Chapter 513: Side story — Shaman King Arc (Half a Lifetime of Dreams)

How difficult is it for a person to persevere?
The Spirit King... oh no, the Reincarnation Emperor will give you the answer.
......
The Yin-Yang Realm, according to legend, is the body of a powerful being after his death.
And this legend is true!
The Duanmu family is a martial arts family within the Yin-Yang Realm, with a strict hierarchy.
Duanmu Zhen is a lowly servant in the Duanmu family, a 'medicine mannequin' needed for their training.
"Duanmu Zhen, hurry up!"
Tears of humiliation streamed from Duanmu Zhen's eyes.
The surroundings were filthy and chaotic, like a pig farm, a chilly wind blowing against Duanmu Zhen's body.
Beneath him lay a woman, her eyes vacant, pressed tightly against Duanmu Zhen. He felt no warmth, only that the woman was like a cold doll.
This was fate, his destiny. As a "medicine man" of the Duanmu family, he had no dignity whatsoever as a human being. Even the right to mate was taken from him. His descendants, and their descendants, and their descendants, would be reborn as "medicine men" of the Duanmu family for all eternity.
Two hours later, two tall Duanmu family guards roughly kicked open the door, covering their noses and looking at the man and woman with disgust. They then dragged Duanmu Zhen away.
Duanmu Zhen's eyes were filled with despair. Without a doubt, he was about to become a "medicine man," he was going to die... The Duanmu family's cultivation method was extremely special. The required elixirs could not be taken directly. "Medicine men" like him, who had long cultivated the secondary cultivation method, needed to first take them to neutralize the toxins, and then the upper-class members of the Duanmu family, who cultivated the primary cultivation method, would gradually refine them.
His hair, his flesh, his bones—everything about him would cease to exist, leaving no trace in this world.
"I'm not reconciled... I, Duanmu Zhen, am not reconciled... Why was I, Duanmu Zhen, destined to become a 'medicine person' from birth?"
"I, Duanmu Zhen, don't want to be a 'medicine person'! I, Duanmu Zhen, want to be a human being! I want to be an upright human being!"
Duanmu Zhen roared inwardly. He couldn't speak, for his mouth had long been gagged by the Duanmu family guards. Like a pig or a dog, he was thrown into a secret room. The room was dimly lit, with the sound of running water. This clear sound made Duanmu Zhen even more desperate. Thinking of the fate that awaited him, his body trembled uncontrollably.
Duanmu Zhen saw a woman slowly approaching, barefoot and with skin as white as jade in the dim candlelight. Duanmu Zhen felt his previously icy body suddenly begin to feel hot for some reason. He slowly raised his head, following the white skin, and saw a youthful face, beautiful, with long, wet hair, full of allure.
"Go...and never come back."
The woman seemed to have a change of heart, speaking to Duanmu Zhen. Then, with a slight movement of her fingers, the shackles binding Duanmu Zhen were removed, and he was free to move!
Duanmu Zhen lay prostrate on the ground, his head pressed against the earth. He couldn't believe what the woman had said was true.
Finally...Duanmu Zhen left, following the route the woman had indicated, and left the Duanmu family home.
"Another one fooled."
After Duanmu Zhen left, the woman's lips curled into a smile, a mocking glint in her eyes.
A 'drug person' is still a 'drug person' after all.
In her hands, it was just a different way of using a 'drug person'.
...
Duanmu Zhen left the Duanmu family, and everything seemed to go so smoothly.
By chance, he obtained a cultivation technique called the Yang Shen Jue, and he began his cultivation journey.
Duanmu Zhen later learned that the woman who had let him go was named Duanmu Rong. Because she had released him, this "medicine man," she had been punished by her family and confined to her quarters.
Duanmu Zhen fiercely swore in his heart that he would repay Duanmu Rong.
It's a very old-fashioned story: a beautiful woman, kind-hearted, spares a servant's life; the servant, grateful, wants to play the hero.
Ultimately... and naturally, he becomes another "medicine man."
But Duanmu Zhen is different. Even Duanmu Zhen himself didn't expect that after leaving the Duanmu family, he would encounter a beggar who called himself the Yin-Yang Elder. The Yin-Yang Elder took a liking to Duanmu Zhen at first sight, saying he was destined for greatness and had a solitary star's fate, and wanted to take him as his disciple.
At first, Duanmu Zhen thought he was a madman, but after witnessing the Yin-Yang Elder's methods, he decisively knelt down and received the Elder's teachings.
Duanmu Zhen's cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, breaking through his limitations. He returned to the Duanmu family and rescued Duanmu Rong, who was still in confinement.
The two were deeply in love.
Upon waking, the beauty was gone, replaced by a skeleton.
Duanmu Zhen both cried and laughed.
"You really deceived me...you really deceived me!"
Before he set off to rescue Duanmu Rong, the Yin-Yang Elder revealed Duanmu Rong's scheme to him...In the end, Duanmu Zhen still set off. His Yang Shen Technique had far surpassed Duanmu Rong's Yin Shen Technique. Duanmu Rong wanted to willingly dedicate her body and soul to Duanmu Zhen, but even in death, she never imagined he would have such an opportunity, ultimately suffering a backlash.
You think this is a story of master and disciple teaching each other?
No… the Yin-Yang Elder was merely a wisp of soul. He nurtured Duanmu Zhen only to suppress all other destinies with Duanmu Zhen's malevolent fate, ultimately turning him into a vessel for his resurrection.
This is the cultivation world—scheming everywhere, devoid of mercy, kinship, friendship, or love. Even if such feelings exist, they are insignificant in the long run; only self-interest remains eternal!
“You all want to eat me! This is a cannibalistic world!”
“If I don’t want to be eaten, I can only eat others. Once I eat others, no one can eat me!”
In the final step of the Yin-Yang Elder’s plan, he hadn’t expected Duanmu Zhen to betray him and devour him!
“Duanmu Zhen, I have treated you well; you cannot treat me like this!”
Duanmu Zhen sneered. Since beginning his cultivation, he had witnessed countless schemes. Where in this world is there unconditional kindness… even if there is, he would rather kill the innocent!
The entire Yin-Yang Realm was refined by Duanmu Zhen. He personally destroyed the realm he inhabited, successfully transcending... The world is vast; even those who have transcended are merely ants.
Even if he had survived eight tribulations of the Emperor Realm, he could only reach the twenty-first tribulation of the Emperor Venerable Realm in his entire life.
Duanmu Zhen was unwilling to accept this; he was unwilling to stop there.
"Since I'm going to eat people, then I won't just limit myself to eating people. I, Duanmu Zhen, will achieve the highest!"
Duanmu Zhen comprehended the essence of life and death, but failed to break through its boundaries... Realizing he would stagnate if he continued, he chose to take a desperate gamble!
Using his understanding of life and death, he created a cultivation technique. This was a daring experiment; anyone who practiced it would be subconsciously influenced, eventually becoming him... Although this other self was no longer Duanmu Zhen, but merely a puppet with some of his memories, Duanmu Zhen didn't care. As long as he succeeded, whether he was truly himself was irrelevant.
Duanmu Zhen spread the technique, creating countless copies.
Duanmu Zhen disappeared, but countless individuals carrying his legacy continued to appear, forming a power passed down through generations... the Samsara Palace!
Each time, the Lord of Reincarnation would return, his accumulated wisdom from countless lifetimes imprinted within the Reincarnation Palace. He would comprehend and comprehend the mysteries of the world, gathering immortal energy from across the land. In countless cataclysmic destructions, even Emperor-level beings in the Immortal Ascension Realm could not escape death, yet the Reincarnation Emperor survived.
Just as the Reincarnation Emperor was gathering three thousand strands of immortal energy, preparing to gamble everything on the path to immortality... an unprecedented war erupted.
"Reincarnation, immortal energy is not something you can possess. You are ultimately just a person of this world."
The Reincarnation Emperor was surrounded by nine other Emperors, all of whom were True Immortals from outside the realm.
They had plotted to uncover the secret of the Reincarnation Emperor's immortality, but to their dismay, they had failed. Once the Reincarnation Emperor had gathered three thousand strands of immortal energy, they could no longer remain passive.
This battle caused the destruction of an entire era, burying countless worlds... even erasing history itself.
Since that battle, the Reincarnation Emperor has never appeared again.
...
Meanwhile, an insignificant cell evolved, transforming into a universe, within which new life was born.
A new will was also born, its mind filled with only fragmented memories... yet those fragmented memories guided it.
In that era of creation, he was already invincible, establishing the first Celestial Court, seeking to refine the universe and transcend heaven and earth.
He failed... besieged and killed by countless powerful figures. With the fall of the first Spirit Emperor, the powerful figures of the era of creation were almost entirely wiped out.
Later, he appeared again... but the memories in his mind gradually faded. The Immortal Ancient Era, the Mythical Era... the Ancient Era, the Primordial Era... countless capable individuals emerged, countless amazing emperors abounded, and even gods and demons existed. No matter how hard the Spirit King tried, it all ended in failure, and his legacy gradually disappeared.
Until he encountered that crow...and after the crow came a celestial spirit.
From that moment on, the era of Shaman King came to a complete end.