Gu Qingfeng had also sensed that this Desolate Ancient Era ruin was transforming from a state of lifeless decay to one brimming with vitality; whether mountains, rivers, flowers, or trees, everything was gradually reviving.
As for whether the Light of Original Sin was causing this revival of everything within the ruin, Gu Qingfeng couldn't say for sure at the moment, because he couldn't sense any life force within the Light of Original Sin.
Not only could he sense no life force, he could hardly sense anything at all. It was as if it were a kind of absolutely pure, flawless radiance.
But this 'purity' was not that 'purity'.
Back in the Great Desolation, if one spoke of a radiance being absolutely pure, for immortals and buddhas, it meant pure light, or pure sacredness—implying that aside from sacred light, it contained no other impurities.
For demons and monsters, so-called purity meant pure darkness, or pure evil—aside from darkness and evil, it similarly contained no other impurities.
The Light of Original Sin now shimmering over this Desolate Ancient Era ruin was a kind of absolute purity that contained neither sacred light nor dark evil, nor life or death. It contained nothing at all.
Gu Qingfeng, having lived until now, was seeing such pure radiance for the first time. He knew that all things between heaven and earth were born from the interplay of yin and yang. In other words, they were either sacred light or dark evil. If something belonged to neither sacred light nor dark evil, then this radiance must lie outside heaven and earth, or one could say, outside the laws of the Great Dao.
Gu Qingfeng had heard Da Xing the Mad Monk mention that Original Sin seemed to be a kind of existence outside the Great Dao.
But.
If the Light of Original Sin existed outside the Great Dao, then what did this Desolate Ancient Era ruin shimmering with its light count as?
Could it also be outside the Great Dao?
He didn't understand.
Gu Qingfeng continued wandering through the Desolate Ancient Era ruin.
Suddenly!
He seemed to sense something and halted abruptly.
"What is it?"
Da Xing the Mad Monk was curious and asked, but seeing Gu Qingfeng didn't respond, he followed his gaze. At this glance, the Mad Monk couldn't help but freeze in place.
Within this Desolate Ancient Era ruin, there were many Karmic Retribution Bodies of Original Sin that had lost their Ego. These Karmic Retribution Bodies were scurrying about like headless flies. They had barged in by chance, drawn by the ruin's intense Original Sin Breath and enveloped by the pure Light of Original Sin. One after another, they were acting like madmen, seemingly all searching for the source of the Light of Original Sin.
However.
Not far away.
Gu Qingfeng and Da Xing the Mad Monk saw a disheveled old man sitting cross-legged on the ground.
Amidst the many scurrying Karmic Retribution Bodies, this cross-legged old man appeared particularly unusual.
"Good heavens!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk opened his Dharma Eye and said gravelly, "The Ego consciousness of this Karmic Retribution Body is gestating. It won't be long before it becomes an Original Sin Dharmakaya."
Karmic Retribution Bodies of Original Sin were all like puppet zombies, devoid of Ego consciousness.
Some Karmic Retribution Bodies might remain that way for a lifetime.
But others, perhaps by some stroke of fate, might gestate a new Ego consciousness, thereby shedding their Karmic Retribution Body status and becoming an Original Sin Dharmakaya.
"This shouldn't be a coincidence, right?"
Gu Qingfeng's voice came through. Da Xing the Mad Monk glanced at the Light of Original Sin covering the ruin and nodded. "It should be influenced by the Light of Original Sin."
"Is the Light of Original Sin that miraculous?"
Da Xing the Mad Monk said, "If even you, lad, can't feel its miraculousness, then this old monk feels it even less."
Gu Qingfeng shook his head. Although he was also a person of Original Sin, and deeply entangled within it, he truly couldn't sense any miraculousness in the Light of Original Sin, not even a hint.
The Light of Original Sin contained nothing. It felt like a useless radiance, inferior even to the most ordinary sunlight or candlelight. Sunlight could warm, candlelight could illuminate, but this Light of Original Sin didn't even have the use of illumination or warmth.
Gu Qingfeng and Da Xing the Mad Monk didn't disturb that Karmic Retribution Body gestating its Ego consciousness and continued exploring the Desolate Ancient Era ruin. They hadn't gone far.
This time, Gu Qingfeng and Da Xing the Mad Monk halted simultaneously.
They were looking at a mountain.
Under the envelopment of the Light of Original Sin, this mountain, as if spring had returned to the earth, was beginning to sprout flowers and grass all over its slopes.
However.
This wasn't the reason the two halted.
In truth, they both saw someone standing atop the peak of this mountain.
That person stood on the summit, appearing equally out of place amidst the many Karmic Retribution Bodies that had lost their Ego.
He seemed faint and indistinct, ethereal and illusory, like a reflection swaying in the wind, as if he might vanish at any moment.
This was a person of Original Sin.
And moreover, an Original Sin Dharmakaya.
If that were all, it wouldn't have caused Gu Qingfeng and Da Xing the Mad Monk to halt simultaneously. After all, since the Nine Palaces Transformation, all sorts of demons and monsters had emerged. While the number of Original Sin Dharmakayas couldn't compare to the swarming everywhere Karmic Retribution Bodies, there were absolutely not few. It wouldn't be strange for one or two Original Sin Dharmakayas to have barged in by chance.
What truly astonished Da Xing the Mad Monk was that the Original Sin Dharmakaya standing on the mountain peak—he could only detect it with his naked eye; his Divine Sense couldn't probe him.
Surveying all of ancient and modern heaven and earth.
There was only one kind of existence that Da Xing the Mad Monk's Divine Sense could not detect.
And that was an Original Sin Anomaly!
Although many Original Sin Dharmakayas lurking in the shadows had emerged after the Nine Palaces Transformation, the number of Original Sin Anomalies, counting them all, had always been just a handful.
The Western Heaven Buddha Emperor Miao Rulai counted as one.
The Carefree Great Emperor Mo Wentian, the Weiyang Demon Emperor Ren Tianxing, and the Heavenly Dragon and Earth Phoenix within the Supreme Ultimate Infinity cultivated by the Profound Mystery Cave Heaven also counted as one.
There was also Bai Chou, wrapped entirely in white cloth, plus Gu Qingfeng.
Da Xing only knew of this many. In his view, there might only be this many. If there were other Original Sin Anomalies, they should have surfaced long ago; they couldn't possibly wait until now.
Original Sin Anomalies were different from those Original Sin Patriarchs scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin.
Those Original Sin Patriarchs hid deeper than the last; they probably wouldn't show themselves until the final moment. Even now, with the Light of Original Sin beginning to bloom across the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces, and all sorts of demons and monsters lurking in the shadows emerging, Da Xing the Mad Monk still believed many Original Sin Patriarchs remained hidden.
But Original Sin Anomalies were different.
Original Sin Anomalies simply couldn't hide.
Even if an Original Sin Anomaly had no desire to scheme for the True Lord of Original Sin, it still couldn't hide.
Just like Gu Qingfeng.
Various karmic traps linked one after another.
Various Great Dao trials, probing him time and again.
Various Divine Sense demonic thoughts, seeking him out one after another.
The tree may desire stillness, but the wind will not cease. Once you become an Original Sin Anomaly, you are destined for an extraordinary fate.
Even if those guardians of the Great Dao of heaven and earth don't dig you out, those beings yearning for the Age of No Dao will push you into the open. Those scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin will view you as a thorn in their side. Not to mention there's still the Heavenly Dao, the Holy Lands, and the one known as the incarnation of karma, the emissary of fate—Genggu Wuming.
None of these existences would allow an Original Sin Anomaly to remain hidden in the shadows.