Choices Determine Destiny

Wu Wei had discovered the website "Professor Chi" often browsed while investigating her.

At the time, he hadn't figured out who "Professor Chi" really was. But he had found Professor Wang. Although Professor Wang had pixelated his face, to a skilled investigator like Wu Wei, that was about as effective as running around with his bare ass hanging out.

Of course, the most important thing was that Wu Wei knew Professor Wang well.

They had dealt with each other many times, and Wu Wei had always admired Professor Wang's knowledge.

Wu Wei didn't really have a problem with Professor Wang's unusual interests, either.

But he had gotten caught up in this matter, so he had no choice but to apologize.

Besides, the location where Professor Wang had filmed had caught Wu Wei's attention.

He had made these preparations out of caution.

But Wu Wei had never imagined that what came next would be so entertaining.

"Old Wang, I know you started letting yourself go after God Lin rejected you all those years ago. But there's a limit to how far you can sink. What's gotten into you, hanging around with demons? Have you lost your mind?" the burly, bearded man asked solemnly.

Naturally, he knew Professor Wang better than Wu Wei did.

That was exactly why he was all the more heartbroken.

So he had stabbed Professor Wang without hesitation.

Their conversation completely ignored "Professor Chi." The fox spirit felt insulted and let out a piercing shriek before charging straight at Wu Wei.

Apparently, she knew how to pick on the weak, too.

But the burly man kicked her back before she could reach him.

Wu Wei's eyes lit up.

This wasn't even a fight between opponents on the same level.

He knew this "Uncle Liu" was powerful, but his actual combat strength still exceeded Wu Wei's expectations.

Professor Wang waved a hand, stopping "Professor Chi" from attacking again.

"Give it up. There are demons capable of holding their own against Sixth Child, but you're certainly not one of them."

"Sixth Child?"

"Among the demons, you call him one of the Six Emperors."

"Professor Chi" dropped her act in an instant.

"It's you? Why would an old fossil like you show up here?"

The burly man: "..."

Damn it, explain yourself. How am I an old fossil? I'm not even as old as you.

"Sixth Child, you ask why I've fallen this far. Don't you understand the reason?"

"Don't call me Sixth Child. Use my name." The burly man clearly hated the nickname.

"Fine, Ji Xiang. Your name really is... hard to know what to make of."

Wu Wei was startled. "You're the founder of the Ji Xiang Company? Your branches are everywhere. Like the Ji Xiang Club, the Ji Xiang Club, and the Ji Xiang Club."

Ji Xiang: "..."

MMP. I knew someone would say that.

It's not like I wanted to run clubs, okay?

I just failed to seize my chance to get out back then.

"Do you regret turning down God Lin's invitation and missing your chance to become one of the Six Emperors?" Professor Wang asked with a smile.

Although Ji Xiang had stabbed him in the back, Professor Wang seemed more resigned than resentful.

More precisely, there was also pity in the way he looked at Ji Xiang.

That pity made Ji Xiang furious.

"Old Wang, you know I hate people rubbing salt in my wounds. It wasn't that I didn't want to put up the money back then. My family wouldn't give me any. What could I do? I was desperate, too." Ji Xiang's voice grew heated in an instant.

Professor Wang scoffed and shot back, "Then how did Old Lan manage to convince his family? If you lacked the nerve, just admit it. That's why Old Lan became a business emperor who stood alongside God Lin, Emperor Ye, and Madman Gu, while you watched a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip away. Now all you can do is keep company with me."

"Old Wang, there's nothing wrong with keeping you company."

Professor Wang waved his hand and said despondently, "We're all on the same side. No need to put on a show. Deep down, you know perfectly well whether you regret it."

Ji Xiang: "..." Ever heard of not rubbing someone's nose in it?

Professor Wang clearly couldn't be bothered to care.

"Choices determine destiny. From the moment you made that choice, you were destined to belong to a different world from God Lin, Emperor Ye, and Old Lan. Everyone who knows you can't help but pity you behind your back, can they?"

Ji Xiang's heart hurt even more.

But then Professor Wang changed his tone. "But I don't."

Ji Xiang froze.

"Actually, I don't understand why those people pity you behind your back. You were the one who had a choice. They invited you back then.

"But what about me? I wasn't even qualified to be invited."

Wu Wei didn't really understand the background behind what Professor Wang was saying, but he could hear the pain in his voice.

"What people fear most isn't making the wrong choice. It's not getting a chance to choose at all. Ji Xiang, you can't understand me. You can't understand what it was like to silently watch you all from the sidelines back then. In your eyes, I didn't even exist."

"Back when I was eighteen, at the school dance, I stood there like a nobody.

"Back then, I swore through my tears that you'd all have to notice me."

Wu Wei couldn't take it anymore and cut Professor Wang off. "That was my mom, not your mom. Why should she have to care about your feelings? Why should she even notice you?"

Professor Wang: "..."

"You're a grown man. Can't you have some self-respect? What a drama queen. All those years of studying went to waste."

Wu Wei had driven in those two knives without holding back.

But Professor Wang didn't seem all that hurt.

He just shook his head with a bitter smile. "The ignorant are fearless. Wu Wei, you have no idea what kind of opportunity that was."

"I really don't, but I don't think it was anything special."

Wu Wei had always believed he could create his own opportunities.

He didn't have to wait for someone else to hand one to him.

Still, what Professor Wang said next surprised him.

"It was a world-shaking plan led by God Lin. It required an enormous investment of resources and wealth. God Lin invited five people. Ji Xiang was the only one who refused.

"After the plan succeeded, the four people who had supported God Lin became, respectively, the head of Night Emperor Academy, the richest man in the Qin Kingdom, a three-time recipient of the highest science award, and the man hailed as Heaven Beyond Heaven—the acknowledged strongest person in the Qin Kingdom.

"The four of them, together with God Lin, are known in our circle as the Five Emperors. They're the absolute top powers of the Heavenly Tier in the fourth-level world."

Wu Wei's eyes widened. He turned to look at Ji Xiang, then patted him firmly on the shoulder.

"Sixth Child, you have my sympathy."

Ji Xiang wanted to die.

"Ji Xiang, I tried. God Lin once said that scholarship is a public treasure belonging to the world and the nation, and scholars are treasures of immense value. I believed her, so I worked hard to learn, hoping to replicate her success.

"But it was just too difficult, while giving up was so easy."

Especially after discovering a fox spirit.

Ji Xiang let out a long sigh. "The two of us made some really stupid choices, didn't we?"

"Yeah. So we both have to pay the price. You paid with your future. I paid with my life."