"Kid Gu, where exactly are we going?"
After following Gu Qingfeng around like a headless fly, Da Xing the Mad Monk couldn't help but ask.
"Just wandering aimlessly."
Da Xing the Mad Monk wasn't the least bit surprised by Gu Qingfeng's offhand and utterly frustrating reply. After all, he was the one who had lured Gu Qingfeng in here. Coupled with Gu Qingfeng's current attitude of letting nature take its course and resigning himself to fate, it was only natural to take things one step at a time, going wherever the path led.
Actually,
it wasn't just Gu Qingfeng; Da Xing the Mad Monk was no exception.
He, too, had no idea where to go or what to do.
Da Xing the Mad Monk's avatars were spread throughout the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces. Apart from this one avatar that had been following Gu Qingfeng, his other avatars were also wandering aimlessly like headless flies within the other palaces.
Moreover,
he discovered that the beings who had entered the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces—whether from the heavens or the earth, whether guardians of the Heaven-Earth Great Dao or those scheming for the position of True Lord of Original Sin—were almost without exception scurrying about everywhere within the Nine Palaces.
There was no other way.
The Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces were ever-changing, containing infinite mysteries, vast and boundless, with no end in sight.
Although everyone had a premonition—a feeling that the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces would not appear for no reason, nor would they contain such a strong aura of Original Sin for no reason—that they must be nurturing something related to Original Sin, perhaps even nurturing the opportunity that would decide the True Lord of Original Sin.
The key question was:
When would this opportunity of Original Sin be nurtured?
And where within the Nine Palaces would it manifest?
Who knew?
No one knew.
Under such circumstances,
those scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin didn't know how to seize the initiative.
And those guarding the Heaven-Earth Great Dao didn't know how to protect it either.
They could only wander aimlessly like headless flies within the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces, trying to find the so-called opportunity of Original Sin.
Some said the origin of the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces was nurturing True Blood of Original Sin. Whoever could seize this True Blood and fuse it with themselves would become a Child of Original Sin. Only by becoming a Child of Original Sin would one have the qualifications to contend for the position of True Lord of Original Sin.
This rumor spread far and wide. Whether it was true or false, no one knew, but it was certainly spreading like wildfire.
Some claimed it was true, saying that people had already seen the Light of Original Sin within the ruins of the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces, had even found the Flower of Original Sin, and even the Essence of Original Sin.
The Light of Original Sin, the Flower of Original Sin, and the Essence of Original Sin—each represented something extraordinary.
Because these entities did not belong to the Desolate Ancient Era at all, but rather to the Wu Dao Age.
Yes!
The Wu Dao Age.
It was said that
when the Wu Dao Age began in the Desolate Ancient Era for that brief instant, heaven and earth seemed to be reborn, pure and flawless, spotless, like the Pure Land spoken of in Buddhist teachings.
Everywhere was filled with miraculous radiance.
The radiance was also pure and flawless.
Under its illumination, miraculous flowers bloomed one after another, equally pure and flawless.
Brilliantly colorful spirits, like butterflies, fluttered among the flowers—those spirits were also pure and flawless.
Some said
that miraculous radiance was the Light of Original Sin.
Those miraculous flowers were the Flower of Original Sin.
Those miraculous spirits were the Essence of Original Sin.
Perhaps because the Light of Original Sin, the Flower of Original Sin, and the Essence of Original Sin all appeared at the very instant the Wu Dao Age began, the Light of Original Sin also had another name: Light of Wu Dao. The Flower of Original Sin was also the Flower of Wu Dao. The Essence of Original Sin was the Essence of Wu Dao.
Unfortunately.
Unfortunately, back then, the Wu Dao Age only lasted for an instant. The great Dao ancestors, overlords, and experts of the Desolate Ancient Era had no time to appreciate the beauty of the Wu Dao Age, nor to experience its wonders, much less comprehend its mysteries, before the Calamity inexplicably occurred.
That Calamity not only ended the Desolate Ancient Era but also terminated the Wu Dao Age that had only just begun for an instant.
As for why the Wu Dao Age's brief beginning invited such a Calamity, no one knew. It remains a mystery to this day.
The only thing known is that the Calamity was terrifying—so terrifying that those who hadn't experienced it couldn't possibly imagine it, and even those who had couldn't describe it, having no idea what exactly happened.
For example, the Old Beggar and Lady Blackwater—they had both experienced the Calamity that ended the Desolate Ancient Era.
But if you asked them to describe that Calamity, neither could. It arrived too abruptly, without warning and utterly inexplicable. When the Calamity descended, no one had time to react, and then…
There was no 'and then.' By the time they did react, they had either been reduced to ashes or suppressed into the Guixu.
Considering that even those who experienced the Desolate Ancient Calamity couldn't grasp its terror, let alone someone like Da Xing the Mad Monk who hadn't lived through it.
Within the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces floated ruins from the Desolate Ancient Era.
Each of these ruins was perfectly intact. Everything within—flowers, grass, trees, mountains, rivers—showed no signs of damage. Even the corpses lying within the ruins were the same.
However,
all these Desolate Ancient ruins were like scenes from a painting, utterly devoid of life.
Da Xing the Mad Monk had once tried to imagine what the Calamity that ended the Desolate Ancient Era looked like and how terrifying it was. But he simply couldn't conceive of what kind of Calamity could render ruins after ruins completely lifeless.
It felt as if all living things in heaven and earth, the entire multitude of beings, had their life souls sucked away in an instant, leaving behind only empty shells.
Da Xing the Mad Monk didn't know whether it was true that someone had seen the Light of Original Sin, found the Flower of Original Sin, or even the Essence of Original Sin within the ruins of the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces.
He pondered that if it were true, it wasn't entirely impossible.
After all, this was the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces. After all, the Wu Dao Age had once begun here in the Desolate Ancient Era.
Since the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces were floating with ruins from that era, seeing the legendary Light of Original Sin or finding the Flower of Original Sin within these ruins wouldn't be that strange.
With the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces already manifesting, it was better to believe it existed than to dismiss it.
Those great Dao experts scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin had all chosen to believe, scurrying about the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces in search of the so-called Essence of Original Sin.
If they couldn't find the origin of the Nine Palaces or the True Blood of Original Sin, then finding even a single Essence of Original Sin, or a Flower of Original Sin, or even a wisp of Light of Original Sin…
That would still count as seizing some initiative.
Every great Dao expert scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin, after entering the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces, feared their Original Sin wasn't deep enough, worried they couldn't seize the True Blood of Original Sin and become a Child of Original Sin.
If they could find an Essence of Original Sin within the Nine Palaces and fuse it with themselves, it would inevitably deepen their Original Sin. That way, when the time came to contend for the True Blood of Original Sin, they would have a bit more hope, a bit more chance of success.
At this critical juncture, no one was holding back anymore. They used whatever means they had, whatever abilities they possessed.
Da Xing the Mad Monk knew there must be many beings from heaven and earth scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin.
It was only after entering the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces and wandering about with his various avatars that he discovered the number of great Dao experts from heaven and earth scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin was far greater than he had imagined.
He had also always thought there shouldn't be many great Dao experts in the world who had cultivated Original Sin Dharma Bodies. But after entering the Nine Palaces, he found there were also far more than he had imagined.
It felt like the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces were crawling with Original Sin Dharma Bodies.
Among them were innate Original Sin Dharma Bodies cultivated step by step through gradual integration with Original Sin, as well as acquired Original Sin Dharma Bodies forcibly seized through possession.
Some of these Original Sin Dharma Bodies were secretly cultivated by major powers from the Thirty-Six Cave Heavens and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands as a backup plan, in case their guardianship of the Heaven-Earth Great Dao failed. It would be best if one could ascend to become the True Lord of Original Sin. Even if not, at least when the Wu Dao Age began, having an Original Sin Dharma Body would give them some initiative, preventing their Cave Heaven or Blessed Land from falling behind or even declining into obscurity.
Other Original Sin Dharma Bodies belonged either to old-timers who had been wandering the Desolate Ruins or to old-timers suppressed in the Guixu.
The old-timers wandering the Desolate Ruins—nine out of ten were scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin, and the depth of Original Sin on each was greater than the last. They had waited all these years precisely for today.
As for those old-timers suppressed in the Guixu, it went without saying. The reason they were suppressed there was precisely because they schemed for the True Lord of Original Sin. Moreover, most of them had begun their schemes back in the Desolate Ancient Era. Having been suppressed in the Guixu for so many years and now emerged, some might, like Lady Blackwater and the Old Beggar, place their hopes on Gu Qingfeng. Others might believe Gu Qingfeng couldn't possibly ascend to become the True Lord of Original Sin, so they placed their hopes on others instead.
Virtually every being who entered the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces knew that all signs indicated Gu Qingfeng was the True Lord of Original Sin recorded in the Book of Fate.
Precisely because everyone knew this, both those guarding the Heaven-Earth Great Dao and those scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin wanted to eliminate him.
In other words, Gu Qingfeng's existence meant he was both the one with the greatest hope of attaining Original Sin and simultaneously the one least likely to attain it.
Some saw this clearly. They would rather place their hopes on other people of Original Sin than gamble everything on Gu Qingfeng, who was essentially a live-or-die proposition.
After all,
the Present Era didn't have just Gu Qingfeng as a person of Original Sin, nor was he the only variable of Original Sin.
At the very least,
Da Xing the Mad Monk knew of several others.
For example, the Western Heaven Buddha Emperor Miao Rulai, the Carefree Great Emperor Mo Wentian, the Weiyang Demon Emperor Ren Tianxing, and including the Martial Vault Emperor and the True Dragon Emperor—that pair of Dual-Polar Yin-Yang Taiji Boundless—they were all people of Original Sin. Moreover, the depth of Original Sin on each was greater than the last, and most importantly, they were all variables of the Present Era.
Although their variables might not be as great as Gu Qingfeng's, their Original Sin might not be as deep, and the various signs of heavenly momentum, temporal momentum, fate momentum, and fortune momentum might not be as obvious as Gu Qingfeng's…
But that was all.
It didn't mean they had none, nor did it mean they had no hope of contending for the True Lord of Original Sin.
Da Xing the Mad Monk knew that Miao Rulai, Mo Wentian, Ren Tianxing, and that pair, the Martial Vault Emperor and True Dragon Emperor—the Dual-Polar Yin-Yang Taiji Boundless—all had quite a few old-timers backing them.
Especially Miao Rulai. The number of old-timers placing their hopes on him wasn't just comparable to those on Gu Qingfeng; it was actually far greater.
Aside from Miao Rulai, there were also quite a few placing their hopes on that pair, the Martial Vault Emperor and True Dragon Emperor—the Dual-Polar Yin-Yang Taiji Boundless.