Huo Yuhao did not know where the sudden burst of vigor came from, but he jerked his head up, instinctively wanting to refute Qian Daoliu. Yet he quickly understood the purpose behind his words.
"Old Qian, we've already come this far. How could I possibly retreat? I'm not afraid. I just can't see the road ahead anymore."
Huo Yuhao forced a faint smile and leaned back in his chair.
Qian Daoliu's voice continued. "Of course I know you're not afraid of death. If you were, you never would have made it out of Ashina Castle. You certainly wouldn't have slaughtered so many of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion's Imperial Guards when you were only level twenty, caused havoc in the Sun Moon Empire, and nearly blown Long Xiaoyao to pieces the first time you met him."
"What you fear is all your efforts coming to nothing. You fear that everything you've done will have been in vain. You fear dragging us down with you, dragging down everything you cherish."
Every sentence Qian Daoliu spoke tore open the deepest, softest part hidden within Huo Yuhao's heart, making his breathing turn ragged.
"But Yuhao, don't forget: the people rage and all souls boil today, yet none of it is your fault. It is like saying, 'Now that I am trapped here, Heaven has doomed me; it is not the fault of battle,' isn't it?"
"Didn't you already infer a great deal from You You? Within the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, not even a seed was left behind from that Snow-Colored Swan Kiss."
"Even the Bilin Nine Absolute Poisons could not have destroyed Slaughter City so easily. Only the Snow-Colored Swan Kiss could have done it without a sound."
"The emergence of the Holy Spirit Cult, the Mother of All Souls' spontaneous