zhen Palace had both a Source and Laws. Logically, these ruins should not be unaffected by the Laws of the Zhen Palace.
Exactly what was going on, Gu Qingfeng couldn't say clearly for the moment.
He walked across these ruins, exploring as he went. He didn't find anything of particular value. Although these ruins were preserved perfectly intact for some unknown reason, they were still just ruins preserved intact.
Ruins, after all, are ruins.
Everywhere was desolate, everywhere was dead silent.
Although there were flowers, grass, and trees, the flowers and grass had withered, the trees had dried up. The feeling they gave was of death without decay, demise without corruption.
Apart from withered flowers, grass, and trees, the ruins beneath his feet were mostly broken and fractured rubble, full of pits and depressions, as if they had suffered some catastrophe.
Gu Qingfeng continued forward.
Suddenly,
he discovered a corpse in a pile of ruins and rubble ahead!
To be precise, a dried corpse.
Just like the withered flowers, grass, and trees on the ruins, although this corpse had no Life, it had not decayed. One could vaguely make out from the shriveled face that it was a man.
Since the man had died completely, leaving only a dried corpse, Gu Qingfeng couldn't tell how long he had been dead.
As for whether the man was a Demon or a Monster, an Immortal or a Buddha in life, Gu Qingfeng couldn't easily judge.
If it were a living being, he could tell its identity at a glance, even if it were a corpse.
But without a soul, without Life, without spiritual aura, without cultivation, without even flesh and blood, leaving only a dried corpse—this was truly hard to judge.
He had never done this kind of thing before.
Dead was dead. Who cared what he was in life.
Just as he was about to leave, Gu Qingfeng suddenly stopped. A thought struck him—he had a method.
He might not be able to determine the other's identity in life through a dried corpse, but he could through the bones.
After all, Immortals cultivate the Immortal Dao, Buddhas the Buddha Dao, Demons the Monster Dao, Monsters the Monster Dao.
Immortals and Buddhas absorb pure spiritual energy, while Demons and Monsters absorb turbid spiritual energy.
Furthermore, Immortals and Buddhas pursue utmost purity and yang, like the great sun, while Demons and Monsters pursue turbid yin, like the full moon.
Because the spiritual energy absorbed differed, the Dao pursued differed, so naturally the physical bodies would not be the same.
Different physical bodies, different bones.
This book is in its later stages...
I've been stuck for a while, please forgive me...
I will work hard to write it well and finish it...