My Name is Nantian Yijian

When Feng Tiancheng heard Lu Chen's call, he quickly emerged from the Twin Fish Token world. However, upon seeing the stone tablet, Feng Tiancheng's eyes narrowed deeply.

Lu Chen looked at Feng Tiancheng, who clearly recognized the origin of the stele. He quickly spoke up to ask for guidance.

Feng Tiancheng explained, "I told you that when my main body became an emperor, my honorary title was 'Azure.' This 'Azure' comes from here. We possess the bloodline of the Azure Emperor from the very beginning of heaven and earth. Although it's very scarce now, its effect is still immense."

"This stone tablet is called the Seven Slips of the Cloud Scroll. Legend has it that it was left by the Azure Emperor. The Azure Emperor had nine attendants named Azure Emperor, all of whom were powerful beings from ancient times. It is said that this stone tablet records the ancient secrets they left behind."

"My main body searched for it his entire life and never found one, even after ascending. I never expected to find it here today. Perhaps it's fated for you. Since you also have the Azure Emperor's bloodline, you can try to collect them and see what secrets are inside."

Saying this, he tossed it to Lu Chen and returned to the Twin Fish Token space. Without his main body here, the stone tablet was of no use to him. Who knew if Lu Chen could collect them all? He could inform his main body later.

Lu Chen looked at the stone tablet that had been thrown at him, feeling helpless. Just as he was preparing to store it in his spatial ring, the Divine Tree Tentacles in the Celestial Pool reacted. They pointed at Lu Chen's stomach, then pointed at the ground and drew a picture of the Divine Tree enveloping the stone tablet.

Lu Chen understood the drawing instantly: the Azure Emperor Divine Tree wanted the stone tablet. As soon as Lu Chen placed the stone tablet into the Celestial Pool, the Azure Emperor Divine Tree immediately placed it beneath itself, slowly coiling its roots around the stone tablet.

Lu Chen watched with great surprise. However, if even Feng Tiancheng couldn't solve this problem, he certainly had no way to. He could only wait until he had collected them all to investigate further.

Lu Chen then recalled the Secret Realm mentioned by a cultivator a couple of days prior. Perhaps this stone tablet had originated from there. If he had the chance, he could go in and take a look. But for now, the priority was to seize the time to cultivate.

Following this, Lu Chen took advantage of the falling night to hunt Demonic Beasts. Lu Chen also discovered that the outer areas of the Demonic Beast Forest were populated by low-level Demonic Beasts, which posed little threat to him anymore.

He decided to rest and then venture deeper into the Demonic Beast Forest the next day to challenge higher-level Demonic Beasts. His grandfather was still waiting for him to be rescued, so he had to work even harder.

Several days passed, and Lu Chen had approached the central region of the Demonic Beast Forest. Cultivators were rarely seen here anymore.

Lu Chen's plan to hunt Demonic Beasts was halfway complete. It was on this day that Lu Chen encountered the friend of his lifetime—Nantian Yijian.

Lu Chen was currently facing a Sky-Shaking Bear at the seventh level of the Qi Gathering Realm. He used Star Serpent Hidden in Clouds, appearing above the Sky-Shaking Bear and unleashing tentacle attacks. Immediately after, he struck the Sky-Shaking Bear's head twice with Six Yang Palms that Split the Heavens, directly killing it. He then tidied up the battlefield, his movements fluid and seamless.

Lu Chen was now extremely familiar with his own strength, the coordination of his moves, and the evasion of his movement techniques. During this process, Lu Chen had comprehended the third transformation of the Nine Transformations of the Golden Serpent—Dragon Entering the Sea. He could now create three phantom images that attacked independently, and these attacks could persist for a long time.

Furthermore, over these past few days, Lu Chen could now unleash more than ten palms of the Six Yang Palms that Split the Heavens, their power even more vigorous than before.

Lu Chen was about to move to a different location to find more Demonic Beasts when, at that moment, a cry for help echoed from the mountain forest ahead. Lu Chen initially didn't want to meddle in other people's affairs, but the voice sounded exactly like Little Doggy.

Lu Chen hurried over. Before him stood an Earth-Shaking Tiger and a boy of about fourteen or fifteen years old. The boy's back was to Lu Chen, and he was calling for help.

The Earth-Shaking Tiger approached the boy step by step. It was merely a Demonic Beast at the fifth level of the Qi Gathering Realm. Lu Chen used Star Serpent Hidden in Clouds for a surprise attack, striking the Earth-Shaking Tiger's neck weakness with one hand, directly killing it.

However, when Lu Chen turned around, he discovered that the boy before him looked almost identical to Little Doggy. Lu Chen quickly called out, "Little Doggy," but the boy on the other side seemed terrified and didn't respond, simply collapsing to the ground.

Lu Chen helped the boy sit on a nearby rock and placed his hand on the boy's abdomen, helping him recover his Spiritual Energy.

During this process, he realized that this was just a cultivator at the fifth level of the Qi Gathering Realm, not his Little Doggy. Lu Chen knew it was impossible for Little Doggy to be alive and here, but he still held onto that sliver of hope.

Half an hour passed, and the boy slowly woke up. Lu Chen quickly stepped forward to help him up.

The boy looked at Lu Chen and quickly thanked him. Perhaps due to the shock, he hadn't fully recovered. The boy woodenly introduced himself as Nantian Yijian, a cultivator who had just entered the fifth level of the Qi Gathering Realm.

As Nantian Yijian spoke, he took out a rusty ancient zither from a storage bag and handed it to Lu Chen. He said that he was an orphan who lived at the border of the Nantian Region and the Jianghai Region. At the age of nine, he participated in a Baptismal Test and entered a local Sect to cultivate, reaching the fifth level of the Qi Gathering Realm.

Later, while venturing out, he obtained a storage bag in a Secret Realm containing some cultivation resources and this Magic Treasure. However, when the Sect Elder found out, he falsely accused him of stealing Sect treasures and forced him to hand them over. Helpless, he had no choice but to flee.

He had been evading pursuit all the way from the Nantian Region and had fled into the Demonic Beast Forest. But ever since entering the Demonic Beast Forest, he realized he was lost.

He had been circling around here these past few days. He could handle low-level Demonic Beasts, but he could only run away from higher-level ones. Today, he accidentally encountered a Demonic Beast here. Fortunately, he met Lu Chen and was saved.

Nantian Yijian said that although he was an orphan, he understood the principle of repaying kindness. If it weren't for Lu Chen, he might have died here today. He had nothing else to give Lu Chen now, and he only wanted to give this Treasure to Lu Chen, urging him to accept it.

Feng Tiancheng, inside the Twin Fish Token, saw the zither and was instantly reminded of that person—the Palace Front Ceremony Official. He was an extremely refined person who always wore plain clothes and played the zither with his eyes closed. But whenever he opened his eyes, a sea of corpses would be left behind him.

This zither was the Magic Treasure Feng Tiancheng had made for him back then, the Qiankun Thirty-Six Sword Qin. He never expected to see it again in such a way.

"Take the zither," Feng Tiancheng's voice entered Lu Chen's mind. He wanted the zither to regain its spiritual power. As for whether that person was alive or dead, letting his legacy continue in the mortal world would be a way to remember an old friend.

Feng Tiancheng instructed Lu Chen to use a special hand seal on the zither to inject spiritual energy into it. Lu Chen straightened his right middle finger towards his heart, placed the tip of his index finger on the back of the first segment of his middle finger, and pressed the inner side of his thumb tip against the first segment of his middle finger's horizontal line, with the tip of his thumb facing the tip of his index finger. His ring and pinky fingers were curled into his palm. Simultaneously, he recited a cryptic incantation.

Feng Tiancheng said that this hand seal was called the Lingguan Art, a set of cultivation gestures that could invoke King Lingguan to protect oneself and supervise one's cultivation. Now, it could also be used to inject pure Spiritual Energy into the zither to control it.

Slowly, the zither began to glow, and bursts of sword cries emanated from it. Immediately after, the side of the zither suddenly opened, and small swords flew out, forming a sword dragon that circled Lu Chen, as if thanking him for releasing them. The small swords changed shapes in the air, sometimes merging into one, sometimes flying apart.

Lu Chen watched the small swords dancing in the sky, then returned the zither to Nantian Yijian. He then directly imparted the Lingguan Art, which controlled the small swords, to him. "This treasure was found by you, so it should belong to you. Moreover, as long as one has a goal, success is possible, regardless of one's background."

Lu Chen looked at Nantian Yijian, and his thoughts turned to Little Doggy once more. He remembered that Little Doggy had already reached the Qi Gathering Realm back then, around the same age, but had died because he wanted to cultivate. Seeing Nantian Yijian now made him feel as if Little Doggy were still alive.

Nantian Yijian looked at Lu Chen, then at the zither. No one had ever said such things to him before. From the time he had consciousness, he had been alone.

Because he had no family to protect him, he was bullied everywhere. Since childhood, any money or food he had would be snatched away. Helpless, he could only go out at night to scavenge for food. But now, Lu Chen told him: what belonged to him should be his, and as long as he had a goal, anything could be achieved.

Tears began to stream down Nantian Yijian's face. He loudly said to Lu Chen, "Thank you, thank you."

This was the first time someone had cared about him. At this moment, a seed was planted in Nantian Yijian's heart—a seed to strive for his goals, a seed to follow Lu Chen forever.

Lu Chen said to Nantian Yijian, "I still need to cultivate here for a while. If you have nowhere to go, you can follow me temporarily. You can leave on your own when we go out later."

Nantian Yijian listened to Lu Chen's words, put away the zither, wiped his tears, and suddenly his expression turned cheerful. He ran to Lu Chen, hugged him, and kissed him on the cheek, then laughed loudly, "Hahaha, I don't need to leave anymore! I, Nantian Yijian, have decided! From today onwards, you are my boss, and I will follow you!"

Decades of orphan life, though without support, had also fostered a carefree, cheerful, and grateful personality in Nantian Yijian. His earlier unnatural behavior was due to the shock; now that he had slowly recovered, he began to show his natural, familiar side.

Lu Chen looked at the boy before him. He couldn't imagine that the person who had been so sad just moments ago was now calling him "boss" and wanting to follow him.

However, Lu Chen thought that since he resembled Little Doggy so much and was also an orphan, perhaps he could keep him by his side and cultivate together, fulfilling Little Doggy's dream.

With this thought, Lu Chen became even more determined to keep Nantian Yijian.

"Then you can stay. But you must continue to cultivate diligently so that we can improve together."

"Yes, boss," Nantian Yijian said, rubbing his head.

Lu Chen decided to stop for the day. He planned to find a cave and let Nantian Yijian rest well for the night, and then continue hunting Demonic Beasts tomorrow.