"What do you mean, 'using stillness to counter infinite change'? Did you somehow grasp the mysteries of the Nine Palaces Transformation in such a short time?"
Gu Qingfeng shrugged and smiled. "I wouldn't say I've grasped it. Just figured out a bit of the trick."
"Really? Then tell this old monk, so I can ponder it too."
"You really want to know?"
"Of course."
Gu Qingfeng glanced at him and said seriously, "The Buddha said it cannot be spoken."
With that, Gu Qingfeng laughed heartily.
"Damn it! You're messing with this old monk!"
Just as Da Xing the Mad Monk was about to say something, Gu Qingfeng shushed him and pointed at his feet.
Da Xing, bewildered, looked down and was immediately overjoyed. He discovered that the Desolate Ancient Era ruins glowing with the Light of Original Sin had, without him noticing, moved right beneath his feet.
"Little monk, watch and learn."
Gu Qingfeng lifted his foot and stepped forward. The void beneath his feet shattered, and he vanished, leaving only a fading afterimage.
When he reappeared, he was already standing atop the Desolate Ancient Era ruins glowing with the Light of Original Sin.
Da Xing was ecstatic and wanted to follow Gu Qingfeng's example and walk over. But as soon as he lifted his foot, he couldn't bring himself to take that step.
Earlier, when these ruins were within arm's reach, Da Xing had leaped forward, only to find himself not landing on them but instead being thrown farther away. That experience had left a shadow in his heart.
Now, with the ruins right beneath his feet, Da Xing wanted to jump but dared not. He was terrified that if he jumped, he wouldn't land on the ruins but would instead be flung even farther away.
As the saying goes, once bitten by a snake, you fear a well-rope for ten years.
That was exactly how Da Xing felt now.
"Hey, Da Xing, what are you waiting for? If you don't come over now, you might not get another chance."
Gu Qingfeng's voice rang out. Da Xing shuddered, no longer daring to hesitate. Fearing the ruins beneath his feet might slip away again, he gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and imitated Gu Qingfeng by taking a step.
As he took that step, Da Xing's heart felt like it was leaping out of his throat.
Fortunately, he landed smoothly on the ruins. He let out a deep sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Damn it! Finally made it up here! Not easy! Hahaha!"
The Desolate Ancient Era ruins were vast, as large as a continent in the Great Desolate World. Standing on them, one couldn't see the end.
These ruins were similar to others in the Nine Palaces: they had mountains, rivers, flowers, grass, and trees.
But the mountains were barren.
The rivers were stagnant.
The flowers, grass, and trees were withered and decaying.
More prevalent were vast stretches of desolate wasteland, upon which stood ruined structures.
Everywhere was lifeless.
For some reason, the moment Gu Qingfeng arrived on these ruins, a very complex feeling welled up within him.
This feeling was indescribable, unclear.
It felt both familiar and strange.
Deja vu.
He quite liked this feeling.
No.
It wasn't that he liked the feeling itself, but rather that it made him very comfortable. It even stirred a fluttering excitement in his heart.
It was as if he had returned to a long-lost hometown, his heart quite agitated.
Why did he feel this way?
And why was he so particularly stirred by it?
Since entering Li Palace, Gu Qingfeng had set foot on countless Desolate Ancient Era ruins, but none had evoked this sense of deja vu and agitation.
Why did he only feel this way when stepping onto *these* ruins?
Could it be solely because these ruins were glowing with the so-called Light of Original Sin?
Yes.
That must be it.
What truly stirred Gu Qingfeng wasn't these ruins themselves, but the Light of Original Sin blooming from them.
"Truly strange, lad Gu. Look, we people with arms, legs, and self-consciousness exhausted all our means and couldn't find these ruins."
On these ruins glowing with the Light of Original Sin, it wasn't just Gu Qingfeng and Da Xing the Mad Monk. There were also many Karmic Retribution Bodies of Original Sin who had lost their Ego.
These Ego-less Karmic Retribution Bodies of Original Sin were all disheveled and wild-looking, scurrying chaotically across the ruins.
Da Xing wondered, "How did these Ego-less Karmic Retribution Bodies of Original Sin find these ruins?"
"Did they, like us, just happen to wait until they arrived?"
He shook his head, feeling it unlikely. "These Karmic Retribution Bodies of Original Sin don't even have self-consciousness. They couldn't be waiting for an opportunity to step up like us."
Gu Qingfeng replied lightly, "Sometimes, the unconscious is more effective than the conscious."
"What do you mean?"
"With ruins like these, if you deliberately search for them, you might not find them. But if you stumble upon them unintentionally, you might just bump into them."
"You mean these Ego-less Karmic Retribution Bodies of Original Sin are just blind cats stumbling upon dead mice, accidentally bumping their way in?"
"Most likely."
Da Xing thought about it and agreed it made sense.
"Da Xing, didn't you say that where the Light of Original Sin appears, the Flower of Original Sin will be found?"
Gu Qingfeng had been searching for the so-called Flower of Original Sin, but after looking everywhere, he hadn't found it.
"Lad, get one thing straight. This old monk never said the Light of Original Sin's appearance *guarantees* the Flower of Original Sin. I only said it's a possibility."
"If there's no Flower of Original Sin on these ruins, then where is the Light of Original Sin coming from?"
"This..." Da Xing scratched his head. He didn't know the answer to that either.
Gu Qingfeng reasoned that since these Desolate Ancient Era ruins were blooming with the Light of Original Sin, there must be a source. It couldn't just bloom without cause.
But after searching for a long time, he still couldn't find the source of the Light of Original Sin.
Gu Qingfeng stopped, frowned, and gazed at the ruins. "Doesn't this place feel a bit different from the other ruins?"
"Different?"
Da Xing looked around but didn't see how these ruins differed from the others.
They all had mountains, rivers, flowers, grass, trees, and stretches of desolate wasteland.
And whether mountains, rivers, flowers, or trees, they were all like scenery in a painting—lifeless, devoid of any vitality.
Wait!
As he was looking, Da Xing suddenly sensed something amiss.
He noticed the flowers and grass seemed to be coming alive, gradually blooming.
The trees were also growing robustly, spreading branches and leaves.
Even the previously stagnant rivers had begun to flow.
Including the barren mountains, which had, at some unknown time, turned lush and green.
Looking out, everything on these Desolate Ancient Era ruins seemed to be reviving.
Although this revival was silent and subtle, Da Xing dared to affirm that everything on the ruins was indeed reviving.
No longer lifeless, but brimming with vitality.
How could this be?
Could it be because of the Light of Original Sin?
Was the Light of Original Sin causing this lifeless Desolate Ancient Era ruin to begin reviving?