Chapter 641: Ninety-Nine Kinds of Lives

Seven consecutive challenges left Ye Feng in a somewhat awkward situation, but fortunately, though his opponents grew stronger, Ye Feng himself also improved through these battles and managed to win all of them.

The projection of the Heavenly Dao appeared once again. “Not bad. Now, I’ll impart to you all the secret patterns from the 10,001st to the 30,000th!”

As the Heavenly Dao spoke, without any visible action, a palm-sized black stone tablet appeared in Ye Feng’s hands. “All the secret patterns are hidden within this stone tablet.”

Ye Feng looked at the tablet in his hands, feeling a brief surge of excitement. But soon he realized he hadn’t received any rewards other than the secret patterns, and doubt arose again. “Where are the promised rewards?”

“Haha, I knew you’d react like this,” the Heavenly Dao said, instantly perceiving Ye Feng’s thoughts and smiling while stroking his beard. “I said the rewards will definitely not be lacking. But first, try to pass the final test to obtain the greatest reward. If you fail, I’ll give you what you deserve.”

“Can I skip the final test?” Ye Feng couldn’t help asking. “I don’t even know what the reward is.”

“I can’t tell you what the reward is in advance. But I can tell you that if you skip this test and someday meet someone who already has it, you’ll regret it for life.” The Heavenly Dao still wouldn’t reveal the reward, but his words piqued Ye Feng’s curiosity despite his initial lack of interest.

“Besides, even if you take the test, you might not pass and get the reward.” These words fully ignited Ye Feng’s fighting spirit.

“Alright, I accept,” Ye Feng nodded. “What do I need to do?”

“You don’t need to do anything. Just wait for the test to come and endure it. If you make it to the end, you’ve passed the test.” As the Heavenly Dao spoke, everything around Ye Feng changed again.

He found himself lying on the bed in his university dormitory, with one corner of the blanket pulled back—clearly from moving around in his sleep. Looking out the window, the sky was just beginning to brighten, and the guys in the dormitory seemed incredibly real.

“What exactly happened?” Ye Feng suddenly realized his powers had vanished, leaving him as an ordinary person. “Which side is real? Which side is fake?”

He even began to doubt that everything he had experienced before was just a dream.
“Lao Qi, why aren’t you sleeping properly? Why are you tossing and turning in bed? Do you think it’s a grilled squid?” The dorm leader, still half-asleep in the bed below, mumbled indistinctly as if talking in his sleep.
“Is this real?” Even after all these years, Ye Feng still remembered clearly the features of each person in his dorm—something no one else could imitate or fake.
As dawn approached and the alarms started ringing one after another, everything was exactly as he remembered from his dorm: his bed sheets, pillowcase, pillow…
Several days passed in this way, and Ye Feng finally began to reintegrate into this world. Since he couldn’t find any inconsistencies, he suspected that everything he had experienced before was just a dream. He even tried to practice the martial arts techniques he remembered, but it felt like a huge dream—all his memories were blurred.
Without the extraordinary days he remembered, Ye Feng became just another ordinary person. After graduating from college, he changed jobs several times and finally started his own business after five years. With his savings and money borrowed from friends, he opened a small company. Later, he got married and had a son and a daughter; their family lived happily together. At the age of fifty, he decided to retire, handing over his moderately successful company to his son to manage. His daughter got married at fifty-two, and later, his son got married and had children…
At seventy-five, both his grandsons and granddaughters were in college. At seventy-eight, his partner of fifty years passed away, and soon after, Ye Feng fell seriously ill and was bedridden. His son and daughter took turns taking care of him. After over a year, he finally realized his end was near. He called his children to his side, and they cried bitterly.
His voice was old and weak. “When I was young, I had a dream. In the dream, I met many friends and left Earth with them. We wandered outside Earth. It was tiring, and sometimes I missed home, but those days were truly happy. When I woke up, life continued as usual. The path of life may differ and is far less exciting than in the dream. But this life has been enough for me. No matter what kind of life it is, we must remember the most important thing: making those around us happy will make us happier too…”

At the moment his heart stopped beating, Ye Feng felt as if his soul were floating away. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself still lying on the bed in his college dormitory. “Haven’t I already… Could it just be a dream?”
The same beginning, different life turning points, led to entirely different lives.
Ye Feng experienced nine different lives in total—some as an athlete, some as an actor, some as an entrepreneur, some as a politician, some as a teacher…
In the void, Ye Feng opened his eyes, tears streaming down his face. All ninety-nine different life paths were things he had experienced firsthand.
A strange voice came from the void, “Is it worth crying over illusory dreams?”
“The scenes may be imaginary, but the feelings they bring to me are real…” Ye Feng replied calmly. “So, truth or falsehood doesn’t matter. That’s why I insisted on experiencing all these lives.”
“After experiencing ninety-nine different lives, don’t you feel lost?” the voice asked again.
“Hah, on the contrary, these ninety-nine lives have only strengthened my resolve to move forward,” Ye Feng said with a smile. “Though they differ greatly, they’ve helped me clarify my direction and show me what I truly want.”
“That’s exactly the answer I wanted. So, I intend to give you a chance to choose your master.” The voice left Ye Feng puzzled.
“What nonsense? Choosing a master? Who are you exactly?” Ye Feng asked three questions in a row, unsure from the start who was speaking to him.