Chapter 157 - 120: "That Year, I Was 17.
"And now, I feel this is the closest I’ve ever been to my dream."
"If the Domain Lord is willing to trust me."
"I will definitely build a world-renowned assassin branch for the Mortal Realm."
...
Chen Fan sat in his chair, looking with a slightly odd expression at the gaunt, pale-faced youth before him.
’Seventeen?’
’At seventeen, he single-handedly founded the Godslaying Hall and went to the Slaughter Immortal Holy Land to assassinate an Elder?’
’Are you holding the script for a protagonist or something?’
’What kind of normal person creates their own faction at seventeen? How could they possibly command respect?’
"What’s your Cultivation level now?"
"Level 7 Living Dead."
"Your Cultivation isn’t that high. You went to assassinate someone in the Slaughter Immortal Holy Land just like that? Are their defenses really that weak?"
He, at least, felt that a Level 7 Cultivator shouldn’t be able to break into his Mortal Realm and assassinate him.
...
"I was a Level 7 Living Dead seven years ago."
A trace of pride appeared on Shao Qiu’s face. "It’s just that the Slaughter Immortal Holy Land extracted one of my spiritual souls these past years, preventing my Cultivation from breaking through again."
"My greatest accomplishment before this was successfully assassinating a Level 11 Martial King."
"The Third Elder of the Slaughter Immortal Holy Land is an Architect; he doesn’t possess much strength himself."
"The Living Dead are an extremely Rare type of special Cultivator, even fewer in number than Night Watchers and Architects. To this day, I have never met another Living Dead. This type of Cultivator doesn’t have many special techniques, but with every breakthrough in Cultivation, a Martial Art related to assassination, stealth, or the like will appear in their mind. Furthermore, this Martial Art is instantly at the Great Perfection stage, and the grade of the Martial Arts acquired gradually increases."
"One of these Martial Arts is called ’Concealed Heaven’."
"At the cost of sacrificing one’s lifespan, it allows the user to remain undetected by any means for a short period. This includes formations laid by Architects, as well as... the Shadow Array you set up outside the valley, Domain Lord. And even that Sand Table over there."
...
Chen Fan glanced at the Celestial Derivation Sand Table on the stone table to the side. "You’re quite knowledgeable. So, you’re saying you can sneak into my Mortal Realm without a sound?"
"Not really."
Shao Qiu shook his head. "Although activating Concealed Heaven can bypass these detection methods, I’d still be visible to the naked eye. Your cave, Domain Lord, is completely sealed, and the Celestial Pit in front of it is in plain sight. It would be very difficult to infiltrate."
"Besides, the stronger the detection method, the more lifespan I have to sacrifice. At the time, I sacrificed fifty years."
"I figured, a person gets old after fifty. There’d be no point in becoming famous then."
"So I took the gamble."
"But I was young and reckless, and my intelligence on the Slaughter Immortal Holy Land was flawed. I was discovered as soon as I snuck in. I never even saw the Third Elder’s face. I bypassed all the detection methods from formations and Exotic Treasures, but an Exotic Beast in the Slaughter Immortal Holy Land detected me using a method I’m not familiar with."
...
Chen Fan nodded thoughtfully. "That man in the green robe who nailed you to the ground, do you know his Cultivation level?"
"A Level 9 Cultivator, one step away from breaking through to Martial King."
"If you were to assassinate him, could you do it?"
"I couldn’t beat him head-on, but if it were an assassination, I’d have an eighty percent chance of success."
"Then how did you end up nailed to the ground today?"
"I..."
Shao Qiu said, a bit sheepishly, "In the past, I would have been ninety percent certain. But with part of my soul extracted, my strength has been greatly weakened. Besides, my primary techniques are most effective late at night."
"Also, he’s stronger than the average Level 9 Cultivator. He must have had some kind of fortunate encounter."
"Can you destroy a Level 3 City Wall, then?"
"Huh?"
Shao Qiu was baffled. "Of course not. What kind of assassin goes around destroying a Level 3 City Wall?"
...
After a moment of thought, Chen Fan pulled the Soul Token from his robes and tossed it into Shao Qiu’s arms. "Here, this part of your soul is yours again. Tomorrow, after the members of the Wild Wolf Gang have gathered, pick out ten people."
"You will form the Dark Pavilion."
"It will be responsible for assassination, infiltration, and intelligence gathering for the Mortal Realm."
"In one month, the Mortal Realm will be inviting numerous factions to an auction. I hope to see some results by then. During this period, the Yunling Pavilion will provide unlimited supplies to the Dark Pavilion."
"You can make any requests you have. We will satisfy them to the best of our ability."
"This..."
Shao Qiu looked down in disbelief at the Soul Token in his hands, then looked up at Chen Fan, who was just a short distance away. He couldn’t believe that the very thing that held his life in the balance was now in his own hands.
In all these years, he had never once thought of killing Yu Ning’Er.
That was because no matter how fast he could kill, the other person only needed a single thought to end his life. No matter how swift his movements, they could never be faster than the speed of a thought.
And now, Chen Fan was right in front of him.
An Architect.
Someone without much personal strength.
If he wanted, he could kill Chen Fan in an instant, take the Soul Token, and flee this place to be completely free.
But—
He took a deep breath and fell to his knees again. This time, he was truly moved. This was a level of trust he had never experienced before. Pressing his forehead to the ground, he said hoarsely, "Domain Lord, rest assured, I will give it my all to make the Mortal Realm’s Dark Pavilion renowned throughout the world!"
Freedom was important.
But compared to freedom, achieving his dream was more important. And here, with the Yunling Pavilion, was the closest he had ever been to that dream.
...
"Go and rest."
Chen Fan clutched the Jade Staff tightly to his chest, smiling nonchalantly. "I also hope to see that day."
"Yes!"
Shao Qiu got up and nodded emphatically. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly turned back and hesitated. "Domain Lord, aren’t you worried that I might have suddenly lashed out and killed you just now? At such a close distance..."
"Many people want to kill me."
Chen Fan also rose to his feet. Leaning on his staff, he started walking toward his room and said casually without looking back, "But I’m still alive, and they’re all dead. Have Lame Monkey give you a general overview of the Mortal Realm tonight."
"From now on, we’re all family."
...
Shao Qiu stared at Chen Fan’s back, speechless for a long time.
Chen Fan was a young man, just like him.
But the courage and confidence Chen Fan displayed made him feel ashamed of his own inferiority. When he had faced death, he had wept and begged for mercy. In contrast, Chen Fan could casually toss him the Soul Token that controlled his very life.
It was as if to say,
’Go ahead and run. Without you, the Mortal Realm will still have its Dark Pavilion.’
’But without the Mortal Realm, you’ll be hunted like a rat for the rest of your life.’
He glanced again at the Yunling Pavilion to the side.
The ambition that had lain dormant for seven years in the Slaughter Immortal Holy Land resurfaced. He had to create a world-renowned Assassin Organization, and only in the Mortal Realm could he achieve this.
He crushed the Soul Token in his hand.
The next moment—
His soul returned.
Shao Qiu slowly closed his eyes. His Cultivation, which had been suppressed for seven years, began to rise rapidly, finally stopping at the Peak of Level 9, one step away from breaking through to Martial King.
A Level 10 Cultivator was a Martial King.
...
Back in his room, Chen Fan lay on his bed, stared at the ceiling, and muttered, "’That’s just broken.’" He knew this world had many types of special Cultivators, like Night Watchers and Architects.
These special classes usually couldn’t be obtained through Acquired effort.
You either got one when you absorbed a Ghost Stone for the first time, or you didn’t.
If you didn’t get one then, you never would.
It had nothing to do with effort.
It was all up to fate.
No matter how hard an Ordinary person tried, they could never become an Architect.
This was the first time he had heard of a special Cultivator class called the "Living Dead." Every time their Cultivation increased, they would gain a Martial Art related to assassination and automatically master it to the Great Perfection stage—the highest level of comprehension.
’Just broken.’
’It’s equivalent to not needing to comprehend Martial Arts at all. As long as they keep raising their Cultivation, their combat power would be the strongest among their peers.’
’No wonder he could single-handedly create the Godslaying Hall at seventeen.’
’Wait a minute—’
He suddenly realized something. In this world, you could only absorb a Ghost Stone and awaken at the age of sixteen. This guy awakened as a Living Dead at sixteen, founded the Godslaying Hall at seventeen, charged into the Slaughter Immortal Holy Land in the same year, and then became a prisoner for seven years?
’He went from Level 1 to Level 7 in a single year?’