"Hahahaha!"
Great Emperor Changfeng threw his head back and laughed heartily. "For the illustrious You Di, both within Heaven and Earth and beyond, it is indeed all very small. So small that when you were in the world, the world could not contain you; when you were in Heaven and Earth, Heaven and Earth could not contain you; when you were in the Heavens Beyond Heavens, the Heavens Beyond Heavens could not contain you; when you were in the Desolate Ancient Black Hole, the Desolate Ancient Black Hole could not contain you; and when you were in the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces, they still could not contain you."
"So it seems," Gu Qingfeng said, narrowing his eyes with a smile. "Our meeting today is not a coincidence, then?"
"Of course not a coincidence."
Gu Qingfeng asked with a laugh, "Have you come to kill me?"
"What? Are you afraid?"
"Hahaha!" Gu Qingfeng laughed loudly. "If you, Gu Changfeng, want to kill me, of course I'm afraid!"
"Hahahahaha!" Gu Changfeng laughed as if he had heard the funniest joke in all of history. "You Di, oh You Di, when did you become so modest? So modest that I, Gu, hardly dare recognize you."
"No choice. In front of you, Great Emperor Changfeng, one has to be modest."
"Hahaha!" Gu Changfeng shook his head with a laugh. "You flatter me too much. As far as I know, not long ago, countless patriarchs of the Great Dao and Original Sin had you completely surrounded, yet none dared to make a move. I heard even the Sacred Grounds didn't dare breathe loudly in your presence. Even if I, Gu Changfeng, had the courage of the heavens, I wouldn't dare cross swords with you."
"Oh ho, when did you, Gu Changfeng, become so modest too? So modest that I, Gu, hardly dare recognize you."
"No choice. In front of you, Nine Nethers Emperor, one has to be modest!"
Gu Qingfeng repeated the words Gu Changfeng had just spoken, and Gu Changfeng repeated the words Gu Qingfeng had just spoken.
After saying this, the two of them burst into laughter simultaneously, each laughing more heartily and freely than the other.
After the laughter subsided, Gu Qingfeng took out a jar of wine and casually tossed it over. "Care for a drink?"
Gu Changfeng caught the jar of fine wine and smiled. "I was just thinking the same."
So the two of them found a random spot and prepared to drink their fill. Although they had met once before in a Desolate Ancient ruin, the situation at that time was rather special. Gu Qingfeng had inexplicably fused with the Blood Taotie, and after the fusion, that Desolate Ancient ruin had subsequently collapsed. They hadn't exchanged many words during that meeting.
Both Gu Qingfeng and Gu Changfeng felt this was a great pity.
This time they met, no matter what, they had to drink to their heart's content first.
"I say, Gu Changfeng, since you were also in the Li Palace, why didn't you show your face for so long? I always thought you were in one of the other Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces."
"To be honest, I wasn't in the Li Palace before. I was in the Gen Palace the whole time."
"I thought so. If you had been present earlier, you would definitely have shown up to spar with me."
The reason Gu Qingfeng and Gu Changfeng could become friends was, firstly, because their personalities were quite similar, and secondly, because Gu Qingfeng admired Gu Changfeng's character. He clearly understood that Gu Changfeng was a man of clear-cut grudges and favors, and someone who would never be ambiguous when it came to matters of great right and wrong. In other words, if killing Gu Qingfeng could protect the Great Dao, Gu Changfeng would absolutely not hold back.
Even though he genuinely admired Gu Qingfeng from the bottom of his heart and also considered Gu Qingfeng a true friend, he still would not hesitate.
This was Great Emperor Changfeng, Gu Changfeng.
Public affairs were public, private affairs were private.
Perhaps precisely because of this, Gu Changfeng had become the Azure Heaven Young Master who bore the Mandate of Impartial Justice.
As they spoke, Gu Qingfeng suddenly realized something was off. "Wait, you said you were in the Gen Palace before? Then how did you get here?"
Gu Qingfeng had originally thought this dead yet undispersed Desolate Ancient space was formed after the collapse of the Li Palace. If Gu Changfeng had been in the Gen Palace but also ended up here, did that mean this place wasn't solely formed from the collapse of the Li Palace, but also from the collapse of the Gen Palace?
Or even formed from the collapse of all the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces?
"You Di, don't misunderstand. As far as I know, all nine Desolate Ancient Palaces transformed into vortices at that time and have all collapsed, forming such dead yet undispersed Desolate Ancient spaces."
Like Gu Qingfeng, Gu Changfeng had not cultivated any avatars. Gu Qingfeng was too lazy to cultivate them, while Gu Changfeng disdained to. The reason he knew about the situation of the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces was because his immortal fate dao-companion, Immortal King Qianye, had avatars spread throughout the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces.
"So that's how it is."
Gu Qingfeng asked, "Since you were in the Gen Palace, why did you come to this Desolate Ancient space belonging to the Li Palace?"
"When the Desolate Ancient Nine Palaces were transforming, I made a last-minute decision to enter the Li Palace."
Hearing this, Gu Qingfeng laughed and cursed, "Damn it! You didn't really come here just to kill me, did you?"
Gu Changfeng stared at him, raised the wine jar, took a few gulps, and smiled. "You guess."
"Can't guess, and too lazy to guess."
Gu Changfeng did not say why he had made the last-minute decision to enter the Li Palace, or whether it was specifically to kill Gu Qingfeng. He merely said, "Actually, whether I, Gu, kill you or not is unimportant. In all of history, there are far too many who want you dead. Many on the side of the Great Dao do, and many on the side of Original Sin do as well. Having one more or one less of me makes little difference."
Gu Qingfeng gave a wry smile and shook his head helplessly. Though he disliked it, he had to admit there wasn't a single flaw in what Gu Changfeng said.
"You Di, there are a few questions I, Gu, have always wanted to ask you face to face. Would it be convenient?"
"What? You have questions to ask too?"
"'Too'? Do you know what I, Gu, want to ask?"
"What you want to ask, I don't know. It's just that recently, quite a few people seem to have come to ask me questions."
Gu Changfeng exchanged a glance with Immortal King Qianye. Gu Changfeng asked, "Who else has come to ask you questions?"
"Just some unimportant people. What did you want to ask me?"
"You've said you won't contend for the title of True Lord of Original Sin, and you have no interest in the Daoless Age, right?"
"That's right."
Gu Qingfeng asked, "What, you don't believe me?"
"No! I believe you."
Gu Changfeng replied with certainty.
Although he and Gu Qingfeng had met only a handful of times at most and could hardly be said to know each other well, there was one thing he was sure of: Gu Qingfeng had always been an open and aboveboard man, and one who dared to take responsibility for his actions. He never acted sneakily, nor did he stoop to underhanded, sinister methods. If he wanted to kill someone, he would do it openly and honorably. If he wanted to contend for something, he would contend for it with earth-shaking fervor.
Just as Gu Qingfeng had once shouldered the judgment of the Immortal Dao to annihilate the Immortal Dynasty. Just as he had once burned the Nine Heavens with Netherfire before the assembled immortals. Just as he had once obliterated the Mandate of Heaven in the face of the Heavenly Dao. Just as he had once swept through the Great Desolate single-handedly.
In Gu Changfeng's view,
if Gu Qingfeng said he would not contend for the title of True Lord of Original Sin, then he absolutely would not. If Gu Qingfeng said he had no interest in the Daoless Age, then he truly had none.