Blood pooled beneath Lin Chen's chest, soaking the vibrant green moss of the bamboo peak. The physical pain was nothing compared to the freezing realization settling in his soul. As he watched the golden trail of Xue Linger's sword fade into the clouds, a low, raspy sound escaped his throat.
He was laughing.
"How... how could I be so blind?" he wheezed, blood bubbling at his lips.
He thought of Earth—the world he had transmigrated from. There, he had been raised with morals, taught to value kindness, and told that love was a partnership of equals. He had brought those "civilized" delusions to the Tianxuan Continent, treating a cultivation world like a fairy tale.
"This isn't Earth," he whispered, his vision blurring. "There is no 'right' or 'wrong' here... only strength and weakness."
He realized now that Xue Linger hadn't just betrayed him; she had educated him. She had stripped away his final layer of Earth-born naivety and shown him the true face of this world: a cruel, jagged place where the strong devour the weak without a second thought. He had been a lamb offering his own heart to a wolf, thinking he was feeding a companion.
With his remaining strength, Lin Chen dragged his broken body toward the edge of the cliff. The "trash" who couldn't cultivate was now just a dying man with a hole in his chest.
As he rolled over the precipice, falling into the swirling mists of the Great Abyss, a final, dark thought crystallized in his mind. He didn't pray for heaven; he made a pact with the darkness.
If the God give me another chance, he thought, his heart turning to stone as the wind roared past him. If I live, I will never sympathize again. I will be more cruel than those who hurt me. I will not be the prey—I will be the one who preys, devours and slaughter.