Chapter 23: Divine Favor

Hearing this, a look of surprise flashed in Chu Muyun's eyes.

"Why? Are you interested in the path to divinity too?"

"A little interested, and I plan to become a law enforcer next, so..."

"Law enforcer." Chu Muyun nodded. "So, you plan to walk the 'Soldier God Path'?"

"I suppose so... Aren't law enforcers only able to walk the 'Soldier God Path'?"

"Who said that?" Chu Muyun chuckled. "Law enforcers—no, I should say among law officers, the vast majority are on the 'Soldier God Path' because it's the only path to divinity mastered by the Aurora Domain.

However, among the law officers of Aurora City, there is no shortage of [Divine Favored Ones] of other divine paths, and they can also become law officers."

"I don't have any special talent, maybe I have no chance to become a [Divine Favored One]." Chen Ling sighed. "In all likelihood, I can only wait until three years after becoming a law enforcer to try my luck at the 'Soldier Path Ancient Treasury'..."

"Brother, who says you don't have talent!" Chen Yan immediately put down his chopsticks and said seriously. "You're so amazing, there must be many of those... divine paths, fighting over you!"

Chen Ling smiled bitterly.

Chen Ling was telling the truth... Ever since his previous life, he had been an inconspicuous water droplet submerged in the tide of mediocrity.

When he was a child, his parents did force him to learn some music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but he didn't master any of them. After growing up, he forgot everything, his academic performance was average, and his physical fitness was poor. He was an ordinary person who might know a little bit about everything, but when it came down to it, he was nothing.

The Chen Ling of this life was the same.

With the mediocrity of two lives superimposed, Chen Ling didn't think he had the potential to be chosen by a divine path...

"Talent is indeed something that can't be determined." Chu Muyun said deliberately. "Some people may have a certain talent, but it hasn't been revealed yet. Perhaps when the right time comes, it will be displayed..."

"Then if it's the Soldier God Path, how can you know if you have talent?"

"That's simple."

The smile on Chu Muyun's lips gradually faded, and he said in an extremely indifferent tone, "Go kill someone and you'll know... Killing one isn't enough, then kill ten, kill a hundred... If after killing a thousand, the Soldier God Path still hasn't favored you, then you can be sure you don't have this talent."

The chopsticks in Chen Ling's hand paused, and the living room fell into a dead silence.

"Just kidding." Chu Muyun smiled, as if the ice and snow had melted, and the warm breeze blew across the dining table again. "If you don't kill people, then you can only enter the ancient treasury... Three years is a long time, but you are young and can afford to wait."

Killing...

Chen Ling looked at the rice in his bowl, recalling the scene of the red paper monster killing the two law enforcers that night, and suddenly felt a bit nauseous.

Chen Ling was an ordinary person. Even if he had killed countless people in games in his previous life and watched many bloody movies, when it really came to holding a knife to kill someone, he still didn't dare... He couldn't cross that bottom line in his heart, the bottom line built by reason and kindness.

"Then what is a 'Path'?"

Chen Ling remembered the [Killing Waltz] he extracted from Han Meng, which came from the "Judgment" path of the Soldier God Path, but he didn't know what a path was.

"You even know about 'Paths'?" Chu Muyun looked at him in surprise.

"Let's put it this way: if becoming a god is like a mountain climbing road, then besides the main road on the mountain, there are also 'paths'. The divine path is the main road, and a 'path' is a trail extended according to each person's personality and talent.

For example, Han Meng. He is relatively stubborn and has a sense of justice, so he is on the [Judgment] path... Correspondingly, the abilities he gains when ascending to different ranks may also be different from other paths, possessing more personal characteristics."

Chen Ling was thoughtful. "Then how many paths will one divine path have?"

"That's hard to say. Some divine paths have many people walking them, so the paths explored and extended will naturally be many. For example, the Soldier God Path, as far as I know, has seven different 'paths'. But some less popular divine paths may not have many paths."

"Doctor Chu, are you also a possessor of a path to divinity?" Chen Ling asked, puzzled, thinking of Doctor Lin's evaluation of him.

"Yes." Chu Muyun admitted generously. "I walk the 'Medical God Path'."

"Medical God Path? Is the Medical Path Ancient Treasury also in the Aurora Domain?"

The moment he asked this question, Chen Ling realized and said in astonishment, "You... are a [Divine Favored One]?"

Chu Muyun smiled without saying a word.

Although Chen Ling had long guessed that Chu Muyun walked the Medical God Path, he didn't expect the other party to be a [Divine Favored One]... Wasn't it said that this thing was very rare? How did he encounter one so easily?

"What does it feel like to become a [Divine Favored One]?" Chen Ling couldn't help but ask.

Chu Muyun was thoughtful.

"Hmm... this is not easy to describe. It's probably that you suddenly feel like you have transcended in an instant, and there is a gaze looking at you from the dark... Then, the surrounding environment will change, and a divine path leading to nothingness will automatically appear in front of you..."

"Divine path? Is it a real road? Not an illusion?"

"It's real, at least it's real at that moment. But before you step on it, it will float in the sky, constantly shaking, just like... just like..." Chu Muyun couldn't think of a suitable adjective for a moment.

"Like a ribbon?" Chen Yan, who was burying his head in his meal, suddenly spoke up.

"A ribbon?" Chen Ling looked at him in surprise.

"Yes, a ribbon." Chu Muyun's eyes lit up, and he continued, "And the moment you step on it, it solidifies into a physical entity, and then disappears... Although you can't see it, it will always exist in your body."

Chen Ling looked at Chen Yan suspiciously, and the latter shrank his neck and whispered, "I just heard his description... and said it casually."

"...Alright."

Chen Ling sighed. "I hope I have a day to step on a divine path."

After the meal, Chen Yan consciously rolled up his sleeves to wash the dishes, and Chu Muyun took out a book from somewhere and sat by the kerosene lamp to read by the dim light, frowning and confused from time to time, wondering what he was thinking.

As the night deepened, the three returned to their rooms to rest.

Chen Ling was the last to leave. He blew out the lamp on the table, the fire flickered, and he immediately fell into darkness...

His gaze turned to Chen Yan's room.

Chen Ling walked slowly to the door of Chen Yan's room, took out a broken safety amulet from his arms, and was about to knock on the door, but his knuckles paused in mid-air.

【"I, I... after I woke up from surgery, I was waiting in the hospital for you to pick me up... Then, then I heard outside that a 'World-Ender' level Calamity had invaded, and I was very worried about you.

【I took advantage of the hospital staff not paying attention and snuck out, preparing to go home to find you, and then I saw you hanging on a monster..."】

【"The law enforcers didn't seem to have enough manpower, they just locked down the outside of District 2 and District 3, but there weren't many people stationed between the two districts, so I snuck over."】

【"Brother, aren't we running?"】

【"Brother, it doesn't matter if you become a monster, as long as... you are still you."】

【"That doctor seems very capable, I recovered very quickly."】

【"I don't know... maybe it fell off when I ran back."】

Chen Yan's words kept flashing in his mind, and Chen Ling's knuckles tightened... He looked at the safety amulet in his hand, his eyes full of confusion and bewilderment.

Ever since he found this safety amulet in the ruins of Ice Spring Street, Chen Ling's heart had been in his throat. Even after walking for two hours to get back, he kept thinking about this one thing...

Thinking carefully, from the time Chen Yan appeared until now, there were many things that simply couldn't be explained.

The timing of his appearance, the location of his appearance, it was all too coincidental... Could a teenager who had just undergone heart transplant surgery really pass through the law enforcement blockade and walk for more than two hours to the back mountain?

Or was it that... he was no longer human either?