For a long time, Ji Jiayu had harbored a hidden pain in his heart.

He had hurt many innocent people, and among them were his friends. Although it was all his subconscious behavior, he still felt uneasy.

So he desperately saved people and gave desperately, hoping that as long as he saved more people, he could relieve the guilt in his heart.

However, no. Although he saved many people, the guilt in his heart remained.

And because of his status as the person in charge of the Sacred Pearl, he was also under even greater pressure, as well as the hopes and expectations of countless people. He considered their deaths as his own responsibility.

So he felt even more guilty.

He wanted to become stronger, so he could return to Guangming City, expose the darkness under the light for all to see, and bring all the evil people Fang Xing had discovered to justice.

He wanted to become stronger and use the Holy Radiance Orb's abilities to their fullest potential. He wanted to live up to the expectations of Wang Yinlan, the Great Prophet, and the others who believed in him, and to securely hold the Sacred Gemstone and wield the immense power bestowed upon him by the Bright Clan.

He had to become stronger.

Becoming stronger had become his obsession, and the more he thought about it, the harder it became to grow.

Recently, he had not only stopped absorbing divine power, but he had also stopped studying and using sacred arts, sacred patterns, and spiritual power.

He had entered a bottleneck.

Outside, Holy City was under attack by demons, and countless cities were facing crises. How could he have fallen into a bottleneck?

Ji Jiayu was extremely depressed. He still couldn't face the various images presented by Xinhu. Every time he looked at those images, he felt as if he were back in the scene. He questioned his every move and regretted not being decisive enough.

The more he questioned himself, the more trouble he got into.

Ji Jiayu knew he couldn't continue like this.

On this day, he suddenly stood up from the courtyard, no longer paying attention to the lake, but began walking.

The Nian Gong was incredibly large, unimaginably large. Ji Jiayu guessed that this place might not be real, and that he hadn't truly come here; what had come here was merely his mental power or his thoughts.

Nie Lanxi, the Heart Monkey, and Yima watched Ji Jiayu gradually move away until they disappeared from sight.

Ji Jiayu walked north for two days, and there was still no end in sight. He looked back and realized he couldn't remember where he had come from. In this world, there was no sense of direction at all.

The sight of the lake without seeing the heart for two days made Ji Jiayu, who had been immersed in depressed emotions, breathe a sigh of relief. He looked at the green grass, his mood gradually improving, and at this moment, he saw a depression in front of him.

Ji Jiayu walked closer and clearly saw that this was a dried-up lake. "Is this also the Heart Lake?" Ji Jiayu asked.

The Great Prophet said that long ago, there were also selectors who came to the Nine Sacred Palaces to challenge, but most of them failed. Are these the heart lakes of those losers? How are they doing now? Do they live in Qiming City? Have any of them faced their inner success? What are they doing now? Ji Jiayu couldn't help but think.

Looking at the dried-up heart lake, he fell silent.

Will his heart lake dry up in the future? With his obsession and inner pain, what will happen to his future? Ji Jiayu thought for a long time beside the dried-up heart lake, and then continued moving forward. In the next half day, he saw many dried-up heart lakes.

Standing among the many dried-up heart lakes, Ji Jiayu remained silent for a long time.

He lay on the ground, thinking in his mind: Will my heart lake dry up too? I can't let it dry up! No way! I am the one in charge of the Sacred Pearl, and I have too many missions on my shoulders, and I must fulfill my mission. Even if I want to die, even if my heart lake dries up, I must die and dry up again after I complete my mission!

You can't forget the past, but you also can't dwell on it. The past is gone and fixed, but the future is unknown and can't be changed. At this moment, the Great Prophet is waiting for me, Aunt Lan is waiting for me, many high-ranking officials of the Sacred Sect are waiting for me, and there must be many people in the Guangming Clan who have expectations for me. I can't let these people down!

As if enlightened, Ji Jiayu suddenly understood.

"I must ascend, do what I can, make a sound. I want to use my actions to inspire them. And when there's a little heat, there's a point of light. Even if the light on my body is as dim as a firefly, in the darkness, I can illuminate their path. A spark can also set a plain ablaze!"

Ji Jiayu slowly sat cross-legged on the ground, his eyes gradually becoming firm.

"From now on, if the Sacred Clear Sea falls into endless darkness, I will be the only light!"

As he realized this, Ji Jiayu's body instantly vanished in place and appeared next to his own heart lake. The scene still lingered in his heart lake, and he opened his eyes and calmly looked at the images in his heart lake. They could no longer shake his heart.

He still cared about the past events presented in the images, but he knew better than anyone that he had to be determined to move towards the future. The Sacred Clear Sea, and even the entire French Blue Star, needed this light from him. The person in charge of the Sacred Gem should be a ray of light!

In the shocked eyes of Heart Monkey, Yi Ma, and Nie Lanxi, Ji Jiayu's heart lake gradually calmed, until finally, no waves were visible.

He smiled at Nie Lanxi, then looked at Heart Monkey again, "Master Heart Monkey, I succeeded."

"You were able to calm the heart lake so quickly, which I never expected." Heart Wolf sighed.

"I've been using it for a year and a half," Nie Lanxi said from the side.

"A year and a half is already very fast," Heart Monkey said.

As the two spoke, a sapling suddenly sprouted from the ground next to Ji Jiayu's heart lake, then rapidly grew into a towering tree. The tree bore heart-shaped fruits, which fell gently in front of Ji Jiayu without any wind, eventually condensing into fist-sized fruits.

"This is the divine factor of the Nian Palace. Eat it, and your spiritual power will breakthrough within three months," Heart Monkey said.

Ji Jiayu reached out to take the divine factor, but did not immediately consume it.

Seeing this, the Heart Monkey smiled, stretched out his hand, and shook it in the void. A horn-shaped object appeared in his hand.

"This is the Soul Horn, and it's called the Soul Song, a sacred technique inherited from him. If you play the Soul Song with the Heart Horn, everyone who hears it will have a righteous heart, and their willpower and combat abilities will be greatly enhanced."

After introducing the Heart Monkey, Ji Jiayu put the Soul Horn into his dimensional bracelet and bowed slightly to thank him.