Iam couldn’t remember ever being more stunned in his life. But then his eyes glowed, they glowed so fiercely that he thought they might burn even brighter than the Karmic Flames still licking at his body.
Going back in time? It was the most ridiculous thing that he had ever heard. It was the one thing no one had ever been capable of… or so it seemed.
There had been one other person capable of it. But rather than using it to cultivate like Ryu seemed to be suggesting, this person did it for no other reason than to bring his wives and parents back to his side, using up all his attempts on reincarnations until he got the perfect life.
Even if one could go back in time, it would be impossible to do it more than once, and for that reason, every such person would only have a single chance.
In the history of Existence… there had only been one man, a man that did it so casually he didn’t even care to describe how amazing his feat, a man who didn’t care very much for explaining himself.
If not for Iam’s dedication as a Ruin Master, slowly but surely unearthing the details of all 108 lives this man lived through since time immemorial, he wouldn’t know of this feat either. It would have been impossible for him to know.
It was this very ridiculous thing, this thing that only a single man had ever done before… that was precisely the answer Iam wanted to hear.
It was such an outlandish answer, a ridiculous stroke of Fate that was nearly impossible to stumble upon by coincidence.
“Okay.” Iam eventually said.
Ryu’s grin slowly faded, his eyes focusing on the man before him. There was something about Iam that seemed off. He knew more than he probably should about many things a man of his caliber shouldn’t.
To his very core, Iam was a Ruin Master. Maybe more of a Ruin Master than Ryu ever claimed to be.
“I hope you survive.” Iam eventually said.
“I already told you, those who I want to live, live. Those that I want to die, die.”
Ryu’s response sounded like he was speaking for himself, but in reality, he was speaking about Iam.
“I believe you.” Iam said with a smile.
Ryu’s eyes narrowed.
What was this man trying to get at, exactly? What was he missing here?
“You are wrong about one thing, though,” Iam said with his smile still plastered all over his face. “I didn’t attack you not because I fear you. Much like yourself, I don’t give up until the very end.
“My Dao is inferior to yours and cannot stand up to you. My Dao Heart is inferior to yours and I’ve let it cloud over under the shadows of others for far too long. My talent is inferior to yours. Though that didn’t seem to be the case initially, the gap between us now has been shrunk and then reversed because of your comprehension abilities.
“But the truth of the matter is that I’ve never been the most prideful in my Dao, nor my Dao Heart, nor my talent, or my cultivation, nor even my comprehension abilities, per se.
“I was born to be a Ruin Master. It is my passion, and there’s nothing I love more than it. I allowed my Dao Heart to be clouded because this pursuit has always meant more to me than anything else.
“But don’t you think… that the world we live in right now is quite sick?”
Iam spoke in riddles, his eyes looking off into the distance.
“There’s so much beauty to be found in the past, but the Heavens themselves, even, seem so enamored with what the future might bring, constantly pitting races against one another, forcing evolution and progression, and for what, exactly? Just because that is the natural order of things?
“Why don’t you think about it and consider it, Ryu Tatsuya… you seek the pinnacle of the world, but aren’t you just another pawn of the Heavens, doing exactly what it is it wants you to do?”
Ryu didn’t respond, still staring at Iam with a focused gaze as though he was looking for something… searching.
“No response… odd, you are normally very talkative. I wonder if my words are making you ponder or not, or if you’re just trying to use this opportunity to understand what’s going on.
“I can only say that even with your intelligence, there are some things you cannot understand without experience. And that experience, unfortunately… takes time.
“Today, I think I’ve finally come to understand something. Existence is quite sick. Maybe at the start of all things, the constant pursuit of power and a new peak was the right way, but what about now?
“We’ve already reached the end of cultivation, but powerhouses that don’t know what’s good for themselves keep trying to break a glass ceiling that doesn’t even exist. In the future, you’ll probably be one of them, destroying everything that once was in pursuit of what can’t be.
“At the very least, that Nameless Immortal God knows what it means to be content. But you… you are insatiable. You have everything, and yet always want for more. You don’t just want for more, you think that you deserve it.”
Ryu continued to not respond as though his mind was still working in overdrive.
“It’ll probably be any time now,” Iam said calmly, still speaking as though nothing at all could faze him. The Karmic Flames continued to burn him through, and yet he hardly reacted to them at all. “If you really did succeed in turning back time like that man did, it will happen soon.
“But unfortunately, you won’t realize that killing me will only set into motion things that you cannot fathom. You may have reached the pinnacle of the world along with that Nameless Immortal God, but I will be the pinnacle of Ruin Mastery.
“I stand alone.”
Iam’s voice trembled with its first signs of pride. A true pride anchored deep into his bones.
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