One person: Senior brother Zhang Zhiwei, the Celestial Master begged me to descend the mountain.

The water in the teacup eventually spilled.

A drop of scalding hot tea slid down the rim of the cup and landed on Zhuge Qing's well-maintained hands, causing his hand to tremble violently from the heat.

But this heat is nowhere near as scorching as those words.

"Master Daoist...you jest."

Zhuge Qing took a deep breath, his facial muscles twitching stiffly as he tried to maintain his signature foxy smile, but the corners of his mouth just wouldn't turn up; instead, they looked somewhat comical.

"Although I, Zhuge Qing, am not very talented, I have seen a bit of the world."

"How could I let such a small matter... throw me into a whirlwind of emotions?"

He handed the teacup to Zhang Taichu, his wrist still trembling slightly, as if he was trying his best to suppress some kind of emotion that was about to erupt.

Zhang Taichu did not answer.

He simply leaned back in his chair, tilting his head, his deep eyes like two scalpels, precisely dissecting Zhuge Qing's facade of dignity.

"A small-scale operation?"

Zhang Taichu chuckled and tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest:

"Feng Hou Qi Men, Fixing Time and Space."

"If this is a small matter, then what is the Zhuge family's 'Martial Marquis's Marvelous Techniques' worth?"

"Are we playing house?"

Zhuge Qing's hand trembled, and he almost dropped the teacup again.

"I……"

He opened his mouth, wanting to explain, but found that his throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, so dry that he couldn't make a sound.

"Alright, stop pretending."

Zhang Taichu waved his hand, looking utterly dejected.

"Take off that hypocritical mask, it's exhausting to look at."

He slowly stood up, and the golden light around him did not dissipate. Instead, it became more refined with his movements, like a golden battle armor draped over his body.

"Let me guess why you're here."

Zhang Taichu paced slowly around Zhuge Qing, each step like a heavy hammer blow to Zhuge Qing's heart.

"You lost to me in the battle at the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony, and you lost badly."

"Your prized talent, your prized divination skills, are as fragile as a piece of paper in the face of absolute power."

"From that day on, a crack appeared in your heart."

Zhuge Qing suddenly lowered his head, staring intently at his toes, his breathing becoming rapid.

"You start to doubt yourself."

"I wonder if the Zhuge family's tradition is outdated."

"I'm starting to doubt whether my so-called genius status has reached its limit."

Zhang Taichu stopped behind Zhuge Qing, his voice low and deep, yet possessing a suffocating penetrating power:

"So when you heard there was a furnace here that could make someone rise to the top in one step, you were tempted."

"You want to take a shortcut."

"You want to rely on this external force to mend your shattered Dao heart."

"You want to..."

Zhang Taichu suddenly leaned close to Zhuge Qing's ear, his voice abruptly rising:

"Win it back!"

boom!

This angry shout was like a thunderclap exploding in Zhuge Qing's mind.

He was jolted, and the teacup in his hand slipped from his grasp, falling to the ground with a crash and shattering into pieces.

Tea splashed everywhere, wetting his trouser legs and his last shred of dignity.

"I don't!"

Zhuge Qing suddenly raised his head, his usually squinting eyes now wide open, bloodshot from the bottom:

"I was just... just curious!"

"What's wrong with a warlock being curious about such magical artifacts that seem to defy the very creation of heaven and earth?!"

"I, Zhuge Qing, am not so depraved as to need to rely on a furnace!"

"Yeah?"

Zhang Taichu sneered.

He suddenly raised his right hand, and golden light shone brightly from his palm.

Om-! ! !

The golden light that was originally just for protection instantly transformed into streaks of golden light, soaring into the sky with Zhuge Qing at the center.

The streams of light intertwined and swirled in the air, instantly forming a golden cage that trapped Zhuge Qing within.

Inside the cage, the air temperature rose sharply.

That wasn't the temperature of a flame, but the oppressive force of Qi.

"Then let me see just how strong your curiosity really is."

Zhang Taichu stood outside the cage, his hands behind his back, his gaze coldly fixed on the trapped beast within.

"You said you disdain relying on a stove."

"Then tell me, when you saw Wang Ye use the Chaotic Golden Fist to freeze the entire area just now."

Why is your hand shaking?

Zhuge Qing gripped the golden bars of the cage tightly, his palms sizzling from the heat, but he seemed oblivious to the pain.

His body was trembling.

It's not because of fear.

It's not because of the shame of being stripped naked and left out in the street.

"I……"

"Can't say it?"

Zhang Taichu took a step forward, staring intently at him:

"Then I'll speak for you."

"Because you're jealous."

"You're jealous of Wang Ye!"

"You're jealous that he seems so lazy, yet he possesses the eight extraordinary skills you've always dreamed of!"

"You're jealous that he entered the world later than you, yet he can do things you can't!"

"Shut up! Stop talking!!"

Zhuge Qing covered his ears and let out a hysterical roar.

But Zhang Taichu's voice was like an all-pervasive demonic sound, penetrating through his fingers and drilling straight into his brain:

"You think you are a successor of Zhuge Liang, born to be the protagonist, born to stand in the spotlight."

"But now you realize that no matter how hard you run, you can't even see the back of someone."

"So you panicked."

"You're getting impatient."

"You're like a child who hasn't learned to walk yet, seeing others running, crying and demanding to use crutches!"

Zhang Taichu pointed to the abandoned cultivation furnace pit next to him, his eyes sharp as knives:

"That broken thing is the walking stick you're looking for!"

"Zhuge Qing!"

"Where is the pride of your Zhuge family?!"

"Where has your family's spirit of military prowess gone?!"

"Did you throw them all into that broken furnace and burn them?!"

"ah--!!!"

Zhuge Qing knelt on the ground, pounding his fists against the earth, letting out a roar of extreme pain.

His forehead slammed heavily against the ground, blood streaming down his cheeks, mingling with the dust, making him look utterly wretched.

Where is even a trace of the demeanor of a young master from a prominent family?

Wang, standing to the side, was dumbfounded.

He sat on the ground, still rubbing his chest, but forgot what he was doing and just stared blankly at the nearly collapsing Zhuge Qing.

"Master... isn't this a bit too harsh?"

Wang Ye muttered to himself:

"Old Qing is just a bit arrogant, but it's not that..."

"Shut up."

Zhang Taichu, without turning his head, shouted:

"You have no right to speak here."

He continued to stare at Zhuge Qing in the cage, his stern gaze undiminished, but instead growing even more intense.

That is the intense heat of a raging fire refining true gold.

"Raise your head."

Zhang Taichu coldly gave the order.

Zhuge Qing did not move.

His shoulders were heaving violently, and a suppressed sob was coming from his throat.

"I'll make you lift your head!"

Zhang Taichu twitched his fingers slightly, and the golden cage suddenly contracted.

The scorching heat forced Zhuge Qing to raise his head.

"Look over there."

Zhang Taichu pointed in Wang Ye's direction.

"Look at the person you're jealous of."

"Doesn't he look like a dead dog right now?"

Wang Ye: "..."

Wang Ye's lips twitched. He wanted to refute it, but looking at his own blood-stained body and the mess on the ground, he could only sigh helplessly and acquiesce to the analogy.

Zhuge Qing looked at Wang Ye with teary eyes.

"This is the price to pay for mastering the Eight Extraordinary Skills."

Zhang Taichu's voice became calmer:

"No power comes for free."

"You want to win, you want to become stronger, that's not wrong."

"But your mistake is that you are afraid to face your own weakness."

"You're afraid to admit that you're inferior to others."

"You've placed yourself on that pedestal of genius, unable to come down or go up, and in the end you'll only suffocate yourself."

Zhang Taichu removed one side of the golden cage, walked up to Zhuge Qing, and looked down at him:

"Zhuge Qing".

"I'm asking you one last time."

"Look me in the eyes."

"Tell me the words you hold deepest in your heart, the words you dare not utter aloud!"

Zhuge Qing looked up at the man before him, who seemed like a god or demon.

The man's eyes reflected his own grotesque appearance at that moment.

That cowardly, hypocritical self who always lived behind a mask.

"I……"

Zhuge Qing's lips trembled, his voice hoarse as if sandpaper were being rubbed:

"I'm jealous of him..."

"Speak louder!" Zhang Taichu roared.

"I'm jealous of him!!!"

Zhuge Qing suddenly sprang to his feet, and with all his might, he roared out the words that had been buried in his heart for a whole year, towards Wang Ye, towards Zhang Taichu, and towards the starry sky:

"I'm jealous of Wang Ye!!"

"I'm jealous of his good luck! I'm jealous of his talent!"

"I'm not reconciled!!"

"I refuse to be just a background character! I refuse to be a joke to my so-called lifelong rival!!"

"I want to win!!"

"I, Zhuge Qing... want to win!!!"

That roar sounded like he was coughing up his heart and lungs.

After roaring, Zhuge Qing felt as if all his bones had been drained, and with a thud, he knelt down on the ground again.