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Chapter 420: Chapter 420: Choosing Destiny

To avoid unnecessary trouble, Chen Xuan did not call for a cab. Instead, he phoned Beitian Academy, asking them to send a special car over.

He was now a "strategic partner" of Beitian Academy. With just a call to Dean Sun’s secretary, nearly any request would be fulfilled within Jiang City. Half an hour later, a luxury car, which seemed out of place with Crystal Ridge District, parked in front of the store.

The driver thoughtfully opened the car door for them.

Chen Xuan sat in the front passenger seat, with Lin Qing and Honglian sitting in the back.

"To Binjiang Garden Subway Station," he instructed.

Although having a special car only to go to a subway station was quite odd, the driver had clearly been briefed to not question wherever he wanted to go, simply carrying out the instructions.

"Understood."

The car left the district, heading east along the tree-lined avenue, and soon merged into the bustling traffic on the main road of Sha River Bridge.

Seeing the familiar bridge structure, Lin Qing’s eyes changed instantly.

She was both shocked and curious, leaning against the car window, observing the rushing river below the bridge, "This... isn’t this Sha River!? Were we just in Lushan District?"

"Yes." Honglian laughed, "Right now, Sha River hasn’t dried up."

"By the way, how did Sha River dry up?" Chen Xuan asked out of curiosity.

"I heard it was because the river changed course, but I don’t know the specifics." Lin Qing was suddenly attracted by a group of people gathering by the bridge’s edge— they were dressed in similar white retro robes, posing by the railing for photos, "What are they doing?"

"Uh, they’re cosplaying," Chen Xuan couldn’t help feeling a bit embarrassed, "This place is sort of an internet-famous spot."

"Oh..." Lin Qing nodded, half-understanding.

The White-clothed Immortal became somewhat famous online here, but he feared she would ask who the White-clothed Immortal was, so he could only answer evasively.

Honglian silently rolled her eyes.

Although they were now teammates on the same boat, back then, this matter had caused her quite a bit of trouble, with her almost working overtime every day.

Crossing Sha River Bridge, towards the other side of the river was Binjiang Garden.

The driver exited the bridge via the ramp, parking the car alongside the riverside promenade, "Should I wait here for you?"

"Yes, just wait here," Chen Xuan replied.

The subway station entrance was not far from the roadside. The three of them walked for less than a minute before seeing the tall sign of Binjiang Garden Station. Compared with the future, the place seemed both familiar and strange—the surrounding roads were flat and complete, the greenery lush and vibrant; the entrance was still of a transparent glass design, aesthetically pleasing, with no electric high-voltage fences marking a restricted area.

Due to passing the morning peak hours and the location not being in the city center, there weren’t many people going in and out of the station.

Lin Qing suddenly stopped.

"What’s wrong?" Honglian turned back to ask.

"There’s no need to go in." She exhaled deeply, "What I’ve seen is enough to prove that this is indeed Jiang City in 2026."

"Don’t you want to see what the station looked like before the renovation?"

"No, actually, the other reason I joined the search team was that I didn’t want to hide underground for long periods." She raised her head, as if feeling the sunlight warming her face, "Let’s walk by the river. The scenery there is more suitable for chatting."

Just as they turned back to the riverside promenade, Lin Qing directly asked, "Can you guys travel to the future anytime?"

"No, certain conditions must be met," Chen Xuan frankly stated, "You are the key."

"I see." She raised her eyebrows, "Previously, you didn’t show me these things, not just because you were afraid I couldn’t handle so much information, right? Now that the time is right, you’ve decided to lay everything out."

Chen Xuan fell silent.

Clearly, she had realized the shift in circumstances.

"So, what do you want me to do?" Lin Qing straightforwardly asked, "Or, what do you want to do with me?"

Her destiny was different now, but her character was still as direct.

Chen Xuan felt if he continued to hesitate, he’d end up looking like the villain.

He no longer hesitated, taking out a small plastic bottle from his pocket, pouring out a forged "pill."

She observed his every move, "What’s this? Go pieces?"

It did indeed look like Go pieces, both in size and shape... though the color was slightly off, its matte gray surface had a hint of a metallic luster.

Chen Xuan shook his head, "It’s your former fate."

"No need to speak in riddles at this point, right?" Lin Qing feigned a relaxed tone.

It was evident she was also somewhat nervous.

"Not a riddle, but the literal truth," he spoke softly, "The Lin Qing of that timeline had abilities, and abilities are a part of destiny. The first time we met was at the Crystal Palace..."

Chen Xuan recounted their encounter from the beginning.

However, he replaced the part about the Ability Store with Shixin’s power.

It wasn’t to guard against Honglian, but to avoid Honglian raising doubts right at this crucial moment due to a lack of information.

"...Finally, we found Rodiya through Lin’s information and, using her power, forged this destiny into a tangible form."

Even though Chen Xuan skipped many details, this story was long enough, taking almost thirty minutes to recount.

Lin Qing listened, dumbfounded.

"You guys went to so many places just to recover one person’s memory?"

"Not a person, but a comrade in arms," Chen Xuan emphasized, "If not for her efforts, the future would have been long destroyed, and I certainly wouldn’t be opposing the machine."

"It sounds simply incredible," Lin Qing marveled, "My past self could save the world... yet now I’m just an ordinary person."

"Ordinary?" Honglian disagreed, "Normal people don’t risk great dangers traversing a city full of nano-living bodies. Besides, what you’re doing now is not much different... protecting Jiang City, and protecting the world isn’t really different."

"You’re making me embarrassed." She pouted, turning to Chen Xuan, "So, this fate is the timing—are you planning to turn me back to the original Lin Qing?"

"I’m just providing a choice," Chen Xuan shook his head.

"A choice?" Lin Qing was briefly stunned.

In her view, the amount of time and effort the other party had spent—searching through tenuous clues from past to future, finally reaching this step—clearly wouldn’t give up until the goal was achieved.

"The former you is you, and the current you is also you, so the only person who can decide the direction of your fate is yourself." Chen Xuan offered the pill to her, "If you don’t want to have any involvement with the Lin Qing of another timeline, then throw it into the Sha River... and the Lin Qing of that timeline will completely disappear."

He wasn’t lying.

In some sense, he could actually turn anyone into Lin Qing, much like what Rodiya did to Xieli: forging destiny into an awl, using destruction to gain rebirth.

But he had a feeling if Lin Qing were awakened in that way, she would definitely not accept it.

"The other option is to take it, reclaim your former destiny. You’ll remember everything that happened and gain all of Lin Qing’s abilities."

"I could become an Ability User?"

"Exactly."

Although Lin Qing mainly fought using prosthetic bodies, not special abilities.

"I have a question." Lin Qing thought for a moment, "After taking it, will I still remember this current life’s experience? Despite having a bumpy life from childhood and not going through many remarkable events, I don’t want to forget."

"Of course, the two destinies will merge into one. You don’t have to worry about losing anything because they are originally a part of you."

That was precisely the issue Chen Xuan pondered over for a long time.

Rodiya did not want to be disturbed by Xieli’s destiny; she wanted a complete replica of herself, a self-serving choice made under a survival crisis.

The awl was the result of manifesting that idea.

But he hoped the two Lin Qings could embrace each other, a more restorative rather than a replacement approach.

"The shape of a soul is determined by thought."

Because it wasn’t him who forged this pill, it was his concept that shaped the tangible destiny into the form of a pill.