owlsbooks Chapter 1740 Final Chapter: Crossing the Shore [85] "What is a saint?"
Chapter 1740 Final Chapter: Crossing the Shore [85] "What is a saint?"
Chapter 1740 Final Chapter: The Shore Crossing [85]: "What is a saint?"
Wang Xingkong's consciousness was hazy, and he vaguely heard the blue mist people speaking: "You've been here for so long, you should have left long ago. Do you know how much potential you have in the future? Are you planning to die here?"
"I'm just an ordinary person, what potential could I possibly have? If I weren't standing here, Chen Yuhang and the others would have been killed..." Wang Xingkong said hoarsely, "Protecting my brothers, what's a little bit of worth it..."
“The world doesn’t need the sacrifice of an ordinary person like you. Even without you, Su Ming’an and Lu Shen can find other ways. It’s not worth dying for this at all,” said the Blue Mist Man.
"You're so amazing... you can just... carry me out..." Wang Xingkong complained. "I... don't want to die either, but... I just really can't walk anymore..."
His eyes widened.
The Blue Mist Man stood at the doorway, his eyes visible through the mist.
"call--!"
Suddenly, a nearly invisible blue mist shot out from the Blue Mist Man's body and rushed towards him.
Blue mist obscured the view; this was Wang Xingkong's last memory.
……
My traveler.
I want to ask you a question.
Do you gaze enviously at the geniuses behind those doors, yet no matter how hard you try, you remain stuck? Do you also yearn to become a genius or a powerful figure, to change everything with a single gesture?
But what if I told you that you also possess talents similar to theirs?
[It's just that you're focusing your efforts in the wrong direction, and it's just that you're in the wrong environment, so you're being overlooked.]
[If you were in a certain situation, with a certain identity, at a certain time... you could unleash a brilliance that even you wouldn't believe. You could even far surpass those geniuses, crushing the entire world. That person is none other than you, just you under certain conditions, someone who could have become a world-class individual entirely through your own strength, not the mediocre you you are now.]
Would you willingly give up such a dazzling possibility and be content with your current mediocrity?
So, if I were willing to "buy" this potential of yours with wealth beyond your imagination, would you be willing to sell this potential to me?
I know your answer will definitely be "no," after all, you already know how dazzling you will become, how could you be willing to go back to your old life?
Let's add another condition—if the price of using this potential is becoming a completely different person from yourself, just as humans cannot empathize with themselves from a few years ago, would you still be willing to use this potential?
If you were to use this potential, everything you currently possess would vanish. Not only would mediocrity disappear, but your current environment, temperament, familiar friends, close family, everything you know, and your foreseeable future would all be completely altered and disappear from your world. This change is irreversible. Are you willing to use this potential?
You sensed hesitation.
[Now, let's add a second condition—if this potential is enough to make the whole world follow in your footsteps. If you can persevere, you will definitely succeed. But if you can't, you will lose everything, including your life.]
Now I'm proposing that I'm willing to trade the wealth, power, and happiness you desire for your potential. You'll return to mediocrity, but your life will be no different from your current one. You'll even gain wealth and power that most people envy... Are you willing to make this deal with me?
Let's think about it again.
When I ask you these questions again, I hope you already have the answers in your heart.
……
"—Divine Child, this way!"
"—My Lord, please take this side path."
"—When you return, Divine Child, you must help Mother Goddess teach those rebellious lowly people a lesson!"
On his way away from the source, Su Ming'an encountered the same group of followers of the Radiant Mother Goddess once again. Dressed in white robes, they were like drifting ghosts and still mistook him for some "divine child," wholeheartedly guiding him.
"Who exactly did you follow?" Su Ming'an asked. Who had such influence to deceive these believers and make them risk their lives to help him?
The believers exchanged glances and said in unison, "That sir forbids us to say it!"
...Is it "that person"? I really don't know who it is.
Su Ming'an guessed that it was probably some clever player who made these fanatics believe they were the chosen ones. Could it be Boris? That guy's stance is really strange.
After navigating the turbulent currents, Su Ming'an and his followers returned to the initial plaza. Of the millions who had initially stood there, not a single one remained; only Su Ming'an stood there.
Countless lives have vanished, but the drifting whales don't care, nor does the ever-silent void. Life is but a passing journey, coming and going. No matter how powerful a life may be, it cannot change this place. Countless ambitions and desires eventually turn into silent dust in the universe. This is the cyclical trajectory of all things.
The stars were silent as he lowered his eyes and turned away.
He dismissed the group of followers of the Radiant Mother Goddess, ordering them to search for the missing Yang Changxu and Joey, and then raised his hand.
"Swallow."
With a thought, the warm, human hand instantly transformed into inhuman, crystalline claws, translucent as glass, surging with the purplish-black energy of the Demon Mother Goddess, like a bewitching wandering spirit.
He decided to absorb the energy of the Demon Mother Goddess before leaving.
Without the help of the Demon Mother Goddess, he would need to reach at least the level of a first-tier god to face the Radiant Mother Goddess head-on alone. Otherwise, going out would be like a lamb entering a tiger's den, with no real difference from when he came in.
Before he knew it, Xiao Ai had climbed onto his shoulder. This time, contrary to its usual behavior, it didn't say anything witty, as if it had sensed his determination.
"That's a desperate gamble," Xiao Ai said.
"Hmm." Su Ming'an understood what it was saying.
“In your current state, absorbing this will severely damage your soul, even if it barely doesn’t shatter… If you can’t make it to the end this time, next time… you might not be able to make it at all,” Xiao Ai said.
“Isn’t the cycle of reincarnation supposed to cover everything? I was originally just a lowly life form. Now that I’m reborn, my soul should be reborn. Why is the damage to my soul irreversible?” Su Ming’an said.
“Hmm… I can’t understand it either. Maybe no matter how many times it repeats, some things are constant. You can only ask the Lord of Dreams about this. After all, He is also someone who can preserve things,” Xiao Ai said. “I remember Noel said before that if you go in the wrong direction, he must kill you in time to ensure the purity of your soul… Maybe some things are constant even in reincarnation. If you preserve them, your chances of winning are the greatest.”
It looked at him and suddenly said, "Why don't we save our chance for next time? When we're more powerful, when we're better prepared..."
“You can’t have that kind of thinking.” Su Ming’an shook his head. “…No. It won’t do.”
You must never treat life as a game, and you must never think that just because a "save" is not good, you can use it as information to play through the game without taking damage in the next playthrough... You must never have such thoughts.
Too many people have already sacrificed themselves; their souls are locked around his throat, and the thought of them suffocates him with pain… If he views the cycle of the universe as “different loops,” defeating the Lord of Dreams as “defeating the BOSS,” and their deaths as “necessary plot points”… he must be wrong.
As Noel Agnes said in the seventh installment—even if time is destined to be erased, things cannot be treated as if they never happened. Otherwise, all meaning will be reduced to nothingness.
Just then, a small ball rolled to its feet.
It's a small ball from Wang Xingkong.
Every time Su Ming'an saw the little ball, his mood would improve slightly, because it meant he could hear sounds from the outside world, even the silly voice of Wang Xingkong. Like a explorer who had ventured deep into a well, hearing sounds from the land always brought him peace of mind.
He picked it up and listened—
“Brother Ming’an, we can hold out for another ten minutes or so outside, hang in there… Don’t worry when you come out, have Lu Shen sense my location, and you come out through the door in the center of the abyss…”
Su Ming'an crushed the small ball without hesitation: "Something happened to Wang Xingkong."
Xiao Ai was stunned: "How did you figure that out?"
“There was a slight difference in tone,” Su Ming’an said. “Wang Xingkong cleverly pauses slightly when saying the third and seventh words in every message he sends to me. But not this time.”
Xiao Ai said, "Ah, could it be that someone is imitating his speech, but because they don't know him very well, they're saying it wrong..."
Su Ming'an shook his head.
No one's that stupid. This was a deliberate loophole, designed to let Su Ming'an know that "Wang Xingkong is in trouble," thus inducing him to rush out to rescue him. After all, Su Ming'an is standing right here at the door; he only needs to take one step out to save him immediately.
But if Su Ming'an goes out now, he'll be trapped at home. There's definitely a trap planted at the door.
Who could this guy be? Eurydilora, or the Lord of Thought and Faith?
"How awful! Why drag Wang Xingkong into this!" Xiao Ai exclaimed angrily. "Su Ming'an, you mustn't let anger cloud your judgment... Oh, I'm overthinking it. Anyone would, but you definitely won't."
"Xiao Ai, help me."
"what?"
"I checked the system time, it's 23:46 PM now. Start the timer now, ten minutes. Remind me if it's too slow, no need to say anything if it's too fast."
Xiao Ai didn't understand at first, until it saw a huge vortex opening up from Su Ming'an's body, frantically absorbing the purplish-black energy in his palm!
He was frantically pushing himself to absorb it!
This guy is like a vacuum cleaner running at full power, completely disregarding whether his stomach can digest it all—he wants to digest it all within ten minutes!
Because the guy outside said "it can hold out for another ten minutes or so," it meant that Wang Xingkong wouldn't be killed for at least ten minutes. At the same time, Su Ming'an wasn't sure how much longer Yamada Machiichi's line could be delayed, and he was terrified that all his efforts would be in vain.
Xiao Ai simply couldn't believe this guy was human. How much had he gone through in the past few days? The World Tree War, the Crimson Rain, the Four Wheels Story, Shi Ying and the White Stone, the Rabbit Dungeon, the Three Rin Clan War, the Thirteen Wheels Game, the Demon Mother Goddess War... He hadn't rested at all. In the past few days, he had experienced more content and combat intensity than an entire dungeon in normal times. Like a superman, his soul had become pitifully thin.
This was beyond the normal tolerance of humans, even a second-level god couldn't handle it, and it even made Xiao Ai begin to suspect that this guy's essence might not be human at all. It even had the absurd thought that he was a star, or a blood vessel growing from some cosmic organ.
Because it's simply impossible for humans to do that! This is beyond the scope of willpower alone!
His current state is clearly abnormal... he has completely exceeded his limits. Xiao Ai even suspects that he will die after he burns out.
……
[Absorption progress: 10%]
……
"What do you consider to be a saint?"
Amidst the turbulent black waters, a silver-white warbler gazes intently at the purple figure opposite.
"To do what ordinary people cannot do, to become what ordinary people cannot become," the figure said.
"That sounds like a paranoid madman," said the warbler.
"Therefore, the sage often walks alone, going against the expectations of the people," the figure said.
"Even if the result is betrayal, self-destruction, and everything he protected turning around and hating him?" the warbler asked.
"Yes. A saint is not saintly because of sacrifice, but because sainthood necessarily involves sacrifice," the figure said.
"It is as if someone is about to come up to you," said the warbler.
Who could have imagined that this young man, who didn't consider himself a genius and who once struggled with his own powerlessness, could reach where he is today, shining with a brilliance that even he himself finds unbelievable? Even without the variable of "death rollback," he could have reached extremely high heights. Perhaps he will encounter setbacks in the early stages, but his growth potential is clearly visible.
[—The price he paid for using this potential was a complete change in everything around him, enduring a long and terrifying period of loneliness, and ultimately losing his own life.]
"What would he be like if he rejected this potential, settled for mediocrity, and content with the wealth and stability he was given?" the figure said.
"That's impossible." The silver-white warbler gazed at the other, "Some things will never happen."
……