Previously, Floating Life Imperial Lord had been probed by a group of mysterious manifestations.
Peacock Great Emperor had also been probed by a group of mysterious manifestations.
Moreover.
Since entering the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces, this was not the first time either of them had been subjected to such probing.
Who was probing them, and what was the purpose of the probing? Floating Life Imperial Lord knew, and Peacock Great Emperor also knew.
In truth.
Whether it was Floating Life Imperial Lord or Peacock Great Emperor, given their current cultivation and strength, if they wished to hide and lie dormant in the shadows, no one could find them.
Yet neither of them did so.
Because deep down, they both understood clearly: you can hide for a while, but not forever. What is destined to come will eventually come. Hiding and evading endlessly cannot solve the fundamental problem.
They even knew that the previous probing could hardly be called probing at all; at most, it was merely a move, a piece set on the board by those Great Dao Patriarchs.
Rather than probing, it was more like 'beating the mountain to scare the tiger'—shaking the foundations behind the Heaven-Earth Great Dao, behind Karma and Fate, and behind the two of them, these Inevitable Fates of the Calamity.
The real probing had not yet begun.
But it was about to.
This, Floating Life Imperial Lord could sense, and Peacock Great Emperor could also sense.
"Heh."
For no apparent reason.
Peacock Great Emperor suddenly chuckled. Gazing at the chaotic void of the Qian Palace, he smiled faintly and said, "A single wisp of Original Sin light caused countless Original Sin manifestations to swarm forth like moths to a flame. A single Original Sin flower drove countless Original Sin individuals utterly mad. A single drop of Original Sin essence also made the Original Sin Patriarchs lying dormant in the shadows unable to restrain themselves from surfacing."
"They have waited for this day for far, far too long. They have waited until they are now growing impatient. They have staked everything on the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces, placing all their hopes on the Wu Dao Age. They do not want to lose, and they cannot afford to lose."
"Those who yearn for the Wu Dao Age are like this, but are those who guard the Heaven-Earth Great Dao any different?"
Slightly shaking his head, Peacock Great Emperor continued, "For as long as those who yearn for the Wu Dao Age have waited for this day, those who guard the Heaven-Earth Great Dao have waited just as long. They have staked everything on the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces. They, too, have staked everything on the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces. They have both pinned their hopes on the future."
"The only difference is, some place their hopes on the future Wu Dao Age, while others place their hopes on the future Heaven-Earth Great Dao."
"Some simultaneously place their hopes on both the Wu Dao Age and the Heaven-Earth Great Dao."
"And still others place their hopes on what lies behind the Wu Dao Age, and behind the Heaven-Earth Great Dao..." "Only..." "Which one is the true future? No one knows."
"This is a gamble, an eternal gamble. What is being gambled is neither the Wu Dao Age nor the Heaven-Earth Great Dao, but Fate—the Fate of the future!"
"This gamble should have been decided back in the Desolate Ancient Era..." "Only..." "It was delayed."
"Delayed all the way from the Desolate Ancient Era to the Present Era."
As Peacock Great Emperor spoke these words, his tone remained consistently flat, as if discussing a very ordinary matter. It seemed like he was talking to himself, yet also seemed like he was speaking for Floating Life Imperial Lord to hear.
After speaking, he closed his eyes, shook his head, and chuckled—a laugh tinged with some helplessness, some self-mockery, and a touch of irony.
And Floating Life Imperial Lord, from beginning to end, stood atop a mountain peak within the Desolate Ancient ruins, gazing at the chaotic void of the Qian Palace, offering no response.
After a moment.
Peacock Great Emperor opened his eyes, slowly exhaled a breath, and asked softly, "What about you? Don't you want to take a gamble?"
Although Peacock Great Emperor did not specify what the gamble was, that did not mean Floating Life Imperial Lord did not know.
On the contrary.
Floating Life Imperial Lord was very clear about what Peacock Great Emperor meant by 'taking a gamble'.
Just as Peacock Great Emperor had said moments before, it was a gamble on neither the Wu Dao Age nor the Heaven-Earth Great Dao, but on Fate—the Fate of the future.
Floating Life Imperial Lord replied indifferently: "You have already asked me this question before."
"But you didn't answer last time, did you?"
Indeed.
Peacock Great Emperor had already asked Floating Life Imperial Lord this question before, and Floating Life Imperial Lord had not answered then. This time, he still did not answer.
"You don't want to gamble, or you don't dare to gamble, or you can't afford to lose?"
Peacock Great Emperor pressed with a series of questions.
Floating Life Imperial Lord's expression remained unchanged, and he offered no response.
"Heh!"
Peacock Great Emperor laughed.
This time, his laugh was somewhat meaningful. He said, "Whether you want to gamble or not, I may not know, but I know you certainly dare to gamble. Only..." "You might not be able to afford to lose, am I right?"
Silence.
Floating Life Imperial Lord remained silent.
"Ha!"
Peacock Great Emperor laughed again.
This laugh held more of a sense of wry amusement. He said, "It seems you ultimately still cannot let go. You cannot let go of the word 'affection'."
Perhaps Peacock Great Emperor's words struck a chord within Floating Life Imperial Lord's heart, for the previously silent and calm Floating Life Imperial Lord, for some reason, quietly closed his eyes.
What is 'affection'?
Family love is affection.
Friendship is also affection.
Romantic love is even more so affection.
Even if Floating Life Imperial Lord did not wish to admit it, he could not deny that what Peacock Great Emperor said was the truth.
He was indeed trapped by affection.
Trapped by friendship, by love, and by family ties.
He was not unaware that it was precisely because of this word 'affection' that he was unable to comprehend the true essence of the Great Dao Primordial Chaos.
He also knew that because of this word 'affection', he had to give up many things, and many things he wished to do, he could not.
He knew.
He had always known, better than anyone.
He could be heartless, he could forget affection.
Disregard all emotions.
Forget the very word 'affection'.
Yes.
He could.
Not only could he, but he had done so in his previous life—and he had been utterly cold-blooded and heartless, achieving the state of 'Supreme Forgetfulness of Affection'.
He thought that as long as he disregarded all emotions and achieved Supreme Forgetfulness of Affection, he could transcend the word 'affection'.
It was only upon awakening his past life memories that he realized: heartlessness is heartlessness, forgetting affection is forgetting affection. Heartlessness does not mean transcendence, and forgetting affection certainly does not mean transcendence.
The more heartless one is, the more it shows one cares. The more one forgets affection, the more it shows one is attached. The deeper one sinks into the word 'affection'.
To transcend the word 'affection', one must see through it.
However.
The Floating Life Imperial Lord of his previous life had not seen through the word 'affection', and the him of this life still could not see through this word.
He could not see through it, nor could he achieve it. Instead, he sank deeper and deeper into this word 'affection'.
The deeper he sank, the more he could not let go. The more he could not let go, the more he could not see through. The more he could not see through, the more impossible it became to transcend.
If possible, he too would like to stake everything and gamble boldly—gamble on a future, a future Fate.
Although he was an Inevitable Fate of the Calamity who had received the True Mandate, he still wished to defy Fate, even to erase Fate. Or perhaps it should be said: precisely because he was an Inevitable Fate of the Calamity who had received the True Mandate, he wanted even more to erase Fate.
The reason was simple.
In his previous life, he could not control his own Fate. In this life, he still could not control his own Fate.
He did not want to be unable to control his own Fate in his next life either.
All of this was Karma.
Floating Life Imperial Lord was like falling into an abyss of Karma, or like sinking into a sea of suffering, sinking deeper and deeper. One wrong step led to more wrong steps. Even if he turned back, there was no shore.
He very much wanted to sever Karma and control his own Fate.
Unfortunately.
He could neither sever his own Karma, nor could he control his own Fate.
He had tried.
Many, many times.
Without exception, the result was that the more he tried to sever Karma, the more chaotic it became, and the deeper he sank.
In the past.
He did not understand why Fate had chosen him to become an Inevitable Fate of the Calamity. Later, he gradually came to understand.
Precisely because he was sinking deeper and deeper into the abyss of Karma, Fate had long been destined. Even if he reincarnated a thousand times, ten thousand times, it would not change. Karma would only sink deeper, and Fate would only become more destined.
An unknown amount of time passed.
He opened his eyes and asked a question: "Why did your Fate become an Inevitable Fate?"
"Me?"
Peacock Great Emperor shrugged and smiled, "Pretty much the same as you."
"Also trapped by affection?"
"Ha!"
Hearing Floating Life Imperial Lord's words, Peacock Great Emperor couldn't help but laugh, seeming quite amused.
"What are you laughing at?"
"I'm not as fortunate as you, to be trapped by affection. I am not trapped by affection, but by a single wisp of obsession."
"A wisp of obsession?"
"Yes, a wisp of obsession."
"Who isn't driven by a wisp of obsession? The source of all Karma is obsession. The reason Karma cannot be severed is also because of obsession. If not for that initial wisp of obsession, how could Karma be unseverable? How could Fate be Heaven-decreed?"
Peacock Great Emperor nodded, "Indeed so. You are trapped by affection, which is also a wisp of obsession. Only, compared to your obsession, mine seems too childish and too foolish. At least, that's what I think."
Hearing this.
Floating Life Imperial Lord couldn't help but recall the legends about Peacock Great Emperor. It was said that Peacock Great Emperor's previous life was the Peacock Bright King, and that back then, the Peacock Bright King sacrificed himself to enter Reincarnation, undergoing endless cycles, traversing the Three Thousand Great Daos, not to seek true Buddhahood, nor to seek the Great Dao, but to save all living beings.
Thinking of this, Floating Life Imperial Lord seemed to understand what Peacock Great Emperor meant by his 'obsession'.
He also smiled and said, "If an obsession like 'saving all living beings' is considered childish and foolish in your eyes, then what does my obsession of being trapped by affection count as?"
"Ha!"
Peacock Great Emperor laughed, "That's just a rumor, not to be taken seriously."
Floating Life Imperial Lord said nothing more, waiting for him to continue.
"Back then, I sacrificed myself to enter Reincarnation, traversing the Three Thousand Great Daos. It was indeed not to seek true Buddhahood, nor to seek the Great Dao. As for saving all living beings..." "Hahahaha!"
Speaking of this, Peacock Great Emperor's expression became particularly complex—somewhat awkward, somewhat helpless, and with a trace of anger.
"Sorry to disappoint you. Back then, when I sacrificed myself to enter Reincarnation, it was absolutely not to save all living beings. I am not that great, nor that noble. I sacrificed myself to enter Reincarnation only to save myself."
"Save yourself? How?"
Peacock Great Emperor countered, "The same way you tried to save yourself back then."
Back then.
Floating Life Imperial Lord, in order to sever the threads of affection and cut Karma, underwent cycle after cycle of Reincarnation, lifetime after lifetime of rebirth. In the end, the threads of affection were not severed, and Karma only sank deeper.
Similarly.
Back then, Peacock Great Emperor, in order to save himself, also chose cycle after cycle of Reincarnation, lifetime after lifetime of rebirth. In the end, not only did he fail to save himself, but he also sank deeper and deeper.
Floating Life Imperial Lord, by severing Karma, forcefully severed himself into becoming an Inevitable Fate of the Calamity in the Present Era.
And Peacock Great Emperor, by trying to save himself, forcefully saved himself into becoming an Inevitable Fate of the Calamity in the Present Era.
"That's why I said the two of us are in the same boat. You severed the threads of affection to save yourself. I severed my obsession to save myself. Saving and saving, in the end, we both saved ourselves into becoming Inevitable Fates of the Calamity. Hahahahaha!"
As his words fell, Peacock Great Emperor threw his head back and laughed heartily.