Everyone's faces slowly eased from their pained expressions and entered into an absent-minded state as they explored their newly awakened blessings.

Sky was the first to leave her absent-minded state. She blinked her eyes and looked toward Jin Shu.

Jin Shu was inside his mind space, tinkering with the runes on his weapons. He had just discovered a new feature of his blessing: the ability to copy and replace runes! He was using the ability on the lethal ammo for his riot gun. Currently, he was using a bizarre combination of Qi Circulation Runes on one round and Explosion Runes on another, so that he could shoot the explosive rounds in midair to cause an air burst explosion. But now, he could replace the Qi Circulation Runes with Explosion Runes instead, as he could now control the activation of runes from afar.

While he was tinkering, a gentle voice resounded inside his mind.

Jin Shu!

He recoiled in shock from hearing the voice so suddenly. He looked around himself and saw Sky staring at him.

"That voice... it wasn't you, was it?"

The voice appeared in his mind again. It was. This is part of my blessing. I was blessed by the Goddess of Knowledge and Communion. I have awoken a wealth of knowledge and the ability to commune with others via telepathy. Due to the knowledge I received as part of my blessing, I have full control of my ability and do not need to get accustomed to it.

"Are you all-knowing now?" he joked.

She shook her head. Not quite, but I do know what our blessings are, among various other bits of knowledge.

He looked at her in curiosity. "You know our blessings? What is mine?"

Yours is the blessing of the God of Technology. With your blessing, you have perfect control of all of your own creations and can peer into the inner workings of the creations of others to deduce their methods of creation and their functions.

He was intrigued by the other parts of his ability that Sky mentioned, which he had yet to uncover in his experimenting. "Interesting... what about the others?"

Su Bing has the blessing of the Goddess of Death and Secrets. Hers is a very grim blessing—it allows her to grow stronger by killing. It has another ability, but I have no knowledge of the second part of her blessing, likely due to it coming from the Goddess of Secrets. There is something else I learned about Su Bing as well, but I'll wait until she awakens before I tell you. She chuckled lightly at the end.

She was going to continue, but a bright flash of golden light interrupted her, followed by a loud shout.

"Daddy! Yin'er's head hurt!"

Yin'er came flying over and slammed into Jin Shu's chest.

"Oof!" He was knocked over, as he wasn't prepared for her to ram into him at what seemed like Mach 5 speeds. She was flying so fast that there were silver afterimages left behind her.

As he lay on the ground with a little silver furball on top of his chest, Sky's voice spoke in his mind again. She started with a small laugh, likely from watching him fall over.

Hehe! Yin'er gained the blessings of the Goddess of Fortune. With it, her luck is increased to the highest degree possible in the mortal realm. However, along with this blessing comes a potential negative impact on her control over her powers. Due to her luck, she will randomly activate abilities that she shouldn't yet be able to use. Like what happened just now—her speed was due to a special technique inherent to her species; however, it can normally only be used when they reach a level of cultivation much higher than her current realm.

He slowly sat up while rubbing his aching chest and picked Yin'er up to look her over. She hadn't changed at all appearance-wise, still looking like a cute little tiger cub, but there was something about her that felt different. He looked at her closer and noticed a strange halo-like invisible energy radiating off of her.

"What is this weird halo around Yin'er?" he asked Sky.

That is her aura of luck. It causes herself and those enveloped inside of it to become luckier. When she has a better handle on her blessing, she will be able to retract or expand her aura at will.

"What about her ability to control the minds of other creatures? Do you know what that is?" Jin Shu decided to ask Sky about Yin'er's strange ability, as he had been curious about it for a while, and Sky seemed to have an endless wealth of knowledge now.

I do know what her ability should be; however, hers seems different from the one in my knowledge. The Monarch Winged Tiger is a special species of Demonic Beast born from a rather average species of Winged Tigers. Their main ability is to passively influence weaker creatures into worshipping them as rulers. Yin'er's ability seems to be a mutated version of that, which allows her to actively control those weaker than herself.

Whinny!

The sound of a young horse neighing echoed nearby.

My son, Star, has awakened. Sky's already soft, gentle voice became even softer as she spoke of her son. She called him over, and Star pranced over happily. When he reached his mother, he rubbed up against her flank with his own.

Mommy!

Jin Shu looked at Star as he heard a young boy's voice in his mind. "Did Star get the same blessing as you?" he asked Sky.

No, this is still my ability. I can link multiple beings together so that they all may be able to speak to each other telepathically.

I can hear Mommy's and Big Brother Jin Shu's voices in my head? That's so cool! Star jumped up and down in joy.

Yin'er too! Yin'er can hear everyone's voices!

Star, would you like to know what your blessing is? Sky asked, and Star nodded enthusiastically.

You were blessed by our great ancestor, the God of the Plains! Your blessing is quite unique in that you did not get any fancy abilities like the rest. Instead, your bloodline will be constantly purified until you reach the level of Divine Beasts!

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I didn't get any special abilities? Star asked with a pout.

You did not; however, do you know what a Divine Beast is, Star? Sky gently shifted Star's attention away from him not having an ability.

I don't. What is it?

A Divine Beast is the highest form a beast can achieve. They are extremely powerful and terrifying. I'm sure Jin Shu has heard of a few of the famous Divine Beasts.

Are you talking about the four Divine Beasts that are said to each represent one of the four regions?

Yes, those ones. Do you mind telling the kids some of their legends?

Sure, but I only know one legend. It goes like this: In each region, there is said to exist a terrifying, sleeping beast of unimaginable power! Those beasts are called the Four Divine Beasts. The Western Region is said to be inhabited by the White Tiger, the Eastern Region by the Azure Dragon, the Southern Region by the Vermillion Bird, and the Northern Region is home to the Black Tortoise. The legend states that these four Divine Beasts will one day awaken when the world is in peril, to fend off a great threat. In fact, the legend says that the reason the Four Divine Beasts are sleeping is that they were injured in a great battle. Together with four brave heroes, they fought off terrible creatures that descended from the heavens to destroy our world!

Yin'er wants to see the White Tiger!

I want to see the Azure Dragon!

Star and Yin'er began arguing over which Divine Beast was cooler and stronger than the others. As they argued, they chased each other around in a playful quarrel.

"Eek!"

A terror-filled scream came from behind Jin Shu. Before he could turn to see what had happened, he was crashed into again, this time from behind. "Oof!"

"G-g-g-ghosts!" Su Bing's voice came from Jin Shu's back.

Jin Shu picked his face up from the ground and turned his neck to glance over his shoulder. He saw Su Bing clutching the back of his robes, her face buried in his back. Behind her, floating, were two translucent figures. They looked somewhat like the ghosts they had seen in the ghost village, albeit less violent and much less bloody.

Jin Shu placed his hands against the ground and pushed himself up. He was more than strong enough to lift himself and Su Bing, granted she didn't weigh much to begin with. As he stood up, Su Bing clutched onto his back like a koala hugging a tree. "Su Bing, can you let go of me, please?" He asked as his hand began to glow red. He was charging up a phoenix claw in case these seemingly benign spirits turned out to be not so benign.

The two spirits in question—one dressed in all black robes, the other in white—reminded Jin Shu of two legendary grim reapers from his previous life. He decided to ask them if they were indeed those same grim reapers. "You two wouldn't happen to be the Black and White Guards, would you?"

The two spirits glanced at each other, shook their heads, and then looked back at Jin Shu before shrugging their shoulders.

"So, you aren't them?" Jin Shu asked again in confusion.

The two spirits shrugged again.

I don't think they can understand you, Jin Shu. But this should help; I've linked us together with telepathy.

Let me try asking this again then. Are you two the Black and White Guards of the Underworld?

Uh? Telepathy? That is an uncommon ability. We are indeed the Black and White Guards of the Underworld, two of many, anyways. It was unknown which one was talking via the telepathic connection; however, based on the Black Guard nodding his head, it could be assumed it was the Black Guard answering the question.

So, why are the Black and White Guards here? I don't think any of us need to be escorted to the Underworld, do we?

We are here for that little lady stuck to your back, aha! The Black Guard chuckled lightly, seeing Su Bing stuck to Jin Shu, while shaking in fear of the two spirits.

To take her to the Underworld? Jin Shu asked with a frown, slightly raising his still glowing red hand.

Oh no, unfortunately, she cannot travel to the Underworld, at least not at her current realm of cultivation. We are here to deliver her master's inheritance to her.

My master? Since when did I have a master? Su Bing had been listening the entire time, but she was still too scared to speak. However, hearing talk of a master she had never heard of before made her curious enough to peek her head out from behind Jin Shu and ask a question. Although she quickly ducked back behind him when she saw the two spirits glance at her.

Yes, your master is the Goddess of Death. Since you are the first to bear her blessing, you are now nominally her first disciple. Once you master her inheritance and can travel to the Underworld, you can then officially become her first and only direct disciple.

Su Bing peeked her head over Jin Shu's shoulder for a brief moment once again and asked, Can... can I refuse?

Refuse!? Why would you refuse to become the direct disciple to a God!? It was the White Guard who had spoken this time.

"Eek!" Su Bing yelped when she heard the White Guard shouting.

You bastard! How dare you shout at the young miss! The Black Guard smacked the White Guard in the head, causing the White Guard's head to fall off and roll behind Jin Shu.

Su Bing heard something roll beneath her. When she looked down to see what it was, she saw the White Guard's severed head lying on the ground, staring up at her. "Eeeeeeek!!!" With a scream loud enough to wake the dead, Su Bing fainted.