Chapter 94: The Price of Eternity

Cai wished to make a transaction.

The price she offered was her own life, hoping that in exchange, Wang would live a long and prosperous life.

Indeed, the girl could accomplish this, yet whether she would do so was another matter entirely.

As the small hand lifted, Cai’s gaze followed, her pupils suddenly constricting.

Cai witnessed a cruel scene: the scales of the balance had tilted dramatically.

The white orb completely outweighed the black, signifying that the ‘value of the wish’ far surpassed the ‘price paid’.

The girl explained it to Cai in simple terms:

“As long as the maiden lives, she can alter the destinies of tens of millions across the continent. You, Nun, are at most one of those whose lives she will change.”

The transaction, barely begun, was terminated.

Cai’s knees pressed into the ground, her hands clenched so tightly that her nails pierced her skin, yet she continued to exert force.

She was unwilling to accept it, but utterly powerless to change her fate.

Aside from the power excluded from the transaction, all she had left was her life.

Yet, even if she gave her all, she could not buy back the life of the one she cherished.

Wang watched this unfold, saying little. Instead, she posed a second wish to the girl:

“The wish for longevity… can you grant it?”

“Yes! The maiden wishes for the nun to have eternal life, but what kind of longevity do you truly seek?”

“I don’t even know myself. As the ‘seller’, perhaps you could explain?”

The girl, unfazed by the playful tone, patiently began her explanation:

“What most people understand as ‘longevity’ merely means ‘living a little longer’. Five hundred years, a thousand years—these are but ‘pseudo-longevity’.”

“And the other kind?”

“To possess eternal life, where one’s appearance and body never age.”

Evidently, the second type of ‘longevity’ was what Wang sought.

It was a testament to the insatiable nature of human desire.

Initially, Wang had only prayed for Cai to live safely. Later, she hoped for Cai to live a long life.

Now, in this very moment, Wang yearned to grant Cai infinite life.

To achieve this ‘greed’, she was prepared to offer everything she possessed. The girl could ask for any price, as long as Wang had it, as long as she could give it!

“It is with great regret that I must inform you, Maiden, that you cannot afford the price for this kind of longevity.”

After careful consideration, the girl found that Wang had nothing to offer her, thus rendering this transaction impossible.

“I truly cannot afford it?”

Wang grew anxious. Then, she heard the girl calmly state:

“Don’t be so hasty. What you cannot give, the Nun can certainly pay!”

Originally, Cai had nothing.

It was only recently that the girl recognized her unique ‘value’, finally improving her tragic reality.

Next came the time for a private conversation.

The girl beckoned Cai to a corner, speaking in a low voice:

“The key to eternal life lies within you, Nun. Would you consider hearing my proposal?”

Cai offered no reply.

To Cai, a world without that person, even if she could live forever, held no meaning.

Engaged in transactions, she understood human hearts.

Because she understood human hearts, she knew the greatest need of the person before her.

With just a glance, the girl grasped Cai’s deepest desire, which led to their subsequent exchange:

“You cannot bear to part with the maiden, can you, Nun? That is precisely what I mean. Only by living a long, long time can you reunite with her in the future.”

“Please, explain it more clearly!”

“Simply put, after the body declares death, everyone must enter reincarnation. Do you know the greatest principle concerning ‘reincarnation’, Nun?”

“I’ve heard of it. It seems to be that ‘one cannot inherit memories of a past life after reincarnation’.”

*Clap!*

The girl clapped her hands, congratulating Cai with an impassive expression, then continued:

“Have you ever considered, Nun: decades after the maiden’s death, you, too, a white-haired elder, will depart this world.

From then on, no one in the world will understand your past together, and your precious memories will likewise not be passed down.”

Overall, the girl named ‘Lost and Gained Scale’ held a rather positive outlook.

Instead of transactions that led to despair, the girl preferred to guide others, striving to ensure that those who traded with her could face the rest of their lives optimistically.

This was quite normal.

After all, the girl was not a reaper of souls, nor did she possess the malicious pleasure of instigating others to give up on life.

It was this benevolent inclination that led the girl to advise Cai to plan for a distant future.

The ‘tailored’ persuasion proved highly effective. Cai involuntarily found herself picturing future reunions with Wang.

Even if, by then, the other person remembered nothing of her, it would not matter in the slightest.

Many times, it was like this: of two people’s memories, one often ended up cherishing them all.

From the moment she was persuaded, Cai resolved to use her endless remaining life to become the one who ‘remembered everything’!

“What price must I pay?”

Suddenly, the girl felt the satisfaction of ‘saving a life’. Amidst a humming tune, she presented a magically potent contract.

“Sign this. Only if you, Nun, demonstrate a certain spirit for the transaction can I confidently proceed to the next step with you.”

No explanation was needed; the girl’s meaning was clear:

Should Cai violate the contract, a backlash would immediately activate, and the longevity granted to her would be reclaimed.

Crucially, the contract’s ‘price’ section clearly stipulated:

“From this year onwards, for the next seven hundred years, Cai is forbidden from meeting Wang after her reincarnation!”

Seven hundred years was a lifespan most races dared not even imagine.

But for Cai, who was about to gain eternal life, it was merely a stage in her existence—a stage that would undoubtedly be incredibly difficult.

During this long period of restriction, no matter who Wang became after reincarnation, no matter which girl she fell in love with, it would have nothing to do with Cai.

Yet, even so, what was there to mind?

As long as the person she had unknowingly fallen for could find happiness in every one of her numerous future lives, wasn’t that enough?

The scene before her eyes seemed hazy, so Cai closed them, fiddling with the small ornament around her neck.

The original iris pendant had long since shattered; the old shackles were no more.

She vaguely felt that perhaps her own awkward personality made her unaccustomed to freedom, leading her to personally restrict the rest of her life.

The object transformed from a cruciform sword now rested on her slender neck. In the years to come, this small ornament would be her longest companion.

The moment her eyes reopened, Cai picked up the quill engraved with magical runes and wrote down a single name.

The time taken from the first stroke to the completion was less than seven seconds.

Yet, the ‘weight’ of each second would be felt by her for centuries—a perhaps bittersweet taste.

With her resolve firm, Cai sincerely made a wish:

“I don’t ask that every one of your happinesses be connected to me, but if it were possible…”

The shattered ‘glazed glass’ fell to the ground. She couldn’t let that person see her in such a shameful state.

To conceal it, she quietly made a wiping motion, much like the silent wish in her heart:

‘Among your countless moments of happiness, please at least allow me to appear by your side, just once!’

To beg for the fleeting with the eternal, a tiny persistence too insignificant to be recorded by the mortal world, yet forever cherished by the one who held it.

The girl watched the foolish expression unique to such individuals, seeing the black and white orbs roughly balanced. She knew it was time for the next step.

To be frank, the price of not being allowed to meet for centuries offered no benefit to the girl herself.

Yet the price still had to exist; one party in the relationship still had to swallow the ‘bitter fruit’ that came with beauty.

Without pain, joy was bland.

Without struggle, happiness was merely taken for granted.

The girl always held this truth as her creed in life.

To seek eternal life, one must halt the natural process of the human body’s continuous aging.

Before Cai, the girl used this analogy:

A person’s life, as their body functions, is like a constantly rotating gear.

As the rotation continuously progresses, aging becomes an unavoidable process.

Assuming the truth of this analogy, a bold hypothesis could be made:

If, through external interference, the ‘gear’s rotation’ could be artificially stopped, a person’s body would cease to age.

No aging, and no experience of death—this was the true meaning of ‘longevity’!

To achieve this, the Scales needed external assistance, specifically, the aid of an element.

Water, fire, ice, wind, thunder, metal, earth, wood, plus light and dark—these were the 11 elements commonly known to people.

However, what most people knew was not necessarily the whole truth.

To the well-informed girl, at least one more element needed to be added, its name being:

Aether!

The secret to Cai’s eternal life was the mysterious Aether.

This element had been proposed many years ago by a highly respected archmage.

But because it had never been verified, all theories regarding Aether were widely regarded as pseudoscience in contemporary times.

Not being widely known had its advantages.

Otherwise, if this rare element were to become widely used one day, a third of the girl’s transactions would fall through.

This also indirectly proved that Aether possessed the power to realize certain miracles.

Without looking far, just one property of Aether was ‘perpetual motion’.

Water could dry up, earth could dissipate, but the Aether element remained eternally indestructible.

By fusing this continuously operating element with the human body, the goal of ‘longevity’ could be achieved.

In the past, the Lost and Gained Scale had used this very method to transcend the passage of time and live until today.

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