Eternal Regret

"This might be the aftereffect of resonating with ancient myths."

Yin Chen calmly gave his assessment, carefully observing Chen Guan's physical condition.

"Your mind was connected to the massive emotions of the ancient past, and now that it has been forcibly severed, it places a tremendous burden on your body. You should be fine after some rest."

These words provided everyone with a reasonable explanation and slightly eased the tense atmosphere around them.

"That's great. It seems the effects of the bloodline resonance are gradually fading."

Su Yuehe let out a long sigh of relief, her taut face finally showing a relaxed expression.

"I was worried earlier that you would be forever trapped by those emotions."

In her eyes, the fact that Chen Guan could break free from those heavy historical emotions meant that his own will as Chen Guan had triumphed over the imprint of his bloodline ancestors.

This was undoubtedly an excellent thing.

"Even as a descendant of the king, there is no need to forever bear the hatred of your ancestors."

Yin Chen's tone no longer carried any envy.

He who wears the crown must bear its weight.

The title of king is a glory and a burden. It is a terrifying curse that spans the long river of history, cursing descendants thousands of years later.

Not cool at all.

"Being able to cut ties with this heavy history is perhaps a kind of blessing for him."

Long Ao, who had been standing silently at the back of the group, finally spoke up upon hearing this.

"What's in the past is in the past. What matters is the present."

He rested his gaze on Chen Guan, the meaning in his eyes clear: no matter what your identity is, you are our companion now.

An Changqing nodded in agreement.

They truly were a harmonious and caring team.

"Exactly!"

Hong Yuan forcefully slammed the handle of her axe heavily onto the stone slab. The dull thud caught Chen Guan's attention as she smugly shook her slightly sore wrist.

"Who cares about kings or whatever, it sounds exhausting just hearing about it. As long as you are still the same Chen Guan who can fight, that's all that matters."

Though her words were blunt, the logic was sound. Hong Yuan's statement directly expressed the inner thoughts of most people present.

Those grand narratives about ancient civilizations and the betrayal of gods had long taken a backseat to the genuine safety of their companion.

The desire to investigate in Su Yuehe's eyes gradually faded, replaced by a layer of gentle concern.

"She's right. Your bloodline might determine your starting point, but it doesn't define everything about you."

She looked at Chen Guan's pale face, genuinely happy that her companion had broken free from the shackles of historical emotions.

"The fact that you could shake off the restraints of those emotions proves that your will is far stronger than that heavy history."

"It seems we won't need to arrange psychological counseling for you after all."

Yin Chen stood to the side with his arms crossed, his tone regaining some of its usual composure and teasing.

"I thought I was about to witness the birth of a last generation monarch. That would have been far too dramatic."

Being able to recover so quickly from an ancient mental shock of that magnitude showed a resilient mindset that Yin Chen quite admired. At the very least, if it were him, he might not have been able to do it.

However, this was Chen Guan, a man also known as a miracle. It did not seem particularly surprising anymore; Yin Chen had gotten used to it.

Even if Chen Guan were to perform an ascension into a demon god right here and now, Yin Chen probably wouldn't find it too outrageous.

Facing the various words of comfort from his teammates, Chen Guan simply stood quietly in place and listened.

There was not much expression on his pale face; the immense sorrow from earlier had been completely concealed.

He did not open his mouth to correct a single detail in everyone's words.

The speculations about being a descendant of the king and having a betrayer's bloodline sounded logically rigorous and interconnected, perfectly explaining all the anomalies that had occurred in this underground ruin.

But only Chen Guan himself knew that the sorrow which pierced to his very bones originated from that ancient entity which, after being sacrificed to and worshipped, was ultimately wiped out completely.

He had no connection whatsoever to that rebellious king. What he bore was the god abandoned by the king.

This thought flashed through his mind and was immediately forced down into the deepest depths of his heart.

Now was far from the time to investigate this truth. Once this speculation was spoken aloud, it would only cause unpredictable chaos.

He impassively focused his mind and summoned his system interface in his head.

In front of his retinas, pale blue data streams quietly glided by.

Name: Chen Guan

Identity: ???

Abilities: Life Type - Resilience, Mental Type - Illusionist, Mythical Type - Reverberation (Raging Flames, Storm, Lingering Regret)

Special Skills: Combat Arts (Purple), Scythe Mastery (Gold), Breath Concealment (Purple), Universal Visualization Technique (Gold)

Attributes:

Strength: 34

Stamina: 32

Agility: 23

Intelligence: 40

Spirit: 65

Aside from the suddenly surging intelligence, what was worth Chen Guan's attention was the newly added Lingering Regret behind Reverberation, as well as the question marks next to his identity.

Speaking of the former, he had fleeced the first two skills from Baal. Could this Lingering Regret be related to that unknown god?

Chen Guan focused his thoughts to touch that area, and a brand new segment of annotated text immediately flowed before his retinas.

Skill Name: Lingering Regret

Skill Effect: Triggers the endless resentment remaining in this place; intensity is related to the degree of negative emotions.

Negative Effect: Each use will consume a portion of the user's sanity. Deep resonance may result in the consciousness being assimilated by the Lingering Regret. Please use with caution.

These short few lines of text made Chen Guan's heart sink.

This was completely different from the Raging Flames and Storm he had previously obtained from Baal.

Those two skills leaned more toward simple ultimate moves, but this new ability named Lingering Regret exuded an ominous aura between the lines.

Consumes sanity.

Assimilated by Lingering Regret.

This was absolutely not a combat skill that could be used regularly. Instead, it was more like a trump card for mutual destruction.

Chen Guan could basically confirm that the source of this Lingering Regret was exactly that endless sorrow of being abandoned by the entire world, which he had felt just moments ago.

This power did not belong to the king; it uniquely belonged to that erased god.

He had received a blessing from a god, a gift soaked in hatred and sorrow.

Probably a gift, anyway.

Chen Guan impassively closed the system interface, pressing the surging emotions in his eyes back into a bottomless calm.

He definitely had a connection with that god. Otherwise, his identity column would not have turned into question marks.

He raised his head and happened to meet An Changqing's concerned gaze.

"Chen Guan."

An Changqing's voice was gentle. He took half a step forward but still maintained a respectful distance.

"Are you feeling any better?"

An Changqing looked at the companion in front of him and added.

"If you still need to rest, we can stay here a little longer."

"There's no need."

Chen Guan shook his head slightly, his voice returning to its usual steadiness.

"The information I received just now was a bit chaotic."

He paused for a moment before speaking the second half of his sentence.

"It has all been sorted out now."

His half-truthful words made all the companions around him breathe a sigh of relief.