Hearing these words, Chen Guan felt an oppressive weight in his chest.
If interpreted according to Duan Shulin's logic, those divination verses could mean the Great Demon Lord's child would eventually kill the Ten Heavenly Kings and annihilate the ten great families.
If such a prophecy truly existed, it wouldn't matter if centuries or millennia had passed—the Ten Heavenly Kings would undoubtedly spare no effort to hunt down and exterminate the Great Demon Lord's descendants. They'd rather believe it possible than risk ignoring it, preferring to kill mistakenly than let anyone escape. They would never allow the prophecy to come true.
A chill ran down Chen Guan's spine. If he truly were the demon child mentioned in the prophecy, didn't that mean all ten families were currently seeking to find and kill him?
Chen Guan desperately wanted to return home immediately and ask Chen Xinghe whether he knew about this matter—whether his identity was truly flawless and undetectable.
Yet he knew rushing back now would be pointless. If anyone could have uncovered Chen Xinghe's secrets, they would have done so long ago.
Another thought occurred to Chen Guan—perhaps the "demon child" in the prophecy didn't refer to him or the Great Demon Lord's offspring at all, but something else entirely.
Still, Chen Guan decided he must take extra precautions to conceal his origins, especially avoiding that so-called Hundred Flowers Divine Mirror at all costs.
"I can't spend my entire life hiding. Eventually, I'll need to resolve this. If the prophecy's demon child truly means me, the Ten Heavenly Kings and their families will never let me go. I may have to fight them to the bitter end. To live peacefully, I'd need to eliminate the Ten Heavenly Kings and wipe out all ten great families—only then could my family and descendants live without constant fear." Chen Guan's eyes flickered with uncertainty. At his current strength level, he couldn't possibly challenge the Ten Heavenly Kings—even a mere servant from any of the ten families could crush him like an insect.
"This Duan Shulin has shared far more than two strangers normally would upon first meeting. Is he truly just an innocent chatterbox? Was our encounter really coincidental?"
In the darkness, Chen Guan's starlike eyes gleamed thoughtfully while Duan Shulin continued rambling.
"The Ten Heavenly Kings have searched secretly for so many years without finding any trace of the Great Demon Lord. If I were to actually draw the blade from the Hundred Flowers Divine Mirror, do you think they'd spare me? Even with proof of my clean background and no relation to the Great Demon Lord, they'd likely kill me just in case—I'd have no chance of survival. Only someone as naive as Jiang Qiemo would consider drawing that blade. Though as a descendant of Old Heavenly King Jiang's family, even if he did withdraw it, he'd probably just need to take a paternity test at worst—certainly not face execution."
Chen Guan half-heartedly conversed with Duan Shulin while the Tomb Lord killed numerous Profound Yin Ghosts, allowing Chen Guan to obtain a Secret Technique Core for the Profound Yin Art and another for Triple Yin Claw, though the Seven Mysteries Steps remained elusive.
Fortunately, Chen Guan already possessed Forest Net Ghost Steps, making the Seven Mysteries Steps unnecessary.
Having gathered considerable loot, Chen Guan decided not to linger and left the Profound Yin Cave with Duan Shulin.
Emerging outside, Chen Guan glanced at the previous stall and noticed the Secret Skill Core for Profound Nether Yin Fire Palm remained. Approaching the stall, he produced the Profound Yin Art and Triple Yin Claw cores, pointing at the Yin Fire Palm core. "Two for one—deal?"
"Yours are just ordinary Profound Yin Art and Triple Yin Claw—combined they're worth maybe a hundred coins at most. Mine is the rare Profound Nether Yin Fire Palm... Hey, don't walk away! Fine, deal!" The stall owner, seeing Chen Guan turn to leave, hastily agreed and handed over the Yin Fire Palm core.
Since nobody ever bought the Yin Fire Palm anyway—far less popular than the Profound Yin Art or Triple Yin Claw—the merchant actually felt pleased with the exchange, believing he'd gotten the better deal.
Equally satisfied, Chen Guan immediately used the core to learn the technique.
Secret Skill: Profound Nether Yin Fire Palm (Rare).
Usage Requirement: None.
Primordial Energy Consumption: 21.
"First-level Profound Nether Yin Fire Palm consumes 21 Primordial Energy points—over ten times Blood Palm's cost. Normally this would be unusable, but greater energy consumption means greater explosive power. For others, this would be an ultimate technique, but for me..." Chen Guan's mood brightened considerably. "After a few more level-ups, I could use it as a regular skill—maybe even basic attacks."
Though his current Primordial Energy reserves couldn't sustain even one Yin Fire Palm usage, Chen Guan already envisioned collecting more high-cost, high-power secret techniques to maximize the First Secret Technique's potential.
"The Yin Fire Palm's power comes at excessive energy cost. Unless one consumes rare treasures that increase Primordial Energy capacity, it's practically unusable before Second Awakening. Even if forcibly activated, you'd only get one shot—hardly practical." Duan Shulin remarked nearby. Follow current novels on novelFirｅ.net
Chen Guan neither agreed nor disagreed, simply stating his hobby of collecting secret techniques.
Arriving in Samsara City, Duan Shulin directly handed the card to Chen Guan for verification at the administrative hall.
Without hesitation, Chen Guan thoroughly examined the card and confirmed this Holographic Secret Realm Card was indeed an officially issued limited edition from Samsara City, granting lifetime unlimited access to all 79 affiliated Mystical Spirit zones. Most importantly, it was truly anonymous—recognizing only the card itself, unlike the functionally similar but identity-registered Black Gold Cards.
After verification, Chen Guan transferred the Mutated Tomb Lord to Duan Shulin outside the administrative hall.
While this pet qualified as a minor premium item, it fell short of Rouge in every aspect and held little value for Chen Guan.
Moreover, being somewhat appearance-conscious, Chen Guan found the Tomb Lord's ugliness irritating—he much preferred beautiful pets like Consort Ming, whose attributes and abilities completely outclassed the Tomb Lord's anyway. Keeping it served no purpose.
"Holy shit... 1.91 growth rate?!" Duan Shulin nearly dropped the card reading the Tomb Lord's stats, alternating between shock and delight. Though Chen Guan had mentioned it being a unique pet, he never expected such astronomical growth rates rivaling some lower-tier legendary pets.
The only shortcomings were mediocre secret skills and no secret treasures.
Little did he know, the Tomb Lord merely resulted from merging two Mutated Shituos—having any secret skills at all was impressive enough, let alone secret treasures.
"Old Guan, know why I traded such a precious Secret Realm Card for this pet?" Grinning uncontrollably, Duan Shulin looked like he'd won the lottery after receiving the Tomb Lord.
"Why?" Chen Guan actually understood—despite its phenomenal growth rate, the Tomb Lord's ordinary secret skills and lack of treasures made this exchange disproportionately favorable to him. Unless Duan Shulin was both stupid and rich, he must have ulterior motives.
"Heh, ever wonder why that Profound Yin Ghost Mother chased me? Because deep in Profound Yin Cave, I discovered a Nether Lotus—but it grows within Profound Nether Yin Flames. Without a Tomb Lord-type pet, retrieval's impossible. Now that the guarding Mutated Profound Yin Ghost Mother is dead and I possess this Yin Flame-immune Tomb Lord..." Duan Shulin couldn't contain his laughter. "That Nether Lotus is as good as mine! And I have you to thank—without selling me this Tomb Lord, I could never have claimed it... HAHAHA!"