The myth begins with the Lotus Lantern

Chapter 268 Personal Guard
"Your subordinate would not dare to deceive the general. What I have said is true, and every word comes from the bottom of my heart," Xin Jia said, his voice earnest, and it really did not seem like he was faking it.

"General, you may not be familiar with the rules of the army. According to the military system of our Heavenly Court, any Heavenly General of the fifth rank or above may be assigned a personal guard: fifty for the fifth rank, one hundred for the fourth rank, five hundred for the third rank, and one for the second rank."

"As for the personal guards, General, you can understand it this way: Military law states: 'Personal guards are close protectors, serving as your confidants and brothers. If they betray you, you will be killed. There is no need to submit a report; you can kill them at your own discretion, and the commander-in-chief will be innocent. If the commander-in-chief dies, the personal guards will be implicated and all of them will be executed!'"

“The word ‘skilled’ says it all. You call yourself my personal guard, but in reality you are my slave. My life and death are in your hands!” Xin Jia knelt on the ground, his forehead pressed against the floor tiles. Ding Lin couldn’t see his face from this angle, but his cheeks were twitching violently. “How could I dare to harbor any resentment? I only hope that you, General, can rise to a high position and help me in the future.”

"Is there any other way to say this?"

Ding Lin's eyes showed suspicion, but also a sense of realization. No wonder Xin Jia was so strange when facing him. His life and death were in someone else's hands, so he could not be too cautious. Although he could not see Xin Jia's specific immortal grade, he could sense that his foundation was solid and his aura was intact. He was definitely not a ghost immortal or a human immortal. Besides, even if he was a ghost immortal or a human immortal, he was still an immortal, but he was used as a servant.

"Judging from your aura, your immortal rank should be quite high," Ding Lin said.

"When I ascended to immortality, I had not yet broken through the inner realm, but fortunately I had already comprehended the metal element while I was in the mortal world, and I was also lucky enough to preserve my physical body under the tribulation of lightning, and barely managed to cultivate into an immortal." Xin Jia raised his head, his expression had calmed down, and he looked somewhat wooden.

"Then why?" Ding Lin became increasingly suspicious.

"Originally, let alone a general who was already a celestial being and was granted the fifth rank, even a Golden Immortal would be granted the fifth rank and the captain of the personal guard would mostly be a Ghost Immortal, at most a Human Immortal. After all, for these two, the future was over and there was no more path to immortality. Someone of my celestial rank would never be made a personal guard again."

Xin Jia gave a bitter smile, and finally an expression appeared on his face, spreading bitterness.

"General, do you know why I am not tolerated by Yin Huan? Although I ascended to immortality later than Yin Huan and my immortal rank is not as good as his, the starting point for becoming a divine immortal is only slightly slower than that of an earth immortal. There was a time when we were both centurions."

"Later, when he descended to the mortal realm to exterminate demons, he fought a fierce battle with a tiger demon. I seized an opportunity to strike and kill him. To my shame, I was young and impetuous at the time and did want to compete for credit. As a result, I became his enemy. Later, he was appointed as a general under Wang Yu and became a leader. He completely suppressed me and then transferred me to his command to hone my skills."

"Perhaps it was to avenge the past, he repeatedly stole my credit. I was resentful, and finally I made a scene, which alienated me from my superior. It has escalated to this point. No matter the reason, it is a major taboo in the army. So this time, when I had the chance, the marshal directly promoted me to the general's personal guard," Xin Jia said.

"I see." Ding Lin nodded. Sure enough, Xin Jia also had a grudge against Yin Huan. To demote such a fairy to his own subordinate, his marshal's skill in maintaining balance was truly masterful.

"So please rest assured, General, I would never betray you," Xin Jia said.

It's impossible, not that it won't happen.

It is indeed a divine creation; even if it falls to the ground, it still retains a trace of dignity.

Ding Lin understood, but he had no intention of destroying it. He raised his hand to signal Xin Jia to get up, without saying much. As a beneficiary, he was in a sense opposed to Xin Jia. However, since Xin Jia was his subordinate, he could not treat him the same way as before.

"I observe that your cultivation has not yet reached perfection. I suppose you know that guarding this temple is just a sinecure. So, when you have nothing to do, you can go and cultivate on your own. Occasionally, when you have time, you can take a few rounds. The inspection can be left to your two trusted subordinates. Everything will remain the same as before. You can do whatever you want on ordinary days, but there is one condition: on the full moon of the fifteenth day of the lunar month, there must be no mistakes."

Ding Lin said that his bodyguards were like his own limbs. Now that it's not a workplace where superiors steal credit, he naturally hopes that his limbs are even stronger.

"Your subordinate thanks the general," Xin Jia said.

"Having fallen to this state, I believe you also harbor hatred, resentment, and regret, but these things are useless. I am now facing off against Wang Yuyinhuan. If you cultivate to become stronger, your time to pay off will come eventually. Besides, immortality is not the end; there is still a glimmer of hope for becoming a Golden Immortal. If you can achieve that, you might be able to shed this bodyguard's identity." Ding Lin noticed that Xin Jia seemed to lack passion for cultivation. After a moment's thought, he understood the reason and spoke again, offering both encouragement and empty promises. "Yes!" Xin Jia's voice became more enthusiastic.

"Alright, the marshal has returned to camp and will be back in a month. Let's leave it at that. With a formidable enemy at our side, we both need to cherish our time and do our best to cultivate. Go now!" Ding Lin nodded in satisfaction.

"Your subordinate takes his leave," Xin Jia said.

"By the way, from now on, don't refer to yourself as 'subordinate' anymore. 'This humble general' is more appropriate." Ding Lin's voice came from behind.

Xin Jia stiffened for a moment, turned around, and gave a solemn bow: "Yes, General, this humble general takes his leave!" Then he bowed and left the duty room.

……

"Guards, servants..."

Ding Lin murmured to himself. The room was dimly lit, and his eyes flickered between light and shadow.

It turns out that after becoming an immortal, although he had jumped to a higher social class, there were still classes above classes. This time, he took the lead and became a beneficiary. Next time, he would have a new understanding of the cruelty of this world. The Heavenly Court was not a benevolent place either. Under the Heavenly Laws, the constraints were even more severe than the law of the jungle in the lower realm. It was just packaged so that it did not look so ferocious on the outside.

A sense of urgency arose spontaneously in my heart.

Spiritual practice.

Ding Lin closed his eyes, calming himself down. Although it was urgent, he knew he had to proceed step by step. He continued to recite the classics.

Taiqing asked Wuqiong, "Do you know the Way?" Wuqiong replied, "I do not know." Taiqing then asked Wuwei, "Do you know the Way?" Wuwei replied, "I know the Way." Taiqing asked, "Is your knowledge limited?" Wuwei replied, "I know the knowledge is limited." ... "It can encompass heaven and earth, it can respond to the boundless..."

……

"Breathe in the primordial energy to seek immortality, the immortal prince is already before me. The Vermilion Bird breathes in and out of the White Stone Source, condensing essence to nurture the embryo and give birth to the body. Retaining the embryo and stopping the essence can prolong life, the three energies return to the right and the nine paths are clear. The True One contains the radiance and is full, gazing afar at the single mind like a constellation. Beneath the golden chamber, it will not collapse, prolonging my white hair and returning me to infancy..."

……

Half a month later, Ding Lin opened his eyes.

That's it.

Since you don't intend to cultivate the Seventy-Two Transformations of Earthly Fiends, there's no need to delve any deeper into it.

(End of this chapter)