What is an obsession?
It's very simple.
Any persistent thought is an obsession.
If a thought arises, and one retreats or gives up when encountering difficulty, that is not an obsession.
A true obsession, once born within the heart, takes root and sprouts. It will not be abandoned because of any hardship, not even life and death.
Do not underestimate a mere obsession.
Throughout the ages, countless masters of the Great Dao have died because of their obsessions.
This thing is like an inner demon. Once born, it expands bit by bit. It cannot be driven away, nor scattered completely. It cannot be suppressed, nor seen through, much less broken through.
If one could see through it or break through it, then it would no longer be an obsession.
Love is a kind of obsession.
Desire is also a kind of obsession.
Different personalities give rise to different obsessions.
Those with immense ambition often give birth to the obsession of desire.
Those deeply sentimental and righteous often give birth to the obsession of emotional threads.
For example, Fusheng Dijun is like this. His obsession is the Thread of Emotion.
Over these years, to sever this Thread of Emotion, he has undergone Reincarnation again and again, life after life. Yet, the more he tries to sever it, the more tangled the Thread of Emotion becomes, and the deeper his obsession grows.
Now, not only has he failed to sever the Thread of Emotion obsession, but new obsessions have appeared. And more than one new obsession has emerged.
The Thread of Emotion is his old obsession, already deeply rooted.
In a sense, his repeated cycles of Reincarnation to sever his obsession is itself an obsession.
That's right.
The act of severing obsession is itself an obsession.
Furthermore, Fusheng Dijun has always been seeking Karma.
Because he wants to understand how his deeply rooted Thread of Emotion obsession came to be. Did it appear during his 'self' state, his 'original self' state, or was this unseverable Thread of Emotion obsession already present during his 'true self' state?
Seeking Karma, searching for the true self.
This is yet another obsession.
Now, after all this severing, Fusheng Dijun is utterly lost. He doesn't know what to do to completely sever his obsessions.
He feels that from the moment he began severing obsessions, he fell into a vicious cycle, as if plunging into a bitter sea of Karma. He wanted to reach the shore, but instead sank deeper.
What's worse, he now sees no light ahead and has no retreat behind. Even if he wanted to stop, to no longer continue severing obsessions, he cannot. Because his act of severing obsessions has already turned him into a Destined Calamity Fate.
As for Peacock Great Emperor, although what he severed in the past was not the Thread of Emotion, his situation is almost identical to Fusheng Dijun's. He too underwent Reincarnation again and again to sever his obsession, also failed to sever it, also gave birth to new obsessions, also feels he has fallen into the vicious cycle of the bitter sea of Karma, also turned himself into a Destined Calamity Fate, and also severed himself into a state of confusion and bewilderment.
"You really aren't going to take the gamble?"
Peacock Great Emperor asked once more.
Fusheng Dijun glanced at him and responded lightly, "Why don't you gamble?"
"I want to gamble!"
"That's just a desire."
Fusheng Dijun's expression remained as calm as ever, his eyes and words the same. "Who doesn't want to?"
Indeed.
Who doesn't want to gamble?
Fusheng Dijun also wants to throw caution to the wind and gamble. The problem is he cannot afford to. Severing obsessions for so many years, undergoing Reincarnation again and again, has burdened him with far too many heavy things. There is familial love, romantic love, affection, friendship, far too many hopes. He is now long past the point of acting on his own will.
He does not want to lose, cannot lose, and even more so, cannot afford to lose.
Fusheng Dijun is like this, and Peacock Great Emperor is no exception.
Although he asks Fusheng Dijun again and again whether he will gamble, in truth, it's less about asking Fusheng Dijun and more about asking himself.
To sever his obsession, he too underwent Reincarnation again and again, and also shouldered far too many heavy burdens. Perhaps not familial or romantic love, but there are still too many hopes. He too is now unable to act on his own will. He too wants to gamble but dares not. He too does not want to lose, cannot lose, and even more so, cannot afford to lose.
"What if...
I told you that Genggu Wuming is also gambling?"
Peacock Great Emperor said.
Fusheng Dijun asked, "Gambling on what?"
"Although I don't know what she's gambling on, I dare say she is definitely gambling, and she is absolutely not gambling on this Heaven-Earth Great Dao."
Hearing this,
Fusheng Dijun fell silent.
"Heh!"
Peacock Great Emperor laughed, a laugh filled with self-mockery. He shook his head slightly. "Even Genggu Wuming, hailed as the incarnation of Karma and the messenger of fate, dares to gamble. Yet, the two of us do not."
Raising his head, gazing at the chaotic void, Peacock Great Emperor continued with a sigh, "If we cannot afford to lose, then I think Genggu Wuming certainly cannot afford to lose more than us. But...
she dares to gamble. We do not."
"Heh!"
The smile at the corner of Peacock Great Emperor's mouth grew more pronounced, the self-mockery within it intensifying. "It seems fate truly has us in its grip, holding us tight."
"Heh!"
Peacock Great Emperor laughed repeatedly, the laughter growing increasingly self-mocking.
"We truly live up to being Destined Calamity Fates."
Silence.
Fusheng Dijun was silent. Peacock Great Emperor gradually fell silent too.
After an unknown length of time, Peacock Great Emperor turned and looked at Fusheng Dijun. "Have you... ever considered a question?"
"What question?"
"If you don't gamble, but still end up losing in the end, what then?"
Fusheng Dijun responded without hesitation, calmly, "If I lose, then I lose. Nothing to be done."
Peacock Great Emperor asked with a half-smile, "If you gamble, you cannot afford to lose. If you don't gamble, you can afford to lose?"
"If I gamble and win, my heart would bear guilt."
Fusheng Dijun said softly and lightly, "If I don't gamble and lose, I would have a clear conscience."
"Ha!"
Peacock Great Emperor laughed again. "That's why you became a Destined Calamity Fate."
Fusheng Dijun said, "Aren't you the same?"
"I am too."
Peacock Great Emperor shrugged. "That's why I said we truly live up to being Destined Calamity Fates. Whether it's you or me, we cannot overcome that barrier within our own hearts."
Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, Peacock Great Emperor said with a smile, "Cultivation, cultivation. We cultivate the heart, we walk the Dao. The heart comes first, the Dao follows. The heart is within, the Dao is without. If the heart is the soul, then the Dao is the body."
"I am growing more and more impressed by the mental state of the Netherworld Emperor. All beings under heaven and earth are watching him, yet he can act as if he doesn't see. Many beings under heaven and earth have placed their hopes upon him, yet he can act as if he doesn't know. Even though all signs indicate he is the True Lord of Original Sin recorded in the Book of Fate, he can act as if nothing has happened."
"The divine sense demonic thoughts of the three Sons of Original Sin are within him, yet he pays them no mind. Even the divine sense demonic thought from beyond the Great Dao appeared within him, and he similarly pays it no mind."
"No matter how chaotic the Karma becomes, he has never sought to understand it."
"Even knowing it's a Karma trap, he will still jump into it as usual."
"He never considers winning or losing, because he never cares about winning or losing."
"What is acting as one pleases? This is acting as one pleases."
"What is following the Natural Order? This is following the Natural Order."
"At first glance, so-called 'acting as one pleases' and 'following the Natural Order' seem like resigning oneself to fate. However, only when one's mental state truly reaches the point of acting as one pleases and following the Natural Order, perhaps then he is heaven, he is fate."