Daniel saw that these former opponents and fellow travelers had all gathered together.

Around them were piles of wine and food. There was even a group of graceful attendants in flowing robes, dancing lightly to the faint sound of string music.

"What a comfortable scene."

A faint smile appeared at the corner of Daniel’s mouth as he spoke.

"You all seem to be living quite well."

When Harris and the others heard this, their expressions immediately became awkward.

Even they themselves could not tell whether that awkwardness came from Daniel’s seemingly casual words, or from the deep shame they felt toward their own decadent behavior.

As top existences among peak demi-sage ranks, the word "advancement" had long since been carved into their bones and fused into their blood.

Yet now, they indulged in wine and pleasure all day long, wasting their years and throwing their ambition to pursue the peak far behind them.

There seemed to be a trace of mockery in Daniel’s words.

However, they all understood that what he said was not wrong.

"What difference does it make?"

Udi gritted his teeth.

"Right now, the Chaosverse’s path of advancement has already been sealed shut. What else can we do? We might as well drink the flames in this cup!"

"We have already touched our own ceiling. We are only missing that final step."

Harris raised his wine cup, and the amber liquor inside swayed gently.

"No one can take another step forward. Even you, Faustus, are no exception."

"Exactly."

Cold Star, Igor, and Silas all nodded.

"We only need to quietly wait for the day the seal is undone. When that time comes, we will naturally be able to keep moving forward and continue climbing."

Daniel nodded.

He silently turned and left, his back gradually stretching longer in the faint light.

Only a group of same-generation powerhouses with complicated hearts remained behind.

...

Daniel continued walking forward.

In a quiet plane, he saw Vincent.

Vincent was painting!

What he painted was the current state of the Chaosverse.

There were crazed powerhouses slaughtering freely in the starry sky, blood flowing like rivers.

There were powerhouses nearing the end of their lifespans, leaping into the void in despair and turning into silent dust.

There were also those powerhouses who had been rejected from the path of advancement, indulging in wine and pleasure all day, living in drunken dreams and burying their former ambitions between cups and goblets.

Vincent’s painting seemed to fish those tragic moments out from the long river of time, forever freezing them upon the canvas.

"Your painting is very moving."

Only after Vincent laid down the final stroke did Daniel speak softly.

"This is also part of my advancement."

Vincent raised his head, his smile gentle and calm.

"Painting is my cultivation. It tempers my Mental State and allows me to comprehend the true essence of the Laws."

A light suddenly appeared in Daniel’s eyes.

"You really are extraordinary."

"So are you."

Vincent smiled.

"You have always persisted in yourself and never given up."

"I am merely walking my own path."

The corner of Daniel’s mouth lifted slightly.

Vincent suddenly said, "I once painted a picture for you."

"Oh?"

Daniel’s eyes lit up.

"Take a look."

Vincent took out a scroll and handed it to Daniel.

"This painting is called The Eaglet. I give it to you."

Daniel took the scroll and slowly unfolded it.

A vivid scene immediately entered his eyes.

Within the painting, an eaglet that had just broken out of its shell looked young and fragile.

It poked its head out from the shattered shell in confusion, and its first glance was toward the boundless sky.

Then, it began to try.

It flapped its tiny, fleshy wings and clumsily fluttered.

The first time, it fell heavily to the ground.

The hundredth time, it barely flew half a meter high before falling again, covered in wounds.

Yet its head remained raised, stubbornly facing that vast firmament.

There was not the slightest retreat in its eyes.

Only yearning for the sky.

Only desire for flight.

It continued flapping its wings.

A thousand times.

Ten thousand times.

Hundreds of thousands, millions of attempts...

The eaglet’s dream was to fly into that sky, to touch the clouds, to feel the freedom of the wind.

It fell again and again, yet climbed back up again and again.

It was a war.

And the protagonist of that war was itself.

Its enemy was named fate.

Every fall was merely the horn of its next charge.

Its constantly flapping wings were a silent challenge issued against fate.

Its proudly raised head was the most complete contempt toward fate.

The eaglet had always been losing.

But it had never surrendered.

Losing did not mean defeat.

Giving up...

That was the true fall, the true submission beneath the feet of fate.

The eaglet was incomparably fragile, and fate was so immensely powerful.

Fate needed only a tiny joke to find a thousand ways to reduce that eaglet to ashes.

Yet the eaglet still fought.

It fought against fate, until death without rest!

...

"This painting..."

Daniel slowly rolled up the scroll, his voice calm yet filled with deep emotion.

"Is very interesting."

"Right? I think so too."

Vincent smiled.

"Then, will you continue attempting to advance?"

"Of course."

Daniel’s answer did not contain the slightest hesitation.

"What if there is still no result?"

"Is the result truly that important?"

Daniel suddenly smiled.

"Isn’t maintaining an unyielding fighting spirit itself more precious than the result?"

Vincent froze, as though a bolt of lightning had split apart the fog in his heart.

Was the result important?

Without question.

But maintaining one’s fighting spirit was even more important than obtaining the result!

"Is it truly misfortune to have no light?"

"The true misfortune is having eyes that long for light yet refuse to open... It is clearly being able to burn, yet willingly extinguishing the flame within one’s heart!"

Vincent understood.

So Faustus was also cultivating.

Just like him.

Vincent walked the path of the painting heart, while Faustus cultivated fighting spirit and persistence!

"So that’s how it is. Faustus’s Rank is indeed high."

There was envy in Vincent’s heart, but even more than that, there was reverence from the depths of his soul.

This was the true path of a powerhouse.

What was a powerhouse?

One who strengthened themselves without end and never bowed their head!

"It is hard to imagine what kind of difficulty could possibly trap a powerhouse like Faustus, someone with endless fighting spirit. Given enough time, he will surely become one of the greatest existences in the Endless Starsea!"

Vincent sighed silently in his heart.

"Faced with a desperate situation, some living beings willingly fall into decadence. Some surrender easily. Some blame heaven and earth, searching everywhere for excuses..."

"But there are very few like Faustus. Even while trapped in despair, he instead treats that despair as a whetstone, using it to temper his Mental State and forge his soul."

"When the day comes that the shackles shatter... Faustus will surely soar into the heavens, unstoppable."

Vincent’s eyes gradually brightened.

"Just like the eaglet in the painting."

"Even if the eaglet falls countless times, when the day comes that its wings are fully grown, it will fly higher than any of its kind—"

"Faster! Stronger!"

"Through countless failures, it trained powerful muscles and bones. Through wounds covering its entire body, it gained tenacious endurance. Beneath endless defeat, it sharpened an unbreakable heart."

"Faustus is exactly like that. Even in the face of this predicament and desperate situation where he cannot advance, he is constantly tempering his will. One day, the bitter winter will pass, and the shackles will collapse."

"When that time comes... Faustus will rise like a star into the sky, shining with boundless light, unstoppable by anyone."