"Well, well... you've all arrived." Gu Qingfeng squinted at the five Sources of Great Dao Tribulation enveloping him, greeting them with a relaxed, natural, and utterly at ease smile, as if he were hailing a few old friends he hadn't seen in ages.
"Just you few? Where are the other brothers?
Haven't woken up yet, or are they too busy to make it?"
Witnessing this, Su Hua seriously began to doubt whether Gu Qingfeng had truly lost his mind. Otherwise, why would he be talking to himself at the Sources of Great Dao Tribulation? Could he naively believe there were people manipulating these tribulation sources from behind?
What a joke.
The Sources of Tribulation were the primal essences birthed by the laws of each Great Dao. Alongside the Sources of Punishment and the Sources of Judgment, they were hailed as the Three Arbiters. Between heaven and earth, aside from the Lords of the Great Dao—the masters and sovereigns of the Daos themselves—no one could interfere.
What 'other brothers'?
Did this fellow think there were other Sources of Great Dao Tribulation?
That was even more impossible.
Since ancient times, when a great fortune was conceived, whichever Great Dao's destiny it affected, that Dao would descend its tribulation.
The Taiji Golden Core possessed the qualification to inherit the True Mandate, but it only affected the destinies of the Heavenly Dao, Immortal Dao, Human Dao, Spirit Dao, and Natural Dao. It did not affect the destinies of other Great Daos.
Of course, this was only what Su Hua knew.
However, the Daughter of Original Sin, silently observing from afar, knew that because the Taiji Golden Core possessed the qualification to inherit the True Mandate, its influence was not limited to just these five Daos. As for why other Daos had not descended their tribulation sources, the Daughter of Original Sin could more or less guess the reason. She even knew that while some Daos might not have sent tribulation sources, they were certainly observing and watching this place.
And clearly, Gu Qingfeng knew this too, which was why he had asked that question.
"Don't just stare. Show yourselves."
Gu Qingfeng spoke unhurriedly, chuckling, "If you're not coming, then that's that. Don't say I'm being a cheat later."
Having said that, he looked at the five Sources of Great Dao Tribulation and asked, "Since the other brothers aren't coming, I won't wait any longer. Let's begin. Do you plan to come one by one?
Or all together?
How about all together? Saves me time and saves you time."
He tilted his head back for a drink of wine, then laughed again, "Besides, if I remember correctly, you lot have always been rather fond of the whole 'gang up' routine."
From afar, hearing these words, the Daughter of Original Sin gave a silent, wry laugh. She knew Gu Qingfeng was mocking the joint judgment passed upon him by the various Great Daos during the Great Calamity.
After waiting a while, none of the five Daos descended their tribulation. Gu Qingfeng seemed to grow impatient, saying irritably, "What's the matter with you? Hurry up, get on with it, stop dawdling. This master has other business to attend to."
The five Great Daos still did not descend their tribulation.
This scene not only sent chills down Su Hua's spine, making her scalp tingle, but also caused the many bewildered Great-Power Divine Senses to shudder and retreat repeatedly.
They had never seen someone, after being enveloped by five Great Daos, show not a shred of reverence, but instead act so arrogantly—arrogant beyond measure! To refer to himself as 'master' right in front of the five Great Daos... this was the height of suicidal folly!
"He...
He's either a madman or a fool!"
Perhaps the shock was too great to accept, causing Su Hua's voice to tremble slightly.
Time passed bit by bit, yet still the five Great Daos did not descend their tribulation. This baffled Su Hua. In her understanding, once a tribulation source appeared and enveloped the fortune-bearer, after verifying the person and the fortune, the tribulation would inevitably descend immediately.
Now that both the person and the fortune had been verified, why hadn't the tribulation sources of the five Great Daos descended their trials?
And what was even more bizarre was that the tribulation sources of all five Great Daos had stopped rotating, hanging motionless in mid-air as if they had suddenly malfunctioned.
How could this be?
Was it because the Great Calamity had just passed, the world's primal essence was being reborn, the Great Daos were all re-deriving, the three thousand Laws were unstable, so the Sources of Great Dao Tribulation weren't very stable either?
Even if one Great Dao was unstable, were the laws of the other Daos not established?
That didn't seem possible, and it didn't make sense!
She didn't know.
Although Su Hua had been a Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden in her previous life and possessed great fortune in this one, that was all. Regarding the laws of the Great Daos, she didn't know much.
Her not knowing didn't mean others didn't. At the very least, the Daughter of Original Sin knew. The sudden halt of the five Great Daos' tribulation sources was absolutely not due to instability in the Dao laws. It was because someone had forcibly stilled the Sources of Great Dao Tribulation. The only beings capable of stilling tribulation sources were one kind of existence: the Lords of the Great Dao.
The Daughter of Original Sin could also guess why the Lords of the Great Dao were interfering. She knew they must all be hesitating, must all be tangled up and going crazy.
They all knew that once they descended the tribulation, it would certainly not be enough to stop Gu Qingfeng. Once Gu Qingfeng passed the tribulation, it would mean he had gained the recognition of the Great Dao and achieved a true Taiji Golden Core, thereby qualifying to inherit the True Mandate.
Gu Qingfeng's existence was too special. Back in the Celestial Realm, he had burned the Nine Heavens, trampled the Nine Nethers, and defied the Heavenly Dao itself. He was practically the sworn enemy of all the Great Daos. It was no exaggeration to say these Lords of the Great Dao would rather see a dog achieve the Taiji Golden Core than allow, or even permit, an existence like Gu Qingfeng to obtain the qualification to inherit the True Mandate.
The Lords of the Great Dao wished to eradicate Gu Qingfeng.
But it was only a wish.
During the Great Calamity, the combined efforts of the various Great Daos had failed to eradicate Gu Qingfeng. Now, although Gu Qingfeng's strength was far inferior to his former self, the primal essences of the Great Daos were also re-deriving, and the Lords of the Great Dao were still in slumber, their strength likewise not what it once was. None of them dared guarantee they could eradicate Gu Qingfeng.
Take a gamble?
If they dared gamble, these Lords of the Great Dao wouldn't have waited until now.
Winning the gamble would be good. But if they failed to eradicate him, who could guarantee the tragedies of burning the Nine Heavens and breaking the firmament wouldn't happen again?
Therefore, at this moment, the Lords of the Great Dao were all hesitating. They dared not descend the tribulation, nor dared they strike to eradicate. They could only stall like this.
After a while, the radiance enveloping Gu Qingfeng from the Heavenly Dao tribulation source suddenly vanished.
Following that, the radiance from the Immortal Dao tribulation source that had verified his person also disappeared. Then, in quick succession, the Spirit Dao, Human Dao, and Natural Dao radiances vanished from Gu Qingfeng's body.
Gazing at the five tribulation sources, the Daughter of Original Sin muttered with a mix of amusement and exasperation, "It seems these Lords of the Great Dao have all decided to just stall him like this. Well, yes... what else can they do with someone like him, who can't be killed, gestating a Taiji Golden Core? Besides stalling...
Only by stalling, by not letting him undergo the tribulation, will his Taiji Golden Core remain an empty shell, unable to gain the qualification to inherit the True Mandate."
The Daughter of Original Sin could almost imagine the feelings and state of mind of the several Lords of the Great Dao at this moment. She couldn't help but shake her head with a wry laugh, saying, "To think you lofty, exalted sovereigns of the Great Daos would also have such a pitiful moment... it really leaves one at a loss for words."