He was well aware that stepping onto this karmic Road of No Return would invite countless troubles.
He knew full well that the end of karma might be the Sea of Bitterness.
Yet Gu Qingfeng still decided to tread this path. It wasn't a sudden whim, nor was it a momentary impulse.
To say he had planned it for a long time wouldn't be accurate either.
Of course, it wasn't because he was bored out of his mind and looking for trouble.
He had once encountered a very, very old senior in the Nine Nethers, so old that almost no one knew exactly how long he had lived.
Back then, he had conversed with that old senior for a long time. What left the deepest impression on him were three questions the old senior had asked him—questions he still couldn't answer to this day.
The questions weren't difficult. They weren't about the Great Dao, nor the laws, nor the mysteries of heaven and earth.
They were three questions that sounded deceptively simple at first.
Who are you?
Where do you come from?
Where are you going?
It was precisely these three seemingly simple questions that Gu Qingfeng couldn't answer back then, and still couldn't answer now.
Gu Qingfeng knew who he was, yet he also didn't know.
He knew where he came from, yet he also didn't.
He knew where he was going, yet again, he also didn't.
It was a question that grew more terrifying the more one pondered it.
And to understand these three questions, the answer lay within karma.
On this day.
At the Cloud Mist Sect, in the Hidden Spirit Garden of the back mountain.
Inside a quiet chamber.
Gu Qingfeng lay casually on the bed, sipping wine while examining the Bing Xuan Heart.
This thing was exactly as Zhu Xia had said—it was derived from the Water Source within nature, a remarkable treasure of the natural world. If integrated into one's foundation, it would bring immense benefits to one's future cultivation path.
That was true for ordinary people. However, Gu Qingfeng didn't covet it, nor was he particularly interested.
What truly piqued his interest was what was contained within the Bing Xuan Heart.
There was an aura of blood essence.
And also an aura of mutual generation.
The blood essence aura likely belonged to Yun Nishang. As for the mutual generation aura, it should be a kind of profound mystery.
Both the blood essence aura and the mutual generation aura had already fused with the Bing Xuan Heart; the three were now inseparable.
In other words, if one wanted to unlock the secrets of the Bing Xuan Heart, one would likely have to find its counterpart, the Yang Heart.
Gu Qingfeng pondered that he should first go to the Nine-Hua Alliance in a few days to seize the Yang Heart back.
After putting away the Bing Xuan Heart, he took out a scroll. Unrolling it revealed a seemingly ordinary ink-wash painting.
It was precisely the one Zhu Xia had given him earlier.
What exactly was special about this painting, Gu Qingfeng couldn't tell either. He only remembered that this painting came from a Buddhist ruin and was later snatched away by Hongxiu—that is, Yun Nishang.
The painting also had a name.
Only, the name was strange: 'Painting of Nirvana Silence and Forgetting the Self'. What did 'Nirvana Silence and Forgetting the Self' mean?
Nirvana Silence, Gu Qingfeng knew.
That was a supreme state in Buddhism. After achieving Nirvana Silence, one transcended life and death; consciousness vanished, yet thought became eternal.
But what the hell was 'Forgetting the Self'?
Once in Nirvana Silence, how could one still 'Forget the Self'?
What was there to forget?
He didn't understand.
Couldn't figure it out for the moment.
The painting looked simple, ordinary, even crude.
It depicted only a single mountain.
And by the looks of it, a very desolate mountain at that.
On the mountain, flowers and grass withered, trees were barren, and even the rocks seemed to have decayed.
There was nothing else.
Yet, it was this bizarre painting that gave Gu Qingfeng a sense of déjà vu. Back at the Bing Xuan Sect, it had even inexplicably affected his Great Freedom state of mind.
Gu Qingfeng pondered back and forth but still couldn't discern what mysteries this painting held.
He only felt it was familiar.
But exactly what was familiar, he couldn't put into words.
This feeling was like discovering a faint glimmer of light in endless darkness. The light was there, yet he couldn't touch it.
"Sigh!"
Gu Qingfeng sighed, tilted his head back for a swig of wine, then entered the Extinct Bone Jade.
A misty world, a misty space. On a misty mountain stood a misty temple, and within that misty temple resided an old monk Gu Qingfeng had never seen before.
"Amitabha, Layman Gu, it has been a while."
As soon as Gu Qingfeng entered the Extinct Bone Jade, the old monk's aged, hoarse voice, sounding as if it could crumble with age, reached him.
Gu Qingfeng didn't waste words and got straight to the point, asking about the 'Painting of Nirvana Silence and Forgetting the Self'. To his surprise, the old monk knew nothing—didn't know the painting's origin, nor its mysteries.
"This thing was dug out from your Buddhist ruins back then. You don't know?"
"Layman Gu, items from Buddhist ruins are not necessarily Buddhist objects."
"If it's not a Buddhist object, why would it be named 'Nirvana Silence and Forgetting the Self'?"
"This Old Monk does not know either."
Gu Qingfeng chuckled and asked again, "Alright. This painting inexplicably affects my state of mind. Why is that..."
"This Old Monk does not know."
Gu Qingfeng, wearing a smile, probed, "That painting is named 'Nirvana Silence and Forgetting the Self', and you reside within the Extinct Bone Jade. Both involve 'Nirvana Silence'. Could there be some connection?"
"This Old Monk does not know."
"Do you truly not know, or are you unwilling to say?"
"Truly do not know."
Although the old monk claimed ignorance on all counts, Gu Qingfeng felt that this old monk seemed to know something but was avoiding the question for some reason.
Since the old monk didn't want to speak, Gu Qingfeng couldn't force him. He just said unhappily, "You Buddhists love to fiddle with these mysterious, profound, and utterly baffling things. If you're going to create something, make it clear. All these vague, elusive mysteries—reincarnation was your creation, karma was your creation, life and death were your creations, good and evil were yours too. The destruction of Buddhism wasn't without reason. No wonder neither heaven nor earth can tolerate you. You truly deserve it."
"Amitabha..." The old monk said nothing in response to Gu Qingfeng's displeasure.
"Fine, you rest first, old one."
Unable to get any answers, Gu Qingfeng couldn't be bothered to ask further. Just as he was about to leave, the old monk's voice came again.
"Layman Gu, may This Old Monk ask one more question?"
"Ask."
"You said earlier that painting was left for you by Yun Nishang?"
"That's right."
For some reason, the old monk suddenly sighed. After a long pause, he said, "If that is the case, then Layman Gu has already decided to tread the path of karma."
"You could say that."
As soon as Gu Qingfeng finished speaking, the old monk sighed again. "Layman Gu, the Sea of Bitterness has no shore; turning back is the only shore."
"And then?"
Gu Qingfeng wasn't in a hurry, listening with interest.
"This Old Monk clearly remembers that what Layman Gu most desired was a life of leisure and freedom, unbound and carefree. Moreover, Layman Gu has already cultivated the Great Freedom state of mind, acting as he wishes, untroubled by inner demons. Why not roam the world freely? Why must you seek out so-called karma?"
Hearing this, Gu Qingfeng was somewhat taken aback. "Old Monk, I've suddenly realized something. Every time I ask about matters of karma, you avoid the topic. It was like this before. After the Great Calamity, when I awoke, you not only avoided it but also repeatedly advised against it. I get the feeling you seem very unwilling for me to seek out karma."
"Karma is a Road of No Return. At its end lies only the Sea of Bitterness, nothing else. This Old Monk does not wish to watch helplessly as Layman Gu sinks into the Sea of Bitterness...
Moreover, much karma, once you seek it out, you may find it is not the karma you desired. Or perhaps it is karma you discarded from the very beginning..."