I, the Lord of the Fifth Throne, am the source of all things!

Chapter Twenty-One: A Lost and Found Counterfeit, A One-of-a-Kind Genuine Object

Duanmu Lian had a very, very long dream.

A dream that he couldn't wake up from for a long time.

In his dreams, he experienced one complex and colorful life after another.

He walked on a road with no end in sight, laughing and chuckling along the way, savoring the process.

Even if it's painful, even if it's arduous, even if you might die or fall halfway... you still want to move forward.

He never looked back to see how far he had gone or what he had left behind.

Even if the road is piled high with the bones of Duanmu Lian and the bones of her loved ones, he will not stop.

Respect and meaning do not need to be attached to things that have passed away; it is enough for them to exist in thoughts and memories.

Moreover, it is precisely because they will die and lose that they are unique.

That is the most precious soul!

An irreplaceable gem!

Perhaps it was because Duanmu Lian, as a clone, had been imitating and resonating with Fujii Lian for too long during the Eternal Return, and her thoughts were somewhat influenced by the other.

Therefore, they have similar but different values ​​in life.

Apart from the original Duanmu Lian.

After that, Duanmu Lian felt empty inside.

There are really only two things we seek in life.

Satisfaction and constancy.

He had never been satisfied, so he wanted to experience the satisfaction of being a 'person'.

He had gained and lost, so he wanted to seek something unchanging that belonged to him.

Because their so-called past lives are all scripts that they have already set themselves up.

They have the same foundation, but they want to build different buildings on that foundation.

Duanmu Lian lives with the mission of 'moving forward'.

Because countless Duanmu Lians wanted to see what the end of this road looked like, and what it would feel like to get there.

If she had to die, most people would probably want to die somewhere.

So, is this path meaningful or meaningless?

Although Duanmu Lian didn't know, she could still answer.

Since our feet are our own, we can decide which path to take.

My life is my own, and I decide my own goals.

I don't want to keep walking on roads paved by others.

Cogito ergo sum.

I am what I should be, and that is what I should be.

Use all your self and strength to express yourself.

Inheriting the accumulated will and wishes of her ancestors, Duanmu Lian is willing to carry them out and realize them.

But he wanted to find his own unique way of living, a belief he held firmly, and one he was willing to risk his life to uphold.

Therefore, without exception, none of the Duanmu Lians throughout history have ever imitated any of their predecessors.

That was to prove that he is him, and I am me.

He is one of a kind.

I am unique.

My color and his are different.

The different experiences, strengths, inner world, and love that each Duanmu Lian possesses set her apart from the others.

Most Duanmu Lians lived lonely lives, and although they were indifferent in nature, they were all very different from each other.

A small number of Duanmu Lians have people who support each other and stand shoulder to shoulder with them. They love different people and can distinguish between them directly.

Your story and my story are different.

The story I'm about to tell is different from yours.

You are the protagonist, and so am I.

【Lotus, go and look back at your past life, and reflect on your own story (of how you lived).】

Dalian once said this to him so gently.

Despite sharing the same soul as her beloved, she sincerely hoped that Duanmu Lian could find her own 'difference'.

For the previous Demon God Lian, Dalian was his constant companion, and being with her brought him human satisfaction.

After all, humans create themselves through their relationships with others.

It is impossible to achieve self-realization solely through painting.

The Mercury Serpent desires the unknown, so it turns the entire world into a stage for its horror plays.

Duanmu Lian became like this because she hated the Mercury Serpent and wanted to transcend eternity to return.

To have a strong sense of self, you need to not only understand yourself, but also others and the differences around you.

"I...want to be a unique self, this is my...dream..."

Duanmu Lian slowly opened her eyes. After waking up from her coma, her gaze and demeanor were completely different from before.

His eyes became empty and deep, as if he wanted to swallow nothing to fill them.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~~ Young man, you're awake! Did you sleep well?"

After Duanmu Lian opened his eyes, he heard a pleasant woman's laughter behind him.

Lian looked down and saw that his body was being dragged along the ground.

Judging from the fact that the trail hadn't broken even after stretching for over a thousand meters, it was clear that it had been dragging on for a very long time.

What dragged him along the ground were two strangely shaped swords that hovered in the air.

The two swords pierced through Duanmu Lian's clothes on the back, pulling him forward on the ground.

At this moment, after Duanmu Lian woke up, the two swords flew away and then hovered on either side of the King of Minions.

"Couldn't you have waited for me to wake up? I'm a living person, not a corpse that's about to be dragged away!"

Duanmu Lian stood up with a sore back and aching waist. She rubbed her buttocks, which had been rubbed raw by the ground for a long time, and her expression was indifferent and calm, but her tone was full of disgust.

He still retains his previous memories, and he has received the benefits that Dalian had secured for him.

When Dalian asked him to learn from this woman, she was also directly telling him the reason.

Go and experience the power of cause and effect and destiny. To encounter such a being in the first world is both unfortunate and fortunate.

The King of Minions ignored Duanmu Lian's complaints, instead scrutinizing her up and down with interest before laughing:

"Hmm...you seem different? And it's a positive change. Have you figured something out?"

"...Before, I only wanted to become stronger, but now...I want to be 'different'."

"What kind of difference is it?"

"Unlike everyone else, uniquely different! I... want to live like that!"

Duanmu Lian lowered her head, raised her right hand, and then clenched it tightly.

In his pair of empty, azure eyes, a burning obsession seemed capable of infecting the souls of others.

Countless versions of myself from past lives, I envy and yearn for your stories.

But that envy and longing vanished in that dream.

Because I no longer want to envy or yearn for you.

I want to be the protagonist who is admired and longed for, the protagonist in a story different from yours.

Your lives are unique.

I want a unique life too!!!

"------!"

When the King of Minions saw that look, he trembled all over, and then a rather strange and eerie smile of excitement appeared on his face.

This time she saw it clearly: what was rising in the eyes of the boy in front of her was not just a simple obsession.

The reason he is called a delusional person is that he has obsessions and impossible delusions.

"That's really cool! Being different from everyone else, and not wanting to be like anyone else, woohoo~~~~ Looks like you're a 'rebellious, nihilistic man.'"

From Duanmu Lian, the King of Henchmen saw a desire to desperately break away from the group and the rules.

Rules are meant for those who cannot survive without them.

For example, a person cannot survive in water without any equipment, a person cannot survive in a vacuum, and so on. These are the rules.

Duanmu Lian wanted to be different from them, which meant she wanted to do things that they couldn't.

Similarly, he didn't want to be as strong as anyone else, nor did he want to be weaker than anyone else.

"We are the mentor type of women. Do you want to seek strength from us and become different from us?"

The King of Minions' eyes gleamed with a strong desire to discipline her, for Duanmu Lian before him was simply too interesting.

The other party is like a person whose foundation is so large that it is unimaginable what kind of building will eventually be built on that foundation.