The Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces were vast and boundless, stretching endlessly.
They were ever-changing, containing infinite mysteries.
Just as Da Xing the Mad Monk had said, as the transformations within the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces intensified and the aura of Original Sin grew denser, the void of the Nine Palaces also became increasingly chaotic.
Looking out, everywhere were existences related to Original Sin.
Original Sin Incarnations that had lost their selves drifted through the void of the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces like lonely ghosts.
Those who had cultivated Original Sin Dharma Bodies scurried about the void, searching for the legendary Original Sin Light, the Flower of Original Sin, the Essence of Original Sin, and every possible advantage regarding Original Sin.
To seize the initiative regarding Original Sin, all those touched by Original Sin began to devour indiscriminately, consuming the selfless Original Sin Incarnations while eyeing other Original Sin Dharma Bodies with predatory intent.
Chaos!
Utter chaos, like a pot of boiling porridge.
At this very moment.
On a Desolate Ancient Era ruin within the Gen Palace, a man and a woman were exploring the site while chatting idly.
The man wore a light cyan robe, his face chiseled like a blade, his build burly, his aura imposing, appearing extremely majestic.
The woman was gentle and lovely; her features couldn't be called peerlessly beautiful, yet she gave off a feeling of tender affection.
The man was none other than Changfeng Great Emperor, and the woman was his immortal dao companion, Qianye Immortal King.
Changfeng Great Emperor seemed to be in good spirits, chuckling merrily.
But Qianye Immortal King wore a worried expression, her concerns appearing deeper and more numerous than Changfeng Great Emperor's.
Indeed.
She regretted more and more not stopping Changfeng Great Emperor from entering the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces.
Even.
She regretted not stopping him from entering the Desolate Ancient Black Hole in the first place.
She knew what the emergence of the Desolate Ancient Black Hole signified, and what the appearance of the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces meant.
She knew even more that once one stepped into the Desolate Ancient Black Hole and entered the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces, life, death, fate, and the future—everything—became filled with unknowns.
Precisely because she knew, she had never wanted Changfeng Great Emperor to enter the Desolate Ancient Black Hole and get involved in this affair from the start.
But in the end, she still hadn't stopped him.
It wasn't that she didn't want to, but because she understood better than anyone that she simply couldn't.
Changfeng Great Emperor was a Great Emperor of the Immortal Dao who bore the Mandate of Heaven, the Young Master of the Azure Heaven who bore the Mandate of the Azure, and also the Destined Calamity Fate who bore the True Mandate.
In other words, Changfeng Great Emperor not only had the duty to protect the Immortal Dao, but also the responsibility to revive the Justice of the Azure Heaven, and even more, the mission to save the multitudes of living beings within the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth.
The missions, tasks, and burdens Changfeng Great Emperor carried were far too many and far too heavy.
Moreover, Qianye Immortal King knew that even if Changfeng Great Emperor didn't bear these burdens, faced with this cataclysm concerning the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, he could never stand idly by.
Changfeng Great Emperor was both the righteous, heroic, and grand-spirited Changfeng Great Emperor, and also the Changfeng Great Emperor who cared deeply for the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth and all living beings.
This was also what Qianye Immortal King loved most about him.
Yet, this very quality she loved most about him was now pushing Changfeng Great Emperor into the vortex of this cataclysm—a vortex with no retreat and no visible hope.
To be honest.
As a woman, as a wife, Qianye Immortal King didn't care about the survival of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, nor about who would ultimately become the True Lord of Original Sin, and even less about whether the Era Without Dao would begin.
She only cared about her husband, her family, her loved ones.
She was just a woman, a simple woman. If forced to choose between the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth and her husband, she would undoubtedly choose her husband.
Some say.
Character determines fate.
In the past, Qianye Immortal King scoffed at this saying, didn't believe it at all, and even found it laughable.
But now, she was coming to believe more and more that this saying held great truth.
She even felt that perhaps it was precisely because of Changfeng Great Emperor's character that he had to bear so many heavy burdens.
"Ye'er, are you overthinking things again?"
Qianye Immortal King understood Changfeng Great Emperor, and Changfeng Great Emperor likewise understood Qianye Immortal King. Seeing her worried expression, he didn't need to think to know what was troubling her. He smiled and said, "I told you, don't worry. With their meager skills, they can't do anything to me."
Not long before, Changfeng Great Emperor had been attacked by a group of mysterious incarnations.
Although Changfeng Great Emperor hadn't been injured, Qianye Immortal King was still somewhat concerned.
The problem was.
This wasn't the first time Changfeng Great Emperor had been inexplicably attacked.
Since entering the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces, he had been assaulted seven or eight times in total.
Who these mysterious incarnations attacking Changfeng Great Emperor were, Qianye Immortal King might not know, but she could more or less guess.
Nine times out of ten, they were those scheming for the position of True Lord of Original Sin.
After all, Changfeng Great Emperor's existence—as a Great Emperor of the Immortal Dao bearing the Mandate of Heaven, a Destined Calamity Fate bearing the True Mandate, and carrying the Justice of the Azure Heaven—posed an absolute threat to those who coveted the True Lord of Original Sin.
Their purpose in attacking Changfeng Great Emperor, even if not to eliminate him, was definitely to probe his depths—to ascertain exactly how great a threat he represented.
What worried Qianye Immortal King most was her certainty that these Original Sin schemers' probing of Changfeng Great Emperor would never cease; perhaps this was only the beginning.
Changfeng Great Emperor, however, looked utterly unconcerned, laughing, "Let them probe if they like. I'll kill them once if they come once, and kill as many as come. I want to see just how many External Incarnations they have for me to slaughter!"
Changfeng Great Emperor was naturally belligerent. Far from worrying about those testing him, he was rather pleased and even looked forward to more challengers.
He feared nothing in heaven or earth, only the lack of a good fight.
"As long as I, Gu Changfeng, live for one more day, it won't be so easy for them to become the True Lord of Original Sin and slaughter the Three Thousand Great Daos!"
"Changfeng, do you really think those incarnations testing you are all scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin?"
Qianye Immortal King's voice came, and Changfeng Great Emperor blinked, asking puzzledly, "Aren't they?"
"The previous times perhaps, but don't you find that group of mysterious incarnations that just tested you... rather familiar?"
"Familiar?"
Changfeng Great Emperor had always been thick-skinned. When the group of mysterious incarnations appeared earlier, he'd been too busy slaughtering them to investigate carefully. Thinking back now, indeed, there was a familiar feeling. He said, "Ye'er, hearing you say that, they do seem somewhat familiar."
"You!
Really..." Qianye Immortal King was both exasperated and amused by the simple-minded, combative Changfeng Great Emperor. "Do you remember You Di?"
"You Di?
Why bring up You Di all of a sudden?"
"I mean, before the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces had fully manifested, we encountered You Di at a Desolate Ancient Era ruin."
Changfeng Great Emperor nodded. "Right, that happened. And at that time, You Di was fusing with a blood cauldron. We only learned later that thing was actually the legendary Devouring Heaven and Earth Blood Taotie."
"When You Di was fusing with the Devouring Heaven and Earth Blood Taotie, a group of over a hundred mysterious incarnations descended, trying to stop the fusion. You even stepped forward and fought them then. Remember?"
Hearing this, Changfeng Great Emperor seemed to realize something. He slapped his forehead and exclaimed, "I remember now! Those mysterious incarnations that just tested me were the same as the ones trying to stop You Di. They were the Divine Sense Incarnations of those Great Dao Patriarchs from the Desolate Ancient Era!"
Qianye Immortal King couldn't help but roll her eyes at him. "You only just figured that out?"
Changfeng Great Emperor grinned sheepishly. "Hehe!
Ye'er, you know me...
Sometimes my brain isn't that sharp."
Truth be told, Changfeng Great Emperor was quite an oddity in the current world.
In Qianye Immortal King's eyes, his brain wasn't just "not that sharp"; it was practically a block of wood. Sometimes he was dumber than a three-year-old child.
Yet, it was precisely this wooden brain that possessed unparalleled comprehension, especially regarding the Great Dao, rivaling any peerless genius from ancient or modern times.
"Wait!
That's not right."
Changfeng Great Emperor scratched his head, his brow furrowed. "I remember you saying that the Devouring Heaven and Earth Blood Taotie had fused with True Blood of Original Sin in the Desolate Ancient Era and was also a Child of Original Sin. If You Di fused with it, his chances of becoming the True Lord of Original Sin would increase. That's why those Great Dao Patriarchs descended to stop it."
He paused, then continued, "Those Great Dao Patriarchs' goal is also to protect the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, right?
If so, why are they testing me?
What is there to test about me?"
"From what I know, those Great Dao Patriarchs are testing everywhere in the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces. They've tested Original Sin Variables like Buddha Emperor Miao Rulai of Western Heaven, Demon Emperor Ren Tianxing, Carefree Great Emperor Mo Wentian, and also tested Destined Calamity Fates like Lord Fusheng, Emperor Xuanyang, and Peacock Great Emperor—including you."
Changfeng Great Emperor had never refined an External Incarnation, not even one. He didn't like refining such things, finding them troublesome.
However.
Qianye Immortal King had refined many External Incarnations. Knowing the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces were perilous, the moment she entered, she had spread her incarnations throughout the Nine Palaces to gain insight into the situation. Only by understanding the situation could she better respond to unknown dangers and the impending cataclysm.
Moreover, she was a disciple of the Forbidden Land, Mysterious Mountain, proficient in divination and deduction. Thus, she knew no less than Da Xing the Mad Monk.
"I can understand those Great Dao Patriarchs testing Original Sin Variables like Miao Rulai. But why test me and other Destined Calamity Fates like Lord Fusheng?"
Changfeng Great Emperor racked his brains but couldn't figure this out.
Qianye Immortal King said sorrowfully, "Either they don't trust you Destined Calamity Fates, or their purpose in lurking since the Desolate Ancient Era was never to protect the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth from the start. There's another possibility: they are playing a game of chess, a very, very big game."