The Ravages of Time - Ch. 598 - The Eighth Disciple
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I sure as heck didn't expect a reveal so soon. But I remember that fans already guessed his identity "correctly" years ago and that it's actually a known character from the Three Kingdoms. Where does the immortal Zhao Sheng appear in either Romance or Chronicles? Did Chan Mou change his mind?
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Literally anyone of relevance was guessed in the 23 years lifespan of the series, some did guess correctly. Zhao Sheng is not a character from 3K, he is a disciple of Zhang Daoling, the founder of 5 pecks of rice cult in Hanzhong (currently run by his descendant Zhang Lu).
There was a note in the chapter for Zhao Sheng's identity, abit too light in color so you might have missed it.
Edit: Someone in the discord server mentioned that CM had several possible identities for 8th at some point.
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Zhao Sheng is a fictional character in the Zhang school of Daoism. He is modeled after the "brilliant disciple" archetype, a seeker of knowledge who himself is already more than prepared to receive the master's instruction. He is only there to become the test-taker for the Seven Trials of Zhao Sheng story (like the seven signs/miracles of the Gospel of John) passed down in the sect's mythology to show the greatness of the founder.
In this story, "Zhao Sheng" is merely a name passed down from one celestial master of the school to the next to create the illusion that they were immortals. The Eighth is the current generation's Zhao Sheng. He is replacing the previous Zhao Sheng.
Interestingly, the practice described by Yuan Fang is historically attested in at least one case. The title "Master Changchun" was passed down (or serially adopted) by several Daoist masters over a 200-year period, culminating in Qiu Zhuji, the founder of the Dragon Gate sect. Qiu was the one who basically revealed the trick to the world. When Qiu was summoned by Genghis Khan and pressed to share the secret of immortality to the Khan, he openly admitted that there was no such secret, that he himself wasn't immortal, and that legends of him being over 200 years old came about because his title was passed down from master to student.
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Finally, it's been a long time coming!
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Hmm, if Ma Chao is gonna join Shu, then either Eight will join too or I guess die? If he becomes solo with random tribes, he'll return to being a no-name again, unless maybe he becomes involved in the fight against Pang Tong later down the line.
Edit: I guess it kinda makes sense if the 8th joins Shu and Yellow Turbans' cults that previously join Xun Yu way back in the beginning alongside with the Immortals' remnants in Wu to join Liu Bei who is popular with the people.
Edit: I guess it kinda makes sense if the 8th joins Shu and Yellow Turbans' cults that previously join Xun Yu way back in the beginning alongside with the Immortals' remnants in Wu to join Liu Bei who is popular with the people.
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The one dreaming that was Sima Yi, not Zhao Yun.
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Didn't they both dream it?
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I dont remember to 100% but I think it was cao cao who also had a dream
this chapter is made so well I've read it for the third time now
I'm curious on who the fans guessed, can you share with me?
That's just it. NOBODY KNOWS. What happened was that several years back some fans got together in a social media event with Chan Mou and told him they'd guessed who the 8th was. They then PMed or emailed him and he told them, yes, that's correct. So we just know that at one point some fans managed to guess correctly and the author confirmed it, but neither side publicized the correct guess. At the time they just said it's a known 3K character. I asked my question here because Zhao Sheng is such an off-the-beaten-path answer that I find it hard to believe that he was the correct guess all those years back. Plus I don't think he's even mentioned in RTK.
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