"Old man, is it really impossible to break through to the legendary realm?"
Chen Shu muttered to himself, his resolve seeming to waver.
Although he believed that with the system's help, he would eventually reach the pinnacle of beast taming, the barrier of the legendary realm had stopped too many peerless prodigies...
Ning Bufan, at the peak of the King tier, and Elder Li, who was pseudo-legendary, had both fallen at this step...
"In the ancient beast taming era, the legendary realm was also unattainable, but it wasn't nearly as difficult..."
The old man's eyes were deep as he slowly said, "I suspect the rules have been altered, either by natural laws or by the Human Emperor and the Beast Ancestor... I'm not entirely sure about this."
"..."
Chen Shu remained silent, finding it incredibly difficult to take that final step.
"What? Are you losing confidence, kid?"
The old man glanced at him, a slight smile on his lips.
"Kid, have some confidence. I've lived for so many years, but you are the most special. Others are far from comparable to you."
"Huh? Is my talent really this outrageous?"
Chen Shu was slightly taken aback, feeling a surge of confidence and surprise at being praised so highly by the old man.
"What I mean is... in terms of sheer absurdity..."
The old man sized him up, a strange smile in his eyes.
Purely in terms of talent, Chen Shu was naturally not the most outstanding.
However, throughout history, no one had started with an F-rank Slime and risen to his current height...
Furthermore, his personality was quite unique, his thought processes always a little out of sync with normal people...
"..."
Chen Shu's face was a mess of black lines. Was this a compliment?
"I've seen too many peerless prodigies, and they truly can't save humanity..."
The old man said with a weathered expression:
"Perhaps only someone as outrageously unconventional as you can truly change the era!"
Chen Shu's expression was jolted. While the old man's words were a bit outlandish, they also held some truth.
For a moment, his confidence returned.
He was the unprecedented and unrepeatable fierce bandit of Nanjiang; he was indeed not someone that any peerless prodigy could compare with...
Chen Shu muttered to himself:
"It seems it's time to give these fierce beasts a little taste of human shock..."
"..."
The old man smiled and said, "It's good that you have confidence."
Chen Shu nodded and then tentatively asked:
"So, old man, is there really no way for me to break through to legendary?"
Despite his confidence, if he could easily break through to the legendary realm, it would naturally be the best.
The old man shook his head and said, "No."
"..."
Chen Shu's expression shifted, and he asked, "What if I merge with humanity's luck?"
"There's a possibility... but it could also fail, as humanity's population is too small now..."
The old man shook his head and said, "In the ancient Imperial Beast continent, humanity numbered in the trillions, nowhere comparable to Blue Star."
"Besides, you kid don't think gaining the approval of all of humanity is easy, do you..."
"Uh... isn't it?"
Chen Shu was stunned, having never considered this issue.
With his current popularity, wouldn't a simple call to arms rally millions of humans to his side...
"To be honest, the reason I could merge with the Divine Continent was because my teacher was from the Divine Continent. He left behind some contingency plans, allowing me to become the pseudo-Human Emperor."
"..."
Chen Shu's mouth twitched instantly. So, even becoming the pseudo-Human Emperor involved cheating?
The old man's great achievements were undeniable, but even such a figure had to cheat to merge with the Divine Continent's luck?
"This path is not easy; it requires time, but I believe in you. That day will come eventually!"
"So, I can't become the Human Emperor immediately..."
A hint of disappointment appeared in Chen Shu's eyes.
"Then why did you ask me back then if I was willing to merge with the Divine Continent's luck..."
"I was just asking casually..."
The old man shrugged and said, "What if you can merge with it in the future?"
"..."
Chen Shu sighed. He had initially felt a stir of interest,
but the result was so complicated, and it wasn't even a guaranteed path to legendary. It seemed less reliable than his system...
"Is there really no sure way to become legendary?"
"No!"
The old man shook his head and said, "If that kid Tianming Guhuang were still around, you might be able to ask him."
"Forget it!"
Chen Shu pouted and said, "He broke through to legendary by relying on the Beast Ancestor."
"Hm? How do you know?"
The old man was taken aback, as even he had always harbored doubts about Tianming Guhuang's appearance.
"The bloodline origin of the Tianming Ancient Kingdom comes from the Beast Ancestor..."
When Chen Shu saw the phantom image of the Beast Ancestor's giant claw, he immediately confirmed that the drop of golden blood came from the Beast Ancestor.
"Humans can absorb fierce beast bloodlines?"
The old man frowned, appearing somewhat bewildered.
"Of course not..."
Chen Shu shrugged and said, "Even the Beast Emperor couldn't obtain it. How could a human? It must have been the Beast Ancestor's deliberate action."
"What's the purpose?"
"To destroy humanity, of course."
Chen Shu pondered for a moment and said, "The bloodline ability of the Tianming Ancient Kingdom is to devour human contracted spirits, right? It was probably the Beast Ancestor's plan back then to disintegrate humanity from within."
Once this bloodline ability spread, fierce beasts wouldn't even need to act; humans would turn on each other.
"However, I guess it failed at the time, or was disrupted by the Human Emperor. Then, centuries later, that Tianming Guhuang luckily obtained a defective version and broke through to the legendary realm."
Chen Shu spoke fluently. Although he hadn't truly witnessed it, he had deduced the course of events.
"You kid suddenly got smarter..."
The old man raised an eyebrow. Even he hadn't thought of this.
"Do you really think I'm just a fierce bandit..."
He didn't understand the events of a thousand years ago, and he lacked a clear understanding of most things, unable to trace cause and effect.
But now, with the old man's explanations, various matters were reasonably accounted for.
"Alright, do you have any more questions, kid?"
A look of approval appeared in the depths of the old man's eyes.
The young man had talent and brains. Although he was a bit of a fierce bandit,
overall, he was not a major problem...
"Of course, there are more..."
Chen Shu then asked all his doubts,
including the system on him... and his identity as a transmigrator!
Now, in his heart, the old man was someone he could absolutely trust, so Chen Shu held nothing back, urgently wanting an answer.
When the old man heard Chen Shu's words, his heart stirred, and he wore an expression of surprise.
After a long period of contemplation, he said:
"The system on you might be a special talent bestowed by heaven because you are humanity's tribulation-averter, similar to the immune system in humans."
"..."
Chen Shu's mouth twitched. Are these two systems the same thing...
He said faintly, "Uh, old man, if we really don't know, you don't have to force an explanation..."
"You rascal!"
The old man glared at him and said, "Aren't I just guessing?"
"As for your identity as a transmigrator, I'm not sure. You said your hometown was a planet dominated by technology. Could the system be a product of your hometown?"
"..."
Chen Shu's face was a mess of black lines. He said, "Old man, the technology in our place hasn't reached such heaven-defying levels..."
He shook his head. The old man's explanation was as good as no explanation...
It seemed that for some questions, he would have to find the answers himself...