AZI Volume 4 Chapter 17

"…"

Seeing Long Hua continuing to have a dry look on his face, as he waits for a cup of ramen to cook, the Tai Xuan Emperor frowns within the dreamscape.

"I need to break him out of this dry state, or it's going to be incredibly awkward to interact with him…"

...…

(*-laoban, have you ever heard of the term "Chosen Child of the Heaven?")

"Hm?"

(The fact that you're not telling me to piss off right away shows how unusual your state of mind is right now…)

"Did being verbally abused ended up awakening something inside you?"

(As if. In any case, back to the main topic, these sort of individuals—they all have jaw-dropping fated opportunities, that would cause many to turn green with envy. And upon being tempered by these fated opportunities, they display a rate of growth and strength—that greatly surpasses other talents.)

"Your point?"

(You could be considered a Chosen Child of the Heaven, *-laoban.)

"…?"

Seeing Long Hua unconvinced by this, the Tai Xuan Emperor adds—

(These Chosen Children of the Heaven all tend to pick up a sort of cheat early on in their lives.)

"Cheat?"

(Indeed, I suppose your shizun, Dao He Tian Xue could have served as your cheat during your previous life? Hmm, to give you a few more examples… A peerless talent of a practitioner household suddenly became a wasteful trash—when their cultivation base stopped showing signs of growth. Suffering from humiliation, and enduring against it for many years, they eventually acquired a magic treasure that contained the soul of a peerless powerhouse. From there, the peerless powerhouse would guide the wasteful trash until they're able to stomp everyone who humiliated them beneath their feet, while also nabbing numerous wives along the way.)

"…Does such a convenience really exist in this world?"

(It's only one example. Another example I can give is… In the case of a peerless powerhouse being killed, normally—death would be the end of their life, right? However, if they were a Chosen Child of the Heaven, they would get reincarnated, and start over. Eventually, they'll get back at everyone who had offended them in the past, and end up becoming a powerful expert that can only be looked upon with respect. The cheat in this scenario is the knowledge they had retained during their previous life.)

Raising an eye, Long Hua asks—

"…You're trying to say that this is the category that I fall under?"

(I suppose? There's also the case of an individual being the scion of an ancient family—that resides in a realm beyond the reach of ordinary mortals. On a random day, the high-level realm was destroyed, and the scion died during the calamity. However, because they were a Chosen Child of the Heaven, they get reincarnated in the lower realms of a random world. They managed to retain most of their memories, and with it, they made it their goal to find out what happened to their homeland, and restore it to its original glory. The cheat that they possess in this scenario is the same as the second example.)

"Enough with the examples. What exactly are you trying to say?"

(Have some patience. The commonality that these Chosen Children of the Heaven share—outside of having a cheat, is them being incredibly difficult to kill. One moment an old monster looks more than capable of killing them in a single slap, but in the next, another old monster—who looks favorably upon the Chosen Child of the Heaven would help them, sowing a seed of good-will between them; and when the child ascends to greater heights than the helpful old monster—the old monster would receive benefits for the aid, that they had rendered to the child in the past. This is a type of fated opportunity for the Chosen Child of the Heaven and those that they had encountered along the way. But the best fated opportunities would have to be the sort that can be found in forgotten old crypts and trial grounds. Whenever a Chosen Child of the Heaven visits a place like those, they would end up receiving a bountiful harvest of resources—allowing them to instantly go up a realm of cultivation without any effort.)

"…"

Maintaining a look of extreme doubt towards the Tai Xuan Emperor's words, Long Hua frowns. Although he can understand the Tai Xuan Emperor's individual words, the moment they are meshed together, the phrase ends up sounding like they had come from a completely different language.

"I really don't know what you're talking about."

(Tch. The main take-away here is—in this life of yours, you possess two cheats. The first, are the things that you were taught in your previous life by Dao He Tian Xue, and the second…)

Directing her thumb towards herself inside of the dreamscape, the Tai Xuan Emperor declares—

(Me! So, make sure to feel grateful towards me for lending your sorry ass my assistance!)

"…"

Something seems to snap within Long Hua—the moment the Tai Xuan Emperor says that she is his second cheat in this life.

A cheat that only knows how to devour his precious resources with a slim chance to return some benefits, who would want a cheat like this?

"Piss off! For real, take a good look at yourself in the damn mirror, and tell me that again! You're nothing more than a con-artist who is looking to scam me for my resources! You leech!"

(Oh? Seems like you're finally back to normal, *-laoban.)

Clicking his tongue with sheer annoyance, Long Hua scratches the back of his head—not knowing what to say.

(Is this her way of trying to lift my mood? No, knowing her, she's bound to have some ulterior motives in mind for doing this…)

Thinking of this, and heaving a sigh, Long Hua asks—

"You mentioned that whenever these Chosen Children of the Heaven visit a crypt of some sort…- Would this ruin count? Are you trying to say that I'll have a bountiful harvest at the end of this hellhole?"

(Exactly, and make sure to not forget—to feed me some of those resources. If I'm satisfied, I'll be able to meet your ever-increasing demands for items of high value. For example, don't you wish to arm that doll of yours with some Spirit Armaments?)

"Isn't the combat body itself one of those armaments?"

(Spirit Armaments aren't limited to mere combat bodies; they're further divided into different categories. The Machina Frame is one category, and the other categories—off the top of my head, are warships, standard weapons, and battle armor. I'll say this just because of how close we are, but imagine obtaining an army of combat bodies—all armed with Spirit Armaments, won't that make you a one-man army? At that point, what do you have to fear against Partial-Apotheosized Sinners, or a powerful group of practitioners? Suddenly finding yourself outnumbered and outgunned? Not a problem, you can simply tell them: "sorry, the ones outnumbered and outgunned—are you all," wouldn't the situation of calling out an army at the snap of a finger feel extremely satisfying?)

"…"

"If a problem can be solved through violence and money, it's not a problem at all," never has this phrase hit closer to home than now—when the Tai Xuan Emperor had brought up a scenario of this nature.

"Because of how close we are, you're telling me this? I'll say this right now, but the furthest distance in this world isn't the distance between you and I—it's the distance between me and my next pity, and you're the damn wall that is getting in between us! And if you're supposed to be considered my cheat in this life, then-!"

Just as Long Hua is about to continue, the Tai Xuan Emperor has her vessel remind him—

"Master, the ramen is ready. It's best to not let it get soggy."

"…"

Drawing in a deep breath of air, Long Hua picks up the cup of instant ramen with jade-skinned bull meat, along with a plastic fork.

(Well, how is it? Even in the Earthborn Elementals' Realm, this particular cup of ramen goes for quite a bit per serving.)

"…It's good, dammit."

(I see, I see, well, if you like it so much, do make sure to hit up the gacha as often as you can.)

"…"

All of a sudden, the ramen instantly became less appetizing.