Since Hu Heng became famous, Wu Yong has paid more and more attention to him.
As the saying goes, your enemy is always the one who understands you best. Although An Ge had never met this person, through Wu Yong, her understanding of him deepened day by day.
When Hu Heng's cultivation level reached the same level as Wu Yong's, Wu Yong could no longer remain calm and attacked Hu Heng first.
The old man raised his objections to Wu Yong for the first time, but ultimately could not stop him.
Soon after, a secret realm appeared on the mainland, attracting many people to visit it. It was at this time that An Ge met Hu Heng for the first time.
She looked at Hu Heng, her mouth agape in surprise, for the person in front of her clearly had the same face.
An Ge waved excitedly and shouted Hu Jiu's name, but after a few shouts, she realized that the other person did not know she was there.
An Ge sighed in disappointment. She had lost her temper. How could Hu Jiu exist in this world? Moreover, Hu Heng looked even more aloof than Hu Jiu, and his personality seemed extremely composed. If she hadn't been so agitated, she wouldn't have mistaken him for Hu Jiu.
Hu Heng was talking to his fellow disciples when he suddenly felt a strange gaze upon him, and his heart began to race for some reason. He quickly looked around, but found nothing unusual.
"Senior Brother Hu, what's wrong?"
Hu Heng shook his head. "It's alright! Just be careful when you enter the secret realm."
An Ge knew that Wu Yong would make a move against Hu Heng in this secret realm, but she couldn't stray too far from Wu Yong and couldn't show herself either, so she could only worry anxiously.
Even though all of this might be an illusion, what can you do when Hu Heng has Hu Jiu's face?
A few days after entering the illusionary realm, Wu Yong and Hu Heng met while vying for a precious piece of land.
Wu Yong made the first move, but Hu Heng was clearly prepared as well. Both men, worthy of being called geniuses of the mainland, were evenly matched in skill, and fought a fierce and chaotic battle.
However, Wu Yong relied too much on cheat codes. Although their levels were similar, his actual combat ability was far inferior to Hu Heng's. He was careless and was knocked to the ground by Hu Heng.
The instant Wu Yong fell to the ground, An Ge's vision went black, and she lost consciousness.
"The opponent clearly used a deadly move, so why did Senior Brother Hu let him go?" a disciple asked, puzzled.
Hu Heng recalled the panic he felt the moment Wu Yong was defeated, shook his head, and said, "Forget it, the secret realm is about to close, let's not cause any more trouble."
After an unknown amount of time, An Ge woke up again. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was Wu Yong's crazed state, which startled her.
Some time later, she learned that Wu Yong had been defeated in the secret realm that time. Although he survived, his cheat ability had disappeared.
An Ge felt empty inside, knowing it was because Wu Yong's emotions were too intense and she had empathized with him.
"Without this cheat system, cultivation will be so much harder in the future," An Ge suddenly thought. The next second, she quickly shook her head, banishing the thought from her mind.
An Ge was certain that this idea was not her own. She closed her eyes to calm down for a while, and when she opened them again, her eyes were clear.
"I almost fell for it again." An Ge couldn't help but complain as she looked at the helpless Wu Yong. "So what if you lost your cheat ability? It's not like you lost your talent. With your talent, as long as you cultivate diligently, you'll still be a top genius."
Wu Yong couldn't hear An Ge's complaints. He only knew that he had lost his support, and he was both anxious and angry. His hatred for Hu Heng reached its peak.
Without his cheat-like abilities, Wu Yong became increasingly insecure, complaining that his cultivation was too slow and starting to rely on external aids such as elixirs. Although his level increased rapidly, his foundation was unstable, and his combat skills were far inferior to those of his peers.
Each time Wu Yong's cultivation speed fell short of expectations, his hatred for Hu Heng would deepen.
In An Ge's opinion, Wu Yong's cultivation speed was already fast enough. If he hadn't focused all his attention on Hu Heng and had cultivated at his own pace, even if his level wasn't as high as it is now, his cultivation wouldn't be as fragile as a castle in the air.
"Is the golden finger really that important?" An Ge seemed to understand why she had this experience.
As a chosen one of the gods, didn't she also possess a cheat code? And wasn't she just like Wu Yong, using her cheat code to achieve a level of cultivation that others might not reach even after hundreds of years?
Although she always thought she had a very peaceful mindset, she asked herself honestly if she felt a little proud when she received praise from others after advancing in each round.
What would happen to her if her cheat ability disappeared?
In the time that followed, An Ge followed Wu Yong while examining herself.
Wu Yong spent the rest of his life comparing himself to Hu Heng, becoming increasingly eager to cultivate. However, due to his unstable foundation, he failed to advance to higher levels, causing his cultivation to gradually decline.
An Ge watched helplessly as Wu Yong gradually aged from a spirited young man, his friends drifted away, and the women who admired him dispersed one after another.
In his old age, he was all alone, and the past seemed like a beautiful dream. On his deathbed, he finally realized something, and tears of regret streamed down his face.
An Ge sighed deeply. Having followed Wu Yong for so long, she had long regarded him as a familiar stranger. Seeing him like this, she couldn't help but feel a little sad.
“If you hadn’t cared so much about your reputation and had focused on your talent and cultivated diligently, you wouldn’t be in this situation.” An Ge couldn’t help but sigh, as if she saw another version of herself in Wu Yong.
"I can finally see you. Thank you for being by my side all these years." Wu Yong suddenly spoke, startling An Ge.
"Can you see me?"
Wu Yong smiled, his aged face revealing a hint of a smile. “Sometimes I feel like there’s always someone by my side, but no matter how I try to find out, I can’t detect them. Even Jin Lao says I’m having hysteria. But only I know that you’ve always been there.”
Jin Yong is Wu Yong's magic touch. So I was exposed all these years ago?
"I don't know why I've been following you, but I mean you no harm."
"I know. In fact, I've always felt that you are my guardian angel. After Elder Jin disappeared, I even complained that you didn't help me." Wu Yong coughed a few times, and couldn't help but smile when he thought of his naive thoughts.
“After my foundation was damaged, if I hadn’t known that you were always there for me, I’m afraid I would have given up long ago. You’re right, I relied too much on external forces and had too smooth a journey. I couldn’t accept any failures, which is why I’m in this situation now.”
An Ge sighed; it was too late to say anything now.
Seeing An Ge's regretful look, Wu Yong said indifferently, "You don't need to feel sorry for me. It's my own fault for not having a firm Dao heart. Cultivation is not only about strength, but also about character. It's a pity that I realized this too late."
As Wu Yong spoke, tears welled up in his eyes even more. He raised his withered hand, as if trying to grasp something, but in the end, he let it fall limply.
An Ge looked at Wu Yong, who was no longer breathing, and felt a pang of sorrow in her heart.
“Cultivation is about cultivating the mind. I’ve always worried that cultivating too fast will make my foundation unstable, but isn’t that another form of unstable Dao heart?” An Ge thought of her master’s carefree Dao heart and understood.
"Having a golden touch is a kind of luck. If that golden touch disappears, it's a pity, but the path forward must not stop. Being able to accept praise and also being content with ordinariness is the kind of mindset I want to cultivate."
In the instant An Ge realized the truth, the fleeting scene shattered and quickly vanished, leaving only darkness.
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