The Old Beggar knew that many existences within Heaven and Earth wished to place a bet on Gu Qingfeng. He was one, Lady Blackwater was another, and Genggu Wuming was no exception.
As for what Genggu Wuming was betting on Gu Qingfeng for, that remained unknown.
The Old Beggar had considered it before. Perhaps Genggu Wuming was betting on the same thing he was—hoping Gu Qingfeng would ascend to become the True Lord of Original Sin. The difference was that he was betting that after Gu Qingfeng ascended to become the True Lord of Original Sin, he would usher in the Daoless Age. Genggu Wuming, however, might be betting that once Gu Qingfeng ascended to become the True Lord of Original Sin, she would annihilate him, thereby eradicating Original Sin completely.
Yes.
He had thought of that.
After all, Genggu Wuming's existence was that of a Karma Emissary, hailed as the Incarnation of Fate. Naturally, she would not wish for Karma, Fate, or the Three Thousand Great Daos to perish.
The Old Beggar suspected that to completely eradicate Original Sin, Genggu Wuming might have begun laying plans a very, very long time ago. Even this Original Sin Cataclysm might have been part of Genggu Wuming's scheme from the very beginning, with the aim of forcing Original Sin to choose a True Lord, seizing the opportunity to root it out entirely.
The reason he said Genggu Wuming wished to place a bet on Gu Qingfeng was perhaps because this was a risky move. Once Gu Qingfeng ascended to become the True Lord of Original Sin, he would command the Primordial Source of Original Sin. Trying to annihilate him would not be an easy task.
But this might be the only chance to completely eradicate the Primordial Source of Original Sin. Genggu Wuming had no choice but to take this gamble.
In a sense, the Old Beggar's decision to place a bet on Gu Qingfeng was also related to Genggu Wuming's choice.
In his view, since Genggu Wuming had chosen to place a bet on Gu Qingfeng, it meant Gu Qingfeng was very likely to ascend to become the True Lord of Original Sin. To ensure Gu Qingfeng's ascension, it was entirely possible that Genggu Wuming had laid down numerous Karma-based schemes. He suspected that Gu Qingfeng becoming the greatest Original Sin Anomaly, with all sorts of omens accompanying him, might be part of Genggu Wuming's covert arrangements.
The goal was to make Gu Qingfeng successfully ascend to become the True Lord of Original Sin.
This was precisely what the Old Beggar was counting on. He wanted to gamble against Genggu Wuming.
Genggu Wuming was betting that once Gu Qingfeng ascended to become the True Lord of Original Sin, she could not be certain of being able to annihilate him.
It was precisely because Genggu Wuming could not guarantee it that the Old Beggar wanted to gamble against her. He was betting that once Gu Qingfeng ascended to become the True Lord of Original Sin, Genggu Wuming might not be able to annihilate him.
This was a fifty-fifty gamble. At least, that's what the Old Beggar thought. The odds of winning or losing were equal. If Genggu Wuming wasn't afraid of losing, he naturally wasn't either. Moreover, he knew he could afford to lose, while Genggu Wuming might not be able to. Therefore, he was unafraid.
Even if Gu Qingfeng had not the slightest interest in becoming the True Lord of Original Sin, the Old Beggar wasn't worried. He knew that since Genggu Wuming was placing a bet on Gu Qingfeng, she must have already laid plans. In other words, even if Gu Qingfeng had no interest in becoming the True Lord of Original Sin, Genggu Wuming would likely find a way to force him to ascend to that pinnacle.
However.
It was only when Lady Blackwater said that Gu Qingfeng might be someone else's Incarnation of Causality that the Old Beggar was suddenly thrown into a panic.
The reason he dared to gamble head-on against Genggu Wuming was because he could see that although Gu Qingfeng's state of mind was one of letting things take their natural course and his attitude was one of resigning to fate, deep in his bones flowed a kind of solitary pride, a kind of persistence, a kind of fortitude, a kind of stubbornness.
With such a character, Gu Qingfeng would absolutely never choose to submit to fate, nor would he yield.
And indeed, the facts bore this out.
Take what had just happened, for instance. Although Gu Qingfeng very much wanted to end all of this, he would never casually end his own life. Even in death, he would want to die in a spectacular, earth-shattering manner, to die with utter satisfaction. Only then would he leave no regrets and feel he had lived up to his own life.
The Old Beggar felt that if Genggu Wuming tried to annihilate him after Gu Qingfeng ascended to become the True Lord of Original Sin, Gu Qingfeng would inevitably fight to the death.
Who would emerge victorious remained unknown.
But.
If Gu Qingfeng was an Incarnation of Causality planted by someone else, then everything would be different.
Who had planted this Incarnation of Causality?
For what purpose had this Incarnation of Causality been planted?
To scheme for the position of True Lord of Original Sin?
To protect the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth?
Or to destroy Original Sin?
If whoever planted Gu Qingfeng as such an Original Sin Incarnation was only scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin, then it wouldn't matter much.
But what if it wasn't for scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin, but rather to protect the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, or to destroy Original Sin?
In that case, once Gu Qingfeng ascended to become the True Lord of Original Sin and awakened his true self, if he wanted to destroy Original Sin, wouldn't everything be finished?
The more he thought about it, the more panicked the Old Beggar became. And the more he thought, the more he felt this was a possibility. He even began to wonder if Gu Qingfeng might be an Incarnation of Causality planted by Genggu Wuming herself.
Such a thing might be impossible for others, but not necessarily for Genggu Wuming. Moreover, looking across all of ancient and present Heaven and Earth, if one wanted an Incarnation of Causality they had planted to become the greatest Original Sin Anomaly, probably only Genggu Wuming could achieve it. No one else could.
The Old Beggar tried to imagine it.
Perhaps Genggu Wuming had deduced a very, very long time ago that the Original Sin Cataclysm would occur in the Present Ancient Era. She might also have deduced that this might be the only chance to completely eradicate the Primordial Source of Original Sin.
Therefore, she planted an Incarnation of Causality, then arranged various Karmic threads. Through cycles of reincarnation, until the end of the Ancient Era, Gu Qingfeng was born. Due to the Karma of his past lives, Gu Qingfeng was born as an Original Sin Anomaly, and the greatest one at that. After his birth, all sorts of omens and heavenly secrets would follow in succession.
Under a series of perfectly arranged Karmic threads, Gu Qingfeng ascending to become the True Lord of Original Sin would be almost no difficult feat.
Once Gu Qingfeng ascended to become the True Lord of Original Sin, she would then make him awaken his true self. At that point, Gu Qingfeng would no longer be Gu Qingfeng, but Genggu Wuming.
Then, damn it, wouldn't destroying the Primordial Source of Original Sin be entirely up to Genggu Wuming herself?
Thinking of this.
The Old Beggar felt the heavens spin and the earth turn, dizzy and lightheaded. He couldn't stand steadily anymore and plopped down onto Blackwater Mountain. He looked utterly dejected, stunned and stupefied.
"It's over, completely over...
I calculated and schemed a thousand times, yet I never calculated that Gu Qingfeng might be someone else's Incarnation of Causality. And that someone else is very likely Genggu Wuming. That woman is just too cunning. We've all been used by her, sold out without even knowing what the hell happened."
The Old Beggar had never been able to understand why the Guixu, which had been perfectly fine, suddenly collapsed in the Present Ancient Era. Now he was beginning to understand. Their being cast into the Guixu back then was part of a scheme. And now, the collapse of the Guixu was also part of a scheme.
After the Guixu collapsed, numerous Original Sin Patriarchs emerged, directly accelerating the occurrence of the Original Sin Cataclysm. Their choosing Gu Qingfeng also added to his fortune in ascending to become the True Lord of Original Sin.
All of this, all of it, might be part of Genggu Wuming's covert arrangements.