A Puppet's Killing Intent Awakens

As Li Shun answered, the faint light before his eyes grew dimmer. Everything around him seemed on the verge of being swallowed by boundless darkness.

An instinctive longing rose from the depths of his heart. He wanted that wisp of light to endure, to tear through the endless, deathly silence and blackness.

Just then, Han Qi's voice rang out again.

"Life is like a glimmer of light in the dark of night."

"We do not know why it came into being, or where it came from. But when it is about to go out, living beings instinctively feel fear, unwillingness, and..."

He paused, then his voice sharpened. "Defiance!"

"What meaning does life itself hold? Compared to those Outer Gods high above us, we truly are as weak as ants, too insignificant to matter."

"But the very act of defending life holds immense meaning!"

Han Qi's words rang with unwavering conviction.

The instant his voice fell silent, the glimmer that had been on the verge of disappearing into the darkness suddenly erupted.

The point of light compressed to an ever smaller speck, yet its radiance grew more dazzling by the moment. Like a spark setting a prairie ablaze, it swept away the thick darkness all around.

As the radiance faded, Li Shun and Han Qi appeared once more in the void.

The light that had blazed to its utmost at the final moment of its life was gone, but Li Shun could still seem to feel the traces of warmth left by its burning.

It was no illusion.

Understanding dawned on Li Shun.

The insight was still hazy, but the listlessness and helpless sense that all hopes had turned to ash, which had weighed on his heart before, had quietly melted away like spring snow.

"Thank you for your guidance, Teacher