"Ah, right. You're still a candidate, so technically, there are no saints that belong to a sect. But, when you become a proper saint, you'll be the only one," she said, putting a finger on her chin cutely and looking up as if she were imagining something. "I wonder how it will unfold. It's not a bad idea, but there's a reason why we choose to stay independent."

Liu Xing waved his hands. "I think you're mistaken. I'm not a saint or a candidate. I think you've mistaken me for someone else."

"You're Liu Xing, right?"

"I am," he nodded.

"An outer disciple of the Purple Moon Sect?"

"Indeed," he nodded again. "As far as I know, I'm the only Liu Xing in the Purple Moon Sect."

She nodded. "Did a bell suddenly appear near you one day and ring several times?"

Liu Xing narrowed his eyes. "Yes. How do you know about that? Were you there when I killed Wei Yi?"

"Does your qi sometimes feel like it has a mind of its own? For example, when you try to form something, does it form into something else? Something that can perhaps either fly or swim really well?"

"No?" Liu Xing said. But then, he remembered the time Bai Lin gave him the Eye of Lightning technique—the original one, before he modified it. He had tried to form a sword several times, only for the technique to rebel and form something akin to a butterfly. Liu Xing pinched his chin. "Yes."

"Then there's no mistake. You're indeed a saint candidate. If you succeed in becoming a saint, you'll be the sixth of this generation."

Liu Xing furrowed his brow, then pinched his chin and looked down. Below, the water flowed like a tranquil river. It was empty, but it shone with a faint blue glow. As he observed the river, his mind worked hard to decipher all the information he had received. The implications of what she had just said were earth-shattering.

Saints.

They were special beings in this world. They weren't necessarily strong, but their existence was special. Every place they visited would become bountiful, and they were favored by the heavens. Some said a saint would never feel hunger, never tire, never run out of qi, and could do deeds that were impossible even for cultivators. Even great sects wouldn't dare to mess with them. There were also rumors about their restrictions, which granted them tremendous power beyond their realm. He only knew one saint, Lin Fan, a loose cultivator with ties to the Purple Moon Sect. Still, he knew some rumors about the others.

He lifted his head and observed the girl in the beautiful, shiny red dress.

Liu Xing had thought he was inside an illusion. His first thought was that an enemy was trying to kill him. After all, he had offended an elder from his sect who had already tried to crush him by throwing a mountain at him. Creating a grand and elaborate illusion was perhaps similar in scope. But there were weird facts about all of this. First, the loss of his recent memory was jarring. If the person creating this illusion wanted to kill him, there was no use in wiping his memory. The other thing was that he was still alive. If the creator of this grand illusion was trying to kill him, he would already be dead. So, there was a chance this illusion wasn't aimed at killing him.

If he was truly a saint candidate, and the girl in front of him was a saint trying to contact him through this illusion, then it all began to make sense.

Still… him? A saint? It sounded like a joke. The heavens didn't choose people randomly. And even if he lacked knowledge about saints, he knew they needed to be extraordinary from the start. While he wasn't overly cruel, and he was strong thanks to his gun and stone blade, he by no means embodied the essence of a saintly person.

"Are you Silver Saint, by any chance?" Liu Xing asked.

The girl sitting across from him puffed out her chest. "I am indeed the one and only Silver Saint. The most beautiful and cutest saint in the world!"

Liu Xing flashed a polite smile. Since the other four saints were male, of course she would be the most beautiful and cutest.

"If this is truly you, and you're not a construct conjured by my enemy, then I'm honored to meet you, Silver Saint." Liu Xing bowed his head. After she gave him a signal, he raised his head again. "You already know me. My name is Liu Xing. I'm an outer disciple of the Purple Moon Sect. You said that I'm a saint candidate. I'm honored if that's true, but pardon me for being rude, but I truly think you're mistaken. I've heard saints are great and kind and just and powerful, and I'm not."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

The Silver Saint flicked her wrist, and a red fan suddenly appeared in her hand. She snapped it open and began to fan her neck slowly. A faint smile played on her lips. Unlike before, the smile was alluring and mysterious, as if she knew many things that Liu Xing did not.

"There's a great saying that applies to your statement. In a faraway town, a child was born to a kind and generous couple. From the beginning, he had a pure heart. As he grew older, he became the kindest person in town. Then, another child was born in the same town. He was born to a prostitute and grew up to be a thief, murderer, and rapist. But one day, he decided he wanted to change, and he truly did. He became kind, and his kindness matched the person with the pure heart." She snapped her fan closed, the smile still lingering on her face. "Tell me, then. In the end, who was better? The person who was kind from the start or the person who was bad at first but struggled and succeeded in becoming kind?"

Liu Xing couldn't help but feel the story was familiar, though he wasn't sure if he had heard it as Liu Xing or as William. He pinched his chin and mulled it over. One was kind from the start, while the other became kind after a struggle. While their origins differed, the end result was the same. Still, they were not the same, and it was hard to judge who was better.

"I don't think I can answer that question," he finally said.

"It's a hard question," she nodded. "But the main point is not to answer it. Rather, it's about you. A saint doesn't need to be great and kind and powerful. In the end, even if the heavens choose us, we are still human. Most of the stories about us are also exaggerated. Contrary to popular belief, a saint is not perfect. We're merely chosen by the heavens, and since the heavens are fickle, they can choose whomever they want. A demonic cultivator can be chosen as a saint too, you know."

"I find that hard to believe," Liu Xing said. "There's no way a demonic cultivator can become a saint. That's like saying the sky is the ground, or that water is fire. It doesn't make sense."

The Silver Saint blinked several times, then beamed. "What an interesting response!" Then, she began to laugh. "How interesting!"

She laughed for a while before finally inhaling deeply and composing herself. "I am sorry, but it's been a long time since I could laugh freely like that. The nature of my power makes me know things before they even begin, so it's quite rare for me to be surprised. Anyway, stay true to yourself, Liu Xing. You're a saint candidate. If you stray and try to fit yourself into a mold called 'saint,' then you will fail."

He honestly didn't understand her reaction. Was what he said really that funny? Still, she was a saint, so perhaps her sense of humor was different from a normal person's. "Alright, thank you for the advice, Silver Saint."

She nodded. "Now, since all of that is over, let's get to the reason I needed to meet you. As your senior, I have a duty to guide you to become a true saint. So I need to explain our duties, as well as the benefits of being a saint. The heavens are quite generous, but they also demand quite a lot from us. First thing's first—"

Liu Xing waved his hand. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, Silver Saint, but can you start from the beginning?"

"Yes," she nodded sagely. "I intended to explain from the beginning."

"No, I mean truly from the beginning. Like, what is this place?" Liu Xing gestured broadly to everything around him. "My gut tells me this is an illusion. Is that true? Are you the one who created it? It also bothers me that I can't remember the most recent thing I did. I remember flying on my stone turtle… somewhere. I know I was in the middle of something, but I don't know what."

The saint raised her eyebrows. "Really? You don't remember how you ended up here?"

"Yes," he nodded.

She snapped her head toward the huge, floating whale behind her. The giant whale looked at them with its ringed eyes, and as the saint gazed back, her eyes, filled with two beautiful galaxies, slowly widened.

"You met what?!" she suddenly shouted at the whale.

The whale let out a wail, as if communicating with her.

"Then why didn't you tell me earlier?"

The whale let out another wail, and in response, the saint sighed. "At least you successfully escaped." She snapped her head toward Liu Xing. "You're quite fortunate, Liu Xing. You almost died. As for why you don't remember being here, it's because you were swallowed by that guy." She pointed to the whale.

Liu Xing blinked several times, his mind trying to catch up. Then, his eyes widened. "I almost died? And I was swallowed by a whale?"

His mind began to churn. What the hell did he do before he ended up in this place?

"He didn't mean any harm! In truth, that was the only thing he could do to save you from certain death. He said that you and your group are safe inside his stomach, and when the time comes, he will spit you out. When he does, you'll gradually regain your memory." She sighed. "As for where this is, it's not an illusion, but it's not real either. It's based on a real place, and we're inside a dream."

Liu Xing didn't know what to think first. The fact that he had almost died and didn't even remember it. The fact that he had been swallowed by a giant whale. The fact that he was meeting a saint inside a dream and being told he was a candidate to become one. All of it was surreal. And so, he decided to stop overthinking and accept it all as it was.

"Alright," Liu Xing inhaled deeply. "I'm currently inside a whale, and inside that whale, I'm dreaming and talking with a saint. It all makes sense."

She pouted. "You don't need to phrase it like that. You know, in case you decide all of this is a mere illusion or dream, I'll do something in the real world to convince you that it was all true. Now, let's truly begin from scratch—like, really, really from scratch. Let's start with that clumsy guy," she pointed at the whale, "the man who almost killed you, and the truth about our universe."

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