[You have directly confronted a Saint's finger and narrowly survived a calamity. You have obtained the passive ability "Intertwined Fortune and Misfortune": each time you survive a catastrophe, you will be granted a blessing.]
Amidst the swirling chaos, Chen Kuang finally saw a new passive appear in his status window.
What a long day...
Chen Kuang couldn't help but think.
But in truth, that was only his illusion. Because this day had been filled with trials and tribulations, the most dangerous and grueling day of his life thus far.
When a person suffers, time always seems to stretch longer.
Feng Prefecture, the rebellion, the alliance, the counter-kill... the first time confronting a complete-form Saint.
If not for catching a fleeting thought in King Jingnan's heart at the critical moment, and using the national destiny of the Yang Kingdom to temporarily suppress Prime Lady Wangshu, Chen Kuang would have died then and there.
But the most lethal moment was still Huo Fuyan's final blockade using the Four Armies Formation. If Chen Kuang had tried to break through alone, the likelihood of him dying from exhaustion was ninety percent.
He made that decision purely because he had no retreat, his only option was to gamble on the ten percent chance.
Returning to Zangfeng Prefecture meant walking right back into the eye of the storm and getting trapped again, that would've been certain death.
By breaking out, and because of the contingencies Chen Kuang had arranged in advance, the Yang Kingdom court would become entangled in the rebellion he personally incited, forced to divert most of their energy and manpower. This would increase his chances of surviving and escaping.
That had been his plan all along.
"Speaking of which... I forgot to ask Senior Brother Zhang who else entered the Ancient Battlefield of Meditation this time."
Chen Kuang muttered to himself. A pity he hadn't maximized the benefit of calling that "senior brother."
The number of "cheap" senior brothers he had was ever growing, but none could serve as a real backer for him, no one he could use to throw weight around.
"And that old bastard Xi Mengquan... Used me and then just let me be? He's basically half a master, and he still gave me nothing good? Since he's playing a long game, he should at least ensure his chess piece survives on the board, right?"
Thinking this, Chen Kuang suddenly had a jolt of realization and froze.
He extended his hand and looked at his palm.
There, faintly embedded beneath the skin and flesh, was a golden character: "Yu" .
It was with this hand that he'd struck the "Jiang Wuyá" in his dream!
But at that time, he hadn't sensed anything unusual, nor had anything appeared on his hand.
Now, just because of his muttering thoughts, the "Yu" character had suddenly revealed itself.
Chen Kuang found it almost funny.
Could it be... Xi Mengquan sensed what I was thinking and issued this symbol to me on the fly?
"No, that's unlikely. That guy probably planned this from the very beginning."
His eyes flickered as he stared at the symbol, and information began pouring into his mind.
This "Yu" wasn't the "yu" for feather, but the fifth tone in the ancient pentatonic scale: Gong, Shang, Jue , Zhi , Yu.
This was one of the five tonal steps that underpinned all music in Cangyuan.
The saying goes: The five tones compose the world's music!
"'Yu' corresponds to water. Water benefits all things. This talisman represents the image of objects. It can hear all sounds. When plucked, it disturbs. When moved, it severs..."
After quickly scanning the information in his mind, Chen Kuang couldn't help but draw in a breath. A certain conviction rose spontaneously in his heart.
The Dao contained within this symbol of the five tones, was precisely Xi Mengquan's "Dao"!
In other words, this was:
The true inheritance of the 'Saint of Music'.
As the saying goes, a teacher is one who transmits the Dao, imparts knowledge, and resolves doubts.
Everything Chen Kuang had learned from Xi Mengquan before, scores, musical theory, while not as superficial as Xi had self-deprecatingly claimed, was indeed just the foundation. The most basic form of "imparting knowledge."
It wasn't until this very moment that Xi Mengquan could be said to have "transmitted the Dao."
As for resolving doubts... if terrifying his disciple half to death while disguised as "Jiang Wuyá" in a dream counts, then yes, he did answer quite a few of Chen Kuang's questions.
But more often than not, Xi Mengquan was the very source of Chen Kuang's confusion.
Damn it, the threshold for this guy's true inheritance is way too absurd...
Chen Kuang cursed in his heart.
So he'd killed his way out of Liang Country, crossed half the continent, and only now, after confronting a Saint's finger and barely surviving, while saving the lives of an entire province, did he finally receive Xi Mengquan's Dao in a dream?
Comparing that to the "Martial Saint's" true disciples... well, Chen Kuang had already beaten one to death eight hundred years ago.
In other words, to become Xi Mengquan's true disciple, one had to survive a Saint's finger.
Looking across all of Cangyuan, how many could accomplish that? And how many Tower Ascension Realm cultivators could even dream of it?
No wonder Xi Mengquan hasn't taken a disciple in nearly three thousand years...
Chen Kuang ridiculed internally.
Even Senior Brother Wensi, who had been brought from Eastern Court Lake by Xi Mengquan, was already a grandmaster-level cultivator at the time, with a self-sufficient path. At most, he was a registered disciple.
Xi Mengquan didn't teach him anything; he merely pointed him toward the road to enlightenment.
By that logic, Chen Kuang was his only true disciple.
Shhhff!
A perfectly seamless white shroud suddenly unfolded, interrupting Chen Kuang's thoughts.
He immediately curled his palm inward, summoning Wujian zbetween to manifest Mist-Flower Drape, which he used to blindfold himself with black cloth.
This mystical Spiritual Treasure of Senior Brother Wensi was still effective even against mid-tier third-grade cultivators.
And right now, those entering the Ancient Battlefield of Meditation were restricted to mid-third-grade cultivators.
What's more, the Wujian zbetween of today was no longer what it used to be. It had grown in power, and now anything it manifested could last for at least three days.
For something like Mist-Flower Drape, a mystical Spiritual Treasure that wasn't especially high-grade, seven days would be no problem at all.
Since participants came from all the major sects, Martial Saint Pavilion would definitely have someone here, so Chen Kuang chose to remain cautious.
Not because he feared others would harm him...
But because it made it easier to conceal his identity and ambush others.
He landed steadily, emerging from the slowly dispersing white shroud.
After thinking for a moment, he pulled out a folding fan, this was one of the "Moon-grade" mystical Spiritual Treasures he had scammed from President Chang of the Wanlin Merchant Guild, called the Sea-Dust Fan.
It was light as a feather, but claimed to sweep the seas like dust, an extraordinary treasure.
Of course, Chen Kuang hadn't carried all his mystical treasures with him all the time. He had stored them elsewhere and retrieved them while fleeing, before breaking through the blockade.
Otherwise, they'd all have been destroyed by the residual force of that Saint's finger.
Now, flaunting these mystical treasures boldly, Chen Kuang was playing the role of a careless, naive sucker.
His feet touched solid ground. Glancing around, he immediately saw that there were already five people present besides him. Each stood atop a white shroud, obviously dispatched by various sects.
Behind each one sat a cultivator exuding deep, stable energy, clearly there to maintain the formation on behalf of their sect.
The moment Chen Kuang appeared, he became the focus of everyone's attention. All sorts of gazes landed on him, their expressions varied.
"Xu Datong, what's wrong? Did Liberty Mountain run out of people? You actually sent a Tower Ascension Realm disciple this time?"
Someone sneered.
Chen Kuang's position was that of Liberty Mountain, and the man behind him was a senior brother from that sect named Xu Datong.
Before Xu Datong could respond, a white shroud unfurled from the Mysterious Divine Path Sect's side, immediately drawing the vigilance of everyone present.
No need to guess, whoever the Mysterious Divine Path Sect sent, it had to be Shen Xingzhu!
Chen Kuang's heart also gave a sudden thump.
Shen Xingzhu...
The white shroud unfolded like a lotus blossom, revealing a fairy-like woman in the center. Dressed in a dark robe and teal veil, her beauty was otherworldly, radiant like the moon in the sky.
Yet Chen Kuang felt stunned and his expression gradually turned strange.
Those eyes... were not Shen Xingzhu's.