As a member of the Sacred Ground, Xuanyuan Wan had never known what fear was, let alone what it meant to be afraid.
Today, she learned. Not only did she learn, but she experienced absolute terror and absolute fear in its most complete form.
She regretted it deeply.
She regretted ever getting involved in this affair!
If time could flow backward, she would rather live out her days a widow than ever get involved in this matter.
Whoever wanted to seize the Blood of Original Sin could have it.
Whoever wanted to fuse with it could go right ahead.
What did it have to do with her?
Why did she, perfectly fine as she was, have to come and meddle in this business!
She also felt hatred—hatred for the shameless Immortal Dao, and even greater hatred for the hypocritical Heavenly Dao!
This fellow had already given up on the Blood of Original Sin!
Not only that, he had also surrendered the Wrath Incarnation of Great Sun Tathagata, and even destroyed his endless array of Taiji Golden Cores!
Why couldn't you, the Immortal Dao and Heavenly Dao, just let him be?
Why did you still have to eradicate him?
Calling him a threat?
Well, look at the result now!
You said he was a threat, so he became a threat for you to see!
An absolute body that nothing can break—is that threatening enough?
An absolute power that breaks everything—is that threatening enough?
The ever-renewing Nature’s Color-Spirit Flower, with its endless spectrum of colors—is that threatening enough?
The chaotic mutation, the Taiji Yin-Yang, the All Beings Pay Homage to the Floating Pagoda, the Myriad Phenomena Paying Homage—representing an ancient, unknown taboo whose mere aura could freeze the void itself into stillness. Who knows how terrifying its power truly is—is that threatening enough?
And now, it's even worse. He has gestated some utterly terrifying existence. With a single roar, before we even knew what was happening, our souls were nearly annihilated, and even the damn Great Void exploded! Is that threatening enough?
This fellow was never a threat!
At least, he never posed a substantive threat. If he had, with his absolute body, his Taiji Spring, his ever-renewing Color-Spirit Flower, he would have damn well gestated this Myriad Phenomena Pagoda long ago. Would he have waited until now to be judged by you?
If you, the Immortal Dao and Heavenly Dao, hadn't gone back on your word today, why would he have furiously caused his Taiji Golden Cores to grow wildly in anger?
Too late.
It's too late to say anything now.
Xuanyuan Wan swore that if she could survive and return this time, she would stay as far away from this fellow as possible in the future. Forget him fusing with the Blood of Original Sin; even if he damn well became the Original Sin Person himself, this lady wanted no part of it anymore.
But...
Could she return alive?
She didn't know.
She tried to contact the Sacred Ground, but her mind was scattered, her thoughts a tangled mess. She couldn't establish a connection at all.
Waiting for death.
Only despairing, waiting for death.
Heavens above!
Xuanyuan Wan felt like crying but had no tears.
Forcing down the fear in her heart, she looked around. The shattered void had already restored itself as if nothing had happened. The Myriad Phenomena Pagoda, resembling countless gods, Buddhas, immortals, and demons, was still paying homage. Gray smoke filled the vault of heaven, enveloping and devouring the entire void.
That man in white.
That Gu Qingfeng still stood within the void.
His sleeves fluttered.
His hair danced wildly.
The expression on his cold, stern face remained unchanged.
A pair of grayish eyes stared fixedly at the eastern vault of heaven.
Xuanyuan Wan followed his gaze. At first, she saw nothing in the eastern sky. Looking more carefully, she still saw nothing. Just as she was puzzled, she suddenly felt something was wrong. She felt as if she was being watched by something—like being stared at by a colossal entity. That was the exact feeling—nowhere to flee, nowhere to hide, as if Death itself had fixed its gaze upon her.
How could this be?
Xuanyuan Wan looked again. This time, she abruptly noticed something abnormal in the eastern vault of heaven. At some point, two holes had appeared in the sky—two gray, dark holes. The holes were like abysses, bottomless, sending chills down one's spine.
What are those things!
Wait!
Immediately after, Xuanyuan Wan sensed something else amiss. She felt as if the entire void was moving. Not trembling, not cracking, but truly moving. It felt as if the entire void had gained a living consciousness and was writhing.
Life?
The void?
Xuanyuan Wan seemed to realize something. When she looked again at the two gray holes in the vault of heaven, her entire being felt thrown into chaos.
Every inch of her skin, every acupoint, every meridian was thrown into chaos—utter, complete disarray.
Terror!
This was absolute terror.
Because she suddenly realized that the two gray holes appearing in the vault of heaven, in the void, were not something else. They were eyes. A pair of eyes!
Eyes like abysses?
A body like the void?
Good heavens!
What kind of terrifying existence has this fellow gestated!
Could it truly be as Pudu said—where All Beings Pay Homage to the Floating Pagoda and Myriad Phenomena Pay Homage, a Primordial Taboo must emerge into the world?
What exactly was a Primordial Taboo? Xuanyuan Wan didn't know, and she didn't want to know, because it held no meaning.
Within heaven and earth, there are said to be the Ten Most Terrible Existences.
And the Primordial Taboo ranks first among them.
Given that, what meaning is there in knowing or not knowing what a Primordial Taboo is?
The most terrible existence between heaven and earth—that alone says everything.
Within the void.
Gu Qingfeng stood quietly in this space, his eyes slightly narrowed as he gazed at the pair of reddish-gray eyes in the vault of heaven. He just stared, his brow furrowing deeper the longer he looked, the expression on his face growing more complex. He shook his head and sighed, saying, "It seems...
I've really overdone it this time..." Gu Qingfeng's sigh reached Xuanyuan Wan's ears, making her doubt if she had heard correctly.
What did he mean by 'overdone it'?
Could it be that everything that happened today was, for this fellow, simply a matter of having 'overdone it'?
Is this 'overdoing it'?
You damn well gestated the Myriad Phenomena Pagoda Primordial Taboo, hailed as the most terrible existence between heaven and earth!
!!
! Overdone it?
Even if the heavens themselves produced such a terrifying existence, they'd probably be trembling with fear. And this fellow just says he 'overdid it'?
"No wonder I've been feeling something was off this whole time, like some unknown life-and-death tribulation," Gu Qingfeng stared at the pair of reddish-gray eyes, his tone very flat, his manner very calm, as if chatting with a friend. He murmured, "I always thought it would be the Blood of Original Sin. Now it seems, it probably isn't that thing. It seems more like you brought this life-and-death tribulation upon me, old man."
"What?" Gu Qingfeng raised his hand, and a jar of wine appeared in his palm. He took a swig and asked, "Do you feel it too?"
The pair of reddish-gray eyes in the vault of heaven moved slightly. Immediately, the void swayed as if stirred like a great ocean.
"Alright, since you feel it too, then stop struggling. Just wait. It's nothing more than a Judgment."
Judgment?
What Judgment?
"Cough! Cough!" At that moment, Pudu, who had been half-dead from the earlier roar, pleaded, "This old monk believes the Immortal Dao has already realized its mistake and will not deliver any Judgment. I beg you, Benefactor Gu, to lay down your butcher's knife..."
"Immortal Dao?
Heavenly Dao?
Heh..." Gu Qingfeng glanced at Pudu, who was bleeding from all seven orifices and extremely weak, then pointed at the vault of heaven and the Great Dao, laughing, "You think too highly of them. Don't even mention the Immortal Dao; even the Heavenly Dao has damn well scurried back to guard its own little plot of land by now. Even if I gave them a hundred million times the courage right now, you ask them if they dare deliver a Judgment?"
"Then, what did Benefactor Gu mean earlier when you said..."
Gu Qingfeng didn't answer that question. He turned and looked again at the distant vault of heaven, saying, "I've seen plenty of Judgments from the myriad Great Daos in my lifetime. Tasted all the ones I should have, and even the ones I shouldn't have. I've always wanted to taste this thing's Judgment. Never had the chance before, probably wasn't even qualified. Now, I finally get my wish..."