Initiation Baptism

Fang Che looked up.

The five men above had not covered their faces.

There was no need.

The One Heart Sect was subordinate to the Sole True Sect. Pass this trial, and one became a member of the Sole True Sect; fail it, and one would never leave alive.

At this point, there was no point in hiding anything.

The man in the middle stood eight feet tall and looked imposing. Simply standing there, he possessed an extraordinary bearing.

The other three were all white-haired, white-bearded old men. One was slightly plump, one was as skinny as a monkey, while the third was short, round, and fair-skinned, like a wealthy landowner.

"No need for introductions yet. We can do that after the doctrine is complete."

The man in the middle spoke.

"Yes."

The other four nodded together.

"This boy is rather fortunate. Since our One Heart Sect was founded, he seems to be the only one to receive a Doctrinal Baptism from all five of us at once."

The man in the middle laughed heartily, somehow giving off a warm and approachable feeling.

He did not resemble the legendary Great Devil in the slightest.

The others laughed as well. Sun Yuan said with a smile, "That is this boy's good fortune."

Then the man in the middle took out a tray of emerald-green incense sticks from his robes and held out a finger.

"I'll do it," Sun Yuan said.

"No need."

The man drew a knife and sliced his fingertip. Blood flowed steadily from the wound, dripping onto the incense.

The other four immediately showed fanatical expressions. They cut their fingers with knives, letting their blood drip onto the incense as well.

Then they circulated their cultivation. True Spirit Fire ignited the incense, and a wisp of green smoke, entwined around a red thread, spiraled upward and slowly entered the nostrils of the Centipede God on the shrine.

Not a trace leaked outside.

When the incense had burned down by a third, the Centipede God's eyes suddenly lit up.

A mass of green light tightly enveloped Fang Che's entire body.

Fang Che's heart tightened. He knew the test had begun.

Whether he could bluff his way through depended entirely on the extent of this Centipede God's divine power.

A crisis of life and death!

This was the Sole True Sect's trial, one that countless people in his previous life had been unable to fathom or crack.

He quietly activated the Limitless True Scripture's cultivation method and released his control over the Five Elements Spirit Gu inside his body.

During this period, Fang Che had drilled the Five Elements Spirit Gu dozens of times every day.

He had used the Limitless True Scripture to torment it again and again, then restore it again and again. Put simply, it was a stick followed by a sweet date, repeated in an endless cycle.

All for this day.

"Heavenly Centipede God, this disciple prays: the Divine Sect accepts new members, the Sole True path stands righteous; spirit incense as proof, fresh blood as guide; with sincere prayers, we hope for clear discernment; one harboring other intentions becomes a blood enemy; sincere disciples shall become the backbone. Only we are righteous and great, commanding the martial world; reigning over the universe, looking down upon rivers and mountains!"

Holding the incense, the man in the middle slowly chanted.

The incense abruptly began burning faster.

The Centipede God's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

At last, the incense burned out.

The man turned and said to Fang Che, "Kneel! Raise your head."

Fang Che remained calm as he slowly knelt.

He raised his head.

The green light in the Centipede God's eyes shot into Fang Che's eyes in an instant.

The green light immediately took control of his body, stirring the Five Elements Spirit Gu in his dantian.

A green spot appeared on Fang Che's body and began moving slowly, gradually accelerating.

Green light swirled around him.

It seemed that something was communicating with the Five Elements Spirit Gu.

Throughout the entire process, Fang Che's consciousness remained completely clear, but he had utterly lost control of his body.

He could clearly sense the Five Elements Spirit Gu communicating with something.

Its emotions were intensely agitated.

It was terrified, excited, and frightened. It seemed to be accusing Fang Che of how he had abused it, launching into an endless, rambling complaint as it tattled on him.

It carried a powerful feeling of, You have to stand up for me! Fang Che is the most terrifying demon of all!

Sun Yuan and the other four watched intently, unable to hide their surprise.

The Five Elements Spirit Gu was incredibly lively—far livelier and more robust than the Five Elements Spirit Gu inside anyone who had undergone a Doctrinal Baptism before.

And this Doctrinal Baptism was taking rather long.

In the past, it had always ended quickly; a trace of the Heavenly Centipede God's divine consciousness would immediately depart.

But this time, half a quarter-hour had already passed.

And it still was not over! A worried look appeared on Sun Yuan's face, but he did not dare speak.

Finally... after a quarter-hour.

The green light flashed, sending a clear message to everyone: a peaceful approval. Moreover, it carried a rather distinct emotion of "appreciation."

All five were overjoyed!

Appreciation!! Over so many years in the Sole True Sect, instances of the Heavenly Centipede God's divine consciousness displaying emotion could be counted on one's fingers.

Yet this time, it had shown such obvious "appreciation."

This was far too rare! "The Doctrinal Baptism has passed!"

The green light flickered and returned to the Centipede God. Then the light in the Centipede God's eyes quietly faded away, vanishing into nothing.

A strange gleam flashed from the middle man's eyes as he looked at Fang Che's face, as though he had discovered a priceless treasure.

Sun Yuan burst into laughter. "Sect Master, my disciple is not bad, right?!"

Only then did Fang Che learn that the man in the middle was actually the sect master of the One Heart Sect.

The Great Devil said to ravage the mortal world, known as the "Blood Spirit Butcher"—Yin Shen Gong.

Then who were the three men beside him?

"I am Yin Shen Gong, sect master of the One Heart Sect."

Yin Shen Gong smiled. "This is the Great Offering, the Slaughter Heart Sword, Mu Linyuan."

Fang Che immediately bowed respectfully. He was the slightly plump white-haired old man.

"This is the Second Offering, the Poison Heart Divine Ape, Hou Fang."

The old man skinny as a monkey.

"This is the Third Offering, the Eight Roads Wealth God, Qian Sanjiang."

The short, round, fair-skinned old man.

Fang Che greeted them one by one, feeling puzzled.

This One Heart Sect was hard to understand. For the baptism of a little shrimp like me, the sect master and three Great Offerings had personally come?

That was giving me far too much face, wasn't it? He could not help looking at Sun Yuan.

Yin Shen Gong smiled. "Your master is also an Offering in our sect."

But to spare Sun Yuan's dignity, he did not say, "These three are First-Rank Offerings, while your master is a Third-Rank Offering."

Sun Yuan understood perfectly well. His face heated up, and he hastily composed his expression into one of solemn righteousness.

Unfathomably profound.

"So Master is actually this formidable." Fang Che let out an appropriately timed gasp of admiration.

Sun Yuan's eyebrows lifted with delight.

Yin Shen Gong smiled faintly, then looked at Fang Che's face. "You boy struck it rich this time. The Su Family had quite a bit of property, didn't they?"

"I have not touched any of it. There should be jewelry and such in several chests, as well as several tens of millions in Gold Notes."

Fang Che said frankly, "None of that is mine. I am merely keeping it in safekeeping. Once Big Brother Su Yue returns, I will return everything to its rightful owner."

Yin Shen Gong narrowed his eyes and said mildly, "If you encounter a cultivation bottleneck before he returns, and your own ability cannot obtain what you need, so you must use something from among those possessions, what would you do?"

Without the slightest hesitation, Fang Che said, "Then I would naturally use what needs to be used. I would leave an IOU inside and make up for it when I have the chance."

"What if he returns before you have made up for it?"

"Then I will give him the IOU along with everything else."

Fang Che did not hesitate.

The five men exchanged looks.

"You have principles without being pedantic. Not bad."

Mu Linyuan smiled and praised him.

"Though he is still a bit too honest." Qian Sanjiang said with a genial smile.

"But why did the Su Family vanish so mysteriously?" Yin Shen Gong pondered, somewhat baffled.

No one could answer that question.

The Su Family had handled this matter too hastily and too mysteriously.

Yin Shen Gong quickly moved on from the matter.

Looking at Fang Che, he asked with interest, "I heard from your master that your aptitude is exceptional?"

"Master merely dotes on this disciple too much."

"No need to be modest."

Yin Shen Gong's gaze flickered. Recalling the Heavenly Centipede God's appreciation, an idea stirred in his heart. "How about this? Since we have witnessed your Doctrinal Baptism today, we might as well give you another opportunity. How much you gain will depend on yourself."

Sun Yuan could not help asking excitedly, "Sect Master, you mean..."

Yin Shen Gong said, "We originally came here for another important matter, but we happened to witness this boy's baptism. Since that is the case, it can be considered a fortuitous convergence. It is his opportunity, and ours as well."

"Since it is fate, we must not disappoint the Heavenly Centipede God's goodwill."

Yin Shen Gong said, "The four of us will each teach you one skill. You will have only one hour. During that hour, however much you can remember will be however much benefit you gain."

He smiled. "I heard that you can remember fist, palm, saber, and sword techniques after one look, and that you can enter the gate of a cultivation art in half a day. Today will also test you. What do you say?"

At that, the three Great Offerings all smiled.

In their eyes, Sun Yuan had most likely exaggerated. How could there be such a genius in this world? Photographic memory? These were all obscure martial arts.

Swordsmanship was not merely sword forms. To match the sword forms, one also needed a Sword Qi cultivation method, movement techniques, and footwork. Only when they all fit together and were thoroughly integrated could it be called swordsmanship.

Remember it at a glance? What bullshit was Sun Yuan spouting! Sun Yuan was overjoyed. "Why are you not thanking the sect master and the three Offering Lords?"

"No rush to thank them. Perhaps he will not remember a thing." The Poison Heart Divine Ape, Hou Fang, said sinisterly.

Fang Che immediately knelt. "Many thanks to the Sect Master, many thanks to the three Offerings! Fang Che will never forget such grace. Whether I can learn anything or not, I am willing to treat you as masters from this day onward."

He spoke those words with utmost sincerity.

Yin Shen Gong and the three Great Offerings immediately felt much more pleased.

Treat us as masters... Mm, that was exactly what they wanted to hear. This was the Heavenly Centipede God's appreciation, something that had not appeared once in tens of thousands of years.

As for Fang Che, face and substance were both bullshit. Since he had already taken this path, he had to climb upward in the One Heart Divine Sect at any cost!

The higher his position, the more he could accomplish.

So now that he had this rare chance to meet Yin Shen Gong and the others, he had to seize this connection no matter what and use it as a ladder to heaven! This was tremendous support, beyond anything Sun Yuan could compare to.

As for treating them as masters, that was true too.

In the future, he would definitely see them off to their graves!

Yin Shen Gong's voice softened somewhat. "Since you are such an obedient boy, I had planned to casually teach you a little something. Forget it—I shall teach you the Blood Spirit Seven Swords."

"Many thanks, Sect Master!"

Sun Yuan said, Overjoyed, while Mu Linyuan and the other two looked at one another in shock.

Though the Blood Spirit Seven Swords was not Yin Shen Gong's most closely guarded Bottom of the box technique, it was the sword art that had made this sect master famous in his early years!

The origin of Yin Shen Gong's title, "Blood Spirit Butcher," was the Blood Spirit Seven Swords.

Its power was immense, and it was exceptionally vicious!

"Pay attention!"

Yin Shen Gong drew his sword. His body drifted three feet away, and he held the long sword upright before his chest. "The Blood Spirit Seven Swords requires a special Sword Manual. It has its own circulation routes and matching movement techniques and footwork. Missing even one part makes it impossible to cultivate it to its peak. You have only one chance. Watch carefully and see how much you can comprehend."