3472

“All the stars are burning…”

The young man held his breath and looked up.

But there were no stars in the dark sky.

This was a world without stars in the first place.

However, the young man vaguely remembered that billions of stars were shining in the dream made of devils, the world where the federation, the imperium, and the Holy Alliance were at war.

The endless brilliance of the stars was deeply engraved in the young man’s soul, making him feel suffocated when he saw the dark sky above his head.

“What are the gods fighting for?” Gus mumbled.

“What are mortals fighting for?

Lu Qingchen shrugged and said, “Love, hate, conflict of interest, survival, and destruction are all the reasons. In the final analysis, the deities in your eyes are the mortals in a higher dimension. What’s the difference between human beings and deities?

Gus did not understand.

He could only ask more specifically, “So, do you have a grudge with the Fist God?”

“There is no grudge between me and the Fist King. However, in the Great War of Gods and Demons, the Fist King is on my mentor’s side, and I am on my mentor’s opposite side. We can only fight to the bitter end.

Although it was ‘to the death’, Lu Qingchen still put on a smile when he talked about his mentor.

“Your teacher?”

Gus was surprised.

He had never thought that devils had mentors.

What would a devil’s tutor look like? A big devil with a green face and sharp teeth?

Gus asked cautiously, “Is your tutor… a bad guy?”

“No. My mentor, ‘Li Yao’, is a great man. I’ve never seen a man as courageous, hot-blooded, and righteous as him. He was still pure-hearted when he was hundreds of years old, and he never forgot his original purpose.

At the mention of the name ‘Li Yao’, the smile on Lu Qingchen’s face grew even wider, if not with a hint of affection. “I’ve learned from countless invincible existences in the sea of stars and even absorbed the strength of many top experts. But the only teacher that I acknowledge, respect, and love is always Li Yao. There is no doubt about that.

“…”

Gus did not understand. “Well, if you love your mentor so much, why do you want to make an enemy out of him and the boxing champion?

Gus wanted to say, “Have you been banished from the sect because of your evil nature and your desire to become a devil?”

Besides, judging from Lu Qingchen’s sincere love for Li Yao, it did not seem to be ‘degenerate’ or ‘betrayal’.

“That’s because 99% of the problems in the universe cannot be solved by ‘hot blood’, ‘bravery’, or ‘justice’. In the boundless, perilous universe, the more you persist in hot blood, courage, and justice, the faster you will die. Therefore, the more my dear teacher Li Yao radiates his brilliance, the more he will drag the federation and even the entire civilization that he loves together with me into a dead end. Do you understand the logic?”

Lu Qingchen thought for a moment and gestured as he explained, “Let’s say that you are a six-year-old child living in a village that is full of vipers. One day, you encountered a viper on the road, and you were filled with a sense of justice. You summoned a hundredfold of your courage, waved a small branch, and charged forward. The viper was killed, but you were unharmed. Why do you think that is?”

Gus was dazed for a moment, before he replied, “It’s very difficult for a six-year-old child to kill a venomous snake unless they are a gifted fist art genius, right? Not to mention killing it with a small branch. Either I’m very lucky, or the venomous snake is already dead, or it has just woken up from hibernation and is half dead.”

“That’s right. For a six-year-old to be able to kill a venomous snake, it was either luck or the snake was dying in the first place. Whatever the reason was, it had nothing to do with his hot blood, courage, or sense of justice.

Lu Qingchen continued, “However, if, after you kill the venomous snakes, you mistakenly believe that the reason for your victory is hot blood, courage, and justice. You even mistakenly believe that, as long as you have hot blood, courage, and justice, you can kill even more venomous snakes.

“Then, you will proudly return to the village with the dead body of the viper and show it to your friends. You will also call on all your friends to summon their hot blood, courage, and justice so that they can hunt the viper together with you and clear the way out of the mountain. Do you think that your behavior is ‘righteous’ or ‘evil’? Are you a ‘god’ or a ‘devil’?”

Gus was speechless.

“Or rather, ‘demon of justice’?”

Lu Qingchen replied with a smile, “My mentor, Li Yao, is such a ‘demon of justice’. What is more terrifying is that he is also a ‘demon of justice’ who is very lucky.

“It’s still the same as before. Under normal circumstances, even if you can incite two or three of your little friends to go up the mountain with you to hunt snakes, very soon, you will encounter even more venomous, larger, and fiercer snakes that will bite you or your two or three little friends to death. Then, at most, you will suffer a loss of two or three children. More children will obediently stay in the village, but their lives will be saved.

“But you were so lucky that you ran into a second, a third, and a fourth half-dead viper. They were all killed by you easily.

“Even if a snake bites you, it will be a harmless snake because of your unbelievable luck.

“Moreover, because of your rare body constitution, most of the snake venom has no effect on you. Or rather, when the venom was about to take effect, you accidentally ate some herbs that could neutralize the venom and absorbed its power.

“Now, you are even more awesome. You and your friends will proudly carry dozens of dead snakes back to the village to show off your achievements. Right now, not just the children, even all the adults believe that, as long as you have ‘hot blood, courage, and justice’, you will be immune to all kinds of poison. You will be able to fight your way out of thousands of venomous snakes. Even if you are bitten by a venomous snake, as long as you persist in justice, the poison will allow you to advance and possess greater strength.

“Alright. Everybody in the village has been encouraged by you and even demolished the village. All the assets have been modified into weapons. They are ready to fight the billions of vipers outside to the death. Gus, what do you think will be the ending of the village?”

“Well…”

Gus was silent for a long time. Then he sighed and said, “We can’t be so lucky all the time. Too many mountain roads will lead to ghosts and deadly vipers. Eventually, all the villagers will be killed.

“All the stars are burning…”

The young man held his breath and looked up.

But there were no stars in the dark sky.

This was a world without stars in the first place.

However, the young man vaguely remembered that billions of stars were shining in the dream made of devils, the world where the federation, the imperium, and the Holy Alliance were at war.

The endless brilliance of the stars was deeply engraved in the young man’s soul, making him feel suffocated when he saw the dark sky above his head.

“What are the gods fighting for?” Gus mumbled.

“What are mortals fighting for?

Lu Qingchen shrugged and said, “Love, hate, conflict of interest, survival, and destruction are all the reasons. In the final analysis, the deities in your eyes are the mortals in a higher dimension. What’s the difference between human beings and deities?

Gus did not understand.

He could only ask more specifically, “So, do you have a grudge with the Fist God?”

“There is no grudge between me and the Fist King. However, in the Great War of Gods and Demons, the Fist King is on my mentor’s side, and I am on my mentor’s opposite side. We can only fight to the bitter end.

Although it was ‘to the death’, Lu Qingchen still put on a smile when he talked about his mentor.

“Your teacher?”

Gus was surprised.

He had never thought that devils had mentors.

What would a devil’s tutor look like? A big devil with a green face and sharp teeth?

Gus asked cautiously, “Is your tutor… a bad guy?”

“No. My mentor, ‘Li Yao’, is a great man. I’ve never seen a man as courageous, hot-blooded, and righteous as him. He was still pure-hearted when he was hundreds of years old, and he never forgot his original purpose.

At the mention of the name ‘Li Yao’, the smile on Lu Qingchen’s face grew even wider, if not with a hint of affection. “I’ve learned from countless invincible existences in the sea of stars and even absorbed the strength of many top experts. But the only teacher that I acknowledge, respect, and love is always Li Yao. There is no doubt about that.

“…”

Gus did not understand. “Well, if you love your mentor so much, why do you want to make an enemy out of him and the boxing champion?

Gus wanted to say, “Have you been banished from the sect because of your evil nature and your desire to become a devil?”

Besides, judging from Lu Qingchen’s sincere love for Li Yao, it did not seem to be ‘degenerate’ or ‘betrayal’.

“That’s because 99% of the problems in the universe cannot be solved by ‘hot blood’, ‘bravery’, or ‘justice’. In the boundless, perilous universe, the more you persist in hot blood, courage, and justice, the faster you will die. Therefore, the more my dear teacher Li Yao radiates his brilliance, the more he will drag the federation and even the entire civilization that he loves together with me into a dead end. Do you understand the logic?”

Lu Qingchen thought for a moment and gestured as he explained, “Let’s say that you are a six-year-old child living in a village that is full of vipers. One day, you encountered a viper on the road, and you were filled with a sense of justice. You summoned a hundredfold of your courage, waved a small branch, and charged forward. The viper was killed, but you were unharmed. Why do you think that is?”

Gus was dazed for a moment, before he replied, “It’s very difficult for a six-year-old child to kill a venomous snake unless they are a gifted fist art genius, right? Not to mention killing it with a small branch. Either I’m very lucky, or the venomous snake is already dead, or it has just woken up from hibernation and is half dead.”

“That’s right. For a six-year-old to be able to kill a venomous snake, it was either luck or the snake was dying in the first place. Whatever the reason was, it had nothing to do with his hot blood, courage, or sense of justice.

Lu Qingchen continued, “However, if, after you kill the venomous snakes, you mistakenly believe that the reason for your victory is hot blood, courage, and justice. You even mistakenly believe that, as long as you have hot blood, courage, and justice, you can kill even more venomous snakes.

“Then, you will proudly return to the village with the dead body of the viper and show it to your friends. You will also call on all your friends to summon their hot blood, courage, and justice so that they can hunt the viper together with you and clear the way out of the mountain. Do you think that your behavior is ‘righteous’ or ‘evil’? Are you a ‘god’ or a ‘devil’?”

Gus was speechless.

“Or rather, ‘demon of justice’?”

Lu Qingchen replied with a smile, “My mentor, Li Yao, is such a ‘demon of justice’. What is more terrifying is that he is also a ‘demon of justice’ who is very lucky.

“It’s still the same as before. Under normal circumstances, even if you can incite two or three of your little friends to go up the mountain with you to hunt snakes, very soon, you will encounter even more venomous, larger, and fiercer snakes that will bite you or your two or three little friends to death. Then, at most, you will suffer a loss of two or three children. More children will obediently stay in the village, but their lives will be saved.

“But you were so lucky that you ran into a second, a third, and a fourth half-dead viper. They were all killed by you easily.

“Even if a snake bites you, it will be a harmless snake because of your unbelievable luck.

“Moreover, because of your rare body constitution, most of the snake venom has no effect on you. Or rather, when the venom was about to take effect, you accidentally ate some herbs that could neutralize the venom and absorbed its power.

“Now, you are even more awesome. You and your friends will proudly carry dozens of dead snakes back to the village to show off your achievements. Right now, not just the children, even all the adults believe that, as long as you have ‘hot blood, courage, and justice’, you will be immune to all kinds of poison. You will be able to fight your way out of thousands of venomous snakes. Even if you are bitten by a venomous snake, as long as you persist in justice, the poison will allow you to advance and possess greater strength.

“Alright. Everybody in the village has been encouraged by you and even demolished the village. All the assets have been modified into weapons. They are ready to fight the billions of vipers outside to the death. Gus, what do you think will be the ending of the village?”

“Well…”

Gus was silent for a long time. Then he sighed and said, “We can’t be so lucky all the time. Too many mountain roads will lead to ghosts and deadly vipers. Eventually, all the villagers will be killed.