Da Xing the Mad Monk had clashed with Cang Yan on numerous occasions. He admitted that Cang Yan's cultivation was profound, her strength formidable, her fortune abundant, and her divine abilities vast. Whether in cunning or methods, she was exceptionally brilliant. Every time they fought, Da Xing the Mad Monk would be beaten back step by step, covered in dust and grime, sometimes even left utterly defenseless.
Yet, even so.
To say that Cang Yan hadn't even moved, hadn't even made a move, and could obliterate his External Incarnation without any warning...
Da Xing the Mad Monk felt that even with Cang Yan's capabilities, she couldn't achieve that.
Nor did he believe that anyone in all the heavens and myriad worlds was so powerful, so powerful as to be able to silently and imperceptibly erase his External Incarnation.
If such a person existed.
Then that person must be Genggu Wuming.
Apart from her, absolutely no one else possessed such skill.
Although Da Xing the Mad Monk had never crossed hands with Genggu Wuming—more than that, from the Primordial Era until now, he had never even seen Genggu Wuming make a move—
He still firmly believed that Genggu Wuming possessed terrifyingly dreadful power.
Firstly, he had this feeling. Secondly, while he had never seen Genggu Wuming act, it didn't mean her existence was merely as an Incarnation of Karma or a messenger of fate. He had always felt that Genggu Wuming absolutely possessed power so terrifying it was unimaginable.
If it weren't so, how were those Original-Sin Patriarchs suppressed in the Guixu?
One must know that the Original-Sin Patriarchs who appeared after the Primordial Era were either all obliterated by the Desolate Ancient Heavenly General Dugu Qiuzhan, who represented the Heavenly Dao, or were cast into the Guixu by Genggu Wuming.
Just think of those Original-Sin Patriarchs in the Guixu—each one was a terrifying existence. If Genggu Wuming didn't possess dreadful power, how could she so easily cast them into the Guixu?
Therefore.
Da Xing the Mad Monk felt that his sudden loss of connection with his External Incarnation in the Kan Palace was definitely Genggu Wuming's doing.
What made him both furious and fearful was that he had no idea what state his External Incarnation was in now.
If it had merely been obliterated by Genggu Wuming, Da Xing the Mad Monk wouldn't be afraid.
Losing one External Incarnation would affect his true body, but it wasn't a major issue. He could afford the loss and bear the consequence.
What he feared was that his External Incarnation hadn't been obliterated but had instead fallen into Genggu Wuming's hands.
This was not an uncommon occurrence.
Demon Emperor Blood River had played this very trick earlier. The reason the senior from the Xuanmiao Grotto-Heaven had gritted his teeth and begged Da Xing the Mad Monk to intervene was precisely because he feared Demon Emperor Blood River's goal wasn't as simple as just refining the Divine Sense of Wuzang Emperor and Heavenly Dragon True Emperor.
Others might not know.
But Da Xing the Mad Monk knew very clearly that holding someone else's Divine Sense allowed one to do far, far too many things.
Setting other things aside.
Simply throwing your Divine Sense into a cauldron to be burned could make your true body's mind and spirit suffer unbearably. This method of boiling a frog in warm water was like pricking you with a needle incessantly, capable of driving you to mental collapse and leaving an indelible shadow on your mind and spirit.
Moreover.
Everyone knew that through a wisp of Divine Sense, one could glimpse the secrets of the true body. Even if you erased the secrets of your true body, they could still be deduced through some memories.
Da Xing the Mad Monk wasn't afraid of Genggu Wuming using a wisp of his Divine Sense to torment his true body's mind and spirit.
He was afraid of Genggu Wuming using a wisp of his Divine Sense to deduce his secrets.
Although he had long guarded against this, specifically erasing the secrets related to his true body from his External Incarnation, he couldn't stop Genggu Wuming from using the memories within the Divine Sense to deduce them.
What worried Da Xing the Mad Monk the most was, what if Genggu Wuming used a wisp of his Divine Sense to lay Karma upon him, or arrange some fate for him? Then damn it all...
Could one lay Karma or arrange fate using just a wisp of Divine Sense?
Others might not be able to do it, but Genggu Wuming might very well be capable. After all, she was the Incarnation of Karma, the messenger of fate. Using a strand of Divine Sense to lay some Karma or arrange some fate shouldn't be difficult for her.
Thinking of this.
Da Xing the Mad Monk felt as aggrieved and as terrified as one could possibly feel.
Yet besides grievance and fear, what he felt more was regret!
Endless regret.
He had originally thought to act tough once in front of Cang Yan and Genggu Wuming, to straighten his back and play the master for once. For this, Da Xing the Mad Monk had also prepared for the worst—at most, losing one External Incarnation.
He had reckoned that even if he couldn't win by exerting all his strength, he could at least escape. At worst, he could have his External Incarnation end itself.
But what drove him to despair was that he never expected, damn it all, that without even getting a chance to make a move, damn it all, it was already over.
Now that External Incarnation's fate, life or death, was unknown.
What should he do?
Go to the Kan Palace to check?
Da Xing the Mad Monk thought about it and immediately killed that notion.
One External Incarnation was already lost. If he threw his true body in as well, then it would be truly, completely over.
Should he send another Incarnation to check?
No!
That method wouldn't work either.
Going would be a waste of time, and he might just deliver another strand of Divine Sense to Genggu Wuming.
"Damn it all!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk's face was ashen. He yanked the monk's cap off his head, slumped down in the void, and muttered despondently, "Screwed. This time I'm really screwed."
Regret!
Nothing but regret.
Da Xing the Mad Monk regretted going to watch that spectacle, regretted joining in that commotion.
Regretted having nothing better to do than chase after Blood River, and regretted cursing Cang Yan and Genggu Wuming right in front of Blood River!
A thousand regrets, ten thousand regrets—he shouldn't have let his brain overheat and insisted on acting tough in front of those two women!
If, when he encountered Cang Yan and Genggu Wuming, he had acted as he had the previous times—lowering his head, admitting defeat—though it would have been somewhat humiliating and cowardly, it would have been far better than having a strand of Divine Sense fall into Genggu Wuming's hands.
The more Da Xing the Mad Monk thought about it, the more he regretted it. The more he thought, the more he wanted to slap himself hard across the face!
In his view, all of this was the damn fault of the Xuanmiao Grotto-Heaven!
If it weren't for those old fellows from the Xuanmiao Grotto-Heaven shamelessly tricking This Old Monk into stepping forward to plead for those two brats, he wouldn't have ended up in this predicament!
Plead!
In the end, Demon Emperor Blood River directly made his move and obliterated the Divine Sense of those two brats, Wuzang Emperor and the other. Finally, those old 'good fellows' from the Xuanmiao Grotto-Heaven didn't have to worry anymore.
But damn it all!
This Old Monk's Divine Sense ended up in Genggu Wuming's hands.
This Old Monk pleaded for the Xuanmiao Grotto-Heaven, but who the hell is going to plead for This Old Monk?
Beside him.
Gu Qingfeng didn't know about Da Xing the Mad Monk's ordeal in the Kan Palace. At the moment, seeing Da Xing the Mad Monk looking utterly wretched and miserable, he was quite puzzled and asked, "I say, you old bald donkey, what exactly is wrong with you? Looking at you, anyone would think you'd been gang-raped."
"Being gang-raped would be better!
This Old Monk would rather be gang-raped than have a strand of Divine Sense fall into the hands of that woman Genggu Wuming."
"Divine Sense?
Fallen into Genggu Wuming's hands?"
Gu Qingfeng frowned. "When did this happen? How come I didn't know?"
"Just a short while ago!"
"Just now?"
"Not This Old Monk, but one of This Old Monk's External Incarnations!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk didn't hide it and roughly explained what had happened to him in the Kan Palace.
Gu Qingfeng wasn't surprised that Da Xing the Mad Monk had External Incarnations. Not long after he entered the Li Palace and ran into Da Xing the Mad Monk, he knew this old bald donkey must have External Incarnations, and definitely more than one. It was highly likely they were spread throughout the Primordial Nine Palaces. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been such a coincidence that Gu Qingfeng ran into Da Xing the Mad Monk right after entering the Li Palace.
Conceiving an External Incarnation wasn't some high-level technique. Gu Qingfeng had known how to do it very, very early on—so early he was still in the mortal world, before he had even entered the Great Wilderness. Moreover, later, in order to evade the judgment of the Great Dao, he had specifically conceived quite a few External Incarnations.
It's just that later, without exception, they were all obliterated to ashes by the judgment of the Great Dao.
When the Primordial Era ended, Gu Qingfeng's true body was judged and underwent Nirvanic Rebirth. Naturally, all his External Incarnations were also doomed.
After the Ancient Era began, although his true body was reborn, he never conceived another External Incarnation, not even one.
The reason was simple.
He was tired.
And didn't have the heart or energy to bother with it anymore.
Especially after coming into contact with Karma and stepping onto the path of Original Sin, he became even lazier about conceiving External Incarnations.
Even managing just this one true body felt exhausting enough. Where would he find the spare energy to mess with External Incarnations?
However, after hearing about Da Xing the Mad Monk's ordeal in the Kan Palace, Gu Qingfeng was quite surprised. He hadn't expected such a major event to have occurred in the Kan Palace—that major Dao overlords like Demon Emperor Blood River and Miao Rulai had stepped forward, and from the sound of Da Xing the Mad Monk's words, they had even made moves.
"I say, Da Xing, aren't you being rather inconsiderate? With such a big spectacle in the Kan Palace, why didn't you call me?"
Gu Qingfeng was someone who loved watching spectacles.
Always had been.
Learning that such a big spectacle had happened in the Kan Palace and he had missed it left him somewhat displeased.
"Gu kid!
Gu master!
My Gu great ancestor!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk glared with furious eyes, shouting angrily, "A strand of This Old Monk's Divine Sense has damn well fallen into the hands of that damned woman Genggu Wuming! Not only do you not show any concern, you actually damn well complain that This Old Monk didn't take you to watch the spectacle!"
"That's exactly the point!
If you had said something, and the two of us had gone to the Kan Palace to watch the spectacle together, with me there, could your Divine Sense have still fallen into Genggu Wuming's hands?
The two of us join forces, could we really not defeat that woman Genggu Wuming?
Never mind that little woman Genggu Wuming, even if we added that little woman Cang Yan, the two of us join forces fighting them would still be more than enough."
Hearing Gu Qingfeng say this, Da Xing the Mad Monk immediately felt a bit regretful too. He thought about it; if he had really taken Gu Qingfeng to the Kan Palace to watch the spectacle, perhaps he could have avoided this calamity.
To say that he and Gu Qingfeng join forces fighting Genggu Wuming and Cang Yan would be more than enough might be somewhat exaggerated. But if Gu Qingfeng had been present at the time, both Cang Yan and Genggu Wuming would have had to weigh their actions carefully.
"You're right, kid!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk scratched his bald head vigorously, blaming himself. "Why did This Old Monk forget to take you, kid, along to watch the spectacle at the time!
If you had been there, This Old Monk wouldn't have had to suffer that little woman Cang Yan's humiliation, much less have his Divine Sense fall into Genggu Wuming's hands!"
Gu Qingfeng shrugged. "So you see!
Remember to call me when there's a spectacle in the future. Don't damn well just watch by yourself."
"What's the use of saying all this now? This Old Monk doesn't even know if that External Incarnation is alive or dead. If This Old Monk's Divine Sense has really fallen into Genggu Wuming's hands, then what should This Old Monk do?!"