Chapter 34.5: (re-edited)
Wang Wei’s dilemma on the 5000th attempt lasted a while. He kept asking himself whether he had truly reached his limits and should have stopped.
After agonizing with this question, for a while, he decided to stop. After all, he had truly tempered himself and he also had the best record of all the disciples of the sect. He had nothing more to prove to anyone else.
Just when Wang Wei was about to turn his thought into action, his mysterious intuition kicked in and warned that if he quit now, he might regret it later down the line during his later years of life.
Wang Wei had always trusted his intuition as it had helped and saved him countless times, even when he first reincarnated.
After making his choice, Wang Wei once again entered the Pagoda for his 5000th attempts. This time, he chose a different way that he had never tried before: beg for mercy.
Although this kind of thing does not fit his character and his pride, but for his family, for his further tempering, humbling himself is not unacceptable. In the previous trial, he had learned when to bow to circumstances.
Additionally, begging is not inconsistent with Wang Wei’s Way of free and unfettered. As a person who pursues absolute freedom, he can do whatever he desires.
If he wants to be a supreme being that all beings bow down to, he will. If one day he decides that the whole world is filthy and very disgusting to look at, he will cleanse it according to his standard, or he will gouge out his eyes and turn blind to it.
If one day he suddenly wants to be a beggar or slave, he will be the humblest beggar and the lowliest slave. All things are according to his wish.
After entering the Pagoda for his new attempt, he went and lived in the deserted mountain where he always had his destined confrontation with the Wrath of Heaven. There, he built a simple wooden cottage, then had a cultivator create an artificial river and a forest full of all kinds of animals and plants.
Wang Wei lived a simple life everyday. He woke up early everyday, ate breakfast from hunting animals and plants in the forest and drank water from the river. Afterward, he would enter an empty room in the cottage, kneel down and kowtow to the Wrath of Heaven asking for his forgiveness.
This act of kneeling and begging would go on for 18 hours a day. Then, Wang Wei would go to bed, and repeat the same routine the next day.
This process lasted for decades. Everyday, he would kneel and beg for mercy for 18 hours, without missing a single day. Whether it was snowing or raining, he would still keep on going. Even if he was riddled with diseases and feebleness, he would continue on this practice, for 18 hours, no more or less.
As time passed and Wang Wei continued his ascetic-like life, his body became thin due to malnourishment. Although he ate everyday, he had only had enough food to barely sustain him for the next day.
Additionally, there were countless calluses on his knees due to the constant kneeling. In fact, his bones have in fact become somewhat deformed over the years. However, despite all these hardships, Wang Wei never stopped, not even for a single day.
For Wang Wei, this excruciating process was not just a way to pass the trial, but a journey; a journey of penance and self-discovery. Wang Wei believed that only in the most painful times of someone’s life that they can see themselves and discover what kind of person they are.
Time soon passed and the day of the fateful encounter soon arrived. The Mighty hand of Heaven descended toward Wang Wei as scheduled and proceeded to completely annihilate him.
However, something different happened this time. One of which is the fact that the Gigantic Hand did not kill Wang Wei’s parents this time, only him.
The second thing was the fact that the Wrath of Heaven actually communicated with him this time.
Before destroying Wang Wei, a powerful and mighty voice echoes throughout the world directed toward him and shouted:
"Ant, are you worthy?"
Then Wang Wei was killed and exited the Pagoda.
After his exit, Wang Wei did not become angry that all his decades of action were actually in vain. This was a choice that he personally made, and he had to live with the consequences. No one owed him anything--especially the Wrath of Heaven. Just because he put in all the work does not necessarily mean he will be rewarded. Life is unfair, and fate is the greatest impediment of life.
Furthermore, he benefited a great deal throughout this trial. During his decades-long ascetic life, his state of mind had greatly sublimated. He had learned a great deal of things about himself. Although some of the things he realized about his nature were quite unpleasant, he had to live with the fact or try to change.
Instead of agonizing over his failed plan, Wang Wei was thinking about the word of the Wrath of Heaven: "Is he worthy?". He has been fighting with it for countless times, but never once has he proven that he was a worthy opponent of it. At best, Wang Wei could be seen as a great nuisance.
A worthy opponent? Never.
After thinking about this, Wang Wei’s eyes immediately light up. Now, he had finally found a real goal to accomplish in this trial. Even if he could not win the Wrath of Heaven, he will become a somewhat worthy opponent.
After making up his mind, Wang Wei took a few days off to contemplate his next set of action. After pondering for a while, he soon discovered that he had used all the methods he could think of. The other methods he had left were simply slight deviations of the same idea; whether to use the luck of all beings as emperor or becoming the God of beings with faith, they are essentially the same method with different forms of execution.
Although Wang Wei came to this sudden realization, he did not stop fighting. As long as he continued to fight, he would find a way forward. As long as the methods he uses from now are even a little better than previous ones, he will continue to fight.
On his 6546th, Wang Wei tried to hide from the Wrath of Heaven. He cut off all his karma, erased memories of himself from all the people that knew him or have ever seen him--including his parents. He removed all traces from his existence in the world. He even erased his presence or record of birth from the Wheel of Reincarnation. He even erased himself from the River of Time. Technically, Wang Wei was never even born in this world.
The last trace of his existence, that is his fate, was transferred to someone else. Wang Wei became a nonexistent ghost of Heaven and Earth; it was as if he never appeared in this world. After doing all of this, he entered the endless void and left the whole world.
On the fateful day, the Wrath of Heaven descended on the world. However, he could not find his little prey. In a burst of anger, it completely destroyed the whole world. After not finding his target, the gigantic hand became furious and destroyed the entire Universe that Wang Wei was in.
It was at this moment that Wang Wei truly realized the vast and mighty power of the Wrath of Heaven. All of his previous fights were probably child play. However, despite all of this, Wang Wei was not discouraged. The fight must continue on.
On the 7923th attempt, Wang Wei tried a different approach. He conquered the whole world as an emperor. Then, he enforced laws that encouraged the people to give birth to people at all cost. He provided all kinds of rewards for families to give birth to more children. The more people a family has, the greater the status and wealth they have.
In his madness, women throughout the world literally became birth machines, and men became stallions whose sole purpose was to impregnate women. In just a couple decades, the world’s population increased from a few billions to a few trillions.
Then he encircles the whole world with a powerful formation that takes the soul power of all living beings and blesses it to his soul. During this fight with the Wrath of Heaven, Wang Wei did not fight him head on, but on the soul level.
Unfortunately, he still failed and died miserably with the world. How could a being of such proportional strength have a weak soul: a soul is probably a low level thing for the Wrath of Heaven. Wang Wei’s actions were doomed to fail from the beginning.
On his 9789th attempt, Wang Wei tried to parasitize the Wrath of Heaven. He believed that if he could acquire a few percent of the hand’s power, then he could have a prolonged fight with it and eventually be the last winner.
This attempt was somewhat successful. Wang Wei created a cultivation technique that could parasitize a host, then take over their power. With this powerful Dao Art, Wang Wei did acquire some of the powers of the Wrath of Heaven.
However, before he could control said power, the gigantic hand triggered the imprint he had on its power and Wang Wei was backlashed and died.
...
Today is a great and memorable day in the Dao Opening Sect. The Young Sect Master is going to try his last attempt in the Pagoda, the 10,000th attempt. Many disciples and Elders of the sect gather together to witness this momentous event.
Discussions of this event are ubiquitous; from the lowest of servants to the highest echelons of the sects, all are discussing this event.
Wang Wei--who is now eleven years old--stands in front of the Pagoda with a calm look. In the past two years, he had changed a lot. He has become a lot taller, more handsome, and more mature. The biggest changes are his eyes and temperament.
The edge had had on him before was gone, replaced by a soothing and ethereal calmness. His will and determination that were easily noticeable from his eyes are now gone, replaced by a profound vastness that could engulf anything and everything.
After a brief pause of silence, under the eyes of countless disciples and Elders, Wang Wei enters the Pagoda for his last and final attempt.