At this moment, Li Er comfortably stretched, letting out a long yawn as a satisfied expression appeared on his face.
Earlier, when he examined himself inwardly, his consciousness entered his dantian, where he saw that mysterious, unfathomable bead.
It was this very bead that had caused him to travel through time and space.
The instant he saw the bead, he entered the world within it. An indescribably miraculous power surged forth, causing his consciousness to rapidly condense into a primordial spirit body.
His primordial spirit expanded at an astonishing speed until it was no different in size from his original human form. Then it slowly yet steadily became corporeal, even growing hair.
Just like that, he woke up.
Yet after waking, he discovered that the dantian within his body was still like a deep, boundless black hole, greedily devouring the surrounding spiritual energy lotuses.
Without close inspection, it would have been nearly impossible to notice the faint golden glow flickering quietly in the depths of his dantian. That was his newly formed Golden Core. Though tiny, it contained endless possibilities.
But this tiny Golden Core was a little too small.
"Something's wrong. Sect Master Tongtian's gaze seems hostile. What's going on?" Li Er immediately sensed Sect Master Tongtian's gaze, and his heart turned cold. He hadn't done anything.
Fortunately, Sect Master Tongtian's gaze soon shifted away from him.
He looked at the spiritual energy lotuses around him, gritted his teeth, and drew them all into his dantian. He had already eaten quite a few before, so he might as well not care about this last bit.
He would treat it as a full meal before death. At least he would not die hungry.
At this moment, Sect Master Tongtian, seated high in the void, was feeling conflicted. He sensed a thread of vitality from this mortal, a thread of vitality for his Interception Sect and for his own future.
The fluctuations from Li Er's body could actually stir the Heavenly Dao. If Sect Master Tongtian had not swiftly helped conceal him, Li Er would probably have been struck dead by heavenly lightning by now.
However, those abnormal fluctuations had only lasted an instant. Now Li Er once again perfectly appeared to be an ordinary mortal, though slightly stronger than one. This brat had actually broken through to the Golden Core realm.
Using the most ancient method of cultivation, absorbing and refining qi, he had somehow attained the earliest Golden Core realm. Once a Golden Core entered the belly, one's fate was in one's own hands, not Heaven's.
No wonder he had instantly avoided the Heavenly Dao's inspection.
"Directly accepting him as a disciple probably won't work. There's far too much that's abnormal about him.
"If he becomes my disciple, he'll draw attention from all sides. The other Saints will definitely notice that he's different.
"Should I hide him away and teach him slowly?" Sect Master Tongtian began calculating inwardly, and soon came up with a solution.
Originally, he had planned to preach for a month. Only three days had passed, but he felt that was enough. He could divide the month into three preaching sessions.
After all, seeing that brat pretending to listen to the Dao while actually dozing off made him no longer want to preach.
Just then.
Sect Master Tongtian stopped preaching and said majestically, "You may remain here for now. This preaching will be conducted in three sessions. The next session will be in ten days."
Then he vanished.
Li Er was the first to stand up. Calmly, he walked outside, intending to see whether he could leave this place.
The demons and others who had listened to the Dao remained where they were, because ten days would pass in the blink of an eye for them.
Naturally, those seated at the front had no intention of moving. Some of the demons farther back knew their own aptitude, and after digesting the contents of the sermon, chose spots on Golden Turtle Island to settle down peacefully.
Sect Master Tongtian had said they could stay for now, which meant they had a chance to become disciples of the Interception Sect.
Some clever demons seated toward the back began using their divine abilities to search the immortal island for places to establish their cave dwellings.
Li Er continued walking slowly, watching those demons fly through the air with envy. It was not that he did not want to use divine abilities; he simply did not know how.
Even though he had attained the Golden Core realm, he still did not understand spells or divine abilities. The Dao methods Sect Master Tongtian had explained differed from his understanding, so he simply could not comprehend them.
He could understand what Sect Master Tongtian was saying, but he did not know how to use it. It was vastly different from the novels, where one could automatically gain enlightenment just by listening to a Saint preach.
A person's knowledge and perspective could not be changed overnight. Besides, his heart had not yet settled after crossing into this world. He had no mind to think about such things at all.
His attainment of the Golden Core realm was thanks to that special bead. It had entirely been the bead's doing.
Fortunately, with Golden Core cultivation, he did not need to worry about going hungry. It would be fine not to eat from now on, saving him from starving to death.
What he did not know was that Sect Master Tongtian, hidden in the void, was having a headache over how to approach him. This brat was filled with vigilance from head to toe, like a small beast wandering through a desert, constantly fearing for his life.
Just then.
"Big Brother, there's a mortal here. No, a Golden Core-stage ant. Let's capture him and use him as a servant in our cave dwelling."
"I think that works. Major sects all have the custom of taking in attendants. Let's capture him and bring him back to our cave dwelling."
"Kid, you're lucky. Come with us and serve as attendants in our cave dwelling."
Hearing the discussion behind him, Li Er's hairs stood on end. He turned around and saw a wolf-headed demon and a fox-headed demon. Both wore beast-hide clothing, and their breath reeked.
He could smell the stench of blood even from far away.
He was done for. These were man-eating demons.
They claimed they wanted to capture him as an attendant, but they actually wanted to eat him. Wasn't the wolf-headed demon already drooling?
Li Er looked perfectly calm on the surface, but inwardly, he was panicking badly.
Other people transmigrated with either a system or an old grandpa. He had transmigrated only to die before the third episode.
Had he even made it to the third episode?
Wasn't he the protagonist? Normally, when the protagonist encountered something like this, someone would come save him. Did he have anyone?
"Stop! You two demons actually dare attack a member of my Human Race!"
An extremely booming voice reached Li Er's ears from afar. At this moment, it sounded like heavenly music to him. Had his prayers worked? Was someone really coming to save him?
A ragged sword cultivator appeared in the distance, brimming with righteousness and fury, riding an uneven, crooked cloud.
Li Er's heart instantly sank to the bottom.
Seriously? Brother, did you think two demons wouldn't be enough to fill their stomachs after eating me, so you came to deliver another serving?
Could you please run already?
But then he remembered how exceptionally united the Human Race had been in the early days of the Primordial World, surviving that dark period together. This brother before him must be one such example.
"Big Brother, it seems Heaven truly favors us. One attendant isn't enough, and now another has come."
"Not bad, not bad. One for each of us."
The ragged sword cultivator appeared before Li Er, drew his longsword, and shielded him behind his back. He spoke with righteous conviction.
"Fellow clansman, hurry to Biyou Palace. I'll hold them off."
"Brother, how could I leave you here alone? Come, let's fight them together.
"Even if we die, we'll bite off a piece of their flesh." Li Er said seriously, determination flashing in his eyes.
"Haha, good brother! What's your name?"
Li Er fell silent for a moment before answering seriously, "Li Er. What about you?"
"You're Er? That's a strange name. I'm Pan Laosan."
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