Nothing But a Thought to Save the People

【Good, I admire your unyielding attitude. Let’s see if you can still act tough when death is at your doorstep!】

The voice sounded indifferent and emotionless, yet carried a faint trace of displeasure.

"Death is just death. I’d rather die with a clear conscience and unwavering resolve than let my Dao heart be tainted by cowardice!"

Though missing an arm, Fang Fan stood tall, his spirit unbroken.

Right was right, and wrong was wrong!

If clearing this trial required paving the path with the blood and bones of the innocent, if it demanded climbing atop the wails of despair—then he would rather offer his own life to the Dao!

From the moment he joined the Purple Star Immortal Court and underwent the baptism of its heavenly aura, his faith had been reforged.

Self-preservation was tempting, but when the weight of billions rested on his shoulders, that very burden became the fuel for his resolve!

He was, after all, the Purple Star Immortal Court’s Ninth-Rank Fortune Envoy, a candidate for the Civil God of Wealth!

Countless lives prayed to him for blessings and prosperity!

He couldn’t help everyone, but as long as he could elevate the lives of the many, his efforts held meaning!

If he betrayed his principles today, slaughtering innocents to pave his way forward, how could he ever face the billions who revered him? How could he call himself a God of Wealth?

You might fool others, but never yourself!

So what if it meant death?

Did they think Fang Fan would yield?

Never!

As if sensing his unshakable will, the grand voice fell silent for a moment before echoing again, cold and distant.

【You now have eighty points left. Make your second choice.】

The moment the words faded, two vast continents materialized on the massive scales before him.

The right side held nothing but a single prompt:

【Restore your body to wholeness, gain twenty additional points, and receive one penalty exemption.】

The left side, however, was a hellscape.

The world burned under the scourge of Outer Realm Demons. Despair choked the land as war raged. A towering human general led his forces in a desperate, losing battle.

Bathed in the blood-red light of a dying sun, he stood atop a mountain, his back to the suffering masses. Gazing upon the ruined world below, he suddenly murmured as if sensing something:

"The heavens and earth are collapsing. I wish to save the people and restore order. Will you, honored one, lend me your strength?"

Fang Fan’s pupils constricted.

His eyes locked onto the left scale—onto the people writhing under the demons’ claws—then flicked to the right scale’s irresistible offer.

Wholeness. Twenty points. A free pass against punishment.

Choosing this would skyrocket his chances of clearing the trial!

For an instant, primal greed and the instinct to survive nearly drowned his reason. His blood roared, his severed shoulder twitched violently, every cell in his body screaming:

Choose wholeness! You can’t stay crippled! Your future is bright—don’t throw it away!

Sacrifice these insignificant ants! Their suffering isn’t your burden! Save yourself!

"Pick the right side," a seductive whisper coiled around his soul. "Don’t you want to be whole again? To claim treasures that would shake the cosmos?"

Visions of supreme enlightenment flickered before him.

But just as the tide of desire threatened to erode his Dao heart, another memory violently tore into his mind.

Not the grandeur of the Purple Star Immortal Court, nor the reverence of billions—but scenes from his early days as a Fortune Department intern, surveying the mortal world.

A withered farmer weeping over parched crops. A mother pressing the last scrap of bread into her child’s mouth amid floodwaters, her eyes brimming with hopeless tenderness...

Finally, the oath emblazoned on the Fortune Department’s vaulted ceiling, sworn by every immortal official upon entry:

【Wealth flows through all realms, blessings shower the masses. Greed arises, the Dao crumbles.】

Those sixteen characters exploded like thunder, scattering the fog of avarice in his mind.

Without hesitation, he turned back to the left scale’s war-torn continent.

This time, he noticed more—a little girl with twin braids, her face streaked with tears, clutching her mother’s mangled corpse. As she screamed soundlessly, a pack of Outer Realm Demons loomed, one baring fangs as it lunged.

【Ten seconds remain. Choose.】

The grand voice issued its final warning.

Fang Fan laughed wildly. "Hahaha! Try all you want—you won’t shake me. If saving lives costs me another arm, so be it!"

Before the echo faded, he transformed into a streak of light, plunging into the left continent.

BOOM—!

The entire landmass trembled.

To the supreme beings, Fang Fan was insignificant. But to creatures below the Unity Realm? He was a god.

Where the demons had slaughtered humans, Fang Fan now slaughtered demons.

The sky split under his sword’s radiance, purging the horde in a single stroke.

As the demon’s jaws snapped toward the braided girl, Fang Fan descended. A finger flickered like a blade—and the monsters disintegrated into dust.

Amid the burning ruins, firelight carved shadows across his sharp features.

The girl stared, dazed, before rasping, "Thank you, big brother..."

Fang Fan sighed, wiping her tears with a thumb. After scanning the world’s language through divine sense, he translated a celestial-grade cultivation manual, pressing it and a storage ring into her tiny hands.

The instant he finished, cosmic rules yanked him back to the Scales of Heart’s Abyss.

The girl remained frozen, still clutching his gifts, as his figure vanished.

Back in the gray void, the judgment came:

【Pitiful. Once again, you threw away greatness for worthless mortals. My verdict? Stupidity incarnate.】

【A true cultivator severs karma, chasing the Dao alone. You are unfit.】

【Deduct thirty points. Sever the right arm.】

Agony exploded as his remaining arm and a portion of his soul were sheared away. His cultivation—ruined.

Yet his expression never changed. Step by step, he advanced.

"Fifty points left. I can save one more. Just one more."

......

PS: This chapter was pre-written. The author suddenly fell ill and is currently hospitalized. Might need a few days of recovery.