Chapter 723: How High is the Sky

"Deceiving yourself? Are you talking about me?"

The group looked up; Dong Yu appeared calm and unruffled, seemingly not angry at all because of Shen Yu's words, as open and honest as a gentleman.

And the aura on his body was, as always, vast and upright, without the slightest hint of darkness.

"I help others without asking for anything in return, and the world often misunderstands me. But that is also normal; human nature is inherently selfish, and in their eyes, a fool like me cannot exist."

"I also won't care how others see me or what they say. I am who I am, and I will not change because of others' misunderstandings!"

As he spoke, Dong Yu looked at Shen Yu, and Shen Yu also looked at him; their gazes met.

In that momentary eye contact, both sides seemed to see what the other intended to express.

In Dong Yu's eyes, Shen Yu could not see a single flaw; it was as upright and persistent as ever.

Yet in Shen Yu's eyes, Dong Yu saw affirmation, as if he had completely determined his character. Moreover, the wariness and apprehension in those eyes explained everything.

Such a gaze meant that the other party already had an answer in his heart and was deeply convinced of it.

Facing such a gaze, Dong Yu couldn't help but smile lightly; he didn't even know when he had revealed a flaw.

One must know that even he himself, before absorbing all of Xue Sha's power and soul, was completely unaware of his own dark past.

That memory had been sealed in the deepest part of his soul; only when the powers of both were completely fused would this memory be activated, and only then would he find the real himself.

To deceive others, one must first deceive oneself. Before this, he had always thought he was that kind of selfless and fearless person, and had always strived for it.

Until the moment before devouring Xue Sha, he was still thinking about how to benefit all living things, how to atone for his sins.

So, everything he showed before this was not a disguise, but completely from the heart; how could feelings that came from the heart not influence others?

Originally, he had already succeeded; he could feel that the gaze the young man opposite him had used to look at him before was one of sincere admiration, clearly full of respect for such a selfless spirit.

But now, there was only wariness in his eyes.

This meant that the other party had seen the flaw just in this instant.

He just hadn't expected that today's young people would be so clever, seeing the flaw at a single glance.

He had transformed in an instant, his memory had just awakened, yet the other party had immediately noticed; it was almost excessively clever.

Did they not know the principle that those who are too wise are easily broken? People who are too smart usually don't live long.

"When did you see it?"

After staring at each other for a long while, Dong Yu suddenly laughed, the laughter as open and honest as before, only it held a few other things.

"A truly selfless person, whose heart is unstained by dust, who can let go of all obsessions. Just like how you acted before, no matter how others treat you, you wouldn't take it to heart."

"Since that is the case, then how could you give birth to such evil knowledge, and how could you devour her without hesitation, without a shred of pity, even somewhat impatiently?"

"That is because you have darkness in your heart; you are by no means as unstained as you say, and even less truly selfless."

"People can deceive others, and they can deceive themselves, but some things cannot be hidden."

"Indeed!" Shaking his head helplessly, Dong Yu then said indifferently, "Young man, some things, if they aren't uncovered, you could have lived a little longer!"

"Why are you so eager to die!" With a light wave of his hand, an invisible force immediately restrained Shen Yu.

That power was not strong, yet it made one unable to resist or break free.

For a time, Shen Yu tried many methods, exhausting all his strength, but still returned empty-handed.

Facing such a struggle, Dong Yu was not in the least bit anxious; instead, he gave a contemptuous smile, watching him like a spectator, as if mocking his ignorance.

Today's young people are smart, but they are just a bit too impatient; such people cannot live long.

"How could you possibly break through my restraint? I advise you to save some energy."

"Hmph!" With a soft snort, Shen Yu continued to work silently, though it couldn't be seen on the surface. However, this little trick probably wouldn't fool an old monster like Dong Yu.

"You old monsters are truly terrifying; you disguise yourselves so well that you even deceive yourselves."

No wonder all kinds of legends are full of fear for these old monsters; these damn things are not only vicious and merciless but also full of tricks—one careless step and you fall into a pit.

He had almost believed the other party before; he also blamed himself for relying too much on external objects—the Compass in his hand still hadn't had any reaction.

Is this piece of junk broken? The guy in front of him is so obvious; he is clearly an old monster who doesn't know how many years he has lived.

"Old monster?" This title made Dong Yu somewhat stunned, but then he laughed again, "What you say is right; I have indeed lived for many years."

"But I assume you are talking about those trash who were affected by Spirit Qi and only know how to kill?"

"I was once one of them, sleeping time and again and waking up time and again, racking my brains just to fight for that glimmer of survival."

"Thinking about it now, how ridiculous. I am already different from them; I have broken free from the shackles. Now, those ants who lose their sanity once they recover their full strength—how can they be mentioned in the same breath as me?"

"Different?" Seeming to have grasped something, Shen Yu frowned slightly. No wonder the Compass had no reaction; it turned out they were fundamentally different.

The other party was not one of those old monsters who only knew how to kill; he had reason and thoughts, yet he was more terrifying than those old monsters.

Just as Shen Yu was deep in thought, Dong Yu had already walked in front of him, a pair of greedy eyes looking him up and down.

"What a good body; soon it will belong to me!"

Such a greedy expression, along with the dangerous aura revealed in that instant, made Shen Yu's hair stand on end.

I knew it, there isn't one of these old monsters who doesn't covet his body!

"Do you know? I had originally woven a story. When the time came, a great catastrophe that would destroy the world would appear, making you voluntarily offer up everything."

"For people like us, in order for more people to live, someone must die; isn't it only right to make some sacrifices?"

"For the sake of the world, for the sake of everyone, I would be the first to sacrifice everything of my own to save this world. But alas, my strength is insufficient; even if I sacrificed my all, I still couldn't hold on, and it would still fall short."

"In order to let more people live, you people are always reckless. When the time comes, you people will also follow suit and sacrifice yourselves."

Shaking his head, Dong Yu sighed, "In this way, I obtain your power, your everything, and you also fulfill your hero dreams, passing away without regrets—isn't that good?"

"Why must you poke through this window paper? The ending is still the same, it's just that you will die very unwillingly. You tell me, what was the point of this?"

"You? So that means you aren't just planning to trap one person."

"How can you call it trapping? Devouring Heavenly Pride for my own use, eventually merging into my body. I do this, also for the sake of the world!"

As he spoke, Dong Yu looked up, his gaze piercing through the endless void, seeing beyond the void.

"You people only see what you can see; your height is not enough, even if you lift your heads as high as you can, there is only this little bit of sky before your eyes."

"You will never know what this World is like, you will never know how high this sky is!"