Chapter 2930: Second Life 01

In the depths of the divine realm that had slept for years, radiant light shot into the heavens, auspicious vapors streamed in thousands, the sound of the Great Dao resonated like the great bell and lute, echoing between the thirty-three heavenly realms.

All the gods sensed it; the chief god returned to his throne.

Yet among the six realms of heaven, there had never been such a precedent.

The chief god, having returned after surviving tribulations, first act upon retaking his divine seat was to traverse the six realms in search of a single tree.

Legend says it was born when chaos first opened, and it grows at the end of time.

It bears no fruit, no flowers, no branches, yet it can nurture every fragmented soul and spirit; no matter how shattered, as long as a trace of breath remains, it can recondense.

Chenshu trod every corner of the six realms.

From the eastern Fusang to the western Weak Waters, from the southern Returning Abyss to the northern Snow Plains, in those desolate places even the gods would not bother to tread, he searched inch by inch.

Chenshu planted that fragment of divine wood at the very core, nurturing it day and night with his natal divine breath and heart's blood.

After a hundred years, the branch showed no change.

The divine realm's celestial officials whispered privately, wondering if the chief god had lately become somewhat off.

Formerly that aloof, indifferent chief god who cared for nothing now spends each day in a side hall for two hours, sometimes longer; during council he occasionally zones out, his gaze drifting to the window, unknown what he thinks.

In the 137th year, the branch put forth its first new leaf.

That leaf was tiny, only the size of a fingernail, tender green and tender.

When Chenshu noticed it, he lowered his head and saw the leaf trembling slightly toward him.

He stared for a long while, then reached out and touched the leaf.

In the 201st year, a second leaf grew on the branch.

By the 300th year, the spirit branch had grown to half a person's height, its trunk sturdy, its spirit fully saturated to the utmost.

Chenshu seemed to sense something, ending his breath regulation early, and stood silently before the spirit branch.

Today he had not bound his hair; his black hair flowed over his shoulders, he wore only a moon‑white ordinary robe, laying aside the chief god's stern dignity, appearing somewhat serene.

The light gradually faded, and the boy stood barefoot in the spiritual liquid.

He looked about fourteen or fifteen years old by mortal reckoning, his frame not yet fully grown, his black hair like clouds, still bearing lingering spiritual light.

His eyes slowly opened, pupils clear and blue like the deepest sea, also like the tiny divine sapling that first awakened spiritual wisdom in the ancient Kunlun abyss.

The boy stood in the light, blinked, and gazed at Chenshu.

He felt a soul‑deep sense of closeness and trust toward the person before him, tilted his head, his eyes pure and unafraid.

Chenshu also looked at him; the god's heart, frozen for three hundred years, was lightly stirred by that clear gaze, finally rippling.

He finally raised his hand, fingertips trembling slightly, and lightly rested them on the boy's soft hair.

"From now on, you shall be called Jin Chen."

The boy lifted his face to look at him.

"He is my attendant little divine lord."

Jin Chen.

Those two syllables fell into the boy's ears; he felt they were very familiar, warm, as if he had heard them long, long ago.

He replied crisply.

——

After Jin Chen took form and was formally accepted by Chenshu as his sole disciple, the Chief God's Hall completely changed its atmosphere.

Chenshu's indulgence of Jin Chen was almost unreasonable, utterly without principle.

He personally enlightened him, explaining divine‑realm common knowledge, cultivation methods, and the mysteries of the heavens.

Jin Chen's lodging was arranged in the most spirit‑rich loft of the Chief God's Hall; his garments and ornaments were hand‑crafted by the realm's most skilled weaver maiden and artisan god, and his cultivation resources were piled up like mountains and filled seas.

Chenshu wished he could lay the essence of all myriad worlds before him.

Under Chenshu's boundless indulgence, Jin Chen, naturally spirited and lively, quickly grew into a hegemon of the divine realm.

He chased a butterfly—the spirit butterfly raised by the Queen Mother of the West in her rear garden, which took three thousand years to produce a pair; Jin Chen pursued that butterfly across half the divine realm, finally cornering it, crouched to study it for half an hour, the butterfly trembling under his scrutiny, almost metamorphosing on the spot.

The Queen Mother of the West found Chenshu to lodge a complaint.

Chenshu fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Has he been hurt?"

"Not that…"

"Then that's fine." Chenshu picked up his brush again, saying, "Later I'll have him go apologize to you."

Queen Mother of the West: "……"

The next day, Jin Chen indeed went to apologize.

He held a small basket of spirit fruits he had picked himself, stood properly before the Queen Mother's hall, face uplifted, smiling with an innocent expression.

Thus the butterfly became Jin Chen's little spirit pet.

——

In the divine realm's Heavenly Horse Pasture are kept a herd of divine steeds, the mounts of several heavenly sovereigns when they travel.

When Jin Chen passed by, he saw a white little foal, fluffy and adorable.

He crouched, reached out and touched it; the foal was gentle, even rubbing against his palm.

Jin Chen was delighted, then and there decided to take it for a walk.

He led the foal from the Eastern Heavenly Gate to the Western Heavenly Gate, then from the Western gate circled to the Southern Heavenly Gate.

Along the way, the immortals they met stared at him in surprise, not knowing where the chief god's little disciple had gotten such a foal.

Later the manager of the Heavenly Horse Pasture came, sweating profusely with anxiety.

"Little Divine Lord! This foal is from our pasture, only three months old and still unweaned!"

Jin Chen lowered his head to look at the foal he was leading.

The foal also lifted its head to look at him, its eyes full of innocence.

"Is it still small?" Jin Chen asked.

"Small! Too small!"

Jin Chen thought for a moment, crouched down, and stroked the colt's head.

"Then you go back,"

The colt rubbed against his hand and followed the steward away.