CHAPTER 11: I AM NANTIAN YIJIAN

Upon hearing Lu Chen's call, Feng Tiancheng quickly emerged from the Twin-Fish Medallion. His eyes dilated sharply when he caught sight of the stone tablet fragment.

Lu Chen noticed Feng Tiancheng's reaction. It was clear that he recognized the fragment, and Lu Chen quickly asked him about it.

Feng Tiancheng explained, "I told you before that when my true self ascended and became an emperor, he was given the honorific title 'Green.' That 'Green' came from this very place. We carry the bloodline of the Green Sovereign from the dawn of heaven and earth. Although it's already very diluted, its power is still immense.

"This fragment is part of the stone tablet known as the Cloud Register of Seven Seals. Legend says it was left behind by the Green Sovereign. He had nine attendants known as the Green Emperors, each a mighty figure from ancient times. It's said that this tablet holds the long-lost secrets they left behind.

"My true self spent a lifetime searching for it. Even after ascending, he never found a single piece. Who would have thought you'd find one here today? Perhaps it's fate. Since you also carry the Green Emperor's bloodline, you can try collecting the other parts and see what secrets lie within."

With that, Feng Tiancheng tossed the tablet fragment to Lu Chen and returned to the space within the Twin-Fish Medallion. Without his true self around, seven more fragments of the stone tablet would be of no use to him. But if Lu Chen could one day gather the complete set, perhaps he'd be able to pass his findings to his true self.

Lu Chen looked at the fragment that had been thrown to him, unsure what to do with it. He was about to store it away when the Green Sovereign Divine Tree within his Heavenly Pool suddenly reacted. One of its vines pointed to his abdomen, then drew a picture on the ground showing the divine tree wrapping itself around the stone tablet fragment.

Lu Chen immediately understood that the Green Sovereign Divine Tree wanted the fragment. The moment he placed it into the Heavenly Pool, the divine tree pulled it beneath itself and slowly coiled its roots around the stone.

Lu Chen was amazed. If even Feng Tiancheng had no idea about what to do with the fragment, he naturally had no better solution. All he could do was wait until he gathered all the pieces to uncover its secrets.

He also recalled that a few days ago, some cultivators had mentioned a secret realm. Perhaps this stone tablet originated from there. If the opportunity arose, he would certainly go investigate. But for now, cultivation remained his top priority.

As night fell, Lu Chen once again began hunting demonic beasts. He had noticed that the beasts around the outer edge of the forest were mostly low-level ones and no longer posed much of a threat to him.

Because of that, he decided to get some rest and head deeper into the forest the next day to challenge stronger beasts. He had to work even harder. His grandfather was still waiting to be rescued.

***

Over the next few days, Lu Chen ventured deeper into the forest. He had already reached the middle region, where cultivators were a rare sight. His plan to hunt demonic beasts was already halfway complete.

It was during this time that he encountered someone who would become his lifelong friend—Nantian Yijian.

Lu Chen was facing a Stormcrusher Bear at the seventh level of the Qi Absorption Realm. He appeared above the bear's head using Star-Serpent Cloud Concealment, then released vines that struck down swiftly. He followed up with two consecutive Heaven-Splitting Six Yang Palms, both landing directly on the bear's skull and killing it instantly.

After the battle, he cleaned up the battlefield. The entire sequence of attacks was smooth, each move following the last with practiced ease.

By now, Lu Chen had grown highly familiar with his strength and limits. His attacks had become well-coordinated, and his movement techniques had grown increasingly fluid and seamless. During these battles, he had also mastered the third form of the Golden Snake Nine Variations Art, Flood Dragon's Dive. It allowed him to summon three shadow clones capable of launching independent attacks that could persist for an extended time.

The power of Heaven-Splitting Six Yang Palms had also grown significantly, and he could now unleash it more than ten times before running out of spirit qi.

Just as he was about to head off in search of more demonic beasts, Lu Chen heard a cry for help echoing from the nearby mountains. At first, he didn't think to intervene, but the voice sounded strikingly similar to Little Pup's.

After a moment of consideration, Lu Chen swiftly rushed toward the source of the cry. There, he spotted a young boy—around fourteen or fifteen years of age—cornered by a Skyquake Tiger. The boy had his back to Lu Chen and was calling for help.

This Skyquake Tiger was in the fifth level of the Qi Absorption Realm, and it was closing in on the boy step by step. Lu Chen moved forward using Star-Serpent Cloud Concealment and struck straight at the weak point on the tiger's neck, killing it in a single blow.

When Lu Chen turned his head, he was startled to see that the boy in front of him looked almost identical to Little Pup. He hurriedly called out Little Pup's name, but the boy seemed completely terrified. Before he could respond to Lu Chen, the boy lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.

Lu Chen carried him over to a nearby rock and sat him down, then placed his hand over the boy's lower abdomen to help restore his spirit qi.

During this process, Lu Chen realized the boy was merely a cultivator at the fifth level of the Qi Absorption Realm, and he was clearly not Little Pup. Logically, it was impossible for Little Pup to be alive, much less for him to be in the Demonic Beast Forest. Still, he couldn't help but hold onto that sliver of hope.

Half an hour later, the boy slowly woke up. Lu Chen immediately stepped forward to help him.

The boy looked at Lu Chen and quickly expressed his gratitude. Still shaken and not yet recovered from the shock, he introduced himself in a dull voice as Nantian Yijian, a novice cultivator who had just reached the fifth level of the Qi Absorption Realm.

While speaking, he took out a rusty guqin from his storage pouch and handed it to Lu Chen. Though it looked worn, it was actually an enchanted artifact. He explained that he was an orphan from the border between the Nantian and Jianghai Regions. At the age of nine, he took part in the baptism test and was accepted into a small local sect, where he began his cultivation journey.

During a recent trip outside the sect, he stumbled upon a secret realm and discovered a storage pouch containing some cultivation resources and the guqin. But when the elders found out, they accused him of stealing from the sect and demanded that he hand everything over. With no other choice, he fled.

He had been on the run ever since, escaping all the way from the Nantian Region into the Demonic Beast Forest. But once inside, he realized he was completely lost.

Over the past few days, he had been circling around this area. While he could fight low-level beasts, whenever he encountered stronger ones, all he could do was run for his life. Earlier today, he had accidentally stumbled upon the Skyquake Tiger. Fortunately, his pleas for help had been heard by Lu Chen just in time, and he had been saved.

Nantian Yijian said that although he was an orphan, he understood the importance of repaying kindness. If not for Lu Chen, he would likely have died here today. He had nothing else of value to offer, so he wished to give this treasure to Lu Chen and insisted that he accept it.

When Feng Tiancheng saw the guqin from within the Twin-Fish Medallion, he was instantly reminded of a person, the Imperial Lord of Rituals. That man had been the embodiment of refinement, always dressed in simple robes, and often playing the guqin with his eyes closed. But once those eyes opened, they heralded mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

This guqin was the spirit weapon Feng Tiancheng had once crafted for him. It was called the Thirty-Six Cosmic Sword Guqin. He never imagined he would see it again under such circumstances.

Feng Tiancheng's voice echoed in Lu Chen's mind, "Take the guqin."

He wanted to reactivate the spirit power within the guqin. He didn't know whether that man was still alive, but if his legacy could live on in the human world, it would serve as a remembrance of an old friend.

Feng Tiancheng instructed Lu Chen to use a special hand seal to channel spirit qi into the guqin. Lu Chen extended his right middle finger and pointed it toward his palm. His index finger pressed against the back of the first joint of the middle finger, while the inner tip of his thumb pressed against the same joint's crease. The tips of the thumb and index finger pointed toward each other, with the ring and pinky fingers curled into his palm. At the same time, he recited an obscure incantation.

Feng Tiancheng explained that this hand seal was called the Spirit Officer Seal. It was a cultivation gesture used to invoke the protection and supervision of Spirit Officer Wang during one’s training. Now, it could be used to channel pure spirit qi into the guqin, enabling one to control it.[1]

Slowly, the guqin began to glow. Waves of sword hums resonated from it. Then, its side suddenly opened, and dozens of tiny swords flew out, arranging themselves in a dragon that circled around Lu Chen. It was as if they were expressing gratitude for being released. The swords shifted forms midair, sometimes merging into one, other times scattering in elegant flight.

After watching the small swords dance in the sky for a while, Lu Chen handed the guqin back to Nantian Yijian and taught him the Spirit Officer Seal that was used to control them.

"This is your treasure, so it rightfully belongs to you," Lu Chen said. "As long as a person has a goal, they can succeed, no matter their background."

Looking at Nantian Yijian, Lu Chen couldn't help but think of Little Pup. Little Pup had been about the same age when he entered the Qi Absorption Realm. But because of Lu Chen's own eagerness to cultivate, Little Pup had died. Now, looking at Nantian Yijian gave him the feeling that Little Pup was still alive.

Nantian Yijian glanced at Lu Chen, then at the guqin. No one had ever said anything like that to him before. For as long as he could remember, he had always been alone.

Without any family to protect him, he had been constantly bullied. Whenever he had a bit of money or food, others would take it from him. With no way to fight back, he could only dig through garbage at night to survive. But now, Lu Chen had told him, "What belongs to you should remain yours, and as long as you have a goal, you can achieve anything."

Tears began streaming down Nantian Yijian's face. He shouted at Lu Chen, "Thank you, thank you so much!"

This was the first time anyone had shown him kindness. In that moment, a seed was planted deep in his heart—a seed that gave him purpose, determination to pursue his goals, and a vow to follow Lu Chen for life.

Lu Chen looked at him and said, "I'll be staying here to cultivate for a while. If you have nowhere else to go, you can stay with me for the time being. Once we leave this place, you can decide where to go on your own."

Nantian Yijian wiped away his tears and put the guqin away. His expression quickly shifted into a cheerful one. He rushed over and hugged Lu Chen tightly, then planted a kiss on his face and burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! I'm not going anywhere! I, Nantian Yijian, have decided that from this day forward, you're my boss. I'll follow you wherever you go!"

Decades of orphanhood had left him with no support, but they had also shaped his open, spirited, and grateful nature. His earlier stiffness had simply been a reaction to fear. Now that he had relaxed, his true self began to shine through.

Lu Chen looked at the boy in front of him, puzzled. Just moments ago, he had been in tears, and now he was calling him "boss" and declaring loyalty.

But thinking about how similar he was to Little Pup, and the fact that he was an orphan, Lu Chen felt it might be a good idea to keep him around and train together. Maybe this way, he could fulfill the dream he never had the chance to realize with Little Pup.

With that thought, Lu Chen made up his mind to keep Nantian Yijian by his side.

"Then stay. But you need to keep working hard. Only then can we both improve."

"Yes, boss!" Nantian Yijian said, scratching his head.

Lu Chen decided to end the day's training here. He began looking for a cave where Nantian Yijian could get a good night's rest. In the morning, they would resume hunting beasts.

1. Spirit Officer Wang (Wang Lingguan in Chinese) is a well-known figure in Daoist mythology and folk religion. The phrase "protection of Spirit Officer Wang" implies that Spirit Officer Wang is personally guarding the cultivator, usually as a result of invoking him via hand seals or certain talismans. It's both symbolic and spiritual, believed to provide actual protection in dangerous places (like the Demonic Beast Forests) or during risky practices like controlling a powerful enchanted artifact. ☜