Shuangjing let out a cold snort, very displeased: "I thought highly of you just moments ago, but now it seems, nothing more than an average tolerance."
"You, a mere half-breed, with a lowly birth and a base status, still expect to possess morality?"
"Heh heh."
"That's truly laughable!"
"You are not worthy to be my equal, continue living in your abjection, sooner or later you will regret your foolishness this time and pay the price."
"Now, get out."
"Allow this inferior to take his leave!" Liu Er bowed deeply, slowly backing away until he reached the entrance of the tent, then turned around, lifted the curtain, and left the Main General's tent.
It was only after Liu Er had left that Ning Zhuo realized his restraints had vanished.
He pushed open the door at the first opportunity and bowed to Shuangjing: "Great Shuangjing, why be so harsh? With your tolerance, how could you not accommodate an outsider with a Golden Core?"
Shuangjing looked deeply at Ning Zhuo: "So, Ning Zhuo, what do you have to say?"
Without hesitation, Ning Zhuo bowed again: "Please forgive me for taking my leave!"
"Heh heh heh." Shuangjing chuckled coldly three times, pointing a finger towards the tent curtain. Out of regard for Ning Zhuo's status as the son-in-law of an Upper General, he did not utter the word "get out."
Ning Zhuo immediately departed, running at full speed to catch up with Liu Er.
"General Liu, General Liu!" Ning Zhuo called anxiously.
Liu Er turned around, and seeing Ning Zhuo chasing up from behind, felt a stir in his heart.
Ning Zhuo did not hide anything from him, sharing his experience within Shuangjing's tent.
Liu Er laughed heartily: "The military strategist is sagacious and astute, thinking further ahead than I did."
Ning Zhuo sighed deeply: "But Shuangjing is so high above, looking down upon us, causing you, General, to be humiliated."
"Not at all," Liu Er shook his head directly, "What does that amount to?"
"As Shuangjing said, plenty of cultivators long for such an opportunity and cannot obtain it. With my status, to obtain such an opportunity is truly fortunate."
"It's just that I find this fortune hard to grasp."
"That is my problem."
Ning Zhuo also shook his head and grasped Liu Er's arm, pleadingly said: "Your kindness towards me is deeply felt in my heart!"
Liu Er's other hand also grasped Ning Zhuo's arm: "Strategist! Although there is a considerable age difference between us, we have formed a close friendship. The Three Generals Camp has endured until today, and your contribution is the greatest."
"My words just now were not an empty courtesy, but truly came from the bottom of my heart."
"What virtue or ability do I, Liu Er, have to be valued by Shuangjing?"
"I am nothing but a half-demon hybrid."
At this point, Liu Er paused for a moment, pointing to a distant hilltop: "Strategist, look over there. Let us settle down there, and allow me to elaborate my feelings to you."
Naturally, Ning Zhuo would not refuse.
The two flew down to the nearest hilltop, settled on the rocky terrain, and rested.
Liu Er took out a flask of wine, pouring some for himself to drink: "My father is a Demon Cultivator, while my mother is from the Human Clan. I was brought up by my mother's hand."
"It was fine at first, the blood of the Demon Race in me was not outwardly manifest."
"I too once had carefree days of frolicking and playing like other children."
"That was the only bright spot of my childhood, but perhaps it was because of that, I came to experience the pain that followed all the more acutely."
Liu Er took a sip of wine: "Former playmates brought me fear, suspicion, and estrangement."
"As I grew up, what I encountered were the cold stares, ridicule, and behind-the-back whispers of my peers. They called me a mongrel, a half-breed, a half-demon, or a monster."
"I was isolated, no longer had friends. When playing alone, I most feared encountering other village children of the same age. They would mock me as a demon, surround me, push me to the ground, and deliberately throw stones at me."
"For a time, I deeply hated my own identity and argued with my mother, questioning her why she didn't bear me as a pure Human Clan individual?"
"But when I came to understand some truths, I realized my mother's helplessness, and I gradually learned to stay away from the crowd, avoiding people to protect myself."
Liu Er poured a cup of wine for Ning Zhuo.
"Near the mountain village where I lived, there was a single cultivation sect."
"This was the place I yearned to join day and night."
"My talent for cultivation was not bad, and my mind was quick. I saw joining the sect as the hope of my life, eager to use this opportunity to change my destiny, my life, and improve the situation for my mother."
"But it's laughable, when the sect initiated its triennial event to recruit disciples externally, I couldn't even get through the first round."
"The Human Clan Cultivator guarding the gate, upon seeing me, waved his sleeve and flung me out."
"The words he said, I remember vividly to this day — 'How can a thing born of a Demon and a human mix cultivate alongside us?'"
At this point, Liu Er looked at Ning Zhuo, clinked glasses with him, and downed the drink in his cup.
"I was thrown to the ground, bruising my nose and swelling my face, all while being surrounded by the mockery and ridicule of others."
"I don't even know how I managed to get up."
"I wandered through the mountains like a lonely ghost."
"When the deep night came, my mother found me, her hair disheveled, and she pulled me into her arms. I forcefully pushed her away, letting out a piercing scream, and pointed at her nose, rebuking her for why she gave birth to me."
"My mother allowed me to insult her until I was exhausted, then she carried me on her back for several miles back to our thatched house where we lived."
Liu Er's eyes reddened, his voice choking: "If my mother were still alive, I would have taken good care of her. Sadly, I was too ignorant back then."
Liu Er looked at Ning Zhuo: "So, strategist, don't you worry. I have been ridiculed and scorned all my life; whatever I've endured at Shuangjing's place today is nothing at all."
Ning Zhuo raised his cup, toasting Liu Er: "I see that nowadays the General is deeply ambitious, fearless in moving forward, with outstanding strength, and treating people with the warmth of spring, such elegance compels one to want to follow."
"There's an old saying that rings true — 'Heaven imposes great tasks on this man, must first suffer his mind, toil his muscles and bones...'"
Liu Er laughed loudly: "Back then I didn't understand such principles."
"Even if there were a wise man to advise me, I couldn't take in a single word."
"It wasn't until three years later, when a famine struck, that everything about me changed."
"The mountain village was on the verge of collapse due to the famine, and in order to make a living, the villagers chose me to be a sacrifice to the gods."
"My mother begged all the villagers, crying desperately for three days and nights, but it wasn't enough to win my freedom."
"On the day of the sacrifice, as I was about to be thrown into the fire, my mother rushed over and died in my stead by jumping into the flames."
At this point, Liu Er paused.
Ning Zhuo remained silent.
Liu Er took a few deep breaths and continued, his voice becoming hoarse: "But the villagers still didn't let me go and threw me into the fire as well."
"A god secretly saved me."
"Turns out, before becoming a god, He was just a Demon Beast guarding the sect. With the sect's support, He was able to develop followers and ascend to divinity."
"Over the years, He would use Divine Power to cause famines periodically to facilitate the sect in cutting down local emerging forces and also to conveniently harvest the wealth of the rich."
"In this way, the status, reputation, and benefits of the sect could be maintained."
"I begged the god to revive my mother, but He was unwilling. He was also helpless, but this time touched by my mother's sacrifice, and pitying my Half-Demon identity, He secretly let me live."
"From then on, I understood it all."
"In this world, even if a Demon Cultivator becomes a god, he is just a puppet of others."
"Is there a haven for Demon Cultivators in this world?"
"Even if there is, would someone of mixed blood like me be accepted?"
"I secretly left the mountain village, lived by begging, and wandered for many years. I met my master and finally began my Cultivation."
"As my horizons widened, I despairingly realized that the people in the world respond to Demon Cultivators, to Half-Demons, with denigration, rejection, and oppression."
Liu Er looked up at the sky.
The sky was clear for thousands of miles, vast and open.
Then, by Ning Zhuo's ear came Liu Er's words, quivering with excitement.
"If there is no pure land in this world, then I shall create it myself!"
"This is my ambition."
"I want to create a sanctuary where those of mixed blood like me can live freely, without disdain, mockery, rejection, or oppression."
"For this, I am willing to dedicate my life!"
Ning Zhuo was momentarily stunned.
Liu Er turned his gaze back, looked at Ning Zhuo with a smile: "So, what does such humiliation matter compared to the ambition I shoulder?"
Ning Zhuo was left speechless.