Chapter 19 Blessed By Immortals

If all of this had merely planted the seed of cultivation in people's hearts, then a short video, no more than a few dozen seconds long, posted by a content creator on a video-sharing platform, made that seed take root and sprout instantly. "Say it! Say you're a dog!" "Hahaha! Look at you, acting like some model student every day—who are you trying to fool?" The video showed a group of students in school uniforms cornering a boy in an alley, laughing and taunting him as they kicked and hit him. The one recording the video grinned smugly. Hatred burned in the boy's eyes as he tried to stand up, only to be knocked down again and again. "Loser!" "From now on, when you see us, crawl like a dog—got it?" They kept flaunting their so-called 'strength,' completely unaware that the boy's eyes were gradually turning red. Above them, beneath the faint projection of the Immortal Realm, the Lotus Lantern swayed slightly. A streak of light descended from the sky, sinking into the boy's body. In the next moment, the boy froze, then slowly closed his eyes. "Open your eyes!" "What? You not gonna fight back?" "I told you to act like a dog—can't you hear me?" The boy ignored their words, letting them continue their assault. Thirty full seconds passed. Then, he quietly opened his eyes, a hint of confusion flashing within them. "That voice... the one that echoed in my mind just now—what was it?" He stood there, battered and disheveled, slowly lifting his head to look at the classmates standing before him. The words he'd just heard kept echoing in his mind, and he softly repeated them: "A single lotus lantern, a giant axe to cleave mountains..." "Daring to tread upon the heavens, daring to defy the celestial laws..." "Chenxiang — 'Strength'." (Remark: Chenxiang was the protagonist of the Chinese mythological story The Lotus Lantern. His full name was Liu Chenxiang. He was the son of the Holy Mother of Mount Hua and Liu Yanchang, and the grandson of the White Emperor Shaohao, the Golden King of the Western Sacred Emperor. The story mainly told of Chenxiang wielding the Mountain-Cleaving Axe to split a mountain and rescue his mother.) As his words fell, a faint gust of wind swirled around him. His pupils glowed with a subtle green light. The next moment, a blurry figure appeared behind him—a young man with long flowing hair, and an axe hanging from his waist. Seething with rage, the boy took a step forward and threw a punch at the nearest bully, whose face had already twisted in fear. Boom! The sheer force sent the bully flying backward. "Ahhh!!!" "W-What the hell is going on?!" The others screamed, scrambling to escape. Even the one holding the phone dropped it in a panic and ran for his life. The boy didn't chase them. Instead, he stood there, feeling the sudden surge of strength coursing through his body, gaining a vague understanding of what had happened. Then, he slowly walked over to the fallen phone, picked it up, and stared into the camera. With absolute seriousness, he spoke, enunciating each word clearly, "From today onward, no one can bully me again. No one!" The video cut off. Yet just before it ended, a faint whisper could still be heard, "Chenxiang... Blessing... Blessed one..." There were no edits, no signs of special effects — completely unaltered footage. Within just ten minutes of being posted, the video had spread like wildfire across the internet. Everyone was talking about it. Some tried to imitate him, chanting the same 'incantation,' but to no avail. Others turned to ancient mythology, digging through texts to determine if the shadow behind the boy truly was Chenxiang. And soon after, more and more videos like his began to surface online. "Immortal cultivation is actually real!" "How can I cultivate immortality?" The internet was flooded with comments like these. Eventually, people reached a conclusion: those who had suddenly 'mutated' seemed to refer to themselves uniformly as 'Blessed by Immortals.' Among them, a wealthy individual made a bold move, promising to give away one million dollars to any 'Blessed One' willing to explain the secrets behind it. Half an hour later, the same wealthy person posted again: "'Immortals' seem to randomly select mortals with personalities similar to their own to bestow blessings upon." "Those who are blessed can borrow the Immortal's abilities." "But so far, the abilities they can borrow are quite limited—mostly just enhancements to basic attributes like 'strength' and 'speed.'" "As a professional gamer, I've analyzed this rationally. It seems the Blessed Ones are currently low-level (meaning their bodies can't yet handle more of the Immortal's power). As they level up, they may eventually gain access to all the Immortal's techniques!" "I spent eight million dollars gathering intel from several Blessed Ones to figure this out." "You're welcome." As soon as this post went up, it spread like wildfire. Finally, people had a somewhat clear direction for discussion. Strangely enough, while the entire internet buzzed with speculation, the City Lord's Mansion remained absolutely silent. No rumors were dispelled, no comments were controlled—they simply let things unfold on their own. Meanwhile, the young Deputy City Lord stood before a mirror, carefully adjusting his outfit, wrapping himself up tightly from head to toe. "Keep the Encten Army on high alert," he ordered. "As for the online frenzy, let it be for now." He added, "If we act like we're paying too much attention, those Blessed Ones will grow cautious and start hiding their identities. If we make it seem like Encten isn't taking this seriously, most of them will drop their guard and start showing off sooner or later." "Also... is my car ready?" After a night of contemplation, Thomas had regained his composure and asked calmly. His secretary, dressed in combat gear with a stern expression, replied, "We're ready to depart anytime." "Good. The infamous Black Street... Encten's lawless zone... It's my first time there. Should be interesting." With a smile, Thomas draped a fur coat over his shoulders and walked toward the door. Two attendants opened the door slowly, bowing respectfully as he left. The secretary followed closely at his side. Outside, the driver had already opened the car door, carefully helping the Deputy City Lord inside before starting the vehicle and driving away.