"Old Monk, I have a slight confusion in my heart. Could you offer some guidance?"
"Layman Gu, please speak."
"How does one seek the True Self?"
Gu Qingfeng had not originally intended to seek any True Self. He didn't want to know his true self. Forget the True Self, he wasn't even very interested in the Id, nor did he wish to know his original self.
However.
Now that he had, by a twist of fate, found his Id, he figured since he had already taken this step, he might as well see it through to the end. So, he decided to directly seek the True Self as well.
"Layman Gu should not ask this old monk that question. This old monk is also unable to dispel your confusion on this matter."
"Then who should I ask? Who can dispel my confusion?"
"You should ask Layman Gu himself."
"Ask myself?"
Gu Qingfeng shook his head and laughed. "If I knew, would I still need to seek your guidance to dispel my confusion?"
"If even Layman Gu himself does not know, then this old monk knows even less."
"Heh."
Gu Qingfeng chuckled.
The Old Monk was still the same as before, speaking in riddles, always fond of hiding and withholding.
Sometimes he wondered if all these old fellows from the Buddhist path were like this.
That old bald donkey Da Xing was like this, and the Old Monk of Extinction was the same.
Both were like this. Da Xing's words were three parts truth and seven parts falsehood, while the Old Monk of Extinction's words were three parts substance and seven parts emptiness. It was truly frustrating—you couldn't fully believe them, nor could you completely dismiss them. If you treated their words as mere wind past your ears, they just spoke with compelling logic.
Gu Qingfeng did not press further. Instead, he calmed his mind and began to contemplate.
He thought about the process of finding his Id. It was not wanting to carry the blame for others for a lifetime, nor wanting to live a life for others. This was his bottom line. It had ignited the long-scattered and vanished belief deep within his heart, followed by the return of his fighting spirit, the awakening of his physical body, and the finding of his Id.
Upon careful reflection, his ability to find his Id was not accidental; it was more like a Turning Point.
Just like those reincarnated individuals, their ability to awaken past-life memories did not depend on how high their cultivation was, how great their fortune was, or how deep their comprehension was. It depended on a Turning Point.
This Turning Point could be a certain person or a certain event, causing a change in Mental State, thereby ushering in the so-called Turning Point.
When the Turning Point arrives, one can awaken past-life memories. If the Turning Point has not arrived, one might go through an entire lifetime without awakening.
Awakening a past life requires a suitable Turning Point. Finding the Id also requires a Turning Point.
Could it be that seeking the True Self similarly requires a Turning Point?
The Turning Point for finding the Id was the rebound from his bottom line. Then what would the Turning Point for finding the True Self be?
This was a question Gu Qingfeng couldn't figure out for the moment.
Before.
Gu Qingfeng felt this question might be a problem for others, but for him, it was not a problem.
In his thinking, he didn't need to deliberately search for any so-called Turning Point. He just had to wait until after he ascended to become the True Lord of Original Sin. If he truly was Genggu Wuming's Incarnation of Causality, then Genggu Wuming would be equivalent to his True Self. Once Genggu Wuming showed herself, that would pretty much equal the so-called Turning Point.
He had indeed thought so before.
But now, after finding his Id and gaining enlightenment on many matters, he realized that even if he were Genggu Wuming's Incarnation of Causality, it did not mean Genggu Wuming was equivalent to his True Self.
He knew that the past life, present life, and future life after reincarnation formed a complete Fate Pattern. One could say they shared a complete Fate Pattern. Precisely because they shared a Fate Pattern, whether it was the past life, the present life, or the future life, one could not speak of which fused with which, let alone which devoured which, because they originally belonged to the same Fate Pattern. Once awakened, the past life was the present life, and the present life was the future life.
Actually.
The so-called Self, Id, and True Self were just like the past life, present life, and future life—all part of a complete Fate Pattern.
It was precisely because of this that when Gu Qingfeng awakened his Id, he was completely unaware. In fact, if not for the Old Monk of Extinction informing him, he might never have known he had awakened his Id.
Gu Qingfeng dared to affirm that even if he awakened his True Self, he would definitely still be himself. He absolutely would not become Genggu Wuming.
Generally, the True Body and its Incarnation are indistinguishable from each other because the True Body can completely control the Incarnation. The so-called Incarnation has no self-awareness whatsoever.
But once this Incarnation gestates genuine consciousness, it then possesses an independent Fate Pattern.
This was also the difference between an ordinary Incarnation and an Incarnation of Causality.
An ordinary Incarnation and its True Body share a Fate Pattern.
Whereas an Incarnation of Causality and its Primordial Entity of Karma have completely independent Fate Patterns.
Gu Qingfeng could not currently confirm whether he was Genggu Wuming's Incarnation of Causality, but he was certain that once he awakened his True Self, he would definitely be able to know the truth.
Only by finding the True Self might he be able to come into close contact with the so-called True Body.
This was also the reason he wanted to awaken his True Self as soon as possible. He did not want to wait until Genggu Wuming came knocking, only to remain muddled and ignorant of the truth.
"Old Monk, I know that the Primordial Entity of Karma and the Incarnation of Causality possess independent Fate Patterns. But what exactly is the relationship between them?"
The Old Monk did not respond immediately. After a long silence, he countered with a question instead of answering: "Has Layman Gu ever heard of Parent-Child Karma?"
"Parent-Child Karma?"
Gu Qingfeng shook his head. He really hadn't heard of this thing. He asked, "Are you saying the relationship between the Primordial Entity of Karma and the Incarnation of Causality is one of Parent-Child Karma?"
"Precisely."
Gu Qingfeng fell into contemplation. The so-called Parent-Child Karma wasn't hard to understand. After all, an Incarnation is gestated from the True Body, inherently a parent-child relationship. Adding the word 'Karma' made it Parent-Child Karma.
"Can the Primordial Entity of Karma control the Incarnation of Causality?"
"Layman Gu worries too much. Although the Primordial Entity of Karma and the Incarnation of Causality share Parent-Child Karma, they are, after all, two independent Fate Patterns. The Primordial Entity of Karma will not, and cannot, control the Incarnation of Causality."
"Since the Primordial Entity of Karma cannot control the Incarnation of Causality, why have I heard that throughout the ages of heaven and earth, no Incarnation of Causality has ever escaped the fate of being devoured by its Primordial Entity of Karma?"
"Does Layman Gu know that throughout the ages of heaven and earth, there have also been Incarnations of Causality that devoured their Primordial Entities of Karma?"
"Perhaps there have been, but they must be exceedingly rare, one in ten thousand. Most Incarnations of Causality find it difficult to escape the fate of being devoured by their Primordial Entity of Karma."
Gu Qingfeng said, "I want to know the reason. Since the Primordial Entity of Karma cannot control the Incarnation of Causality, why is it so difficult for Incarnations of Causality to escape being devoured by their Primordial Entity of Karma? There must be some unknown secret to this, right?"
"Amitabha Buddha. It is not as complicated as Layman Gu thinks. Throughout the ages of heaven and earth, it is difficult for Incarnations of Causality to escape being devoured by their Primordial Entity of Karma simply because the Incarnation is gestated from the True Body. Therefore, the True Body understands the Incarnation thoroughly. Even if the Incarnation possesses independent consciousness and an independent Fate Pattern, it remains no exception. Conversely, the Incarnation knows nothing about the True Body."
"So that's how it is."