This trembling was the trembling of excitement, this shaking was the shaking of elation.
It was the kind of excitement and elation one feels when a long-pursued dream finally comes true.
To say that Gu Qingfeng's return of his Fighting Spirit and his finding of his Id was the very dream Da Xing the Mad Monk had been chasing might sound like an exaggeration.
But the reality wasn't far off.
Da Xing the Mad Monk was not unaware that Gu Qingfeng had long lost his Fighting Spirit, his vigor, and his original nature.
He knew.
He had always known.
Not only did he know, but he also understood that Gu Qingfeng had lost his nature after being stripped of everything at the end of the Ancient Era.
Was that all?
No!
Da Xing the Mad Monk had long suspected that Gu Qingfeng being stripped of everything at the end of the Ancient Era was no accident, but a deliberate scheme set by someone, with the very purpose of taking everything from Gu Qingfeng and making him lose his nature.
Who exactly set this scheme remained unknown for now.
That wasn't important.
What was important was that Gu Qingfeng, having lost his nature, though he hadn't lost his self or his consciousness, was like a walking corpse, indifferent to life and death, disillusioned with the mortal world, devoid of desire or ambition.
To put it nicely, he was going with the flow; to put it bluntly, he was resigning himself to fate.
Ever since losing his nature, Gu Qingfeng had been like this, sinking deeper and deeper, the deeper he sank, the more lost and hesitant he became.
Such a Gu Qingfeng was the easiest to control.
Regardless of whose Karma incarnation Gu Qingfeng was—whether he represented the Karma and Fate of Genggu Wuming, or the Original Sin and Wu Dao of Venerable Wu Dao—when the time came, they would find devouring him as easy as turning over a hand.
After all, Gu Qingfeng had already lost his nature and possessed no Fighting Spirit to speak of, like meat on a chopping block, at the mercy of others.
Earlier.
Gu Qingfeng had always suspected that Da Xing the Mad Monk was brainwashing him.
In fact, this was true; Da Xing the Mad Monk had indeed been brainwashing Gu Qingfeng, whether intentionally or not.
However.
Da Xing the Mad Monk had only one purpose in brainwashing Gu Qingfeng: to awaken the Fighting Spirit Gu Qingfeng had lost, to awaken the nature he had lost.
To this end, what Da Xing the Mad Monk did wasn't just secretly brainwashing Gu Qingfeng; he had also deliberately set up several Karma schemes.
For example, after the beginning of the Modern Era, when Gu Qingfeng was reborn through nirvana in the mortal world, he once discovered in the Great Northwest that Jun Xuanji was suppressed in a secret realm by the wrathful incarnation of the Great Sun Tathagata of the Western Heaven Buddhist Path.
This was actually one of the Karma schemes Da Xing the Mad Monk had set up. He had tried to reawaken Gu Qingfeng's Fighting Spirit. Unfortunately, no matter how he schemed or how he brainwashed, he never managed to stir Gu Qingfeng's Fighting Spirit.
Not only did he fail to stir it, but he even caused Gu Qingfeng to sink deeper.
Originally, Da Xing the Mad Monk had held onto a sliver of hope for Gu Qingfeng, more or less.
But when Gu Qingfeng was besieged time and again in this Primordial Ancient Black Hole by the Ancestral Patriarchs of Original Sin and the Great Dao, yet showed no reaction, Da Xing the Mad Monk had almost given up all hope.
Especially not long ago, in the Li Palace Void, when Gu Qingfeng said in front of the many Ancestral Patriarchs of Original Sin and the Great Dao that he just wanted to end all of this as soon as possible, Da Xing the Mad Monk finally realized that the Fighting Spirit Gu Qingfeng had lost would likely never return, and the nature he had lost would certainly never come back.
Therefore.
When he deduced that the changes in the Li Palace would affect this Original Sin Cataclysm and alter the fate of the Heaven and Earth Great Dao, Da Xing the Mad Monk was certain Gu Qingfeng was doomed this time.
First.
Gu Qingfeng only wanted to end all of this quickly; he didn't care whether he lived or died, nor did he care about Original Sin and Wu Dao, or the Heaven and Earth Great Dao.
Second.
If Gu Qingfeng, this greatest variable of Original Sin and possibly the True Lord chosen by Original Sin, died here, then this Original Sin Cataclysm would naturally change accordingly. If the Original Sin Cataclysm changed, the fate of the Heaven and Earth Great Dao would also change.
Da Xing the Mad Monk had not only mentally prepared himself for this but had also made the worst-case plans.
However.
What Da Xing the Mad Monk never dreamed of was that just before the emergence of the Li Palace Primordial Source, not only had Gu Qingfeng's Physical Body awakened, not only had his Fighting Spirit returned, but even his Id had come back.
How could Da Xing the Mad Monk not be excited about this?
How could he not be elated!
His eyes reddened with excitement and elation. If he could, he really wanted to rush into the sky right now, to tell those Ancestral Patriarchs of Original Sin, and also those Ancestral Patriarchs of the Great Dao, to let them all know that Gu Qingfeng's Physical Body had revived, that his Fighting Spirit had returned, that the aloof, domineering, and unrivaled Nine Nethers Emperor Gu Tianlang of yesteryear had made a comeback!
At this moment.
Qingfeng was no longer Qingfeng.
But Tianlang was still Tianlang!
"Excellent!
Truly excellent!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk lowered his head, wiping away the excited tears from the corner of his eye, his tone complex as he said, "Damn it!
This old monk...
In the end, I didn't misjudge you, kid!
This old monk knew you, kid...
would never admit defeat!"
Back then.
Even though he clearly knew Gu Qingfeng had lost his nature, Da Xing the Mad Monk still chose to stake everything on Gu Qingfeng.
What he valued was the wolfish nature that flowed in Gu Qingfeng's bones!
He was also convinced that even though someone had schemed to take everything from Gu Qingfeng back then, making him lose his nature, Gu Qingfeng would one day reignite his Fighting Spirit and reclaim his nature.
After each failed scheme, each failed provocation, each failed brainwashing, Da Xing the Mad Monk had once doubted whether he had misjudged.
Only now, only at this moment, did Da Xing the Mad Monk realize he had not misjudged. Gu Qingfeng was still the Gu Qingfeng of old. No!
To be precise, Gu Tianlang was still the Gu Tianlang of old!
"I say...
Da Xing, is it really that big a deal?"
Gu Qingfeng tilted his head back and took a swig of wine, laughing, "I've found my Id, what are you getting so excited about, you old Bald Donkey?"
Da Xing the Mad Monk wiped away another tear from the corner of his eye, retorting irritably, "This old monk is happy for you, kid, is that not allowed?"
"Really? I feel like you're happy for yourself."
"You, kid, finding your Id, why would this old monk be happy for himself?
It's not like this old monk found his Id."
"Isn't it?
You old Bald Donkey seems to have placed a huge bet, gambling everything on me. Seeing the situation turning more and more against me, my chances of winning getting smaller and smaller, possibly having no chance of winning at all, while the chances of losing grow bigger and bigger."
Gu Qingfeng laughed, "Although I don't know exactly what you bet or what you're gambling on, I know that if I die, you old Bald Donkey will definitely lose everything, bankrupt."
"Now that my Fighting Spirit has returned and I've found my Id, my chances of winning, while still not great, are at least better than having no chance at all. In other words, the greater my chances of winning, the happier you old Bald Donkey will be. If I can laugh last, the bet you placed on me, old Bald Donkey, should be able to multiply by tens of thousands, right?"
Having reached this critical juncture, Da Xing the Mad Monk didn't bother hiding anything anymore and openly admitted, "That's right, that's exactly how it is."
Then, changing his tone, he shot Gu Qingfeng a sidelong glance and added, "But, I say, kid, aren't you getting a bit too cocky? Do you think just because your Physical Body has revived, your Fighting Spirit has returned, and you've found your Id, you can laugh last?"