Gazing at the three Heavenly Human skeletons before him, Gu Qingfeng suddenly remembered his Master: Zhenjue.
Looking back to those distant years.
When he was still young and being hunted by various major sects of the mortal world, it was his Master who had stepped forward in the end to save him, bringing him back to the Shangqing Sect to cultivate.
During those years of cultivation at Shangqing Sect, his Master had not taught him any cultivation methods, only four words: the nature of humanity.
Adhere to your nature; do not forget your original heart.
This was the first thing his Master had said to him, and also the last.
Gu Qingfeng had always kept it in mind.
For many years, this was how he had conducted himself.
And precisely because he had always adhered to his nature and not forgotten his original heart, throughout his journey he had descended into madness several times, undergone Nirvana several times, experienced rebirth several times, and lost his way several times, yet in the end he had always been able to find himself again. Even bearing numerous mysterious destinies, even deeply entangled in Original Sin, he still adhered to his nature and did not forget his original heart.
He still clearly remembered the last time he saw his Master. His Master had once told him stories of the Human Dao.
His Master said that long, long ago, all living beings were equal.
Immortals and Buddhas, demons and monsters, humans and spirits, ghosts and specters—there was no distinction of nobility or baseness. Though Heaven was revered, all Great Daos resonated together.
It was only later, in the struggle among the Great Daos, that the Heavenly Dao became dominant, forcing the other Great Daos to submit.
And later still, Original Sin rose, and the Three Thousand Great Daos fell one after another...
Only, some Great Daos revived, while others vanished...
Back then.
Gu Qingfeng did not understand.
Only now did he realize that the era his Master spoke of was precisely the Desolate Ancient Era.
And he dared to be certain that his Master must have been one of the primordial ancestors of the Human Dao.
Gu Qingfeng knew that everything had cause and effect.
The people he had met along his journey were absolutely not coincidences.
Like Yun Nishang, like Feng Zhuyue, like Jun Xuanji, and so on. He believed that his Master saving him back then and teaching him the nature of humanity was also absolutely not a coincidence.
He had once gestated a Tai Chi Golden Core, used that Tai Chi Golden Core to gestate the All-Beings' Pagoda of Ten Thousand Appearances Paying Homage, and moreover possessed within himself a Human Dao destiny that reached from the highest heavens down to the Yellow Springs.
Therefore, he suspected whether his Master had saved him hoping he would revive the glory of the Human Dao.
If that were the case.
He would spare no effort to fulfill his Master's wish.
To be honest.
He didn't care what purpose his Master might have had in saving him back then.
He only cared that his Master had saved him and had the grace of instructing him.
That was enough.
Everything else was simply unimportant.
Regarding this.
He had even asked his Master directly.
His Master had admitted that saving Gu Qingfeng involved personal motives, but these motives were not about wanting Gu Qingfeng to revive the Human Dao.
As for what those motives were.
His Master hadn't said, only told him to adhere to his nature and not forget his original heart.
Although he had done exactly that all these years, he still couldn't figure out what exactly his Master's so-called personal motives were.
Even less did he understand what profound mysteries and truths were contained within those eight words: 'Adhere to your nature; do not forget your original heart.'
It was said that when the Desolate Ancient Era ended, after many great powers deduced the fate of the future, they all began laying out their schemes.
Some reincarnated as innate bearers of Original Sin.
Some directly fused with the Blood of Original Sin.
Some used clones or incarnations to contend for Original Sin.
All of these Gu Qingfeng could understand. After all, the Book of Fate recorded that the existence of the True Lord of Original Sin determined the fate of the Great Dao and the world.
What he couldn't understand was, why did some great powers lay schemes on him?
Why did Yun Nishang, Feng Zhuyue, Jun Xuanji lay schemes on him?
His Master who taught him humanity, the Great Master who taught him Buddha Dharma, including the Old Master who taught him principles.
What schemes exactly were they laying on him?
Could it be they truly believed he would ascend to become the True Lord of Original Sin?
Or was he truly the destined True Lord of Original Sin?
Gu Qingfeng shook his head.
He really couldn't be bothered to think about this question.
He continued wandering within Zhen Palace. As he stepped onto ruin after ruin, Gu Qingfeng grew increasingly certain that these ruins floating within Zhen Palace were definitely relics from the Desolate Ancient Era.
Only, he didn't understand.
Why had those Desolate Ancient ruins from before all turned into deserts, while these ruins remained completely unaffected and intact? It felt to him as if the other Desolate Ancient ruins had turned into deserts after experiencing countless ages, while the ruins here seemed as if they hadn't experienced the passage of time at all.
All were Desolate Ancient ruins, all were within the Desolate Ancient Black Hole, so why were the outcomes different?
Exactly why, Gu Qingfeng couldn't figure it out for the moment.
He pondered that perhaps it was related to the profoundly mysterious transformations of this Zhen Palace.
He stood on a piece of ruin, raising his eyes to look around, gazing at the seemingly vast and boundless Zhen Palace.
Although there were no chaotic currents within Zhen Palace—not even a single one—all the floating ruins were slowly rotating, circle after circle, as if caught in an endless vortex.
Looking down, it was bottomless, like an abyss.
Moreover, Gu Qingfeng always had a feeling, a feeling that this Zhen Palace might be related to Original Sin, or perhaps it should be said that Zhen Palace might contain some existence of Original Sin.
He had this feeling from the moment he entered. The deeper he went, the stronger the feeling became.
It was as if something was summoning him.
Yes.
Summoning.
This feeling again.
Earlier, in the Desolate Ancient Black Hole, when the tremendous sound had come, he had felt as if something was summoning him. After entering Zhen Palace, although there was no tremendous sound, the feeling had instead grown stronger.
The difference was.
The summoning of the tremendous sound gave him a feeling of being elusive, illusory, unreal, like an illusion.
Whereas the summoning upon entering Zhen Palace felt very real. He could clearly sense that deep within Zhen Palace, there was an existence summoning him.
This feeling was strange, indescribable and inexplicable, like a telepathic connection, like a mutual understanding and appreciation, even like a blood connection.
This couldn't help but leave Gu Qingfeng somewhat perplexed. He had only randomly entered Zhen Palace among the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces. How could it be such a coincidence that Zhen Palace was related to Original Sin?
Was this a coincidence?
Or happenstance?
Was it cause and effect, or truly destined by fate?
Or perhaps...
All the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces were related to Original Sin.
Gu Qingfeng did not continue investigating deeply within Zhen Palace. Instead, he left Zhen Palace and then entered Kan Palace.
Fortunately.
Things weren't as eerie as he had imagined, because after entering Kan Palace, he also had the feeling of being summoned.
After leaving Kan Palace, he entered Gen Palace. Like Zhen Palace and Kan Palace, within Gen Palace he also had the feeling of being summoned.
Immediately after, he successively entered Qian Palace, Xun Palace, and Li Palace, entering nearly all of the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces one by one. As he had guessed, all the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces were related to Original Sin.
Not only that.
Each of the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces contained different mysteries, different transformations, and within each palace floated endless Desolate Ancient ruins.