"I wouldn't say I know her; at most, I've only heard of her."
Da Xing the Mad Monk said, "From what this old monk knows, Tang Hengxi once attained the Heavenly Destiny of the Immortal Dao in the Primeval Ancient Era, and it was the Heavenly Destiny of Imperial Authority at that. She was a true Immortal Empress."
When Tang Hengxi was in the mortal world, she had been the empress of the Yanluo Kingdom. Gu Qingfeng had also heard back then that Tang Hengxi wasn't just the empress of Yanluo; at the time, he hadn't understood what that meant. So it turned out Tang Hengxi had actually attained the Heavenly Destiny of Imperial Authority in the Immortal Dao during the Primeval Ancient Era.
"You should know that anyone who could attain the Heavenly Destiny of the Great Dao in the Primeval Ancient Era was no simple existence, right?"
"Obviously!"
Gu Qingfeng said, "Never mind the Primeval Ancient Era; even in the Ancient Era, the Archaic Era, or right up to the Present Era, anyone who can attain the Heavenly Destiny of the Great Dao is far from simple."
"That's not what this old monk meant."
"Then what did you mean?"
"Let me put it this way. The so-called Heavenly Destiny is actually determined by Karma. It's just that most people don't know what kind of Karma leads to inheriting a Heavenly Destiny. But..." Da Xing the Mad Monk changed his tone and continued, "There are some special existences who can deduce what kind of Karma will lead to inheriting what kind of Heavenly Destiny. Or rather, they can deduce what kind of Heavenly Destiny requires what kind of Karma. After deducing it, they begin to arrange their own Karma to achieve the goal of inheriting that Heavenly Destiny."
Gu Qingfeng was astonished. "Heavenly Destiny can be deduced too?"
"Hard to believe, right? Don't say you don't believe it; this old monk doesn't believe it either. But that's the fact."
"I originally thought one could deduce so-called Fate based on Karma. I never imagined it could work the other way around—deducing Karma based on Fate. Damn it, there's really nothing that doesn't exist."
"Otherwise, why do you think Tang Hengxi has a Karmic connection with you?"
After a pause, Da Xing the Mad Monk added, "This old monk has heard that such existences existed even in the Desolate Ancient Era. They not only deduced that the Dao-Less Age would begin in the Desolate Ancient Era, but also deduced that the Great Dao would shatter and the Desolate Ancient Era would end. They deduced that the Great Dao would revive after the Primeval Ancient Era, deduced that Original Sin would descend again in the Present Era, and even deduced who the True Lord of Original Sin recorded in the Book of Fate is."
"Hey, Da Xing, aren't you exaggerating a bit too much?"
Gu Qingfeng said, "Although I'm not too proficient in the art of Divination, I do know it's not something you can just perform at will. The longer and more numerous the Karmic threads you deduce, the easier it is to make mistakes. With Karma, if you take one wrong step, every step after is wrong. All your efforts would be wasted."
The so-called Divination was essentially the deduction of Karma.
Throughout history, most of those who practiced fortune-telling and divination operated on this principle.
Gu Qingfeng had once tried to deduce Karma himself. To be honest, it wasn't easy. Because everyone had many Karmic threads—like achievements, emotions, opportunities, and so on. And that was just for an individual. If you were to deduce an event, the Karmic threads involved would be countless, enough to drive anyone mad trying to deduce them.
Most importantly, Karma was relative. You reap what you sow. In other words, if you deduce one Karmic thread incorrectly, all subsequent deductions would be wrong.
Da Xing the Mad Monk said that in the Desolate Ancient Era, someone had deduced that the Dao-Less Age would begin in the Desolate Ancient Era, that it would only last for an instant before vanishing, that the Great Dao would shatter, and the Desolate Ancient Era would end. They also deduced that the Great Dao would revive after the Primeval Ancient Era, including various Heavenly Destinies...
Just imagining it was enough to give anyone a headache, let alone actually performing the Divination.
Deducing that the Dao-Less Age would begin in the Desolate Ancient Era involved an infinite number of Karmic threads. Deducing that it would only last an instant before vanishing involved another infinite number. The shattering of the Great Dao, the end of the Desolate Ancient Era, the beginning of the Primeval Ancient Era, the revival of the Great Dao, and so on...
Each of these major events contained countless Karmic threads. How could one possibly deduce them all?
In Gu Qingfeng's mind, it was simply impossible. He didn't believe anyone could deduce from the Desolate Ancient Era, through the Primeval, Ancient, and Archaic Eras, all the way to the Present Era.
It wasn't that he hadn't tried Divination himself. Precisely because he had, he felt it was impossible.
Divination was extremely taxing on the spirit. It required placing oneself in a state of contemplation, using the heart-mind as the foundation, controlled by divine sense, nurturing numerous mental thoughts to perform the deduction.
Back in the day, Gu Qingfeng had only tried to deduce the predicament he was facing and ended up utterly exhausted. He had nearly suffered a mental breakdown because of it.
If Divination went wrong, the consequences could range from mental collapse and exhaustion to confusion of consciousness, or even the dispersal of the heart-mind and the annihilation of the soul.
No matter how powerful a person's spirit was, it was ultimately finite. Even a God probably couldn't deduce directly from the Primeval Ancient Era to the Present Era.
"You really are..." Da Xing the Mad Monk pointed at Gu Qingfeng, his expression one of utter exasperation as if looking at an idiot. "How should this old monk put it? When you're smart, you're sharper than anyone; when you're dumb, you're dumber than anyone. Who told you they deduced directly from the Desolate Ancient Era to the Present Era?
Don't even talk about deducing from the Desolate Ancient Era to the Present Era; if anyone could deduce an entire Desolate Ancient Era, they'd be a God!
No!
Even a damn God couldn't deduce an entire Desolate Ancient Era."
"Didn't you just say someone deduced from the beginning of the Dao-Less Age in the Desolate Ancient Era all the way to the reappearance of Original Sin in the Present Era?"
"This old monk never said the word 'directly.' I said they deduced from the Desolate Ancient Era to the Present Era. Those are two different concepts, damn it!"
"Then tell me, how does one deduce from the Desolate Ancient Era to the Present Era?"
"Obviously!
They must have deduced one step first, then arranged the Karma. After arranging the Karma, they deduced the next step, then arranged more Karma...
And so on, in a cycle. This way, they could ensure the deductions wouldn't go wrong while also gaining the upper hand in every situation."
Hearing this.
Gu Qingfeng chuckled wryly, cursing himself for being incredibly stupid. "So that's how the Divination works. I said it couldn't be that someone really deduced directly from the Desolate Ancient Era to the Present Era. But still, deducing and arranging all the way from the Desolate Ancient Era to the Present Era... that's damn impressive too!"
"Now you finally understand why this old monk said earlier that those who attained the Heavenly Destiny of the Great Dao in the Primeval Ancient Era were no simple existences, right?"
"You mean those who attained the Heavenly Destiny of the Great Dao in the Primeval Ancient Era all arranged it through layouts starting from the Desolate Ancient Era?"
"Most likely, yes. This old monk can't be sure about others, but Tang Hengxi definitely is one."
"Why?"
"Just based on what she said earlier, this old monk dares to say she definitely deduced and arranged her way from the Desolate Ancient Era to the Present Era."
Gu Qingfeng fell silent, saying nothing more.
Da Xing the Mad Monk's words had plunged him into deep thought. If Tang Hengxi really had deduced and arranged her way from the Desolate Ancient Era to the Present Era, then what about Ye Tianlan? Feng Zhuyue?
What about Yun Nichang?
Jun Xuanji?
And Su He?
Could they all be the same?
Perhaps they all were.
Gu Qingfeng thought of Yun Nichang's other two incarnations—Hong Xiu and Ouyang Ye—and Feng Zhuyue's other two incarnations—Mantu Fan and Canyang Wuyou. Perhaps each reincarnation was a layout arranged by Yun Nichang and Feng Zhuyue after deducing one step.