This was the Time Esteemed Immortal from ancient times, his voice traveling from the past through a breach in the river of time toward the future:
"You should know that even if the Netherworld wins, it would only be an internal struggle. You Xian have already nearly gone extinct in the future. You can't change anything. You Xian are destined to be losers—you can't defeat the three of us."
The Immortal Realm and the Netherworld were far too powerful.
At its core, this battle was still an internal struggle, even with the Painter pushing things along.
The Painter waved his brush in the sky and laughed. "Who said I was going to save the Xian?"
"I see." The Time Esteemed Immortal at the source suddenly understood.
The Xian before him had had his will altered.
He had been born a gentle, kind, soft-hearted scholar—a Xian who let all living beings kill him.
And he had indeed been killed by his own kindness. Yet, by a strange twist of fate, he had developed the Way of Embers and revived after his death.
He was an extraordinary anomaly among the Xian who had died by suicide.
There were probably no other Xian who had survived suicide besides him.
The Time Esteemed Immortal's voice held a trace of cool indifference. "It wasn't only the Netherworld that went out of control. You, as one of the Xian, went out of control as well. You lost your original purpose. The methods used back then truly killed most of the Xian."
"Then, child." The Time Esteemed Immortal's voice carried an aloof, superior tone. "What do you want? I can give you anything. I can grant you entry into either the Immortal Realm or the Netherworld, treat you with due courtesy, and make you one of the