Qin Siyang asked again, "Secretary-General Qian, how long did it take you to reach your current strength?"
Qian Wendao couldn't help rolling his eyes at him. "Five years, obviously. Did you think I was like you, building a skyscraper from nothing in a single year?"
Then he added, "So, you died more than thirty times in two months? You're pretty ruthless with yourself."
Qin Siyang said, "I have ways to keep myself alive."
"Even so, you shouldn't grind like that. People ought to retain a certain fear of death."
"So, how many [primordial starshine] do you have?"
"Over a hundred."
"Then what the hell are you lecturing me for?"
Yet a trace of melancholy remained in Qian Wendao's eyes as he said slowly, "Death should be what a person fears most deep down. But because I've come close to dying so many times, that fear has been diluted considerably. You could say that I fear almost nothing now, but I also care about nothing."
Qin Siyang felt there was something more to Qian Wendao's words, but couldn't quite work it out.
Qian Wendao sighed. "Have you ever wondered why I've stayed single all this time? Is it because I don't like women? No. It's because I no longer like anything. I've become numb to most things."
"Having experienced death so many times, I've put on a pair of tinted glasses called 'nothingness.' Everything I see through them naturally takes on a shade of nothingness."
Qian Wendao let out a wistful sigh. "It feels awful."
Qin Siyang said, "In life, gains and losses always go hand in hand. This numbness you speak of is the price of growing stronger."
"Yes, the price of growing stronger..." Qian Wendao continued wistfully, "Sometimes, I rather envy Ander. All he thinks about is growing stronger,