"Shopkeeper Sylvester has never asked for anything since opening his shop. Instead, he's given us many reminders and pointers. He doesn't seem like someone idly playing with the world, nor like someone devoted to saving it. To live with such ease and freedom… I truly envy him."
After having the burden in his heart lifted, Jing Yuan felt a heavy yet steady calm settle within him.
But when it came to Sylvester, he found himself understanding him less and less.
Counting the powerful Curios obtained here, the strength of the Xianzhou had already risen to a visibly higher level. And the cost for it all was nothing more than a few tens of millions of Credits.
For an ordinary, hardworking family, this sum was astronomical. But for the vast polity of the Xianzhou, it was no more than a drop in the ocean.
If he were only selling Curios at near-giveaway prices, one could say it was merely kindness. But then, what about his relentless efforts to reconcile the High-Cloud Quintet?
Jing Yuan had seen countless shameless sycophants groveling for scraps, and he had also seen many warriors willing to die for their faith. But Sylvester was clearly neither of these.
Possessing unfathomable power, he did not march on the frontlines of war, yet he delivered peerless armaments to the Xianzhou. Selling rare treasures, the price seemed steep, yet compared to their true value, it was closer to charity.
How strange. Such an unorthodox way of living… Jing Yuan simply could not see through it.
To Jing Yuan's doubts, Sylvester only smiled faintly and said, "There will always be some things you'll never see clearly, even in a lifetime. But muddling through one's years, what harm is there? I have no interest in being any kind of savior. Nor do I intend to be some demon king of chaos. I merely follow my own interests."
Hearing Sylvester's words, Jing Yuan let out a sigh with a smile. "Hah~ That's why I say Shopkeeper Sylvester lives so freely, to the point of envy. If I wished to live only for my passions… setting aside whether I even had the strength to allow it, the weight on my heart is something I could never put down. So, in this life, I can only live for responsibility."
Truth be told, neither charging across the battlefield nor strategizing from behind the lines held much allure for him. The same went for the entire Cloud Knights. He had merely happened to grasp a few key insights, nothing more.
If, one day, the Plagues Author suddenly lost THEIR mind, dove headfirst into the Abyss of Nihility, and dragged along every twisted spawn of Abundance in a massive explosion—that would be just perfect.
Unfortunately, those creatures had a stubborn knack for survival.
"So that means I'm far luckier than you." Off to the side, Feixiao laughed heartily, hands on her hips. "My passion and my duty just so happen to be one and the same."
Her smile was as radiant as ever. Just looking at her was like basking in the brilliance of sunlight.
To the people of Xianzhou, that smile meant reliability and victory after another. To the Denizens of Abundance, it meant nothing short of their reckoning.
She gazed at the [Resurrection Elixir] in her hand, her mind filled with drifting thoughts.
That tiny orb of tricolored light held the power to bring even the long-dead back to life.
But whom should she save with it?
There were too many people she wanted to bring back. From every nameless soldier who fell on the battlefield, to every heroic general who perished resisting calamity, countless faces surged through her mind.
Among them were not only her master—the former General of the Yaoqing, Yueyu—but also the former Master Diviner of the Yuque who once guided the Reignbow Arbiter's lux arrows alongside her, as well as countless soldiers who had marched under her banner and never returned.
This pill was not public property of the Xianzhou, but her own possession. If she used it to resurrect her master, or narrowed her scope further and brought back her birth parents, no one would blame her.
But she couldn't do it. She could hand the elixir to Jing Yuan, letting him mend his regrets of the past.
Yet if she used it only for herself, she didn't even know whom to choose. The regrets she carried held too many faces—one pill could never be enough.
If only she had a thousand, ten thousand of them, as abundant as a harvest from a single field of grain. Even Jiaoqiu should swallow one, so that tasteless tongue of his could finally remember what sweet, sour, bitter, and salty meant.
Alas, she wasn't the God of the Underworld to toy with life and death at will. From a crowd of Borisin, she could strike one down without batting an eye.
But to choose who lived again—that felt more like deciding who would be denied that chance.
Her heart could not be so ruthless.
"Then how about I offer a suggestion?"
As she struggled in her dilemma, Sylvester's voice suddenly reached her ears.
She quietly waited for his proposal.
Just now, he had untangled the knot in Jing Yuan's heart. Perhaps he truly had something valuable to say this time as well.
Though, deep down, she felt that no matter who received this item, her heart would not find true comfort.
Looking into Feixiao's hopeful eyes, Sylvester sighed inwardly.
These people—each one a peerless powerhouse—yet each carrying a minefield buried deep in their hearts.
Was this truly the price of becoming strong? Must every strong one have a story, one of a tragic past?
Was cosmic comedy nothing more than a tragedy already played to the end, when grief becomes too hollow to grieve?
"Hmm…" Sylvester mused for a moment before finding his words. "I know of a short-lived species' planet, whose civilization has only just barely managed to launch a handful of humans to their satellite with chemical rockets. This fragile world once faced invasion by a powerful civilization."
"But for that stronger civilization's fleet to even reach their star system, it would take nearly four hundred years. So, the weaker people decided to force a group of steadfast warriors into deep sleep, to awaken them four centuries later—ensuring that future generations would have more elites to fight back."
"They called this plan… Future Reinforcements."
At his words, Feixiao frowned, puzzled. "Future Reinforcements… but is that really necessary?"
Of course, her question was not about that planet in the story, but about the pill in her hand.
To revive someone—what difference was there between past and future?
"It is necessary." Sylvester's voice rang firm. "It sounds cruel, but the truth is this: those of the past belong to the past. The people closest to them are not only you or me. Most of their loved ones are already dust in the earth."
He let out a long sigh. "To revive them may ease the sorrow of the living, but facing a world where only a few descendants remain and all their old friends are gone—what do you think they would feel?"
Closing his eyes, Sylvester breathed deeply. "They would suffer as the living once did. In fact, their pain might be even greater."
Feixiao and Jing Yuan exchanged glances, then fell into a long silence.
For Sylvester was right. Reviving those of the past might soothe the grief of the living, and perhaps add another bit of strength—but to the deceased, it could well be nothing but an intrusion.
"But! If this is given to the future, then the circumstances would be vastly different!" Sylvester's eyes snapped open, his tone fervent. "Perhaps… it could save not just one person, but an entire era!"