The silence stretching over the jagged western mountains was no longer filled with the suffocating tension of an impending battle. Instead, it was the quiet and slightly surreal atmosphere of two incredibly mismatched beings sharing a campfire.

  Li Yu looked at the grey robed Demon Lord sitting across from him. The absolute absurdity of the situation washed over him. He was a newly ascended Divine Transformation cultivator. Across from him was Demon Lord Malos, an ancient entity capable of erasing cities with a casual wave of his hand and who was currently looking at the campfire with a smile on his face.

  Li Yu sighed, the sound loud in the quiet ravine. He reached into his spatial ring.

  "Since it seems we are going to be traveling together," Li Yu muttered as he was pulling out several skewers of thick, marbled beast meat and a large, gutted fish he had prepared earlier from his Koi Sanctuary. "I suppose I should be a decent host. Are you hungry?"

  Malos blinked. For a split second, the ancient, weary Demon Lord looked completely taken off guard. Then, a genuine, delighted smile broke across his pale face. Because his foresight was completely blind when it came to Li Yu and the general area around him, Malos had absolutely no idea this was about to happen.

  To a man who had lived millennia knowing roughly what would happen around him before it did, the simple, mundane offer of a skewer of meat was a breathtaking surprise. It was a novelty he hadn't experienced in centuries.

  "I would be delighted," Malos said with a chuckle. "I do eat occasionally, though not very often. Most food loses its appeal after a while. But this... this is a nice surprise. I am sure the taste will be… unexpected."

  Li Yu nodded and grabbed a thick stick to stir the glowing embers of the campfire. He propped the skewers up on a few flat stones near the flames and let the natural heat of the crackling wood do the work. He pulled out an array of small jars from his ring and meticulously sprinkled crushed spices over the roasting flesh.

  The rich, mouth watering aroma of crackling fat and savory herbs quickly overpowered the lingering scent of ash in the ravine.

  Malos leaned forward and was resting his chin on his hand as he watched Li Yu cook. There was an intense curiosity in the Demon Lord's eyes. He wasn't just looking at the food; he was observing Li Yu’s focused and methodical movements.

  "Here," Li Yu said to him as he tossed a perfectly roasted skewer across the fire.

  Malos caught it effortlessly by the wooden stick. He examined the blistered, spiced meat for a moment and then took a careful bite. The Demon Lord chewed slowly. His smile widened.

  "Fascinating," Malos murmured while taking a much larger bite. "The texture. The intersection of the spices and the natural richness of the beast's spiritual energy. It is exceptionally good. You are quite good at this. It would seem that you humans are quite good at making things taste good."

  "It's the simple things," Li Yu said slowly as he took a bite of his own fish. He reached back into his ring and pulled out two large clay jugs. "You can't have a meal without a good drink. A friend of mine told me that and I agree."

  Li Yu tossed one of the jugs to Malos. "It's a strong spiritual brew I picked up during my travels in this world. It burns a bit but it settles the stomach."

  Malos popped the cork and took a deep swig. He grimaced slightly at the harsh bite of the liquor, then chuckled. "Rough. Unrefined. But it possesses a certain aggressive charm. Allow me to offer something in return. I can’t just take in this relationship now can I?"

  The Demon Lord waved his pale hand. A slender bottle carved from what looked like solid starlight materialized in the air and floated gently over to Li Yu.

  "A vintage from my own collection," Malos explained as Li Yu caught it. "I took it from the vault of a rather arrogant cultivator a few centuries ago. I think you will find it pairs nicely with the meat."

  Li Yu unstoppered the crystalline bottle. The scent alone was intoxicating, smelling of crisp winter air and ancient power. He took a sip. The liquid didn't burn; it flowed down his throat like liquid silk and instantly exploded into a warm and gentle wave of Qi.

  "Incredible," Li Yu admitted while taking another sip.

  They ate in silence for the next few minutes as the crackle of the fire and the howling wind served as their only company. The food and the exchange of drinks had softened the sharp edges of their interaction.

  Li Yu looked at Malos through the smoke of the fire. The initial shock of the Demon Lord's identity had faded and was replaced by a burning desire to figure out exactly who he was dealing with. They were bound by a contract and they were going to travel together. Li Yu needed to understand the mind of the monster sitting across from him.

  "So," Li Yu began. "I want to ask you something."

  "Ask what you wish," Malos said as he was casually taking another bite of his meat. "The contract ensures neither of us can betray the other's confidence. We can talk about anything you want."

  "Why do you kill so randomly?" Li Yu asked right away and got straight to the core of his unease. "You said you did it out of boredom or because of your foresight. But you destroyed an entire army at the Black Pass. Tens of thousands of lives. I barely got away back then as well. Do they just mean nothing to you?"

  Malos lowered his jug. The faint smile on his lips didn't vanish but it took on a sharper and more analytical edge. He looked at Li Yu with a complex expression, like a puzzle he was trying to solve.

  "Tell me, Li Yu," Malos said. "Did I kill anyone you truly cared about on that battlefield?"

  Li Yu opened his mouth to snap back. To defend the fallen but the words died in his throat. He thought back to the mercenaries of the 42nd Company. He thought of Gnash and the others. They had fought together, yes, but there was no deep bond there. They had barely met one another.

  "No," Li Yu admitted slowly. "Not really. They were mercenaries that I met just briefly there. I barely knew them."

  "Then what is the big deal?" Malos asked genuinely as he was spreading his hands. "Death, birth, killing... they are perfectly natural mechanisms of the universe. They are the gears that keep the Dao turning. It happens everywhere, every single second of every single day. A wolf eats a rabbit. A warlord slaughters a rival. A storm drowns a coastal village. It is all the same."

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  "It's not the same," Li Yu argued with his brow furrowing. "A storm doesn't have a choice. You do. You possess the power of a god and you use it to wipe out thousands of people for no good reason."

  Malos rested his elbows on his knees and was leaning closer to the fire again. There was a look of amusement on his face but also of confusion. The look of confusion then turned into a look a father gives to a child being foolish. "Are you going to save everyone from death, Li Yu?"

  The question hung in the air. It was blunt and accusatory.

  "People are dying all over the place as we speak," Malos continued. His dark eyes locked onto Li Yu's. "Right now, a hundred miles from here, a demon is gutting another for a scrap of spirit jade. A thousand miles away, a beast tide is tearing a family to shreds. If you care so deeply about the sanctity of life, why are you sitting here drinking with me? Why aren't you tirelessly flying across the realm. Going everywhere you possibly can and desperately trying to save every single person from their inevitable end?"

  Li Yu opened his mouth but no sound came out. He couldn't answer him. The sheer logistics of it, the absolute impossibility of saving everyone... it was a crushing reality. He wasn't doing that. He had never planned to do that. It wasn’t what drove him forward. It was never his goal or his desire.

  "You can't answer," Malos noted softly, "because you know it is impossible. I understand what you are saying. I have a choice and control over what I do. That I should not have killed all of those people that day. You are naive, Li Yu. A mere baby."

  Malos paused and then tilted his head. He quickly corrected himself. "Well, a baby in the cultivation world, at least. You still cling to ideals of universal fairness in a universe that is fundamentally designed to be a meat grinder."

  Li Yu gripped the crystalline bottle of wine tightly with his knuckles turning white. He hated the condescension but he couldn't find the logical flaw in the Demon Lord's argument. Deep down he knew it to be true. He had always known but he had always tried to take a morale high ground, but it was simply his morale high ground. Not everyone’s.

  "You should use your time to get stronger," Malos advised. His tone shifted from accusatory to almost paternal. "Focus on protecting the things that are actually important to you. The people you care about. Your own Dao. Protecting just those few things is already hard enough. In this world, it is nearly impossible. Do not burden your shoulders with the weight of strangers you do not know and cannot save."

  Li Yu let out a long, slow breath and continued staring into the flames. Malos was right. Keeping the people close to him alive was already a monumental task that demanded all of his strength. He couldn’t even do that yet. Thoughts of the Green Mountain Sect and the Seven Sins drifted into his mind.

  "I agree with you," Li Yu finally said with a steady voice. "I know I can't save everyone. I know this world is cruel and that I have to prioritize. But still..." Li Yu looked up and was meeting the Demon Lord's gaze. "...what you do is overboard. Killing so many people at once, erasing entire armies in the blink of an eye. It's excessive."

  Malos let out a short and amused scoff. He took another drink from his jug and wiped his mouth with the back of his pale hand.

  "Excessive?" Malos countered. His eyes flashed with a sudden intense light. "Are you truly so blind to your own wake, young man? Tell me, since you began your journey upon the path of cultivation... how many have you killed? There is no way you got to where you are today with clean hands. Whether you did it yourself or you had others do it for you. No one gets where you are without blood all over their hands."

  Li Yu stiffened.

  "You do not need to say the number aloud," Malos said smoothly. "Beasts, demons, humans or otherwise. You have unleashed powerful techniques into crowded battlefields. You have fought in wars and beast tides. You have surely killed millions by now, directly or indirectly."

  "I did what I had to do to survive," Li Yu defended himself quickly. "Or I did it to save the people behind me!"

  "And does the rabbit care if the wolf eats it for survival or for pleasure?" Malos asked sharply. "Whether you did it in the name of saving others or for your own survival, you killed them all the same. The result is identical. They are dead and you are alive. Their friends or family are not going to care that you did it to save your friends and family."

  Malos leaned back and the aggressive edge faded from his voice. It returned to his calm, scholarly demeanor.

  "What if I was doing the exact same thing at the Black Pass?" Malos proposed casually.

  Li Yu frowned. "What do you mean?"

  "I told you I have the gift of foresight," Malos reminded him. "What if, when I looked down at that canyon, I saw that if the Beast Army won that skirmish, they would gain the momentum to march eastward? What if I saw them slaughtering ten million innocent mortals in the neighboring territories? What if I destroyed that army of ten thousand to save ten million lives down the line?"

  Li Yu was completely taken aback. His eyes widened as he processed the moral problem Malos was presenting.

  "Is that... is that why you did it?" Li Yu asked as his voice wavered slightly.

  Malos smiled an enigmatic, secretive smile. "I didn't say that was why I did it. But what if I did? Would that make my casual slaughter acceptable to your moral compass?"

  Li Yu fell silent. He looked down at his own hands. They were clean but he knew exactly how much blood stained them. He had killed without hesitation when his life or the lives of his allies were threatened. He had wiped out swathes of demonic beasts. He had justified every single kill because he felt he was in the right.

  Who was he to judge a being who operated on a different scale of cause and effect?

  "You're right," Li Yu said with a heavy voice. It wasn’t a shock for him to hear this. He had thought about such things before but had always pushed such thoughts to the back of his head. He had never been directly confronted about it before so bluntly.

  He took a long drink of the wine and let the warmth dull the sharp ache of his own hypocrisy. He had gotten too carried away with himself. Who was he to judge others? He should really just focus on himself. "I really am not someone who can talk. I've killed tons too. I just dress it up with better excuses."

  Malos watched him and the amusement in his eyes softened into something resembling respect. It was incredibly rare for a cultivator to admit fault and rarer still for them to confront the contradictions of their own morality without immediately resorting to violence or denial. The boy in front of him was so young, so powerful but most impressively to the Demon Lord, he was kind and able to accept the words of others.

  Malos was also surprised to find that he was thoroughly enjoying this conversation. It had been centuries since anyone had spoken to him as an equal, rather than groveling in terror or attacking him in a blind rage.

  "There is no need for self flagellation," Malos said gently. "The excuses do not matter. The judgment of others does not matter. All that truly matters, Li Yu, is if you can continue on your path."

  Malos pointed a pale finger at Li Yu's chest.

  "Your Dao Heart," Malos explained. "That is the only judge that holds any weight in this universe. As long as your Dao Heart sees what you do as correct, as long as your convictions remain unbroken by the reality of your actions, then you are righteous in your own universe. Only then can you continue moving forward without your foundation shattering into dust."

  Malos let his hand drop and a genuine bright laugh escaped his lips. He looked incredibly refreshed.

  "I must admit," Malos smiled while taking another piece of roasted meat from the stone. "I haven't heard that kind of naive, high ground talk in a very long time. Nor did I think I would ever bother discussing it with a human. But I am glad we did. In a world full of cynical old monsters like myself, who have accepted the slaughter as the only truth... perhaps the world needs dreamers like you to truly be good. Someone has to hope for a better way, even if it is impossible."

  Li Yu looked at the Demon Lord. The terrifying aura was still there, a constant reminder of the man's power but the monster had vanished. In his place was a complex, incredibly ancient traveler who was simply enjoying a good meal and a debate.

  "More meat?" Li Yu offered as he gestured to the fire.

  "Please," Malos nodded. He was holding out his jug of rough liquor in a silent toast. "And pass that awful mortal brew while you are at it. I find it is quite growing on me."

  They sat by the campfire late into the night. The Divine Transformation cultivator and the omniscient Demon Lord. They were eating simple food, sharing drinks and watching the flames dance against the dark canvas of the Demon Realm. Their unlikely companionship loosely cemented by the honesty of their words.