Earlier, Monarch Fleeting Life had been probed by a group of mysterious avatars.
Emperor Peafowl had also been probed by a group of mysterious avatars.
And.
It wasn't the first time they had been probed since they entered the Ancient Nine Palaces.
Both Monarch Fleeting Life and Emperor Peafowl knew who was probing them and what their goal was.
In fact.
Both Monarch Fleeting Life and Emperor Peafowl couldn't be found if they wanted to hide in the dark.
However, neither of them had done so.
They knew very well that they couldn't hide forever. What was to come would come, and hiding wouldn't solve the root of the problem.
They even knew that the previous probing wasn't really probing at all. At best, it was a chess piece set up by the great dao forefathers.
It was more of a show of force than a probe. It was a show of force behind the great dao of heaven and earth, behind the karma and destiny, and behind the two of them.
The real probing hadn't begun yet.
But it was almost time.
Both Monarch Fleeting Life and Emperor Peafowl could feel it.
"Hehe."
Inexplicable.
Emperor Peafowl suddenly smiled as he stared at the chaotic Qian Palace. "A wisp of the Light of Original Sin caused countless avatars of original sin to swarm over like moths to a flame. A single Flower of Original Sin caused countless people of original sin to go completely mad. A single drop of Essence of Original Sin caused the forefather of original sin to rise to the surface of the water."
"They've waited for this day for far too long. They're starting to get impatient. They've bet everything on the Ancient Nine Palaces and placed all their hopes on the era of daoless. They don't want to lose, and they can't afford to lose."
"If those who yearn for the era of daoless are like this, then what about those who protect the great dao of heaven and earth?"
Emperor Peafowl shook his head slightly and continued, "Those who yearn for the era of daoless have waited as long as those who protect the great dao of heaven and earth have. They've bet everything on the Ancient Nine Palaces, and they've bet everything on the Ancient Nine Palaces. They've placed all their hopes on the future."
"The only difference is that some have placed their hopes on the future era of daoless, while others have placed their hopes on the great dao of heaven and earth."
"Some placed their hopes on the Daoless Era and the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth."
"Some have placed their hopes on the Daoless Era and the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth …"
"But …"
"Which one is the real future? No one knows."
"This is a gamble, an eternal gamble. It's not a Daoless Era or the Grand Dao of Heaven and Earth. It's a gamble on fate, the fate of the future!"
"The outcome of this bet should have been decided back in the Primordial Era …"
"It's just … it's late."
"From the Primordial Era to the Modern Era."
Emperor Peafowl's tone was very calm when he said these words. It was as if he was talking to himself, but also as if he was talking to Emperor Bliss.
After saying that, he closed his eyes, shook his head, and smiled. His smile was somewhat helpless, somewhat self-deprecating, and somewhat sarcastic.
Emperor Bliss had been standing on a mountain in the Desolate Ancient Ruins since the beginning. He looked at the chaotic Void of Qian Palace and ignored it.
After a while.
Emperor Peafowl opened his eyes and exhaled slowly. He asked softly, "What about you? Don't you want to gamble?"
Emperor Peafowl didn't say what the bet was, but it didn't mean that Emperor Bliss didn't know.
On the other hand.
Monarch Bliss knew very well what Emperor Peafowl was betting on.
Just as Emperor Peafowl had said, they weren't betting on the Daoless Era or the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth. They were betting on fate, the fate of the future.
"You've already asked me that question," the Floating Life Monarch replied casually.
"But you didn't answer last time, did you?"
Indeed.
Emperor Peafowl had asked Emperor Bliss the same question last time, but Emperor Bliss hadn't answered. He still didn't answer this time.
"You don't want to gamble, you don't dare to gamble, or you can't afford to lose?"
Emperor Peafowl pressed on.
Emperor Bliss's expression didn't change. He didn't answer either.
"Haha!"
Emperor Peafowl laughed.
This time, his laughter was somewhat thought-provoking. "I don't know if you want to gamble or not, but I do know that you dare to gamble. It's just that … you can't afford to lose, can you?"
Silence.
Emperor Bliss remained silent.
"Ha!"
Emperor Peafowl laughed again.
This time, it was more of an involuntary laugh. "It seems that you still can't let go of the word 'love'."
Emperor Peafowl's words might've struck a chord in Emperor Bliss's heart, but the originally silent and calm Emperor Bliss closed his eyes for some reason.
What was love?
Family was love.
Friendship was love.
Love was love.
Emperor Bliss had to admit that Emperor Peafowl's words were true even if he didn't want to.
He was trapped by love.
It was friendship, love, and even more so, family.
It wasn't that he didn't know that it was precisely because of love that he couldn't comprehend the true meaning of the great dao.
He also knew that it was because of love that he had to give up on many things. There were many things that he couldn't do even if he wanted to.
He knew.
He knew it all along. He knew it better than anyone else.
He could be emotionless, and he could be emotionless.
He could ignore all emotions.
He could forget the word 'love'.
Yes.
He could.
Not only that, he'd done it in his past life. He'd been cold-blooded and emotionless.
He'd thought that as long as he ignored all emotions, he could transcend the word 'love'.
It wasn't until he'd awakened in his past life that he realized that emotionlessness was emotionlessness, and emotionlessness was emotionlessness. Emotionlessness didn't mean transcendence, and emotionlessness didn't mean transcendence.
The more emotionless one was, the more one cared. The more one was emotionless, the more one cared, and the deeper one fell into the word 'love'.
The only way to transcend the word 'love' was to see through it.
However.
Emperor Bliss hadn't seen through the word 'love' in his past life, and he still couldn't see through it in this life.
He couldn't see through it, and he couldn't do it. Instead, he fell deeper and deeper into the word 'love'.
The deeper he fell, the more he couldn't let go. The more he couldn't let go, the more he couldn't see through it. The more he couldn't see through it, the more he couldn't transcend it.
If he could, he wanted to gamble with everything he had. He wanted to gamble on his future, on his future destiny.
Even though he was destined to inherit the heavens, he still wanted to defy fate. He even wanted to obliterate it. Or rather, it was precisely because he was destined to inherit the heavens that he wanted to obliterate fate even more.
The reason was simple.
He couldn't control the fate of his past life, and he couldn't control the fate of his current life either.
He didn't want to be unable to control the fate of his next life.
Everything was karma.
It was as if Emperor Bliss had fallen into the abyss of karma. It was as if he had fallen into a sea of bitterness. He fell deeper and deeper, one wrong step after another. He couldn't turn back even if he wanted to.
He really wanted to sever his karma and take control of his own fate.
Unfortunately.
He couldn't sever his own karma, and he couldn't control his own fate.
He had tried.
He had tried many times.
Without exception, the more he severed his karma, the more chaotic it became. The more he severed his karma, the deeper he fell.
In the past.
He didn't understand why fate had chosen him as the destined to face the heavens. Later, he gradually understood.
It was because he fell deeper and deeper into the abyss of karma that his fate was already set. It wouldn't change even if he reincarnated a thousand times, or even ten thousand times. His karma would only sink deeper, and his fate would only become more determined.
An unknown amount of time passed.
He opened his eyes and asked, "Why is your fate fixed?"
"Me?"
Emperor Peafowl shrugged and smiled, "Pretty much the same as you."
"Are you also trapped by love?"
"Ha!"
Emperor Peafowl couldn't help but laugh when he heard Emperor Bliss's words. It was a very joyful laugh.
"What are you laughing at?"
"I'm not as lucky as you to be trapped by love. I'm not trapped by love, I'm trapped by an obsession."
"An obsession?"
"Yes, an obsession."
"Who isn't trapped by an obsession? Obsession is the source of all karma, and it's also why karma can't be severed. If it wasn't for that obsession, how could karma be severed? How could fate be determined by the heavens? "
Emperor Peafowl nodded. "That's true. You're trapped by love, and that's an obsession as well. However, my obsession is far too childish and foolish compared to yours. At least, that's what I think."
Hearing this.
Emperor Bliss couldn't help but recall the legends about Emperor Peafowl. It was said that Emperor Peafowl's past life was the Bright Peacock King. Back then, the Bright Peacock King had sacrificed himself to enter the cycle of reincarnation. He had experienced countless reincarnations and traversed the three thousand great daos, not to seek the true Buddha or the great dao, but to save all living beings.
When he thought of this, Emperor Bliss seemed to understand what Emperor Peafowl's obsession was.
He also smiled and said, "If the obsession of saving all living beings is childish and stupid in your eyes, then what about my obsession of being trapped by love?"
"Ha!"
Emperor Peafowl laughed. "That's just a rumor. Don't take it seriously."
Emperor Bliss didn't say anything else. He waited for the emperor to continue.
"Back then, I sacrificed myself to enter the cycle of reincarnation and traversed the three thousand great daos not to seek the true Buddha or the great dao. As for saving all living beings … hahaha!" Emperor Peafowl's expression turned complicated when he said this. He looked a little embarrassed, a little helpless, and even a little angry.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you. I didn't sacrifice myself to save all living beings. I'm not that great or noble. I only sacrificed myself to save myself."
"Save yourself? How? "
Emperor Peafowl asked back. "The same way you saved yourself."
Back then.
Emperor Bliss had reincarnated again and again in order to sever the threads of love and karma. However, the threads of love hadn't been severed, and the karma had only deepened.
Similarly.
Back then, Emperor Peafowl had chosen to reincarnate again and again in order to save himself. In the end, not only had he failed to save himself, he had sunk even deeper.
Emperor Bliss had severed his karma and forcibly turned himself into a predestined calamity of the present era.
Emperor Peafowl, on the other hand, had forcibly turned himself into a predestined calamity of the present era.
"That's why I said that we're in the same boat. You severed your threads of love to save yourself, and I severed my obsession to save myself. In the end, we've both turned ourselves into predestined calamities, hahahahaha!"
Emperor Peafowl threw his head back and laughed loudly after he finished speaking.
(End of Chapter)
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