Chen Lin naturally had no desire to approach the trapped Youruo remnant thought, but now that Zishu had spoken, refusing would probably not be easy.
After a moment of deliberation, he said, "Lord Zi has the whole world at heart, but I possess no such noble resolve. If you want me to risk my life alone, fine-have the factions that stand to benefit offer rewards worth staking my life on. Otherwise, I will not agree."
The moment he finished, the cultivators behind him began protesting.
"Fellow Daoist, you are mistaken. We are not the only ones who benefit-you benefit as well. If things really are as Lord Zi said, and an imbalance in the formation lets the heretical entity escape, you will be affected too. So you would be doing this for yourself."
"Exactly. You are doing this for yourself, so how can you demand rewards from others? Besides, since you took first place in the trial, you must have reaped enormous benefits from the Source Soul Infusion. You cannot be insatiably greedy!"
"That's right! You received the rewards for first place in the trial, so this is your responsibility!"
The cultivators exhausted every means of moral coercion, terrified that if Chen Lin refused, the task would fall to them.
Chen Lin's expression darkened, but he remained unmoved.
He had never wanted to be the Sword-Bearer in the first place. Asking for compensation was merely an excuse. Their unwillingness to pay played right into his hands-they could simply choose someone else.
The situation reached a stalemate.
Meanwhile, the thread ball's pulsing grew increasingly forceful, and the bizarre aura it emitted grew stronger.
Whatever Zishu was thinking, he remained silent.
With him silent, Jinyao, who followed his lead in everything, said nothing either. High Person Yunhai lowered his eyes toward his