However.
Awareness is one thing.
Being aware does not necessarily mean one can change anything.
If one cannot change or escape the identity of a pawn, then only two paths lie ahead.
Either accept fate, or gamble with fate.
For anyone, accepting fate would not come easily. The only choice left is to take a gamble.
How to gamble?
The answer is obvious: spare no cost to ascend as the True Lord of Original Sin.
Only by ascending as the True Lord of Original Sin might one shed the identity of a pawn. Only by ascending as the True Lord of Original Sin might one defy heaven and alter destiny.
Even if ascending as the True Lord of Original Sin is their ultimate, inescapable fate, they have no choice but to gamble.
Because aside from this, those Original Sin Anomalies have no other options.
At that moment.
Ancestor Xuanming, who had been silent for a while, burst into loud laughter again.
His laughter was strange, inexplicable.
It caused the Original Sin energy filling the sky to boil and distort, and it left everyone present utterly bewildered, unsure what he was laughing about.
"The Nine Nethers Emperor is truly the Nine Nethers Emperor! Admirable!
Admirable!
Hahahaha!"
When Ancestor Xuanming's voice rang out, the expressions of every single Original Sin Patriarch present instantly changed drastically. Even the three Great Dao Overlords—Black Mountain Old Monster, Green Lantern Ghost Emperor, and Liao'e Old Monster—who had remained unperturbed since their appearance, were no exception. Even the sinisterly grinning Old Ancestor Green Robe, and the wildly arrogant, law-defying Taiji Boundless, who had looked down on everyone since appearing—their expressions also shifted slightly upon hearing Ancestor Xuanming suddenly mention the words "Nine Nethers Emperor."
Not just them.
Even Miao Rulai, who had been sitting cross-legged on the palm of the Sacred Buddha Statue, hands clasped, eyes slightly closed, and face expressionless, couldn't help but frown slightly upon hearing the words "Nine Nethers Emperor."
When Ancestor Xuanming mentioned the Nine Nethers Emperor, the scene fell into an incomparable silence.
Not only the Original Sin Patriarchs present, but even the various Creation Treasure Artifacts flickering in the void seemed to quiet down at this moment.
Silence.
A deathly stillness.
The entire Li Palace space became as silent as a tomb, as if time had stopped flowing and everything was frozen in place. No one even dared to breathe.
The feeling was as if the words "Nine Nethers Emperor" were akin to the God of Death.
No!
Not the God of Death, but more like a taboo.
A taboo that no one dared to speak of, as if merely mentioning it would invite calamity.
Indeed.
The words "Nine Nethers Emperor" were a taboo for both the Original Sin Patriarchs and the Great Dao Patriarchs.
Especially at this moment, at this critical juncture, the existence of the Nine Nethers Emperor was more taboo than any taboo.
Gu Qingfeng had been standing all along on a solitary peak in the distance.
Although that solitary peak was inconspicuous and Gu Qingfeng's presence could not be detected by divine sense, everyone knew he was there, drinking wine.
The Original Sin Patriarchs present—whether Great Dao Overlords like Black Mountain Old Monster, the sinister and evil Old Ancestor Green Robe, the wildly arrogant Taiji Boundless, or even Miao Rulai—none had paid any attention to Gu Qingfeng since their arrival. They hadn't even glanced his way.
This wasn't because they all looked down on Gu Qingfeng and chose to ignore him.
On the contrary.
None of them dared to look down on Gu Qingfeng. Precisely because Gu Qingfeng's existence was too special—so special that no one dared to provoke him at this critical juncture—they had all tacitly chosen to pretend not to see Gu Qingfeng.
Gu Qingfeng was the greatest Original Sin Anomaly.
He was also the one with the highest hope of ascending as the True Lord of Original Sin.
All signs indicated that Gu Qingfeng was the True Lord of Original Sin recorded in the Book of Fate.
This change in the Li Palace would affect the Original Sin Cataclysm, and most believed this so-called change likely referred to Gu Qingfeng.
The reason the Original Sin Patriarchs present stood there quietly, and the Great Dao Patriarchs hid obediently within their various Creation Treasure Artifacts, was twofold.
First, the Li Palace Primordial Source had not yet emerged.
Second, Gu Qingfeng had remained on that solitary peak.
Once Gu Qingfeng made any move, the seemingly stable situation in the Li Palace space would immediately descend into chaos.
And this chaos would be unpredictable.
Neither the Original Sin Patriarchs nor the Great Dao Patriarchs wished for the situation to become chaotic.
Now, the Original Sin Patriarchs and Great Dao Patriarchs seemed to have reached a tacit understanding: to stabilize the situation as much as possible until the Li Palace Primordial Source emerged, to see if the Original Sin Spirit contained within was closely related to Gu Qingfeng.
If it was closely related, then without a doubt, Gu Qingfeng was the True Lord of Original Sin recorded in the Book of Fate.
At that time, whether they were those scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin or those guarding the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, all would spare no cost to eliminate Gu Qingfeng.
For now, they were all waiting.
Waiting for the Li Palace Primordial Source to emerge.
Only when the Li Palace Primordial Source emerged could they determine who the True Lord of Original Sin recorded in the Book of Fate truly was.
If the Li Palace Primordial Source had not yet emerged and Gu Qingfeng stepped forward to stir up trouble, it would be a very tricky matter for both the Original Sin Patriarchs and the Great Dao Patriarchs.
No one truly knew how powerful Gu Qingfeng's strength was. No one dared claim they had the confidence to eliminate him.
Great Dao Overlords like Black Mountain Old Monster did not. Miao Rulai did not. Taiji Boundless similarly did not. If he had such confidence, after appearing with arrogance that defied all laws, looking down even on Black Mountain Old Monster and Miao Rulai, he would not have deliberately chosen to ignore Gu Qingfeng.
Probably even those hailed as "equal to heaven" like Du Gu Qi Zhan, or "covering the sky with one hand" like Xuan Yuan Wuji, might not have the confidence to eliminate Gu Qingfeng. If they did, Gu Qingfeng, this greatest Original Sin Anomaly, would not have survived until now.
Precisely because no one had confidence, they needed to wait for an opportunity, a so-called tacit understanding.
This opportunity, this tacit understanding, was the Li Palace Primordial Source.
Only when the Li Palace Primordial Source emerged, only when it was determined whether Gu Qingfeng was the True Lord of Original Sin recorded in the Book of Fate, would the Great Dao Patriarchs and Original Sin Patriarchs form a tacit understanding.
Before it could be determined whether Gu Qingfeng was the True Lord of Original Sin recorded in the Book of Fate, no one dared to make a move against him. Everyone knew that provoking Gu Qingfeng at this critical juncture was likely digging their own grave.
Even Old Ancestor Green Robe, hailed as the number one troublemaker throughout history, who had been trying to stir up the situation, did not dare.
The reason was simple.
The chaos stirred by Old Ancestor Green Robe was something he could control.
But if the chaos was stirred by Gu Qingfeng, it would be a situation he simply could not control.
Everyone had originally thought Ancestor Xuanming would, like the others, deliberately choose to ignore Gu Qingfeng. No one expected that after a moment of silence, Ancestor Xuanming would proactively provoke Gu Qingfeng.
At this moment.
Everyone held their breath, their spirits tense, their hearts uneasy. All eyes turned in unison toward the distant solitary peak.