[Star Calendar 8100, Month 2.]
[The Xianzhou [Luofu] has arrived on a long voyage, parking in the orbit of Jarilo-VI. It provides Belobog with all possible aid, helping to revive Jarilo-VI's ecosystem and rebuild the homes of its people.]
[In the same month, you are approached by Fu Xuan, Master Diviner of the Xianzhou [Luofu]'s Divination Commission. She extends to you an invitation that is more of a demand, requiring you to join the Luofu's Divination Commission.]
[You are forced to agree to her request and arrive on the Xianzhou [Luofu] via a skiff.]
[Having never left Belobog, you show immense curiosity about everything on the Xianzhou [Luofu]. Under the guidance of the Divination Commission's diviner, Qingque, you tour the city for a full day, but decide to take a temporary rest due to an attack by mara-struck monsters.]
[A long sleep has soothed the agitation from the attack. You rise from the soft bed of the Yichen Inn. The Luofu's weather control system meticulously regulates the gentle sunlight that streams in through the massive floor-to-ceiling window. The warm light washes over your limbs, and you feel completely refreshed.]
[You look out the window with vigor. The scenery of the Xianzhou [Luofu] is quite unique. The combination of nearly ten thousand years of historical heritage and super-era technology has formed the [Luofu]'s stunning and characteristic architectural style.]
[Crowds surge through the bustling streets and alleys. Watching them, a flicker of inspiration stirs within you.]
[A beautiful day has just begun. What do you plan to do?]
[Please choose—]
[1. "This weather is just perfect for going back to sleep!"]
[The weather control system of the Xianzhou [Luofu] provides the entire vessel with the most suitable climate and temperature. Having suffered for years on Belobog, you have never seen such a thing. Even in your past life, you never experienced this level of comfort...]
[Though you have yet to report to the Divination Commission, you have already mastered the traditional art of its diviners—no matter what, I must slack off first!]
[You decide to sleep in for a bit. By selecting this option, you will gain 20 extra Energy upon waking.]
[You will take a small step forward on the Path of [Nihility]... but you do not know where it ultimately leads.]
[At the same time, you will trigger a Favorability event: "A Slacker's Camaraderie".]
[2. "It's time. I should head to work."]
[The fine tradition you maintained as a Silvermane Guard Captain in Belobog's Qlipoth Fort has not been continued. You feel that since you have arrived on the Xianzhou [Luofu], it's a new life and a new atmosphere. The slacking habits of your Belobog days should be discarded. From this day forward, you will become the most diligent employee of the Luofu's Divination Commission, Master Diviner Fu Xuan's most trusted right-hand man!]
[You decide to knock fiercely on the door of the room next to yours to wake up Qingque, who is clearly still sleeping in. You will drag her along, ending this mini-vacation that should have lasted at least a month, and report to the Luofu's Divination Commission ahead of schedule.]
[Selecting this option will decrease Qingque's Favorability towards you by five points and trigger the Favorability event: "Scorn for an Overachiever".]
[Master Diviner Fu Xuan's attitude towards you, "Inscrutable," will be slightly altered to: "Suspicious".]
After these two, a shimmering golden option appeared on the screen:
[3. "The calamity of the Xianzhou is already here. How can I stand by and idly enjoy these lazy days?"]
[You witnessed the sudden attack by mara-struck monsters in the Luofu's Exalting Sanctum. The dark crimson embers burning on their bodies have left a deep impression on you.]
[You know that it comes from Nanook of [The Destruction], the enemy who left an unhealable wound on Jarilo-VI and now rampages across the sea of stars. You also know that Nanook is a puppet of [The Finality], carrying out Its will—you must stop It from achieving Its goals.]
[You decide to swiftly embark on the path to resolve the matters of the Sanctitas Medicus and the Lord Ravager Phantylia.]
[By selecting this option, you will begin a new simulated event tree. The simulation choices will be heavily skewed towards resolving the impending conspiracies on the Luofu. The Sanctitas Medicus and Phantylia will become your sworn enemies, and you will rise from obscurity to find a way to solve these problems.]
[You will obtain the entry: "Resolve of Salvation (Blue)".]
[Resolve of Salvation: Sometimes, all it takes is a little bit of resolve.]
[When this entry is loaded, your damage to enemies that can cause a "Calamity" is increased by 5%. When you load the "The Way of Salvation" entry and open a Path, this entry will be absorbed by the power of [Salvation], serving to broaden the Path.]
An epic choice.
Theoretically, given Ron's usual style, he would choose this epic option without hesitation upon seeing it—but this was not a normal time.
A new option box appeared on the screen—
[Because you have not loaded the entry: "The Way of Salvation (Rainbow)", the power of Salvation is not manifest. You understand how you should walk the long road to the lantern, but you must forge a new path—]
[You have permanently obtained a Blank Choice Box.]
[Blank Choice (Special Choice): By selecting this option, you can make a decision with your own complete will. After eliminating all pre-selected paths, you can choose your actions within the simulation.]
[You can conduct the simulation through text only, or you can choose to have your consciousness enter the simulation after making your blank choice until the next choice point.]
[You will personally experience a future driven entirely by your own thoughts and will... a unique future forged and pioneered completely by you.]
Looking at the text on the light screen, Ron hesitated.
To be honest, the first two simulation options were practically just for show. The [Nihility]-related option appeared in almost every simulation he ran, but these choices were always a textbook example of high investment and low return.
It consumed precious simulation time but only gave back some progress on the Path of [Nihility]. Choosing this option was purely a "hang back and slack off" move. Ron saw no meaning in it.
The second option, to dutifully join the Divination Commission, wasn't a bad choice, but it was clear that there were more important things to do right now. This matter could be postponed; it wasn't a necessary choice at this moment.
Therefore, Ron had wanted to make his choice the moment he first saw option three.
An epic choice represented a guaranteed golden epic entry. Although for the current Ron, the power of a single epic entry might be negligible, it was still a foreseeable and useful benefit. It might even provide some help in his future resistance against Terminus of [The Finality].
But the fourth, blank option that popped up immediately after threw Ron's thoughts into disarray. He hesitated for a moment, unable to make a decision.
Frankly, option three wasn't bad. Ron was indeed very concerned about why the embers of [The Destruction] were burning on the Sanctitas Medicus, and he was also concerned about the potential for these enhanced enemies to inflict greater damage on the Xianzhou [Luofu].
But this was by no means the most urgent thing Ron wanted to accomplish right now.
Although he had been forced to come to the Xianzhou [Luofu], and the troubles on the Luofu had become his business, this didn't mean Ron was truly willing to have his footsteps tied down by the Luofu's problems.
Based on what Qingque said about the Cloud Knights' response speed and the organizational level of the [Luofu], just looking at the ship's underlying strength, this was not a place that could be shaken by just any trouble.
Perhaps there were many problems Ron could help with, but they were definitely not of a degree that couldn't be solved without his intervention.
Ron didn't particularly care about this either. The thing he cared about most—or rather, the only thing he cared about—was everything related to Terminus of [The Finality].
He needed to figure out exactly how to defeat Terminus of [The Finality], to find a way for a mortal to strike down an Aeon.
Otherwise, no matter how many great deeds he accomplished, no matter how many troubles he solved, even if he went on a disaster relief tour across the entire sea of stars, when Terminus of [The Finality] arrived, everything would still come to a complete end.
Ron looked at the light screen before him, lost in thought. He subconsciously tapped his fingers on the wooden bedside table of the Yichen Inn. The cabinet let out a soft tap-tap sound as a new idea gradually took shape in his mind—
He couldn't choose option three.
This was the final conclusion he reached.
Option three might be consistent with his usual attitude, but it was by no means the best choice for investigating the path to Terminus of [The Finality].
Nanook of [The Destruction] was clearly in the same camp as Terminus of [The Finality], and it was highly likely that Nanook was a puppet of Terminus.
In the last simulation, Ron had devoured the Path of [Destruction], but it wasn't a normal devouring—
The Path of [Destruction] was constantly resisting. Even after he completely controlled it, it was merely packaged within [Salvation]. In essence, the Path that Ron wielded at the end of the last simulation was entirely [The Destruction].
He had only controlled the Path; he never managed to completely deconstruct it, thoroughly analyze all of its concepts, and assimilate it into the Path of [Salvation], completely devouring Nanook of [The Destruction] and recasting a complete [Salvation] as Ron himself.
Perhaps, given enough time, he could have. But Terminus of [The Finality] arrived too quickly. Ron simply didn't have enough time.
A few Amber Eras was too short a time for a battle between Aeons. At that time, He was only able to completely control the Path of [Destruction]. To chew it up and swallow it bit by bit was too difficult.
But that didn't mean he couldn't do it in this simulation.
The entry "The Way of Salvation" gave Ron the means and the confidence to analyze other Paths.
If he could rely on "The Way of Salvation" to analyze the Path of [Destruction], to thoroughly understand its source, could he use that to climb higher and find the Path of [The Finality], which clearly encompassed [The Destruction] and had a much broader concept?
At that time, Ron would naturally be able to use "The Way of Salvation" to analyze the Path of [The Finality].
Perhaps this method of probing the Path of [The Finality] was tantamount to a suicide mission, but as long as he could obtain the information Ron needed, digging out bits of information, piecing together the puzzle one bit at a time, he would one day be able to assemble the true nature of the Path of [The Finality]—
And then, the means to resist [The Finality] would naturally be deduced once enough information was gathered.
After long deliberation, Ron finally made up his mind and clicked on the fourth, blank option.
Investigating [The Finality] was the most important objective right now. He absolutely could not be distracted by trivial gains.
With this thought in his mind, he began to write out his plan in detail in the blank choice box.
He would attempt to walk the Path of [Destruction] and thoroughly analyze everything about this Path.
The option box on the screen faded away, and new text appeared:
[The weather control system of the Xianzhou [Luofu] provides the entire vessel with the most suitable climate and temperature. You have never experienced this warmth before...]
[However, this comfort and warmth, which would have been absolutely impossible to feel on Belobog, cannot make you completely idle. There are countless mysteries on the Xianzhou [Luofu] that occupy your thoughts. You stand in the room of the Yichen Inn, but your mind has already drifted to the grand chessboard of the entire sea of stars.]
[As a member of a civilization on the brink of annihilation, sitting in an inn on the Xianzhou, a behemoth even on the interstellar stage, you can't help but feel a small question arise from the gap between civilizations—]
[What is truly most important in this sea of stars? What kind of civilization can become the final victor?]
[In an instant, an absolute answer emerges in the depths of your heart—]
[Power.]
[This answer is irrefutable. No one can argue against its correctness on this matter.]
[Facing the inevitable calamity of the future, facing your own weak and powerless reality, although you are not such an extreme person, a flame of ambition still roars to life in your heart—]
[You need power... Formidable power, enough to crush everything.]
[Out of an extreme thirst for violence, you automatically turn your gaze towards the Path of [Destruction], which is filled with extreme violence and absolute might in this sea of stars.]
[An intense thirst for absolute power and violence permeates your heart, and a scorching flame burns fiercely in your chest.]
[You vaguely feel a familiar sensation. A tyrannical will emerges bit by bit from within the flames, and a searing rage is born within your will...]
[Even though this is poles apart from your own personality and methods, this tyrannical emotion ultimately appears in your body because of your past familiarity with it.]
[The Path of [Destruction] is slightly stirred by your will... just slightly.]
[You have successfully obtained a point of Path Progression.]
[Currently, your progress on the Path of [Destruction] is—(1/100)]