Throughout the ages, a saying has circulated in the Great Wilderness: the older one lives, the smaller one's courage becomes.
In his youth, Gu Qingfeng felt this saying was utter nonsense.
Even later, when he ascended to the position of Monarch and faced judgment from the Immortal Dao, and even later when he became the Nine Nethers Emperor and set the Nine Heavens ablaze, he still could not understand this saying.
It was only after the end of the Ancient Era, after his rebirth in the Current Era, that he gradually began to comprehend it. Especially after he began seeking Karma and stepped into Original Sin, he understood more and more the true meaning of 'the older one lives, the smaller one's courage becomes'.
In youth, one is fearless because of ignorance.
In old age, having experienced more and knowing more—knowing there are heavens beyond heavens, and existence beyond the Great Dao—one's courage thus gradually diminishes.
This was Gu Qingfeng's first time entering the Primordial Black Hole. Although Da Xing the Mad Monk had repeatedly advised him and told him of the various terrors of the Primordial Black Hole, he hadn't taken it to heart, nor did he care in the slightest. It was all the same to him.
With this experience, if he were to enter the Primordial Black Hole again, Gu Qingfeng would definitely be more cautious, at least not as fearless and reckless as he was this time.
"Kid Gu, was that wisp of Demonic Thought Beyond the Great Dao fused within that Primordial Ruin with the chaotic space?" Da Xing the Mad Monk's voice came through.
Gu Qingfeng nodded in response. "Correct."
"I say, kid, this old monk knows you've always had a big heart, but I never imagined your heart could be so big it's boundless and limitless! You fusing with the demonic thoughts of those few Original Sin Sons is one thing—though they were overlords of the Primordial Era, they were still within the order of the Great Dao's Laws. But how dare you even fuse with a Demonic Thought Beyond the Great Dao? Weren't you afraid it would devour your self-consciousness? Isn't your courage a bit too great?"
"You think I wanted to fuse with it?"
"What? Don't tell me that wisp of Demonic Thought Beyond the Great Dao forced its way to your doorstep, actively seeking to fuse with you? Even so, couldn't you have resisted? Just stood there and let it merge? If you couldn't resist, didn't you know to run? Don't tell this old monk you couldn't even run."
"I didn't resist, nor did I run."
"Then why?"
"To tell you the truth, at the time, I had no idea what was happening. That thing just inexplicably merged into my body. Forget running, forget resisting—I didn't even have time to react before the damn thing had already merged into my body without any warning." Gu Qingfeng said helplessly. "And after merging, it immediately went dormant. I couldn't even detect it, only vaguely sense its presence."
"That wisp of Demonic Thought Beyond the Great Dao..." Da Xing the Mad Monk was horrified. "Is it really that bizarre?"
"What else did you think? If it hadn't suddenly started stirring restlessly earlier, I'd almost forgotten there was such an ominous object inside me." At this point, Gu Qingfeng asked, "There's one thing I particularly don't understand. Why do you say that thing is a Demonic Thought Beyond the Great Dao?"
"Don't tell this old monk you had no idea that thing was Beyond the Great Dao?"
"To be honest, I really didn't know. Didn't I just say? After it merged, it went dormant. I never got the chance to investigate it."
"Fine! Your heart is truly vast. This old monk is utterly convinced!" Da Xing the Mad Monk was growing more and more impressed by Gu Qingfeng. To inexplicably fuse with a Demonic Thought Beyond the Great Dao and not only be indifferent about it but to have almost forgotten the whole affair... if it were Da Xing the Mad Monk, if he had inexplicably fused with some mysterious unknown entity, he would certainly eat poorly and sleep worse, never resting until he figured it out.
He believed anyone else would do the same.
Looking across all ages and realms, probably only Gu Qingfeng could have a heart so vast.
"You still haven't answered my question. Why do you say that thing is an existence Beyond the Great Dao?"
"Nonsense! That thing belongs neither to darkness and evil, nor to sacred radiance. If it's not an existence Beyond the Great Dao, then what is it?" Da Xing the Mad Monk knew Gu Qingfeng's cultivation common sense was always lacking and explained, "All things between heaven and earth, as long as they are within the Laws of the Great Dao, either belong to darkness and evil or to sacred radiance. There is no third possibility."
"Why?"
"Why even ask? The theory of the Great Dao—'From One comes Two Aspects'—have you heard of it? The One represents Chaos. The Two Aspects represent Yin and Yang. Darkness and evil represent Yin. Sacred radiance represents Yang. There's also a saying: Heaven is Yang, Earth is Yin. All things between heaven and earth are born from this, naturally within the Laws of the Great Dao."
Although Gu Qingfeng's cultivation common sense was lacking, he had heard of the Great Dao theory 'From One comes Two Aspects' and knew all things were within the Great Dao's Laws. He asked, "Then what about Original Sin?"
"Original Sin is not within the Laws of the Great Dao. Besides Original Sin, there is also Primordial Origin. Legend says these two existences have existed since the Chaos Era. In other words, before heaven and earth were opened, before the Great Dao emerged, before Laws were derived, and before order was established, Original Sin and Primordial Origin already existed."
"Besides Original Sin and Primordial Origin, what other existences are Beyond the Great Dao?"
"This..." Da Xing the Mad Monk responded, "As far as this old monk knows, the only existences Beyond the Great Dao are Original Sin and Primordial Origin. As for others... this old monk truly doesn't know."
"If that thing on me is an existence Beyond the Great Dao, is it Original Sin or Primordial Origin?"
"Neither, probably. At least, this old monk thinks it's not. After all, existences Beyond the Great Dao shouldn't be limited to just Original Sin and Primordial Origin. There might be others, but we have limited knowledge and simply don't know."
"Can it be understood that 'Beyond the Great Dao' is Chaos?"
"This... hard to say, and not easy to explain. Whether 'Beyond the Great Dao' is Chaos, this old monk doesn't know. However... all existences Beyond the Great Dao should be born from Chaos."
"I remember hearing you say that Original Sin gave birth to darkness and evil, and Primordial Origin gave birth to sacred radiance. Why are darkness/evil and sacred radiance within the Great Dao, while Original Sin and Primordial Origin are Beyond it?"
"Isn't that easy to understand? If Original Sin and Primordial Origin are the fathers, then sacred radiance and darkness/evil are the sons. The fathers are Beyond the Great Dao, the sons are within it. That's not strange, is it?" Da Xing the Mad Monk rubbed his bald head, trying to explain. "It's like two Celestial Immortals. Celestial Immortals are born as immortals, but the sons they bear aren't necessarily Celestial Immortals; they might be mortals."
"Original Sin and Primordial Origin are existences Beyond the Great Dao, but the sons they give birth to aren't necessarily Beyond the Great Dao. It's the same principle as the Celestial Immortals."
Hearing this, Gu Qingfeng chuckled wryly, finding this explanation utterly speechless to refute.
"Alright, even if what you, old bald donkey, say is true, don't you think your words are contradictory?"
"What words? Where's the contradiction?"
"You said sacred radiance and darkness/evil were born from Primordial Origin and Original Sin. Just now you also said the Great Dao theory states 'From One comes Two Aspects.' The One is like Chaos, the Two Aspects are Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang represent sacred radiance and darkness/evil. So then... are darkness/evil and sacred radiance born from Primordial Origin/Original Sin, or are they born from Chaos's Yin and Yang?"
"This... this..." Da Xing the Mad Monk stammered for a while but couldn't produce a coherent answer. He shook his head fiercely. "Kid Gu, stop being so nitpicky, alright? The questions you're asking are all too damn profound. This old monk can't answer them. Not only can this old monk not answer, but even the supposedly omniscient Genggu Wuming might not be able to answer either."
"Whether it's theories of the Great Dao or Original Sin and Primordial Origin, they're all damn ancient legends. Who knows which is true and which is false?"
Gu Qingfeng didn't continue questioning. He continued deeper into the void while lost in thought.
After a moment, he shook his head and said, "Let's set that question aside for now. There's one more thing I don't understand."
"What is it?"
"Does the Great Dao truly have an 'outside'?"
"This..." Clearly, Gu Qingfeng's question had once again touched upon Da Xing the Mad Monk's blind spot.
Before Da Xing the Mad Monk could respond, Gu Qingfeng added, "Anyway, I feel the Great Dao has no end, nor could it possibly have an end. There's an old saying you should have heard."
"What old saying?"
"'There are heavens beyond heavens!'"
"Nonsense! How could this old monk not have heard that saying? Not only have I heard it, but I also know the Primordial Nine Palaces, even the Primordial Black Hole, including the fact that we are currently in the Endless Sea of the Heavens Beyond Heavens."
"Since there are heavens beyond heavens, how do you know that 'Beyond the Great Dao' isn't just another part of the Great Dao?"
"This..." Gu Qingfeng's words left Da Xing the Mad Monk scratching his head, truly unsure how to respond. Because before this, he had never considered this question. 'Heavens beyond heavens' he often heard, but 'Dao beyond Dao'—that was unheard of.
"Wait! No! Good heavens! This old monk almost got tangled up in your logic!" Da Xing the Mad Monk thought for a moment and felt something was off. "The reason this Endless Primordial Ruin Sea is called the Heavens Beyond Heavens is because the Laws of Heaven and Earth cannot envelop this place. Precisely because there are no Heaven and Earth Laws here, chaotic spatial flows, temporal flows, and even spacetime flows appear."
He paused, then continued, "Moreover, this old monk never said that 'Beyond the Great Dao' isn't the Great Dao. This old monk only said that thing on you is not within the Laws of the Great Dao."
"That's exactly what I wanted to say."
"What? What do you mean 'exactly what you wanted to say'?" Da Xing the Mad Monk was completely confused by Gu Qingfeng's words. "What exactly are you trying to say, kid? Jumping from one topic to another, your words don't match up at all!"
"What I want to say is: what are the Laws of Heaven and Earth, and what are the Laws of the Great Dao? I'm getting more and more of a feeling that these two Laws are one and the same."
After hearing Gu Qingfeng's words, Da Xing the Mad Monk was first stunned, then burst into inexplicable laughter.