Chapter 172: Too Late

"Shao Pincheng, tell me, where exactly does your power come from?"

Quietly listening to the end of Shao Pincheng's nonsense, Shen Yu sighed softly; the environment can always silently change a person.

A youth who originally thought of acting with chivalry and righteousness ended up becoming one of the sources of chaos in the World; one can only say it is a matter of time and fate.

The times can create heroes, but can also push heroes one by one into the abyss, turning them into villains who commit all kinds of evil.

If one does not know another's suffering, how can one blame them? If it were Shen Yu himself reduced to that state, he would not dare guarantee that he could certainly hold fast to his original heart.

It is easy to talk big, but how many can truly hold their ground when they actually encounter it? How many can remain unstained after emerging from the mud?

Shen Yu's evaluation of himself has always been very objective; he is just an ordinary person, and even after obtaining such strong power, he remains an ordinary person.

He gets angry, has a temper, and is not someone whose heart is like still water or an ancient, waveless well.

"Shen Yu, Magistrate Shen, you want to know where the source is, but I won't tell you!"

Raising his head, a trace of a smile appeared on Shao Pincheng's face, seemingly proud that he could finally hold something over Shen Yu.

The person before him is so lucky it makes people jealous, makes people envious. He wants to know where the source is, but he just won't tell him.

Whether he is angry or annoyed, what does it have to do with him!

"Shao Pincheng, when a person is about to die, their words are good; are you unwilling to have even a final bit of kindness?"

"Don't waste your effort, I won't say it! I fell into the darkness long ago. Kindness? Haha, how ridiculous!"

"I did have it back then, but it's long gone now; I don't know in which corner it was thrown away!"

"Maybe it was sucked away by my master back then, or maybe it was lost in that drafty, dilapidated temple where I stayed when I was a beggar in the dead of winter!"

"Perhaps it was lost when I was a refugee wandering everywhere, kneeling before those rich people and kowtowing desperately to beg, only to get a sound beating in return."

"Who knows?"

"Shen Yu, since I am doomed to die, why not let more people be buried with me? There is so much suffering in this World, wouldn't it be better to let those ordinary lowly people be liberated early!"

Feeling his life force rapidly fading, Shao Pincheng knew his time was running out. He was like a sieve now, leaking everywhere.

His meager life force and internal energy were dissipating at a speed visible to the naked eye; this feeling of quietly waiting for death was truly unpleasant.

Knowing he was bound to die, the last thing in his heart was not some prodigal returning to the right path, but madness and venting.

Why should he have to endure all this suffering alone? Why did he have to encounter these things!

"Shao Pincheng, you!" He had originally thought that this guy would have some reflections after recalling his past and would know what it meant for a prodigal to return to the right path.

It turns out you've been babbling at me for so long without awakening any conscience; it was a waste of me listening to you for so long.

"Magistrate Shen is angry? Haha!" The more Shen Yu cared, the more triumphant Shao Pincheng seemed to be.

"The suffering of us ordinary people, someone like you, Shen Yu, will never understand."

"You only grow up in smooth sailing, becoming great heroes that people admire, and then stand on the moral high ground to point fingers at others."

"Little do you know what others have experienced, what kind of pain and past they have had. We were never willing to fall into the darkness, but we had no choice. If we aren't dark, we die!"

"Since we must be dark, then we will walk that path to the end; at least more people can be buried with us, and we won't have died in vain!"

"You really are incorrigible!" Life force surged into his body, and Shao Pincheng, who had only one breath left, had that breath forcibly sustained by Shen Yu.

It was just that this sieve-like body had holes that were getting bigger and bigger, and it couldn't last long at all.

He had to find a way to locate this source and cut it off. He had the Heaven and Earth Lock in his hand now; if it really came to it, he would use the Heaven and Earth Lock to lock that place directly and prevent these negative energies from flowing out.

He would retract the Heaven and Earth Lock into his own body to seal his surroundings so that he would not be invaded by anything.

The Heaven and Earth Lock had just locked Shao Pincheng, but he hadn't expected to almost get hit by the trick anyway, which was enough to prove how difficult this negative energy was.

It was clearly able to continuously absorb power from Shao Pincheng's body for its own use, which proved that this negative energy had completely merged with him.

But in the end, the Heaven and Earth Lock locked onto nothing; it wasn't that the Heaven and Earth Lock had failed, but that this Mental Power was not attached to Shao Pincheng at all.

Therefore, the Heaven and Earth Lock only locked Shao Pincheng, but it did not lock this strange negative energy.

When it needed to, it would quietly merge with him, absorbing Shao Pincheng's origin as if sucking marrow and breaking bones.

When it didn't need to, it would separate from Shao Pincheng and never attach itself to him. In this way, even if there was danger, Shao Pincheng would be the only one bearing it.

Even if Shao Pincheng were beaten to death, it wouldn't be harmed in the slightest, and it could calmly choose someone else to continue invading and deceiving.

It seemed this negative energy was not only extremely terrifying but also quite intelligent, knowing how to seek advantages and avoid harm.

This was absolutely not ordinary energy; there might be some kind of Mental Power inside it, or it might simply be the split origin of some person.

Shao Pincheng was right about one thing: there are countless experts in the world, and secret arts emerge one after another; it is not strange to have any kind of secret art.

Shen Yu had actually heard of secret arts like this one, where a part of one's origin is split off to attach to others, constantly absorbing their power to strengthen oneself.

However, the effects and influence of the secret arts he had heard of were far from being as terrifying as this one.

This negative energy not only attached to others but could also split and continue to absorb and strengthen itself by absorbing various negative emotions and negative energies.

Such characteristics appeared quite terrifying and were far from comparable to ordinary secret arts.

Are there many people like Shao Pincheng who bow their heads for power and stop at nothing for power? Yes, and they are countless!

For the sake of power, there are plenty of people willing to rack their brains to squeeze the common people, stopping at nothing to incite the negative energy in their hearts, so as to obtain a continuous supply of power to improve themselves.

This world of martial arts is indeed not friendly; if possible, there are too many people who would even be willing to pay with their souls, their dignity, everything.

Shen Yu had seen too many such people; for the sake of power, they could even inhumanely kill their wives and children, and could willingly act as dogs for others, wagging their tails and begging for pity.

This World has always been about strength; having big fists is the hard truth, and having strong power brings status and honor.

So-called moral chivalry seems to be nothing more than a fig leaf for a group of martial artists; it's just that some are willing to use this fig leaf to cover up, while others are too lazy to pretend.

If you take away these fig leaves, you will find that the vast majority of people are ugly and selfish, and behind their upright and magnificent appearances hide disgusting faces.

"Perhaps, I can try other methods!"

Suddenly, Shen Yu seemed to have thought of something, and his Mental Power thrust fiercely into Shao Pincheng's sea of consciousness.

What really worried him was how much of this negative energy, which could split like a source, had been spread out.

Based on his understanding of the nature of this group of people in the martial arts world, since this negative energy had such characteristics, people would naturally flock to it, and even if they knew Shao Pincheng's fate, there would still be countless people who would do it.

Power is always capable of driving people mad.

Therefore, the best method is to find the source and cut it off!

It is a pity that just a moment ago, he erupted with too much force, directly annihilating this strand of negative energy.

Otherwise, as long as there was even a tiny bit of spiritual connection, he would have been able to find the other party's location.

He intended to use an Illusion Technique to force Shao Pincheng to speak, though this was merely a probe to test whether his guess was true.

Just at this moment, Shao Pincheng's Spiritual Sea exploded instantly, as if it had been wiped clean in the blink of an eye.

"Just as I thought!"

That power which triggered Shao Pincheng's Spiritual Sea seemed high and unreachable. It felt indescribable, possessing a terrifying dread that made one's heart palpitate.

Although it flashed by and vanished rapidly, he still managed to barely capture a tiny trace of it, and his gaze could not help but look toward the distance.

In normal times, this power completely belonged to him, but when it encountered spiritual stimulation and forced probing of Shao Pincheng's memories, it would detonate the Spiritual Sea.

Shao Pincheng never knew that every bit of power he obtained, while appearing to be his own, did not actually belong to him at all.

Such a Chess Piece was intended to be used as a discarded pawn from the very beginning.

"What a pity. A person must respect themselves before others will respect them; to remain unrepentant until the very end, he is truly beyond saving!"