I Contracted All Ancient Divine Artifacts-Chapter 400 - 299: His Choice

"You’re not wrong."

"As long as the forty-five sections of the painting are filled, the final section no longer requires a life to sacrifice; it will be completed automatically."

"Moreover, as compensation, the Desire Oil Painting will either grant the wish or remove it from your body."

"This is the complete process for using the Desire Oil Painting."

Ye Qiu’s theory was completed by Meng Xiaobei as he spoke voluntarily.

The rules of the Desire Oil Painting are more like a special form of sacrifice.

The desires and lives of forty-five others pay the price to fulfill the final wish of the forty-sixth person.

Ye Qiu had never heard of such an eerie artifact.

Just as he set down his teacup.

The white chrysanthemum on the table began to shed its petals.

Ye Qiu’s inner fear was completely detonated at that moment.

"Brother Ye Qiu, I don’t want to be a Qiulin Guard anymore; I want to live, I want to go home!"

"Ye Qiu, why must we perish with the Twelve Apostles of the Old Covenant, why!"

"We’re all dead; why are you still alive, why are you still alive!"

Voices echoed in Ye Qiu’s ears.

They were all once his Combat Spirit Contract Masters, gone through countless battles together.

They all died before the arrival of that winter.

Perished in the confrontation with the Apostles.

"We could have retreated."

"The Apostles said that if we stopped aiding the Great Xia, we could live!"

"It was eight Apostles from the Old Covenant, why did we have to fight, why?"

"The fate of the Great Xia was sealed, Li Shutong fell in battle, our persistence was meaningless, Ye Qiu, you were foolish! It was you who got us killed!"

Figures appeared before him, preserving the horrific moment of their death.

A commander must not act emotionally.

But if not for the emotional attachment, such a powerful Qiulin Guard could never have existed!

Ye Qiu’s fear stemmed from death.

But it was never his death, only the deaths of the brothers who fought and lived alongside him.

He would rather be an ordinary person than go through something like that again.

Because as long as there is war, it is inevitable.

All the thoughts exploded in his mind, the suppressed guilt, regret, confusion all transformed into the primal fear under the explosion of the Desire Oil Painting.

"If you were given another choice, what would you choose?"

When the noise in his mind finally subsided, only one voice remained.

It was his own voice.

"What would you choose?"

"How to choose?"

"Choose..."

The question kept repeating, as if it would go on indefinitely unless Ye Qiu made a choice.

The white chrysanthemum on the table had shed all its petals, leaving only the bare bud.

The scattered white petals on the table resembled small white coffins.

Ye Qiu’s eyebrows knitted tightly.

He was struggling against his inner fears and desires.

"Is it so hard to choose?"

Meng Xiaobei looked at Ye Qiu sitting across from him, then glanced at the painting.

"Let me help you then."

As soon as Meng Xiaobei finished speaking, a dagger appeared in his hand.

The cold gleam reflected in his icy eyes,

the next second, the dagger plunged into his chest.

"This is my choice!"

...

"What’s your name?"

"Meng Xiaobei."

"A bit ordinary, that name isn’t destined to be the main character."

"Then I’ll just be a minor character."

"You have a good attitude."

The examiner looked at the young man stepping onto the Awakening Platform and shook his head regretfully.

"Meng Xiaobei, D Level Talent. Does not meet the selection criteria for Combat Spirit Contract Master."

"Eliminated!"

The scene shifts.

Meng Xiaobei is on the street loading and unloading goods, wearing a discolored white vest, a black-stained towel draped over his shoulder.

"Hey, hey!"

"Snap out of it, stop looking. No matter how long you look, you can’t become a Combat Spirit Contract Master, loser!"

His face was playfully slapped by the owner of the cargo, but Meng Xiaobei didn’t mind.

His gaze remained on the giant electronic screen on the street corner.

On the screen, Ye Qiu led the Third War Zone, smashing the retreating Alien Race.

Meng Xiaobei looked on with longing.

A coworker handed him an opened bottle of cold water.

"Xiaobei, what’s your dream?"

"To be a hero."

Meng Xiaobei took a big gulp of cold water, soothing his lungs that felt like they were overheating from overwork.

"Pft! Xiaobei, be realistic. You’re just a minor character. Maybe think about finding a place for our little brothers afterwards?"

"I want to be a hero."

It was as if Meng Xiaobei didn’t hear his coworker. He raised his hand, pointing at Ye Qiu on the screen, and repeated.

His coworker, frustrated, snatched the cold water from his hand.

"Go be a damn hero then!"

"Heroes all die!"

The scene shifts again.

A figure wearing a black hood appeared in Sanatorium No. 3.

"Tsk tsk tsk."

"I never expected the famous Desire Oil Painting to be here."

The worker, Meng Xiaobei, who was dusting the painting, was startled by the sudden appearance of the figure.

"No need to be nervous, I’m just an ordinary merchant."

"Let’s make a deal."

The black hood gestured to the blank painting hanging on the wall.

"The ’colors’ on this Desire Oil Painting have all been absorbed into the bodies of those living in the sanatorium."

"Everyone infected by the painting’s colors will ultimately die as their desires amplify to the extreme; it’s inevitable."

"But I can tell you a way to survive, not just survive, but achieve your dream desire."

"In exchange, help me complete this Desire Oil Painting, and I’ll provide you with some assistance."

"What do you think?"

The black hood and Meng Xiaobei stood on opposite sides of the sanatorium.

The Desire Oil Painting between them, expanding infinitely.

"I agree."

...

"Why."

Breaking free from fear, Ye Qiu looked ahead with a complex expression.

A dagger was lodged in Meng Xiaobei’s heart, blood flowing down the blade.

"Brother Ye Qiu."

Meng Xiaobei grinned.

One could tell he wanted to smile, but the pain in his heart distorted it.

"There’s one thing you got wrong."

"My desire isn’t power, nor ambition."

The Desire Oil Painting can fulfill anyone’s desire, but in the end, only one person tainted by it can survive.

Then why must the one who survives be me?

Brother Ye Qiu.

Rid yourself of fear and start anew.

You belong on the battlefield, not here as an unremarkable ordinary person.

"I’m just a minor character."

"My dream was to be a hero who saves the world."

"And it’s been fulfilled."