Da Xing the Mad Monk's words grew more and more exaggerated, more and more outrageous, more and more bizarre.
These bizarre statements of his challenged everyone's understanding time and again, overturning their worldview repeatedly.
Da Xing the Mad Monk first said that the Original Sin True Master's slaughter of the Three Thousand Great Daos was not a slaughter of the Daos themselves, but of the three thousand origins of the Great Dao. Only in this way could the Great Dao be reborn after the calamity, broken and then re-established, returning to its original state.
In the eyes of the assembled Ancestral Patriarchs, this was utter nonsense, sheer madness.
What is the original state of the Great Dao?
What is the Great Dao in its original state?
Who knows?
No one knows.
For Immortals, the Immortal Dao is the Great Dao in their hearts.
For Demons, the Monster Dao is the Great Dao in their hearts.
For Buddhas, the Buddha Dao is the Great Dao in their hearts.
Similarly, for Heavenly Demons, Heavenly Immortals, and even the Nine Sons of Heaven, the Heavenly Dao is the Great Dao. For the Nine Saint Sons of the Holy Lands, the Saintly Dao is the Great Dao in their hearts.
It is said that in the beginning, Heaven and Earth had no Dao. The Ancestor of the Immortal Dao comprehended the Great Dao and thus founded the Immortal Dao.
The Ancestor of the Monster Dao comprehended the Great Dao and thus founded the Monster Dao. The Ancestor of the Buddha Dao comprehended the Great Dao and thus founded the Buddha Dao.
These Great Dao Ancestors not only forged a path to the Great Dao for later generations but also opened a door to the Great Dao.
Given this, how could Da Xing the Mad Monk claim that the three thousand origins of the Great Dao are the root of Original Sin, that the three thousand laws of the Great Dao are the origin of Original Sin, and even say that the Great Dao is already riddled with holes and utterly decayed, and that it is precisely because of this that Original Sin was born?
In the eyes of the Ancestral Patriarchs, this was even more absurd.
The Three Thousand Great Daos founded by the Great Dao Ancestors clearly opened a door to the Great Dao for later generations, an immeasurable merit that benefited all living beings. How could they become the chief culprits of Original Sin in Da Xing the Mad Monk's mouth!
If the Great Dao Ancestors had not founded the Three Thousand Great Daos, no one would know where the Great Dao lay, no one would know how to cultivate it.
If the three thousand origins of the Great Dao were truly slaughtered by the Original Sin True Master, then there would be no more Great Dao in Heaven and Earth.
What rebirth after calamity, what breaking and re-establishing, what returning to the original state—it's all fallacy!
What made the Ancestral Patriarchs even more speechless was Da Xing the Mad Monk's claim that the three overlords were actually incarnations of the Great Dao.
This was no longer mere fallacy; it was an insult to everyone's intelligence.
Abi Wujian Evil Asura was indeed the overlord who ruled Hell. Shangqiong Biluo Xia Huangquan was indeed the overlord who ruled Purgatory. Devour Heaven and Earth Blood Taotie was indeed the overlord who ruled the Abyss.
These three overlords shared a common trait: they had all stirred up storms of bloodshed in the Desolate Ancient Era, all brought calamity upon the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, causing widespread suffering among the people.
Abi Wujian Evil Asura had once destroyed Heaven and Earth, harmed the Great Dao, deluded all living beings, causing the beings of the Great Dao to lose their minds. Immortals were no longer Immortals, Buddhas were no longer Buddhas, but became bloodthirsty Immortals, cruel Buddhas, transforming into countless fierce ghosts and demons filling the sky. Demonic roars and demonic howls were everywhere, turning the myriad realms of the Desolate Ancient Era into Hell.
Shangqiong Biluo Xia Huangquan had once burned Heaven and Earth, also harming the beings of the Great Dao, using the fires of Purgatory to burn the Great Dao and all living beings. Heart-rending ghostly wails and agonized Buddhist howls were everywhere.
Turning the myriad realms of the Desolate Ancient Era into Purgatory.
Blood Taotie had once devoured Heaven and Earth, harming the beings of the Great Dao.
A single Devouring Blood Cauldron, endless Desolate Ancient souls.
Back then, when Blood Taotie devoured Heaven and Earth, it turned the myriad realms of the Desolate Ancient Era into an Abyss. For the beings of the Great Dao, it was akin to a cataclysmic disaster, with countless Desolate Ancient people perishing in the Abyss.
The evil deeds of these three overlords were known to all. They had all brought cataclysmic disaster upon the countless beings of the Great Dao's Heaven and Earth. They were utterly wicked, were regarded as the most evil, most sinful existences in all of ancient and present Heaven and Earth.
Yet, Da Xing the Mad Monk claimed that such evil overlords were incarnations of the Great Dao.
One must ask, how could incarnations of the Great Dao bring calamity upon the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, how could they harm all living beings?
Most of the Ancestral Patriarchs present believed Da Xing the Mad Monk was absolutely spouting nonsense.
They also believed Da Xing the Mad Monk was either truly drunk, truly lost his mind, or deliberately spreading alarmist rumors with the aim of stopping everyone from scheming against the demonic thoughts within the Dark Emperor's divine sense.
Not only did the Great Dao Patriarchs think so, but the Original Sin Patriarchs also believed Da Xing the Mad Monk was talking nonsense.
Of course, there was also a small minority who, while not believing Da Xing the Mad Monk's words, merely disbelieved them. Disbelief did not mean they wouldn't doubt.
For example, Thousand Leaves Immortal King was one of them.
For example, the old beggar on Blackwater Mountain who had been closely watching this scene was another.
The reason Thousand Leaves Immortal King doubted the truth of Da Xing the Mad Monk's words was because of some things Long Wind Great Emperor had told her.
The reason the old beggar doubted was because of some things Blackwater Madame had told him.
Long Wind Great Emperor had said this calamity was not one concerning the life and death of the Great Dao.
Blackwater Madame had similarly said this calamity was indeed a calamity for the Great Dao, but not one concerning its life and death.
However, doubt was just doubt. Doubt did not mean they disbelieved Da Xing the Mad Monk's words, nor did it mean they believed them.
"Blackwater Madame... do you think... what Da Xing the Mad Monk said... is true?"
The old beggar asked, his throat tight, his heart in his mouth, trembling.
He didn't know whether to believe Da Xing the Mad Monk.
Nor did he know whether Da Xing the Mad Monk's words were nonsense or if the truth of this calamity was indeed as he said.
If Da Xing the Mad Monk was spouting nonsense, then so be it.
But if everything Da Xing the Mad Monk said was true, then the old beggar feared he would go mad on the spot. Not only him, but those Original Sin Patriarchs who yearned for the Daoless Age, those who looked forward to it with immense longing, would probably all go mad.
The reason was simple.
If everything Da Xing the Mad Monk said was true, if the Original Sin True Master's slaughter of the Three Thousand Great Daos was truly saving the Great Dao, if after Heaven and Earth were reborn, the Great Dao would return to its original state, then the so-called Daoless Age was merely an empty fantasy, a delusion, simply did not exist.
This meant all the Original Sin Patriarchs who yearned for the Daoless Age had been busy for nothing.
Busy from the Desolate Ancient Era all the way to the present era, only to discover in the end that the so-called Daoless Age was but a delusion.
How could the old beggar not go mad?
He didn't believe Da Xing the Mad Monk's words were true, nor did he hope they were.
But for some reason, deep down, he felt what Da Xing the Mad Monk said might be true.
The old beggar knew clearly that if anyone knew whether Da Xing the Mad Monk's words were true or false, that person must be Blackwater Madame.