Qin Yang felt a little conflicted. Squatting atop the divine tree, he looked at the rhinoceros beetle, set out a small table, and brought out a pot of Seven Flowers Brew.
"Sometimes I really do envy you lot. Although you weren't born with nine apertures, making cultivation more troublesome, and you rarely had systematic methods, with most things passed down through bloodlines.
"To take human form, you also had to endure calamities, emerging from pain transformed. Only then did you gain nine apertures, and your cultivation speed could rise dramatically.
"After that, most of your time was spent with no mind for anything else, cultivating peacefully and honestly, single-mindedly pursuing the Dao. Learning other methods was even harder for you than it was for humans..."
The rhinoceros beetle lying across from him blinked. An old complaint lodged in its throat, yet it forcibly swallowed the words.
This was called envy?
If I couldn't beat you, and if I weren't living off you on your turf, I'd jump up right now and smash your dog head to pieces! The rhinoceros beetle narrowed its eyes. With a thought, it controlled its wine cup, drank a cup of poison wine, and hurriedly shifted its attention elsewhere.
"Though you suffer many hardships, you don't think so much about things. If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up.
"Most of the time, you don't need to worry about being targeted either. Only once in a while do you need to guard against being slaughtered for materials.
"How are humans like that? You make everything complicated.
"Originally, if you didn't like the sight of me and I wanted to kill you too, we could just fight with real blades and genuine spears, settle victory and defeat, decide life and death. Clean and straightforward.