"I say, Da Xing, how is it that I run into you, you old bald donkey, everywhere I go? Can't I get away from you?"
Gu Qingfeng didn't even bother to glance at Da Xing the Mad Monk, leisurely sipping his wine.
"What kind of talk is that, kid? What do you mean 'run into me everywhere'? It's not like this old monk is deliberately clinging to you. Don't forget, we both got swept in together, we just got separated later."
Da Xing the Mad Monk plopped down beside Gu Qingfeng, also pulling out a jar of fine wine and taking a swig. He said with annoyance, "And what's this about wanting to hide from me? Why would you hide from this old monk for no reason? What, are you afraid I'll eat you or something?"
Gu Qingfeng didn't respond further, too lazy to bother with Da Xing the Mad Monk.
This old bald donkey was always mysterious, fond of hiding things, being vague and elusive, making him impossible to figure out. Gu Qingfeng was certain this old bald donkey had planted quite a few karmic seeds on him, but as for what schemes the old monk was actually plotting, Gu Qingfeng truly couldn't guess.
However.
That said, while Gu Qingfeng was sure Da Xing the Mad Monk was definitely up to something, he didn't hold it against him, much less view him with hostility.
Firstly.
He didn't dislike Da Xing the Mad Monk as a person. Not only did he not dislike him, but sometimes he even found this old bald donkey quite amusing. They were birds of a feather.
Secondly.
He didn't have many friends to begin with, and those he could really talk to were even fewer. Regardless of what schemes Da Xing the Mad Monk might have behind his back, the fact that he had kept him company, chatting nonsense all the way through the Ancient Wasteland Black Hole, was enough.
If Da Xing the Mad Monk hadn't been there to banter with him along the way, Gu Qingfeng didn't know how lonely and isolated he might have felt.
"Kid Gu, what's the situation now?"
"What situation?"
"This old monk is asking about the Li Palace Primordial Source. What's its status? Has it emerged or what? I just tried probing with my divine sense, damn it, couldn't detect a thing. Really bizarre."
"It's right that you can't detect it."
"What do you mean 'it's right'? I'm asking you seriously, kid. Can't you be a bit more proper?"
"Do I look improper to you?"
"Then tell me, what's the situation?"
"Don't know."
"What? You don't know either? Really?"
"If even you can't detect it, naturally I can't either."
"I say, kid Gu, let's not joke around, alright?"
Seeing Gu Qingfeng didn't seem to be joking, Da Xing the Mad Monk asked with some surprise, "You really can't detect it either?"
"Nonsense! If I could detect it, I'd have charged in long ago. Would I still be sitting here listening to your drivel?"
"It's one thing if this old monk can't detect it, but how come even you can't?"
Da Xing the Mad Monk rubbed his chin, staring at the slowly rotating Li Palace Whirlwind in the field. After pondering for a moment, he shook his head, utterly unable to figure it out. "No wonder all these Original Sin Ancestral Patriarchs are just standing there unmoved. I reckon they probably can't detect it either. If even you can't detect it, kid, then I'm afraid no one can."
The facts were exactly as Da Xing the Mad Monk said. Most of the Original Sin people gathered here had come for the Li Palace Primordial Source. Everyone knew the Li Palace Primordial Source held the secrets of Original Sin, and everyone wanted to claim it for themselves. The problem was, divine sense couldn't detect the Li Palace Whirlwind. No one knew what was inside the whirlwind, and no one dared to charge in recklessly.
No!
It wasn't that they didn't dare.
They simply didn't know how to get in.
The naked eye could see the Li Palace Whirlwind, but that was just the naked eye. Everyone who could enter this place was, without exception, either a Great Dao Ancestral Patriarch or an Original Sin Ancestral Patriarch—all old-timers with vast experience. They all knew that what the naked eye saw was merely the surface appearance, and that surface could be an illusion or a false image.
Only what divine sense detected was the truth.
The problem now was that no one's divine sense could detect the Li Palace Whirlwind. Forget detecting it, they couldn't even sense it. If you closed your eyes, you couldn't feel the whirlwind's existence at all.
It was almost exactly the same as those Original Sin anomalies: visible to the naked eye, undetectable by divine sense.
Looking at the dense, countless Original Sin Dharmakayas gathered around the Li Palace Whirlwind, the muscles at the corner of Da Xing the Mad Monk's mouth twitched involuntarily.
Like Gu Qingfeng, back in the Li Palace Void, these Original Sin Ancestral Patriarchs had been hiding in the shadows, so it hadn't felt like there were many. After entering here, with nowhere to hide, they had all surfaced. Especially now, gathered around the Li Palace Whirlwind, their numbers were truly staggering, shocking Da Xing the Mad Monk immensely.
He knew there were many Original Sin Ancestral Patriarchs in the ancient and modern heavens and earth. Some hid in the Endless Sea Beyond Heaven, some had been banished to Gui Xu. Now that Gui Xu had collapsed, the Original Sin Ancestral Patriarchs from the Endless Sea had swarmed in. The numbers were definitely huge.
Da Xing the Mad Monk knew this. He had always known. But only now, seeing the dark mass of Original Sin Ancestral Patriarchs beside the Li Palace Whirlwind, did he realize there were far, far more than he had imagined.
If it were just the Li Palace that had so many Original Sin Ancestral Patriarchs, it wouldn't have shocked Da Xing the Mad Monk so much. The reality was that his avatars were spread throughout the Nine Palaces of the Ancient Era.
Right now, Zhen Palace, Gen Palace, and the other palaces were just like Li Palace: each had appeared with a whirlwind visible to the naked eye but undetectable by divine sense. And around each whirlwind, many Original Sin Ancestral Patriarchs had also gathered.
Most of these Original Sin Ancestral Patriarchs were Original Sin Dharmakayas. Some were pseudo-Dharmakayas acquired through later devouring, while others were genuine, innate, bona fide Dharmakayas cultivated from birth. As for how many among these Original Sin Dharmakayas were avatars and how many were karmic incarnations, Da Xing the Mad Monk couldn't figure out in a short while.
In short.
One word.
Many.
Terrifyingly many.
Even Da Xing the Mad Monk, who claimed to know everyone and everything in the ancient and modern heavens and earth, with avatars spread across all realms and knowledge of heaven and earth's secrets, was severely startled by the countless Original Sin Ancestral Patriarchs within the Nine Palaces of the Ancient Era.
There were just too many.
If there was any difference between Li Palace and the other nine palaces, it was that the Dao people in the other palaces were relatively few—pitifully few. In contrast, the Dao people in Li Palace were innumerable. It felt as if all the Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs of the ancient and modern heavens and earth had gathered in Li Palace. And damn it, they were all hiding inside their respective magical treasures. Just thinking with your toes, you'd know it was no coincidence that all these Dao people had gathered in Li Palace.
Suddenly.
Da Xing the Mad Monk seemed to remember something important. He slapped his own head hard, crouched down, looked left and right, and transmitted a secret message: "Right, kid Gu, there's something very important this old monk almost forgot to tell you."
"What is it?"
"This old monk has received news that this time, the Ancestral Patriarchs from both the Original Sin side and the Great Dao side are dead set on dealing with you, kid."