3 So Many Hidden Experts

Now, in order for Jiang Nan to be a proper MC, he must have a Master. The Master of the protagonist usually has to be very powerful and mysterious, and even if he is no longer powerful because of an injury or other reasons, will have an extensive range of knowledge as well as manuals and scriptures.

Hence, Jiang Nan will naturally meet some powerful experts in seclusion in the desert. Usually, the Master will be old and ancient, or exceptionally handsome due to some youth-prolonging arts. Of course, he could also be in Spirit Form, or perhaps be the Sect Leader, Clan Leader or maybe even the Grandfather of one of the current Archdukes.

Now, the Red Sands Province has two Forbidden Zones inside. There is the Gate to the Underworld as well as the Wheel of Samsara. The Gate to the Underworld is a gaping abyss that is supposed to be so deep you could fall for ten days straight before entering Hell. Of course, there isn't such a thing as hell, and the so-called Gate to the Underworld is just an enormous crater caused when a meteor struck. In fact, this meteor wasn't a normal meteor, but an extraterrestrial object from a faraway civilisation.

The civilisation, which was in a world known as the Immortal Realms, had people of ridiculously long lifespans of trillions of years, but also had many mental problems. Each of them was uniquely unusual - some had sixth grader's syndrome, thinking that they were omnipotent Immortals or the princes of some great power. Some had a paraphilia, some enjoyed using metal Lego to "refine heavenly treasures", and others made bad-smelling concoctions of things they called "medicinal pills". There was even one who liked to eat crispy noodle snacks! Also, these people seemed extraordinarily attracted to thunderstorms, and each time a lightning bolt struck down, they would go there and search for some "natural heaven-defying occurrences".

Yes, but because for some reason, these Immortals enjoyed fighting, and for unknown reasons, all their parents, wives and children would be held hostage by their rivals or kidnapped by powerful sects in some useless demon-summoning ritual. Hence, their civilisation quickly went extinct, despite their long lives. A so-called sage decided that there was a chance that there were other Immortals living in the universe, and so put all their weapons, technologies and stuff on a giant UFO and sent it into space.

Eventually, the UFO lost traction and crashed into a mountain, forming what was now the Gate to the Underworld. One thing that was noteworthy was that the spiritual shockwaves of the impact actually went through parallel dimensions and struck Earth, wiping dinosaurs off the face of our Earth.

Right, now back to Jiang Nan. Jiang Nan is staggering across the desert, and his assailants are far away. I suppose they didn't think that another soul would takeover their target's body. I mean the chances are about as high as someone falling down in Earth and finding a 90000-carat D-colour perfect cut diamond. Not as high as seeing several primordial dragons fly a coffin over Shanghai, but still high.

Jiang Nan wanders for nine days and nine nights without food and water, even the sun, rain, and wind cannot touch him... No. It doesn't work like that. Firstly, if even the sun, rain and wind can't touch him, doesn't that mean he has ascended to become a deity already? Also, how can a seven-year-old wander for nine days and nine nights without food and water? Even Bear Grylls can't do that. Does he drink the rain and eat the sand? If so, did he get constipation?

No, instead he walks for about three hundred meters out of the ruins of his clan and stumbles over a small rock, tripping and falling face-flat onto the ground. Of course, it isn't that bad, but he gets some scrapes and bruises plus it aggravates his wound again. Jiang Nan screams in pain. He should be happy that his attackers are out of earshot.

There, Jiang Nan sees a jade ring. This ring is so sparkly and eye-catching, it's amazing that every single person who passes by has never seen this ring yet! Also, the chances that you find a treasure each time you trip is lower than winning the jackpot in a national lottery ten times in a row. The jade ring is in the shape of a dragon eating its tail, known as the Ouroboros.

Now, as Jiang Nan picks up this jade ring, a small white drool spirit is seeping out of the dragon's mouth. Now, the Grandpa Golden Finger appears but doesn't show himself yet, choosing to watch over his young master...?

No, that's not right.

His young protege.

That's better.

It will be some sort of trial of character. Now, we see Jiang Nan smashing the ring against the sand (doesn't sound that painful), screaming, "Where's my golden finger?!"

How amusing.

As that happens, an all-powerful sage who happens to be injured during a fight falls from the sky, right in front of our MC. Jiang Nan begins to have this greedy look in his eyes that says golden finger as he walks over and summons Li Shi Zhen.

Li Shi Zhen appears, stroking his beard in an attempt to look wise, as he treats the sage's broken bones, ribs and tibia. An ordinary person would have died long ago, as the bones have punctured the lungs, heart, bladder, kidneys, liver, gallbladder, spleen, stomach and whatnot, but no, this old fellow stubbornly clings on to life for the main character to exploit him.

Tsk, tsk.