"Why do you ask?"
The Willow Deity tilted her head slightly, exposing her snow-white neck, and looked at Shi Yi beside her.
Her gaze was very peaceful, like still water, without a ripple.
"Teacher, you can't ask me a question back, I was the one who asked you first," Shi Yi complained.
As the saying goes.
Distance makes the heart grow fonder. When you get too close to someone, even if she was once so sacred and untouchable, she will eventually become ordinary.
The previous Shi Yi was incredibly well-behaved in front of the Willow Deity, fearing that he might accidentally say something he shouldn't, and offend this woman who wasn't very broad-minded.
Now then.
Except for Riding Master Annihilating Ancestors, he dared to occasionally talk back; it was a daily occurrence.
"I just feel…this fighting and killing isn't necessary. I don't need to become famous throughout the world, nor do I need the praise of everyone. I don't need everyone to know my name."
Shi Yi voiced his thoughts and his true feelings.
He didn't like being a show-off under the spotlight, nor did he like being the center of attention. Even more, he didn't like falling into an endless abyss of war just for the sake of fighting and killing.
He preferred to hide behind the scenes, to be a puppeteer. He had no interest whatsoever in becoming a hero or a savior who sacrificed himself.
He was selfish, he was despicable, he was shameless.
He was never a righteous person.
His kindness was also selective.
His kindness was only for family, loved ones, friends, and those he found agreeable and admired, not for just any stranger.
"I understand. Since you don't like my arrangements, then walk your own path from now on," the Willow Deity's voice was as calm and unruffled as ever.
As soon as these words were spoken.
Shi Yi instantly understood the Willow Deity's dissatisfaction. Perhaps because the Willow Deity rarely interacted with others, the meaning behind her words was usually very clear.
Dissatisfaction was dissatisfaction, satisfaction was satisfaction, without any subtlety. The only thing worthy of praise was perhaps her eternally calm tone when speaking.
Her state of mind was truly stable.
But the same held true for...
She didn't bother, nor was she interested in, hiding her satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
Just like when she wanted to smack Shi Yi, she always managed to do it.
Now.
Shi Yi was displeased with her special arrangements, and she was also displeased with Shi Yi's displeasure.
"Teacher, I don't dislike your arrangements. What I mean is, is there really no other path besides fighting and killing, just battling all the way?"
Shi Yi proactively hugged the Willow Deity's slender waist, his whole body directly resting in her embrace.
Obedient, well-behaved.
He knew.
Willow Deity, though possessing a human-like form, wasn't human, so she wasn't overly concerned with the distinctions between men and women.
Also, because of Yu Yue Xian, Shi Yi had a good understanding of how to charm women.
"Of course not. There are countless paths in the world. As long as you can reach the end, no one can say you've taken the wrong path. But are you sure you want to walk this path that no one has ever taken?"
The moment Shi Yi embraced Willow Deity, she felt his dependence on her, and some of her dissatisfaction slowly dissipated.
Her entire life.
Lonely and without support.
From a willow tree, she cultivated to become a giant Immortal King. No one knew how much hardship she endured, how much blood she shed.
She killed the Kings of the Other Realm until they trembled, all to protect the world behind her, a feat of unparalleled merit.
However, what awaited her.
Was only betrayal, only being sold out. She was even on the verge of completely falling, turning into a charred wooden stake.
There was no praise, no gratitude, and no heartache. The living beings she guarded, in the end, only wanted to kill her.
Sometimes.
She also doubted in her heart whether guarding the common people was meaningful.
What was the source of darkness in the world? Why did it cause people to fall?
Finally.
Would she herself fall into darkness? Become a fallen Dark Immortal King? The Willow Deity's emotions were faint, but her Dao heart was very firm.
But she wasn't without feeling.
On the contrary, her emotions were intense, like the magma at the Earth's core, burning and warm.
Even if the entire planet was cold, its core was filled with scorching magma.
Fortunately.
Just when the Willow Deity was at her lowest point, Shi Yi was like a warm little sun, barging into her world without any explanation.
"Just because everyone agrees on something, does that make it right? This world is destined to be dominated by killing to stop killing, so I will forge my own path."
Shi Yi's tone was firm. He had long been displeased with this world, where people fought and killed at every encounter, as if cultivating the strongest insect king, like a game of survival of the fittest.
This was not a normal world; everyone was practically insane, constantly at war.
"The path of one person is like a high mountain. No one can guide you forward, not even me. You must walk it alone. Have you considered how difficult the future will be?" Willow Deity said softly.
She finally understood.
Shi Yi wasn't averse to fighting and killing; he was ruthless when he killed. In his bones, he was a tough person.
But what he couldn't stand was that everyone, for the sake of cultivation, was like a group of insects constantly fighting.
In his eyes.
This wasn't cultivation at all. Everyone seemed to be controlled by an invisible existence, only knowing how to kill, only knowing how to devour others, and ultimately becoming the food of that unseen force.
Darkness?
Light?
At this moment.
Willow Deity suddenly thought of how the Kings of the Other Realm worked together, never abandoning each other, showing loyalty, and possessing genuine emotions.
She then recalled the infighting within the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, and even the Immortal Realm, where she herself had been betrayed by her own people.
For a moment.
She didn't know where the true justice lay.
Whether her sacrifices had been worth it.
Logically speaking.
She shouldn't be confused by this, but betrayal truly hurt, especially when betrayed by those close to her; it was a pain that pierced the heart.
Those who haven't experienced it will never understand this feeling, because they've never been betrayed by family, loved ones, or close friends.
As the saying goes…
Preaching is useless; broken bones are the best textbooks. Those who haven't experienced betrayal firsthand can never truly understand the pain of others.
"Teacher, I am human. Among the myriad races, the human race is perhaps the most looked down upon. They compare humans to grass, cut down again and again."
"But the reason our human race can rise among the myriad races isn't just because of strength, but also because of our exceptionally clever minds and our never-say-die determination."
"A solitary path is indeed difficult, but if I don't walk it, it will never appear. And once I climb over this mountain, they will hear my story."
At this point, Shi Yi paused slightly, then spoke with firm conviction, "One day, I will stand at the pinnacle of the world, rewrite everything with my own hands, and transform this world that only knows how to take without giving into a normal world."
Indeed.
In Shi Yi's eyes, this world was fundamentally abnormal.
However, this was a common ailment of most xuanhuan worlds. The cultivation methods from ten thousand years ago were stronger, the treasures from ten thousand years ago were stronger. There was never any innovation, always just relying on the old.
Shi Yi suspected that this world had perhaps already birthed supreme beings.
But he could be certain that in the future, there would be no juniors who surpassed him.
At most, they would be on the same level.
Unsurpassable.
In fact, that's how it was.
In a future time and space that had already vanished.
Huang, Ye, and Chu were existences above the sacrificial dao.
But even they ultimately couldn't surpass the Master of the Three-World Copper Coffin, and what's more, the three of them oddly resembled the Master of the Three-World Copper Coffin.
Most importantly.
The Master of the Three-World Copper Coffin also had the nickname "The Sick One," because he sacrificed everything, including himself, in pursuit of a higher realm of cultivation, causing the previous world and anything related to him to become utterly void.
Later, his body developed serious problems.
A problem even he couldn't solve.
Simply put.
His body was sick, terminally so.
To avoid harming the myriad worlds, he cremated himself, putting his ashes into an urn, placing it within the three-world copper coffin he crafted, and buried it on the Plateau.
Later, geological changes exposed the coffin, scattering the ashes. The Plateau, infused with the ashes, gained sentience. Then, ten people accidentally entered the Plateau and came into contact with the ashes.
They were tainted by the ashes and transformed under the influence of the Plateau. They underwent an indescribable metamorphosis, descending into darkness and becoming Originators of the Strange. They then cultivated the Strange Race, and rose above the heavens.
This was the origin of the darkness.
But were they truly the darkness?
Of course not.
Whether it's "dark" or not is just a matter of perspective.
When a person is eating, they don't care if the food in their mouth has its own life; they're simply eating.
Forget about being vegetarian or not eating meat, that animals' lives are lives and plants' lives aren't!
Life is life.
Weeds are also life.
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