"Of course I'm not there. I already knew you came here to kill me."
"You think killing me is the only way to turn the situation around, but it actually won't do you any good."
"The Golden Sun Gate and the Everflow Merchants' Association have already entered the game. Even if you kill me, you'll only be sewing a wedding gown for someone else. The Heavenly Dragon Gate has been destroyed, and you have no value left for them to exploit, unless you can persuade them to let you rise again."
"But why would they choose you instead of supporting their own vassals? You were a reasonably competent Territorial Lord before, but this defeat has proved that you were nothing more than that."
"If you were the scion of some powerful clan or an elder's disciple, perhaps you'd have a chance to start over. But you're only a powerful underworld figure who began as a rogue cultivator. You've already run out of chances."
Li Chen spoke to the Centipede Daoist through the communication link, his voice steeped in sorrow.
In truth, wasn't he in exactly the same position?
Had he possessed a background like Dong Pengfei's or Yu Youxian's, one or two failures would have been mere setbacks. They could even have honed him as he pressed forward, becoming provisions for his growth and making him better.
But he had risen from the underworld. If he failed, there might be no future left for him.
The world was full of comforting sermons about persevering through a hundred setbacks. A man born between heaven and earth should indeed be indomitable, but after failure upon failure, where could he recover all those lost years and opportunities?
He... did not have such deep reserves to draw on!
Fortunately, neither did his opponent.
At