Empress Wuyue said that if Gu Qingfeng had made up his mind, she would lend him a helping hand.
She said it, and she did it.
Just when everyone thought Empress Wuyue would take action to suppress the incarnations of the three overlords—the Avici Uninterrupted Evil Asura, the incarnation of reaching heaven and descending to yellow springs, and the heaven-devouring Blood Taotie—a puzzling scene unfolded.
Empress Wuyue did not move to suppress the incarnations of the three overlords. She merely sprinkled that mysterious and wondrous starlight upon Gu Qingfeng's body, and then…
There was no 'then'.
Gu Qingfeng remained standing motionless in the void, while the incarnations of the three overlords continued scrambling and struggling, each trying to return to his body.
Beyond sprinkling the mysterious starlight upon Gu Qingfeng, Empress Wuyue took no further action.
Watching this scene,
everyone was baffled.
They didn't understand what Empress Wuyue intended. Didn't she say she would help Gu Qingfeng let go of himself?
Why was she delaying?
Or perhaps Empress Wuyue also realized that forcefully suppressing the incarnations of the three overlords was tantamount to suppressing Gu Qingfeng himself. Not only would it disturb his state of mind, it might even backfire and hinder his attempt to let go of himself.
Or maybe the so-called 'helping hand' Empress Wuyue offered wasn't meant to help Gu Qingfeng let go of himself at all, but to stop him?
On Blackwater Mountain,
the Old Beggar also stared wide-eyed, his face filled with shock and suspicion, unable to fathom what trick Empress Wuyue was really playing.
At that moment,
Blackwater, who stood beside him, spoke: "In this ancient heaven and earth, no one can help him let go of himself. No one, not a soul. Any assistance will backfire. Any external force interfering will prevent him from letting go of himself. This point, I believe Wuyue understands better than anyone."
"If that's the case, then why is Empress Wuyue still doing this?"
The Old Beggar seemed to realize something and exclaimed indignantly, "Well, I'll be!
Empress Wuyue is doing this on purpose! Her goal is precisely to stop this kid surnamed Gu from letting go of himself! When Empress Wuyue said earlier she would lend him a hand, this old man was still wondering why her attitude suddenly changed. Turns out she had ulterior motives from the very start…" Before the Old Beggar could finish, Blackwater cut him off: "No!
You are wrong."
"Wrong how?
Isn't that the case?"
"Empress Wuyue is indeed helping the Nether Emperor let go of himself."
"What do you mean?"
The Old Beggar was somewhat confused. "Didn't you just say no one can help this kid let go of himself? And that Empress Wuyue also knows this? Since she knows, how can she help?"
"I said, any external force interfering will prevent the Nether Emperor from letting go of himself," Blackwater explained. "The 'helping hand' Wuyue speaks of is not about helping the Nether Emperor let go of himself. It is to prevent external forces from interfering, thereby stopping him from letting go of himself."
"External forces interfering? You mean someone will try to stop this kid from letting go of himself?"
The Old Beggar glanced at the Original Sin Patriarchs in the void, then at the Great Dao Patriarchs, and shook his head. "Empress Wuyue is overthinking this. Those fellows are all eager for this kid to let go of himself. Whether for the Great Dao Patriarchs or the Original Sin Patriarchs, the benefits of him letting go outweigh the drawbacks. Who would be foolish enough to stop him?"
"Perhaps no one knows what impact this kid letting go of himself will have on this Original Sin Calamity. Precisely because they don't know, they won't stop him. In this old man's view, regardless of what effect this kid letting go has on this Calamity, for both the Great Dao and Original Sin factions, it's far better than him remaining alive."
"They would rather face the unknown impact of him letting go on the Calamity than face the Nether Emperor himself, the greatest threat! If it were this old man, I'd rather face the unknown influence."
Gu Qingfeng had already achieved the Eternal Myth, his spirit indestructible, his form immortal.
In this ancient heaven and earth, no one had the confidence to erase him.
If he wished to ascend as the True Lord of Original Sin, the Great Dao Patriarchs could not stop him, nor could the Original Sin Patriarchs compete with him.
Given that,
it was better to gamble.
In the Old Beggar's mind, no matter what impact Gu Qingfeng letting go of himself had on this Original Sin Calamity, the odds of success were far greater than facing an unkillable Gu Qingfeng. The Old Beggar believed all the Patriarchs present had already weighed the pros and cons. Otherwise, they would have intervened long ago, not waited until now.
"For those Great Dao Patriarchs who stand guard, and for those Original Sin Patriarchs who scheme for the position of True Lord, Gu Qingfeng letting go of himself indeed brings more benefits than harm. But…" Blackwater's tone shifted, "…what about for those who have placed their hopes on the Nether Emperor, hoping he will ascend as the True Lord of Original Sin and usher in the Era of No Dao? If he lets go of himself, their hopes will vanish like smoke, and the Era of No Dao they yearn for may become nothing but a dream."
Blackwater said quietly, "Take you, for example. Do you wish for him to let go of himself?"
"Me?"
The Old Beggar opened his mouth, then hesitated, shaking his head fiercely.
Just as Blackwater had said, the Old Beggar had indeed placed his hopes on Gu Qingfeng, hoping he would ascend as the True Lord of Original Sin and thereby open the Era of No Dao.
He naturally did not wish for Gu Qingfeng to let go of himself.
But that was merely a wish.
As for taking action to stop him, the Old Beggar had no such plan, nor any such thought.
As this Original Sin Calamity grew increasingly complex, bizarre, mysterious, and unknown, the Old Beggar could increasingly feel that the waters of this Calamity ran far too deep—deeper than imagined, deep beyond imagination, deep to an unimaginable degree.
All sorts of bewildering schemes, schemes within schemes, karma-laden plots… he couldn't even begin to comprehend them.
Setting other matters aside,
just Empress Wuyue's sudden change in attitude to help Gu Qingfeng—although the Old Beggar didn't know why she was doing this, he dared to affirm there was definitely something fishy about it. It absolutely wasn't as simple as it appeared on the surface.
Only,
the intricacies within were known only to those who understood; those who didn't would never know.
The Old Beggar did not understand.
This made him realize a truth:
that the chessboard of this Original Sin Calamity was simply not something he could participate in.
He couldn't afford to play, nor did he have the qualifications to play.
If he forced himself into the game, he wouldn't even know how he died.
Even further,
the Old Beggar suspected the outcome of this Original Sin Calamity wasn't a simple matter of black or white, nor merely about whether the Era of No Dao would begin, but rather a result he couldn't even begin to imagine.
If that was the case, what was there to yearn for about the Era of No Dao?
What was there to stop Gu Qingfeng from letting go of himself?
Knowing full well he was unqualified to play this chess game, the Old Beggar had long since silently withdrawn. He now only wished to be an outsider.
Glancing at Blackwater beside him, the Old Beggar cautiously asked, "Lady Blackwater, you said…
this kid surnamed Gu also carries your hopes. If that's the case, why aren't you taking action to stop him from letting go of himself?"