CHAPTER 298: LIVE FOR THEMSELVES

One of the young men’s crystals lit up, showing he’d been the fastest to activate it. Darian looked at him and motioned for him to hurry up and ask.

The whole arena went dead silent.

The man stared at him and sneered: "Why do the laws of the world interfere in people’s lives?"

Everyone in the arena turned serious. That was definitely a harsh question. They were starting off with something extremely difficult, making it clear they weren’t giving Darian any chance.

All eyes were on him... but he only gave a mocking smile. Without hesitation, he answered, casually:

"Because that’s the Law of Karma. Everyone is born from the world’s laws, and every living being has to bloom and grow on their own. But they should never be ungrateful—they have to give back at least the bare minimum. That bare minimum is like planting seeds so other people can bloom too. That’s what karma is: everyone’s actions. If you plant good seeds, the world will reward you... if not, well, you’ll get what’s coming to you one way or another."

As soon as he finished, the supreme artifact in the sky pulsed. The only rune point that man had trembled, floated, and went straight to Darian.

The guy’s eyes went wide. The entire arena was stunned... but nobody spoke right away—they were still processing those words.

"Wooow!!"

Soon, excited shouts echoed everywhere. Even Tayluar took a deep breath, a mix of surprise and astonishment on his face.

"What’s the meaning of life?"

The second person went straight for an even tougher question.

That was the oldest, most fundamental question. Since ancient times, nobody had been able—or willing—to answer it seriously.

Every gaze turned to Darian. Not a single young person in the stands was breathing normally—they were holding their breath.

Facing that question, Darian replied calmly: "Just making choices."

The supreme artifact pulsed again, sending him another rune.

Seeing such a casual answer be accepted so easily left everyone in shock.

After a brief silence, the crowd’s cheers grew louder... especially from the women, which made Niara narrow her eyes coldly. Darian really did look impressive.

"And what’s the right choice?" the third challenger asked directly.

Darian shrugged: "Easy. Just look in the mirror. If you see some arrogant bastard like you, the right choice is to kill y— I mean, rethink your life choices and do the world a favor."

"You—"

Suddenly, that competitor’s rune vanished and floated over to Darian.

The guy froze. How the hell could that be accepted?!

But that wasn’t all—he was covered in a silver light, and in the next instant, he disappeared from the stage, reappearing outside.

"He’s been disqualified!!"

Everyone was stunned, but Tayluar explained clearly:

"This is an ancient rule that’s rarely used. But I made it clear before—questions must be relevant to the laws of the world and the foundations of all things. If not, the supreme artifact has the authority to disqualify a person."

Pointless questions were forbidden—a way to prevent cheating. Otherwise, someone could just transfer points to another person.

At first, everyone in the arena was surprised. Being disqualified was totally different from being eliminated. Disqualification meant the competitor didn’t even get to appear in the top 100 and would leave empty-handed. Now, there were only ninety-nine winners left.

At that moment, the others who had been about to ask swallowed hard, feeling real fear. When the third person to activate their crystal got permission, they just turned to someone else and ignored Darian.

The crowd laughed at that cowardice, but it was also a tactical move—to give the others more time to think of better questions. Asking something random and easy would only embarrass them, and that was way worse than getting eliminated.

Quickly, questions and answers started flying between the competitors.

But... none had the same weight as Darian’s. It was like watching kids argue about silly stuff, while his very first answer still had the elders deep in thought long after.

Irana was questioned and answered flawlessly, without breaking a sweat. As someone important and talented, she’d trained and studied her whole life.

After more than half of the participants had been asked once, a woman turned to Darian with a cold look:

"You said before that the answer is making choices. What’s the reasoning and principle behind that?"

Now the question was well-formulated and connected to the foundation of all things. So Darian had to answer properly—no mocking this time.

"Hmm... maybe the meaning of life is whatever we create for ourselves. It’s the pursuit of knowledge, connection with others, love, art, or the legacy we leave behind. Meaning isn’t something you find—it’s something you build. So basically, everyone makes their own meaning; we all make our choices, and there’s no right or wrong choice — just the consequences."

That answer moved even the elders. Nobody expected Darian to say something like that at such a young age.

He gave off an air of arrogance, but strangely, no one found it annoying. In fact, it felt like he deserved to act that way. And that kind of wisdom... definitely didn’t match his age.

Darian gained another rune point—now he had four correct answers and four points. Nobody had ever gotten that many right in a row before.

Being in first place, his runes pulsed, illuminating him in the center in a magical way. It was like he was standing above everyone else, looking down on his opponents.

This time, it wasn’t just the younger crowd— even the elders applauded. His words were eloquent and deep.

Those cheers set Niara’s blood on fire. Darian noticed and smiled, looking at the people on stage. Every one of them had an angry face.

"I figured out your shady tricks and now you can’t cheat us. Don’t like it? Come challenge me. I really enjoy seeing you so mad but unable to touch me. Unfortunately for you, sometimes I read a little... I wouldn’t call myself a scholar full of wisdom, but for clowns like you, it’s more than enough. Come on, come on..."

He finished with a wave, feeling Niara’s heart race, completely satisfied. Only afterward did he realize he’d acted on impulse—saying all that because he wanted to impress her.

In the arena, Darian’s cocky words didn’t draw boos like they normally would — instead, they sparked even more applause and excited cheers from the girls.

By aiming his taunts at the cheaters, he’d unintentionally become the voice of the victims — all the other young contenders there. They clapped for him without fear of stirring trouble.

After all, they weren’t the ones insulting the other side. As long as they cheered together, they couldn’t punish everyone. Plus, it was a good chance to vent some of their frustration.

The question rounds went on, and none of the other youths dared to challenge him — even with the crowd egging them on.

Vanh got his own question right too. Before long, half of the participants were eliminated. Out of the 50 left, the questions kept coming, and in the second round, Irana and Vanh nailed their answers again.

When it came down to the last one who hadn’t asked their second question yet, he turned to Darian with a cold, tense stare.

"Since you’re so arrogant, tell me this: what should we do to build the perfect life?"

The whole place went silent. That was another tough one.

When Darian stayed quiet, the guy smirked, pleased with himself.

"What’s wrong? Can’t answer? Where’s all that arrogance now?"

He was clearly trying to provoke him — get him angry so he’d mess up his answer.

Darian took a deep breath, thought for a moment, then said solemnly:

"Life is like a bridge. A bridge exists so you can cross it — to get to the other side without falling into the abyss. Only a fool thinks they should build a house in the middle of the bridge. You’re just meant to cross it and enjoy the walk, even if there’s a storm raging. In the end, the other side will always be calmer. In other words: life is a passage, and perfection isn’t about building something ’permanent’ in the middle of it, but simply living it."

The supreme artifact lit up again, awarding Darian more points.

Everyone was truly moved. His words carried principles that many couldn’t fully grasp without a long moment of reflection.

Even Irana’s mother stared at him in shock. It was hard to believe those words came from Darian — it sounded like something said by someone who had lived a long life and gone through countless experiences.

"I can’t believe it! He’s answered five questions correctly!"

Expressions changed all over the stands. What had seemed impossible was now right in front of them: if Darian got a sixth one right, the whole competition would end.

As for him, he just looked at the others with a calm, confident smile — but still seemed completely relaxed.

To everyone’s surprise, one youth stepped forward with his crystal glowing, facing Darian.

It was the heir of the Wube family — Vanh.

The arena fell silent. After a brief moment of thought, he asked:

"I once read that karma is like the wind; we are a raft, and life is the raging sea we sail across. This sea feels endless and impossible. How do we navigate to the other shore and escape it?"

Darian looked into his eyes and noticed something strange there. He gave a slight nod, then answered casually:

"If you try to fight the raging waves, forcing your way forward and using the winds to win... your raft will sink sooner or later. Instead, you should go with the flow of the water. When a massive wave appears in front of you, just change direction and stop being foolish. But... even if you manage to survive and keep moving without stopping... you’ll never see any shore to escape to. So, why do you think there’s an end?"

Vanh stayed silent.

Then everyone saw the artifact pulse, sending more runes to Darian.

This time, there was no applause. Instead, many people sank into deep thought over his words.

"No wonder he’s so arrogant. If I had that kind of insight and talent, I’d be arrogant too," someone muttered with a complicated look.

The people nearby just stared at him, speechless. On the stage, Niara felt energized by all the shocked expressions.

As for Darian, even though he was repeating something he’d read in a book, he’d been thinking about those words since childhood. They weren’t just empty talk — he had a real grasp of their meaning, and that had helped him get this far.

"DARIAN! DARIAN!"

Nobody knew who started it, but suddenly the crowd was chanting his name.

The supreme artifact pulsed like a blazing sun.

"He really won!" the shouts grew even louder, full of excitement.

At that moment, Darian turned and met Vanh’s confused gaze.

He looked thoughtful, and a strange light flashed in his eyes. Vanh took a deep breath and asked:

"If even by moving forward endlessly you never reach the end, then what’s the real point of it all?"

Darian snorted. That was basically the same as the earlier question about the meaning of life — just worded in a more complex and direct way.

"It’s simple: people live for themselves. Everyone has their own personal journey of learning, with no true beginning, middle, or end. As you sail across the sea of life, you find a goal and learn the path toward it, no matter how long or winding it is. When you finally reach it, you realize the journey was more satisfying than the goal itself. Then you look for a new goal, or help others on their own journeys. What’s the point of life if it’s just about reaching a spot and stopping?"

That answer was only heard by those on stage and the most powerful people in the arena. Upon hearing it, their eyes trembled. Even Tayluar looked strangely thoughtful.

Right after, a silver light swept all 98 other youths off the stage, leaving only Darian.

The light condensed into three glowing spheres in front of him.

"Is this... the legendary divine reward?!" — when they saw those three balls of light, everyone in the arena was stunned.