Empress Heishui remained as tranquil as ever, gazing quietly at Gu Qingfeng who was currently 'letting himself go' in this place, and said softly, "Whether the words spoken by Da Xing the Mad Monk are true or false, does it matter?"
The Old Beggar said anxiously, "Of course it matters!"
"For those so-called patriarchs, regardless of whether Da Xing the Mad Monk's words are true or false, they will still scheme for the divine sense demonic thoughts within the Nether Emperor, and they will still protect the so-called Great Dao."
Empress Heishui said, "Just as Da Xing the Mad Monk said, what they are protecting is not the Great Dao itself, but the laws of the Great Dao that they themselves established. They are protecting the lofty status bestowed upon them by the Great Dao, and even more so, they are protecting the hegemony over all living beings that the Great Dao grants them!"
"Even if the Original Sin True Lord's slaughter of the three thousand Sources of the Great Dao is truly for the purpose of breaking the Great Dao so that it may be rebuilt anew, these so-called patriarchs would undoubtedly spare no effort to stop it. For them, the three thousand Sources of the Great Dao are the three thousand Great Daos themselves."
"Whether Da Xing the Mad Monk's words are true or false may not be important to those patriarchs!"
"But it is extremely important to this old man!"
The Old Beggar said helplessly, "This old man does not wish to toil bitterly for a lifetime, only to end up drawing water with a bamboo basket—all effort in vain!"
After a moment, Empress Heishui finally spoke, murmuring to herself, "If the heart holds the Great Dao, then even without the Dao, there is still the Dao. If the heart lacks the Great Dao, then even with the Dao, there is no Dao."
The Old Beggar repeated Empress Heishui's words, but the more he repeated them, the more confused and lost he became. With his level of cultivation, he simply could not comprehend the true meaning of these words.
"Empress Heishui, this old man's cultivation realm is not as high as yours, and I cannot fathom this statement. Just tell me directly whether the Daoless Age is truly an illusory existence or not!"
Empress Heishui shook her head slightly and said in a light, indifferent tone, "If you understand, you naturally understand. If you do not understand, even if I tell you directly, you still will not understand. Behind a question lies not merely a simple answer, because this answer will be accompanied by countless other questions, just like karma—endless. Not only will you never find the true answer, but it will also make you even more confused, even more lost..."
"This..." The Old Beggar was utterly speechless.
Although he did not want to, he had to admit the truth of Empress Heishui's words.
Take the simplest example.
What is the true meaning of this Calamity?
If it is truly as Da Xing the Mad Monk said, that the Original Sin True Lord slaughtered the three thousand Sources of the Great Dao to break the Great Dao so that it may be rebuilt anew.
Why must the three thousand Sources of the Great Dao be slaughtered for the Great Dao to be broken and rebuilt?
How exactly does the Great Dao break and rebuild?
And so on and so forth.
When you obtain one answer, countless questions will follow in its wake.
After a moment of silence, Empress Heishui suddenly asked another strange question.
"Have you... ever heard an ancient legend?"
The Old Beggar did not know why Empress Heishui would suddenly ask this and said doubtfully, "What legend?"
Empress Heishui did not say what legend, but instead asked another strange question: "Have you... ever seen the Azure Heaven?"
The Azure Heaven is one of the Nine Heavens and also represents justice.
This is something everyone knows.
But as for whether one has seen the Azure Heaven?
The Old Beggar truly had never seen the Azure Heaven, nor had he ever seen justice.
Then, Empress Heishui asked again, "Have you... ever seen Hell, ever seen Purgatory, ever seen the Abyss?"
Hell, Purgatory, and the Abyss all belong to the Nine Underworlds.
Similarly.
The Old Beggar had never seen them either.
The reason is simple.
As early as the Desolate Ancient Era, the Nine Heavens and the Nine Underworlds had already existed in name only.
The Azure Heaven, the Yellow Heaven, the Cang Heaven, and others of the Nine Heavens; Purgatory, Hell, the Abyss, and others of the Nine Underworlds had long since fallen and dispersed.
Some say.
After the Desolate Ancient Era, the Azure Heaven was no more, and there was no longer any justice between Heaven and Earth.
Actually, that is not the case. Not only was there no justice after the Desolate Ancient Era, but from the beginning of the Desolate Ancient Era itself, the Azure Heaven was already gone, and there was no longer any justice in Heaven and Earth.
It is said.
A very, very long time ago, so long that the Desolate Ancient Era had not yet begun, so long that the three thousand Sources of the Great Dao had not yet appeared.
At that time, the Nine Heavens and the Nine Underworlds still existed.
The Azure Heaven presided over justice between Heaven and Earth.
All those who brought chaos to Heaven and Earth, whose morals had degenerated, and who were guilty of heinous crimes would be judged by the Azure Heaven and subsequently cast into Hell to be imprisoned.
If they could repent and reform, they would be given the chance for reincarnation.
If they remained obstinate and unrepentant, they would be cast directly into Purgatory to receive punishment.
If they were utterly wicked and beyond redemption, they would be cast into the Abyss, never to be reincarnated for all eternity.
But later, a great calamity occurred, and both the Nine Heavens and the Nine Underworlds fell and dispersed in this calamity.
As for what that calamity was, no one knows. Even the era before the Desolate Ancient Era began remains a mystery.
It is only known that after the Desolate Ancient Era began, the Nine Underworlds and the Nine Heavens had already existed in name only. The Nine Heavens fared slightly better; as the Heavenly Dao took residence in the Shangqing Heaven, the Immortal Dao took residence in the Profound Heaven, and the Buddhist Dao took residence in the Western Heaven, they gradually began to recover.
As for the Nine Underworlds, since their fall before the Desolate Ancient Era, they had never recovered. Purgatory, Hell, the Abyss, as well as the cycle of reincarnation, the Nether River, and so on, had long since become legends within legends.
Suddenly.
The Old Beggar remembered that Empress Heishui had just asked him if he had heard an ancient legend. At the time, Empress Heishui had not said what legend, but now the Old Beggar realized that the ancient legend Empress Heishui spoke of should be the legend about the fall of the Nine Heavens and the Nine Underworlds.
But.
What does this legend of the fall of the Nine Heavens and Nine Underworlds have to do with this current Calamity?
"The Nine Underworlds had already fallen before the Desolate Ancient Era," Empress Heishui spoke again. "Why, then, did the three Nether Lords reappear in Heaven and Earth during the Desolate Ancient Era? Not only did they reappear, but the Avici Endless Evil Asura destroyed Heaven and Earth, turning Heaven and Earth into Hell; the Boundless Blue Depths and Yellow Springs burned Heaven and Earth, turning Heaven and Earth into Purgatory; the Blood Glutton devoured Heaven and Earth, turning Heaven and Earth into the Abyss."
"Yes, why?"
The Old Beggar murmured, "Before the Desolate Ancient Era, the three Nether Lords judged only those who brought chaos to Heaven and Earth, whose morals had degenerated, and who were guilty of heinous crimes. Why did they suddenly go on a mad killing spree during the Desolate Ancient Era?"
As he spoke, the Old Beggar suddenly remembered Da Xing the Mad Monk's words. Da Xing the Mad Monk said that there were too many Great Dao criminal disciples, so many that Hell could not hold them, Purgatory could not hold them, and even the Abyss could not hold them. Therefore, the Avici Endless Evil Asura destroyed the Desolate Ancient Heaven and Earth, turning it into Hell. Therefore, the Boundless Blue Depths and Yellow Springs burned the Desolate Ancient Heaven and Earth, turning it into Purgatory. Therefore, the Blood Glutton devoured the Desolate Ancient Heaven and Earth, turning it into the Abyss.
The three Nether Lords reappeared in Heaven and Earth during the Desolate Ancient Era precisely to judge those Great Dao criminal disciples who brought chaos to Heaven and Earth, whose morals had degenerated, and who were guilty of heinous crimes!
Thinking of this.
The Old Beggar could not help but feel a chill run down his spine, as if icy needles were pricking his back. He said in terror, "Heavens! Could it be that what Da Xing the Mad Monk said is true? Are the three Nether Lords truly the embodiment of the Great Dao?"
"Did the three Nether Lords go on a killing spree during the Desolate Ancient Era to slaughter the three thousand Sources of the Great Dao?"
"Are the three thousand Sources truly the root cause of all evil?"
"Wait! The Nine Heavens and Nine Underworlds fell in the calamity before the Desolate Ancient Era. After the Desolate Ancient Era began, the three thousand Sources of the Great Dao came into being. This... couldn't be a coincidence, could it?"