Ye Guchen looked at Tang Ya and suddenly remembered his younger self from many years ago.
Even though he had been a transmigrator, he still hadn't managed to save his adoptive parents.
Back then, just like Tang Ya before him, he had constantly fallen into self-reproach and pain, as though only then could his heart find the slightest comfort.
"But how is that any different from being a coward?"
The words struck his heart like a rusty blade—not sharp, but heavy and dull.
He had once believed that pain was a form of atonement.
If he suffered deeply enough and for long enough, he could make up for what he "should have done but hadn't."
Every time the faces of his adoptive parents surfaced in his mind, he lashed himself with guilt, as though that could prove, "Look, I haven't forgotten you. I haven't forgiven myself. I'm still suffering for you."
But later, he understood. That wasn't love. It was selfishness.
Using all his strength to punish himself would only leave him standing still.
And someone who stood still couldn't bear anything or change anything.
His adoptive parents hadn't given their lives so their child could kneel before their graves and cry for the rest of his life.
They had wanted him to live—to live well, for them both.
Ye Guchen pulled himself from his memories and looked at Tang Ya.
He suddenly spoke. His voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear:
"Guilt is the easiest thing in the world. All you have to do is keep asking yourself, 'Why didn't I do it?' and then keep answering, 'It was my fault.' Question and answer, again and again, until your whole life has passed."
He paused.
"But what's truly hard is swallowing that guilt and carrying it with you. Let it become a thorn in your flesh, one that hurts with every breath, but keep moving forward all the same. Go where you need to go and do what you need to do."
Ye Guchen patted her shoulder.
"I'm not going to tell you to let go." He looked down at Tang Ya, his eyes holding no pity, only a frankness that was almost cold. "Some things can never be let go of, not in a whole lifetime."
"But you can choose—will you kneel and hold on to it, or stand and bear its weight?"
In that moment, his whole bearing changed.
He was no longer a survivor mourning the past, but a traveler who had forged every loss into his bones and blood, and now trampled the road ahead one step at a time.
The things that hadn't killed him hadn't turned him into a walking corpse. Instead, they had tempered him into someone who could withstand a hundred trials without breaking.
He didn't deny the pain of the past, but he no longer sacrificed his future to it.
Ye Guchen withdrew his gaze, and with it, the version of himself that had once been lost in days gone by.
"Tang Ya, the dead are gone, and the past can't be undone. But you can take charge of the future. Calm your heart, and the day you get your revenge will come."
Tang Ya had gone completely still. The tears on her face had already dried.
Her gaze gradually broke free of its confusion and began to grow firm.
"Thank you, Senior Guchen. I know what to do now!"
Ye Guchen saw that instant transformation in her bearing. He knew that gaze all too well. Tang Ya had been reborn.
Just then, a rustling came from the bushes ahead.
A scorpion, emerald from head to tail and radiating bone-deep cold, darted out of the bushes, with a frail boy following behind it.
When Tang Ya recognized the newcomer, she quickly turned away and secretly wiped off her dried tear tracks.
"Sister Xiaoya! What are you doing here too?"
The newcomer was Huo Yuhao.
Night fell. Beibei had finished the first round of treatment, and the Soul Beast unrest caused by Ye Guchen had largely subsided.
The four of them sat around a bonfire, savoring Huo Yuhao's grilled fish.
The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion and the Fire Luan Bird stood behind Ye Guchen as his guards, occasionally coming over to demand some of the grilled fish in his hand.
Ye Guchen's Soul Power had now reached level fifty, and the strength of all four of his pets had risen to the thirty-thousand-year level. Here on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, they could completely ignore the rule against lighting fires at night.
The pressure from Xiao Bing and Xiao Huo alone was enough to keep the surrounding Soul Beasts at bay.
Ye Guchen had also taken the time to appraise Huo Yuhao's cooking. Honestly, it wasn't inferior to the grilled fish from the shops in his previous life. After all, the Douluo World had developed for tens of thousands of years. Surely it had managed to come up with some decent food?
"Senior Guchen, are you heading back to the academy now?"
Beibei hadn't fully recovered yet, so naturally he hoped Ye Guchen would stay and help Xiaoya hunt for a Soul Ring.
"I was planning to head back, but since we've already run into each other, I'll help you get your Soul Rings first, then we can all return together."
Ye Guchen tore off a piece of grilled fish and handed it to the Ice Jade Scorpion, then looked at Huo Yuhao.
"By the way, little Yuhao, I can tell from your Soul Power that you've just reached level ten. I'm guessing you're here to get a Soul Ring too. If you're willing, release your Martial Soul and let me take a look. I can help you find a suitable Soul Ring while I'm at it."
At his words, Huo Yuhao was so overwhelmed he quickly waved his hands.
"N-no, I can find one myself. How could I trouble Big Brother Guchen again?"
Just as expected. Huo Yuhao was still far too self-conscious.
"What trouble? It's no big deal. A Soul Master's First Soul Ring is crucial, so you can't be careless. Besides, I can tell you're not someone who's content with mediocrity."
Ye Guchen glanced at the grilled fish in his hand and waved it at Huo Yuhao.
"Your grilled fish is pretty good. This one can be your payment!"
At that, Huo Yuhao gritted his teeth. He still had a great grudge to avenge. If he relied on himself, his First Soul Ring would probably be an ordinary Ten-Year Soul Ring! He nodded in agreement.
"Thank you!"
Huo Yuhao clenched his fists. Ye Guchen looked so otherworldly before him, and in that moment, his desire to grow stronger reached its peak.
He had already made Ye Guchen the person he hoped to catch up to.
"Since Big Brother Guchen likes my grilled fish, then whenever you want some, I'll grill it for you!"
After thinking it over, Huo Yuhao realized that grilled fish was all he had to offer.
As befitted someone with the luck of a protagonist, Huo Yuhao had a Three-Headed Ghost Spider with three hundred years of cultivation approach their camp in the middle of the night.
Huo Yuhao and Ye Guchen were on watch at the time.
The instant it stepped into the range of Ye Guchen's Spiritual Power, he pinpointed its location and began bombarding it with Soul Power attacks.
"Little Yuhao, your First Soul Ring is here!" Ye Guchen had barely finished speaking when he vanished from the spot.
Huo Yuhao's vision blurred. A sharp scream rang out from the distance.
Before the three-hundred-year Three-Headed Ghost Spider could react, two of its three heads had already been pierced clean through by Fire Feather. Green fluids sprayed everywhere.
"You take the final blow."
Ye Guchen's voice came from the darkness, calm as if he were talking about something trivial.
Huo Yuhao trembled all over. He clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and charged forward.
He took out the White Tiger Dagger and, with all his strength, stabbed at the Three-Headed Ghost Spider's struggling head.
Once, twice, three times.
At last, the third head shattered. A yellow Soul Ring slowly rose, giving off a faint glow in the night.
Three hundred years—a Hundred-Year Soul Ring!
Huo Yuhao stared blankly at the ring of yellow light, his eyes growing warm.
He had thought his First Soul Ring would be, at best, a Ten-Year Soul Ring. He hadn't even been completely sure he could defeat a Ten-Year Soul Beast.
"What are you standing there for? This is a spirit-type Soul Beast, an excellent match for your Condensing Gaze Martial Soul. Sit down, focus, circulate your Soul Power, and guide the Soul Ring."
Ye Guyi's voice rang out at just the right moment, calm and commanding.
Huo Yuhao took a deep breath and sat cross-legged. The yellow Soul Ring slowly descended and merged into his frail body.
Years of malnutrition had left Huo Yuhao far weaker than the average Soul Master. Even a Soul Ring of only three hundred years put considerable pressure on him.
A wave of intense pain struck him at once. His meridians felt as if they were being torn apart and pieced back together.
He clenched his teeth and didn't make a sound. The veins on his forehead bulged, and sweat mixed with blood as it ran down his cheeks.
In his mind, it was as though something had been unlocked.
He didn't know how long it took—perhaps fifteen minutes, perhaps half an hour—before Huo Yuhao suddenly opened his eyes.
His eyes, which had been somewhat dim, were now clear enough to reflect the starlight.
He instinctively released his Soul Skill. An invisible wave of spiritual energy spread out from him in every direction.
Everything within a twenty-meter radius was revealed in the finest detail.
Ants crawling on the undersides of leaves, earthworms squirming three feet beneath the ground, Beibei's steady breathing beside the bonfire, Tang Ya's slightly furrowed brow, and the faint hint of approval at the corner of Ye Guchen's mouth...
"Is this... Spiritual Detection?" Huo Yuhao murmured, his voice trembling.
After absorbing the Soul Ring, Huo Yuhao's Soul Power had also risen to level thirteen!
He excitedly went over to Ye Guchen.
"Big Brother Guchen, I did it! My Soul Power has risen to level thirteen!"
"My First Soul Skill is..."
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