Chapter 53: Meeting John

Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Meeting John

Shen Yun wasn’t finished speaking.

"This competition, apart from promoting the spirit of competition and fostering mutual exchange and assistance, is also meant to find true successors for these inheritances." Everyone listened attentively to his words. "Therefore, after discussing with the other three unaffiliated Golden Core experts, we have decided to establish an Alliance. It will consolidate the strength of all cultivators in Huaxia to digest and develop these inheritances in the shortest possible time..."

With the earlier build-up, announcing the Huaxia Cultivation Alliance now felt like a natural progression. It was a platform—one that would allow all cultivators in Huaxia to learn, digest, and develop these cultivation inheritances. In fact, this very competition served as the preliminary selection. The events were all related to the inheritances, designed to broadly assess whether a person had the talent to learn them.

Take Arrays, for example. Someone without the slightest bit of logical reasoning, calculation skills, or spatial comprehension would definitely fail at learning them. This was exactly why a math exam was included in a cultivator’s competition.

When the carnival of the opening ceremony finally concluded, Shen Yun sat at the rostrum and let out a long sigh of relief.

"You’ve worked hard, Fellow Daoist Shen," Miao Yun said, handing him a bottle of water. Her large, watery eyes were filled with admiration. "If it were me, I definitely wouldn’t have done nearly as well."

"I was just forcing myself through it," Shen Yun said, offering her a wry smile.

If Little Nine hadn’t used Spiritual Power to help alleviate his physical stress, he would have been drenched in sweat and looked like a total mess. He had been facing a global audience; the eyes of the entire world had been focused on him. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t nervous. But now that it was over, waves of satisfaction welled up in his heart.

He thought, "I guess I can be considered a world-famous big shot now."

At that moment, Little Nine chimed in with a reminder in his mind.

Shen Yun looked up and saw several Western men walking toward the rostrum, led by staff members. They wore black, form-fitting robes that somewhat resembled the uniforms from *Assassin’s Creed*. They were accompanied by a large group of reporters from both Eastern and Western media outlets.

The Western man leading the group was John. As soon as he stepped onto the stage, he quickened his pace and reached out his hand, wearing his signature smile.

"Hello, Master Shen," he said in heavily accented Chinese.

Shen Yun didn’t stand up until John was right in front of him, reaching out to shake his hand. "Mr. John, welcome to Huaxia."

Instantly, a flurry of camera shutters clicked around them. Most of the Western reporters wore expressions of excitement and pride. This man was very likely the strongest cultivator in the world!

"The honor is mine," John replied, switching back to English. His first Chinese sentence had clearly been learned on the spot. "The speech and the cheering crowd just now are something I might never forget for the rest of my life. I truly wish such joy could appear in our country as well."

"That will require your own hard work." Shen Yun withdrew his hand and gestured that he didn’t need a translator, continuing in Chinese. "Mr. John, the cheers today are not my achievement. The sacrifices some people made for this might exceed your imagination."

"That is exactly what I admire." John’s expression was incredibly natural and gentle, his smile carrying a strong sense of approachability. He was exactly like he was in the videos.

"Master, the signal scan didn’t detect any anomalies," Little Nine reminded him telepathically. "Divine Thought can penetrate his Divine Soul, but it will be noticed."

"Let’s forget it for now," Shen Yun replied in his mind. He looked into the man’s clear eyes and suddenly asked, "Mr. John, compared to your Black Magic inheritance, I’m actually more curious about you as a person. What drove you to step forward? Glory? Responsibility?"

When the translator relayed this to John in English, some of the surrounding reporters grew excited. In the past, such questions were usually only asked during private meetings.

John didn’t rush to answer after hearing the question. Instead, he smiled faintly and countered, "Then, what drove you to step forward?"

"There are many reasons. Basically, most people in Huaxia would do the same in my position," Shen Yun said with a shrug and a light chuckle. "Our cultural morals have always been like this, so there isn’t really any special reason."

"I see. However, I have my own reasons," John said, his gaze calm. "I despise those who rely on their strength to oppress others—whether that strength comes from power, money, or simply brute force."

Shen Yun fell silent for a moment before saying, somewhat dumbfounded, "No wonder you’re called the real-life Captain America. What, were you once weak too?"

This answer was almost identical to the lifelong motto of Captain America in the movies. It was because one was once weak that they better understood the true value of strength: to protect the weak.

"Captain America is indeed my idol, and he always has been," John said with a smile. "Although he’s just a fictional character, I hope to become someone like him."

"You’re already getting close." Shen Yun patted the side of John’s shoulder. "As someone who wields even greater strength, I can tell you with absolute certainty that I also despise oppressing others with power. Therefore, you don’t need to worry about our strength at all."

Some of the domestic reporters nearby chuckled. Right after the opening ceremony concluded, panic abroad had once again reached a fever pitch. Some foreign media outlets had even brazenly used headlines like "We’re Finished." Compared to the inheritances Shen Yun spoke of, what use was a Black Magic inheritance for the development of civilization? Were they going to summon skeletons to do manual labor?

"I think my attitude regarding this is already very clear. I have never worried about that." John looked at Shen Yun, paused, and suddenly asked, "May I ask you a question? Will you refuse to let us learn Huaxia’s inheritances?"

As soon as this question was asked, soft gasps rippled through the nearby Western reporters. Obviously, coming to Huaxia to learn these inheritances would be an important part of the upcoming agreements signed by the Cultivation Realms of various countries. But no one expected John to raise such a question now.

Shen Yun, however, didn’t look surprised. They had already broadly discussed issues of this nature. It essentially boiled down to welcoming exchange, restricting access to the core techniques, and always maintaining healthy competition and a leading position in core areas.

"Of course we won’t refuse, but assessments will be absolutely essential. For instance, John, you still need to practice your Chinese a lot more," Shen Yun finally answered with a smile.

"I will definitely work hard on it," John said, his face full of sincere gratitude.

Shen Yun’s words could be considered yet another clever bluff to quell the current panic abroad. After a few more simple words, John expressed his thanks and walked off the stage. They still needed to register for the competition events. Everything seemed perfectly normal.

However, Miao Yun suddenly slipped Shen Yun an unexpected piece of news.

"The aura of death on his forehead is incredibly heavy," Miao Yun said, furrowing her brows slightly. "If nothing is done, he probably won’t survive the night."