Under the surveillance of the hidden crystal cameras, Huangpu Xiaoya took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. She bit her lips so hard that blood was zigzagging like crimson snakes.
She gnashed her teeth and said, "You are telling me all this because you want me to suffer a greater blow and more pain before I die?"
Li Yao sneered. "I'm telling you this because I want you to recognize reality and see this dark universe clearly. In this dark universe, the weak are prey to the strong, and natural selection is the only truth. That's why I embarked on the path of Immortal Cultivation to make myself stronger."
"Weaklings like you will only end up as prey for the strong. You won't even be able to protect your own hands in the end."
Huangpu Xiaoya was silent. She licked the blood on her lips, which was both bitter and astringent.
Li Yao rose up abruptly and walked to her. He looked down at her and said disdainfully, "You think that you are a tough Cultivator. But think about it. What did you do during the ten days when you were held hostage by the Temple of Immortals? If he wasn't panicking, he would be roaring like thunder, or he would be weeping endlessly. What did you do to get yourself out of this predicament? Nothing. Nothing at all.
"You even forgot to train your hands every day, which is the most basic requirement of a refiner.
"You've been lying in bed like a cripple for the past ten days. You didn't train at all. Your hands must've degenerated. Your capability is at least 10% lower than it was ten days ago.
"To put it bluntly, even if there is a turning point, what makes you think you are qualified to seize it right now? Am I wrong to say that you are a loser and a weakling? "
Huangpu Xiaoya was dumbfounded as if she had been hit in the head. She didn't know what to say for a long time.
"That's right," Li Yao said coldly. "You are flattering yourself to the best of your ability. But it's a pity that you can't kill me with a few words. Right now, I'm standing right in front of you, tormenting you. I'm going to chop off your hands tomorrow. What can you do to me?
"You won't let me go even if you become a ghost? For trash like you, even if you really become a spectral cultivator after death, you will only fall into the hands of the Hall of Immortals again. Chances are that it will be refined into a piece of magical equipment by Huangpu Shiyi or me. Haha. I'd like to see how you will not let me go by then. "
Huangpu Xiaoya was dazed for a moment. This time, she truly felt a chill in her bones.
She was not afraid of death, but in the world of cultivation, death was not necessarily the end. If she was unlucky and her soul did not dissipate after death, she would be refined into an evil spirit by the cultivators in the Immortal Palace. Harming all living beings was an outcome that was even more unacceptable than dying ten thousand times.
Huangpu Xiaoya's breathing immediately became unsteady.
Li Yao observed her reaction and said indifferently, "Do you regret it now? It's too late. "
"When I was in the Great Horn Exo Society, they often said, 'If you want to roar, let your sword do the talking. If you want to cry, let your enemy's eyeballs flow.'
"These words are for you. Although you won't be able to use them in this lifetime, if you have the chance to reincarnate and be reborn as a human, you will be able to use them. Maybe you can practice according to these two words. "
After saying that, Li Yao stepped back and waved his hands. The barrier that separated the two sides of the suite slowly opened.
The moment before the barrier was closed … Li Yao looked at Huangpu Xiaoya, who was deep in thought, through the gap and said, "Sleep well. There will be a lot of blood to be shed tomorrow."
…
The next morning …
There were no windows. The room was dim and gloomy. It was so dark that Li Yao was woken up by the sound of the barrier being undone. He discovered that Huangpu Xiaoya had opened the barrier between the two of them.
Huangpu Xiaoya did not turn on the light. There was not the slightest bit of light in the spacious suite. It was total darkness.
But now and then, sparks would burst out from Huangpu Xiaoya's direction. Feeble electric arcs would form a rune that was dancing like a dragon and vanish in a blink of an eye.
Under the illumination of the electric sparks, Huangpu Xiaoya was focused on her work. Her calm and solemn face appeared and disappeared.
Although it was only for a moment, Li Yao felt that her temperament had undergone a drastic change. She was completely different from the vulnerable, hesitant, and desperate person of the previous day.
"What are you doing?" Li Yao couldn't help but ask.
"Can't you tell? I'm training, "Huangpu Xiaoya said calmly.
Huangpu Xiaoya said calmly, "They've planted barriers inside my body. I can't train at a higher level and can only produce such feeble sparks. They can be used to draw runes in midair and train the agility of my fingers."
Li Yao raised his eyebrow. "Why are you training?"
Huangpu Xiaoya said solemnly, "Li Yao, although you are an unpardonable scumbag who is worse than pigs and dogs, at least what you said in the end yesterday was very reasonable.
"Tears and roars are the most useless things.
"If you want to roar, let your saber and sword do the talking. If you want to cry, let your enemy's eyes flow.
"In the past ten days, I've shed too many useless tears and let out too many useless roars. At first, I thought I was very courageous, but after thinking about it carefully for an entire night, I realized that this is just another form of cowardice."
"I was only avoiding the real battle with tears and roars."
Li Yao blinked and asked, "So?"
Huangpu Xiaoya said solemnly, "So, the second I recognized myself, I decided not to cry or roar anymore. I would join the battle and fight to the end like a real Cultivator.
"I am a refiner. Playing with sabers and spears is not my strong suit. So, I will consider the training of my hands as a special kind of battle.
"You're quite right. I've wasted too much time in the past ten days. The agility of my hands has plummeted, and so has my capability. Thank you for reminding me of that. I've been drawing runes all night and have recovered a lot."
Li Yao smiled. "You will die tonight. What's the point of that?"
Huangpu Xiaoya said, "If one learns the truth in the morning, one can die without regrets in the evening. Even if I die tonight, at least I'm still alive at this moment.
"As long as I'm alive, I have to fight. As long as I'm alive, I have to fight.
"Even if I die and turn into a ghost, I still have to fight. I can't beat you. If you capture me and refine me into a fiend, it's because I'm not as good as you. I have nothing to say.
"However, don't expect that I, Huangpu Xiaoya, will surrender, human or ghost. I'm a real Cultivator, and I'm at odds with the Immortal Cultivators who are worse than pigs and dogs. "
Li Yao seemed to be awed by her intimidating aura. He laughed weirdly and didn't speak for a long time.
Huangpu Xiaoya continued her training. Sparks were bursting out of her fingertips one after another.
It was a pity that more than half of her spiritual energy had been sealed, and she had been training hard all night. The sparks were getting weaker and weaker, and they were swallowed by the darkness after only one second.
It was not until a couple of seconds later that new sparks burst out of her fingertips and disappeared into the darkness stubbornly.
In the darkness … Huangpu Xiaoya suddenly asked, "Do you think darkness is the same as darkness?"
This time, Li Yao was truly confused. He thought for a moment and said, "Explain it to me."
Huangpu Xiaoya's voice was hollow and mysterious. "Let's say there are two identical rooms, where there are no windows or doors, and where some creatures are locked in absolute darkness.
"One of the rooms is always in absolute darkness. There has never been any light in that room, and there will never be any light in the future.
"But in the other room, feeble sparks will burst out once in a while, after a long time. The tiny, short-lived sparks, like what we are doing right now, illuminate a small space around us and leave some information of brightness in the brains of the creatures.
"But eventually … The sparks will fade away, and they will return to darkness. Maybe it will take another hundred years, or even a thousand years, for another tiny spark that can only shine for one second.
"Do you think the two kinds of darkness are the same?"
Li Yao was silent for a long time.
In the darkness, his eyes glanced at the location of the last tapping device in the corner by accident. He took a breath and asked, "Are they different?"
Huangpu Xiaoya smiled. Her smile was pleasant and hearty, as if she had completely understood something. Her belief was now solid, bright, and unshakable.
"They are different."
She said resolutely, one word after another, "Maybe they are the same for the Immortal Cultivators, but for me, for the Cultivators, the two kinds of darkness are different.
"If the universe is truly a dark, cruel, bloody forest, the Cultivators will burn our lives and unleash feeble sparks, too.
"Because, no matter how feeble, brief, and insignificant the sparks are, as long as we keep going, one day, the sparks will ignite the weeds, the weeds will burn the bushes, and the bushes will spread to the trees. Eventually, the tiny sparks will raise a prairie fire in the dark forest and illuminate the entire world."
Li Yao took a deep breath and struggled to say, "A flickering, feeble spark wants to ignite the entire forest? What are the odds? One in a thousand? One in ten thousand? One in a hundred million? "
Huangpu Xiaoya said softly, "One in a hundred million is not zero, either."
Li Yao was dazed.
The sentence sounded very familiar. He had heard it somewhere before.
After thinking for a long time, he finally recalled it.
It was when he was still in Floating Spear City, his hometown, in the Tian Yuan Realm. When he chose the Grand Desolate War Institution, he had challenged Deep Sea University, the holy land of refiners, in front of countless people.
At that time, Xie Tingxian, a professor of Deep Sea University, had asked him if the odds of defeating Deep Sea University were one in a hundred million.
That was his answer, too.
"One in a hundred million is not zero, after all."
Li Yao stopped talking and activated the illumination rune arrays in the room.
White light sprayed out from all directions like billions of light swords, tearing apart, dispersing, and shattering the darkness.
Li Yao warmed up his hands. His knuckles were cracking, as if metals were colliding and swords were shrieking.
Wind and thunder were raging below every fingernail. Every fingernail was about to explode.
He took a deep breath. The air that was filled with the vague smell of electric sparks made his every nerve extremely keen and excited.
'The day of the final battle has finally come. '
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