Within the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces, everything that should have been probed had been probed, and even things that shouldn't have been probed had been probed. By all logic, there was no way they could bypass Gu Qingfeng.
Only...
It had been so long, yet they hadn't seen those mysterious incarnations come to probe him?
Suddenly!
Upon careful thought, Da Xing the Mad Monk inwardly cursed himself for being a complete fool.
Did Gu Qingfeng even need probing?
Ever since this kid began cultivating, had the Heaven-Earth Great Dao ever lacked in probing him?
Others might not know, but Da Xing the Mad Monk knew perfectly well. Ever since Gu Qingfeng began seeking karma and set foot on the path of Original Sin, the Heaven-Earth Great Dao's probing of him had practically never stopped. One day, the Immortal Dao would descend a judgment; the next, the Buddha Dao would descend a judgment—Great Dao judgments came one after another.
To this day, who didn't know that within Gu Qingfeng resided three existences who were both Desolate Ancient overlords and Sons of Original Sin: the Avici Endless Evil Asura, the Boundless Azure Above and Yellow Springs Below, and the Heaven-Devouring, Earth-Swallowing Blood Taotie.
He possessed the Celestial Phenomenon Pagoda, the Earthly Phenomenon Purgatory, the Chaotic Phenomenon Cosmos, the Myriad Phenomena Worship, and exclusive dominance over forbidden Daos like Absolute, Silence, and Death, plus the extra-Dao entity that had now emerged.
These existences on Gu Qingfeng were no longer any secret.
Whether to probe or not was utterly unimportant and held no meaning whatsoever.
Moreover, Da Xing the Mad Monk also recalled that in the Desolate Ancient Black Hole, a Huangtian Ancestral Patriarch had emerged. He had heard from Lady Longque that when Gu Qingfeng was integrating the Heaven-Devouring, Earth-Swallowing Blood Taotie in a Desolate Ancient ruin, he had been obstructed by a group of nearly a hundred mysterious incarnations. In the end, not only did they fail to stop Gu Qingfeng from integrating the Blood Taotie, but those hundred-plus incarnations were also utterly annihilated by the Myriad Phenomena Worship Gu Qingfeng unleashed.
He didn't know if the group of mysterious incarnations that had obstructed Gu Qingfeng earlier were the same existences as the group probing Miao Rulai, Ren Tianxing, and Mo Wentian in the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces.
If they were the same existences, then who were they?
When Gu Qingfeng was integrating the Heaven-Devouring, Earth-Swallowing Blood Taotie, Da Xing the Mad Monk hadn't been present, but he had heard from Lady Longque that those mysterious incarnations seemed to be Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs from the Desolate Ancient Era.
Based on Da Xing the Mad Monk's understanding, the Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs of the Desolate Ancient Era had almost all perished.
Some had died in battle while guarding the Heaven-Earth Great Dao and trying to prevent the opening of the Daoless Era.
But most had perished in the mysterious cataclysm that ended the Desolate Ancient Era.
To say those mysterious incarnations were Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs wasn't impossible.
Because some Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs must have survived the Desolate Ancient Cataclysm. Though few, that didn't mean none existed. That wasn't the important part. The important part was that those Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs each possessed profound cultivation. Even if their physical bodies were annihilated, their souls should have been able to survive. Taking a step back, even if their souls were also annihilated, their divine consciousness, demonic thoughts, and spiritual will certainly wouldn't have been extinguished.
Once one cultivated to become a Great Dao Ancestral Patriarch, the physical body and soul might not be immortal, but their spiritual will, divine consciousness, and demonic thoughts were definitely immortal.
At their level of cultivation realm, they wouldn't be completely eradicated.
If the cataclysm could utterly erase them, then Gui Xu wouldn't be suppressing so many immortal, indestructible existences.
Perhaps the divine consciousness and demonic thoughts of those Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs had been hiding within the Desolate Ancient Black Hole all along, waiting for the arrival of the Present Era and the emergence of the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces, preparing to prevent the opening of the Daoless Era.
Thinking this way, it made perfect sense for them to probe Original Sin Anomalies like Miao Rulai, Ren Tianxing, and Mo Wentian in the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces, including obstructing Gu Qingfeng from fusing with the Heaven-Devouring, Earth-Swallowing Blood Taotie.
What Da Xing the Mad Monk couldn't understand was hearing that an external incarnation of the Great Sun Yao Emperor had also been probed by a group of mysterious incarnations in the Qian Palace.
He could understand those Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs obstructing Gu Qingfeng from fusing with the Heaven-Devouring, Earth-Swallowing Blood Taotie.
After all, Gu Qingfeng was the greatest Original Sin Anomaly and a Son of Original Sin who had integrated Original Sin True Blood. All signs indicated he might be the True Lord of Original Sin recorded in the Book of Fate. And the Blood Taotie, back in the Desolate Ancient Era, had schemed to become the True Lord of Original Sin and was also a Son of Original Sin who had integrated Original Sin True Blood.
Gu Qingfeng already had the Avici Endless Evil Asura and the Boundless Azure Above and Yellow Springs Below within him. If he fused with the Heaven-Devouring, Earth-Swallowing Blood Taotie as well, his celestial momentum, earthly momentum, temporal momentum, and destiny would become even stronger, and Gu Qingfeng's hope of ascending to become the True Lord of Original Sin would grow greater.
This was what those Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs least wanted to see.
Similarly.
Da Xing the Mad Monk could also understand the Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs probing Original Sin Anomalies like Miao Rulai and Ren Tianxing.
Through probing.
They could probe the depths of these Original Sin Anomalies, probe how much divine consciousness and demonic thoughts they possessed, how much Original Sin fortune they had, probe which supporters stood behind these Original Sin Anomalies and how many there were, and even probe who, besides Gu Qingfeng, had the greatest hope of ascending to become the True Lord of Original Sin.
Although the probing by the Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs seemed to have failed.
They neither stopped Gu Qingfeng from integrating the Heaven-Devouring, Earth-Swallowing Blood Taotie, nor did they probe the depths of Original Sin Anomalies like Miao Rulai and Ren Tianxing.
But that was only how it seemed.
Those Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs were all shrewd veterans, masters of scheming and layout. This probing might just be the first move they've made; the real probing might still be to come.
However.
No matter how much Da Xing the Mad Monk thought about it, he couldn't understand why those Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs had even probed the Great Sun Yao Emperor.
Could it be they didn't trust the Great Sun Yao Emperor?
Or did they suspect that the Great Sun Yao Emperor, like the various cave heavens and blessed lands, had made two preparations: one to guard the Heaven-Earth Great Dao, and the other to secretly gestate an Original Sin body, scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin? Or perhaps the Great Sun Yao Emperor had long ago used an ancient forbidden method of planting causes to plant a segment of Original Sin karma, aiming for the True Lord of Original Sin?
Hard to say, and not easy to say.
Throughout Heaven and Earth, the Three Thousand Great Daos all knew the Great Sun Yao Emperor had always firmly guarded the Heaven-Earth Great Dao, never changing.
As for whether he had secretly gestated an Original Sin body, schemed for the True Lord of Original Sin, or planted Original Sin karma, no one dared say he had, and no one dared say he hadn't.
In any case, up to now, there was no evidence proving the Great Sun Yao Emperor was secretly scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin.
Perhaps precisely because there was no evidence, those Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs probed him.
The problem was.
The one probed wasn't just the Great Sun Yao Emperor.
Da Xing the Mad Monk also heard that Fusheng Emperor Lord, Xuanyang Emperor King, Changfeng Great Emperor, Peacock Great Emperor, and even Wuzang Emperor King had all been probed.
The existences of these several Great Emperors were all extraordinary.
They weren't just Great Emperors who had received the Mandate of Heaven.
They were also Fixed Numbers within this tribulation response.
If it were just probing Wuzang Emperor King, that wouldn't be surprising. After all, Wuzang Emperor King had a twin brother, the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor—or more accurately, twin siblings. One was a Fixed Number of the tribulation response, possessing the bloodline of light and guarded by the Heavenly Dragon; the other was an Original Sin Anomaly, possessing the bloodline of darkness and guarded by the Earth Phoenix.
They were even the legendary Dual-Polarity Yin-Yang, Dragon and Phoenix Auspiciousness, Black and White Mutual, Tai Chi Boundless, Fate Inconstant!
In other words, Wuzang Emperor King and the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor could very likely guard the Heaven-Earth Great Dao, but they could also ascend to become the True Lord of Original Sin.
Moreover, if the two of them guarded the Heaven-Earth Great Dao, their chances of winning were very high. If they schemed for the True Lord of Original Sin, their chances of winning were equally very high, even greater than Miao Rulai's, greater than Gu Qingfeng's.
The reason was simple.
Precisely because they were Tai Chi Boundless, Fate Inconstant.
If they were Fixed Numbers, they would be greater than any other Fixed Number.
If they were Anomalies, they would be greater than any other Anomaly.
If they were a threat, they would be greater than any other threat.
The reason the existences throughout Heaven and Earth weren't focusing on them was, firstly, because the two of them hadn't yet become the legendary Tai Chi Boundless. At most, they could only be considered Dual-Polarity Yin-Yang. As long as they didn't become the legendary Tai Chi Boundless, the threat they posed wasn't great.
There was another important reason: everyone knew their backing was the Mysterious Wonder Cave Heaven, and they also knew the Mysterious Wonder Cave Heaven represented the Mysterious Heaven Immortal Dao. Many believed that even if the two of them became Tai Chi Boundless, nine times out of ten, they would be Tai Chi Boundless guarding the Heaven-Earth Great Dao.
However.
This matter was hard to say for sure. Perhaps precisely because it was hard to say, those Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs probed them again and again.
But Fusheng Emperor Lord, Changfeng Great Emperor, Xuanyang Emperor King, and Peacock Great Emperor—they weren't Dual-Polarity Yin-Yang Tai Chi Boundless. They were genuine Fixed Numbers of the tribulation response, who had received the True Mandate and were responding precisely to the tribulation of the Three Thousand Great Daos.
It was no exaggeration to say that if there truly were so-called Sons of Heaven within Heaven and Earth, then these Fixed Numbers of the tribulation response were the so-called Sons of Heaven.
Those Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs hiding from the Desolate Ancient Era suspecting the Great Sun Yao Emperor and suspecting Wuzang Emperor King was one thing, but did they even suspect pure Fixed Numbers of the tribulation response like Fusheng Emperor Lord and Changfeng Great Emperor?
Wuzang Emperor King was Dual-Polarity Yin-Yang. After fusing with the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor to become Tai Chi Boundless, he might become the greatest Original Sin Anomaly. The Great Sun Yao Emperor might have been secretly scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin all along.
But Fusheng Emperor Lord and the others were neither Tai Chi Boundless nor secretly scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin!
For others, Da Xing the Mad Monk might not dare say, but he knew Fusheng Emperor Lord absolutely was not secretly scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin.
As for Changfeng Great Emperor, that went without saying. His existence was not only a Fixed Number of the tribulation response but also the future Lord of the Azure Heaven, possessing the Azure Dragon's protection, wielding the Blade of Impartiality, capable of slaying Immortals and Buddhas above and annihilating demons and monsters below, cutting down all injustice in Heaven and Earth.
How could such an existence be secretly scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin?
Then there were Xuanyang Emperor King and Peacock Great Emperor.
These two existences were each more low-key than the last. Not many knew of their existence, and even fewer understood them.
Fortunately.
Da Xing the Mad Monk knew them all. Not only did he know them, but whether it was Xuanyang Emperor King or Peacock Great Emperor, he more or less still had some understanding.
Xuanyang Emperor King—that was an emperor within the Great Nature, representing the Mysterious Heaven's Supreme Yang. One had seen Immortal Dao Great Emperors, seen Monster Dao Kings, but who had ever seen an emperor of the Great Nature?
No one!
Xuanyang Emperor King was the only one.
It was said that Xuanyang Emperor King's identity in his previous life was even more esteemed than that of Lady Blackwater, a Five-Colors Emissary of the Great Nature.
And Peacock Great Emperor.
This fellow's identity in his previous life was also particularly esteemed—he was the legendary Peacock Damingwang!