Although the Old Beggar didn't want to, he had to admit that what Lady Blackwater said was the truth.
If the obsessions of those so-called Sage Elders, Heaven Elders, and Immortal Elders were to scheme for supremacy over the Great Dao and dominate heaven and earth...
Then the obsessions in the hearts of the patriarchs from the Thirty-Six Cave Heavens and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands were the inheritance of their cave heavens and blessed lands. The reason they had been hesitating throughout this Calamity wasn't concern over whether the Great Dao could be defended or whether the Era of No Dao could be opened, but rather the inheritance of their cave heavens and blessed lands.
To be honest, for patriarchs like them, they didn't care whether the Three Thousand Origins were the root cause, nor did they much care about the true meaning of this Calamity. The only thing they cared about was whether their own cave heavens and blessed lands could be passed down.
As for those Original Sin Patriarchs led by Green Robe and Xuanming, the obsessions in their hearts came from inner desires. Whether scheming for the Spiritual Awareness and Demonic Thoughts on You Di or scheming for the True Master of Original Sin, it was all to satisfy their own desires.
The Old Beggar was no exception.
Although he had long since given up scheming for the True Master of Original Sin and never intended to scheme for the Spiritual Awareness and Demonic Thoughts on You Di, that didn't mean he had no desires in his heart.
If he had no desires, he wouldn't have been tainted by Original Sin back then. If he had no desires, he wouldn't yearn for the Era of No Dao.
In the end, it all came down to one sentence: only by severing the seven emotions and six desires, letting go of the obsessions in one's heart, could one achieve the emptiness of the four elements. Only then could one's state of mind be sublimated and even transcended.
Unfortunately.
The seven emotions and six desires weren't something one could sever just by saying so. If the obsessions in one's heart were truly so easy to let go of, they wouldn't be called stubborn convictions.
Beside him.
Lady Blackwater continued speaking: "Not all destined calamity responders can comprehend the tribulation they are meant to face. The reason Fusheng Dijun and the others were able to comprehend it is because as they sank deeper into this Calamity, their states of mind underwent change after change. Each change was a kind of sublimation, each change a kind of transcendence. Thus, they gradually comprehended the tribulation they were meant to face."
"The Nine Heavenly Sons and Nine Sacred Sons, although also destined calamity responders, grew up in very different environments compared to Fusheng Dijun, Changfeng Great Emperor, and the others."
"Whether it's Fusheng Dijun, Changfeng Great Emperor, or Xuanyang Diwang, they were all quite independent from childhood. Their thoughts were their own, their consciousness was their own, and their souls even more so—others simply couldn't influence them."
"But the Nine Heavenly Sons and Nine Sacred Sons were different. They grew up in the Sacred Ground and Shangqing Heaven since childhood. Although nominally they were disciples of Dugu Qizhan and Xuanyuan Wuji, that was in name only. The ones who truly nurtured them were those Sage Elders and Heaven Elders."
"When the Nine Heavenly Sons and Nine Sacred Sons were still young, the Sage Elders and Heaven Elders had been instilling in them this ideology of supremacy over the Great Dao..." Just as Lady Blackwater was speaking, she suddenly said: "There's one thing you might not know yet?"
"What thing?"
"When the Nine Heavenly Sons and Nine Sacred Sons were young, Karmic Seeds had already been planted on them."
"What!"
The Old Beggar was greatly shocked and asked: "Who planted Karmic Seeds on them? Could it be... could it be those Sage Elders and Heaven Elders?"
"Who else could it be?"
"Good heavens! They planted Karmic Seeds on the Nine Heavenly Sons and Nine Sacred Sons just to cloud their states of mind, thereby influencing their thoughts, preventing their states of mind from being sublimated in this Calamity."
Lady Blackwater nodded and said: "Correct. The Karmic Seeds they planted on the Nine Heavenly Sons and Nine Sacred Sons were precisely seeds of supremacy over the Great Dao! A single Karmic Seed is far more powerful than any obsession in one's heart. As long as this Karmic Seed exists, the deeper the Nine Heavenly Sons and Nine Sacred Sons sink into this Calamity, the stronger their obsession with scheming for supremacy over the Great Dao becomes."
"As far as I know, back then Dugu Qizhan and Xuanyuan Wuji wholeheartedly wanted to nurture the Nine Heavenly Sons and Nine Sacred Sons into true destined calamity responders, so that they could redeem themselves in this Calamity, transcend their Id, awaken their True Self, and seek the true Great Dao..."
"Unfortunately... unfortunately, the Nine Heavenly Sons and Nine Sacred Sons had Karmic Seeds planted on them by the patriarchs of the Sage Dao and Heavenly Dao when they were still young. Left with no choice, Dugu Qizhan and Xuanyuan Wuji could only give up."
"This is truly..." The Old Beggar opened his mouth but truly didn't know what to say. He was a demon, and a demonic path patriarch at that. But now he felt that compared to those patriarchs of the Sage Dao, Heavenly Dao, and Immortal Dao, he, this old demon, was practically becoming a Buddha.
At the same time, he sighed with emotion again, sighed with emotion that the so-called schemes of the patriarchs present here were truly insignificant compared to the various Empresses and various Sage and Heaven Elders.
The various Sage Elders and Heaven Elders schemed to plant Karmic Seeds on the Nine Heavenly Sons and Nine Sacred Sons to plot for supremacy over the Great Dao.
While the various Empresses schemed to plant Karmic Seeds on Gu Qingfeng to slaughter the Three Thousand Origins of the Great Dao, allowing the Great Dao to redeem itself, break and then establish anew, awakening the true Great Dao.
Wait!
Huh?
Just as he was thinking, the Old Beggar suddenly realized something was off. Because right now, Gu Qingfeng was letting go of himself. If Gu Qingfeng let go of himself, then who would ascend to become the True Master of Original Sin? Who would slaughter the Three Thousand Origins of the Great Dao?
Who would redeem the Great Dao?
Lady Blackwater beside him, as if able to see what the Old Beggar was thinking, said: "The various Empresses stepped forward to intervene to repay the kindness owed to the Three Thousand Great Daos. Only by repaying this kindness could they sever the Karma between themselves and the Three Thousand Great Daos..."
Before Lady Blackwater could finish speaking, the Old Beggar seemed to understand something. He looked at the nine kinds of Forbidden Great Daos faintly visible in the void, then looked at the Spiritual Awareness and Demonic Thoughts of the three You Lords still tenuously connected to Gu Qingfeng. Suddenly enlightened, he said with considerable excitement: "You Di letting go of the nine kinds of Forbidden Great Daos was precisely to sever the Karma between himself and the Three Thousand Great Daos! Letting go of the Spiritual Awareness and Demonic Thoughts of the three You Lords was also to sever the Karma between himself and the three You Lords! Letting go of the Karmic Seeds on his body was to sever the Karma between himself and the various Empresses!"
The Old Beggar grew more excited as he spoke: "So You Di letting go of himself was to sever all Karma with this Great Dao, heaven and earth, all living beings, everything... everything!"
"The various Empresses had long since deduced the meaning of this Calamity. Fusheng Dijun and the others gradually comprehended it. Even if You Di hadn't deduced it before, he must have comprehended it now. Fusheng Dijun and the others are redeeming, transcending, awakening. The various Empresses are also redeeming, transcending, awakening. You Di is also redeeming himself, transcending his Id, awakening his True Self..."
"But..." The Old Beggar realized something else and felt puzzled, asking: "But after You Di lets go of himself, he directly dissipates into smoke, as if he never existed. Then what meaning is there in him redeeming himself? What meaning in transcending his Id? Awakening his True Self..."
When he mentioned awakening his True Self, the Old Beggar's heart skipped a beat. Terrified, he stammered: "Good heavens! After You Di lets go of himself, transcends his Id, and awakens his True Self... could it be that he ascends to become the True Master of Original Sin?"