Blind Old Man

"You're being unreasonable, kid. You actually made me, the Hall Master, come here specifically to wait for you. Hurry up and come over."

At the foot of the mountain, Wu Dao smiled and waved to Lin Dong.

Lin Dong apologized and sped down.

"I was afraid you were too tense, so I made sure you rested for a few more days. Chief Seat Lin Dong, do you know what we're going to do today?"

Wu Dao glanced at Lin Dong, his eyes full of amusement.

"Go to the Martial Arts Hall to collect my reward. The Sect Master has granted me special permission to choose two of the four Hall Suppressing Martial Art of the Desolate Hall. In addition, I will learn the Desolate Hall's signature martial art, Desolation Energy," Lin Dong replied after thinking for a moment.

"Yes, but there is another thing you need to pay special attention to. The powerful figure currently guarding my Desolate Hall Martial Arts Hall is Elder Gu Mo."

"Elder Gu Mo is the senior brother of me, Chen Zhen, Zhou Tong, and other elders of the Desolate Hall. He has a very high seniority and his cultivation is above ours. If he had been willing to take the position of Hall Master back then, it would not have been our Senior Brother Chen Zhen's or my position. It's just that he is a bit eccentric, so he hid in the Martial Arts Hall to cultivate in seclusion."

"Therefore, you must be extremely respectful to Senior Brother Mo. If you can win Senior Brother Mo's favor and get him to give you some pointers, that would be even better."

After pondering for a moment, Wu Dao gave his instructions.

"Yes, Lin Dong understands."

"Let's go. My Desolate Hall Martial Arts Hall is in that direction. I'll personally take you there."

Wu Dao and Lin Dong briefly met and then flew together into the depths of the Desolate Hall.

On a towering Giant Peak in the center of the Desolate Hall, an ancient Stone Pagoda stands weathered and lonely, with many figures coming and going from time to time.

In front of the ancient pagoda, a Blind Old Man with gray hair was slowly sweeping fallen leaves with a broken broom, looking very old.

"Yuan and Mental Dual Cultivation, Great Achievement Immortal Talisman Master, Life Mysterious Stage, Perfected Completion, he is indeed very strong. Even in the entire Eastern Xuan Region, this Martial Uncle Gu Mo can be called an old monster."

As Lin Dong landed in front of the tower, a thought struck him.

The Desolate Hall has four Hall Suppressing Martial Art: Great Star Gang Fist, Great Dark Erosion Sword, Great Desolation Body, and Desolate Demonic Eyes. The first two are slightly weaker, being mid-to-high-level Spirit Martial Arts, while the latter two are slightly stronger, being High-grade Spirit Martial Arts.

Back then, Wu Dao, Chen Zhen, Zhou Tong, and Gu Mo were all True Disciple of the Desolate Hall, with Gu Mo being their True Disciple Senior Disciple Brother.

When choosing martial arts techniques, Wu Dao and Chen Zhen respectively chose the Great Star Gang Fist and the Great Dark Erosion Sword, Zhou Tong chose the Great Desolation Body, and Gu Mo chose the Desolate Demonic Eyes.

However, the cultivation of the Desolate Demonic Eyes not only requires Mental Energy, but the rich Yin Sha Qi it contains will also erode the cultivator's eyes until they go blind. So, as expected, Gu Mo failed and permanently lost his sight.

Fortunately, Gu Mo was a person of great perseverance. After learning the reason, he directly gave up Origin Energy and turned to cultivate Mental Energy. He not only successfully cultivated the Desolate Demonic Eyes, but also cultivated Mental Energy to the level of a Great Ascension Great Achievement Immortal Talisman Master, which can be called the Death Mysterious Stage.

Even his Origin Energy wasn't neglected; Life Mysterious Stage, Perfected Completion.

Its inspirational level is practically Martial Movement version of Forrest Gump, a true Forrest Gump.

(It's laughable, really. The Dao Sect has been established for a thousand years, and I don't believe that no senior member of the Desolate Hall had ever cultivated the Desolate Demonic Eyes before, or that no elder of the sect knew about its drawbacks. But the Desolate Hall Master at the time neither mentioned that this thing required Mental Energy nor that the Yin-Cold Energy harmful, and just allowed Gu Mo to cultivate the Desolate Demonic Eyes, watching helplessly as his disciples went blind. He must have been out of his mind.)

(Because Gu Mo had previously only cultivated Origin Energy, as a person of normal intelligence, if someone had told him that this thing required Mental Energy to cultivate, he wouldn't have been so reckless as to blind himself before thinking of cultivating Mental Energy from scratch.)

(By openly displaying a forbidden martial art for the disciples to choose from, without explaining the dangers, generation after generation of True Disciple are blinded. Only when it comes to the protagonist's generation, Gu Mo, a direct victim, finally remembers to warn the disciples, "Holy crap, shut up! There's poison in this shit!!")

Just as Lin Dong was observing the Blind Old Man, the Blind Old Man's sweeping motion suddenly stopped, and he looked over as if he sensed something.

"Senior Brother Mo!"

Wu Dao bowed respectfully to the Blind Old Man in gray clothes.

"Oh, so it's Xiao Wu Dao."

The Blind Old Man's gray eyes swept across Wu Dao's face, as if his blindness did not affect his ability to observe the outside world.

"Senior Brother Mo, this is the newly Chief Seat disciple of our Desolate Hall. The Chief Seat, which has been vacant for a hundred years, has finally been officially returned to us."

Wu Dao's expression stiffened for a moment, then he forced a smile and introduced himself.

"Disciple Lin Dong greets Martial Uncle Gu Mo!"

Lin Dong, standing to one side, bowed in response.

"The Chief Seat of my Desolate Hall, Seven Yuan Nirvana Stage and Eight Seal Heaven Talisman Master, is indeed a promising talent."

The Blind Old Man's dazed eyes turned to look at Lin Dong.

"Senior Brother Mo, stop pretending. You were secretly watching the grand ceremony a few days ago from afar, but you pretended to be seeing Lin Dong for the first time. I think I even saw you crying with excitement. You looked so happy."

Wu Dao, in a moment of madness, blurted out the words without thinking.

"Bang!"

Wood chips flew everywhere, and the broom in the Blind Old Man's hand shattered with a crack. He slowly turned his head and stared expressionlessly at Wu Dao, and the temperature in the world seemed to drop significantly.

Damn it, Gu Mo really wanted to cleanse the house for the previous Hall Master and kill this junior disciple who had just Wu Dao with a single palm strike!

Lin Dong: "..."

"Ahem, Senior Brother Mo, it's getting late. I need to take Lin Dong into the hall to choose martial arts techniques as soon as possible. Farewell!"

After a series of rapid changes in his Wu Dao, Wu Dao solemnly cupped his hands and said.

"Stop!"

A cold voice, seemingly emanating from the deepest hell, caused Wu Dao to freeze abruptly. He then desperately tried to wink at Lin Dong: "Lin Dong, if you can save my life today, I will surely repay you handsomely in the future!"

"Ugh, I'm so tired. Why am I, a disciple, forced to clean up the messes of the Hall Master? Isn't this backwards? Oh well, it's an emergency."

Lin Dong's eye twitched imperceptibly. He took a deep breath and calmly said, "Martial Uncle Gu Mo, Lin Dong also cultivate Mental Energy. I observe that your eyes are vacant, as if they are corroded by the cold and yin energy. I wonder if you could let me take a look? Perhaps I have a solution."

"Hmm? You can actually see that my eyes are being eroded by the Yin-Cold Energy? It seems that your Mental Energy is not as simple as it appears."

As expected, the Blind Old Man abandoned his plan to kill his junior brother who Wu Dao with a single palm strike, and looked at Lin Dong with great surprise.

"I am deeply grateful and cannot express my thanks!"

Wu Dao, who had been saved, Wu Dao a sigh of relief and glanced at Lin Dong with gratitude.

"Yes, I have some guesses. I wonder if it would be convenient for Martial Uncle Gu Mo to let me investigate. I already have some clues in my mind."

Dealing with the corrosive Yin Cold Power is such an easy task; Ancestral Stone's intervention is as effective as two men's.