Yellow-Haired Great Bear

"A letter talisman?"

Lei Zhan composed himself, first respectfully accepting the dark gray talisman, then asked, "Master, why are you handing this letter talisman to me? Your disciple is still young, and with you still here, I am hardly qualified to be called the master of this immortal mansion!"

What an elder bestows, one must not refuse.

Lei Zhan naturally had to accept it respectfully. Only after clarifying the reason would he have a proper basis to either ask his master to rescind the order or express his gratitude for the gift; there was no such thing as refusing an elder's gift directly to their face.

Lei Zhan looked at Immortal Juhua and asked, "Master, and the fourth master of this immortal mansion? Why the fourth generation? Shouldn't you be the first master of this mansion?"

Although Lei Zhan had read Desolate Era thoroughly in his past life and could recall the contents of the entire book by heart, he naturally knew the various records within it.

But since he had arrived in this Desolate Era world, this matter was his greatest secret for the future; he naturally could not show it, let alone reveal even a fraction of it.

"Hahaha."

Immortal Juhua laughed heartily. He could feel the genuine respect coming from Lei Zhan, so he looked at him and explained, "This immortal mansion does not belong to me. I only know that this mansion is a heaven-sent opportunity left behind by an extremely ancient and powerful being! And that ancient being is the true first master of this mansion."

"Later... over the course of an incomparably long period, it passed through one more master. Finally, through a stroke of fate, this mansion fell into my hands. Counting it this way, I am currently the third master!"

"It is a pity for such a heaven-defying, peerless opportunity. If not for my own lack of fortune and talent—when I obtained this mansion, my God-Devil Body Refining had already broken through the Purple Mansion realm for too long..."

Immortal Juhua shook his head and sighed, "In the end, I had no chance to obtain the first master's inheritance. I was delayed too much along the way, and ultimately, I could only stop helplessly beneath the Heavenly Tribulation, becoming a failure."

"Now, the reason I spread the news of taking on a disciple throughout the Great Xia World is both to choose a disciple for myself to slightly make up for the regrets of being a lone wolf, and at the same time, to select a successor for this immortal mansion!"

Immortal Juhua looked at Lei Zhan, slowly recounting secrets hidden behind the fragmented words that Lei Zhan could never have gleaned from the original text of Desolate Record.

Lei Zhan listened silently from the side. He could feel that although the thin, robed old man before him possessed extraordinary strength, he would also grow old and weary.

His heart was incomparably lonely. There was no path left to tread on the road of immortality, and when he turned back, his relatives and friends had long since departed one by one over the endless years.

Even if Immortal Juhua had the ability to seek them out one by one, to find the reincarnated bodies of his former loved ones, after endless years had passed and they had experienced countless cycles of reincarnation, would they still be the same relatives he once knew?

The twilight of an immortal is nothing more than this.

"Alright! You have been very patient listening to an old fellow like me ramble on about such trifles. Are you willing to refine this letter talisman now?"

Immortal Juhua smiled nonchalantly. Having walked alone for so long, the bitterness in his heart had nowhere to be vented, which had allowed a layer of dust to settle upon his clear sword heart.

Now, having poured his heart out to his only disciple, his Dao heart felt transparent, and his insight into the Sword Dao had even faintly improved.

"This disciple is willing," Lei Zhan said softly.

Immortal Juhua looked at Lei Zhan and reached out to pat his shoulder. "Refine this letter talisman first, and you will be the new master of the immortal mansion, the fourth master!"

"The fourth master of the Star-Plucking Mansion!" Lei Zhan gently chewed on this short sentence, his heart filled with a complex mix of emotions.

He held the dark gray talisman in his hand and raised it before his eyes, examining it carefully under the bright light.

At first glance, the talisman looked very rough, yet it was extremely simple, with an ancient and complex character carved onto it—'Right'!

"Right!" Lei Zhan whispered the ancient God-Devil character, pondering inwardly, "This must be referring to that Daoist Sanshou!"

"After all, that Daoist Sanshou had many titles. Daoist Star-Plucker, One-Armed God Lord, Right-Hand True God... This 'Right' character must refer to the title of Right-Hand True God."

Although he had never seen this complex God-Devil character before, he naturally understood its meaning.

This God-Devil script was itself born of heaven and earth, an ancient script used to carry information; once he saw it, he naturally understood the meaning contained within.

Whoosh!

Lei Zhan's Origin Energy surged out of his body, refining the letter talisman with extreme ease, and he then looked at Immortal Juhua, who was waiting nearby.

"Master, I have already refined the talisman. It seems... the places this talisman can access are extremely limited. Aside from this main hall, there are only four other branch halls that I can enter."

"You can enter four branch halls?" Immortal Juhua was stunned, then immediately reacted and asked hurriedly, "Lei Zhan, you are cultivating the Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Map, right! I wonder how long it has been since you successfully broke through to the fourth level and have been cultivating until now!"

"From breaking through the fourth level of the Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Map until now?" Lei Zhan's heart stirred, and he said, "From the fourth level to the current seventh level, it has been four years!"

"Only four years! You truly are a monstrous talent! No wonder you can enter four branch halls," Immortal Juhua said, looking at Lei Zhan.

"This is perfectly normal. Your master here is already a Loose Immortal, and in millions of years, I have only ever been able to enter three of the branch halls. You are still in the Purple Mansion realm, and your time spent cultivating is short; being able to enter four branch halls makes you much better than me."

"If you become a Primordial Spirit Daoist in the future, you will be able to roughly refine the Water Mansion, and by then, you might be able to enter some of the other branch halls."

"Master can only enter three branch halls?" Lei Zhan asked curiously.

"Yes." Immortal Juhua nodded. He looked at Lei Zhan and said, "I can only enter the War God Hall, the Hall of Treasures, and the Star Hall."

"As for the Divine Ability Hall, every cultivator who becomes the master of the mansion only has one chance in their life to enter it, and they must become a God-Devil of the Purple Mansion realm before the age of ten to enter. This condition alone filters out countless cultivators."

Whoosh!

Just then, the figure of a Yellow-Haired Great Bear instantly appeared in the main hall. It was a tall, upright-standing bear. The bear had originally been a phantom, but in an instant, it solidified at high speed, as if it were a real living creature.

The bear's fur was entirely yellow, radiating a faint, extremely ancient, and eternal aura.

The bear spoke in human language: "Juhua, those who cannot enter the Divine Ability Hall... can only blame their own lack of fortune."

"What kind of powerful being was my master! Even in the Three Realms, he was a top-tier figure. What a great opportunity it is to obtain his inheritance!"

"If he weren't strict in selecting a successor, and some mediocre cultivator obtained it, it would only disgrace my master's name!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Immortal Juhua replied helplessly; he was the very "mediocre cultivator" the Yellow-Haired Great Bear was speaking of.

The Yellow-Haired Great Bear looked at Lei Zhan and asked, "You are cultivating the Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Map?"

Lei Zhan turned his head to look at Immortal Juhua.

"Disciple, this Senior Great Bear is the artifact spirit of this immortal mansion. You may address him as Senior Great Bear, just as I do."

"Greetings, Senior Great Bear!" Lei Zhan bowed respectfully upon hearing this. He then looked at the great bear, secretly pondering to himself, So this is the artifact spirit of the Star-Plucking Mansion, the Yellow-Haired Great Bear!

He said with a serious expression, "Senior Great Bear, what I cultivate is precisely the Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Map!"

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