Had anyone else heard that murmur, they would have been dumbstruck, finding it utterly absurd.
After all, the original Zhunti had long since died, his Dao extinguished.
The present Zhunti was merely a Sage manifested by Jieyin after he had proven the Dao as a primordial unity limitless Daluo Golden Immortal.
The two shared the same root and source, originally one being. How could their hearts diverge?
But Gu Changqing knew perfectly well.
The years flowed on, vast seas turning into mulberry fields. Over those long ages, the present Zhunti had already developed an awareness of his own.
Though he had sprung from the same root as Jieyin, he now possessed an independent personality, an independent will, and an independent Dao heart.
Today, Zhunti had lost every shred of face. Before countless watching eyes, Gu Changqing had driven him into a corner, unable to advance or retreat. In the end, an imperial edict sent from afar by his own senior brother had forced him to hand over the Jade Pure Bottle.
Jieyin had not shared even a fraction of that humiliation.
He had not offered so much as a word of comfort or explanation.
From beginning to end, Jieyin had remained silent as stone.
Anyone would have felt some anger in his place.
How much more so a Sage as proud and unrivaled in scheming as Zhunti?
Through his hazy, drunken gaze, Gu Changqing could almost see a crack silently opening between those two radiances of buddha light atop Vulture Peak.
For now, that crack was as fine as a hair, utterly insignificant.
But once the time was ripe, the slightest push could turn it into a chasm that could never be bridged.
When that happened, the understanding and trust between the Buddhist School's two Sages would crumble like earth