After being affected by the heat of the sword, Jack became a bit more clear-headed. His eyes were now filled with determination – although wasn't sure how long this determination would last.
He shifted from a sitting position to kneeling and bowed his head three times to the ground.
"Father! Mother! I will definitely make you both the saint father and saint mother of humanity."
Then he stood up and wiped his tears. Using his thoughts, he summoned the Immortal Fire Sword.
Immediately, a fiery red sword with a few sparks surrounding it, intricately engraved, vastly different from the unsightly tattoo he had before, appeared in his hand.
"Is this the Immortal Fire Sword? It seems like just holding it, I already know how to use it."
He swung his hand, and a sword aura accompanied by flames shot straight into a tree trunk. A cut about 5 cm deep appeared, with the fire burning for a few seconds before extinguishing, leaving the tree trunk charred where the sword struck.
Jack felt a bit tired after the swing, but he didn't pay much attention to it and ran to the tree trunk to inspect.
Touching the cut, he felt the tree was still very hot, but his body was now much stronger, so he didn't get burned easily.
"This... this power is unexpectedly great. With this in hand, why wouldn't my future be bright? Father! Mother! Rest assured. I will definitely succeed!"
Then he retracted the Immortal Fire Sword and prepared to embark on his mission. The journey of the future emperor officially began!... Well, only if he actually completed all the missions.
.....
At this moment, Alex was finding his way to his future wife.
"Is this the right way? According to my memory, it should be correct."
He continued walking for a while when he saw a tree on the roadside bearing a strange fruit.
A normal person might just be curious or take a photo, but Alex's face turned extremely serious.
"How can this be? The energy fruit shouldn't form for at least another three months. Could it be that God already knows and decided to change the plan?"
However, thinking too much was useless. This was actually a stroke of luck for him.
Eating one of these fruits was equivalent to three months of training, which meant it provided just enough energy for him to break through and reach the first stage of awakening level.
He immediately climbed the tree, and although his body was somewhat weak, his movements were very adept. After all, a lifetime of fighting as a saint wasn't just talk.
Not long after, he held the energy fruit in his hand and promptly ate it. Was he not afraid of stomach aches or that the peel might be inedible?
Of course not. This thing was formed from pure energy, so every part of it was edible. Discarding any part would mean losing some energy.
Moreover, in the original future trajectory, it took him a long time to fully awaken his saint stage.
Initially, he was very weak. During the war period, he often had to scavenge through garbage and eat any animals he could catch to stay alive.
Why did he have to suffer so much? Naturally, it was for humanity.
Food wasn't so scarce that nothing was edible, but the prices were driven up extremely high, increasing over time to the point where he couldn't afford it. He had no choice but to go foraging for food in the dump.
He was indeed a university student, but he studied communication. In a time of war, this wasn't very useful.
If he had studied scientific techniques or agriculture, perhaps he wouldn't have had to resort to scavenging for food in the dump.
Moreover, God didn't just send a few invaders. Within three months, over a billion creatures capable of single-handedly defeating five normal people descended from the sky to kill humanity.
This opening act plunged humanity into a severe crisis. Infrastructure was destroyed, and the power grid was damaged everywhere.
Although they eventually won, the losses were greater than the combined toll of the two world wars.
Since they fell from the sky, nuclear weapons couldn't be used, as doing so would be akin to dying alongside them.
After the initial wave, God was slightly more merciful. He released monsters on several distant continents, giving humanity a chance to prepare.
However, it was also due to scavenging and eating whatever he could find that he encountered his first energy fruit. From then on, he became strong enough to endure even more suffering.
The present was different from before. He had the experience of a lifetime as a saint, so things wouldn't be as miserable... or maybe they would be worse. Who could predict the future? After all, God had directly intervened to change the event.
After eating the energy fruit, his body had accumulated enough to break through. He felt much stronger than before.
He summoned his martial soul, and a soul ring appeared behind him. It was gray too, but it wasn't shattered like in his final moments.
"Well, the start is relatively smooth, isn't it? But I can't be complacent. I need to quickly establish a force. This time, God definitely won't follow the original trajectory, making everything much more dangerous. I don't have the advantage of foreknowledge, but at least I know the identities of many saints and demons."
Speaking of demons, he had a new thought, different from the original trajectory.
"Right, demons. They are the key to the problem. Although they aren't like saints, they contributed greatly and sacrificed a lot in humanity's battles. However, their actions were too individualistic, so later they couldn't be convinced to join a single force.
But now it's different because their demon parts probably haven't fully awakened. If I take this opportunity to befriend and invite them into the same force, it would greatly increase our chances later on.
In the original trajectory, I only had a few saints as friends, but even those who weren't friends were willing to join the force for humanity. However, I couldn't persuade the demons, leading to some battles failing due to lack of combat strength. This time, I must avoid making that mistake.
But after breaking through the second stage, everyone became handsome and beautiful, unlike now. Moreover, without much interaction with them, apart from my friends, I really had no way to actively find other saints and demons. Oh well, I'll just do my best. Failure is a predetermined outcome, and changing it is naturally extremely difficult."