At Si Chen's words, Taichu toyed with a black stone between his slender fingers, leaving it unplayed for a long while.
"You actually enjoy things as they are now, don't you?"
He said indifferently, "Watching them risk their lives over a single word from you, watching them worship you like a savior."
"Does this illusion of being needed, of being surrounded by admirers, give you some hollow satisfaction?"
Taichu gently placed the black stone on the board.
"How is that not another kind of arrogance?"
"It's just that my arrogance lies in destruction, while yours lies in believing you can empathize with ants."
"And you, who flaunt your so-called humanity, are greedier than I am."
Faced with these words, Si Chen looked at his other self in some surprise.
After a long moment, he shook his head with a chuckle and leisurely sipped his tea.
"Arrogance...?"
"...Perhaps."
Taichu's brow furrowed slightly. Then he coldly averted his gaze and said no more.
Born from the same source, neither could convince the other. Only the outcome could prove whose "arrogance" was the ultimate truth.
Bang!
Si Shuo's body was sent flying backward once again.
"Cough, cough..."
He coughed violently, great mouthfuls of blood pouring from his mouth and staining his already tattered robes red.
Although he had cultivated the Nine Tribulations Thunder Body to its limit, it still could not bridge the gap in cultivation. His body was already covered in wounds.
"Go crawling back to your Undying Mountain," Jiang Ling said coldly, holding a short blade that still dripped blood.
"Si Shuo, for the sake of those decades we shared, this is the last time I'll show you mercy."
She lightly flicked the blood off her blade. "Dare stand in my way again, and my next strike will take your