Chapter 336

[190th Return

In a grocery store in Luan City, I learned of the Fate-Swapping technique.

If someone else were to bear my inescapable death fate, could I survive?]

[198th Return

After countless cycles, I finally found the remnants of the Fate-Swapping technique in the Demon Realm.

The next step is to study it carefully and…

Find a suitable reason to lead that person down the same path I once took, one step at a time, deceiving Heaven and swapping fate.]

[201st Return

While chatting with He Zhizhou, I accidentally learned about the system.

The system—what is the system?]

The words “the system” were marked heavily.

So that’s why the original “Ning Ning” existed as a system in her mind.

Ning Ning’s heartbeat suddenly quickened. The scattered pieces in her mind slowly came together, forming increasingly clear lines.

[202nd Return

Approaching He Zhizhou, I learned about the “Whetstone System” and the so-called “transmigration.”

Maybe I can try to use the “system” to create an illusion that seems reasonable…?

Let’s present it in the form of a storybook.

I’ll plant the story in this body’s sea of consciousness, influencing her memory so that she believes she’s read a related book.

Then, I’ll tell her that everything that happens in the future is part of the storybook’s plot, and she needs to play one of the roles to keep the story progressing smoothly.

The main character…

The main character is Pei Ji.

Born lowly, weathering hardships with a gloomy personality and no friends or close companions, as if he’s always hurting.

No, I can’t write it like that; it doesn’t resemble a storybook at all.

Yes, he’ll keep stumbling upon heavenly treasures, surrounded by countless admirers who vie for his attention, yet he remains indifferent, vanquishing demons along the way, leaving the elders in awe…

I’ll change it to a story like that.

As for the role that will replace me…

Ha.

A vicious supporting character, nothing could be more fitting.]

Ning Ning had often wondered why she, with no interest in stories of leveling up and triumph, had the patience to read such a long work.

As it turned out, that novel was a complete lie from the start.

There was no easy, open path; Pei Ji faced endless controversy and rejection because of his lineage, always standing alone.

Every life-threatening moment was a battle where he wagered his life.

This was his true story across countless cycles of reincarnation.

Ning Ning felt a dull ache in her heart.

[203rd Return

The plan took shape.

Using the Retrospection Technique to reverse time, along with the Fate-Swapping Technique, I’ll summon the most suitable wandering soul across three thousand worlds.

I’ll let her take my place, bearing my destined death.

Please, let it succeed this time.

Let me live.

I must save him.

I must.]

But Huo Qiao still died.

In this cycle, he even died before Ning Ning.

The notes ended abruptly here.

At the end of everything, Ning Ning saw a vague shadow.

A soft white mist traced a figure almost identical to her own.

The person stood there, staring at her steadily, her expression unreadable.

That figure was slowly fading.

“And then?”

Ning Ning felt no strong emotions, only a calm so surprising it caught even herself off guard, as she asked, “If the death fate is escaped… what will I do?”

The other person did not answer.

In the vast, empty sea of consciousness, a breeze passed by.

A slip of white paper blew into Ning Ning’s hand.

On it, someone had written each stroke forcefully:

[Fate-Swapping Technique, one death and one life.

If the substitute cancels out karma and escapes the death fate, the caster will suffer severe punishment from the heavens, falling into an endless hell and bearing the consequences of their malice.]

This was her last chance.

Whether successful or not, the hundreds of cycles of karma and reincarnation would finally conclude by the end of this day.

“So you wanted to save him.”

Ning Ning looked at the paper and softly said, “But the Huo Qiao of now is actually different from before, isn’t he?”

Righteous and evil, cultivator and demon clan—two cycles of reincarnation, two entirely different stories.

That Huo Qiao would never look at her with the cold gaze of a stranger, never awkwardly say her name, and never use her death as a tool to lead Pei Ji into a demonic path.

She had done so much for him, enduring endless painful reincarnations and deaths, yet Huo Qiao never knew.

To him, “Ning Ning” was just a dispensable stranger with no connection, past or future.

In hindsight, it was pitiful.

She had reincarnated countless times, seeing Huo Qiao again and again, yet the one who had sat beside her, gazing at the moon, had died long ago at the beginning.

No matter how many reunions there were, Huo Qiao would never know of that distant moon that had hung in the girl’s heart ages ago.

The moon of the 14th and her constant pursuit of the “hope for tomorrow.”

“What a pity I didn’t let you die.”

The white shadow laughed faintly, her now-blurred figure almost indiscernible.

Ning Ning heard a voice identical to hers: “Don’t expect me to apologize… Just seeing your face makes me angry. It’s so unfair—I was so close to succeeding.”

“You wounded Pei Ji so deeply; don’t expect me to forgive you.”

Ning Ning clenched the slip of paper in her hand, her tone cold: “You’re leaving soon?”

The white shadow gazed at her quietly.

“It’s all written inside, right? An endless hell. Huo Qiao once said the victor writes history, and one must accept the stakes. It should be that way.”

She seemed to smile again: “I’m off.”

In the boundless, dark sea of consciousness, the last trace of the shadow faded entirely with those final words.

Ning Ning couldn’t identify her feelings but replied softly, “Alright.”

The evening breeze brushed gently past.

The first glimmer of dawn broke across the sky, and in the endless sands, the moon of the 14th silently set.