"Cough, cough, cough."

Not far from the battlefield.

Mu Shunying sat beside a stone, the demonic qi seeping through the cloak's barrier, its decaying and destructive scent making his spirit drowsy. Yet, the recent scene was unforgettable in his mind.

"..."

He sat there, head lowered, suddenly recalling his past for some reason.

When did he start pursuing the dream of beauty?

The moment his talent first awakened?

No...

It was actually much earlier.

Forty years ago, when he was young, he first learned about the so-called "idol."

When he first saw the magnificent scene on stage and understood the concept of "beauty," that seemed to become his lifelong dream.

At sixteen, he awakened his talent and decided to pursue the path of beauty, signing with a performance company, practically mortgaging himself in the process, overcoming many hardships to finally obtain a substandard grade Face Stabilizing Pill.

A substandard grade Face Stabilizing Pill could only generally maintain bodily functions without entirely fixing a person's appearance.

But this was all the boy could achieve at the time.

Thirty years later, he had many things that his past self dared not even imagine.

But he also abandoned many things, rushing towards an unseen abyss.

Today... is this the end of my path to beauty?

The sounds of battle finally concluded. Mu Shunying then heard the slow approaching steps, the crunching sound of footsteps on dead branches and leaves.

This handsome man raised his head, looking in the direction of the incoming group—a few figures burning with clear flames were approaching him.

Apart from the three beautiful maiden subhumans, the leader was the very same beautiful young man he glimpsed earlier.

Lin Guang slowly approached him, stopping just before him.

"The Utpala Flower, right."

At this moment.

Having heard these words, if Mu Shunying still couldn't understand the causes and effects, it would be impossible indeed.

He laughed bitterly and opened his mouth with a hoarse voice: "The poison... was it you? Are you with the Spirit Alliance?"

Lin Guang first pulled out several bottles of potion, giving them to his partners, then drank one himself before calmly speaking while staring at his face: "Consider it that way."

"Why..."

"Hehe... why... why!!!"

He suddenly shouted hysterically: "Why!! Why can someone like you, born noble and strong, always shine, while I was born to walk this path!!"

"Why!!"

Mu Shunying's emotions were almost completely out of control, his face twisted: "A genius like you... what can you consider a commoner! People like you are brilliant everywhere! Beautiful!!"

"And I have to strive with everything to try, to fight, only to end up like this!!"

"I... cough, cough, cough, cough, cough!!"

He choked on his words, unable to speak further.

Behind Lin Guang, Chelina's gaze was calm, devoid of emotion.

"Pursuing beauty?"

In Vishdair's amber eyes, a hint of disdain appeared as she casually tossed the bottle backward: "Perhaps this country is too peaceful, feeding you too well, send you to Kazdail for a few mercenary days and you'll be honest."

Lisa squeezed Lin Guang's hand tightly, leaning against him. Though she didn't speak, she also seemed emotionally stirred.

And Lin Guang remained silent.

It was apparent that although the man before him was ferocious now, he truly was handsome. If he adjusted his status to the best, he would undoubtedly shine on stage.

In fact, Lin Guang had watched his performance recordings for intelligence, perceiving that almost manic pursuit and satisfaction of beauty.

Mu Shunying's partners also appeared immersed in the brilliance and display of beauty.

Even if it was due to the enslavement contract... at least at the moment they appeared together on stage with their master, they might have been happy, fulfilled.

Talent is a reflection of the soul.

And as a holder of the Utpala Flower, the desire to emit beauty was indeed Mu Shunying's nature.

He also followed this instinct onto a misguided path, leading to this outcome.

Aside from being the original buyer of the Lily, smuggling spirit beasts in the reserve, Lin Guang seemingly had no grounds to condemn his actions from a moral high ground.

But...

At this moment, Lin Guang suddenly spoke.

"Do you still remember your first initial partner?"

Mu Shunying's eyes moved.

He remembered, when he had nothing, fresh on his journey, his initial contractual partner was a Green Grade Illusory Light Butterfly.

It accompanied Mu Shunying through the toughest times.

Then, unsurprisingly, it burned out.

He was silent for a long time before coldly saying: "You're trying to say that using talent to burn a spirit beast's life is immoral behavior? The Spirit Alliance is indeed hypocritical..."

"It's the law of the jungle, I touched something of the Spirit Alliance, I admit defeat, but beyond that, I did nothing wrong!"

He took two breaths: "I've long been prepared, for beauty, there's nothing that can't be sacrificed... moreover, to them, even a moment of glory beats a muddled life—"

"No, it's unrelated to this."

Lin Guang shook his head: "You never truly had the resolve to sacrifice everything."

"...What are you saying?!"

This sentence enraged Mu Shunying.

At this moment, it seemed he had given up struggling, and Mu Shunying was no longer afraid as he roared, "You snot-nosed kid! What do you know?! Anyone in my position couldn't do better than me!!"

But Lin Guang's expression remained unchanged, as he softly uttered a sentence.

"You have never burned your own lifespan."

"…!!"

Mu Shunying froze.

"[Utpala Flower] can not only accelerate Spirit Beast growth, but is also effective for Spirit Masters themselves, and the effect is even stronger than on Spirit Beasts."

"Yet after so many years, you're still only a Four-Star. Logically, with your Talent, the Five-Star bottleneck shouldn't have stopped you."

"…How, how do you know…"

Mu Shunying's face was full of astonishment, yet Lin Guang remained indifferent, as though he knew Mu Shunying's Talent better than its bearer.

"[Utpala Flower] can even allow a Spirit Master to activate the accelerated time mode only during meditation and Spirit Pattern carving, thus maximizing the training speed while minimizing lifespan expenditure, greatly enhancing efficiency."

"But you clearly haven't done that."

"Perhaps fearing aging, perhaps fearing decay... It's just because of reasons like these."

"..."

This seemed to once again touch upon Mu Shunying's Reverse Scale, a question he had always avoided, not daring to face. His fingers clenched tightly, carving ten deep trenches into the earth, veins bulging on his forehead, as he roared:

"Yes! I fear death! Fear aging! But so what?!"

"How could a person not be afraid of such things?!"

"I am not wrong! No one! No one can blame me for this!!!"

"I—!"

"Is this beautiful?"

Lin Guang's simple and plain words abruptly halted Mu Shunying's frantic roar.

"If I had [Utpala Flower], and had to burn something in pursuit of ultimate beauty, then before burning a Contractual Partner's lifespan, I would start by burning myself."

"Someone hiding behind, enjoying false, prolonged so-called 'beauty.'"

He shook his head: "That's not beautiful at all."

Lin Guang's words left everyone present stunned.

"..." Mu Shunying's mouth opened and closed, wanting to sneer, claiming these were just big words.

But he couldn't utter a single word.

Those dark-golden eyes were so calm and indifferent, without a trace of other emotions.

Lin Guang was serious.

A Spirit Master proficient in the Equal Contract Technique to a masterful extent, indeed believed this in his heart.

The next moment, Lin Guang raised his hand, his fingertips shimmering, several Flying Needles hit him at speeds he couldn't react to.

An invisible Force Field unfolded, and the already muddled Mu Shunying suddenly felt his strength drained from his body, his eyes closing, losing consciousness.

Yet a moment later, as Lin Guang shifted his focus away from the release of True Understanding of Needle Dao, he suddenly noticed the unusual gaze from three individuals beside him.

Three maidens silently stared at him, their eyes seemed out of place, making Lin Guang's eyelid twitch, he hastily said: "If, just if. I don't have any lineage that can burn lifespan."

Vishdair stepped in front of him, placing her crimson-nailed hands on Lin Guang's shoulders, forcing him to meet her gaze, her eyes dangerous:

"No matter whether you have it or not."

"Absolutely! Not! Allowed!"

"Did you hear me!!!"

"..."

Looking at the earnest eyes of the maiden, Lin Guang was silent for a moment before suddenly smiling: "I still have countless wishes unfulfilled, how could I do such a thing?"

"Becoming stronger is merely a means to achieve this goal, I won't lose sight of the greater picture."

The atmosphere eased a lot instantly.

"You…"

Vishdair seemed to want to say something more, but Lin Guang shook his head, composed himself, and surveyed the surrounding: "Whatever it is, we'll talk later."

"First, absorb the Potion, recover status as soon as possible."

"His Sea of Spirit is sealed by me, he won't wake up for a while, don't bother with him, there are more important matters for now, don't let your guard down."

"I have a very bad premonition."

Considering the possible event, Lin Guang didn't explain, merely exhaled deeply, feeling the slowly recovering Spiritual Power in his Sea of Spirit.

Having reached this point, the three finally shifted their focus and emotions from the previous conversation, looking around, their expressions once more solemn.

Ignoring the Beast King's pressure, the concentration of Demonic Qi nearby was already thicker than during the final battle of the joint exam, with the sky darker than back then, making distant scenes hard to observe.

He even didn't know whether the fire in the outer circle had been extinguished or continued to spread in the forest.

And this was clearly caused by the Demonic Qi unleashed by the Tier Four Void Eye Demon when it was killed.

For the recently progressing Lin Guang and his team, this Void Eye Demon was indeed a formidable foe.

But that's all, weakened significantly by the Shaking Stage, it didn't pose a threat to Lin Guang.

In actuality, during the previous battle, Lin Guang didn't bring out any of the major treasures he had prepared for so long, just with hard strength, everyone managed to suppress it.

And the Demonic Qi released by this Void Eye Demon was mostly purified by the Samadhi True Fire, barely affecting everyone.

So... Since just now, Lin Guang had been pondering one matter.

Why didn't it flee after Vishdair's heavy punch wounded it?

Why did it choose to fight to the death?

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