Absolute Choice
Absolute Choice - Chapter 484: Thoughts separated by Three Thousand Years

"What about the rest?"

Shi Xiaobai forced himself to divert the topic. Being the recipient of his own vexation and pain was enough. There was no need to share it with others.

However, this casual question was left unanswered by anyone for some unknown reason.

Shi Xiaobai was surprised as he noticed that Pulp Farmer and Feng Yuanlin had suddenly lowered their heads to avoid his gaze. Sunless remained expressionless but she had also maintained her silence.

What was going on?

"Did something happen?"

Shi Xiaobai frowned slightly as he suddenly could not help but laugh, saying, "Why isn't anyone answering? Could it be that the rest have gained the assessment program's recognition, clearing the level and reaching the eighth level?"

"Boss Shi Xiaobai, they..." Feng Yuanlin was somewhat flustered from the questioning. Just as he was about to say something, Pulp Farmer answered for him.

"Shi Xiaobai, you really did not study any of the details before you entered the tower. Only one person can gain the recognition of the assessment program on the seventh level. If a trial-taker wins the assessment program's approval, that person will clear the level and be sent to the eighth level. Then, the rest of the trial-takers will be expelled from the trial tower. It's general knowledge. Since we are still in the Infernal palace, it means no one has cleared the seventh level yet." Pulp Farmer said slowly as he glared at Feng Yuanlin, who had a 'flustered and guilty' look on his face.

After receiving Pulp Farmer's 'stare', Feng Yuanlin finally realized that they were 'shouldering' the heavy responsibility of hiding the cruel truth from Boss Shi Xiaobai. He hurriedly tried to compose himself as he echoed, "Ha...ha, Boss Shi Xiaobai sure loves to joke. Do you know how difficult it is to win the assessment program's approval? It probably isn't an exaggeration to call it as difficult as 'ascending the heavens'. After all, there has only been three mighty figures—Overlord Ji Feng, Sword Immortal Xu Taibai, and the Conquest King—who had managed to clear it."

Feng Yuanlin had only casually echoed Pulp Farmer's words, but this unintentional sentence made Shi Xiaobai widen his eyes suddenly.

There was only Overlord Ji Feng, Sword Immortal Xu Taibai, and the Conquest King?

"There are only three?"

Shi Xiaobai asked in surprise.

Feng Yuanlin's hands began to tremble from nervousness when he saw Shi Xiaobai looking at him. Heavens, he was the worst at lying. What was he to do?

Pulp Farmer rolled his eyes and felt a mild headache. Shi Xiaobai had only casually asked an unimportant question but Feng Yuanlin had turned flustered from a guilty conscience like a questioned crime suspect. If this continued, Shi Xiaobai would probably notice Feng Yuanlin's odd behavior.

With that thought in mind, Pulp Farmer hurriedly interrupted, "The Nine Revolutions Transcendental Tower is a famous land of trials of great difficulty. The requirement needed of trial-takers at the Psionic Mortal Realm to clear the seventh level is as difficult as ascending the heavens. According to historical records, from the moment of the tower's construction, the humans that have cleared the seventh level are Overlord Ji Feng, Sword Immortal Xu Taibai, and the Conquest King. These three people are famous figures in history. That shows the value of the Nine Revolutions Transcendental Tower. The few of us might be called 'super rookies of China', but we are still far from capable of clearing the seventh level. Perhaps only monsters like you and...Speechless have that bit of chance."

When the word, 'Speechless', was said, Pulp Farmer's expression could not help but stiffen slightly. Feng Yuanlin turned his head away in a fluster. Even the look in Sunless's eyes changed slightly. The Infernal Queen who was languidly slumped on the sofa revealed a teasing smile.

The mood turned somewhat odd.

However, Shi Xiaobai did not notice the oddity because his mind wasn't on with them. Due to Feng Yuanlin's unintentional change of topic and Pulp Farmer's deliberate attempt to cover up the matter, resulting in an over-detailed explanation, Shi Xiaobai's mind was filled with questions that inundated him.

Shi Xiaobai took a deep breath and asked softly, "What about the fourth story? If This King did not remember wrong, the Hero King had once instigated a war between the three domains, killing the three kings alone and received the assessment program's recognition, creating the most interesting fourth story, right?"

Wasn't this story told to This King by you?

Shi Xiaobai frowned slightly.

"Hero King?"

Pulp Farmer frowned as well.

"Indeed, the Hero King was one of the most likely people to win the approval of the assessment program over the past three thousand years. His talent and strength were not weaker than Ji Feng, Xu Taibai, or the Conquest King's. The Hero King might even be slightly stronger than them. However, to the surprise of many, the Hero King stopped at the seventh level. No one knew what had happened to the Hero King back on the seventh level. It is still a mystery up to this day."

Pulp Farmer sighed as a wistful look appeared in his eyes.

Shi Xiaobai gradually gaped but he did not question further. He lowered his head and began pondering with knitted brows.

Pulp Farmer's words sounded definite. Sunless and Feng Yuanlin had not objected to his claims. It implied that Pulp Farmer wasn't lying. Furthermore, they had been the ones that had told him the story of the Hero King's slaying of the three kings not long ago. How could they tell a lie that could be so easily exposed?

However, his memory wasn't in chaos. Shi Xiaobai clearly remembered Speechless telling him on the Silent Desolate Lands that the Hero King's story was the most famous story of the Nine Revolutions Transcendental Tower. Speechless had participated in the selection in order to replicate the legendary story. Outside the Infernal King's palace, Liu Yu, Pulp Farmer, and Feng Yuanlin had recited to him the story of the Hero King stealing the three domains' sacred items which provoked a war between the three domains. Finally, the story ended with the Hero King slaying the three kings.

All these memories were clear and real.

Then, why did things turn out this way?

Why did Pulp Farmer's words now have such a huge discrepancy from what was previously said?

Shi Xiaobai was not foolish enough to believe that Pulp Farmer and company had jointly deceived him. There had to be a reason behind such a strange matter.

In fact, he had already thought of two possibilities.

First, his memories had been changed.

Second, the memories of others had been changed.

If it were the former, there was no reason to continue his reasoning. However, such a possibility was very high.

But if it was the latter, the complexity of the matter was completely unimaginable.

The former was much more reasonable than the latter.

However, Shi Xiaobai hoped that the answer was the latter. His ideal answer was—the Hero King that vanished was real. She had time traveled from three thousand years ago. Due to the change in experiences, history was changed. Therefore, their memories of that piece of history had been changed!

Just like how changing a particular matter would result in a change in the world lines if a person time traveled using a time machine to the past, the future of the same world line would change in response.

If the Dawn Li he had met was real, meaning that she had time traveled from three thousand years ago, then what had happened had changed history. Then, wouldn't the memories of that piece of history end up changing?

Of course, this theory was completely opposite from 'returning to the past from the future to change the future'. It was a completely reversed theory and became an illogical deduction of 'coming to the future from the past to change the past'.

Furthermore, with the change in history, the memories of the rest had been changed but why were only his memories intact? This was a suspicious point that could not be easily skipped over.

Therefore, Shi Xiaobai hoped that it was the latter but he could not think up of a reasonable theory to support it.

The only excuse he had was that—spacetime travel was illogical, to begin with. So why did he have to force it to be logical?

Shi Xiaobai, who had crossed worlds into this alternate world in a baffling manner, did not believe that logic had to be pursued for everything.

It was necessary to occasionally believe in an unreasonable but compatible guess.

Shi Xiaobai had innumerable thoughts but they all came to the same conclusion, an outcome that he wanted to believe—the girl he liked was not an imitation created by the assessment program. Instead, she was an 'oddity' that had time traveled to present day which resulted in history being changed. She had vanished from this place and time, only to have returned to the world from three thousand years ago.

Although they were separated by three thousand years in time, and the distance between them was unbridgeable, they were at least real. At least, they lived on the same world line.

That was good.

A smile suffused across Shi Xiaobai's lips.

Even if they were separated by the rivers of time that spanned three thousand years, they had at least once been in the same world thinking of each other.

Nice, it was . IChooseDogLeading (我选择狗带) when read in Chinese sounds like I Choose Go Die. It was a meme that resulted from a former member of famous Korean boygroup, EXO, TAO (Huang Zitao). At a concert, there was a part in a rap that where he said "", but due to a mispronunciation, it sounded like he will not easily choose to be led by dogs. This phrase now means 'I'd rather die/I choose death'.