Du Jingzhe looked at his old friend with conflicting emotions. The man's savage expression made him seem like a stranger.
Years of friendship could not compete with the allure of power after all.
Although his own stranglehold on power had driven Azure Dragon to betray him, Du Tianming, as Bai Ye's disciple, would only place the blame on the other man.
He selectively ignored his own hunger for power and blamed only Azure Dragon's.
"Azure Dragon, since I promised you the position of marshal, I will give it to you. The time simply isn't right yet.
It's a pity you couldn't even wait that little while."
The Azure Dragon Grand General sneered. "The time isn't right? I've followed you since the Federation was founded. I've waited decades, right up until now. Nearly all our brothers from those days are dead, and you tell me the time isn't right?
Heh, will the time be right once I'm dead?
Du Jingzhe, your [Taotie] can devour life force to keep you alive, but what about me!?
Even after turning myself into a mythic species and breaking past the limits of my lifespan, how many years do I have left with forbidden energy eating away at me!?"
Forbidden energy was both a gift and a curse to humanity.
It gave humans power, but the price of wielding this higher-dimensional power was their lives.
Yet no one could reject forbidden energy. They even had to actively pursue it.
No one could bear to watch the people around them grow stronger while they stood still.
Want to coast through life? Then wait for your enemies to grow stronger and kill you.
It was like someone making Evil-Exorcising Swordplay public. If you refused to practice it, plenty of others would. If you refused to compete, everyone else