Chapter 22

The child looked up at him, snot running from his nose and his whole body filthy, seeming not quite to have registered what he had said.

Chi Yu asked again, and it was another little girl who timidly said, "I know. I'll take you there!"

Chi Yu couldn't help giving the child a few more looks. He took a handkerchief from his low-grade storage bag and wiped his nose, then cast a Dust-Cleansing Art to remove all the dirt from him. Finally, he took out a handful of snacks and divided them among the children.

Children were easy to please. At the sight of food, they immediately cheered. Not just the little girl, but the other children called out too, "I know him too! Yang Dali is my second uncle!"

The children led Chi Yu to Yang Dali's house in a noisy flock.

The commotion drew quite a few villagers over to watch. One child's parent scooped him up and asked, "What's going on?"

The child chattered, "The big brother gave me food! Mom, have some!"

A piece was stuffed into the woman's mouth, and her eyes widened in surprise. "It's sweet! This must be expensive!"

The child grinned. "It's tasty."

"Oh, is he here to see Yang Dali? A relative of his?"

"Wouldn't I know if Yang Dali had any relatives? Come on, let's go have a look."

Chi Yu naturally knew plenty of people were following him, but he didn't mind. He only wanted to know whether the male lead had been butterflied out of existence.

Honestly, Divine Path had already been drastically altered. He no longer hoped that the current world would reproduce the original novel exactly, but as the child of fortune and the foundation of the world, surely the male lead couldn't have been butterflied away too? Would there even be any point in this book existing, then?

Chi Yu soon reached Yang Dali's house.

The home of Divine Path's male lead was utterly bare. Yang Dali, a farmer through and through, had been conscripted by the Tianchi Dynasty in his early years and fought for ten years. He returned with a lame leg and, after much difficulty, married a capable wife. She kept the household in perfect order, and the loving couple soon had several children. The male lead was their youngest.

Yang Dali was sitting on a stool chopping firewood. Seeing Chi Yu and the others approach, he looked surprised, for no other reason than that Chi Yu was far too pretty and far too clean. In fine clothes and a jade belt, he looked anything but ordinary.

His hair was very short, which looked a little strange, but that still couldn't obscure his bright features.

He hurriedly stood, brushed the wood shavings from his hands, and went over to open the gate in the fence. Somewhat ill at ease, he asked, "You are?"

Chi Yu craned his neck to look inside but saw nothing. Scratching his head, he came up with a flimsy excuse. "Um, I'm thirsty. Could I have a bowl of water?"

Yang Dali hesitantly looked down at the children beside him. One child said with childish frankness, "Second Uncle, the big brother came to find you! He gave me sweet things to eat, too."

As she spoke, she offered Yang Dali a snack. He didn't take it, but his expression as he looked at Chi Yu grew visibly suspicious.

Chi Yu: "..."

Chi Yu could only change his story. "I was passing through this village and noticed spiritual energy soaring into the sky here! This clearly means an immortal has been reborn! I counted on my fingers and divined that it was your youngest child!"

This claim shocked some of the villagers behind him. "An immortal reborn!? Really?"

"This child is an immortal too? I thought he was some young master from the city."

Chi Yu flushed with embarrassment and muttered, "That's right, I'm an immortal too. I came to bring your youngest son an opportunity to become an immortal."

Yang Dali didn't believe him. "Whose child are you? Let me take you home. I'll borrow an ox cart from the village chief."

With no other choice, Chi Yu displayed an "immortal miracle" and healed Yang Dali's disability.

Of course, he didn't use Rejuvenation from his system panel, but a proper healing spell from the cultivation world, [Withered Wood Meets Spring]. He hadn't been idle lately. Besides working through practice papers and editing videos, he had been cultivating properly too, learning several legitimate spells encompassing both attacks and healing.

Foundation Establishment really was great: abundant spiritual power and widened meridians. His Qi Apertures couldn't compare with those of a six-year-old child, but they weren't too far behind.

"Heavens! He really is an immortal!"

"Immortal, could I ask you to treat my mother's eye condition?"

"Immortal, my dog-"

The villagers immediately grew excited and crowded around him one after another.

Chi Yu: "..."

Chi Yu had no choice but to bring out a table and treat the villagers for free.

I'm already here, and I've got nothing else to do. I might as well do some good.

And so Chi Yu treated everyone in the village, from the elderly down to the pigs, cattle, dogs, and chickens.

Only after he had finished treating them all did he see Long Aotian, whom Yang Dali had brought back from his wife's parents' home.

The male lead's formal name was Yang Min. He was seven this year and naturally good-looking, with thick brows and large eyes that already hinted at his future handsomeness.

Chi Yu had no interest whatsoever in stealing Long Aotian's opportunities. In fact, he was rather fond of the male lead. He repaid every slight from his enemies, but he also treated his own people with wholehearted kindness and placed great value on loyalty and affection.

Of course, Chi Yu had no intention of riding his coattails either.

He persuaded Yang Dali and pulled Yang Min aside.

Only then did Ling Hezhou finally speak. "This is the child of fortune you mentioned? Our Tianyan Sect has studied the Great Extrapolation Art as a supplementary discipline, which includes observing fortune. He doesn't seem particularly fortunate to me."

Ling Tian agreed. "Indeed. His fortune is merely ordinary white fortune. At the very most, he could only cultivate to Foundation Establishment."

Hearing two voices speak, Yang Min not only knew they were talking about him but also knew they weren't saying anything good. An unwilling expression appeared on his face.

Watching him, Chi Yu found it perfectly familiar. Their male lead was a classic Long Aotian type whose fortunes would turn with time: whoever slighted him would receive tenfold retaliation, and whoever showed him a little kindness would be repaid many times over.

Divine Path had been very popular back then, and the male lead's personality had won him plenty of fans and been immensely satisfying. He had gathered many followers, and even after ascending to the Divine Realm, he hadn't forgotten to help them along. He was a thoroughly qualified boss.

Chi Yu didn't answer the doubts of Ling Hezhou, Ling Tian, and the others. He told Yang Min, "You have the chance to become an immortal. Remember what I'm about to tell you. Five years from now, the Immortal Sect will come to this village to recruit disciples. No matter what, you must get in. If they won't accept you, kneel and beg. Don't worry about your dignity. Once you enter the Immortal Sect, you'll have opportunities even as a menial worker..."

He told Yang Min all the key points, then took out a cheat sheet and lowered his voice. "Keep this safe. These are all great opportunities meant for you. Cherish them, understand?"

Young as Yang Min was, he knew Chi Yu was genuinely helping him. He couldn't help asking, "Are you an immortal? Can you take me as your disciple? I'll definitely honor you as my master."

Chi Yu immediately laughed. "I can't. I only started cultivating recently myself. How could I take you as a disciple? All right, remember what I told you. This is a great opportunity! You'll understand when you're older. Oh, and burn the cheat sheet after you memorize it. Don't let anyone else see it, understand?"

Yang Min nodded. He was very mature for his age. If everything this big brother before him had said was true, his future would be boundlessly glorious. When that time came, he could give his family a good life.

Although he still didn't understand much of it, he committed every word firmly to memory, not daring to forget a thing.

"Oh, right. Since I've given you such a great opportunity, could I ask you for something?" Chi Yu asked politely.

Yang Min grew nervous. "But I don't have anything."

Chi Yu said with certainty, "You definitely do!"

Yang Min: "...What?"

Chi Yu said, "I want to be called Long Aotian!"

Yang Min: "?"

He was bewildered, but quickly recovered. "But my name is Yang Min."

Chi Yu pressed his palms together. "I know. I mean, don't choose Long Aotian when you pick an alias in the future. I like that name, and I want to use it. Is that okay? Let me have it, please!"

Yang Min: "..."

He said stiffly, "Okay."

"Great!" Chi Yu said happily. "Thank you! I'll give you another alias. How about Zhao Ritian? It's pretty similar. I'll trade you. This name is fantastic too!"

Yang Min: "..."

He agreed in a daze.

After Chi Yu left, his brows drew tightly together-

It was just a name. Did he really need to ask me for it?

Yang Dali gathered him into his arms and asked, "What did that little immortal tell you?"

Yang Min came back to his senses and brushed him off vaguely. Touching the cheat sheet tucked inside his clothes, his gaze gradually grew resolute. He would cultivate, become an immortal, and then go find that little immortal.

From now on, he would be Zhao Ritian.

This was their little secret!

Having confirmed that the male lead was still around and hadn't been butterflied away, Chi Yu left, thoroughly satisfied.

He had originally wanted to leave Yang Min some cultivation resources, but after thinking it over, he decided not to interfere too much, so he didn't.

Ling Hezhou and Ling Tian had heard everything he had done-Chi Yu hadn't intended to hide it from them anyway.

Ling Hezhou couldn't help asking Chi Yu, "How did you learn all this? You even know the locations of the secret realms on the Myriad Firmament Continent in such detail? And where the Secret Keys to those realms are? If you know all this, why don't you go get them yourself?" Instead, he had given them to a little boy?

Ling Tian was also full of doubts. For the first time, he took Chi Yu seriously and discovered that he actually harbored so many secrets.

Even stranger, he had handed so many opportunities to a child. Did he not covet them in the slightest?

In the cultivation world, where people fought until their heads bled over a few cultivation resources, this was exceedingly rare. Or rather, no one would do such a thing at all.

Regardless of whether Chi Yu's words were true or false, his willingness to travel so far and treat a child with such courtesy plainly proved his pure heart. Ling Tian couldn't help feeling deep respect for him.

Chi Yu said with complete conviction, "Those opportunities all belong to that boy just now. Use whatever information about the secret realms is useful to you, but don't fight him over certain things. He's the child of fortune. All of these belong to him."