Sarina Sempress, the Blade Fairy, was seeing something else compared to her other remnant friends. While the others saw the despair and future loss, she saw 'hope' and a 'possibility'. There were many reasons why she kept her years without spending any. The first one was that her descendance already died out eons ago. Her remnant...She...was old. Just like this bastard Cheng, she had no one left in this world to give her heritage. As such, she began to look for something else. Someone who could move her. A being who might have the ability to reach the same height as her. She didn't care about who it was or what it was. She only cared about ability.

She was seeing it here.

She was observing closely as every fiber of the kid's being were being crushed. She watched as he continued to smile and give it his best under such a pressure. She focused on him as he faced death itself and grinned at it.

From the very beginning, she knew, just like the others, that he would lose this battle. It was impossible for someone without enough elemental abilities countering corruption to win against it. Erasing the corrupted being's existence was even more unlikely...though there seemed to be a champion capable to do it. But what if he lost? She would only lose some 'years'. It didn't matter.

However, what if he won? What if he managed to turn the tables and emerge victorious? Wouldn't that be a miracle?

That was what she wanted to bet on. Only a youth capable of bringing out miracles while still young could ever hope to reach their realm. In fact, out of all those they taught here, none ever made it to get their own statues and join them. It didn't mean that their teachings were useless. The people they taught passed on their teachings to the next generations and so on. There were a few who were here now as remnants that benefited from such indirect teachings.

But none ever made it themselves.

Throughout the years, she wondered why. She had time so she pondered over this question for centuries. She observed all the youths going through this sanctuary and they all had something in common. They were preciously nurtured. This was a downside. This made it impossible for them to grow or even want to grow. They all lacked one thing: drive.

Whether the motive to grow was hope or despair, a cultivator needed a reason. In her days, she worked hard because she had a reason to. She wanted to stop Cheng, to murder the hell out of him. So, she trained. And she grew to where she was. Unfortunately, Cheng grew along and both of them ended up reaching the apex. Still, she managed to end many lives from those of the evil factions. But what mattered was that she had a reason to do so. The kids that came here to receive inheritances... They had no drive. They weren't driven by their own goals but pushed forward by others. To her, they all looked useless. Which is why she was ready to gamble.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

To bet on a miracle.

On a possibility.

As small as it seemed.

As she looked at this kid, she saw what she had been looking for. Someone with the drive to grow. It was a shame that there was close to no chances of him emerging victorious...she would cheer him on regardless. Because she wasn't just cheering for him as a being but the possibility that he represented to her.

Obviously, miracles aren't easy to achieve.

As the bones from the kid's knees broke and his thighs exploded in some areas, letting his red blood flow uncontrolled, Cheng began to speak with a grin:

"From time to time, there are such existences.

They are the ones capable of feats beyond others.

Even in the most desperate of times, they don't give up.

And in those times, they are rewarded. They are enlightened.

Through this enlightenment, they manage to reverse their situations.

For eons, we have called such happenings 'miracles'... However, I, Cheng, don't believe those words.

There are no miracles. Only fate. And clearly, this man's fate is to die here"

As he finished his tirade, Jin made his final struggle with a last spin before his arms both broke and the tsunami of corruption fell upon him hard. He was blasted onto the ground as the corruption began to assimilate him inside itself.

Cheng spoke to Sarina: "Blade Slut, time to pay up"

She glared at him as she retorted: "The barrier is still active, you boar"

One of the remnants, who was from the boar sentient beasts, cursed at her from afar making the nearby remnants laughed along. Both Cheng and Sarina ignored everyone else as they glared at each other. If they hadn't been remnants, they would have probably long fought to the death. Even after becoming Saints, they constantly tried to kill the other...

But that wasn't the main point here. So, both of them returned to focus on the arena. By now, all the other battles had ended. The trial wouldn't proceed until this one finished though. So, every remnant was now over there focusing on this very battle.

...

Jin felt his limbs break and all power leave him. He couldn't supply anymore energy though there wasn't much left in the first place. Then, he felt the weight of the corruption crush him under itself. Finally, he felt as if he was being devoured and drowned at the same time. The pain was beyond anything that could be described. Focus and calmness had their limits. He was now feeling everything. Pain flowed throughout his body for a few seconds before he completely passed out.

As he felt his end, he didn't fear. Instead, memories of his life flew by his eyes. His second family that he never really managed to consider his own and gave up on, his time at the Sun Sect with Sang-Min and Han-bi...and Soo-Hyun. He remembered the war and his fateful encounter with Hae-Hyuk and Min-Su. He recalled how they met Sophia and later on, Min-Su's family and clan. Images of the numerous battles he fought and the gruesome training he undertook flashed past.

He smiled as he closed his eyes.