"Don't you think this is a terrifying thing?"
Looking at Qianye Immortal King, who was incomparably serious and earnest at this moment, Changfeng Great Emperor grew more and more confused and bewildered the more he listened.
He simply couldn't understand how his act of guarding the Heaven-Earth Great Dao for himself had become such a terrifying thing in Qianye Immortal King's eyes.
He was even more perplexed. Previously, Qianye Immortal King had clearly supported his guarding of Heaven and Earth. Why had she suddenly changed? Thinking carefully, it wasn't a sudden change, but rather, ever since entering the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces, Qianye Immortal King had gradually started acting strangely, wearing a look of worry.
Changfeng Great Emperor had always thought Qianye Immortal King was worried about his safety. Only now did he realize that such bizarre thoughts were actually hidden within Qianye Immortal King's heart.
These thoughts.
Were truly too bizarre.
So bizarre that Changfeng Great Emperor suddenly felt the Qianye Immortal King before him was very unfamiliar.
"Ye'er, tell me, how is me guarding the Heaven-Earth Great Dao for myself terrifying?"
"Fate tells you to do something, and you do it, and you still believe doing so is right. Isn't that terrifying?"
Changfeng Great Emperor was nearly driven mad by Qianye Immortal King. He said, "Ye'er, I find you are truly becoming more and more incomprehensible. I've already told you eight hundred times, I guard the Heaven-Earth Great Dao not for Fate, but for myself, for you, and for all our family and friends."
After speaking.
Changfeng Great Emperor added with righteous indignation, "Moreover, I can tell you with certainty that if I had not inherited the Heavenly Mandate nor the True Mandate, but had instead inherited Original Sin, I still would not scheme to become the True Lord of Original Sin and slaughter the Three Thousand Great Daos. I would still choose to guard the Heaven-Earth Great Dao."
"My choice will not change because of Fate. Also, although I don't quite understand what you mean by 'mastering one's own fate,' I only know that karma determines fate. Planting good causes yields good results, planting evil causes yields evil results. Good people ultimately receive good rewards, evil people naturally receive evil retribution."
"That is what I want to say!"
Qianye Immortal King said, "Why must planting a good cause necessarily yield a good result? Why must planting an evil cause necessarily yield an evil result? Who decreed this? Why must we abide by the Laws of Karma? Why must our fate be determined by karma? I don't want to abide by the Laws of Karma, is that not allowed?
I don't want my fate to be influenced by karma, is that not allowed?"
After hearing Qianye Immortal King's words, Changfeng Great Emperor was stunned for a long time. His eyes wide, mouth agape, he moved his lips, wanting to speak but stopping himself, ultimately saying nothing.
He chose silence.
It wasn't that he agreed with what Qianye Immortal King said, but rather that her words left him unsure how to respond.
To be precise, Qianye Immortal King's words had exceeded the scope of his understanding.
Since becoming sensible, he had firmly believed that planting good causes yields good results, planting evil causes yields evil results. This was his outlook on life and values. No!
Rather, it was the order and Law that all things in Heaven and Earth should abide by.
Changfeng Great Emperor had never thought of defying this order and Law, let alone thought of overthrowing it.
He tried to imagine.
If Heaven and Earth had no order and Laws, what kind of chaos would ensue?
If those who planted good causes received good results, but those who planted evil causes also received good results; if good people received no good reward, and evil people received no evil retribution, wouldn't Heaven and Earth fall into utter chaos?
He also couldn't understand why Qianye Immortal King would suddenly harbor such treasonous thoughts.
"Ye'er, have you...
become bewitched?"
"I..." Qianye Immortal King closed her eyes, shaking her head fiercely. She didn't know what was wrong with herself either, why she was gradually developing such treasonous thoughts.
She was conflicted, also contradictory, yet, more than anything, she was bewildered and hesitant.
Unsure whether she should guard the Heaven-Earth Great Dao, or overthrow this Heaven-Earth Great Dao.
...
As the changes within the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces grew increasingly profound and mysterious, the Nine Palaces void also increasingly resembled a boundless, vast, and slowly rotating chaotic vortex.
In the void, the numerous Desolate Ancient ruins changed along with the Nine Palaces, rotating along with the void.
Originally, each Desolate Ancient ruin stood like individual mountain peaks. Now, they seemed interconnected, appearing like a continuous, rugged mountain range.
The Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces were changing.
The Desolate Ancient void was rotating.
The Desolate Ancient ruins were connecting.
As the breath of Original Sin within the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces grew denser.
The Original Sin incarnations that had lost themselves also grew more numerous.
The Original Sin Dharma Bodies that had surfaced also grew more numerous.
They were all scurrying about, searching for the initiative in Original Sin, devouring each other, deepening their own Original Sin.
Before this.
Some said that Weiyang Demon Emperor had found a flower of Original Sin within the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces.
Many didn't know if it was true or false.
But now.
Everyone knew this was not a false rumor, but fact.
Because people had already begun to see the light of Original Sin one after another within the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces.
Yes.
The legendary light of Original Sin had already begun to appear within the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces.
Because of this.
Even more Original Sin Dharma Bodies surfaced.
Even the Original Sin experts lurking in the shadows, including the more deeply hidden Original Sin Patriarchs, began to lose their composure and surface one after another.
Chaos.
Utter chaos.
At this moment.
Upon a Desolate Ancient ruin within the Qian Palace stood a man.
The man wore pristine white robes, handsome and transcendent, his posture upright, his bearing extraordinary.
He stood upon a mountain peak, like the sun and moon, like an immortal and a demon, like water and fire, resembling light, yet also resembling darkness, as if piercing through Heaven and Earth.
Even more miraculous was that his figure was ethereal and elusive, like smoke and mist, seemingly changing along with the transformations of the Nine Palaces, rotating along with the Desolate Ancient void.
Beside him.
Stood another man.
To be precise, a youth.
The youth appeared to be around fourteen or fifteen years old, dressed in a set of jade-green robes, his features exquisitely handsome, like a dragon or phoenix among men, born with noble bearing.
He stood in the void.
Like a favored son of Heaven, giving off an especially dignified feeling.
The man was none other than the Floating Life Emperor who shook both the present and ancient times, while the youth was Peacock Great Emperor.
As was well known.
Floating Life Emperor was a legend and a hero. In the Present Era, some even called him a myth.
It was rumored that Floating Life Emperor was a chosen one of Heaven. At his birth, auspicious signs descended from the heavens, nature bloomed with myriad colors, and dragons and phoenixes brought good fortune.
He was born with the bloodline of light, famous from a young age, achieving immortality upon reaching adulthood, possessing a natural tyrannical physique with immense strength, as if a heavenly god had descended to the mortal realm.
The two Heavenly Mandates he inherited were both among the finest; calling him the pinnacle of Heavenly Mandates was not an exaggeration.
The Star Lord Heavenly Mandate he inherited was the North Pole Ziwei Star, hailed as the master of constellations.
The Emperor Seal Heavenly Mandate he inherited was the Canghao Emperor Seal, one of the Ten Great Emperor Seals.
Furthermore, he possessed a Great Dao innate treasure in his hand named the Xuanyuan Sword, a legendary divine weapon and holy sword.
The bloodline of light, natural tyrannical physique, Canghao Emperor Seal, North Pole Ziwei Star, and Xuanyuan Sword—these five existences were each among the top great fortunes between Heaven and Earth throughout the ages. Obtaining any one would allow one to look down upon all realms. Yet Floating Life Emperor simultaneously possessed all five of these legendary existences. Just thinking about it was enough to make others feel they could never catch up.
However.
Truth be told, what Floating Life Emperor was most praised for was neither his natural tyrannical physique, nor the Canghao Emperor Seal and North Pole Ziwei Star, nor even the Xuanyuan Sword, but rather his comprehension of the Great Dao.
It was said that Floating Life Emperor had already set one foot into the Great Dao and comprehended the true meaning of the Primordial Chaos Great Dao. He not only possessed a Primordial Chaos body but also a Primordial Chaos spirit. Every move and technique contained the power of the Great Dao's Primordial Chaos. A single thought could reduce a world to ashes.
He had created a marvelous book in the Present Era titled "The Great Dao Primordial Chaos."
This book was hailed as the number one classic of the Present Era.
Within it were recorded not only many cultivation methods but also many divine abilities and wondrous techniques.
Comprehending this book, ordinary mortals could cultivate to immortality, immortals could attain profound mysteries, and the profound could enter the Dao. It was truly a Great Dao marvelous book unparalleled throughout the ages.
Not to mention anything else, just based on "The Great Dao Primordial Chaos" alone, Floating Life Emperor had already brought blessings to all living beings, his merits immeasurable.
Throughout the ages, heaven-defying talents who shook the Great Desolate, dominated Heaven and Earth, and reigned supreme in the Great Dao were not many, but also not few.
If the Great Sun Blazing Emperor was the most dazzling legend of the Primordial Era.
Then the Western Heaven Buddha Emperor Miao Rulai was the most dazzling legend of the Ancient Era.
If the Nine Nether Great Emperor Gu Qingfeng could also be considered the most dazzling legend of the Antiquity Era.
Then the most dazzling legend of the Present Era was precisely Floating Life Emperor.
In comparison, Peacock Great Emperor's fame was not as resounding nor as great, at least when compared to Floating Life Emperor, it was like the light of a grain of rice competing with the sun and moon.
Not only that.
There probably weren't many in Heaven and Earth who had even heard of Peacock Great Emperor.
However.
Anyone who knew of Peacock Great Emperor's existence dared not look down upon him.
The reason was simple.
Legend said his previous life was the Peacock Great Bright King.
A Buddha-Lord who was not a Buddha-Lord, a Bright King who was not a Bright King.
Legend.
Peacock Bright King originated from the Buddhist Dao and was as famous as the Five Great Bright Kings including the Immovable Bright King, the Awesome Virtue Bright King, and the Vajra Yaksha Bright King. Only later, for unknown reasons, Peacock Bright King left the Buddhist Dao, fell into the Demonic Dao, then transformed into a demon and entered the Demonic Dao...
He also entered the Ghost Dao, the Strange Dao, the Witch Dao, and so on...
Some said Peacock Bright King sacrificed himself to enter the cycle of reincarnation, experiencing endless cycles, treading through the Three Thousand Great Daos, not seeking the true Buddha, nor seeking the Great Dao, but only seeking to deliver all living beings.
Whether this legend was true or false, no one knew.
Even whether Peacock Great Emperor was truly the reincarnation of Peacock Bright King, many also did not know.
At this moment.
Floating Life Emperor stood upon the mountain peak of the Desolate Ancient ruin, gazing at the changing Qian Palace, at the rotating void, and at the chaotic Qian Palace void. He simply gazed, his handsome face devoid of any emotional color, his eyes also tranquil and waveless, appearing very calm.
So calm it was as if everything happening in the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces had nothing to do with him, like an outsider.
He was like this.
Peacock Great Emperor's handsome face similarly held no emotional color. His eyes appeared even calmer than Floating Life Emperor's, with only a hint of a smile that was not quite a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
If Floating Life Emperor was as calm as an outsider amidst the chaos of the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces.
Then Peacock Great Emperor was more like a leisurely person roaming the Nine Palaces, unconcerned with worldly affairs.