Previously, when they had been scurrying around Li Palace like headless flies without any particular goal, they hadn't felt anything special. But now, as they genuinely tried to find that Desolate Ancient Era ruins emitting the Light of Original Sin, both of them truly and keenly sensed the profound mystery of Li Palace's transformations.
That Desolate Ancient Era ruins was clearly in the distance ahead, yet when they rushed straight towards it, the distance only grew greater.
So, the two of them then rushed in the opposite direction, thinking that since rushing forward made the distance increase, heading backwards should allow them to find it, right?
Unfortunately.
The two of them still underestimated the changes within Li Palace.
When they rushed in the opposite direction, not only did they fail to find it, but the distance became even greater than before.
They had tried both forward and backward, and in both cases, the distance grew.
Next, they rushed to the left, with the same result—the distance increasing.
Then to the right, with the same outcome—still growing farther away.
They had tried all four directions—forward, backward, left, and right—yet none led them to that Desolate Ancient Era ruins glowing with the Light of Original Sin. In every case, the distance only increased.
This time, Gu Qingfeng was dumbfounded.
Da Xing the Mad Monk was also utterly bewildered.
It wasn't that they didn't know Li Palace was changing, or that the Void was rotating, or that the ruins were merging.
In their minds, no matter how much Li Palace changed, the Void rotated, or the ruins merged, it shouldn't be this bizarre and eerie.
How could they not find that Desolate Ancient Era ruins emitting the Light of Original Sin in any of the four directions?
Wasn't this just too strange?
No matter how it changed, rotated, or merged, it couldn't possibly be outside the Nine Palaces, could it?
Now, both Gu Qingfeng and Da Xing the Mad Monk began to wonder whether that ruins glowing with the Light of Original Sin was even within these Nine Palaces at all.
"How bizarre! This is truly bizarre!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk looked left and right, gazing at the distant ruins glowing with the Light of Original Sin, and said, "In this old monk's view, if we don't comprehend the changes of Li Palace, wanting to find those ruins will likely be impossible."
Having said that.
Da Xing the Mad Monk looked at Gu Qingfeng and asked, "Youngster Gu, don't tell me you can't comprehend the mysteries of Li Palace's transformations either?"
"Nonsense! If I could comprehend it, I'd have long since dashed over there. Would I still be scurrying around everywhere?"
It wasn't that Gu Qingfeng hadn't tried to comprehend the mysteries of the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces' transformations.
Ever since he first entered, he had attempted to understand them.
Alas, the transformations of the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces were far too profound. Although he had grasped a little bit, it was only superficial—perhaps not even that.
"What about you, you old bald donkey? Can't you fathom the mysteries of the Nine Palaces' transformations either?"
"If even you can't comprehend it, let alone this old monk."
Da Xing the Mad Monk had also only grasped the superficial aspects; he too could not fathom the transformations of the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces.
"What the hell is this!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk took off his monk's hat, opened the wine gourd hanging at his waist, and took two extremely frustrated gulps of fine wine.
Beside him, Gu Qingfeng also pulled out a jar of fine wine and drank half of it in one go. Although this wasn't the first time he had encountered bizarre things in the Desolate Ancient Era, this instance still left him somewhat frustrated.
That ruins glowing with the Light of Original Sin was right before his eyes, yet he just couldn't find its specific location.
If that were all, it wouldn't have frustrated him so much. The real issue was that when he tried to extend his divine sense to probe, he couldn't even detect it.
To him, it felt as if that ruins glowing with the Light of Original Sin didn't belong to this Li Palace Void at all.
It was utterly bizarre.
This was like seeing a treasure in a deep, remote mountain forest, yet being trapped within that forest, unable to find it no matter how hard you searched.
All you could do was stare longingly at that treasure, truly frustrating.
Just then, Da Xing the Mad Monk shouted, "Good heavens! Another one has appeared!"
"What thing?"
Gu Qingfeng looked in the direction Da Xing the Mad Monk was pointing. Sure enough, in the distance, another Desolate Ancient Era ruins had begun to glow with the Light of Original Sin.
"Great! We haven't even found the first one, and now another pops up."
Gu Qingfeng said with a laugh, "Trying to tempt me to death, are they?"
"Should we two go search for it?"
Da Xing the Mad Monk was unwilling to give up. Although he was the one who told Gu Qingfeng about the Light of Original Sin and the Flower of Original Sin, he had never seen the thing himself and very much wanted to find one to see what it actually was.
"Search for what? Not searching!"
Gu Qingfeng was just that kind of person.
Everything followed fate, letting things take their natural course.
If he could find it, he would; if not, so be it. He neither forced himself nor made excessive demands.
The Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces were still changing.
The Nine Palaces Void was still rotating.
One Desolate Ancient Era ruin after another was still merging.
Within the Nine Palaces, not only had the Light of Original Sin appeared in the Li Palace where Gu Qingfeng was, but it had also appeared in the other palaces, and in each case, more than one instance of the Light had emerged.
The Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces were already chaotic enough.
Now, with the Light of Original Sin appearing one after another, the Nine Palaces had become a complete mess.
All sorts of demons and monsters emerged, all searching for the Light of Original Sin.
But searching was one thing.
Almost everyone, like Gu Qingfeng, could see the Desolate Ancient Era ruins glowing with the Light of Original Sin with their naked eyes, yet their divine senses couldn't detect them. When they rushed over, not only could they not find them, but the distance grew greater.
One after another, they scurried around like headless flies.
Looking around, shadows were everywhere within the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces.
These shadows might be Retribution Bodies of Original Sin that had lost their selves.
Or perhaps Dharma Bodies of Original Sin trying to seize the initiative regarding Original Sin.
Or maybe Patriarchs of Original Sin scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin.
All sorts of demons and monsters, every kind imaginable.
Those who should have appeared, and those who shouldn't have, had pretty much all shown up.
In just this short while.
Another Desolate Ancient Era ruins within the Li Palace Void began to glow with the Light of Original Sin.
When the second ruins glowing with the Light of Original Sin had appeared earlier, neither Gu Qingfeng nor Da Xing the Mad Monk felt any joy, only more frustration.
Because after exhausting all their efforts and still failing to find the first ruins, they naturally held no hope for the second.
But when the third ruins glowing with the Light of Original Sin appeared, Da Xing the Mad Monk swept away his previous gloom and frustration, appearing extremely excited, his eyes gleaming with a sharp light.
His gaze was as spirited as if he had seen a young woman stripped naked—utterly invigorated.
The reason was simple.
The third ruins glowing with the Light of Original Sin was not far from them. Not only was it not far, it was very close—at least it looked very close, as if a strong leap could take them right over.
"Hahaha! Youngster Gu! Heaven is truly helping us! Hahaha!"
Gu Qingfeng stood in the Void. The ruins glowing with the Light of Original Sin not far away seemed within arm's reach.
However, he didn't appear as excited as Da Xing the Mad Monk, saying calmly, "Da Xing, I advise you not to celebrate too soon. I dare bet that if we charge over now, we might still not find it."
"This old monk refuses to believe this evil! At such a close distance, this old monk can leap over with a single jump!"
"If you don't believe me, you can try."
"Try, then try!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk took a deep breath and, without any hesitation, leaped up, jumping towards the nearby ruins glowing with the Light of Original Sin.
In his mind, no matter how endlessly the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces changed, how mysteriously the Void rotated, or how silently the ruins merged, at such a close distance—almost within reach—he couldn't possibly fail to find it, could he?
However.
Ideals are beautiful, but reality is cruel.
The moment Da Xing the Mad Monk leaped up, he already realized he was wrong.
Terribly wrong!
He thought that the ruins, being so close, would be reachable with a single leap.
No matter how profound the changes of the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces were, they couldn't possibly make the distance grow greater like before when he rushed straight over.
Yet.
This was only what he thought.
Logically, when he leaped and jumped over, the distance should have grown smaller.
But now, as he jumped over, the distance only grew greater.
Before jumping, that ruins glowing with the Light of Original Sin had been very close to him, seemingly within arm's reach. But with this jump, it felt as if he had leaped beyond the highest clouds, watching helplessly as the ruins grew farther and farther away.
Da Xing the Mad Monk had once again underestimated the profound mysteries of the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces' transformations.
He finally realized that the mysteries of the Nine Palaces' transformations exceeded his imagination.
"Hahaha!"
In the distance.
Gu Qingfeng looked at the dumbfounded Da Xing the Mad Monk and laughed, "Believe it now?"
"I believe it! I have to believe it now!"
This time, Da Xing the Mad Monk not only believed it but was also convinced, utterly bowing to the profound mysteries of the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces' transformations. He leaped once more, jumping back to Gu Qingfeng's side, then suddenly froze.
"Something's not right!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk said in surprise, "When this old monk jumped over from here just now, that ruins grew farther away. Why is it that when I jumped back from over there, I arrived here in an instant?"
"Nonsense! The Nine Palaces are changing, the Void is changing, the ruins are changing."
Gu Qingfeng laughed, "But I haven't changed. So, it's normal for you to find me."
Da Xing the Mad Monk's mind was a bit muddled now, unable to fully grasp what Gu Qingfeng meant in this short time.
Gu Qingfeng, however, seemed to have realized something. He patted Da Xing the Mad Monk's shoulder and said, "Have you noticed something even more bizarre?"
"What thing?"
"Look!"
Gu Qingfeng pointed at that ruins glowing with the Light of Original Sin.
Da Xing the Mad Monk looked over, focusing his gaze, and couldn't help but be shocked, because he discovered that the Original Sin ruins was even closer to him now.
If it had been within arm's reach before, now that Original Sin ruins could be said to be right before his eyes.
So close that he didn't need to leap; it seemed a few steps would take him there.
"What the hell... How can this be? How did you find it, youngster?"
"I didn't move at all."
"You didn't move? What do you mean? Don't tell me this Desolate Ancient Era ruins moved over by itself?"
"What else did you think?"
"That works too?"
Gu Qingfeng tilted his head back and took a sip of wine. "Before, I didn't understand what 'using constancy to respond to infinite change' meant. Now, I understand a little bit more."