61: Chapter 61 Are they worthy? Self-denial!

The inner demon figure held up a finger.

"First question, what was your original spiritual root grade?"

Li Han's expression remained unchanged.

"Rank 8 Spirit Root."

"Rank 8 Spirit Root."

The little figure repeated it, its tone carrying an extremely acerbic playfulness.

"Then the second question, what is your spiritual root grade now?"

"First-Grade Spirit Root."

"First-Grade Spirit Root."

The little figure's smile deepened.

"From Rank 8 to First Grade, crossing seven major grades—that's really something."

"Now, here comes the third question."

The inner demon figure lunged toward Li Han, its voice becoming incomparably sharp.

"From trash at the bottom of the cultivation world to the number one genius of the Southern Wilderness, all of this... did you really fight for it yourself?!"

Silence.

In the white void, only the voice of that three-inch figure echoed.

Li Han did not answer immediately.

"Answer me!"

The figure stood up abruptly.

"That Rank 8 trash spirit root of yours—who was it that cleansed your marrow and cut your bones, tempering it step by step to the First Grade?"

"Was it you?"

"No."

The figure's voice was as sharp as a knife.

"It was your teacher."

"It was that ancient remnant soul hidden in the ancient ring."

"It was he who used his own origin energy to wash your meridians over and over again."

"It was he who passed down ancient secret techniques, teaching you how to forcibly mutate your spiritual root with external forces."

"It was he who guided you to find those heaven-defying treasures to temper your spiritual root."

"Without him, your spiritual root would always be Rank 8."

"You would forever just be that trash rogue cultivator in a remote small country in the Far South who might not even be able to break through the Qi Refining Stage!"

Li Han's lips were pressed into a thin line.

His fingers trembled slightly.

Because, every word the inner demon said was the truth!

...

"Let us continue."

The three-inch figure paced in the void, its voice unhurried, carrying the composure of someone interrogating a prisoner.

"Taihuang Secret Realm."

"How did you escape from the encirclement of six Foundation Establishment cultivators?"

"Was it your own ability?"

Li Han was silent.

"It was your teacher who, at the critical moment, burned his origin to trigger a full-power outburst of the peak Foundation Establishment stage for you."

"Altar inheritance."

"How did you avoid the detection of those geniuses, sneak into the depths of the main hall, and find the life gate of the formation?"

"Did you figure that out yourself?"

Still silence.

"It was your teacher who, relying on ancient memories, guided you step by step to step on every formation node."

"Without his guidance, you wouldn't even have been able to pass the first restriction of the main hall."

"You would have been shredded into meat paste like those ordinary rogue cultivators, not leaving even a scrap behind."

The figure's voice grew sharper and more acerbic.

"Golden Core formation."

"How was your First-Grade Golden Core formed?"

"Did you form it relying on your Rank 8 trash spirit root?!"

"No!"

"It was your teacher who first helped you temper your spiritual root to the First Grade, and then taught you the Golden Core formation method from the Nascent Soul inheritance hand-in-hand!"

"Every step of the cultivation technique's circulation route, every key node of true energy condensation—it was all calculated for you by him!"

"You were merely following his lead!"

The little figure stopped, turned around, and those pitch-black eyes stared fixedly at Li Han.

"Your cultivation level was given by him."

"Your spiritual root was refined by him."

"Your inheritance was obtained with his help."

"Your Golden Core was formed because he taught you."

"Everything you have lived to see today is entirely because he blocked one fatal crisis after another for you behind the scenes!"

"The six-man encirclement in the Taihuang Secret Realm—he burned his essence for you."

"Being hunted by various major sects during the Golden Core Stage—his Profound Heaven Spirit Treasure concealed the secrets of heaven for you."

"Even—"

The figure's voice suddenly lowered, whispering.

"Even the heavenly tribulation just now."

"The last and fiercest bolt of lightning in the Six-Nine Heavenly Tribulation was also blocked by him burning his final origin energy for you."

"Could you have endured it yourself?"

"You could not."

"Without him, you would have long since been blasted into ashes by the heavenly lightning."

In the white void, it was extremely quiet.

Li Han stood there without a word, his expression having completely changed.

His face was no longer the cold hardness and disdain he showed when facing the tragic death of loved ones or the temptation of lust.

Instead, it was a... wavering that surged from the depths of his soul.

Because for the previous three trials, he could respond with "I accept it."

The death of his loved ones—he accepted it. That was cause and effect; he was powerless to change it.

The temptation of lust—he disdained it. That was a low-level illusion, not worth mentioning.

The fear of death—he had overcome it. Having survived death countless times, he had long since taken life and death lightly.

But this time.

The inner demon was no longer asking what he had lost, nor what he feared.

The inner demon was asking: Did he deserve it?

He, Li Han, standing at this height today.

First-Grade Spirit Root, First-Grade Golden Core, about to step into the Nascent Soul stage.

Of all this, how much... did he fight for himself?

...

"You won't answer?"

The three-inch figure's voice echoed in the void.

"Then I will answer for you."

"The answer is... none."

"Everything about you, Li Han, from beginning to end, came from that remnant soul teacher."

"You are nothing more than a vessel chosen by him."

"A trash vessel with a Rank 8 Spirit Root."

"He needed a young body to continue his legacy, and you just happened to pick up that ring."

"That is all."

"You think you are the Child of Destiny?"

"You think you are blessed with great fortune?"

The figure let out an extremely sharp sneer.

"Your fortune is merely an ancient monster's remnant soul taking a fancy to this flesh body of yours that he could use."

"Any other person who picked up that ring could have reached the point you are at today."

"Perhaps even further."

"Because others might not have had a Rank 8 Spirit Root."

"Others might not have needed a teacher to expend so much origin to temper it."

"Others might have been able to endure the heavenly tribulation themselves, without needing a teacher to burn their final life force to block the lightning for them."

"And you, Li Han... you are not only not a genius."

"You are the worst of all the people who could have been chosen."

"The most trash-like one."

Every word was like a ruthless nail, precisely driven into the cracks of Li Han's Dao Heart.

Li Han's breathing began to become rapid.

He wanted to refute.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say it was wrong.

Wanting to say that he also put in the effort.

Wanting to say that those life-and-death struggles in desperate situations—weren't those endured by himself?

But the words reached his lips and he couldn't say them.

Because a voice echoed in the depths of his mind.

Those desperate situations...

If the teacher hadn't intervened at critical moments, could you really have survived?

The six-man encirclement in the Taihuang Secret Realm.

The pursuit by various major sects during the Golden Core Stage.

Of those so-called "narrow escapes from death," which one wasn't backed by his teacher covering for him?

He thought he was dancing on the tip of a knife.

But in fact...

There had always been a net under the knife tip.

That net was his teacher.

"Look at yourself now."

The three-inch figure floated in front of Li Han, close enough to almost touch his nose.

"You are trembling."

"Facing the tragic death of your parents before, you did not tremble."

"Facing the bones of your beloved, you did not tremble."

"Facing the thirty-six bolts of heavenly lightning, you did not tremble."

"But now, I have only said a few truths, and you have started to tremble."

"Do you know why?"

The figure stretched out a finger and gently tapped Li Han's chest.

"Because you know it yourself."

"You have always known it in your heart."

"You are merely a dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant."

"Once the giant falls, you are nothing."

"And your giant..."

The figure's voice became extremely cold.

"When he was blocking the heavenly lightning for you just now, he burned his very last trace of origin."

"He is about to dissipate."

"Or rather, he has already dissipated."

This sentence was like a knife, splitting open Li Han's final line of defense.

"No..."

Li Han finally made a sound.

His voice was hoarse, carrying a fear that surged from his very bones.

This fear was not a fear of death, but the fear of losing his reliance.

The figure's voice coiled up like a venomous snake.

"You can conquer death."

"You can let go of your loved ones."

"You can ignore beauty."

"But you have no way to face yourself without your teacher."

"Because without your teacher, you are nothing."

"A Rank 8 Spirit Root trash, an ant that might not even be able to break through the Qi Refining Stage."

"All your achievements, all your glory, all your legends in this life... are nothing more than alms given to you by others."

"You... do not have the qualifications to stand at this height."

"You simply do not deserve it!"

Li Han's knees began to go soft.

His true energy churned violently in his body, and the fragments of his shattered Golden Core began to tremble uncontrollably.

The scars on his Dao Heart, which he had meticulously repaired for one hundred years, were reopened by the inner demon in the most cruel way at this moment.

No.

It wasn't reopening old wounds.

What the inner demon tore open was a crack he had never dared to face, hidden beneath all the scars—the deepest one.

Self-doubt.

He had never dared to ask himself this question.

He used slaughter to avoid it, used cultivation to escape it, and used victory after victory to numb himself.

But in the deepest part of his heart, in the corner he was unwilling to touch.

A venomous snake had always been coiled there.

The name of that venomous snake was—

Denying Oneself!

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