Chapter 896: Audience

“In your timeline, are you the Thirteenth Prince?” Mi E-qi asked.

“Yes,” the Thirteenth Prince replied, looking at him and then at the other woman. “Let me get this straight: you envy me, and this woman envies you... but I envy both of you.”

Both of them looked surprised. He was clearly braver than them; his life should have no regrets. Why would he envy them?

“Want to know why my thirtieth year was rated SSS-class?” he chuckled. “Yes, do you remember when I was drugged at twenty-seven, and then Ai-er committed suicide?”

They both stared at him, trembling. “You made a different choice and saved Ai-er?”

The Thirteenth Prince smiled. “The drug was taking effect, but I was stronger, braver than you. While that big man wasn't paying attention, I grabbed a hammer nearby and hit him hard. He fell to the ground, rolling.”

“At that moment, Ai-er was at a loss, wanting to embrace me, but I pushed her away. Under the horrified gaze of the fallen man, I charged at him... I wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine.” The Thirteenth Prince grinned, looking at the two of them. “Yes, I have more guts than you. I would rather die than satisfy myself on weak women.”

“The strong draw their swords against the stronger; the weak draw their swords against the weaker.”

“Only the weak bully the weaker. The strong, on the other hand, rise to the challenge.” His eyes gleamed red as he said fiercely, “That strong man was terrified then...”

The other two Mi E-qis fell silent. They naturally knew their own inclinations. They also knew that the Thirteenth Prince's actions were utterly insane, to the point that even they trembled. This version of himself was simply too ruthless, too brave. He had made the choice they hadn't dared to make at the time.

“From that moment, I became imbued with a rough, wild spirit—a fierce determination, a ruthless street cunning.”

“Later, the surrounding girls gathered around, looking at me with both fear and admiration. They knew I was someone they could absolutely trust; even in that situation, I hadn't harmed them. I genuinely wanted to protect them, and they, too, were stirred to ferocity. They also became ruthless, deciding to protect me.”

“So they awakened and began to plot with me, tricking members of the Fist Gang one by one, killing them outright. That night, more than a dozen were killed.”

“The next morning, I used a pair of deer antlers to cut off my long hair, leaving it in a buzz cut. We formed the New Fist Gang, fighting back, constantly dealing with them. I even acquired the Fist Gang's gender reassignment technique and turned them all into women, opening a brothel to make them experience that pain and agony.”

The two other individuals' faces completely changed.

“I achieved SSS-class. As I climbed the ranks to become the Thirteenth Prince, I never bullied the weak; I always sought to defeat the strong. I habitually transformed all my enemies into women and opened a dedicated brothel where they would entertain guests.” He grinned. “Even I admit my mind began to twist. I love watching those former enemies entertain guests, seeing their desperate, helpless, terrified eyes.”

A look of horror crossed both their faces. This Thirteenth Prince must be terrifying, repulsive, and sinister throughout the empire. No one would dare to be his enemy. Because if his enemies were defeated by him, their fate would be too dreadful: transformed into women and sent to a brothel.

The Thirteenth Prince stared at them. “And what about Ai-er? You said you regretted it deeply, but did you truly love Ai-er?”

They remained silent. This was an eternal thorn in their hearts.

“No, after saving Ai-er, I spent some time with her and realized I didn't truly love her. So, what kind of feelings did I have back then? Yes, I was incredibly confused. If I didn't love her, why did I turn around and perform that crazy act against the strong man, supposedly to spare her feelings?”

He then cried and laughed.

“Later, I understood... I wasn't doing it for them at all; I was doing it for myself.”

“From the moment I walked past the corridor and saw Ai-er, looking out the door with an empty, despairing gaze as I passed, I knew—I was one of them. We were all as humble as dust, pitifully and lamentably weak... The cruelty of fate lies precisely here: the weak who are bullied receive no compensation; instead, due to the incompleteness after being stripped bare, they are stripped of even more.”

“It's a vicious cycle: the weaker get weaker, the stronger get stronger... So, at the moment of that drugged choice, I made a decision: to abandon bullying the already weak Ai-er and to truly conquer myself.”

“I vowed never to bully or torment the weak.”

The two others were profoundly shaken, feeling utterly blank.

“Have you realized it? You didn't truly want to save your beloved Ai-er; you hated your weak selves and wanted to save your weak selves!”

The Thirteenth Prince stood opposite them, stating coldly, “Yes, I am more ruthless and brave than you. I made the choice that you regretted not making. Am I truly happy? No, I am not happy. Sometimes I wonder if I had been a little more cowardly back then, perhaps I wouldn't have turned out this way. Until I saw you... I once deeply envied your more cowardly selves, and yet, you envy me.”

He took a deep breath. “So, now that you know my story, do you still envy me?”

The three stood in the void, suddenly silent. Each of them regretted the alternative choice they hadn't made: they constantly thought that if they had made a different choice back then, they wouldn't have ended up in their current situation. But now, seeing another version of themselves from a parallel universe... they were actually envying each other, envying each other's choices.

“How ridiculous! What inner demons have led us to this day?”

“Who am I envying? And who is envying me?”

“Who am I, and who are you?”

“We've been fixated on the past, our dao heart not expansive.”

“This has become our shadow.”

“But why fixate on the past, or the future?”

The three paused. A saying from an unknown entity suddenly appeared in their minds: “What's past is prologue.”

A terrifying thought emerged in their minds.

“Are we, the personalities from parallel timelines?”

“We come from every timeline; a battle among us is inevitable.”

“Who can win?”

Wind howled as the three selves from parallel universes began their great battle. Endless missiles and technological explosions, spacetime collapsed, twisted, converged. All the military forces of the three Tier Empires poured out furiously, and the three parallel universes engaged in total war.

After an unknown period, the Thirteenth Prince opened his eyes, looking at Na Xia-er beside him and Medusa, who wore a smiling expression. “Congratulations on passing the test. You received the highest rating.”

Princess Na Xia-er was indeed faster than him. However, speed indicates fewer flaws in one's dao heart. A dao heart with greater flaws or weaknesses signifies it's harder to mend, but once mended, it becomes even more resilient and formidable.

Na Xia-er now looked at the Thirteenth Prince, whom she usually found repugnant and perverse, with immense admiration, giving him a thumbs-up. “A true man, rising to the challenge, not laying a hand on any weak woman! I misjudged you before; you're a good kind of pervert... By the way, which of you three won? Who devoured the other two?”

The Thirteenth Prince smiled, looking at Na Xia-er. “Does it matter? It's all me... And you, you pervert, licking the toes of Emperor Leinimansjia's statue all day—how dare you call me names?”

Na Xia-er's expression stiffened slightly. Princes and princesses who had survived to this day had climbed out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood; who among them didn't have some psychological issues?

“Almost everyone has come out. Your level assessments have been determined.” Medusa looked at the people lined up before her, each displaying a murderous aura, resolute expressions, and completely transformed demeanors. Their inner resolve was firm. They had now mended the flaws in their growth path, becoming, in a sense, another version of themselves, or perhaps having been absorbed by their other personalities... with no significant weaknesses remaining.

Medusa looked at them. “Do you still have regrets in your lives? Are you still regretting what you did back then? What about the future? Some desperate actions—if you don't fight for them, how will you know if you'll regret it?”

The faces of the people before her were now completely resolute, displaying the frenzied fighting spirit of fanatics.

“Yes, that's the look! Go and do everything you want, and don't regret anything you've done!” Medusa burst into laughter. “Now, I believe you no longer have much fear; your only fear will be if you're cowardly, will you regret it!”

Beside her, the young girl Tie Shi's eyes shone brightly with admiration as she watched Medusa teaching these people her own way of doing things.

However, the disciples below looked increasingly terrified and horrified:

“What was that just now? Parallel universes, multiple timelines? What terrifying secret is hidden within the ancient Cosmic Garden, to be able to achieve such a feat?”

But the next second, the words of this demon god made them even more chilled:

“Next, you have officially passed the assessment and qualification tests. Now, I will take you to meet the ancient Leinimansjia!”