Listening to Bai Fantian's unwilling questioning, Li Yun wasn't exaggerating when he said he almost burst out laughing.

At this very moment.

Bai Fantian was practically acting like someone defending a heartbroken 'licking dog' who failed to win over his goddess, only to see her easily fall into someone else's arms.

Although this analogy isn't entirely accurate.

And you can't say that White Emperor spending half his life's effort on Heavenly Ancient King Mountain was a 'licking dog' behavior.

But in essence, there was no difference.

"Senior White... you've lived through countless springs and autumns, yet you still can't see through this?"

"What? I can't see through this?"

"Isn't that so?"

Li Yun smiled faintly: "In your eyes, is it true that everything one gains in life is a guaranteed return for effort?"

"Hmm?"

Bai Fantian was momentarily stunned.

Even if he were a fool, he wouldn't say something like 'effort guarantees return'.

While such words aren't entirely deceptive 'chicken soup' and can be true in some sense or for certain specific things, they are too absolute.

Yet, there are no absolutes in this world.

This world is strange; some things yield no results without effort, but for others, even if you give half your life, you still gain nothing.

It's truly frustrating.

Bai Fantian somewhat understood what Li Yun meant, but he was still unwilling, his heart filled with resentment!

Especially with Li Yun speaking to him from what seemed like a victor's perspective, it made him incredibly indignant.

In his view, things shouldn't have been like this.

Ancestor White Emperor paid so much to become the Lord of the Heavenly Ancient King Mountain, yet in the end, besides being lost in the spatial turbulence with his close friend Vermillion Bird Emperor, he gained almost nothing.

It shouldn't have ended this way.

"It seems you still can't turn your mind around and find it hard to understand this... Let me make it clearer then. If merely spending half a lifetime constantly communicating with a heaven and earth spiritual root could make it automatically recognize its master, don't you think all the heaven and earth spiritual roots in this world would already have masters?"

"To be honest, this isn't the first time I've encountered a heaven and earth spiritual root."

"Before this, I indirectly clashed with a Demon Clan powerhouse for another heaven and earth spiritual root, resolving a crisis for that heaven and earth spiritual root, but I only received a heavenly blessing and didn't become the master of that heaven and earth spiritual root."

"Do you know why?"

Bai Fantian was startled and asked in disbelief: "You encountered another heaven and earth spiritual root?"

"Yes, a God Tree!"

"Ancient Everlasting Tree...?"

Bai Fantian exclaimed in surprise, blurting out: "That is the wood of heaven and earth, the collection of all wood Great Dao..."

Li Yun was slightly taken aback: "So it's called the Ancient Everlasting Tree? I really didn't know that, but that's not important. What's important is, do you know why I couldn't become the master of the Ancient Everlasting Tree, but instead became the Lord of the Heavenly Ancient King Mountain?"

"Why?"

Putting aside his resentment, he was quite curious about the reason.

He couldn't understand, where did Ancestor White Emperor fall short?

Li Yun suddenly burst into laughter.

"Don't rush..."

"Let me tell you a little story first. I have a friend..."

"I won't mention his name. He really liked a Mysterious Woman. In his eyes, that Mysterious Woman was like an immortal banished to the mortal world, truly the goddess in his heart."

"He dreamt of having her, so he went to great lengths to get close to her, become her friend, take care of her when she was sick, comfort her when she was wronged, accompany her when she was happy... In short, in his eyes, in his heart, everything was her... He felt like he couldn't live without her."

Bai Fantian's brows furrowed immediately, he had a bad premonition.

"However, one day, when he told that Mysterious Woman with full sincerity that he hoped she would become his wife, she refused, and she refused very decisively. And the very next day, she threw herself into the arms of another man, even though she had known that man for less than three days!"

Bai Fantian's face instantly changed drastically.

He roared furiously: "Bitch! You dare compare that kind of bitch to my Ancestor White Emperor... You are insulting my Ancestor White Emperor!"

"You are wrong, I have no intention of insulting your Ancestor White Emperor."

"Moreover, I haven't finished the story."

"Alright, go on..."

"After my friend lost the goddess in his heart, he was also heartbroken, feeling life was meaningless. He drifted aimlessly for several years, unable to understand what was wrong with him, why the goddess refused him so decisively, and then immediately turned around and fell into the arms of another man she had known for only three days."

"Then one day, he discovered that the goddess's man had died, the goddess was lonely and heartbroken, alone again. So, he became hopeful again and thought his chance had come."

"He mustered his courage once more and returned to the goddess's side, taking care of her, hoping to win back her heart this way."

"But the goddess refused again, not even willing to give him a chance to take care of her."

"Why?"

Bai Fantian seemed to have truly gotten into the story, asking angrily: "Why?"

Li Yun glanced at him and smiled faintly: "My friend was as angry as you and asked the same question, 'Why?'"

"Do you know what that Mysterious Woman said?"

"What did she say?"

"She said that from the very beginning, she only ever saw him as a friend, and she thought my friend only saw her as a friend. Therefore, during their time together, they never entered each other's hearts. In contrast, the man she had only known for three days made her feel that both sides had entered each other's hearts."

"What nonsense is this..."

"This isn't nonsense, it's the truth. If you want to possess a Mysterious Woman but can't open her heart, how can you speak of possessing her? What you considered effort was merely wishful thinking."

"It's like Heavenly Ancient King Mountain. If you want to become the Lord of the Heavenly Ancient King Mountain, merely communicating with it without truly merging with it... then all that effort is meaningless."

"On a fundamentally wrong path, no matter how much effort or how much you give, it's still wrong and fruitless, isn't it?"

"You..."

Bai Fantian was completely speechless.

His expression changed repeatedly.

Ultimately, it settled into deep powerlessness and complete dejection.

"Then can you tell me, where exactly did Ancestor White Emperor fall short, and what does it truly mean to merge with Heavenly Ancient King Mountain?"

Li Yun became serious this time.

There was no hint of jest.

"Ancient White Emperor, whether in cultivation or methods, was far superior to me now, but the only reason he couldn't become the Lord of the Heavenly Ancient King Mountain is that he took the wrong path!"

"He failed to connect his own destiny with the destiny of Heavenly Ancient King Mountain!"