Aman remained silent for a long time before finally speaking again. "What would I have to do as your hired muscle? Let me make this clear first: I won't do anything that goes against my conscience, no matter how much I owe you!"
Seeing that Aman was tempted, Chen Yao struck while the iron was hot. "Don't worry. I won't put you in a difficult position. I just think I'm not really suited to fighting, so I want someone up front to fight for me. First, that person has to be a genius. Otherwise, if they can't keep up and end up weaker than me, there's no point. Second, they can't have any major powers behind them. That would save me a heap of trouble. After weighing everything up, I think you're the best choice."
"Are you really that certain I'm a genius?" Aman was at a loss. Living in the Martial King Manor, he had always held a fierce resolve to avenge little Hao. But Shi Yi possessed the Supreme Bone, supreme blood, and double pupils, making him absurdly powerful. The sheer number of records he held in the Void God Realm left Aman feeling powerless, as though catching up would be nearly impossible. Praise from the Martial King Manor's elders was one thing, but no one currently compared him to Shi Yi. There was simply no comparison to make; they only considered him a promising youngster with good aptitude.
Yet this overly familiar boy before him had actually placed him alongside Shi Hao and Shi Yi.
He had no idea how great the gap between the three of them was and assumed Chen Yao meant they were on the same level. In fact, Chen Yao still considered him the weakest of the three. It was just that Aman surpassed ordinary prodigies by far too much. Differences only became clear through comparison.
Obviously. You're most likely the nominal disciple of a mighty Immortal King Giant. Someone who merely has a chance of becoming a True Immortal wouldn't even qualify. To be chosen as a hidden safeguard for a lineage's inheritance, your potential must guarantee True Immortal at the very least, with a chance of reaching Immortal King. Just like that disciple of the Lord of the Forbidden Zone in the lower realm, Azure Moon. If she hadn't died in battle during Immortal Ancient, her attainment of Immortal King would have been practically assured, Chen Yao grumbled inwardly.
As for the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, formed from the shattered Primeval Ancient World, the vast majority of geniuses in the Immortal Academy and Sacred Academy were not even qualified to be compared with Aman. Aman was probably comparable to Mo Xian of the Foreign Realm, who had been accepted into an imperial clan because of exceptional talent and nurtured on equal footing with its members.
Aman's cultivation was still shallow, and he lacked guidance. To realize his aptitude, he would probably have to squander the potential of quite a few cultivation realms along the way. That was rather regrettable. Good resources and guidance in the early stages were absolutely essential. Otherwise, he would suffer a considerable disadvantage, and making up for it would be troublesome.
"I'm very certain. I know a great many things that will happen in the future. I've calculated that, with your potential, your stage shouldn't be limited to this place. The mere venerable realm is nowhere near your limit, and neither is godhood. With your aptitude and comprehension in cultivation, you can go very far." Chen Yao gave Aman a clear answer. To Aman, these words sounded empty, grandiose, and unrealistic. Chen Yao did not mind that they had gained him no ground. He might as well finish singing Aman's praises now and save himself the trouble later.
"If you don't believe me, I can give you another piece of information you can verify. Shi Hao isn't dead. He survived his brush with death in the Stone Kingdom Ancestral Land and has already begun growing again." Chen Yao finally dropped his next bombshell.
"Are you serious? How can I verify that?" Aman's attention was immediately captured.
"After some time, he'll enter the Void God Realm with the help of the Stone Kingdom Ancestral Land's sacrificial spirit. He'll break some records there and make a name for himself. After that, he'll conceal his identity and go to the Heaven Mending Pavilion to study. You can meet him there." Chen Yao did not keep him in suspense. Winning Aman's trust could not be done through deception. Aman saw things clearly and was keenly sensitive to good and evil.
"Void God Realm records... the Heaven Mending Pavilion..." Aman murmured, then asked, "How long before I can verify it?"
"Let me work it out. Shi Hao is only six now, and he won't enter the Void God Realm until he's eight and a half. That means more than two years, and his trip to the Heaven Mending Pavilion will be even later." Chen Yao thought for a moment and decided to approach the matter from another angle. "But when he's seven, he'll leave the Stone Kingdom Ancestral Land to train in the Great Wilderness. Then he'll reach the Second Ancestral Land on the Stone Kingdom's border and stir up some trouble there, because a child serving as Shi Hao's stand-in is being bullied there. Shi Hao will take him back to the Ancestral Land."
"If you go to the Second Ancestral Land ten months from now and wait there, you should be able to run straight into him!" Chen Yao offered another plan.
"..." These outrageously detailed predictions of the future stunned Aman into silence.
After a while, however, Aman asked about something else. "Since you knew about this, why didn't you help little Hao's stand-in?"
"My cultivation was still shallow then. I had only just entered the blood moving realm and couldn't beat anyone, so there was nothing I could do there. The Second Ancestral Land is a tangle of deeply entrenched interests. I couldn't save him. But I'm certain his life isn't in danger," Chen Yao replied.
"I see. What about now?" Aman asked again.
"Now, I should be able to." Chen Yao raised his eyebrows, thinking Aman's next words would most likely be that he wanted to visit the Second Ancestral Land.
"You should be in the cave heaven realm now. Does that mean someone in the cave heaven realm can deal with the situation in the Second Ancestral Land?" Aman's next question caught Chen Yao off guard. He was actually trying to determine Chen Yao's cultivation realm and how difficult the situation in the Second Ancestral Land was.
Chen Yao gained a little more understanding of Aman's character. He was kind but not rigid, intelligent and adaptable. Still, Chen Yao did not answer his question and instead continued at his own pace. "Do you want to go to the Second Ancestral Land? If you want to stand up for Qingfeng, I can go with you. Consider it a gesture of sincerity."
"Qingfeng?" Aman asked in confusion. "Shouldn't a stand-in have the same name as little Hao? Is that his original name?"
"No. It's the name he'll give himself after gaining his freedom." Chen Yao continued showing off his prophetic persona.
"I'll ask an elder to come along," Aman said, fixing his lively eyes on Chen Yao.
"That's fine. I'll take a roundabout route and follow you." Chen Yao smiled. "Just don't let the elder seize Shi Hao and keep him there."
"..." Aman finally froze. The other party spoke with such absolute certainty that he could not help beginning to believe him.
"Don't rush. It won't take long for an elder to accompany you to the Second Ancestral Land. We still have time to build trust slowly. I know you think I have ulterior motives." Chen Yao gave a deliberately unfathomable smile and casually set down a bottle of spirit liquid.
"This is a bottle of sacred medicine-grade spirit liquid that I diluted. I know you won't use it, but you can find some way to verify whether my goods are genuine. I truly mean you no harm." Chen Yao stepped lightly backward and suddenly vanished from the room.
"Oh, right. You can call me Wu Gensheng." His final words drifted down, startling Aman.
Aman's Jade Pendant had been flashing ever since their conversation began. Some time after Chen Yao left, it finally succeeded in activating the formation and alarm. Within a few breaths, an elder from Shi Ziling's faction arrived. "Aman! What happened? Why did you trigger the alarm?"
Before the old man arrived, Aman had quickly put away the bottle of medicinal liquid. His gaze flickered when the elder entered, but in the end, he chose not to reveal what had just happened. With an innocent expression, he said, "Fourth Grandfather, I accidentally activated the Jade Pendant just now, but nothing happened, so I tried a few more times. Could you see if it's a little broken?"
"Hmm? Let me take a look..." Fourth Grandfather, whose golden hair resembled a golden lion's mane, suspected nothing and began examining it.
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