It was impossible to know just how many people had entered this Li Palace space from the Li Palace void.
Ever since the overwhelming eruption of Original Sin breath and the appearance of the Li Palace vortex, in just this short while, many had already rushed over from all directions. Looking around, the area surrounding the Li Palace vortex was densely packed with people, a vast, dark mass everywhere, and large numbers of forces were still heading this way.
Back in the Li Palace void, most of these people had been hiding within the void, so Gu Qingfeng hadn't felt there were so many. Now, having entered the Li Palace space with nowhere to hide, they had all surfaced one by one.
To be honest.
The number of people was really, truly not ordinary.
And it was even more than Gu Qingfeng had imagined.
Lifting his gaze for a look, good heavens!
A uniform sea of Original Sin Dharmakayas. Besides those, there were also a few Original Sin Self-Bodies, and even Original Sin Essence-Bodies.
This scene left Gu Qingfeng feeling rather speechless inside.
You must know, back in the Great Wasteland, forget about Original Sin Essence-Bodies, forget about Original Sin Self-Bodies—he hadn't even seen many Original Sin Dharmakayas.
He hadn't even seen many Original Sin Retribution-Bodies, let alone Original Sin Incarnations. At most, they were just some Original Sin-infected individuals who hadn't been contaminated for long.
But since entering this Primordial Ancient Black Hole...
Not only were Original Sin Incarnations a dime a dozen, Original Sin Retribution-Bodies filled the Primordial Ancient Nine Palaces, and now, damn it, even Original Sin Dharmakayas were everywhere.
Although among these Original Sin Dharmakayas, many were pseudo-Dharmakayas cultivated later through devouring, there were also quite a few genuine, innately cultivated Original Sin Dharmakayas.
Everyone knew that progressing from an Original Sin Incarnation to an Original Sin Retribution-Body to an Original Sin Dharmakaya was a process of losing consciousness and then gestating a new one. The difficulty of this process was akin to scaling the heavens; saying it was one in ten thousand wasn't an exaggeration. In other words, out of ten thousand Original Sin Retribution-Bodies, perhaps only one could gestate a new consciousness and cultivate into an Original Sin Dharmakaya.
This probability couldn't be considered high.
Yet, despite such a low probability, there were still this many Original Sin Dharmakayas.
However.
Thinking about it, it wasn't incomprehensible.
After all, during the Primordial Ancient Era, many Original Sin Patriarchs had been banished into the Guixu. And from the Primordial Ancient Era onward, starting from the Grand Primordial Era, through the Ancient Era, the Archaic Era, right up to the Present Era, nine out of ten of those who had cultivated into Original Sin Dharmakayas had also been banished into the Guixu. Now that the Guixu had collapsed, they had naturally all emerged.
From the Primordial Ancient Era to the Present Era, exactly how many had cultivated into Original Sin Dharmakayas was probably unknown. But judging from the sky-full of Original Sin Retribution-Bodies in the Primordial Ancient Nine Palaces, even if only one in ten thousand Retribution-Bodies became a Dharmakaya, the number should still be considerable.
And these were just the ones banished into the Guixu. Some Original Sin Patriarchs, to avoid being banished, had been hiding in the Endless Sea beyond the heavens. These Patriarchs, while perhaps not numerous, were definitely not few either.
Gazing at the dense crowd of Original Sin Dharmakayas surrounding the Li Palace vortex, Gu Qingfeng felt deeply moved inside.
He wondered how many of these Original Sin Dharmakayas were, like him, born as Original Sin beings from the start, and how many were later contaminated.
How many were scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin, and how many yearned for the Daoless Age.
How many were External Incarnations, and how many were Karmic Incarnations.
Although most of the many Original Sin Dharmakayas present had used their divine abilities to shroud themselves, if Gu Qingfeng wished, he could simply release his divine sense for a sweep and penetrate the secrets on their bodies.
Originally, Gu Qingfeng had considered releasing his divine sense for a sweep, to see how many of these Dharmakayas were innate, how many were acquired, how many were External Incarnations, and how many were Karmic Incarnations.
But after thinking it over, he decided to forget it.
There were simply too many Original Sin Dharmakayas present, and he couldn't be bothered to probe with his divine sense.
Gu Changfeng had said that this time, those so-called Sons of Original Sin, that nonsense Green Lantern Patriarch, Old Monster Heishan, Patriarch Liao'e—all those old fellows who had been scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin for years—would come. And Miao Tathagata, also an Original Sin variable, would come as well.
Gu Qingfeng gave the crowd a general scan. Miao Tathagata, being an Original Sin variable, was undetectable anyway, but he also didn't seem to sense the breath of True Blood Original Sin among the people.
Could it be that Gu Changfeng had deliberately tried to scare him? Or was that guy's information wrong, and these old fellows hadn't come at all?
Or perhaps they just hadn't arrived yet.
He shook his head.
Pondering, if these Sons of Original Sin and Original Sin variables were also in the Li Palace space, they should have arrived long ago.
After some thought, Gu Qingfeng felt that these old fellows either hadn't come at all, or were hiding somewhere, not yet showing themselves.
This left him feeling somewhat disappointed.
The fame of Old Monster Heishan, Gu Qingfeng had long heard of it, and his impression was extremely deep. Even though Gu Qingfeng had a poor memory, forgetting some familiar people and having no impression of them, he remembered Old Monster Heishan, whom he had never met, very clearly.
This story is a bit long.
It goes back to his youth.
As a wet-behind-the-ears youth in the mortal world, he loved listening to mythical stories of unknown truth, stories that featured both immortals and Buddhas, as well as evil demons.
The immortals and Buddhas, of course, represented the sacred and the light, the embodiment of justice.
The evil demons, naturally, represented darkness, the embodiment of evil.
Among the many embodiments of darkness and evil in these mythical stories, Old Monster Heishan was the most terrifying, the most evil, and the most powerful one. In the mortal world, adults scared children by using Old Monster Heishan—if you don't behave, they'd say Old Monster Heishan will come and eat you.
Thus, Old Monster Heishan became the nightmare of many youths in the mortal world. Even after entering sects to cultivate, the dream of many youths was to one day cultivate into an immortal and definitely slay Old Monster Heishan.
Although it seemed childish now, Gu Qingfeng genuinely wanted to meet this nightmare from countless youths' hearts.
Besides Old Monster Heishan, Gu Qingfeng also wanted to meet Miao Tathagata, also an Original Sin variable.
Back in the Great Wasteland, Gu Qingfeng had also heard the name Miao Tathagata, but his impression wasn't too deep. Ever since entering the Primordial Ancient Black Hole, Great Mad Monk had been constantly chanting Miao Tathagata's name in his ear.
Saying how amazing this Miao Tathagata was, hailed as the Buddha Emperor of the West, ruling the eight Buddhist sects, both a destined calamity constant and an Original Sin variable. In the past, he had even incarnated as the Great Sun to liberate the Nine Nethers, severed the Nine Nethers Sacred Stele, and left poems to humiliate the Nine Nethers.
Hearing Great Mad Monk chant it so much, Gu Qingfeng naturally wanted to meet Miao Tathagata.
Especially since Gu Changfeng had said that this Miao Tathagata had even, damn it, integrated Original Sin True Blood into his External Incarnations, and possibly not just one External Incarnation had integrated Original Sin True Blood, but two, or even more.
After learning this, Gu Qingfeng wanted to meet Miao Tathagata even more.
Alas.
Whether it was Old Monster Heishan or Miao Tathagata, neither had shown themselves. He didn't know if they truly hadn't come, or were hiding in some godforsaken corner.
Failing to see Old Monster Heishan and Miao Tathagata left Gu Qingfeng feeling somewhat let down. Besides that, he also noticed something rather interesting.
That was, the area surrounding the Li Palace vortex was uniformly filled with Original Sin Dharmakayas, along with a few Original Sin Self-Bodies. There wasn't a single person from the Great Dao, not even one could be seen.
When he first noticed this situation, Gu Qingfeng thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. In this Li Palace space, he had seen quite a few people from the Great Dao. But later, when he saw those dazzlingly numerous Creation Treasures in the void, he instantly understood what was going on.