"I can't do it, Your Highness."
Visibly distressed, the head scholar pleaded with Elder Shen.
"Oh come now, we are like brothers,"
Elder Shen calmly added as he walked toward the scholar, placing a warm hand of assurance on his shoulder.
"I think you're just the right kind of teacher he needs."
Immediately, the scholar's brows curled.
"Oh please, this is the sixth time you've convinced me to continue teaching your grandson."
Elder Shen: "You know I have no choice…."
"Enough!!! I am done here. Your grandson is far beyond what I can comprehend. Every word seems like nonsense, yet somehow it invokes the Dao. If I stay near him any longer, my Dao Foundation will collapse!"
Elder Shen, defeated, watched as one of his closest friends walked away, broken. He knew too well what happens to a cultivator who encounters a Heaven's Blessed.
It's both a blessing and a curse. If lucky, being around a heaven-chosen can reveal truths, lies, dreams, and happiness—each a key to proving the Dao.
But for the less fortunate, encountering a heaven-chosen creates a heart demon that invades a cultivator's Dao Seed.
Those corrupted often fall into the demonic path. Though not all demonic cultivators are evil, those who enter that path without a solid foundation end up crippling themselves—becoming blood worms, allowed to exist only by possessing a vessel and consuming flesh.
Which is why Elder Shen respected his dear friend's request. He could only blame himself for almost sacrificing someone so close to him.
After a few minutes of silence, Elder Shen made up his mind. Grabbing his outer garment, he headed toward the Pavilion of a Thousand Scrolls.
Inside, little Zhen sat among a pile of scrolls. Now four years old, he could move of his own will.
Which meant: it was time for adventure.
Excited beyond words, he had roamed throughout the Tianxue Palace, the Main Chamber, and even tried to exit the Tianxue Secret Realm.
And his deeds didn't end there.
In the Immortal Realm, once a child reaches three, he or she is assigned a teacher. That teacher molds the young immortal into someone dignified and wise. This is an age-old tradition. Naturally, one was also assigned to little Zhen.
Having regained full consciousness at the age of twenty-three helped immensely when it came to learning. Add to that his natural curiosity, and problems quickly arose.
He was too gifted. Any lesson he heard, he could recall and improve. It felt heaven-defying.
(It would be as if you gave Einstein a divine chip crafted by the gods to raise his IQ.)
One by one, his tutors began to quit. Being in his presence only highlighted their shortcomings. Zhen would even mock them for failing to answer a single one of his questions.
This began after a falling out with his first tutor. At first, lessons progressed smoothly—Zhen gained an understanding of his new home, and the tutor gained fame for teaching the Heaven's Chosen.
That fame inflated his pride.
Eventually, it made him morally blind and full of greed. He began to have thoughts of brainwashing the boy.
"If I could invade his mind and erase his Dao Seed, I could possess him… and continue basking in glory."
It's funny, really. His great betrayal was born out of fear—fear that he would soon be unable to teach Zhen at all. The boy's talents were rising too quickly. In time, he would surpass him.
So the tutor devised a "master plan." He would challenge Zhen to a Dao Battle. The loser would be bound to serve the winner for life.
The incident created chaos throughout the Immortal Realm.
"Can you believe it?" whispered a rogue.
"How shameful. A 3,000-year-old Core Formation cultivator challenging a four-year-old to a Dao Battle?" sighed an elderly hermit.
"What a shame to the legacy of your ancestors!" shouted many.
Despite the protests, the Tianxue Clan declared the duel had been agreed upon—and so, it would proceed.
In his cultivation cave, the tutor paced around anxiously. This was his chance. Everything just seemed to work out too perfectly.
"What do they know?.... They don't know what it's like not to have talent"
...bite... Bite...
They don't know what I had to go through just to reach this point"
As he faded in and out of consciousness, standing at the center of the chamber, he became more depraved, more cruel… and eventually began to nibble on his own fingers.
Slowly~ time passed. And the day of the Dao Battle arrived.
Since this was an internal conflict, no outsiders were allowed at the battle.
Only the heads of the Nine Clans.
The Dao Battle had somehow become an event. And Zhen made sure to take full advantage of it.
Back on Earth, Zhen had been paralyzed. All he could do was spend his life on the internet. But funny enough, he spent most of that time reading manhua and playing VR games.
So it's safe to say: he never learned any real-life skills.
But using his knowledge of girl groups, he proposed an idea to the Serene Pavilion. He would rent out eleven immortal flowers, teach them songs and dances, help the cooks invent new immortal cuisines, and assist the artifact refiners in creating magical treasures.
Ultimately Zhen monopolized the entire event.