A flash of surprise crossed Chu Muyun's eyes upon hearing this.
"Why? Are you also interested in the path to divinity?"
"A bit, and I plan to become an enforcer next, so..."
"Enforcer." Chu Muyun nodded. "So, you intend to walk the 'Military God Path'?"
"I suppose so... Don't enforcers have no choice but to take the Military God Path?"
"Who said that?" Chu Muyun smiled faintly. "Enforcers—no, most law enforcement officers do follow the Military God Path, since it's the only divinity path mastered by the Aurora Realm. However, among Aurora City's law enforcement officers, there are also [Divine Favored Ones] from other god paths who can become enforcers."
"I don't have any special talents. Maybe I'll never get the chance to be a [Divine Favored One]." Chen Ling sighed. "Most likely, I'll just have to wait three years after becoming an enforcer to try my luck in the 'Military Dao Ancient Treasury'..."
"Brother, who says you have no talent!" Chen Yan abruptly put down her chopsticks and said seriously, "You're so amazing; there must be many... god paths competing for you!"
Chen Ling gave a bitter smile.
Chen Ling was telling the truth... Since his past life, he had been an ordinary drop lost in the tide of mediocrity. As a child, his parents had indeed forced him to learn some traditional arts like music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but he never mastered any, forgetting them all as he grew up. His academic performance was average, his physical fitness was poor—he was the kind of ordinary person who knew a little about everything but excelled at nothing. This life's Chen Ling was no different. With two lifetimes of ordinariness superimposed, Chen Ling didn't believe he had the potential to be chosen by a god path...
"Talent is unpredictable." Chu Muyun said thoughtfully, "Some people may possess a certain talent but never reveal it. Perhaps it will emerge at the right time..."
"If it's the Military God Path, how can I know if I have the talent?"
"Simple." The smile faded from Chu Muyun's lips, and he said in an extremely indifferent tone, "You'll know once you kill someone... If one isn't enough, kill ten, a hundred... If the Military God Path still hasn't favored you after killing a thousand, you can be sure you lack the talent."
Chen Ling's chopsticks froze, and the living room fell into silence.
"Just kidding." Chu Muyun smiled, as if ice was melting and a warm breeze returned to the dining table. "If you don't want to kill, you'll have to enter the ancient treasury... Three years is long, but you're young and can afford to wait."
Killing... Staring at the rice in his bowl, Chen Ling recalled the night when the red-paper monster had killed two enforcers, and suddenly felt nauseous. Chen Ling was an ordinary person. Even though he had killed countless times in games and watched many bloody movies in his past life, when it came to actually wielding a knife to kill, he still couldn't bring himself to do it... He couldn't cross the bottom line in his heart, the one built by reason and kindness.
"What about 'paths'?" Chen Ling remembered the [Killing Dance] he had drawn from Han Meng, which came from the "Judgment" path of the Military God Path, but he didn't understand what a path was.
"You know about paths?" Chu Muyun glanced at him in surprise. "Let me put it this way: if becoming a god is like climbing a mountain, there are not only main roads but also 'trails' on the mountain. God paths are the main roads, while 'paths' are branches extended from each person's personality and talents. For example, Han Meng is quite stubborn and righteous, so he follows the [Judgment] path... Accordingly, the abilities he gains at different ranks may differ from other paths and be more personalized."
Chen Ling nodded thoughtfully. "How many paths does a god path usually have?"
"It varies. Some god paths are popular, so naturally more paths are explored and extended. Take the Military God Path—I know there are seven different 'paths'. But for more obscure god paths, there may be only a few paths."
"Dr. Chu, are you also someone who possesses a path to divinity?" Chen Ling asked in confusion, recalling Dr. Lin's evaluation of him.
"Yes." Chu Muyun admitted frankly, "I walk the 'Medical God Path'."
"Medical God Path? Is the Ancient Treasury of Medical Dao also in the Aurora Realm?"
The moment he asked this question, Chen Ling reacted and exclaimed in shock, "You... are a [Divine Favored One]?"
Chu Muyun smiled but remained silent.
Although Chen Ling had long guessed that Chu Muyun walked the Medical God Path, he never expected the other to be a [Divine Favored One]... Didn't they say this was extremely rare? How come he'd encountered one so casually?
"What does it feel like to become a [Divine Favored One]?" Chen Ling couldn't help but ask.
Chu Muyun pondered for a moment.
"Hmm... It's hard to describe. It's roughly like suddenly feeling transcended in an instant, as if a gaze from the void is fixed on you... Then, the surrounding environment changes, and a divine path leading to nothingness automatically appears before you..."
"Divine path? Is it a real road? Not an illusion?"
"It's real, at least in that moment. But before you step onto it, it floats in the sky, swaying continuously, like... like..." Chu Muyun couldn't find the right adjective for a moment.
"Like a ribbon?" Chen Yan, who had been burying her head in her meal, suddenly interjected.
"A ribbon?" Chen Ling asked in surprise, turning to look at her.
"Yes, a ribbon." Chu Muyun's eyes lit up, and he continued, "Then, the moment you step on it, it solidifies into a physical form before disappearing... Although you can no longer see it, it remains within you forever."
Chen Ling looked at Chen Yan in confusion. The latter shrank her neck and whispered, "I just... guessed from his description."
"...Alright."
Chen Ling sighed, "I hope I'll have the day to step onto a divine path too."
After the meal, Chen Yan voluntarily rolled up her sleeves to wash the dishes. Chu Muyun produced a book from nowhere and sat by the kerosene lamp, reading by its dim light—frowning and looking puzzled at times, as if lost in thought.
As night deepened, the three went to their respective rooms to rest.
Chen Ling was the last to leave. He blew out the candle on the table, and the flame flickered before plunging the room into darkness...
His gaze turned toward Chen Yan's room.
Chen Ling walked slowly to Chen Yan's door, took out a broken safety amulet from his pocket, and was about to knock when his knuckles froze mid-air.
"I... after waking up from surgery, I waited in the hospital for you to pick me up... Then I heard they said a 'world-ending' calamity had invaded, and I was so worried about you.
I sneaked out while the hospital staff wasn't looking and was about to go home to find you when I saw you being carried by a monster..."
"It seems the enforcers are short-staffed—they only blocked off Areas 2 and 3, but there aren't many guards between the two areas. I sneaked through."
"Brother, aren't we running away?"
"Brother, it's okay to become a monster, as long as... you're still you."
"That doctor seems amazing—I'm recovering really fast."
"I don't know... Maybe it fell off when I was running back."
Chen Yan's words kept replaying in his mind, and Chen Ling's knuckles clenched tighter... Staring at the safety amulet in his hand, his eyes were filled with confusion.
Ever since finding this amulet in the ruins of Bingquan Street, Chen Ling's heart had been in constant turmoil. Even after walking two hours back, he couldn't stop thinking about it...
Come to think of it, many things since Chen Yan's appearance couldn't be explained.
The timing and location of her appearance were too coincidental... Could a teenager who'd just undergone a heart transplant really cross enforcer blockades and walk over two hours to the back mountain?
Or was it... that she wasn't human anymore either?