Chapter 553: Choice

"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 change a person in silence.

A youth who originally thought of upholding justice and chivalry 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 they 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 firm 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 is still an ordinary person.

He gets angry, has a temper, and is not at all like still water or a calm, ancient 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 green with envy. 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 already fell into the darkness long ago. Kindness? Haha, how ridiculous!"

"I certainly had it back then, but now it's long gone; 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 just to beg for a single beating."

"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!"

Feeling his life slipping away rapidly, Shao Pincheng knew he did not have much time left. He was now like a sieve, leaking from everywhere.

His remaining vitality 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 certain to die, the last thing in his heart was not some prodigal returning, but madness and venting.

Why should he have to endure all this suffering alone? Why did he have to be the one to encounter all this!

"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.

It turns out you've been babbling to me for so long, and not a shred of conscience was awakened; 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 criticize 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 have to be dark, then we will walk that path to the end; at least there can be more people to be buried with us, we won't have died in vain!"

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

But this sieve-like body had holes that were getting larger and larger; it simply could not last long.

He had to find a way to locate this source and pinch 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, preventing these negative energies from flowing out.

He retracted the Heaven and Earth Lock into his own body to seal his surroundings, so as to ensure he would not be invaded by anything.

Just now, the Heaven and Earth Lock had locked Shao Pincheng, but he had not expected to still almost fall for the trick, which was enough to prove how difficult this negative energy was to deal with.

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 fused with him.

Yet, the Heaven and Earth Lock had locked onto nothing; it was not 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 was needed, it would quietly fuse with him, absorbing Shao Pincheng's origin like marrow-sucking and bone-scraping.

When it was not needed, 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 one bearing it alone.

Even if Shao Pincheng were beaten to death by someone, it would absolutely not hurt it in the slightest, and it could calmly choose someone else to continue invading and deceiving.

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

This was by no means ordinary energy; there might be some kind of mental power within 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 itself to others but could also split and continuously absorb and strengthen itself by absorbing various negative emotions and negative energies.

Such characteristics made it appear quite terrifying, far beyond what ordinary secret arts could compare to.

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 one removes these fig leaves, one will find that the vast majority of people are ugly and selfish, and behind the upright and magnificent facade hide faces that are nauseating.

"Perhaps, I can try other methods!"

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

What really worried him was how much of this source-like, splittable negative energy had been spread out.

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

Power can always make people crazy.

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

It is a pity that just a moment ago, he erupted too fiercely and directly annihilated this surge 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 wanted to use an Illusion Technique to force Shao Pincheng to speak, but this was only a test, a test to see if his guess was true.

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

"Just as expected!"

That bit of power that triggered Shao Pincheng's Spiritual Sea seemed unreachable. It was as if it were indescribable, possessing a heart-palpitating, great terror.

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

In normal times, this power completely belonged to him, but when encountering mental stimulation that forcibly probed 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!"