What was this?
Lu Xuan glanced left and right. His fellow workers beside him were still busying themselves as if nothing had happened, seemingly unable to see the mail icon in front of him.
A cheat ability?
In his previous life, he had read plenty of web novels and was no stranger to things like this.
But after eighteen years without any sign of awakening, he had stopped paying attention to it.
He shifted his gaze and found that the mail was still there.
After confirming that he was not hallucinating, Lu Xuan left his workstation and hurried nervously to an empty corner.
At present, his parents needed Nutrient Fluid to maintain their vital signs.
His younger sister needed a large amount of spiritual items to replenish her blood and energy as she charged toward becoming a martial artist.
He could not let any chance to change his fate slip away.
He opened the mail and found only a sheet of paper covered in writing—
[I am Lu Xuan. By the time you see these words, I will already be dead...]
[This is the special cheat ability I awakened before my death. I call it Destiny Tribulation Points. It can send part of my inheritance back to the time node of my previous choice before death, allowing me to change my initial choice until I find the perfect timeline... To put it simply, I am your future self, sending you a will before my death.]
Lu Xuan skimmed through the beginning of the letter at lightning speed.
His future self?
Had he written a letter to himself?
"Wait!" Lu Xuan suddenly realized something. "I die in the future?!"
He read it carefully again and finally understood the exact situation.
Simply put, he would make a certain choice in the present, but that path would lead nowhere, ultimately causing his future self to die.
This letter would be sent back before his death, to the point where he had made the choice that led to it.
"Hiss... So that means I'm definitely going to face a difficult choice next. The version of me in this letter chose one of the paths, and it led to his death."
Lu Xuan rubbed his chin.
This seemed to be some kind of time-space paradox. A single choice in the present could give rise to countless futures—some successful, some failed, and some ending in death.
And this mail had been sent by the version of himself who died.
But as things stood, the choice before him was nothing more than a question of how to make money.
Could that cost him his life?
Confused, Lu Xuan continued reading the letter.
[On May 6, 2030, according to the Extraordinary Calendar, faced with my parents' exorbitant medical expenses and the spiritual items my sister needed for her blood and energy, I had no choice but to find a way to make money quickly. Thus, I chose between "taking out a loan" and "going on an expedition with a martial artist."]
[On May 7, afraid that I would die, I chose the safest option: taking out a loan!]
[On May 7, I borrowed three million Federal Coins from the Federal Bank.]
[On May 8, I paid the hospital, hoping to use Earth Dragon Essence Blood to treat my parents. Soon, the doctor told me that the hospital had already purchased the latest Earth Dragon Essence Blood and could administer it to Mom and Dad within three days.]
[On May 9, I contacted my sister's homeroom teacher, Shen Liyue, and handed her one million Federal Coins, hoping she would help buy some resources for my sister to use in her attempt to become a martial artist.]
[I thought my parents would recover and my sister would step onto a bright future, that our family would welcome the light. But then I realized I was wrong.]
[First, because of the enormous loan, even if my parents received effective treatment, they would suffer even more after recovering. They would have to help me repay the loan, causing their newly restored bodies to collapse again.]
[Second, despite being nourished by Heaven and Earth Spiritual Items, my sister failed to break through the shackles and become a martial artist. Worse, because of the attempt, her foundation was damaged, making it impossible for her to ever break through again!]
"What?!" Lu Xuan cried out involuntarily.
It was true that he had already been considering taking out a loan.
Following a martial artist on an expedition was extremely dangerous. The slightest carelessness could cost him his life.
But he had never imagined that taking out a loan would cause his parents to collapse again—and that it would cause his sister's attempt to become a martial artist to fail.
What exactly had happened?
"Something's wrong. There must be more to this." Lu Xuan continued reading the letter.
[I guess you're wondering now. There must be some hidden circumstances behind this.]
[As expected of me. You guessed right—someone was plotting in the shadows.]
[First, regarding our parents' condition: logically speaking, Earth Dragon Essence Blood should have been enough to alter an ordinary person's constitution. They might not have become martial artists, but they certainly should not have been so frail.]
[On August 1, I investigated the channel through which the hospital purchased the Earth Dragon Essence Blood. It was a company called Monster Potion Company. The monster essence blood they sold was not the pure essence blood of any particular monster. Instead, they mixed together the essence blood of ordinary mutated chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep before selling it, greatly reducing its effects!]
"No wonder..." Lu Xuan trembled from head to toe as barely contained fury surged within him. "Monster Potion Company?"
But he quickly suppressed his anger. After all, he was alone and powerless. Even if he knew there was something wrong with the company, there was nothing he could do.
He could only silently remember it.
"What about Xiaoying?" Lu Xuan raised his head. "Why did she fail to break through?"
"Could her homeroom teacher have tampered with something?" He continued browsing the rest of the letter.
[Second, the reason my sister failed to become a martial artist.]
[On May 9, after receiving the money, my sister's homeroom teacher immediately bought her blood-and-energy medicine to help her break through the shackles.]
[But the homeroom teacher felt that she could build up more foundations first, so she did not rush to let my sister take it.]
[On May 10, my sister came home. She told me that besides her, there was another person cultivating at the teacher's home.]
[That person was named Jiang Xi, one of the better-performing students in the class. At the time, I did not pay much attention to it. I merely casually told my sister that if the other girl had good character, she could become closer to her. But those words led to the tragedy that followed.]
[On May 20, my sister prepared to break through the martial artist shackles. To show their classmate friendship, Jiang Xi gave her a Blood and Energy Pill.]
[There was nothing wrong with the pill, but there was a problem with the box it came in. It was made of a special substance that could throw a martial artist's mind into chaos, thereby causing the breakthrough to fail.]
[Jiang Xi flatly denied that she had done it. The company she bought the medicine from used this special substance for all its packaging. But during my later investigation, I discovered that the company had countless connections with Jiang Xi.]
[In other words, my sister's failed breakthrough was absolutely intentional on Jiang Xi's part!]
"Why?!" When Lu Xuan saw what the letter said, fury rose from his heart. He clenched his fists. "Her family background is clearly better than Xiaoying's. Why would she do this?"
Jealousy?
Lu Xuan did not know.
But he understood one thing clearly now: he had to stop this from happening.
"None of this has happened yet." Lu Xuan forcibly suppressed the grief and anger in his heart. "These were the wrong choices in the future. As long as I don't make them, I should be able to walk toward a different future."
Right. Since that version of himself had died on that path—
Then he would take another one.
He must have left behind other important information.
Lu Xuan hurriedly examined the rest of the letter.
[On August 10, I died.]
[I died while investigating the truth. I was taken out by a martial artist from Monster Potion Company.]
[I was unwilling to accept it!]
[My parents could have recovered, and my sister could have had a bright future. Even if I had to suffer and toil, I could still feel that the future held promise. But all of it was gone.]
[I know that none of this can be changed by a choice alone.]
[It is that unless one becomes a martial artist, one remains an ant!]
[Therefore, I am sending out this will.]
[I am an ordinary person, and because I was investigating the truth, I failed to notice more useful information. There is very little I can send, but I believe it should be enough.]
[Past me, if you see this letter, remember the following points.]
[On May 6, at the monster cleanup warehouse where I worked, a monster showed signs of returning to life. There was a pearl in its abdominal cavity. Its function is unknown, but it was once auctioned off for the staggering price of two billion Federal Coins.]
[Get it!]
[The monster is a Night Tiger. Powerful light can suppress it!]
[Next, choose to go on an expedition with a martial artist. On May 10, there will be an opportunity in the Wilderness of Satellite City No. 3 in Jinling City. Its exact location is the No. 007 Pharmacy of the former Building 3 hospital.]
[According to the news at the time, an ordinary person who went on an expedition with a martial artist swallowed the opportunity's item and leaped straight into the ranks of martial artists... The opportunity seemed to be a dragon-horned Bronze Gourd.]
[I'm sorry. This is the only useful information I noticed.]
[Don't lose heart. The future has countless possibilities. Once a future ends in death, you will be able to receive another will!]
[Go boldly!]
[We would rather make mistakes than do nothing at all!]
Before you continue