So What?

So, what if your title was bought?

In the Association, if any master heard that and did not roll up their sleeves to wipe out the other person's whole family, then the matter was not over.

The same went for In Secluded!

You could attack my morals, my character, and my intentions, but you could not question my skill.

That was one filthy insult.

It could not be helped. Ji Jue could not be blamed for making it personal—Fernan had started it!

He had merely been mentally dulled, not turned into an actual idiot!

If it had been someone else, after hearing such a pile of twisted nonsense, they might have believed a little of it.

But at this moment, under these circumstances, once he began to doubt himself—even by the tiniest amount—he would not be far from death.

This was Fernan's true purpose. Through the manifestation and power of the Path of Depravity, he would continuously weaken and batter Ji Jue, using every means possible to make him waver.

Even the slightest, most negligible agreement with the principles of the Path of Depravity would be caught by the mud pit Fernan had created. He would fall into it, lose everything in futile struggle, be consumed cleanly, and in turn become another stepping stone for Fernan to advance further.

This was Stagnant Rot's erosion and assimilation of Embers.

A person could deceive others, but never themselves.

The Original Sin of Embers lay in the artisan's deeply rooted arrogance and self-righteousness. Yet its true importance came from that as well. If an artisan could not even believe in their own principles, if they could not preserve themselves, then becoming a tool was merely a matter of time.

To be fair, Fernan's methods could be called brilliant, his intentions vicious, and his