Chapter 594: Chapter 322 “The Times Have Changed” and “Lotus Monarch Solving Doubts” (Seeking Subscriptions)_2

But at this moment, there was no trace of a smile on his face.

His gaze toward Milton Cheney had a hint of inexplicable meaning in it.

There was a touch of suspicion, and a touch of confusion.

“Does the Monarch know why I was able to cultivate to my current realm in my first life?”

“You must know that when I reached Deity Transformation Great Perfection, I was but thirty-seven thousand years old.”

Milton Cheney did not directly answer the Lotus Monarch’s question but instead countered with one.

Since Milton Cheney had spoken, he had no intention of hiding anything.

At this point, the secret of the Power of Merit was the least valuable to him.

After all, his life was nearing its end, and this reincarnation simulation was about to conclude.

He had also reached the limit of what he could cultivate in this world.

More importantly, his Power of Merit was exhausted and could not be taken by others, so naturally, Milton Cheney had nothing to fear.

It would be better to take this opportunity to exchange some information with the Lotus Monarch based on what he knew.

The Lotus Monarch also discerned the implication in Milton Cheney’s rhetorical question and appeared somewhat enlightened.

“So you obtained the Power of Merit. No wonder your path of cultivation has been so smooth. I thought it was truly because your talent was unmatched through the ages.”

At the Lotus Monarch’s level, thinking occurs in the blink of an eye.

Especially since Milton Cheney had spoken so candidly, it would be strange if he still did not understand.

“It turns out you are the first beneficiary of the great changes in the Cultivation Realm from a million years ago.”

“A million years ago, there’s no doubt about that.”

“It’s just a pity that you must have received the Power of Merit when you were weak. If you had received the merit after reaching the Unification Realm like me, there might have been a slim chance of achieving immortality.”

The Lotus Monarch spoke with a hint of regret in his tone.

Milton Cheney, of course, also noticed the emotion in the Lotus Monarch’s words.

Upon knowing that he had received the Power of Merit, the Lotus Monarch seemed to have no intention of forcefully taking it from him.

On the contrary, he even felt pity for him.

This clearly indicated that the Power of Merit the Lotus Monarch had obtained was beyond Milton Cheney’s imagination, probably enough even to achieve immortality through merit.

However, Milton Cheney felt no such regret.

After all, without the help of the Power of Merit, whether or not he could reach the Unification Realm was questionable, let alone receiving the Power of Merit after Unification – that was simply wishful thinking.

Moreover, what would it matter if he received the Power of Merit after reaching the Unification Realm? The realm of Unification was already the limit of this body.

Milton Cheney did not believe he could break through the limit of the simulator with the Power of Merit.

If it were that simple, wouldn’t it imply that the position of this world’s Power of Merit was higher than that of the simulator?

Milton Cheney thought that impossible.

Not to mention the Power of Merit of this world, even this world, and perhaps even this layer of the universe, might not compare to his simulator’s external plugin.

“Monarch, I have been open and honest, I hope you can also tell me more,” Milton Cheney said earnestly.

“I do not expect to go one step further, I just want to know more, rather than be kept in the dark.”

Indeed, that was his true desire.

If these secrets were not known now, it would be difficult to uncover them in future reincarnations into this world.

This was the best opportunity.

In subsequent reincarnation simulations, even if he chose to reincarnate into this world each time, it was uncertain if any would surpass this one.

Hearing Milton Cheney’s words, the Lotus Monarch did not immediately respond

Instead, he closed his eyes, seemingly pondering the pros and cons.

Or perhaps considering whether it made any sense to tell Milton Cheney at all.

After all, sometimes knowing too much is not necessarily a good thing.

Seeing this, Milton Cheney did not press for an answer. He gently stroked the cover of the ancient book in his hand, quietly waiting.

Even if, in the end, the Lotus Monarch still chose to say nothing, at most, Milton Cheney would feel a twinge of disappointment.

It was not a must for him to know.

It was just that, at that moment, curiosity had arisen in him.

Because he wasn’t sure whether he would choose to go through the Reincarnation Simulation into this world again.

So the more he knew, the better it always was.

A moment later, Lotus Monarch opened his eyes, seemingly having made a decision.

“Oh well, there’s actually no harm in telling you, after all, you should come to know it eventually, but knowing it beforehand might not necessarily be a good thing for you in the following myriad of years.”

“Since you already know about the Power of Merit, there’s no need for me to repeat the basic explanation again.”

“You guessed correctly that achieving immortal status through merit does indeed rely on the Power of Merit, but it’s not solely dependent on it; rather, the Power of Merit is the most important requirement, but not the only one.”

“To become an immortal through merit, one must gather three hundred and sixty strands of the ‘Power of Merit’, the ‘Power of Luck’, the ‘Power of Destiny’, and the ‘World Power’ to forge the Merit Immortal Body and earn the great Dao of immortals.”

“But there’s one point where you guessed wrong.”

“The ‘struggle’ I spoke of does not pertain to competing for the Power of Merit.”

“Among the four forces required to build the Merit Immortal Body, only the Power of Merit is bestowed by heaven and cannot be contested.”

“The ‘struggle’ I referred to is the struggle for Luck, Destiny, and World; but never Merit, for Merit cannot be contested.”

“Do you understand why I said it’s not good for you to know these things?”

With that, Lotus Monarch paused, turning to look at Milton Cheney.

Milton Cheney, who was listening intently, was slightly startled when Lotus Monarch stopped and asked him, and he gently shook his head.

He truly didn’t know, although he had some speculations, they were just that—speculations.

Since he couldn’t be certain, there was no need for him to assert them aloud.

“The reason is simple, the Powers of Luck, Destiny, and World are something you could possibly compete for over the myriad of years to come.”

“But as for the Power of Merit, you are certainly falling short.”

“Therefore, in this lifetime, you already have no hope of becoming immortal.”

“Yet this lifetime happens to offer the best opportunity, by the time your memories awaken in your next reincarnation, such a chance will have passed you by.”

“Moreover, even if you could awaken your memories in one of your future reincarnations, this memory would surely be obscured by the Immortal Path.”

“How does it feel, to be given hope only to be plunged into despair?”

Lotus Monarch said softly, a hint of complexity in his voice.

After hearing this, Milton Cheney came to a realization.

So that’s how it was.

However, he didn’t feel any so-called despair, as Lotus Monarch wasn’t aware of his particular situation.

To Milton Cheney, after hearing these things, it was just an epiphany, nothing more; despair wasn’t in the equation at all.

Lotus Monarch might assume that upon learning this information, Milton would languish for the rest of his days, but the truth was that Milton felt nothing of the sort.

Furthermore, his lifespan wasn’t measured in the myriad years; he could at best live only a million years.

Of course, these were things Milton Cheney would not volunteer.

Milton’s expression remained calm; he could have feigned complete dejection, but he saw no need for that.

“You don’t seem to be despairing upon hearing this, Fellow Daoist?”

Lotus Monarch, noting Milton’s unchanged demeanor and sensing no deception, voiced his surprise.

Hearing this, Milton Cheney smiled faintly.

“Having cultivated to this point, I have indeed been very fortunate, so naturally, I won’t be greedy for more,”

“My reason for asking the Monarch about these things is simple, as I mentioned before, just to satisfy some curiosity, rather than to be kept in the dark. That’s all.”

“Your state of mind is truly extraordinary!”

Lotus Monarch said, somewhat moved.

He had lived through so many reincarnations, yet his state of mind couldn’t compare to that of a child in his first cycle of reincarnation.

If he had known these things, he would have likely obsessed over them in the years to come, and it wouldn’t have been impossible for him to fall into madness.

Listening to this, Milton Cheney just smiled and did not elaborate further.

Was his state of mind extraordinary?

He simply didn’t care; it was as simple as that.

……

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