"It seems you're not very satisfied with this world?" He Ao asked him with a smile.
"No, I'm very satisfied. This world is like a fine porcelain vase—beautiful, but fragile. At least I'm still alive here." The String Tuner looked up at He Ao and smiled. "In the real world, you met me."
He paused. "You killed me?"
"I set it in motion, but I wasn't the one who did it." He Ao answered as naturally as if they were old friends meeting again, apparently seeing nothing wrong with the subject.
"Then you must have found Truth, and Truth did it." The String Tuner sighed. "I hid for so many years, only to die at Truth's hands in the end."
"When you advanced into this Talent Sequence," He Ao said with a smile, "your enemies and allies were already decided, weren't they?"
Pseudo-Gods and gods of the same attribute seemed prone to irreconcilable conflict.
The String Tuner and Good Friend, for instance. Or the Dreamer and the Desire Witch.
"Yes." The String Tuner glanced at the dim sky and let out a long sigh.
He Ao's words seemed to stir a few memories. He chuckled. "But I had no idea Truth was so powerful back then. I even dreamed of replacing him."
He lowered his gaze to He Ao's face and smiled. "You don't know the secret behind it, do you? You seem to have worked out a little, but it's all vague."
"That's true." He Ao nodded with a smile.
"The conflict between Pseudo-Gods and gods is simple at its heart," the String Tuner said hoarsely after a small cough. "Only Pseudo-Gods and gods of the same path come into conflict. Every god rose from a Pseudo-God, and they fear being replaced in turn."
He went on with a