CHAPTER 66: CHAPTER 66: ALONE ASCENDS AS AN IMMORTAL

Duan Shulin was quite the chatterbox, incessantly talking to Chen Guan along the way.

Before long, Chen Guan already knew all the earth-shattering deeds he had done since birth.

According to himself, he was born into an ordinary family. His parents were cultivators with mediocre talent, making a living by setting up small stalls in the Secret Realm. Though they never went hungry, they also weren’t wealthy.

Until the moment Duan Shulin’s arrival with a crack, on a cloudless sunny day, a sudden thunder struck, leaving everyone’s heads buzzing, and Duan Shulin was born.

According to the nurse who delivered him, before Duan Shulin was born, a dragon-shaped cloud gathered above the hospital. After his birth, the dragon cloud disappeared without a trace. However, several babies were born that day in the hospital, so it was uncertain for whom the dragon cloud phenomenon appeared.

Regardless, Duan Shulin was convinced the phenomenon was absolutely because of him.

Duan Shulin could walk right after birth, at three could perform the Hundred Schools Fist in reverse, and by ten, had no rivals in the academy. Due to his excellence, the academy mentors had nothing more to teach him, so he had to return home to study on his own.

At eighteen, he entered the Pingdu Mountain Blessed Land, stormed White Cloud Stream at level 1, plunged into the Profound Yin Cave at level 3, with no enemies surviving a single exchange.

"You’re only at level 3 now?" Chen Guan was skeptical about Duan Shulin’s claims, sizing him up as he spoke.

"If I weren’t only level 3, how could that mutated Profound Yin Ghost Mother still be alive to see you?" Duan Shulin said smugly.

Chen Guan was half-convinced, half-doubtful. If Duan Shulin were really only level 3, surviving under the mutated Profound Yin Ghost Mother was indeed extraordinary.

"Old Guan, we’ll have plenty of time together from now on, you’ll gradually get to know what kind of person I am," Duan Shulin chuckled. "I won’t hide it from you; I’ve already been placed on the Celestial Court Army reserve team list, just waiting to directly become a formal member after my Second Awakening."

Chen Guan had heard of the Celestial Court Army’s reserve team, it was Ji Nanhong who told him before.

To become a formal member of the Celestial Court Army, one needs at least a Second Awakening, but there’s a reserve team to recruit top talents who have yet to reach a Second Awakening but are already renowned.

Besides First Awakening cultivators, the reserve team also recruits talented youngsters who haven’t awakened, though this is rare. Most are recruited after First Awakening, once their talent has been confirmed as exceptional.

Initially, Ji Nanhong’s intention was to let Chen Guan first register in the reserve team, so he could directly become a formal member of the Celestial Court Army after his Second Awakening.

Chen Guan had not yet approached Ji Nanhong, still hesitating whether he should make it through on his own or rely on Ji Nanhong’s connection, as he hadn’t made a final decision.

Chen Guan felt Duan Shulin’s tale might be exaggerated; entering the reserve team list without a First Awakening was uncommon even across the entire Divine Land, unless Duan Shulin’s family background was indeed formidable, or his talent was truly as unparalleled as he claimed.

However, Duan Shulin himself said his family initially made small trades, now doing larger business but still unlikely to be so influential to have the Celestial Court Army recruit him into the reserve team before his Awakening, right?

Seeing Chen Guan doubting him as a member of the Celestial Court Army’s reserve team, Duan Shulin chuckled, "I know it’s hard for ordinary people to believe there’s a talent like me in the world, but that’s alright. I’ll tell you one thing to prove I’m not boasting."

"What is it?" Chen Guan thought of it as just another story.

"You know about the Great Demon, right?" Duan Shulin asked.

Chen Guan’s heart shuddered, but his face showed nothing as he calmly replied, "You mean Qingbai?"

"Who else could deserve the title of the Great Demon but him? Back then, he killed indiscriminately, with victims numbering in the millions. Now that was a true world-chaotic demon," Duan Shulin spoke at length.

"And what does this have to do with you being part of the Celestial Court Army’s reserve team?" Chen Guan asked, puzzled.

"Don’t be hasty. That Great Demon once stormed into the Ancestral Court. Though his time there was brief, he left behind a Secret Treasure," Duan Shulin lowered his voice mysteriously.

"That Secret Treasure is called the Hundred Flowers Divine Mirror, which the Great Demon established in the Ancestral Court to choose a concubine for himself. An ordinary person can touch the Hundred Flowers Divine Mirror without cultivation, and if their talent is extraordinary, the flowers on the mirror will bloom in a dazzling display; the more flowers that bloom, the greater the person’s talent. The Great Demon failed to take the Hundred Flowers Divine Mirror when he fell, and it was later moved to the Celestial Court Army’s headquarters. Any unparalleled talent is tested with it, and if they can make more than half of the flowers bloom, they can join the reserve team before their First Awakening."

"There’s such a Secret Treasure?" It was Chen Guan’s first time hearing about the Hundred Flowers Divine Mirror.

"Of course there is. Over the years, many talents have managed to make the flowers bloom, but only a rare few have made more than half bloom; and merely one who made all the flowers blossom," Duan Shulin continued.

"And is that person you?" Chen Guan felt Duan Shulin’s claims were becoming increasingly exaggerated.

"No," Duan Shulin’s answer surprised Chen Guan, "That person has the surname Jiang, of the Jiang Family, one of the Ten Great Families, and is named Jiang Qiemo."

"I thought it was you. What does all this have to do with you then?" Chen Guan casually asked.

"Oh, it has everything to do with me. I met Jiang Qiemo once when I was five and had a fight with him; we were evenly matched. He landed two punches on me; I gave him two palms. You could call it a tie," Duan Shulin said smugly.

Chen Guan was a bit speechless; this fellow seemed to be here purely for comic relief, bragging about a fight at five years old.

Duan Shulin pulled himself together, lowered his voice again, and said to Chen Guan, "Jiang Qiemo and I didn’t really hit it off that time. Later, he told me a secret: After the Hundred Flowers Divine Mirror blooms fully, it opens on its own, revealing a knife inside. No one has been able to take it out, not even him. If I could make all the flowers bloom and take out the knife, it would mean I surpassed him."

"So, did you take the knife out of the Hundred Flowers Divine Mirror?" Chen Guan asked.

"I’m not stupid. What’s the Hundred Flowers Divine Mirror used for? It’s what the Great Demon established to choose concubines for himself, with a knife inside. What do you think the knife is for?" Duan Shulin sneered.

"What’s it for?" Chen Guan’s heart stirred, but he feigned nonchalance as he asked.

"It’s obviously left by the Great Demon for his descendants; only his descendants could take the knife. The Celestial Court Army uses it to test for talent, partly to measure talent and perhaps also to identify any surviving descendants of the Great Demon. If I took the knife, wouldn’t I just be making trouble for myself?"

"No way, the Great Demon’s stuff happened so long ago, and now is a peaceful time with a prosperous country. Even if he had descendants, what trouble could they cause?" Chen Guan was secretly startled, surprised to hear such a secret from Duan Shulin. Whether it was true or false, only time would tell.

"You don’t know. Back then, the Great Demon was besieged by the Ten Celestial Kings in the Grotto Heaven Secret Realm and died, yet his body was never found. For this, the Ten Celestial Kings consulted a famed ghost Daoist of the time, who divined a hexagram. After the Daoist finished, the clear Secret Realm suddenly changed, the sky and earth turned dark, lightning flashed, and torrential rain poured, as if the world was ending. The Daoist barely had time to leave two lines of a hexagram poem before he coughed blood and died on the spot."

"What were the lines?" Chen Guan asked.

Duan Shulin squinted and recited, "King’s blood stains the sky, the demon’s offspring descends to the earth. Ten clans extinguished entirely, one alone becomes immortal."