Chen Xiaojun instinctively clenched his fists, his knuckles turning slightly white.
"Heartlessness..." Chen Xiaojun's voice was dry as he repeated that chilling word. "So the coldness and overbearing behavior I displayed weren't entirely due to my disposition, but... the backlash brought on by the Fire Division's inheritance?
"The price of 'synchronizing with Divine Descent'?"
Xiao Yi nodded gently, the flickering flames reflected in her clear eyes. "Yes, Brother Xiaojun. The Fire Division's power is the most violent. It commands nether fire and yin fire, controls blood qi and yin fiend energy. Such extreme yin fiend power inevitably takes its toll, corroding the mind and spirit terribly."
"The Fire Division's cultivation methods strip away one's emotions more ruthlessly than any other. 'Heartlessness' is a fate difficult to escape once cultivation reaches the deeper stages-the result of the scales of power falling out of balance."
Chen Xiaojun drew a deep breath, suppressing the chill in his heart and his surging thoughts.
The Metal Division's indifference to humanity, the Water Division's descent into illusions, the Earth Division's abyss of obsession-the Yin-Yang School's path to that towering summit had bottomless cliffs beneath every step.
His gaze grew utterly grave. "With dangers like these... did the Yin-Yang School's sages throughout the ages simply sit and await death, allowing those flaws to devour them? Were there no methods to defend against or resolve them?"
"How could there not be?" Xiao Yi's voice remained soft and unhurried. "That is precisely why the Eight Yin-Yang Curses were created. The Wood Division's Nine Palace Soul-Shifting Art, the Fire Division's Six-Soul Terror Curse..."
"The Six-Soul Terror Curse?" Chen Xiaojun froze. Earlier, he had even felt delighted at being able to receive the inheritance of that terrifying curse seal.
"Yes," Xiao Yi confirmed. "The world knows only its horrors. The form