From the Soul Motion Machine onwards, the Mechanized Douluo

Chapter 659 Where there is light, there is shadow! Where there is no light, there is only darkness!

Ultimately, Yu Xiaogang rejected Chen Hong's deal, which seemed surprising yet quite normal.

"When we were young, we had many disagreements. Of course, time has proven me wrong in the end." The white-haired old man in the wicker chair smiled, and a hint of reminiscence appeared in his cloudy eyes.

"I don't actually know a lot of things. For example, someone occupied the Spirit Hall when it was the former Pope, and emptied everything there, including many of the books." Chen Hong had previously organized the Spirit Hall's books, and all the data was stored in the mental network of the Technological Federation. During the Great Retreat, no one wasted time moving those paper books.

"Those books eventually appeared in Shrek Academy through various channels." Although Shrek is now Shrek University, Yu Xiaogang still seems to prefer to call it Shrek Academy.

"Among them were some secrets. With my later experiences and personal growth, I gradually came to understand things I didn't understand before."

A faint sigh appeared on Yu Xiaogang's aged face. He didn't regret it, because Chen Hong himself had said that the world is constantly evolving and changing. Those who come later are not necessarily weaker than those who came before. Although Chen Hong wrote this sentence to give the then-reconstructed soul tool industry more confidence, it is still applicable in other aspects.

When Yu Xiaogang reminisces about his youth, he's not actually reminiscing about Bibi Dong, but rather about his own naive and ignorant younger self.

"Ever since I left Soto City with Shrek Academy to develop my career elsewhere, I always seemed to have a youthful impulse in my heart, wanting to break free from your shadow and prove to the world that even without you, I could still become a master that everyone sincerely admires."

Chen Hong gazed at the blue sky, lying on the wicker chair, silently listening to the old man's soft murmurs beside him. The root cause of Shrek Academy's departure was this self-proclaimed monster academy, unwilling to be suppressed by the Technology Chamber of Commerce and Chen Hong. Therefore, they chose to go to Tiandou City to establish a new academy, trying to prove to the world that Shrek Academy's title as the number one academy in the world was earned through their own efforts, not by relying on the Technology Chamber of Commerce and Chen Hong.

"Later, I also achieved some success, revising the Ten Treatises on Martial Souls and quantifying Soul Master cultivation data using the standards of the Technology Chamber of Commerce. However, at that time, you were still as dazzling as a star in the sky, making it impossible for people to look directly at you. At that time, I finally succeeded in escaping your shadow, and no one in the world compared me to you anymore. Hehe, it's a bit ridiculous that this was not the result of my efforts, but because your growth rate was too rapid, causing me, a firefly, to become so insignificant in less than ten years that people felt I was not even worthy of being compared to you."

"We're so alike. So similar that it makes me a little jealous, then I feel inferior and ashamed."

"You have the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School behind you. I have the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon School behind me. The first person to invest in you was the Holy Maiden of the Spirit Hall, and the first person to acknowledge me was also the Holy Maiden of the Spirit Hall. I originally thought that my achievements were not as great as yours because of my lack of talent, but I eventually discovered that there are actually many great feats in this world that can change the world without the need for spirit power cultivation."

"I was very unfortunate. I met a younger version of myself when I was at my lowest point."

"But I'm also very lucky. As my life is drawing to a close, I've seen my younger self again."

"Hehe. What's funny is that when your sun set, I thought I would be able to completely escape your shadow. But then I suddenly realized that after the sun sets, the world suddenly becomes pitch black. Where there is light, there is shadow. Where there is no light, there is only darkness."

Yu Xiaogang's chest rose and fell slightly, then he let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"It's hilarious. History seems to be a cycle: curiosity about another version of myself in this world, resistance to this similar version of myself, nostalgia for this younger version of myself. Finally, I try to raise the banner of light high under the dark starry sky, to follow you, to become you, to surpass you."

Although Yu Xiaogang kept saying "you," Chen Hong understood that he was referring to "himself."

Chen Hong listened silently. He understood the concept because it was one he himself had proposed. He never doubted Yu Xiaogang's conviction and ability because when someone has such an awareness, they will inevitably pay any price to achieve that belief. Because there is never only one person carrying the flag forward in the darkness!

The light emanating from Yu Xiaogang may not be able to illuminate everyone, but the sparks he ignites can ignite an entire dark wasteland!

It was precisely because of this concept that Chen Hong ultimately "fell".

Chen Hong himself proposed this concept.

In other words, Chen Hong orchestrated his own downfall!

Listening to the white-haired old man's narration, Chen Hong silently looked at the vast blue sky. There were only two gods in this world who truly had a grudge against Chen Hong. Shura was not among them, but the Sea God was.

"Although the light it emits can only protect this small corner of the land, hahaha, it's worth it."

"How could I possibly forget such a dazzling and alluring 'me'?"

"Isn't the idea that lifespan allows one to see their younger self again at the end of their life a kind of reincarnation?"

The white-haired old man laboriously turned his head to look at the black-clad youth who seemed to be fast asleep beside him. At that moment, the youth slowly removed the coral mask from his face, revealing the familiar face that the old man had longed for day and night.

"Haha, just as I expected!"

The old man's cloudy eyes seemed to flicker with a sense of disorientation, and a figure that appeared to have traveled through time merged with the boy before him.

"really."

"It's you."

The old man's arm fell silently. The boy watched everything silently, and finally grasped the old man's falling hand, gently placing the coral mask from his face into the old man's hand, and then placing the old man's hand in his heartless embrace.

No one knows what the old man saw in the end. But Chen Hong knew it certainly wasn't him.

In this quaint courtyard, Chen Hong slowly rose, turning to look at the elderly man resting peacefully in the wicker chair. In his deep black eyes, a magnificent black lotus flower was blooming petal by petal in his right eye.

Chen Hong is in a very bad mood right now.

He wanted to kill the god!

(Tang San: Who wants me?)

(End of this chapter)