Chapter 1741: Chapter 85: What Is a Saint?
Wang Xingkong’s consciousness was hazy, vaguely hearing the Blue Mist Man speaking: "You’ve been here for so long, you should have left a long time 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 can I have? If I weren’t standing here, Chen Yuhang and the others would be killed..." said Wang Xingkong hoarsely, "Protecting brothers, what’s worth it or not..."
"The world doesn’t need the sacrifice of you, an ordinary person. Without you, Su Ming’an and Lü God could find other methods, so giving your life for this is not worth it at all." The Blue Mist Man said.
"You’re so powerful... just... move me out then..." Wang Xingkong said discontentedly, "I don’t... want to die either, it’s just that... I really can’t walk anymore..."
He opened his eyes wide.
The Blue Mist Man stood at the door, a pair of pupils revealed through the mist.
"Hoo——!"
Suddenly, a nearly invisible blue mist shot out from the Blue Mist Man’s body, rushing towards him.
The blue mist obscured the vision, this was Wang Xingkong’s last memory.
...
[My traveler.]
[I want to ask you a question.]
[Do you envy the geniuses within the doors, despite all your efforts you can’t move forward? Do you also long to become a genius or a strong person, changing everything at a whim?]
[But what if I tell you, you also have talents similar to theirs?]
[It’s just because your efforts in the wrong direction, it’s just because the environment you’re in is wrong, you’ve been overlooked.]
[If you were in a certain situation, a certain identity, at a certain time... you could bloom with an unbelievable brilliance. Even far surpassing those geniuses, crushing the entire world. That person is not someone else, it’s still you, just in a certain condition, it’s you who can fully become the pinnacle person of the world on your own power, and not the mediocre you of now.]
[Will you be willing to abandon this extremely dazzling possibility and be content with your current mediocrity?]
[Then, if I am willing to "buy" this potential from you with unimaginable wealth, would you be willing to sell this potential to me?]
[I know your answer must be "unwilling", after all, you know how brilliant you will become, how could you be willing to return to your previous life.]
[Then let’s add a limiting condition—if the cost of using this potential is to become a person completely unfamiliar to you. Just as humans cannot empathize with themselves from a few years ago, would you be willing to use this potential?]
[If after using this potential, everything you have now will be completely gone, not only will mediocrity disappear, but also your current environment, character, friends you’re used to, close family, everything you’re familiar with, visible future... they will all be completely changed, disappear from your world. This change is irreversible. Would you be willing to use this potential?]
[You feel hesitation.]
[Then, let’s add a second limiting condition—if this potential is enough to make the whole world follow in your footsteps. Just enduring through will surely lead to success. But if you can’t endure, you will lose everything, including your life.]
[And now I propose, I’m willing to buy your potential with the wealth, power, happiness you want... You will return to mediocrity, but it will be no different from your current life, you may even gain wealth and power envied by ordinary people... Would you make this transaction with me?]
[Think it over again.]
[When I ask you these questions again, I hope you already have an answer in your heart.]
...
"——Divine Son, this way!"
"——My lord, please take this path."
"——When you return, my lord must help the Mother Goddess to severely punish those rebellious commoners!"
On the way leaving the Source Point, Su Ming’an encountered this group of followers of the Radiant Mother God again, draped in white robes, like wandering ghosts, they continued to mistake him for some "Divine Son," diligently guiding his way.
"Who are you listening to?" Su Ming’an asked. Who has such influence, deceiving these believers, making them risk their lives to help him?
The believers exchanged glances, speaking in unison: "That lord forbids us to say!"
... Is it "that lord," indeed don’t know who it is.
Su Ming’an guessed it might be some clever player, making this group of zealots think he is the Divine Son. Could it be Boris? This guy’s stance is truly bizarre.
Passing through the chaos, Su Ming’an and the believers returned to the initial plaza, where the millions of people who initially stood here were no longer present, only Su Ming’an stood there.
The vanished lives were countless, but the leisurely floating wandering whale was indifferent, the perpetually silent void was indifferent as well, life was merely a passerby, coming and going, no matter how powerful it was, it couldn’t change this place, countless ambitions and desires, in the end, turning into silent dust in the universe, this is the cycle of all things.
The silent stars spanned across, he closed his eyes and turned around.
He dismissed the group of followers of the Radiant Mother God, ordered them to search for the missing Yang Changxu and Joy, then raised his hand.
"Devour."
With a thought, the human’s warm hand instantly transformed into a non-human crystalline claw, transparent as glass, surging with the purple-black energy of the Demon Mother Goddess, like a wandering soul tempting the heart.
——He decided to absorb the energy of the Demon Mother Goddess before leaving.
Without the aid of the Demon Mother Goddess, facing the Radiant Mother God alone required reaching at least a First Level God. Otherwise, once he left, it would be like a sheep entering a tiger’s mouth, essentially no different from when he entered.
At some point, Xiao Love climbed onto his shoulder, this time unusually silent, as if it felt his resolve.
"This is going all in." Xiao Love said.
"Yes." Su Ming’an understood what it was saying.
"In your current state, absorbing this, even if your soul doesn’t shatter, it will be greatly depleted... If you don’t reach the end this time, next time... perhaps you won’t be able to reach it at all." Xiao Love said.
"Isn’t cosmic reincarnation supposed to cover everything? I was initially a lowly life, living again, the soul should be reborn, why is the soul’s depletion irrecoverable?" Su Ming’an said.
"Hmm... I can’t understand either. Perhaps some things remain constant no matter how many times they are repeated. You can only ask the Lord of Dreams about this. After all, He is someone who can preserve things," said Xiao Love. "I remember Noel said before that if you head in the wrong direction, he must kill you in time to ensure the purity of your soul... Maybe some things remain constant even in reincarnation. You stay, and your chance of winning is the greatest."
It looked at him, suddenly saying, "Or maybe, let’s leave the opportunity for next time? Wait until our wings are fuller, until we are better prepared..."
"You can’t have such thoughts." Su Ming’an shook his head, "...No, you can’t. Absolutely not."
One must never treat life as a game, nor think that this "save point" isn’t good enough, and consider it exploring for information to achieve a flawless run in the next cycle... Such thoughts must never be had.
Too many people have already been sacrificed, their souls clutching at his throat, suffocating him with pain whenever he remembered... If he viewed the universe as "different cycles," defeating the Lord of Dreams as "defeating a boss," their deaths as "necessary plotlines"... it would definitely be wrong.
In the seventh instance, Noel Agnini said—even if time is destined to be covered over, things can’t be treated as if they were never happening. Otherwise, all meaning will fade into void.
At this moment, a small ball rolled to his feet.
It was Wang Xingkong’s small ball.
Every time he saw the small ball, Su Ming’an’s mood improved slightly, meaning he could hear voices from outside world—no matter how silly—like Wang Xingkong’s voice. It was reassuring, like a diver hearing sounds from land.
He picked it up, listened—
"Brother Ming’an, we outside can still hold on for another ten minutes, keep going... When you get out, don’t worry, let Lü God sense my position. You come out from the door at the center of the Abyss..."
Without hesitation, Su Ming’an crushed the ball, "Something happened to Wang Xingkong."
Xiao Love was stunned: "How could you tell?"
"There’s a slight difference in tone." Su Ming’an said, "Wang Xingkong smartly paused slightly whenever he said the third and seventh words in transmitting messages to me. Except this time, he didn’t."
Xiao Love said: "Ah, could someone be mimicking him, and because they weren’t familiar with him, they spoke incorrectly..."
Su Ming’an shook his head.
No one is that stupid, it’s a deliberate loophole to inform Su Ming’an that "something happened to Wang Xingkong," thereby prompting Su Ming’an to immediately go out to rescue. After all, Su Ming’an was standing right at this door, just a step outside would immediately lead to rescue.
But now if Su Ming’an goes out, he’ll definitely be trapped outside. Surely there’s a trap laid at the doorway.
Who could this be? Yuritilola or the Master of Thought and Faith?
"Really wicked! Why involve Wang Xingkong!" Xiao Love’s anger brimmed, "Su Ming’an, you mustn’t let rage cloud your mind... Oh, I overthought, anyone would, certainly you wouldn’t."
"Xiao Love, help me."
"What?"
"I checked the system time, it’s now 11:46 PM. Start timing from now, ten minutes. Remind me if my speed slows down, no need to inform if it’s fast."
Xiao Love initially didn’t understand, until it saw the giant vortex opening from Su Ming’an’s body, frantically absorbing the purple-black energy in his palm!
He was frantically driving himself to absorb!
This guy, like turning on a vacuum cleaner at maximum power, regardless of whether his stomach could digest—he must thoroughly digest all this within ten minutes!
Because that guy outside said "We can hold on for another ten minutes," meaning at least within ten minutes, Wang Xingkong won’t be killed. Meanwhile, Su Ming’an is unsure how much longer Yamada Machiichi’s line can stall, he’s too afraid of it all ending in vain.
Xiao Love simply couldn’t fathom whether this guy was human. In these few days, he’s been through so much—World Tree battle, Crimson Rain, four-wheel story, Shi Ying and white stone, rabbit instance, Sanlin Clan battle, thirteen cycles, Demon Mother Goddess battle... He hadn’t rested at all, experiencing contents surpassing those of an entire instance in a few days and extremely high combat intensity. Like Superman, his soul has become pitifully thin.
This is beyond human endurance, a Second-level God couldn’t handle it, even causing Xiao Love to begin to doubt whether this guy’s essence was even human. It even absurdly wondered if he was perhaps a star, or a blood vessel grown from some cosmic organ.
Because humans simply couldn’t achieve this! This was beyond the realm of willpower!
His current state was clearly abnormal... completely surpassing limits. Even making Xiao Love fear that once he consumed all, he might just perish.
...
[Absorption Progress: 10%]
...
["What do you think is a Saint?"]
[Amidst the surging black waters, a silver sparrow gazes at the purple figure across.]
["Doing what ordinary people cannot, becoming what ordinary people cannot." The figure said.]
["Sounds like an obsessive madman." The sparrow said.]
["Thus, Saints often walk alone, contrary to the hopes of All Living Beings." The figure said.]
["Even if the result is being ostracized by others, self-annihilation, and everything he guards turns against him?" The sparrow asked.]
["Indeed. A Saint is not holy because of sacrifice, a Saint must necessarily endure sacrifice." The figure said.]
["Just like someone is about to come before you now." The sparrow said.]
Who would have thought that a young man who considered himself not a genius, previously troubled by his own powerlessness, could stand where he is today, shining with an incredibility even he cannot believe. Even without the "Death Rebound" variable, he’d still rise to heights. Though he might stumble early on, his potential for growth was evidently visible.
[—And the price of using this potential is that everything around him changes completely, enduring a long and frightening solitude, even eventually losing his own life.]
["If he rejects this potential, rests in mediocrity, satisfied with wealth and stability given... what would it look like." The figure said.]
["There’s no such possibility." The silver sparrow stared at the other, "Some possibilities will never occur."]
...
