I Have Strength

"Of course it's you... and me!"

Glass Bodhisattva said slowly, "If not for our defiance of Heaven and our disruption of the Book of Fate, how could there be such suffering and chaos? Everyone has their own fate. Changing it comes at a price—a price all living beings can scarcely bear."

"So it's right for all living beings to be puppets of the Book of Fate, dying when it tells them to die and living when it tells them to live?"

Verdant Green Maiden challenged him.

Glass Bodhisattva looked at her and shook his head. "Perhaps it isn't right, but..."

"It's the best way!"

"The best way, my ass!"

Verdant Green Maiden swore. Her angry outburst startled everyone; even Glass Bodhisattva jumped.

Glass Bodhisattva blinked. "You... you swore!"

"What a revelation. Is this your first day knowing me?"

Verdant Green Maiden scoffed.

Glass Bodhisattva: "..."

"Don't tell me the arrangements made up above are for the best! I've never believed any of that."

"You know where I came from!"

"And you should know what kind of education I received! There may be Immortals and emperors here, but they... aren't the only answer!"

"Human will can conquer Heaven!"

"I've always believed those words, and I've always lived by them!"

"The Book of Fate has no right to hold someone's life and death in its hands, much less toy with every living being under the sky! Fuck the Mandate of Heaven. It can all go to hell!"

Verdant Green Maiden's gaze darkened, undisguised murderous intent toward the Heavenly People gleaming in her brown-green eyes.

"I'm going to shatter all of this!"

"You can't!"

Glass Bodhisattva stared hard at Verdant Green Maiden. His expression solemn, he said slowly, "You cannot do it!"

"I can!"

"One year, two years, a hundred, a thousand!"

"I