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"I don't?" Ye Li asked.

"You don't. If it was up to you, you would simply make the whole world a Karma farm. You would never be a ruler, maybe a raiser of livestock."

Ye Li was surprised. "You seem to know me quite well."

"I've been watching you all along. From the very start, I was there." Zhou Fan said.

Ye Li was even more surprised. "Why? For entertainment?"

Zhou Fan was honest. "To break through."

Ye Li wasn't surprised. "And I assume that you know I want to devour your Karma to break through as well."

Zhou Fan nodded. "And I am willing to let you live and grow. You have plenty of time to grow in strength. I'm not breaking through any time soon."

Above anything else, Ye Li was shocked by Zhou Fan's honesty.

"You must be hiding something. Do you really not worry about me at all?" Ye Li asked.

"Why would I fear someone inferior to me? Even if you do grow strong enough to suppress me, I'll probably comprehend something that allows me to turn the tables. My talent is greater than yours."

Ye Li wasn't sure how to respond. Despite Zhou Fan's apparent honesty, he was the most arrogant person he had ever met.

His arrogance was so great that it was casual. 

"By the way, even if you devour my Karma, you won't break through." Zhou Fan said.

Ye Li's attention was drawn back to Zhou Fan instantly. "What?"

"Breaking through is not a matter of accumulation, but a combination of understanding and accumulation. Of course, anything is possible. I believe that a certain amount of Karma would indeed break down that barrier, but the amount is far more than you or I can comprehend. Also, you would need at least a shallow understanding regardless." Zhou Fan explained.

Ye Li questioned him. "If a certain amount of accumulation could indeed break that barrier, have you been striving towards that point?"

"No."

"Why not?" Ye Li was genuinely confused.

"You control Karma, so why can't you see the obvious. Breaking through that way is not a true breakthrough. It is something akin to cheating or a shortcut. The result would naturally be inferior compared to a real and deserved breakthrough through understanding."

Ye Li didn't speak, instead falling into deep thought.

After a while, who knows how long, Ye Li spoke. "You've seen a lot more than me. Let me guess. Leading the way is much harder than following it. You're looking into the far far future."

Zhou Fan nodded. "At least you aren't stupid. At a time, breaking through to the God realm, or the Sage realm, or anything in between seemed impossible to many cultivators. However, when someone eventually does, the difficulty seems to lower. This is a natural phenomenon observable throughout the Universe. On a mortal planet focused on science, something seems impossible. Teleportation, traveling at light speed, standing in space, etc. Yet as advancements improve, it goes from an unattainable idea to a possible future advancement. This is the natural growth of life."

Ye Li's understanding of the Universe rapidly enhanced as Zhou Fan spoke. He looked at Zhou Fan weirdly.

"Why explain all of this to me? I'm your enemy."

Zhou Fan shook his head. "No. I'm your enemy. I've never had ill intentions towards you. I suppose this is the fate of the strong, hated by those below them for no reason other than being above."

Ye Li's gaze changed. "Perhaps I was hasty. I…"

Zhou Fan interrupted. "You can't deceive me. I know you as well as you know you, maybe better. Your only goal is to grow stronger. I admire you, and this is why I could never trust someone like you."

Ye Li paused for a moment. Then he smiled. "I apologize for insulting your intelligence."

"There's no need to compare me to those you have dealt with before. I am the most ancient existence in the Universe. My intelligence is not necessarily below yours. If you want to play a game of trickery and scheming, you'll lose more thoroughly than you can imagine."

Ye Li fell into thought again.

"So I can't defeat you in strength, according to you, and I am less intelligent than you, which is probably true. In addition, you have been observing me all my life. It seems truly impossible to defeat you." Ye Li said.

Zhou Fan nodded. "You get it. You can't win against me. Not alone at least."

Ye Li noticed that Zhou Fan seemed to be pointing him in some sort of direction. He listened carefully.

"Perhaps if there were some more Path Creators at your level and you teamed up, you truly could eliminate me." Zhou Fan said.

"So you want me to wait until there are others on par with me before I fight you?"

Zhou Fan nodded. "Now you get it. So, what do you say? How about waiting?"

Ye Li could not understand Zhou Fan's thoughts. He was essentially telling him how to defeat him.

"Do you want to die?" 

"I would only feel satisfied dying to a worthy scheme and worthy opponents."

"So you want to die?"

"Only to a group of powerful individuals."

"So you seek death."

"Maybe. If I'm killed by someone powerful."

"Then let me kill you."

"You're not worthy… Alone at least."

Ye Li was stunned into silence.

What was wrong with this old geezer? Did he want to die? It seemed like it. But why was he acting like this?

Zhou Fan's presence seemed to have changed in just a moment. Whatever was going on, Ye Li was confused.

Karma would not help here. If this was a battle of wits, he did not even know what direction to face.

Zhou Fan waited for Ye Li to talk again. Confusing these young ones was not difficult. His intention was there, and Ye Li had no idea if what he was saying was truthful or not.

He had an absolute advantage over Ye Li. After all, he had been watching him all along. Ye Li had lost in terms of intelligence the moment he was born.