"Give up? No! Yuxiang shook her head. The word 'quit' was never in her vocabulary, nor had the thought ever crossed her mind, but the issue now wasn't about quitting; it was that she was fundamentally unable to move forward.

"When you think you can no longer advance, you have already entertained the idea of giving up, even if you don't realize it yourself, or perhaps you dare not admit it," Lin Luo stated with grave sincerity.

Yuxiang froze instantly, instinctively wanting to retort, but her mouth opened and no sound emerged... She had to admit that she had never felt so discouraged before. Even when everyone looked down on her, she never stopped cultivating herself. But now?

Sitting here weeping like a stray dog—wasn't that the very definition of giving up on herself?

The realization struck her, and Yuxiang shamefully lowered her head.

Lin Luo gently stroked her head, offering a slight smile. "Giving up is nothing to be ashamed of. Just as human emotions have laughter and tears, where there is persistence, there must also be the possibility of surrender; it is human nature. Even I have faced absolute dead ends numerous times and felt the urge to quit. Of course, that wasn't a genuine desire to quit, but rather the same feeling you have now—the belief that you cannot progress any further."

Hearing this, Yuxiang snapped her head up, her eyes brimming with hope. "Then how did Master manage to move forward?"

"Persistence!" Lin Luo uttered the two words solemnly. "Take my Black Flame, for instance. After dying over a dozen times, despair slowly began to envelop my heart. With each death, my senses grew numb; I began to believe I could never command that power. But at that point, I had no retreat; to stand still meant only one path: death. So, I kept persisting... At that time, I never once imagined I could endure it seventeen hundred times. I only knew that without the persistence forged then, the current me would not exist."

As he spoke, Lin Luo patted Yuxiang's shoulder, stood up, and addressed her: "In life, one encounters countless setbacks. Various bonds can pave the path ahead with thorns, and sometimes the pain can be so intense that you can barely take a single step, breeding utter despair. But... are we truly willing to surrender there?"

"No!" Yuxiang shook her head vigorously.

"Exactly, unwilling! We can admit our powerlessness and weakness in the face of setbacks and difficulties, because that carries no shame. Weakness is part of our nature. But we must never bow our heads before trials and hardships, nor must we stop moving forward, because... we are still alive. And if we live, we must advance!"

"If we live, we must advance..." Listening to Lin Luo's words, Yuxiang's eyes widened. Though she didn't fully grasp the depth of the meaning, she drew profound encouragement from it. Yes, as long as she lived, nothing could halt growth.

In that moment, Yuxiang felt an immense lightness in her heart. She finally understood that Lin Luo's presence there was clearly no mere midnight stroll.

Standing beneath the moonlight, gazing at the tall figure opposite her, a tremor ran through Yuxiang's heart. Her lips parted slightly, and then, with sudden force, she lunged into Lin Luo’s embrace and burst into loud sobs.

Her tears were not of sorrow or pain, but of gratitude for being cared for, and of the relief of finally finding someone she could lean on and confide in.

All this time, Yuxiang had built a door in the innermost chamber of her heart, keeping her vulnerable side locked away. No one could reach that door, much less open it. Thus, all outsiders ever saw was an eternally strong her. And the name of that door was... Pride!

Because of her fierce self-esteem, Yuxiang never showed her weak and helpless side to anyone, not even her closest friends. But now, this door of Pride slowly began to swing open.

Of course, this did not mean Yuxiang had abandoned her dignity. It simply meant that in front of Lin Luo, her elder and her Master, showing a moment of weakness did not compromise her self-respect.

The girl's tears soaked his outer garment. Lin Luo watched her weep openly but offered no words of comfort, merely stroking the top of her head and waiting quietly.

He knew Yuxiang’s self-esteem was intensely strong, and generally, those with the strongest pride also harbored the deepest self-doubt. Born from humble origins and despised from childhood, facing Xiaozǐ, whose background was mysterious and talent surpassed any genius, Yuxiang, while not preventing them from becoming true friends, inevitably felt a deep sense of inadequacy.

This was human nature, much like the real-life dynamic between a poor, unremarkable person and a wealthy, handsome one. Even if the latter genuinely sought friendship without looking down on the former, could the poorly dressed commoner truly hold his head high when entering the mansion-like home of the rich friend, a palace of splendor?

No, he couldn't!

When the rich friend casually discussed spending tens of thousands on frivolous expenses with another companion, could the commoner, feeling the solitary single coin and three dimes in his pocket, truly remain unmoved?

No, he couldn't!

Yuxiang’s situation with Xiaozǐ was similar. In a time of peace, strength or weakness might have little bearing on friendship, but now they lived in a chaotic era where the strong preyed on the weak, and reality would not bend to their wills.

Only the strong could stand beside the strong; the weak could only watch from afar.

Thus, as Xiaozǐ ventured further down the path of the strong, Yuxiang began to stagnate, even regress. The self-loathing she had hidden so well inevitably flared up, yet her intense pride refused to let her yield. This caused her to become trapped in a mental deadlock, sinking deeper and ultimately losing herself.

In other words, it was precisely because the bond between Yuxiang and Xiaozǐ was so deep that Yuxiang grew anxious and frantic over her own stagnation. If she were alone, unburdened, she could simply take things slowly.

Lin Luo wasn't a psychologist, but after experiencing so much, he could see this much. Although he understood Yuxiang's hidden psychological plight, he would not voice these findings.

After a while, Yuxiang seemed to finally cry enough. She wriggled out of Lin Luo’s embrace and wiped the corners of her eyes with her sleeve.

"I am sorry, Master, for making you worry." A moment later, Yuxiang looked up. Though her eyes were slightly red and swollen, the gloom on her face was far less pronounced than before.

Lin Luo nodded and said, "Since you have recognized your weakness, the next step is to consider how to conquer it... What exactly is troubling you?"

In the past, Yuxiang would never have confessed, choosing instead to fight it alone. But after Lin Luo’s gentle guidance, she stopped spinning in circles and honestly laid out her predicament.

Ultimately, the core issue remained the Rule Force. Lin Luo already knew the answer; he asked only to prompt Yuxiang to voice it aloud, as the answer itself was secondary.

After listening, Lin Luo was silent for a moment. Then, under her gaze full of expectation, he spoke, "You say you cannot grasp the Rule Force because you lack talent. Perhaps that is true, as Rule Force is not something everyone can learn. Some people spend their entire lives striving but never master the rules..."

Hearing this, the hope that had just sparked in Yuxiang was instantly extinguished, her face falling back into despair. But before she could speak, Lin Luo abruptly shifted the focus—

"Without relying on the Rule Force?" Yuxiang was stunned. This possibility had never occurred to her.

Lin Luo offered no reply, instead turning toward their small hut, pointing down the straight, narrow path. "We all walked this path to get here, and naturally, we must take this path to return. However..." In the next instant, Lin Luo waved his hand, and torrents of Black Flame erupted forward, instantly incinerating the path.

He looked back at the dumbfounded Yuxiang and asked with a smile, "Now that the road is gone, do we no longer have a way back to our hut?"

"Well..." Yuxiang paused, instinctively glancing to the sides.

Lin Luo nodded. "Exactly. Even if this road is gone, we can still climb over the adjacent mountain to reach our dwelling. And if that mountain has no path, we can simply fly over it. Since you already know these things, what confusion remains on the path of cultivation?"

Yuxiang's eyes brightened, feeling as if she was grasping something vital.

Lin Luo waved his hand again, restoring the mountain path to normal, and then declared, "As the saying goes, all roads lead to Rome. If the path of Rule Force is blocked, then choose another path. Your feet are not broken; as long as you take a step, it is a road. Your hands are still yours; with effort, you can surely carve out a world of your own!"

As she listened, Yuxiang instinctively looked at her own hands and feet. At that moment, she suddenly recalled her former self... When she was utterly alone, facing greater danger and difficulty than now, didn't she still manage to navigate it all with just her hands and feet?

Seeing the growing clarity in Yuxiang's expression, Lin Luo knew she had achieved some understanding, and a smile touched his eyes. "There is one last, most crucial point: everyone possesses their own unique source of strength. Only by finding it can one become truly powerful. So I ask you... Do you know where your true strength lies?"

"My true strength?" Yuxiang felt a wave of confusion. Was it power? Demonic energy? Or diligence? No, none of those seemed right.

My true strength should be...

At that precise moment, Lin Luo extended his hand and gently pressed his fist against her chest. "Is it not here?"

Through the touch on her chest, Yuxiang felt the thudding of her own heart. Then, looking at Lin Luo’s expression brimming with trust, she finally understood what her true strength truly was.

In an instant, she felt as if the fog had cleared, revealing the bright sky. (To be continued)