Zhongli's words brought Ellin to a realization.
At that moment, she suddenly understood that clinging too tightly to returning to the past would only make her miss the beauty unfolding in the present.
Just as Zhongli had said, if twenty years of living with a man's body and identity had made her believe she ought to be a man...
Then, after twenty years of living with a woman's body and identity, would she be a man or a woman?
What about after thirty years, forty years, or even a thousand years of living with a woman's identity and body?
By then, those twenty years of life as a man would be only a tiny fraction of her thousand-year existence.
At that point, would she think she ought to be a man or a woman?
A mortal's life lasted only a hundred years.
As a god who had lived in this world for six thousand years, Zhongli naturally saw things differently from mortals.
He guided Ellin beyond the mental constraints imposed by a mortal's short lifespan, helping her view gender from a broader perspective. His words opened her eyes and helped her let go of her fixation on becoming a man again.
Yet although that fixation had weakened, Ellin still had worries she could not put to rest.
Facing the learned Zhongli, Ellin was like a junior seeking an elder's wisdom. She asked humbly:
"But... I like a girl. If I don't turn back into a man, how am I supposed to marry her?"
"Heh..." Zhongli chuckled softly.
"What does love mean to you?"
Zhongli looked at Ellin, his gaze piercing.
The depth of wisdom accumulated over six thousand years was truly overwhelming.
That gaze seemed to see straight into her heart, leaving Ellin uneasy.
Fortunately, Zhongli regarded Ellin as a