The Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces were vast and boundless, ever-changing, containing endless mysteries.
One lifeless Desolate Ancient ruin after another floated in the void, shifting and changing along with the transformations of the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces.
What was even more bizarre was that as they ventured deeper, the size of these Desolate Ancient ruins grew larger and larger. If the ruins earlier were like mountains, the ones now more closely resembled entire mountain ranges and vast landscapes, appearing magnificent and majestic.
It gave the impression that these Desolate Ancient ruins were gradually merging together as the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces changed.
Gu Qingfeng strolled leisurely through the void, sipping his wine as he went deeper, his eyes wandering left and right to observe the ruins in the void that resembled mountains and rivers.
Da Xing the Mad Monk chased closely behind, asking question after question until Gu Qingfeng seemed somewhat impatient. He stopped and glanced at him, saying, "I say, Da Xing, you old bald donkey, why are your questions endless? Aren't you thirsty?"
"Kid Gu, saying that is rather heartless, don't you think? This Old Monk is concerned about your safety, that's why I want to know your situation. Try someone else? This Old Monk wouldn't even bother to acknowledge them. Don't you fail to recognize a good heart, kid."
"Enough already, a 'good heart'? Aren't you blushing saying that?"
"Why should This Old Monk blush?"
"Da Xing!"
Gu Qingfeng patted Da Xing the Mad Monk's shoulder and laughed. "We're both smart people. Don't speak in circles in front of smart people. I'm not unaware of the little schemes you old bald donkey has in mind."
Hearing this, Da Xing the Mad Monk immediately became displeased, exclaiming, "Kid Gu! By heaven and earth, my conscience is clear! Whether others have any little schemes against you, This Old Monk doesn't know, but I absolutely have no little schemes against you. If you don't believe me, This Old Monk can swear by heaven. If that's not enough, I can even utter a curse. Whatever you want, kid."
Upon hearing this, Gu Qingfeng laughed. Looking at Da Xing the Mad Monk's serious and earnest face, he said with utter speechlessness, "I used to only know you old bald donkey were shameless. Today I've discovered you motherfucker don't even have a face. You can actually say such shameless words right to my face. Do you even have any face left?"
No matter how Gu Qingfeng mocked or ridiculed him, Da Xing the Mad Monk remained unblushing and unflustered, his expression solemn and righteous. He swore by heaven and uttered curses. If not for knowing what kind of character Da Xing the Mad Monk was, Gu Qingfeng might have actually believed this old bald donkey's words.
His acting skills were truly top-notch, absolutely impeccable.
Gu Qingfeng shook his head, too lazy to continue bickering with Da Xing the Mad Monk. Just as he was about to venture deeper, he suddenly remembered something. He stared at Da Xing the Mad Monk and asked a rather serious question: "Da Xing, isn't there something you haven't considered?"
"What thing?"
"Are you so certain my Ego Consciousness wasn't devoured?"
Hearing Gu Qingfeng's question, Da Xing the Mad Monk's heart couldn't help but skip a beat. He curled his lip and said, "Nonsense! If your Ego Consciousness was truly devoured, could you still be standing here talking to This Old Monk like this?"
"What's so impossible about that?" Gu Qingfeng chuckled. "Maybe my Ego Consciousness was devoured by that ominous thing long ago. The 'me' now is just that ominous thing in disguise. You should know, once it devours my Ego Consciousness, pretending to be me would be far too easy, and it'd be hard to tell the real from the fake. That's not uncommon."
"Heh heh!" Da Xing the Mad Monk grinned and said, "To be honest with you, kid, for a brief moment at first, This Old Monk really did suspect it. But after thinking about it later, I realized it was simply impossible. Now This Old Monk is even more certain you couldn't possibly be the Divine Sense demonic thought from beyond the Great Dao in disguise."
Gu Qingfeng asked curiously, "And why is that? Tell me."
"You're right, kid. If that wisp of Divine Sense from beyond the Great Dao truly devoured your Ego Consciousness and then disguised itself as you, outsiders probably really couldn't tell the difference."
Da Xing the Mad Monk wasn't lying this time. When he discovered Gu Qingfeng's Ego Consciousness hadn't been devoured, he had indeed been suspicious.
Because he knew that devouring Ego Consciousness was far more terrifying than devouring Divine Sense.
Divine Sense and consciousness were two different concepts.
Divine Sense came from the mind-heart, while consciousness came from the soul.
Devouring Divine Sense, at worst, meant having one's memories read.
But if one's Ego Consciousness was devoured, it was almost equivalent to having one's soul devoured. Not only would memories be read, but one's mind-heart, spirit, even thoughts, innermost feelings—everything would no longer hold any secrets.
In such a case, if the other party wanted to impersonate you, outsiders would truly find it difficult to detect.
However.
It was only difficult for outsiders to detect.
For familiar people, like close friends and relatives, or blood kin, careful observation could still distinguish the real from the fake.
Devouring consciousness might allow one to know all of another's secrets.
But there was one thing that could not be read, discerned, or even imitated and faked.
That was one's Innate Nature.
Innate Nature was one's character.
This thing was ingrained in one's bones, something one was born with, possessed by all people and all things between heaven and earth.
And every person's Innate Nature was different.
Even if consciousness was devoured, even if the soul was devoured, even if one knew the mind-heart, knew the heart-spirit, even knew the mental state, one could never know the Innate Nature. Taking it a step further, even if one truly knew the Innate Nature, this ethereal, intangible thing could not be faked by an outsider.
Because Innate Nature had another name: it was called Fate, and some also called it the Source of Karma.
A person's karma had nothing to do with their physical body, nor with their soul, but was related to their Innate Nature.
Cultivation, cultivation.
One cultivated the heart, and walked the Dao.
What kind of Innate Nature you cultivated would determine what kind of Dao you walked, and what kind of Dao you walked would determine what kind of karma you accrued.
For example, a kind-hearted person would naturally walk the path of light and accrue good karma.
While an evil-hearted person would inevitably walk the path of darkness and naturally accrue evil karma.
Innate Nature determined karma, and karma determined a person's fate.
The old saying, 'character determines fate,' originated from this.
The reason Da Xing the Mad Monk dared to be certain that Gu Qingfeng could not possibly be the Divine Sense demonic thought from beyond the Great Dao in disguise was precisely because of this.
Although he and Gu Qingfeng shared no blood relation, and perhaps couldn't even be considered close friends, that didn't mean he didn't understand Gu Qingfeng. On the contrary, his understanding of Gu Qingfeng might surpass even Gu Qingfeng's understanding of himself.
If asked what kind of person Gu Qingfeng was.
Da Xing the Mad Monk would definitely answer with four words: following his heart's desires.
This was both Gu Qingfeng's Innate Nature and his character.
Don't underestimate these simple four words. Throughout all of history and the world, the number of existences truly capable of following their heart's desires could be counted on one hand.
So far, Da Xing the Mad Monk only knew of one person who had truly achieved following his heart's desires: Gu Qingfeng.
If he wanted to, even the smallest matters would concern him.
If he didn't want to, even matters of heaven-shattering importance, he couldn't be bothered to glance at.
For Gu Qingfeng, there was never right or wrong in this world, nor good or evil—only what he wanted and didn't want.
This was Gu Qingfeng.
His casualness was ingrained in his very bones. Without Gu Qingfeng's Innate Nature of following his heart's desires, it was impossible to imitate or fake, not even for the Divine Sense demonic thought from beyond the Great Dao. In fact, Da Xing the Mad Monk dared say that if the Divine Sense demonic thought from beyond the Great Dao truly devoured Gu Qingfeng's Ego Consciousness and then disguised itself as Gu Qingfeng, he felt that even with his eyes closed, he could tell the real from the fake.
Every word and action of Gu Qingfeng, each sentence, each character, even a glance, a thought, all exuded that unique casualness.
Between heaven and earth, only he was like this.
Like the countless stars in the night sky, Gu Qingfeng might not be the most dazzling among the brilliant stars, but he was definitely the most casual one.
Da Xing the Mad Monk couldn't detect Gu Qingfeng's presence with Divine Sense, but he could find Gu Qingfeng's trace in the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces the first time precisely because of that unique casualness emanating from Gu Qingfeng.
Besides this.
There was another point that allowed Da Xing the Mad Monk to conclude that Gu Qingfeng couldn't possibly be the Divine Sense demonic thought from beyond the Great Dao in disguise.
He didn't know the purpose of the Divine Sense demonic thought from beyond the Great Dao devouring Gu Qingfeng's Ego Consciousness.
Perhaps it was to covet the True Lord of Original Sin, or perhaps not.
If it was to covet Original Sin, there was simply no need to disguise itself as Gu Qingfeng.
The reason was simple.
Devouring Gu Qingfeng's Ego Consciousness, even if it dominated his soul and occupied his physical body, did not equate to devouring Gu Qingfeng's Innate Nature and Fate.
All signs indicated that Gu Qingfeng was the True Lord of Original Sin recorded in the Book of Fate. These signs were not because of his soul or physical body, but because of his karma.
If Gu Qingfeng's Ego Consciousness was devoured, his Innate Nature and Fate would vanish into thin ash along with it. With Fate gone, all karma related to him would naturally dissipate like smoke.
Thus, dominating his soul and occupying his physical body would become utterly meaningless.
Without meaning, there was no need to disguise oneself as Gu Qingfeng.
If the Divine Sense demonic thought from beyond the Great Dao devoured Gu Qingfeng's Ego Consciousness not to covet the True Lord of Original Sin, but merely to seize his physical body for survival, there was even less need to disguise itself as Gu Qingfeng.
Based on these two points, Da Xing the Mad Monk dared conclude that Gu Qingfeng could not possibly be the Divine Sense demonic thought from beyond the Great Dao in disguise.
After listening to Da Xing the Mad Monk's words, Gu Qingfeng was inwardly quite surprised. He truly hadn't expected Da Xing the Mad Monk to have such a meticulous side.
Honestly.
It really made a lot of sense.
It also benefited Gu Qingfeng greatly. To be honest, if Da Xing the Mad Monk's Ego Consciousness were devoured and someone disguised themselves as him, Gu Qingfeng wouldn't dare be a hundred percent certain of the truth.
"I never expected you, old bald donkey, to have such profound attainment. I really underestimated you before."
"Haha!" Da Xing the Mad Monk laughed triumphantly. "Of course! Just look at who This Old Monk is! How could my attainment be shallow? Let me tell you, kid, the depth of This Old Monk's attainment absolutely exceeds your imagination. So, I advise you to behave yourself in the future. Don't try to play any mind games with This Old Monk. The moment you stick out your ass, This Old Monk knows exactly what kind of shit you're about to take!"
"Haha! I say you're fat, you old bald donkey, and you really start panting!"