Celestial Human Diagram

At 1:30 PM, Chen Chuan and his three companions arrived at the ticket check. The attendant informed them they had second-class tickets and would have to wait until the show officially began at three o’clock to enter.

"We still have to wait an hour," Pan Xiaode grumbled.

Tan Zhi was helpless as well. He hadn’t bought the tickets; they were a gift from his mentor, Teacher Wei. After all, seats were limited and tickets were extremely hard to come by. They were lucky to have them at all.

The plaza was filled with audience members just like them, all waiting outside. Only those who were clearly high-ranking officials and political dignitaries could bypass the wait, entering directly through the VIP entrance.

Chen Chuan then remembered the tickets Counselor Pei had given him. They seemed different from the ones Tan Zhi had, so he took them out. "I have a few tickets here, too," he said. "A friend happened to give them to me a few days ago. You guys take a look."

Tan Zhi’s eyes lit up as he took them. "They’re first-class tickets," he said, turning excitedly to Pan Xiaode and Qi Huixin. "This means we don’t have to wait behind the ropes. We can go straight in!"

Chen Chuan nodded. "Good. I was worried they’d go to waste."

The three of them were thrilled. Not only could they get in early, but they could also watch from a private box. This was a massive upgrade from their previous tickets.

The four of them squeezed through the crowd to another ticket gate. After presenting their tickets, they walked down the VIP corridor. Once inside, an attendant was there to guide them to their private box.

As they passed through the grand hall, the high-ranking officials, political figures, and corporate executives who had entered earlier were gathered in small groups, deep in spirited conversation.

These people weren’t just here for the musical; they treated the theater as a major social venue. When they saw a group of charismatic young people walk in, they assumed they were the children of some influential official or dignitary and cast occasional glances their way.

However, the Fighters accompanying them all tensed up in unison.

A government official noticed his advisor’s unusual physical reaction. "Old Liu," he asked, "is something the matter?"

Old Liu said in a low voice, "Elder Ai, those young people who just passed are all Fighters."

Elder Ai glanced over at them. "Is that so?" he said with an appreciative tone. "They’re quite an outstanding group of young people."

Fighting Skill was popular worldwide now. Even if they couldn’t become true Fighters, people from the middle and Upper Layers would still hire one or two fighting instructors for their children. It was inevitable that talented individuals would emerge, so it wasn’t strange to see a few Fighters among the younger generation.

Old Liu remained serious. "Elder Ai, the one in the lead... he might be a Third Limit Fighter. And he gives off a very strong sense of threat."

"Is that so?"

Elder Ai was taken aback. His smile vanished. He glanced around and ordered, "Have someone run a check on them. Remember to be discreet."

Security in Weiguang District was typically excellent; people rarely dared to cause trouble. But with the recent spike in malicious incidents, and with them pushing for certain new security bills, this was something that couldn’t be ignored.

Old Liu nodded. "Understood."

Chen Chuan and his friends had just reached the entrance to their box when internal security personnel approached to make inquiries. They were very polite, as anyone in this section was clearly not an ordinary person, and it was best to avoid giving offense.

Chen Chuan presented his Name Card. A security officer immediately verified his identity using a Realm Token, then gave a respectful salute. "Captain Chen, my apologies for the interruption. Please, enjoy the show."

Tan Zhi and the other two hadn’t really noticed it outside, but now they could clearly sense the vast difference between themselves and Chen Chuan. It wasn’t just about personal combat ability, but also a disparity in status.

Given their family backgrounds, they had plenty of contact with people from the middle and Upper Layers, so that was nothing new. But Chen Chuan was their peer, which made the feeling completely different.

They also knew that Chen Chuan didn’t come from a background like theirs; he had earned everything through his own hard work. They couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of admiration and envy.

Elder Ai received the report from security as well. He was surprised. ’A Processing Bureau Execution Captain? That young?’ He wondered which prominent family the young man belonged to, but as long as his identity checked out, it didn’t matter.

After entering the box, Chen Chuan and the others settled into the comfortable seats. From their vantage point, they had a perfect, sweeping view of the entire stage.

The box also had a small bar and a refrigerated drink cabinet. A personal attendant stood outside the door of each box, ready to provide food and drink services at any moment.

In the boxes across the way, people were constantly coming and going, shaking hands and chatting. A few even nodded in their direction as a sign of acknowledgment.

Pan Xiaode curled his lip in distaste. He hated these kinds of events. As a child, his least favorite thing was being dragged from one social gathering to another.

After joining Wuyi Academy, that kind of annoyance became rare. This was especially true after he and Qi Huixin had their faces altered to have a brother-sister look; his family gave him dirty looks all the time, but he was more than happy with the resulting peace and quiet.

Chen Chuan sipped his hot beverage while logging into the theater’s online platform. It hosted a library of recordings of past musicals and plays, though of course, it couldn’t compare to a live performance.

Still, with plenty of time to kill, he decided to browse through it casually.

Suddenly, the voices from a nearby box grew loud. A young man was aggressively shouting at a dapper, middle-aged man, drawing frequent gazes from the occupants of the other boxes.

Pan Xiaode glanced over. "Huh, isn’t that that Lü Miao kid?"

"You know him?" Tan Zhi asked immediately.

"Not really," said Pan Xiaode. "We’ve met a few times. His dad is the Deputy Director of the Security Defense Department. He started training in fighting even earlier than us and is usually a real show-off. The guy he’s yelling at should be his uncle, Bao Yun. He’s an assistant to Lü Miao’s dad."

Chen Chuan glanced over. The Security Defense Department was, in theory, the superior agency to the city patrol and the Processing Bureau. Its head reported directly to the mayor, a very high-ranking position. The director could be considered his superior.

From their argument, it sounded like Director Lü had arrested someone, and Lü Miao was demanding his uncle arrange for their release. But even if his uncle had the power to do so, he would never agree to it after being publicly called out in a place like this.

Just then, theater security guards quickly moved in and escorted the young man away.

The man, Assistant Bao, seemed to have lost a great deal of face. After a brief apology to those nearby, he followed them out to deal with the matter. With their departure, a murmur of discussion rippled through the boxes.

With about ten minutes until the musical began, Chen Chuan noticed the noise outside swell. Then, a remarkably distinguished-looking old man and a stately, elegant woman walked in, arm in arm.

The old man was dressed in a foreign-style tuxedo. Despite his apparent age, his stride was steady and his gaze was sharp. The moment he entered, everyone in the private boxes rose to applaud and greet him.

The old man waved in acknowledgment to the crowd. Chen Chuan’s attention, however, was drawn to a figure walking beside the couple, almost in step with them. It was Chen Bitong, the man he had seen before in the Merging Land.

As his gaze fell upon him, Chen Bitong looked over as well. Their eyes met, and Chen Bitong gave him a slight nod. Chen Chuan returned the gesture.

"Is that Chairman Quan and his wife?" Tan Zhi asked.

Pan Xiaode, however, was watching Chen Chuan’s line of sight. "Chen," he asked curiously, "that guy with them seems really strong. You know him?"

"We met once, not long ago," Chen Chuan said.

After exchanging a few words with those who had been waiting for him, Chairman Quan headed to the central box on the second floor—the best seat in the house.

Seeing that it was almost time, Chen Chuan stopped paying attention to Chen Bitong. He put on the Realm Token required for viewing the musical and waited quietly for it to begin.

A few minutes later, the bright lights of the theater dimmed. Only the stage remained illuminated, revealing an expanse of rolling, green wilderness.

It was worth noting that the set wasn’t created entirely by the Realm Token. The foreground was a combination of physical props and lighting; only the distant scenery was a projection from the Realm Token.

After a moment, an ethereal female voice drifted out. It seemed to float in from the wilderness and rise up from within one’s own heart, capable of stirring the very soul.

Chen Chuan could feel a power within the song that influenced one’s spirit, but judging from her aura, the singer herself possessed no martial ability.

It wasn’t that only Fighters could undertake Spiritual Cultivation; many religious figures of the old era had walked the same path. Unlike Fighters, however, their spirits were typically diffuse and unfocused, lacking any tangible power. Yet, under specific circumstances, they could induce a kind of spiritual contagion and resonance.

This appeared to be the prologue: The mute Shepherdess finds the Down-and-out Knight. This was the beginning of the entire saga, the first part of the Divine Song.

Chen Chuan listened intently. Unfortunately, whether it was due to the singer or a language barrier, he couldn’t discern anything special in the song.

According to the program, however, the song’s content would evolve with the plot, revealing more as the story progressed. The climax of the entire performance was in the second half, when the central conflict reached its peak. That being the case, he found himself looking forward to what came next.

As the song continued, a young woman with long, platinum-blonde hair walked onto the stage. She wore a wide-brimmed hat to shield against the wind and a multi-layered skirt that fell to her ankles. Her face was smudged with dirt, but her light green eyes were unforgettable, reminiscent of a crystal-clear lake.

As the script dictated, the Shepherdess walked on stage and approached a tree. There, she parted the tall grass and discovered the Down-and-out Knight lying on the ground.

He appeared to be a young man in old, worn armor. The firm, resolute line of his exposed jaw was visible.

But at that moment, Chen Chuan sensed something was wrong. He tried turning off his Realm Token, but nothing seemed out of place. Then, he used his Second Self to block all external information from the Domain and looked again. He involuntarily raised an eyebrow. ’That’s not a young man. It’s just an empty suit of armor.’

...

...