Since they had been unable to suppress the various existences guarding Gu Qingfeng for so long, the Ancestral Patriarchs grew more anxious, more flustered, and less confident the longer they fought.
What should they do?
No one knew what to do.
Keep fighting?
They had no confidence at all. The more they fought, the more they crumbled. If they continued, the result would likely remain the same.
If they stopped and gave up now, what they would be abandoning wasn't just the spiritual awareness and demonic thoughts on Gu Qingfeng's person. For the Original Sin Patriarchs, they might be abandoning the True Lord of Original Sin. For the Great Dao Patriarchs, they would be abandoning the Three Thousand Great Daos.
But if they continued to drag things out like this, it also seemed futile. Once the Breath of the Great Dao on Gu Qingfeng completely dissipated, that would mean everything was over.
Just as the Ancestral Patriarchs were at a loss, the very thing they feared finally happened.
In the void.
The billowing smoke filling the sky churned endlessly. It was impossible to tell anymore whether it was white smoke or black smoke, nor whether it was the Breath of Original Sin or the Mysterious Breath. The only thing clear was that within the smoke filling the sky, there was no longer any trace of the Breath of the Great Dao.
Yes!
None at all.
Not even the slightest wisp of the Breath of the Great Dao remained.
This was true for the smoke filling the sky, and it was also true for the spiritual awareness and demonic thoughts of the three Nether Lords.
Including Gu Qingfeng himself, there was no longer any Breath of the Great Dao on him.
Both the three Nether Lords and Gu Qingfeng were ethereal and intangible.
Suddenly.
Gu Qingfeng's figure twisted and flickered, growing increasingly blurry until it no longer resembled a human form. It was more like a wisp of smoke drifting with the wind. Then, it began to spin inexplicably.
The spiritual awareness and demonic thoughts of the three Nether Lords also grew increasingly blurry, spinning along with Gu Qingfeng's figure.
The smoke filling the sky also began to spin.
Gradually, it formed a slowly rotating vortex of Primordial Chaos.
And Gu Qingfeng?
He had vanished.
The three Nether Lords had also vanished.
All that remained was a single, rotating vortex of Primordial Chaos.
When everyone witnessed this scene, the Sage Path, Heavenly Dao, Immortal Dao, the patriarchs of the various Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands, including the Original Sin Anomalies and Original Sin Patriarchs, all stopped simultaneously. Fusheng Dijun, Changfeng Great Emperor, and the various Empresses who had been stopping them also ceased their actions.
Just moments ago, the Ancestral Patriarchs were still hesitating over whether to stop.
Now, there was no need to hesitate.
Even if they didn't want to, they had no choice but to stop.
The reason they had taken action was because they all coveted the spiritual awareness and demonic thoughts on Gu Qingfeng. Now that Gu Qingfeng himself had vanished, what was there left to covet?
What reason was there to keep fighting?
As they gazed at the rotating vortex of Primordial Chaos in the void, a single doubt arose in their hearts.
Had Gu Qingfeng already let go of himself?
He probably had, right?
After all, everyone had witnessed with their own eyes Gu Qingfeng first letting go of the nine Forbidden Great Daos, then letting go of the three Nether Lords, and finally himself turning to dust and ashes. If that wasn't letting go of himself, then what was it?
The question was.
If Gu Qingfeng had already let go of himself, then what was this rotating vortex of Primordial Chaos in the void?
The Ancestral Patriarchs did not know.
The Great Dao Mandates and Sons of Original Sin did not know.
The Calamity Constants and Original Sin Anomalies also did not know.
It wasn't just that they didn't know.
Even Da Xing the Mad Monk, Fusheng Dijun, Changfeng Great Emperor, and the various Empresses guarding Gu Qingfeng did not know.
It was true that Fusheng Dijun, Changfeng Great Emperor, and the others had experienced the sublimation of their mental states again and again with the changes of this Calamity. They had not only comprehended the true meaning of this Calamity but also the tribulation they themselves were meant to face. They had even comprehended that Gu Qingfeng was the True Lord of Original Sin recorded in the Book of Fate.
But that was all.
As for whether Gu Qingfeng would Ascend to the Pinnacle to become the True Lord of Original Sin, or whether he could Ascend to the Pinnacle to become the True Lord of Original Sin, none of them could comprehend that.
Including the various Empresses. They too had comprehended the true meaning of this Calamity and the tribulation they themselves were meant to face. Not only had they comprehended it, but as early as the Desolate Ancient Era, they had deduced that Gu Qingfeng was the True Lord of Original Sin recorded in the Book of Fate.
Like Fusheng Dijun, they also did not know whether Gu Qingfeng would, or could, Ascend to the Pinnacle to become the True Lord of Original Sin.
However.
There was one thing they were certain of: Gu Qingfeng must have also comprehended the true meaning of this Calamity and the tribulation he himself was meant to face.
The true meaning of this Calamity was to redeem the self, transcend the ego, and awaken the true self.
The tribulation Gu Qingfeng was meant to face was precisely to Ascend to the Pinnacle to become the True Lord of Original Sin, slaughter the three thousand origins of the Great Dao, usher in the Era of No Dao, and cause the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth to undergo nirvana and rebirth.
The problem was, they did not know whether Gu Qingfeng would redeem his self, transcend his ego, whether he would awaken his true self, or even whether he would face his own tribulation.
To be precise.
It wasn't a matter of whether he would, but whether Gu Qingfeng wanted to.
If he wanted to face his own tribulation and awaken his true self, then he would definitely Ascend to the Pinnacle to become the True Lord of Original Sin, and he would definitely slaughter the three thousand origins of the Great Dao. No one could stop him.
Conversely.
If he simply did not want to awaken his true self, no one could force him.
Previously, Cang Yan did not know what exactly Genggu Wuming was betting on Gu Qingfeng. Later, she learned that what Genggu Wuming was betting on Gu Qingfeng was a single thought—a thought of wanting or not wanting.
This single thought of Gu Qingfeng's could not be influenced by anyone.
The reason was simple.
What Gu Qingfeng had let go of was not just the nine Forbidden Great Daos, nor was it just the spiritual awareness and demonic thoughts of the three Nether Lords. He had let go of his own seven emotions and six desires, his lingering thoughts, his distracting thoughts, and all manner of thoughts, even all of his karma.
Gazing at the slowly rotating vortex of Primordial Chaos in the void.
The Ancestral Patriarchs from all sides had their heartstrings taut, all so tense they forgot everything.
Fusheng Dijun and the various Empresses were also extremely tense in their hearts.
They were all tense about one thing: whether Gu Qingfeng would truly choose to let go of himself, or whether he would choose to Ascend to the Pinnacle to become the True Lord of Original Sin.
Silence.
A deathly silence.
Every single Ancestral Patriarch present, be they Calamity Constants or Original Sin Anomalies, whether they were Great Dao Mandates or Sons of Original Sin, all stared like statues at the rotating vortex of Primordial Chaos.
The vortex of Primordial Chaos rotated slowly, and the more it rotated, the less smoke filled the sky.
If the vortex of Primordial Chaos ultimately dissipated into nothingness, then it was highly likely Gu Qingfeng had chosen to let go of himself.
If some change occurred within the vortex of Primordial Chaos, then it was highly likely Gu Qingfeng had chosen to Ascend to the Pinnacle to become the True Lord of Original Sin.
As time passed bit by bit, the vortex of Primordial Chaos continued to rotate, and the smoke filling the sky grew increasingly sparse.
This vortex of Primordial Chaos was like a wheel of fate. Every rotation was like the pointer on the wheel of fate turning. Every turn tugged at the hearts of everyone present. As the smoke filling the sky grew sparser and sparser, the rotation speed of the vortex of Primordial Chaos grew slower and slower, as if the pointer on the wheel of fate was about to stop.
Right at this moment.
A voice suddenly rang out without warning, instantly shattering the tranquility of this place.
This voice came from an unknown location, carrying a tone of laziness and also one of displeasure.
"This master has been messed with by you lot for most of his life, messed with to the point where he's ended up having to let go of himself. How come you bastards still won't let this master off the hook?"