Enraged!
Thoroughly enraged!
Huli Great Immortal was temperamentally irascible to begin with, and even after being suppressed for countless eons in Gui Xu, he hadn’t changed a bit. Moreover, that sinister, deep voice had just publicly branded Huli Great Immortal a “three-path traitor” in front of everyone. It wasn’t just failing to give him any face—it was outright, naked humiliation.
“You filthy bastard!
Get out here for your granddaddy!”
Huli Great Immortal was furious beyond measure. Gripping his long blade, he exerted force, and a vast, violent surge of Original Sin Power exploded forth, shaking the sky full of Breath of Original Sin until it scattered and dissipated, and making the entire Void tremble and sway like the deep sea.
However.
The Void remained the Void.
Although Huli Great Immortal had cultivated Original Sin Self and possessed formidable strength, he still couldn’t shake the Void of the Primordial Nine Palaces. Those capable of hiding within the Nine Palaces Void were either Great Dao Overlords or Great Dao Patriarchs, whose cultivation and power were no weaker than Huli Great Immortal’s—in fact, they were likely stronger.
To put it simply, Huli Great Immortal’s strength was insufficient to force the existence hiding within the Void to reveal itself.
Therefore.
No matter how furious he was inside, facing that sinister, deep voice whose location was unknown, he was helpless. He could only rage and shout into the Void.
“They all say Gui Xu is terrifying beyond measure, but judging by Huli Great Immortal’s state, it seems the so-called Gui Xu isn’t all that much after all.”
Gu Qingfeng muttered softly to himself.
He had always heard tales of Gui Xu.
It was said that Gui Xu had neither time nor space, neither life nor death, nor any darkness or light, sanctity or evil—only emptiness, endless emptiness.
And that was precisely the most terrifying aspect of Gui Xu, because being suppressed there meant your will, your spirit, your desires… everything would be gradually exhausted within Gui Xu’s boundless emptiness.
When a person lost their will, spirit, and desires, to put it nicely, it was akin to the ‘four great voidnesses’; to put it bluntly, they were little better than living corpses, because living held no meaning for them anymore.
This was far crueler than simply erasing someone outright.
Gu Qingfeng understood this deeply.
Although he had never been suppressed in Gui Xu, his current state of existence was like that of a living corpse. He had no ideals, no desires, no drive, no vitality—just like those lost, wandering ghosts who had forfeited their selves, utterly unsure of what they should do or where they should go.
Living like this was practically no different from being dead.
In contrast, this Huli Great Immortal had been suppressed in Gui Xu since the Ancient Desolation Era, yet after emerging, he seemed unchanged. His temper was still just as explosive, and he still schemed for the title of True Lord of Original Sin. Even though that sinister, deep voice had provoked him to fury, wasn’t that far better than having no temper at all?
At least he was living with flesh and blood.
“What the hell do you know, kid!”
Beside him, Da Xing the Mad Monk cast an extremely disdainful glance at Gu Qingfeng and said, “That’s precisely what makes Gui Xu most terrifying.”
“What do you mean?”
Gu Qingfeng didn’t quite understand.
“According to what this old monk knows, the patriarchs who emerge from Gui Xu can be roughly divided into three types.”
“What three types?”
“The first type: their former will, spirit, obsession, drive, and so on have almost entirely been worn away by Gui Xu. They live like living corpses. Their consciousness remains and is clear, neither lost nor not lost. They don’t know what they should do or where they should go. Living holds no meaning whatsoever.”
Da Xing the Mad Monk curled his lip and said, “There, Old Immortal Qingmu is exactly like that.”
“What about the second type?”
“The second type is like Huli Great Immortal here. Compared to Old Immortal Qingmu, Huli Great Immortal can be said to have been greatly influenced by Gui Xu.”
Gu Qingfeng shook his head, somewhat unable to comprehend. Huli Great Immortal seemed far more normal than Old Immortal Qingmu. If talking about being influenced by Gui Xu, he actually felt Old Immortal Qingmu was more affected than Huli Great Immortal. Not only that, Huli Great Immortal didn’t even seem like someone who had been suppressed in Gui Xu.
“Kid, Gui Xu isn’t just a place that can grind away a person’s will and obsession; it can also grind away their temperament, causing them to gradually return to their primal origin, their innate nature. That’s another terrifying aspect of Gui Xu.”
Gu Qingfeng furrowed his brow, pondering for a moment, but still couldn’t grasp Da Xing’s words. He reasoned that even if one returned to their innate nature, it shouldn’t have much impact, right?
A person’s temperament gradually changes with experience and knowledge—that’s what’s called transcendence.
Returning to one’s innate nature merely amounted to being reset to the starting point. At worst, one could just start over from scratch.
At least it wouldn’t be like Old Immortal Qingmu, who didn’t even know the meaning of living, existing like a speck of dust between heaven and earth.
“Kid!”
Da Xing the Mad Monk turned around, his expression serious and solemn. “Old Immortal Qingmu’s type, although they’ve lost their drive and are like living corpses, at least their temperament remains, and their self-awareness is clear.”
Gu Qingfeng retorted, “Isn’t Huli Great Immortal’s self-awareness also perfectly clear?”
“Yes!
You’re not wrong. Huli Great Immortal’s self-awareness is also clear. But there’s one difference between them. What governs Old Immortal Qingmu’s consciousness is his Ego, while what governs Huli Great Immortal’s consciousness is not his Ego, but his Id.”
“Because he has returned to his innate nature.”
“What is innate nature?”
“Innate nature is one’s inherent nature.”
“All beings between heaven and earth are not born without reason; they are born due to causality, arranged by Fate. Therefore, once you return to your innate nature and find your Id, you become completely and utterly a chess piece—a chess piece born of causality, arranged by Fate. Tell me, is that terrifying or not?”
Gu Qingfeng didn’t continue asking. Instead, he fell silent.
Da Xing the Mad Monk’s words had struck a deep chord within him. He had always believed that by seeking causality, transcending the Ego, pursuing the Id, then transcending the Id and pursuing the True Self, one could transcend Fate. But now, listening to Da Xing, it seemed the result was the opposite.
After transcending the Ego and returning to the Id, how the hell did one become completely and utterly a chess piece of Fate?
He pondered carefully for a while, and the more he thought about it, the more sense Da Xing’s words made.
All beings between heaven and earth are born due to causality, arranged by Fate.
Returning to one’s innate nature and finding one’s Id was precisely returning to the origin. Whatever Fate arranged for you to do, you had to do.
“Dammit!
The more I listen, the more confused I get. If finding one’s Id equals accepting Fate’s arrangement, then why the hell would anyone else go through all the trouble to seek causality and find their Id? Isn’t that just rushing headlong into a pit of fire?”
“Heh heh!
Kid!
Legend has it that only by finding the True Self can one transcend. Whether that’s true or false, no one knows. This old monk only knows that to find the True Self, one must first find the Id. And once you find the Id, it equals accepting Fate’s arrangement.”
“If that’s the case, then how the hell does one find the True Self?”
Da Xing the Mad Monk shrugged. “Otherwise, why do you think that after all these years, until now, no one has ever found the True Self?”
Tilting his head back, he took a swig of fine wine, then sighed with emotion. “Let me tell you, Fate’s schemes run deep. Wanting to escape Fate’s control is absolutely not that easy. It’s possible that the idea that finding the True Self allows one to transcend Fate was a trap set by Fate from the very beginning, with the goal of making you find the True Self. Once you find the True Self, you discover that the True Self is even more controlled by Fate.”