Qianye Immortal King did not understand.
She did not understand how this Original Sin Cataclysm had become an opportunity for Changfeng Great Emperor to awaken his True Self.
When she asked, Changfeng Great Emperor said, "Why this Original Sin Cataclysm has become an opportunity to awaken the True Self is not important. What is important is how to find the True Self amidst this calamity."
The exchange between Qianye Immortal King and Changfeng Great Emperor was conducted through mental transmission, occurring in but an instant.
Within the arena.
Gu Qingfeng, standing atop the Solitary Peak, looked toward the two other men in the void and laughed, "Brother Mo, Brother Ren, you two have finally deigned to show yourselves."
Gu Qingfeng had few friends in this lifetime, only a handful. Besides Gu Changfeng, only Mo Wentian and Ren Tianxing remained.
"Brother Gu, it's been a while!"
Mo Wentian was handsome and imposing, his face sharp as if carved by a blade, with distinct features. Between his sword-like brows was an aura of heroic spirit, and his tiger-like eyes shone as brightly as the great sun.
Though he wore only a seemingly plain gray robe, it could not conceal his robust and majestic presence.
He stood in the void like a towering hero, his might shaking mountains and rivers, his aura soaring to the heavens. A surging heroic energy permeated the entire Li Palace space.
It was said that Fusheng Dijun was the hero of the present era.
Gu Qingfeng was not familiar with Fusheng Dijun and did not know if he was truly a hero.
But in his heart, Mo Wentian was undoubtedly a worthy hero and champion.
He valued loyalty and righteousness, willing to go through fire and water for a friend. No matter where he was, if a friend was in trouble, he would rush to lend his full support.
He had once ventured alone into the Nine Nethers for a friend from the Nine Heavens, and had also stormed the Nine Heavens in rage for a friend from the Nine Nethers.
He had harmed himself to resolve a feud, and had punished himself to save a life.
In Mo Wentian's eyes, there was no distinction between Immortal, Demon, Monster, or Buddha—only the difference between good and evil. Most importantly, he possessed a heart of great benevolence and righteousness. Roaming the Great Desolate for many years, he had once withstood a natural tempest to rescue the cultivators of a world, and had battled Great Desolate void beasts for unrelated people in the void.
He had been swept into spatial turbulence, trapped in forgotten spaces, and even violated Heavenly Dao laws to help others, for which he had been judged by the Heavenly Dao.
Mo Wentian was not only heroic and loyal, but also broad-minded and informal, so he had many friends—so many that they spanned the myriad realms of the Great Desolate and the Three Thousand Great Daos. Whether in the heavens or the earth, whether esteemed Great Dao Patriarchs or ordinary mortal cultivators, friends from all walks of life could be found.
Some said Mo Wentian's friends were not only spread across the myriad realms, but also spanned heaven and earth, transcending past and present.
Exaggerated?
No!
Not at all.
In the early days of the Ancient Era, when the Holy Land sought to eliminate Mo Wentian and laid a heaven-and-earth net to besiege him, the news spread throughout the myriad realms, causing an immediate uproar. From the Nine Heavens to the Nine Nethers, the Immortal Dao, Buddha Dao, Monster Dao, Monster Dao, the Thirty-Six Grotto-Heavens, the Seventy-Two Blessed Lands, many titans of the Great Desolate, numerous Great Dao Dijuns, Great Dao Thrones, and even Great Dao Patriarchs personally came to rescue Mo Wentian.
Was that all?
Of course not.
As Mo Wentian traveled the Great Desolate, acting chivalrously and righteously, he had saved countless Immortal Realm sects, clans, and cultivators. Thus, during that incident, cultivators from many Immortal Realms across the myriad realms and various celestial domains flocked in groups to rescue Mo Wentian.
This was the famous event of the Ancient Era: 'The Heroes Defy the Saints to Save the Free Emperor,' also known as 'When the Free Emperor is in Peril, the Myriad Realms Come to Aid.'
Gu Qingfeng had rarely admired anyone in his life. Mo Wentian was the only one he admired, and this admiration came from the bottom of his heart.
He believed Mo Wentian was a worthy hero and champion of the myriad realms. To be a person, especially a man, one should aspire to be a towering hero like Mo Wentian.
In his youth, Gu Qingfeng had also dreamed of becoming a great, towering hero. But later, as he lived on, somehow he not only failed to become the great hero of his dreams, but ended up becoming the person he despised most.
It was precisely because of this that he held Mo Wentian in the highest esteem.
In the distance.
Another man also stood in the void.
The man's figure was tall and straight, majestic and extraordinary. His demeanor was cold and aloof, his expression icy. A faint purple radiance shimmered around him, like a purple full moon.
It was a purple moon brimming with demonic energy, a purple moon filled with baleful aura.
It was none other than Weiyang Demon Emperor Ren Tianxing.
Ren Tianxing was a Demon.
He was also a Demon Emperor of the Great Desolate whom everyone feared, a lawless entity who had slaughtered his way across the myriad realms.
'The Greedy Wolf howls at the Purple Moon, the demonic might overawes the heavens, upon the throne is Ren Tianxing'—this legend was about Ren Tianxing.
He did not speak, merely nodded at Gu Qingfeng in acknowledgment.
Ren Tianxing was still that solitary, cold Ren Tianxing, unchanged as ever.
Atop the Solitary Peak.
Looking at Mo Wentian and Ren Tianxing, Gu Qingfeng could not help but recall the time before the Primordial Nine Palaces gestated, when the three of them had chased the Daoless Mountain together, then shared drinks and conversed happily for a long time.
He clearly remembered Mo Wentian saying that in this lifetime, he had done only one thing: seek the True Self. He had no interest in the True Lord of Original Sin, but if only by attaining the True Lord of Original Sin could he seek the True Self, he would not hesitate to contend for it.
Like Mo Wentian.
Ren Tianxing also had no interest in the True Lord of Original Sin, but he wished to sever his own karma. If only by attaining the True Lord of Original Sin could he sever his karma, he too would not hesitate to contend for it.
Thinking of this, Gu Qingfeng could not help but ask, "Brother Mo, Brother Ren, I wonder if you two still remember the original aspirations we three once discussed?"
Mo Wentian responded, "Of course I remember."
Ren Tianxing said, "I will not forget."
"Since you remember, then I would like to ask: do your original aspirations still remain?"
"Heh!"
Hearing this.
Mo Wentian laughed, a laugh tinged with helplessness. "Brother Gu, why ask when you already know the answer?"
"HAHAHAHA!"
Gu Qingfeng roared with laughter, a laugh carrying a hint of schadenfreude, even a touch of madness. He laughed until the pervading Original Sin Breath boiled and burned, laughed until the entire Li Palace space trembled and cracked, laughed until the Original Sin Patriarchs and Great Dao Patriarchs present were utterly bewildered.
Though Ren Tianxing did not respond, Gu Qingfeng knew that both his and Mo Wentian's original aspirations were gone.
Though Gu Qingfeng had not seen Mo Wentian or Ren Tianxing since entering the Primordial Nine Palaces.
However.
Gu Qingfeng believed that after entering the Primordial Nine Palaces, Mo Wentian must have sought the True Self on the path of Original Sin, only to discover in his seeking that all of this was a scheme, and he was merely a pawn on this chessboard.
Gu Qingfeng also believed that after entering the Primordial Nine Palaces, Ren Tianxing must have sought to sever his karma on the path of Original Sin, only to discover in his severing that all of this was a scheme, and he too was merely a pawn on this chessboard.
The so-called original aspirations were nothing but illusions.