[Before, you had regarded Chen Hei Quan with nothing but indifference.]
[You had thought he was still a pawn, merely sheltered by the lingering favor of Heaven's Mandate.]
[But now—]
[All that remained was your recognition of him.]
[In your heart, you felt only admiration.]
["In the end, a single leaf had blinded me."]
[You murmured.]
[You suddenly recalled what Chen Hei Quan had said.]
[—"Was what made me... truly that so-called [Heaven's Mandate]?"]
[What had you thought back then?]
[You fell into a daze, as though you had seen "Old Self."]
[What had he thought during the Seventh Ordinary Simulation?]
[How would he have answered those words?]
[If it had been him, he would probably have replied:]
[—"There was never any such thing as luck."]
["Heaven's Mandate did not choose me."]
["I chose [Heaven's Mandate]."]
[You vaguely remembered that this had happened at the very end, when [Heavenly Will] questioned "Old Self," who was still a Simulated Clone.]
[Heavenly Will had called him "nothing more than an ant lucky enough to win the favor of [Heaven's Mandate]."]
(This was mentioned in Chapter 70.)
[Had [Heavenly Will] thought the same way back then?]
[Shocked, moved, unable to believe it, as though a lifetime had passed...]
[You did not know, but it was indeed worthy of wonder.]
[You had to admit that Chen Hei Quan had truly done it.]
[He had made that [Supreme Dao Immortal Venerable], Unrivaled Throughout History, compromise over this.]
[He was right. That he had come this far was what perseverance meant.]
[Three eras of perseverance.]
[You recalled the past.]
[At the very beginning, the information on eight rings provided by [Golden Talent: Listening] had already explained everything.]
(This was mentioned in Chapter 416.)
[—He refused to accept it.]
[Only perseverance could have brought him such an