Douluo Continent: My Martial Soul is the Black Dragon, I am the Lord of the Gods

Chapter 340 Choice
……

"I'm sorry." Xuanming tightened his arms, pulling the slightly trembling Bibi Dong into a tighter embrace.

"Blame me."

Bibi Dong raised her teary, purple eyes and looked at him. "Why are you always like this? Why can't you be a little more ruthless? Why do you always take the blame upon yourself?"

Xuanming looked at Bibi Dong's tearful question and said calmly, "Someone has to take responsibility."

“Take responsibility?” Bibi Dong’s voice trembled slightly with mockery. “Take responsibility for what? Take responsibility for my madness, my paranoia, my inability to control myself? Xuanming, you’re always like this! You always take everything upon yourself! You make me… make me unable to hate you completely!”

She shoved Xuanming away abruptly, her purple eyes filled with pain and confusion: "Why can't you be as ruthless to me as you were to Qian Renxue? You call me selfish, you call me crazy, you call me blinded by power! Why do you always remain silent or blame yourself whenever I lose control?!"

"Do you know that what you're doing... is only making me more miserable! Making me feel even more worthless! Making me unable to even find an excuse to vent!"

Bibi Dong's emotions surged again, and the evil Rakshasa energy around her surged violently.

She would rather Xuanming treat her like a real enemy, giving her a reason to completely explode and fall into despair, than like now, with an almost tolerant attitude that blames himself, leaving her tormented on the edge of madness and lucidity.

Xuanming stepped forward, raised his hand and gently wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes, his gesture carrying a tenderness that was unlike his usual cold and hard demeanor: "I'm not taking responsibility."

“I am stating the facts. Your condition and the abnormality of the Rakshasa God’s test are indeed related to me. My appearance and my choices affected your emotions, and in turn, affected your test.”

Xuanming paused for a moment: "You chose this path yourself, and you pursued this power yourself. How you walk this path, how you control it—the final choice is always in your hands."

"I can't make choices for you, nor can I bear the consequences of your choices. All I can do is try my best to pull you out of the abyss when you're about to fall. But whether you reach out or grab on is up to you."

“I know you’ve lost a lot, but… at least you’re not completely destitute. Are you going to go crazy over what you’ve lost in the past, even abandoning everything you still have now, or… try your best to keep everything you still have?”

These words struck Bibi Dong's heart like a hammer blow, instantly cooling her boiling emotions.

She lost... so much.

Innocence, dignity, love, and hopes for the future... were almost completely destroyed by Qian Xunji.

She once thought that she had nothing left but revenge and destruction.

But Xuanming's words reminded her.

She also has... the Martial Soul Empire. This is a vast empire she poured her heart and soul into building, the foundation of her revenge, and the symbol of her power.

She also had... Hu Liena. That disciple who regarded her as a mother, depended on her, and respected her was one of the few sources of warmth and concern in her cold heart.

She also has... the man in front of her whom she hates with a passion, yet she can't truly let go of him, and who has even become a kind of spiritual pillar for her.

Is she really going to succumb to the madness of Rakshasa and destroy everything in front of her with her own hands because of that irreversible past?
The thrill of destruction may be alluring, but what comes after? Endless emptiness? Or utter annihilation?
Bibi Dong leaned against the cold wall, breathing heavily, her purple eyes filled with a fierce interplay of madness and pain.

Xuanming remained silent, simply watching her and awaiting her decision. He knew this was a hurdle she had to overcome on her own.

Time seems to have frozen.

After a long while, the madness in Bibi Dong's eyes gradually faded, replaced by a clarity tinged with despair after extreme exhaustion.

She slowly raised her head and looked at Xuanming, "Aren't you going to try to persuade me?"

It's always been like this. Xuanming always speaks coldly, throwing the choice in front of others without giving any guidance or showing any favoritism.

Choose whichever you like!
"Persuade? How do you persuade?" Xuanming asked in return.

Should I advise you to let go of the past, or should I advise you to be more positive?

"I can't let go of it myself, I can't be positive."

"When it comes to twisted ideas, I'm not much better than you."

"What right do I have to advise you? And how can I possibly advise you?"

His voice was calm, even tinged with self-mockery, yet utterly genuine, like a mirror reflecting the equally wounded souls of the two men.

Bibi Dong was stunned. The intense emotions in her purple eyes slowly subsided, transforming into a deeper, almost deathly, sense of bewilderment.

Yeah... what's there to advise?

Should we persuade her to let go of everything that Qian Xunji destroyed? Should we persuade her to forget the unforgettable humiliation and hatred? Should we persuade her to embrace the sunshine like a normal person?
These words would sound utterly pale and laughable coming from anyone else. Even more so from Xuan Ming—a man who also carried a heavy past, whose heart was similarly corrupted by darkness, and who had even embarked on a path bordering on self-destruction.

He really had no right to advise her.

Because he himself has never truly "let go" or been "optimistic."

He was simply struggling in the darkness and wading through the mire in his own way.

His composure and strength do not stem from a sense of relief, but from a deeper acceptance and control over his own destiny, even if that control sometimes appears cold and extreme.

Xuanming watched as the madness faded and the confusion welled up in her eyes, and continued, "What I can do is not to persuade you, but to tell you the truth. To tell you that you have a choice. To tell you what the different choices will lead to."

"Whether you sink into the abyss with the ashes of the past, or grasp what you can still hold onto, even if the road ahead is still painful and difficult, is a choice that only you can make."

"Because only you are required to bear all the consequences of your own choices."

His words contained neither warm encouragement nor condescending accusations; they were simply a cold and clear statement of reality. This almost cruel honesty strangely calmed Bibi Dong's chaotic mind.

She doesn't need insincere comfort or useless advice. What she needs is perhaps this kind of clear-headedness to face the bloody reality, even if that clarity itself is a great pain.

Bibi Dong slowly straightened up. Although the Rakshasa evil energy around her had not completely subsided, it was no longer churning uncontrollably. She looked at Xuan Ming, a complex light flashing in her purple eyes.

"When did you grow up?" Bibi Dong asked this question softly, with a hint of dazedness.

In her memory, Xuanming seemed to still be the stubborn, headstrong child from back then in Wuhun City.

Because throughout his years in Tiandou City, his demeanor in front of Qian Renxue has never changed—he remains the same cold, stubborn, and even somewhat childish boy who confronts Qian Renxue head-on.

Xuanming remained silent for a moment, a barely perceptible ripple flashing in his icy blue eyes.

"It was probably when I realized that being willful requires capital, and I didn't have any."

Being willful requires capital.

He did not.

He wasn't Qian Renxue, he didn't have the aura of the young master of the Spirit Hall, and he didn't have a grandfather like Qian Daoliu to protect him. He didn't even have a truly stable place to belong.

Everything he had—power, status, even the right to live—was earned through his repeated struggles on the brink of life and death.

In Heaven Dou City, he maintained that "unchanging" demeanor in front of Qian Renxue, perhaps because Qian Renxue, in a sense, represented the Spirit Hall, representing the past that he was once familiar with but had to keep his distance from.

That "unchanging" quality might be a disguise, or it might be a longing for a certain simpler time that he himself was unaware of.

But when he truly faced the cruelty of this world, the life-or-death test of the divine trial, the sacrifice of the Ice Dragon King and the Fire Dragon King, and her, the Rakshasa successor whose state was extremely unstable, he no longer had the right to be willful.

He must remain calm, rational, strong, and responsible. Because if he makes a wrong move, the price he pays will be unbearable.

Looking into Xuanming's unfathomable eyes, Bibi Dong saw for the first time so clearly the weight beneath that cold surface.

He was no longer the stubborn boy who occasionally required her to worry about, or even gave her a headache.

In places she couldn't see, he grew into a man who had to face the storms of life alone at an almost cruel pace.

This realization added an indescribable pity and...guilt to the complex emotions surging within her.

She seemed never to have truly understood how heavy the burden on his shoulders was.

She even always felt from the bottom of her heart that Xuanming was a child who never grew up.

"I'm sorry..." Bibi Dong's voice was barely audible. This apology contained so much, for her previous loss of control and for her long-term neglect.

Xuanming shook his head. "You haven't wronged me."

He didn't need her apology. Everything he did was his own choice. Good or bad, he deserved it.

He reached out his hand to her again, this time with his palm facing upwards—an invitation, and a promise.

The choice is before you. I'll be with you which path you choose.

It's not about guiding or saving, but about accompanying.

Whether she chooses to continue wallowing in Rakshasa's madness or tries to grasp at that glimmer of hope, he will be by her side.

This is the only thing he could give, and the only thing he chose to give.

Bibi Dong looked at the hand with its distinct joints and immense power, then looked up at Xuan Ming's calm yet resolute eyes.

After a long while, she slowly raised her hand and placed it in his palm.

The fingertips felt slightly cool, yet carried a strange, reassuring power.

“Okay.” Bibi Dong said softly. This time, there was no confusion or pain in her voice, only a calm after burning her bridges.

"We...together."

……

In the realm of the gods, within a magnificent temple.

The scene reflected in the mirror was frozen in time—Bibi Dong placed her hand in Xuanming's palm, and the two reached a certain consensus.

The hall was silent, and the faces of the several god-kings all showed varying degrees of surprise.

"I underestimated him." The God of Evil stroked his chin, breaking the silence first, his tone unusually serious. "I thought he would use stronger methods to suppress the Rakshasa's evil energy, or try to forcibly purify it with his power. I didn't expect..."

“He chose the most difficult, yet most fundamental, way,” the goddess of life said softly, a hint of approval in her emerald eyes. “He didn’t try to save her, but let her make her own choice. He offered not pity or preaching, but equal understanding and companionship.”

The God of Kindness nodded slightly: "Face reality head-on, without evasion or retreat, and return the power and responsibility of choice to her. This approach addresses the root cause more effectively than any forceful intervention. However..."

The Asura God's cold, blood-red eyes stared at Xuan Ming's calm, expressionless face reflected in the mirror of light, and he slowly spoke: "He understands the consequences."

"He knows what he's doing and is prepared to accept any consequences. That kind of mentality..."

He paused, then didn't continue, but the other god-kings understood what he meant.

What Xuanming displayed was not only power and talent, but also a maturity and decisiveness far beyond his age, and a profound understanding and responsibility for his own and others' fates.

He did not rush into the crisis recklessly, but with an almost cold-blooded clarity, he chose the most difficult path, which was also the most likely to truly solve the problem.

"No wonder our old friend would risk everything for him..."

(End of this chapter)