The Master Craftsman of the Depths lifted his chin, arrogantly staring down at his apprentice.

“The Pacifier Creation is truly a gift from heaven. All things can be wrought by ten fingers; there is nothing it can’t do, nothing it can’t create. But its flaw lies with you. You keep reaching for things that were never there, so of course you can never grasp anything. You see and reach only for emptiness, and so everything you find is barren. That is your true nature.”

“Even now, do you still expect your doctrines of Putrefaction to shake my resolve, Master Craftsman?” Ji Jue retorted coldly. “Your words are powerless. Why not try your old trick again and see whether I’ll bow my head to you this time?!”

Jian Yuan slowly arched an eyebrow. First came confusion, then realization, followed by undisguised mockery. At last, he could no longer hold back. He threw his head back and laughed until tears filled his eyes.

“So that’s how it is! I see now! Ha… Hahaha… Hahahahaha… Hahahahahaha! There’s something I forgot to tell you. Perhaps you misunderstood. The Illumination Rite you underwent earlier wasn’t an esoteric ritual of the Putrefaction Path.” 

He paused, his smile growing more vicious. “On the contrary, it was the very essence of the Ember Path, passed down over thousands of years! Even I, the one presiding over the rite, don’t know what you saw. What it reflected was the future you wished to see, the world you wished to create. It showed you the path you truly wanted to follow. So what exactly did you see? Destruction, death?!”

Ji Jue remained completely unmoved,...