Undying Divine Fire
Only after they had walked quite a distance did Wen Yuan speak softly, breaking the silence.
"The teacher... he hasn't been like this in a long time."
There was a hint of emotion and relief in his voice that was barely noticeable.
Chen Fan didn't stop walking; he listened intently.
"The last time the teacher formally opened the platform to give a lecture was 137 years ago." Wen Yuan's gaze drifted into the distance, seemingly lost in memories. "This time, the teacher said he needs a week to prepare, all for you alone. This level of importance placed on you is unprecedented in three hundred years."
Chen Fan raised an eyebrow but remained silent.
Wen Yuan's tone had unconsciously become more serious.
"Junior Fellow Apprentice, you should have noticed it too. The Master's Dao is too profound, running counter to the mainstream path of combat and slaughter. As a result, our Life School has dwindled in number, and in this generation, only the two of us remain."
He paused, his gentle eyes looking at Chen Fan, his words, though soft, carried the weight of a mountain.
"Therefore, the hopes of the entire school, the teacher's centuries-long obsession, and that one-year agreement with the Nine Great Schools... all rest on your shoulders alone."
Upon hearing this, Chen Fan finally stopped and turned to look at his nominal Senior Fellow Apprentice.
He calmly asked, "Senior Fellow Apprentice, are you afraid I'll lose?"
Wen Yuan was taken aback, then chuckled and gently shook his head.
I'm just afraid you'll find it boring.
He didn't explain further and continued leading Chen Fan forward.
Before long, a secluded and elegant independent courtyard appeared before the two of them.
The courtyard is small, surrounded by green bamboo, with a clear spring flowing through it, making a tinkling sound, creating a sense of returning to nature.
"This is your residence, Junior Fellow Apprentice." Wen Yuan handed Chen Fan a jade talisman to unlock the seal. "I usually stay in the library in the city center. If you need anything, you can go there to find me anytime."
After giving his instructions, he smiled gently at Chen Fan, then turned and left, his figure quickly blending into the flow of people coming and going in the giant city.
The night was as dark as ink.
Chen Fan sat alone in the Quiet Chamber. There were no lights in the room, only the emerald green seed in his palm emitted a faint and soft glow, like a breathing heart.
The words of my Senior Fellow Apprentice Wen Yuan still echoed in my ears.
The pressure of the one-year agreement, the anticipation of a brand new path, and the secrets hidden behind that mad mentor... countless thoughts intertwined, and in the end, they all turned into a faint smile that curled up at the corner of his mouth.
He looked down at the seed in his palm, a seed that contained both boundless vitality and endless death.
"That's interesting..."
"Then let me see what mysteries are hidden in this Way of Life and Death."
The moment he finished speaking, Chen Fan closed his eyes.
The moment Chen Fan's mind sank into that emerald green seed, the entire world vanished.
This is absolute nothingness.
The concepts of time and space are completely stripped away here, leaving only a cold feeling.
The will to die surged in from every direction like an endless black ocean, gently washing over Chen Fan's consciousness.
His consciousness is being slowly decomposed.
This feeling was incredibly peculiar; it wasn't physical pain, but rather a conceptual annihilation.
He could sense that the memories that constituted Chen Fan's existence were being peeled away bit by bit, returning to silence.
For the first time, he realized with such clarity how fragile existence truly is.
I don't know how much time has passed.
It could be a fleeting moment, or it could take hundreds or thousands of years.
In the midst of this extreme repression and depravity, on the verge of even his own self disappearing, something rooted deep within Chen Fan's soul was completely awakened.
It wasn't the will to survive, nor the fear of death.
Rather, it was a kind of... almost obsessive competitiveness.
"That's interesting."
A vague thought quietly surfaced in his collapsing consciousness.
He gave up all futile resistance.
Since there's no way to resist, let's take a good look at what this so-called death really is.
He began to actively observe this deathly silence.
He witnessed the extinguishing of Stars, the collapse of the universe, the dust of civilization, and the withered bones of the strong. He saw the breaking of cause and effect, the disintegration of laws, and all things, tangible and intangible, ultimately heading towards the same end...
Silence.
This is the first profound meaning of the "《Myriad Things Life and Death Scripture》": understanding death.
His consciousness grew fainter and fainter, like a wisp of smoke about to dissipate.
However, just as he was about to be completely assimilated by this eternal silence and return to nothingness in the last moment, his Transcendence perception caught a faint, almost non-existent anomaly.
Chen Fan used the last vestige of his remaining consciousness to fiercely stab at that Singularity!
Boom!
In an instant, a sudden realization exploded in Chen Fan's mind.
It exists, therefore it can be born.
Nothingness, therefore death.
Life and death... are two sides of the same coin!
The next instant, on that absolute void Singularity, a tender sprout, too illusory to be seen with the naked eye, stubbornly broke through nothingness.
Its growth process is the process of creation.
A faint yet exquisitely pure sense of life quietly emerges as the tender bud unfolds.
This glimmer of life is like a spark of Fire Seed.
And Chen Fan's foundation, which had been strengthened countless times by the system and was as vast as an endless Star Sea, was the most fertile Kindling!
Buzz!!
The moment the Fire Seed fell, a cluster of golden flames, no bigger than a grain of rice, yet radiating a warm and immortal aura, quietly ignited inside Chen Fan's body.
Undying Divine Fire!
Inside the Quiet Chamber, the night had long since faded.
A ray of morning light shone through the window, illuminating the dust particles suspended in the air.
Chen Fan, who was sitting cross-legged, slowly opened his eyes.
He lowered his head and opened his palm.
The emerald green seed in my palm had lost its luster, becoming simple and unadorned, as if it were just an ordinary plant seed.
But he could clearly sense that within his body, in the center of that vast Star Sea, a small golden flame was burning quietly.
It is closely connected to the Life Origin. With each beat, Bone Refinement its Golden Body in a mysterious way, allowing its life level to leap to a higher Dimensions.
He stood up, dusted off his robes, and looked calm, as if he had just taken a nap.
He glanced out the window.
The sky was bright, and birds were singing and flowers were blooming.
Exactly seven days have passed, no more, no less.
Chen Fan pushed open the door and walked towards the stone house in the center of the magnificent city in the distance.
Inside the stone house.
Lin Xuanqing and Wen Yuan had been waiting for a long time.
Wen Yuan remained as gentle and refined as ever, brewing a pot of tea for his teacher and himself with unhurried movements.
Lin Xuanqing sat upright behind the table carved from ancient wood, his cloudy old eyes calm and unwavering, revealing no emotion whatsoever.
A week is but a fleeting moment for comprehending a supreme lineage like the "《Myriad Things Life and Death Scripture》".
He never expected Chen Fan to make any amazing progress; even getting to the basics was a pipe dream.
He had already prepared his explanation, intending to reassure Chen Fan as soon as he entered, telling him that failure was not a problem and that there was no need to rush the one-year agreement.