Liang Chen looked down at the outstretched hand that reached across the table. Lao Ye was telling the truth, this Liang Chen could instinctively tell. He sought to revive Purgatory, he sought to drown the multiverse in its flames so that he and the other sinners could all burn together. In that regard they were quite similar, chasing a future where sin was burned to ash.
And indeed, if they worked together then the speed at which Purgatory was revitalized would drastically increase, the future would approach them that much faster. But he couldn't raise his own arm, he couldn't grab that hand, he could only shake his head.
"Understanding... Perhaps I wasn't the only one who needed it. I have understood you now, Lao Ye. But tell me, do you understand me?"
Lao Ye's goals and motivations, perhaps even his past, Liang Chen understood them now. He could also understand why he had taken the path he did, it was honestly a path that Liang Chen himself could have ended up on if his life went a bit differently. But he hadn't ended up on that path, he was close to it, but that one step he had taken to the side created a moat between him and Lao Ye.
"...I would like to say that I do, but judging by your response I would probably be lying a bit if I did, no?"
Lao Ye slowly pulled back his arm as he spoke. He hadn't outright rejected him, but the light in Liang Chen's eyes told him that there was no chance of him accepting the offer. And indeed, the minor difference between them was enough to forever put them on opposite sides of each other.
"It all lies within that very first sentence, that simple fact that still clings to my insides. I am angry, Lao Ye. It is my anger, not someone else's. I am the one who burns with it, it is within my chest that the fire roars. And so, I will be the one to extinguish it, I will be the one to act on it. I won't hand my wrath, nor my duty, over to anyone else. Other options may be easier, faster. But they are not my options. So I won't join you."
Liang Chen came here for Purgatory, to make its power his own, that much was true. But as long as he was the one who controlled it and used it to mete out punishment then it would be fine. After all, when he used his lightning to kill someone, you didn't go around saying that the lightning killed them. His explanation was more than enough for Lao Ye to understand him, understand the moat that separated them. But he didn't look disappointed at the realization, a small smile still hung on his face.
"Ah, I see. That's quite the arrogance you have there, you'd make a terrible monk. But who knows, maybe it's for the best? Maybe what's needed to break the chain of lamentation is just a bit of good old fashioned arrogance. Time will tell, it always does. Before we start fighting to the death, do you mind if I finish my tea?"
He spoke the words very casually, as if life and death battles had just become the norm for him. But there was something more to his tone, an utter disregard for his own life. Would he win the battle? He wasn't sure, he had no way of knowing. But he sounded like he didn't mind either outcome of the battle, be it his victory or his death. And he wasn't the first one to give Liang Chen this feeling so he couldn't help but question him as he sipped the tea.
"Your disregard for your own life, where does it come from? Some of the other guild leaders were much the same, Ze Ruan even smiled calmly at the end. Why do you weigh your lives so lightly?"
They had grand goals, ambitions spanning the entire multiverse. People like that usually valued their lives greatly, there was after all no way for them to accomplish those ambitions if they ended up dying early on. But Lao Ye didn't seem to care in the slightest if he died before he accomplished what he set out to, his life was as light as paper. Even Liang Chen treasured his life greatly, he took a lot of risks but there was never a second where he treated his life lightly. Lao Ye stopped drinking in response to the question, tilting his head somewhat quizically at the question.
"Why we weigh our lives so lightly? Because we don't have lives, Storm Lord. Me, Ze Ruan, Tian Shenju, we don't have lives, all we have are wrath. And unlike lives, wrath is eternal. Tell me, Storm Lord, do you think you're the first one to be furious at the heavens, or do you think that I'm the first one to be angry at the world's weakness? The answer is no, there have been many before us. We can't hope to be the first, but we can hope to be the last. And even if that fails in the end, someday there will come someone who'll become the last, only then will we truly die."
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That was the truth behind those who chose to join the wrath sects, a tragedy to some, a relief to others. They had abandoned themselves, their lives and identity, all for that wrath that threatened to consume them. His explanation also reminded Liang Chen of the final words left by the sect leader of the Land's Wrath, Shang Yi.
The wrath of the land, the cries of the earth, I'll leave them to you.
She had died, but her wrath would live on in Liang Chen as he strode towards the future. And even if he ended up dying to Lao Ye, the wrath she left with him would just be transferred to him. That was their eternity, their lives, and their solace. The ideology, the belief Lao Ye presented, finally allowed Liang Chen to realize what the exact reason for the rift between them was.
"I see, so that's where the disconnect is. Thank you for the answer. And for the tea, it was sweeter than I expected."
He didn't bother elaborating on the disconnect, the source of the rift, Lao Ye probably knew it even better than him. They had abandoned their lives, they sought to awaken Purgatory with their wraths and then burn for their sins. That was how they put it, and it was probably completely true.
But seeing it in another way, they just wanted to die. They wanted to leave this world that had spawned their wraths and lamentations, this world that had robbed them of their identity. And in that, laid the difference. Liang Chen wanted to live, he wanted to see the future, spend time with his loved ones, see the world. He wanted to see the future he built, they just wanted to leave the present.
"Thank you, I made it using flowers that grew in my home town. If you end up being the victor then you can take some of them with you, I always keep a few seeds safe in my ring. They grow much better in the outside world, this land is a bit too bloodsoaked for them so it takes away from the flavour. It's best if you plant them next to running water, that way their roots can extend into the water to extract some of the nutrients that may get washed along with the water."
Lao Ye's smile softened slightly as he spoke, he was clearly very fond of these particular flowers. He didn't say anything else after thanking Liang Chen and giving him some hints about how to cultivate the flowers, he simply sipped the tea quietly. He would occasionally turn his head, his gaze drifting across the little garden he had created here, this little slice of land that didn't belong in this twisted and ruined land.
Liang Chen also didn't say anything, basking in the silence as he sipped the tea that Lao Ye had provided. He wasn't lying when he said that it was sweeter than he expected, it was actually a bit too sweet for him. But Yan Ling would probably like it, she had always been fond of sweeter drinks. He didn't know about Lan Yun, but she had spent so much time with Yan Ling that she likely shared the same tastes so she'd probably enjoy this tea as well.
"Thank you for the patience. Shall we begin?"
Lao Ye eventually finished the tea, the kettle now cold and empty, only a few sparse drops remaining in his cup. He put down the cup and rose from his chair, his almost malnourished body creaking slightly as he stretched. Liang Chen mimicked his actions, the two facing each other from opposite sides of the table.
Lao Ye raised his hand slightly, pointing his palm towards the ceiling. He didn't bring out a weapon, but a brief sensation of nausea still hit Liang Chen, vanishing after a quick second. Lao Ye's eyebrows rose in slight surprise, his fingers curling slightly. Another sensation of nausea attacked Liang Chen, but it too vanished after less than a second. A gleam of realization arose in Lao Ye's eyes as he nodded his head.
"I see, that is usually enough to take out most opponents, but it doesn't seem to work on you. You must also use the law of time, and your relationship with it is quite intimate. It's my first time facing someone else who uses the law of time, it's a good thing I figured out early on that it doesn't work."
Two failures was all it took for Lao Ye to pinpoint one of Liang Chen's laws. Granted, he could only figure it out due to the fact that he had the same law, but the rarity of said law was so great that he could be called quite intelligent to figure it out so quickly. Or perhaps it had to do with how he utilized it, Liang Chen wasn't quite sure.
Whatever the case was, he threw it to the back of his mind for now as he spat out a breath. This would be his first big fight after his transformation, the other sect leaders had not been able to last long enough for him to get a good grasp of his current strength. Needless to say, as the leader of the Nine Wraths, Lao Ye had already reached the Transcended Immortal realm. But he didn't seem to be in the early stages, he was firmly entrenched in the realm with a very stable foundation, he was one of the strongest people Liang Chen had ever encountered.
But even so, he would fight. What he sought was buried beneath this land, all he had to do to reach the end of this journey was to win this fight.