Mortals get a golden finger for immortal cultivation every year

“I have never thought of becoming a savior. If you want to take my place, so be it, I will have no objection. It’s up to you.”

Zhang Ruoji remained silent for a moment after hearing Zhao Shuang's words, then refuted them in an extremely calm tone.

He certainly didn't intend to become a savior, but—

"I know you never wanted to become a savior, I understand that perfectly well, because I'm your brother, I know exactly what you're thinking. But have you ever thought about it? Even if you didn't, what about those old bald monks, those old guys who poured countless efforts into you? They want you to become a savior, because only if you become a savior will Kunlun Realm have hope, only then will this world have hope. Only then can they see what they want to see; they're pushing you step by step. Your destiny ceased to belong to you the moment you were resurrected, the moment you were reborn. Your destiny has long since been theirs." "You're completely bound to them. You need to follow their plan, their arrangements, step by step. You have no choice. You don't want to be a savior; it's not a matter of whether you want to or not, it's what those old guys think. Your fate has already been decided, just like the fate of your family, all your relatives and friends, which has already been predetermined. You have no choice, understand? My appearance is to change all of this for you. Of course, you don't have to change it, you can want to be a savior, you can be a savior, as long as you want."

"They've arranged everything for you, and all you need to do is follow their instructions. In the process, you'll lose friends, you'll lose family, you'll lose everything around you, because that's what motivated you, and what they have to pay is their lives. Your friends, your family, do you think you can protect them? Do you think you could protect your family and friends without me? You can't, you simply can't. I can tell you now, without me, the kingdom would have been destroyed long ago. If I hadn't intervened, if I hadn't shown my face, the entire kingdom would have been reduced to ashes long ago, and your family and friends would have died horribly, so many of them would have died because of your stupidity. Your entry into the black market to train and become a disciple of the Nine Nether Sword Saint—all of this can be considered my arrangement. Although I never intended to arrange it all, and I never expected you to enter the black market."

"But all of this has already happened, and no one can change it or face it. In short, you are now on a path to save the entire Kunlun Realm, the entire Heavenly Court Realm, and even the entire Hell Realm. In reality, all of this is because of interests, resources, and differing viewpoints. Do you understand the difference in perspectives between the living and the dead? The Heavenly Court consists of living beings, as do the lower three groups of the Hell Realm, while the middle and upper three groups of the Hell Realm are the dead, and they are incredibly powerful. They want to turn all living beings in this world into dead beings, because only in this way can they become even stronger."

"The living and the dead—this is a conflict of interests, a conflict of perspectives on survival, a conflict between many other things. This is something you cannot change, nor can I. Yet those old fogies insist on forcing you to change it, compelling you to change everything. Is that even possible? You don't want to be the savior, but those old fogies insist on making you the savior. What can you do? Do you want to be the savior or not? You have no choice whatsoever. You cannot choose your own destiny because you have no power to choose. Now you can only follow their orders, their arrangements, their plans, and become the savior, because you have no choice. You are currently just a saint. Even if you become a god, you still cannot change any of this."

"Becoming a god is not difficult for you. As long as you continue to cultivate diligently, you will soon reach the realm of a god. But even if you reach the realm of a god, what can you change? You can't change anything. You just became a god according to their orders, their arrangements, and their plans. And after becoming a god, you still need to continue to do what they want you to do according to their arrangements and plans. You have no power to control your own destiny."

"What is destiny? Nobody knows, and I don't know what destiny is either. But I know that to break free from one's destiny, one needs immense power, yet that seems to be everything arranged by destiny. Everything we have now seems to have been arranged by destiny long ago, haven't you noticed? So, to break free from destiny, one needs immense power, but that immense power comes from a destiny that has already been arranged. All of this is interconnected."

"If you can understand, that's best; if you can't, then just cultivate step by step. Anyway, the road ahead of you can be said to be a smooth one, without any obstacles. At most, you'll lose a few relatives and friends, a few beloved relatives and friends. Their sacrifices are all worthwhile. Their sacrifices are the necessary process you must go through on your way to save this world, and they can make your heart stronger."

"These are all preordained. Perhaps one day you will become powerful enough to reverse their life and death, to bring them back from the brink of death. But all of this is preordained. This is your destiny, a destiny you cannot change."

Zhao Shuang's words plunged Zhang Ruoji into a deathly silence.

"Can you change your destiny?"

This was Zhang Ruoji's rebuttal, to which Zhao Shuang shook her head.

“I don’t know, I don’t know either. Because I’ve always been trying to change my fate, but in the end I found that my fate seems to have always been predetermined by someone, or rather, it has already been arranged by someone else. That’s why I want to replace you as the savior, because I want to see if I can change my fate if I can become the savior, because I want to know this. So I want to become the savior, but to become the savior I have to replace you. But this will change your fate, change the fate that those old guys arranged for you, after all, the fate that was arranged for you is the three words ‘savior’, they want you to become the savior because you are the person that old bald monk chose.”

"I am the person I chose myself. I want to be a savior and change my own destiny. But I find that as I change, I seem to fall into the cycle of fate that they have arranged. It is a trap, a trap made up of fate and reincarnation. And all of this fate is arranged, arranged through the cycle of reincarnation."

"Becoming the savior means one day becoming the most powerful being in the world. Only by becoming the most powerful being can one change one's destiny, or perhaps it is a destiny already predetermined. Ninth Brother, think it over carefully. Do you really want to become the savior? Or do you want me to take your place? If you want to become the savior and walk the path they have laid out for you, I can help you. I can do everything in my power to help you become the savior and walk everything they have arranged for you. But you need to be prepared for all your relatives, friends, and loved ones to leave you. You must be prepared for this. If you don't, even if you become the savior, you will be a failed savior, or you will not be able to become the savior at all. If you become the savior and become the most powerful person in the world, perhaps on that day you will have the ability to resurrect all your sacrificed and deceased loved ones from the cycle of reincarnation. Although this is absurd, it seems possible."

"So whether or not you want to become the savior is up to you. I won't say anything more. Logically, I shouldn't be telling you this now, but I can see you're confused, and actually, I'm confused too. So I want to get an answer from you: do you want to become the savior?" "If you want to, I'll do my best to help you. You can think of it as me arranging your fate, controlling you. If you don't want to, I'll take your place as the savior, because a savior doesn't need a useless person. And in my eyes, you're no different from a useless person, you know? In my heart, in my eyes, you're no different from a useless person. You can't even meet the most basic requirements to become a savior. Only by being cold-blooded and ruthless can you achieve true fairness and justice, only then can you have true human love, only then can you hold all living beings in your heart. And you can't do that. That's what I admire about you, and also what disappoints me."

"Alright, I've said everything I should say, and everything I shouldn't have said. As for the choice, that's up to you. Think it over carefully."

Zhao Shuang patted Zhang Ruoji on the shoulder, then turned and left without saying anything more, because he had already said what he shouldn't have said.

Zhang Ruoji watched Zhao Shuang's departing figure, falling into silence and inner turmoil. He didn't understand whether he should believe everything Zhao Shuang had just said. Although it seemed rather verbose, he understood that the key point was just three words—savior.

The word "savior" is exactly what Zhao Shuang cares about.

If he is willing to become it, then Zhao Shuang will not argue with him, but will do everything in her power to help him become the savior.

This is also the reason why those old guys Zhao Shuang mentioned made their choice.

But if he is unwilling, Zhao Shuang will take his place.

……

"You've told him so much, but can he really save the entire Kunlun Realm?"

The moment Zhao Shuang disappeared from Zhang Ruoji's sight, a familiar questioning voice rang in Zhao Shuang's ears.

"A renowned scholar and talented woman, eavesdropping on other people's conversations? Isn't that a bit too much?"

The sound made Zhao Shuang stop in her tracks, and she looked toward the source of the sound.

The talented woman was now looking at him with a smile, but her gaze held a hint of questioning. This questioning clearly indicated she wanted the answer to her earlier question.

"That old bald monk chose him. I don't believe he could be the savior, but that old bald monk chose him anyway. You have to understand, he should have been dead back then, because he had half of the Undying Blood Clan's bloodline in his previous life. That half of the Undying Blood Clan's bloodline should have destined him to die, but that old bald monk somehow reversed time and made him live. Do you understand? I couldn't stop the old bald monk from choosing him. The old bald monk's decision was everything, because at that time, the old bald monk was the most powerful being in the entire Kunlun Realm." "He was the true ruler of the entire Kunlun Realm. But the old bald monk chose to save him, and there was nothing I could do. After all, at that time, the old bald monk was one of the most powerful people in the entire Heavenly Realm, Hell Realm, and Kunlun Realm. His opinion was more important than anyone else's. If the old bald monk wanted to save him, no one could stop him, except for my damned ancestor from the Zhang family. I'm absolutely furious and angry at my damned ancestor; if it weren't for him, the Kunlun Realm and our Zhang family wouldn't have ended up like this."

"It is said that the current state of the Kunlun Realm and the Zhang family is entirely due to my damned ancestor. If it weren't for everything he did, our Zhang family wouldn't be in this state. Yet, it is indeed that damned ancestor who brought about this period of relative peace to the Kunlun Realm, the Heavenly Court Realm, and the Hell Realm. You could say that our damned ancestor saved the world, the entire world, including the Heavenly Court Realm, the Hell Realm, and the Kunlun Realm. But he also caused our..." The Zhang family has become like this. As a descendant of the Zhang family, how could I not hate him to the core? But I also know that without him, the Heavenly Realm, the Hell Realm, and the Kunlun Realm wouldn't be where they are today. In other words, it's a good thing that the Heavenly Realm and the Hell Realm have reached this point, because without my ancestor from the Zhang family, our situation would be far worse, we'd be long gone. The entire Kunlun Realm, the Heavenly Realm, and the Hell Realm might even be wiped out. (End of Chapter)