Within the shadows of the void.
On Blackwater Mountain.
The Old Beggar watched the changes in the scene with considerable tension.
To be honest.
When Empress Wuyue inexplicably dragged Gu Qingfeng out into the open, he was genuinely startled.
After all, he was still counting on Gu Qingfeng to slaughter the Great Dao, ascend as the True Lord of Original Sin, and usher in the Era of Unrighteousness. In his mind, only Gu Qingfeng was qualified, had the capability, and possessed the power to ascend as the True Lord of Original Sin.
Therefore, when Empress Wuyue dragged Gu Qingfeng out, his heart immediately grew uneasy. If Gu Qingfeng were truly besieged, he would do everything in his power to help.
What the Old Beggar never expected was that after Gu Qingfeng appeared, neither the Sacred Ground nor the Xuantian Immortal Path made a move.
Earlier, seeing the Xuantian Immortal Path brimming with confidence, declaring they would make Gu Qingfeng die without a burial place, and especially the Sacred Ground laying schemes and flaunting its might, the Old Beggar truly thought they would act. He never imagined that after Gu Qingfeng appeared, no one moved.
Though the Old Beggar found it somewhat incomprehensible, the stone hanging in his heart finally settled. At the very least, he no longer needed to worry about Gu Qingfeng being besieged.
"Empress Wuyue's tongue is truly formidable. She insulted those old fogies of Xuantian from head to toe, inside and out. She practically shat and pissed on their heads. Their faces were swollen from her slaps. Yet even so, those old Xuantian fogies didn't dare utter a single fart. Isn't that too cowardly?"
"Xuantian isn't cowardly."
The Blackwater Empress beside him said, "They simply didn't expect Empress Wuyue to be able to drag the Nether Emperor out, and they certainly didn't expect the Sacred Ground to choose silence."
"Heh heh!
That must be it."
The Old Beggar nodded, very much in agreement.
He also believed that the reason the Xuantian Immortal Path dared to say they would make Gu Qingfeng die without a burial place wasn't based on confidence alone. It probably relied more on the Sacred Ground, thinking that since the Sacred Ground had painstakingly laid a scheme within a scheme, as long as Gu Qingfeng dared show his face, the Sacred Ground would certainly not let this opportunity slip. But they never expected that when Gu Qingfeng truly appeared, the Sacred Ground fell silent.
"Don't just say Xuantian miscalculated; even I didn't expect the Sacred Ground to stay silent."
The Old Beggar asked doubtfully, "What kind of medicine is the Sacred Ground selling in that gourd of theirs? They painstakingly laid a scheme just to eradicate that kid surnamed Gu. Why is it that now, after the kid has come out, the damned Sacred Ground isn't making a sound?"
"If Empress Wuyue hadn't appeared, the Sacred Ground would certainly have acted when the Nether Emperor appeared."
The Blackwater Empress gazed at the scene and said softly, "However, Empress Wuyue's appearance directly disrupted the Sacred Ground's plans."
"Can you call it a disruption?"
The Old Beggar said, "Empress Wuyue merely spoke a few truths and humiliated them a bit."
"Those few truths were enough to disrupt the Sacred Ground's plans. No!
They didn't just disrupt the Sacred Ground's plans."
The Blackwater Empress shook her head slightly. "Those few truths from Empress Wuyue made them recognize the situation and shattered their hopes."
The Blackwater Empress said that whether it was the Great Dao side or the Original Sin side, they all knew Gu Qingfeng was not easy to kill. No one was confident they could eradicate him, and no one dared guarantee he wouldn't revive after being killed.
However, seeing that the Primordial Source of the Primordial Nine Palaces was about to emerge, everyone knew time was running short. This might be the last chance to eradicate Gu Qingfeng, so no one wanted to miss it.
Even though no one was confident about eradicating Gu Qingfeng, they all held onto a sliver of fantasy, a sliver of hope.
Yet.
Empress Wuyue's barrage of truths directly scattered that last sliver of fantasy and hope they held, making them realize that eradicating Gu Qingfeng at this time held no value or meaning beyond losing troops and being exploited by the other side.
Perhaps the Sacred Ground was awakened by Empress Wuyue's barrage of truths, which was why they chose silence when Gu Qingfeng appeared.
The Old Beggar continued, "Blackwater Empress, from what you're saying, it seems Empress Wuyue anticipated they wouldn't dare act?"
"Indeed."
The Blackwater Empress said, "She not only saw through the Xuantian Immortal Path clearly, but also saw through the Sacred Ground clearly, and even saw through the Great Dao Patriarchs and the Original Sin Patriarchs clearly."
"At first, I thought Empress Wuyue was deliberately provoking them, wanting to use them against that kid surnamed Gu. I never imagined Empress Wuyue had another purpose."
"Her purpose is singular: to make the Great Dao recognize the situation and not waste time on these meaningless endeavors. She also told the Immortal Path plainly that if they wish to command the heroes of the Great Dao, they must hand over the Immortal Dao Source to the Great Sun Radiant Emperor. She told the Sacred Ground plainly that without Xuanyuan Wuji, the Sacred Ground cannot truly be called the Sacred Ground. As for whether the Great Dao will listen, that remains unknown."
"So that's how it is."
The Old Beggar sighed. "Empress Wuyue truly has good intentions."
Although the Old Beggar yearned for the Era of Unrighteousness and hoped Gu Qingfeng could truly ascend as the True Lord of Original Sin to usher in that era.
However.
He wasn't confident and held little faith.
Firstly.
Gu Qingfeng's attitude was unclear. His stance of letting things take their natural course and resigning to fate always left the Old Beggar helpless.
Secondly.
Even if Gu Qingfeng truly wished to ascend as the True Lord of Original Sin, it would absolutely not be easy. In fact, one could say the hope was extremely slim.
He wasn't worried about the Sacred Ground or Xuantian, nor was he overly concerned about other Original Sin Sons or Original Sin Variables scheming for the True Lord position.
What truly worried him were existences like Empress Wuyue.
The Old Beggar understood clearly that some had begun scheming long, long ago to plot for the True Lord of Original Sin.
At the same time, others, to protect the Great Dao, had also begun scheming long, long ago.
As the greatest Original Sin Variable, many hoped Gu Qingfeng would ascend as the True Lord of Original Sin, but even more targeted him. If not, there wouldn't be so many experts laying Karma Games upon Gu Qingfeng.
Karma Games were terrifying. Even an old devil like the Old Beggar couldn't help but feel his scalp tingle whenever he heard of them.
Because once Karma is planted, it isn't for one life, but for life after life. Most terrifyingly, Karma can change many things, including fate.
Empress Wuyue said she laid the Karma Game solely to eradicate Gu Qingfeng, with no other purpose.
Such words might fool others, but they couldn't fool an old hand like the Old Beggar.
Since Empress Wuyue laid a Karma Game on Gu Qingfeng, it meant she had long deduced she fundamentally couldn't kill Gu Qingfeng. If she could kill him, she wouldn't have painstakingly laid a Karma Game.
Precisely because she had long deduced she couldn't eradicate Gu Qingfeng, she had no choice but to lay a Karma Game.
The question was: what fruit did she wish to reap from the cause she planted on Gu Qingfeng? That was the most important thing.
According to the Old Beggar's knowledge, it wasn't just Empress Wuyue who had laid Karma Games on Gu Qingfeng; there were many.
All this Karma would affect Gu Qingfeng's ascension as the True Lord of Original Sin. Moreover, even if Gu Qingfeng ascended as the True Lord of Original Sin, he might still be influenced by this Karma and choose not to usher in the Era of Unrighteousness.
This was the most terrifying aspect of Karma Games.