Hearing Guangchengzi's question, Meng Qi suddenly felt an odd sense of dust settling in his heart:
What was coming could not be avoided after all...
His emotions settled, his thoughts turned inward, and after a brief pause, he said, "The Investiture of the Gods has been sealed by Bodhi Ancient Buddha. Even if we got it back, I'm afraid it wouldn't be of much use. Besides, Great Freedom Heavenly Son, the Twelve Demon Saints, and the others would receive a tremendous boost in the Nine Abysses, perhaps even leaping across major realms. Meanwhile, apart from the handful of us in Jade Void Palace who cultivate the Eight-Nine Arcane Art, the rest would grow weak upon entering the Nine Abysses, with our strength possibly reduced to less than a tenth. Under those circumstances, how could we even think of seizing the Investiture of the Gods?"
Involuntarily, as Meng Qi spoke, two strange phrases flashed through his mind: "Since ancient times, loyalty and filial piety have been hard to reconcile," and "caught between love and duty."
They weren't quite apt—instead, they sounded almost like darkly humorous descriptions—but at that moment, Meng Qi felt they captured his mood all too well.
When his sworn elder brother and his friend through life and death stood at opposite ends of the scales, how should he choose?
Both men had shown him deep loyalty and great kindness. Even when differences in their positions drove them apart, they had never truly crossed blades. Helping either side suppress the other would be a cruel thing, something he did not wish to do. Yet as Sect Master of Jade Void Palace, he represented the leanings of one faction and would eventually have to decide. He could not simply cover his eyes and pretend that his elder brother and Senior