Auric sat quietly beside the city wall, staring at the bustling street beyond.
The wind brushed against her hair, but she didn't feel it. Her eyes were empty, filled only with regret.
She had once dread of living like the heroines in her favorite novels, the reborn won who righted their wrongs, gained wealth, married powerful n, and lived happily ever after.
But in her case, rebirth had brought nothing but humiliation.
Every month, she had to pay twenty million dollars to Gu Jin, the very woman she had once tried to impersonate. Twenty million. The number echoed in her mind like a curse.
Auric laughed weakly. "Even after being reborn, I'm still the sa fool," she whispered. "Where's my mansion? My prince? My beautiful ending?"
All she had were ashes.
In her previous life, she and Gu Jin had been inseparable, best friends, sisters in all but blood. Auric had once helped Gu Jin countless tis and even earned her trust and affection. But now, in this lifeti, everything had flipped upside down. She wasn't Gu Jin's savior; she was her debtor.
And Gu Jin? She had beco sothing untouchable. A being far beyond human... a goddess.
When Auric first learned that Gu Jin had been nad as a goddess, she couldn't believe it.
Gu Jin was supposed to have gone sowhere peaceful, to live quietly as a guardian until the end of her mortal life.
How had that sa woman suddenly transford into a divine existence worshiped by countless souls?
Nothing made sense.
Auric tried to recall the sequence of events again and again, but the harder she tried, the foggier her mind beca. Finally, she sought help from a mory expert.
And that was when the truth shattered her world.
The life she rembered, the so-called "rebirth", wasn't real. It was a power she had unknowingly awakened.
Her mind could glimpse alternate possibilities, potential futures of the people she thought about.
None of it had actually happened.
Her "rebirth" was just one of many possible paths her consciousness had explored.
When the truth sank in, Auric felt her legs go weak. All this ti, she had believed she was living a second life, one that she could control, rewrite, and redeem. But in reality, she had just been gambling with probabilities.
And by so miracle, she had won.
If even one of those probabilities had turned false, if she had made one wrong move, she would have lost everything, wealth, fa, even her life.
For the first ti, fear truly hit her.
Shivering, she clutched her chest. "So all of this… all of this was never mine," she murmured. "Just luck. Just chance."
From that day, Auric stopped using her power. She no longer trusted the visions that danced behind her eyelids. Instead, she took out a pen and wrote a letter, a long, honest apology addressed to Gu Jin.
'I'm sorry for everything. I was foolish, greedy, and blind. Please forgive . I'll repay everything, just stop demanding the monthly compensation. Let start again.'
Weeks passed, and then a reply ca.
Gu Jin's handwriting was elegant, calm, and strangely rciful.
'I no longer need your compensation. You are free, Auric. Live well.'
Those words made Auric burst into tears. For the first ti in years, she felt truly free.
From that mont on, she decided to live differently.
She studied her strange ability properly, learned to control it safely, and began helping others.
Slowly, her reputation grew, from a failed imposter to a respected figure known as the Divine Probability Seer.
Her na spread across continents. Her clients included cultivators and even important figures in disguise. She earned millions, not through deceit this ti, but through honest work.
For the first ti in her life, Auric felt proud of herself.
While Auric's life took this peaceful turn, far away, another story was unfolding, one that made even the heavens tremble.
In a vast temple built atop the mountains, Si Kai stood beneath a glowing sigil. His eyes burned like molten gold, and his body radiated divine energy.
He had finally done it.
After fifty long years hidden inside Gu Jin's space, growing, training, and surviving, Si Kai had ascended.
The boy who once could barely lift a sword had beco the Beast God.
When he transford, his divine form was breathtaking, a hybrid of dragon and lion, a creature of majesty and fury. Lightning coiled around his mane, and his golden wings glowed with runic power.
"I am no longer the caged beast," he whispered, gazing at his reflection in the pool beneath him. "I am the storm."
But even as a god, Si Kai never forgot the lonely years when people mocked him for his "inordinate body type." He rembered the children who called him a failure, the teachers who said he would never rise above diocrity.
Now he would prove them wrong.
He began traveling across continents, searching for others who were shunned for their differences, those whose bodies or mana didn't fit the world's rigid molds.
He gathered them, taught them, and ford a sect where "imperfection" was power.
His disciples grew rapidly, and soon the na Si Kai spread like wildfire. Reporters, politicians, and even high-ranking cultivators sought interviews with him.
But Si Kai refused every single one, except one.
"If they wish to speak with ," he said with a calm smile, "then let them all co together. I will give only one interview, to everyone, at once."
His declaration caused a storm across the world's dia. Rival networks joined forces for the first ti in history, pooling resources to secure a single session with the Beast God.
The day of the interview arrived.
Si Kai appeared at the grand hall dressed in a white suit. The hall was filled with reporters, photographers, and broadcasters from every major realm.
But what stunned everyone wasn't just Si Kai's divine aura, it was the two people beside him.
Gu Jin and Long Yifan.
The mont the crowd saw them, flashes erupted like fireworks.
"It's them!" soone gasped. "The guardians of the old world!"
Caras turned instantly toward Gu Jin, but before the flashes could blind her, she simply lifted her hand.
Every single cara froze.
The hall fell into a reverent silence. No one dared move, as if an invisible command had passed through the air.
Gu Jin smiled faintly. "Not today," she said softly.
This was Si Kai's day, not hers.
She took her seat beside him, folding her hands with quiet pride.
The first reporter stood up, trembling slightly. "Beast God Si Kai," she said, "how did you reach this level of power?"
Si Kai smiled. "When I was five, I was on the verge of death. To survive, I began cultivating through beast-taming. Over the years, that path awakened sothing inside , sothing that eventually evolved into my current form."
Another reporter imdiately followed, eyes wide.
"But how did you even discover this path? Beast-taming cultivation hasn't existed for thousands of years!"
Si Kai paused for a mont, then glanced toward Gu Jin. His smile deepened. "It wasn't ," he said. "It was her."
Instantly, every cara swiveled toward Gu Jin again and again froze when she shook her head slightly.
Si Kai sighed helplessly. "She doesn't want attention," he said with a grin. "But she's the real reason I'm standing here."
The hall filled with murmurs. Many of the reporters had never seen such humility from a god.
The questions kept coming. So asked about his techniques; others about his vision for humanity. Si Kai answered each one patiently.
He explained how magic cultivation had overshadowed countless ancient paths... paths like beast-taming, rune-forging, and soul-weaving. Over the centuries, humanity had forgotten them.
But now, his rediscovery would reignite that lost diversity. New academies were opening, old scrolls were being unearthed, and a new age of cultivation was beginning.
When he finished explaining, applause filled the hall. The interviewers stood, clapping sincerely.
Then one final question silenced them all.
"If you could dedicate your success to one person," a young reporter asked softly, "who would it be?"
Si Kai didn't hesitate.
"To my sister," he said, turning to Gu Jin. "She saved when no one else would."
His voice trembled slightly as he continued.
"When I was five, I was beaten for stealing food... food I didn't even eat. My own parents called worthless because I couldn't awaken magic. They left to die. But she..." His voice cracked.
"She found . She gave a na, a ho, and hope. Everything I am today is because of her."
The hall was silent. Even the caran had tears in their eyes.
Then Si Kai looked back at Gu Jin with a gentle smile. "To , she isn't just my sister. She's my god."
Gasps filled the room.
Gu Jin covered her mouth, her eyes glistening. "You idiot," she whispered, half laughing, half crying.
The applause that followed shook the hall like thunder.
For a mont, Si Kai wasn't just the Beast God... he was a symbol of sothing greater: love, loyalty, and gratitude that even divinity couldn't erase.
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