Pitiful

All she wants now is to become stronger, and then tear off those strings imposed on her, one by one.

But what if her hatred one day turns into something like He Caitou's, affecting those who shouldn't be affected? She doesn't want it to become like that.

She wanted to find a more precise path, one that would make those who should pay the price pay it, while allowing those who were not involved to continue living their own lives.

But Lin Ye's diary kept reminding her that this kind of thing is easier said than done.

She suddenly remembered her "home," the Clear Sky Sect.

It's laughable, really; she doesn't even know if that place should be called home.

Tang San, Xiao Wu, Huo Yuhao, everyone was in that game of chess.

She once thought she was the happy one in the game, but later realized that chess pieces have no happiness, only the process of being manipulated.

Was He Caitou the same? When he hated the Sun Moon Empire, did he also hate himself for being born into the Imperial Family?

People born as pawns and people born as enemies are actually quite similar; they are both desperately trying to escape their origins.

He Caitou used Soul Tool to shed his identity as the "former crown prince" and became a "traitor."

What about her? How will she shed the identity of "Tang San's daughter"? She doesn't have the answer yet.

But at least she wouldn't choose the same path He Caitou.

She wants to win, but not become the person she hates. That's the only thing she's certain of right now.

The Far North.

It's always winter here; the sky is gray, and snowflakes fly horizontally like knives, making a soft, rustling sound as they hit the ice.

The Ice Empress and the Snow Empress stood side by side on an ice cliff, overlooking the permafrost and glaciers stretching for thousands of miles below.

Both of them were reading the diary in their subconscious minds, and neither of them spoke.

The wind was strong, but it naturally blew around them without even lifting a corner of their clothes.

Ice Empress finished reading first. She went through He Caitou's story in her mind, then turned her head to look at Snow Empress.

Snow Empress had just finished reading it as well, and her slightly furrowed brows showed that she was also pondering this matter.

Ice Empress chuckled, a hint of coldness in her voice. "This human is more interesting than I thought. His entire family was wiped out, so he built a bunch of killing machines and bombarded his own country. Isn't that a clever way to take revenge?"

Snow Empress did not respond immediately.

She was much calmer than Ice Empress, and thought things through more slowly, but she thought much deeper.

After a while, she spoke, "He's seeking revenge, but he's also on the run, manufacturing weapons so he doesn't have to face those who were killed."

Ice Empress raised an eyebrow. "You think he's running away?"

Snow Empress nodded. "Anyone who kills so many people cannot possibly have done nothing and not participated in the battle."

Making weapons might be a way to avoid witnessing those people die, but the result is the same; he just doesn't have to face it.

Ice Empress didn't refute him after hearing this, but simply turned her gaze back to the distant glacier and said in a low voice, "Humans are always like this. They want revenge, but they can't bear to see blood. They want to be saints, but they can't control their hands. In the end, they create a bunch of monsters that are even more ferocious than us, who are called Ferocious Beast."

Snow Empress glanced at her, the corners of her mouth curving slightly into a faint smile, "Your words are too harsh, but when applied to He Caitou, they don't seem entirely unjust."

The two fell silent, letting the wind and snow sweep past them as they turned the pages of the diary, like peeling back layers to reveal the darkest part of a person's heart.

Ma Xiaotao's training volume has doubled.

She played until she was completely exhausted, unable to even lift her arms, and collapsed onto the training ground floor, panting heavily.

Sweat dripped from her chin onto the floor, making small dots.

She stared at the ceiling, her mind still on He Caitou, but she wasn't as agitated as before.

She suddenly thought that if she ever met He Caitou in the future, she wouldn't ask him, "Do you really hate those ordinary soldiers?"

Because she knew the answer.

She would only ask him one question: Do you regret it? Ma Xiaotao closed her eyes, waiting in the darkness for her breathing to gradually calm down.

She knew she might never ask that question, but that didn't matter. At least now she knew what kind of person she was.

When Ma Xiaotao returned from the training field, she felt like her body was falling apart, but her mind was clearer than before she went.

She took a shower, changed into clean clothes, and collapsed onto the bed, her consciousness involuntarily sinking into her diary once again.

The things Lin Ye wrote about He Caitou were still swirling in her mind, but new words were already being written in the diary.

After discussing He Caitou, let's talk about the Grandmaster of the Shrek Seven Monsters.

There are two candidates for the role of the Grandmaster: Xu Sanshi or Bei Bei, but I think Bei Bei is the Grandmaster.

Bei Bei comes from an exceptionally privileged background.

Mu En's great-great-grandson, a true descendant of Shrek Academy, and whose Martial Soul is the Bright Sacred Dragon, a mutation of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, would be a true prodigy in any era.

At the Shrek Academy, he could stand at the forefront of his peers with almost no effort.

The leader of the second generation of Shrek Seven Monsters, the Grandmaster of the Tang Sect —these are positions that not just anyone can hold.

Judging solely from his background and title, it's hard to associate him with the phrase "poor Soul Ring Configuration."

But the truth is just that unforgiving.

Bei Bei's Soul Ring Configuration is indeed not particularly outstanding among top geniuses.

Let's look at them one by one.

His Seventh Soul Ring came from a Sky Dragon Horse with a cultivation level of over 20,000 years.

Seventh Soul Ring's over 20,000 years old is certainly considered good among ordinary Soul Master; it's sufficient and presentable.

However, if we consider the Shrek Seven Monsters, Seventh Soul Ring that's over 20,000 years old isn't quite impressive.

What's even more troublesome are the first six Soul Ring.

His first six Soul Ring combined have a total lifespan of around 30,000 years, averaging 5,000 years per Soul Ring.

Six Soul Ring combined only amount to about 30,000 years, which is not even comparable to someone else's single high-quality Seven-Ring.

A rough calculation shows that the total lifespan of Bei Bei's first seven Soul Ring is at most 50,000 years.

Fifty thousand years, seven Soul Ring.

If this number were to be revealed, probably few people would believe it.

At first, I also thought that there might be some mistake, but after carefully recalling the records in the original work, I found that it was indeed the case.

The problems arose from the very beginning with Bei Bei's accumulation of Soul Ring.

His first Three-Ring were decent, but by the standards of the top geniuses on the entire continent, they were only average, neither bad nor amazing.

The subsequent stages didn't bring any significant leaps in quality; the progress was rather uneventful.

This kind of "stability" is a good thing in the early stages of Soul Master's journey, but it becomes a ceiling in the mid-to-late game.

Because Soul Ring are the foundation for Soul Master's breakthrough; if the foundation isn't strong enough, one is destined to go limited in the long run.