"Old Master, are you so certain that I can definitely slaughter the Three Thousand Great Daos?"
Old Master silently swept the Great Dao Mausoleum without looking up, saying, "As long as Venerable Gu wishes it, you definitely can."
"Then how do you know I will wish it?"
"If Venerable Gu did not wish it, you would not have entered this Great Dao Mausoleum again."
"Ha!"
Gu Qingfeng let out a bitter laugh. "It seems the game you've laid out is truly seamless, leaving no detail unaccounted for."
Then, shifting his tone, Gu Qingfeng continued, "However... there is one thing you probably cannot deduce: whether fate stands on the side of the Dao Heaven and Earth, or on the side of the Three Thousand Origins."
As his words fell, Old Master, who had been sweeping the mausoleum, suddenly stopped.
"There's a saying you must have heard: 'Man proposes, Heaven disposes.'"
Old Master, who had originally stopped, began sweeping the mausoleum again. "This old man believes that man can conquer Heaven, even by just half a move."
"Man can conquer Heaven, by just half a move? Heh."
Gu Qingfeng shook his head and smiled. "You're gambling. Gambling on whether I can defy Heaven and change fate, gambling on whether I can conquer Heaven by half a move!"
"This old man has faith in Venerable Gu."
"Is that so?"
Gu Qingfeng said, "I don't even have faith in myself. Where does your faith come from?"
Silence.
Old Master spoke no more.
Gu Qingfeng gazed at the Great Dao Mausoleum, his eyes sweeping over the tombs of the Three Thousand Great Daos one by one, then closed his eyes. At that moment, Old Master's voice came: "This old man bows in gratitude to Venerable Gu for your grace in recreating the myriad beings of the Dao Heaven and Earth!"
An unknown amount of time later, when Gu Qingfeng opened his eyes again, Old Master had long since vanished, and the Great Dao Mausoleum was also gone, as if they had never appeared.
Darkness.
Endless darkness once more.
Gu Qingfeng continued forward in the darkness. Ahead stood a solitary peak.
Upon the solitary peak stood a woman.
The woman was dressed in a plain white robe, her three thousand strands of black hair dancing wildly across her heart-wrenchingly beautiful face.
This woman in white was none other than Jun Xuanji, the only woman Gu Qingfeng had ever truly loved in this lifetime.
The solitary peak was named Zuowang Peak, the place where Gu Qingfeng and Jun Xuanji had first met long ago.
"How is Jin'er?"
Gu Qingfeng asked.
"She is well..." The Jun Xuanji here was no longer lost like before, nor was she confused and hesitant as she had been earlier. She stood on Zuowang Peak, gazing deeply at Gu Qingfeng.
"I promised you I would definitely take you away from this Sea of Bitterness."
"I know."
"I will definitely do it."
"I know."
"Good. I'm leaving."
Gu Qingfeng did not say much, nor did he set foot on that Zuowang Peak. Then, without looking back, he left.
On Zuowang Peak, Jun Xuanji still gazed deeply at Gu Qingfeng, saying, "Jin'er and I... will wait for you. We will wait for you always."
"I will definitely come find you."
...
Boom! Crash!
After Gu Qingfeng vanished, the Ancient Desolation Nine Palaces began to merge.
As the Nine Palaces merged, everyone present felt as if they were being swept into a massive vortex of spatial turbulence, including the various Ancient Desolation ruins.
In the spatial turbulence, they could neither resist nor defend, only spinning along with the swirling vortex.
An unknown amount of time passed.
The turbulent vortex gradually dissipated.
Then, they all plummeted into a realm of darkness.
In this darkness, there were no sun, moon, or stars, nor Heaven, Earth, or Great Dao. There was nothing.
Looking out, within the darkness, only a single mountain seemed to float in the void.
Seeing this mountain, whether it was Fusheng Dijun, Changfeng Dadi, the various Empresses, or even the Great Dao Patriarchs of the Thirty-Six Cave Heavens and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands, three words surfaced in their hearts.
Wu Dao Mountain!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The various Empresses were the first to charge forward. The others, reacting, quickly followed.
Suddenly!
Three dazzling rays of light erupted from nowhere. Focusing their gaze, they saw three Great Suns manifesting in the sky, not only obscuring Wu Dao Mountain but also blocking their path.
The three Great Suns were blindingly brilliant.
The Great Sun in the center seemed to represent light, purifying all things.
The Great Sun on the left seemed to represent sanctity, judging all things.
The Great Sun on the right seemed to represent Heaven and Earth, ruling over all things.
Within each of the three Great Suns, a man seemed to stand.
The man within the central Great Sun was like the incarnation of light.
The man within the left Great Sun was like the incarnation of sanctity.
The man within the right Great Sun was like the incarnation of Heaven and Earth!
Seeing these three men, the Great Dao Patriarchs of the Thirty-Six Cave Heavens and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands could not believe their eyes. They all recognized the three men; they were precisely the Three Heaven-Supporting Pillars hailed as the pillars of the world since the Ancient Desolation Era.
The Martial Sage Xuanyuan Wuji, whose hand could blot out the sky.
The Heavenly General Dugu Qizhan, who stood equal to Heaven.
And the Great Sun Yaohuang, whose radiance illuminated Heaven and Earth.
All along, the Great Dao Patriarchs had hoped the Three Heaven-Supporting Pillars would appear to take charge of this calamitous situation. But they waited and waited, and the Three Heaven-Supporting Pillars never showed themselves.
When the Ancient Desolation Nine Palaces appeared, they did not show themselves.
When the Li Palace transformed, they still did not show themselves.
When Gu Qingfeng let go of himself, they did not show themselves.
When the various Empresses appeared, they still did not show themselves.
Even when the Immortal Dao Patriarchs, Sacred Dao Patriarchs, Heavenly Dao Patriarchs, including the so-called Nine Saint Sons, Nine Heavenly Sons, and the Mysterious Heaven Nine Immortals all fell into the Abyss, Purgatory, and Hell, and even vanished inexplicably in the end, the Three Heaven-Supporting Pillars likewise did not show themselves.
The Great Dao Patriarchs all knew that perhaps the Three Heaven-Supporting Pillars, like the various Empresses, wanted to slaughter the Three Thousand Great Daos to allow the true Great Dao to be reborn after the tribulation.
They thought this was the case.
But if the Three Heaven-Supporting Pillars truly wanted to slaughter the Three Thousand Great Daos, why did they not appear earlier or later, but only now when Wu Dao Mountain appeared?
And after appearing, they blocked everyone's path.
What did the Three Heaven-Supporting Pillars mean by this?
Did they want to stop everyone from going to Wu Dao Mountain?
Weren't the Three Heaven-Supporting Pillars also supposed to want to slaughter the Three Thousand Great Daos?
If so, why were they now blocking everyone from going to Wu Dao Mountain?
Or perhaps...
The Three Heaven-Supporting Pillars never intended to slaughter the Three Thousand Great Daos from the start, but rather to protect them.
But if they truly wanted to protect the Three Thousand Great Daos, wasn't their appearance far too late?
They did not know.
None of the Great Dao Patriarchs present knew.
Having witnessed the Sacred Dao, Heavenly Dao, and Immortal Dao Patriarchs fall into the Three Nether Prisons with their own eyes, these Great Dao Patriarchs no longer held any aspirations for the so-called Three Thousand Great Daos. They also did not care why the Three Heaven-Supporting Pillars had appeared now. Even if they truly intended to protect the Three Thousand Great Daos, these Great Dao Patriarchs dared not harbor any further hopes, only wishing to survive.
As for the appearance of the Three Heaven-Supporting Pillars, the various Empresses were not surprised.
Those Great Dao Patriarchs might not know.
But the various Empresses understood clearly in their hearts: the Three Heaven-Supporting Pillars had appeared here at this moment for only one purpose—to prevent them from ascending Wu Dao Mountain.