Black smoke filled the sky, and Original Sin permeated the heavens.
Although the nine Forbidden Great Daos still flickered, they were no longer frenzied. Instead, they had become faint and indistinct, like a candle flame in the wind, seemingly ready to vanish at any moment.
The visions of purgatory, hell, and the abyss were also no longer as intense as before, becoming twisted and blurred like layers of chaotic phenomena. Only the incarnations of the three overlords—the Avici Uninterrupted Evil Asura, From Azure Heaven to Yellow Springs, and the Heaven-Devouring, Earth-Eating Blood Taotie—continued to proclaim their hegemony.
The mysterious aura representing the ancient clansmen also began to spread, drop by drop. Wisps of grayish-white smoke gradually seeped from the apertures all over Gu Qingfeng's body.
Gu Qingfeng stood in the void.
His eyes were closed, his expression blank.
His snow-white robes still fluttered in the wind, yet his wildly dancing black hair, as the mysterious aura spread and the grayish-white smoke emerged, had for some reason also gradually turned into long, grayish-white locks.
The Ancestral Patriarchs present all clearly remembered that back in the Primordial Nine Palaces, when Gu Qingfeng had invoked the ancient clansmen, he had also been like this—his body emitting grayish-white smoke, his three thousand black hairs turning into three thousand white strands, and even his pair of silent, dark eyes had taken on a grayish-white hue.
Because Gu Qingfeng's existence was ethereal and elusive, impossible to probe with divine sense, no one knew his current condition.
Watching this scene, all the Ancestral Patriarchs could see that Gu Qingfeng's Road of Letting Go of Himself was fraught with difficulties and particularly treacherous.
Not far away.
Empress Wuyue stood guard beside Gu Qingfeng, her gaze fixed intently upon him.
Others might not know Gu Qingfeng's condition, but Empress Wuyue, who had planted a Karmic Seed within him, could sense him to some extent.
Just as Great Emperor Changfeng had surmised, Gu Qingfeng's current situation was dire.
Far worse than imagined.
The connection between the nine Forbidden Great Daos and Gu Qingfeng's Heart-Mind was already as thin as a cicada's wing. The link between the three overlords and Gu Qingfeng's Heart-Mind was also hanging by a thread. The reason he had been unable to let them go for so long was solely because Gu Qingfeng's Heart-Mind had been completely dominated by the consciousness and demonic thoughts of the ancient clansmen.
In this state, Gu Qingfeng could be said to be in grave danger.
One must know that the Heart-Mind is of utmost importance to anyone.
If the soul is a person's origin, then the Heart-Mind is a person's central hub.
The world knows that once the Heart-Mind collapses, one is almost equivalent to a cripple.
This statement is not an exaggeration in the slightest.
Once the Heart-Mind collapses, thoughts become chaotic, the spirit subsequently crumbles, and divine sense dissipates.
No matter how many Great Daos you have comprehended, you cannot wield them. No matter how many millions of fortunes you possess, you cannot control them.
Losing the Heart-Mind is like losing one's sanity; it equates to losing control over one's Great Daos, fortunes, divine abilities, and magical arts.
Now that Gu Qingfeng's Heart-Mind was dominated by the consciousness and demonic thoughts of the ancient clansmen, in a sense, it was no longer Gu Qingfeng who commanded the nine Forbidden Great Daos and controlled the incarnations of the three overlords, but rather the consciousness and demonic thoughts of the ancient clansmen.
If Gu Qingfeng could not reclaim control of his Heart-Mind, not only would he be unable to let go of himself, but his very consciousness might be devoured by the consciousness and demonic thoughts of the ancient clansmen.
As for whether Gu Qingfeng could reclaim control of his Heart-Mind.
Empress Wuyue did not know.
Nor could she deduce it.
Suddenly.
Empress Wuyue seemed to sense something and looked toward the void.
Within the void filled with black smoke, a mass of light was twisting and transforming, taking the shape of a sinister, ferocious ghostly face.
Empress Wuyue recognized him at a glance: it was Ancestral Patriarch Xuanming.
Moreover, she knew that the overwhelming Original Sin power that had surged earlier was also Ancestral Patriarch Xuanming's doing from behind the scenes.
"Heh heh heh heh!"
Ancestral Patriarch Xuanming's sinister, evil laughter echoed from the void: "Since the Primordial Era, the Immortals of the Immortal Dao have either sought Heavenly Mandates or pursued fortunes. For the so-called Immortal Dao essence, for the so-called Immortal Dao Sovereign, they have schemed against each other, fighting to the death. They have long forgotten what the Immortal Dao is, and they have long forgotten the true essence of the Immortal Dao."
"Thinking back to those distant years, when the Immortal Dao Ancestor refined a Profound Mystery Flower using the essence of heaven and earth's mysteries, everyone believed the Immortal Dao Ancestor's purpose in refining the Profound Mystery Flower was to protect the Immortal Dao essence... Heh heh heh heh...
Little did they know, the Immortal Dao Ancestor's original intent in refining the Profound Mystery Flower was not to protect the Immortal Dao essence, but to make later generations of the Immortal Dao remember the true essence of the Immortal Dao, which is the two words: Profound Mystery."
"As long as one comprehends the two words 'Profound Mystery,' one comprehends the true essence of the Immortal Dao."
"As long as one comprehends the two words 'Profound Mystery,' one can understand all the myriad methods of the Immortal Dao."
"As long as one comprehends the two words 'Profound Mystery,' every move, every thought, is Profound Mystery."
"As long as one comprehends the two words 'Profound Mystery,' one can summon the Profound Mystery Flower with a mere gesture."
"As long as one comprehends the two words 'Profound Mystery,' it is equivalent to merging with the Immortal Dao essence."
"Heh heh heh heh!
What a pity!"
"What a pity!
Such a simple principle, and they don't understand it!"
"If the Immortal Dao Ancestral Patriarchs of the Thirty-Six Cave Heavens and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands don't understand, that's one thing, but even the Ancestral Patriarchs of the Profound Heaven Immortal Dao don't understand!"
"What a joke!
What an irony!"
"Heh heh heh heh..." Ancestral Patriarch Xuanming laughed wildly, his laughter filled with contempt for the Profound Heaven Immortal Dao. He then added, "Empress Wuyue truly lives up to being the Empress of the Great Dao! This humble one admires you!
Admires you immensely!
With Your Majesty's attainments in the Immortal Dao, forget about those so-called Profound Heaven Nine Immortals, even the two Immortal Elders Tai Xuan and Tai Miao, and even the Profound Mystery Ancient Immortal Lord probably cannot hold a candle to you."
How profound the Immortal Dao attainments of the two Immortal Elders Tai Xuan and Tai Miao, including the Profound Mystery Ancient Immortal Lord, were, no one knew.
However, all the Ancestral Patriarchs present had witnessed with their own eyes how Empress Wuyue, with a mere wave of her hand, had filled the sky with Profound Mystery Flowers. Although Ancestral Patriarch Xuanming's words were filled with mockery, the Immortal Dao Ancestral Patriarchs within the arena had to admit that what he said was true.
In the distance.
The Profound Heaven Nine Immortals standing atop the Profound Mystery Flowers paid no heed to Ancestral Patriarch Xuanming's sarcastic mockery. At this critical juncture, they had no mood to bother with his ridicule. Moreover, after witnessing Empress Wuyue's transcendent Immortal Dao attainments with their own eyes, they felt more or less inadequate in their hearts.
Within the arena.
While mocking the Profound Heaven Immortal Dao, Ancestral Patriarch Xuanming also flattered Empress Wuyue, but Empress Wuyue did not acknowledge him.
"Heh heh heh heh, Empress Wuyue, this humble one has a question that has long puzzled me. Might I seek your guidance?"
Without waiting for Empress Wuyue's response, Ancestral Patriarch Xuanming continued: "As far as this humble one knows, Empress Wuyue once planted a Karmic Seed within the Nine Nethers Emperor. If the Nine Nethers Emperor lets go of himself, Your Majesty's Karmic Seed will also come to naught. In other words, Your Majesty will no longer be able to influence the Nine Nethers Emperor's decisions."
"If that is the case, I wonder why Your Majesty supports the Nine Nethers Emperor in letting go of himself?
Not only supports him, but also guards him as he lets go of himself."
Ancestral Patriarch Xuanming asked a question whose answer none of the Ancestral Patriarchs present knew, yet it was a question everyone wanted to know.
As Ancestral Patriarch Xuanming's voice fell, all the Ancestral Patriarchs in the arena turned their gazes in unison toward Empress Wuyue. They too wanted to know what medicine Empress Wuyue was selling in her gourd, especially in this bewildering game where no one knew the answer to the riddle. They desperately needed the upper hand.