Looking at the strange expressions on Elder Qian and Elder Bai's faces, Xiao Li silently took half a step back. Were these two big shots suspicious of his background and planning to drag him in for questioning?
The Two Elders Qian and Bai: ...Are you seriously taking half a step back?
The Two Elders Qian and Bai felt as though their pure, earnest hearts, which only wanted to nurture the younger generation, had been wounded.
Elder Qian gave a dry cough. "Your name is Xiao Li, right?"
Xiao Li nodded cautiously. "May I ask what you want, senior?"
Elder Qian didn't answer. He patted Xiao Li on the shoulder. "Good. Then kneel down and become my disciple."
Xiao Li: ?
Elder Bai was speechless at how impatient Elder Qian looked and rolled his eyes. They were both big shots with standing. Couldn't he stop embarrassing himself?
Xiao Li's mouth twitched. He trusted these two's character, but what kind of move was it to demand that he kneel and become their disciple the moment they met?
Xiao Li furrowed his brows. "Senior, once someone is your master, he's a father for life. You can't just take a master on a whim. Please forgive this junior for being unable to comply."
Elder Qian was astonished, his heart stirring. Good lad! Those words went straight to my heart. He knows we're powerful, yet he doesn't grovel. What excellent character!
The thought flashed through his mind, and Elder Qian's smile grew even gentler. "Bai Lie and I have spent our lives in bitter cultivation. Now, as we near the end, we'd like to find a disciple to carry on our legacy. You don't have to be so resistant. We can take our time."
Xiao Li didn't agree blindly. Just as he'd said, taking a master was like finding himself another father. It was no decision to make lightly.
If he were to bow down and become someone's disciple just because they were powerful, he might as well take the Tou She Ancient God Jade and trade it to Hun Tiandi for resources right now.
Seeing Xiao Li's firm attitude, Elder Qian sighed inwardly. I was too hasty this time.
Elder Bai was a little more composed. His eyes shifted, and an idea came to him. "At Jianan, each year, we take the strongest new student in the Inner Academy out to gain experience for a year. Otherwise, we worry the Inner Academy might crush a promising talent."
Elder Bai winked at Elder Qian and sent him a voice transmission. "He just entered the Inner Academy. What does he know about the rules? With our strength, we can make the kid beg us to take him as a disciple before the year's out."
Xiao Li blinked. Had he missed something while reading the book? Was there some rule about these two taking students out to gain experience?
Seeing the barely concealed anticipation radiating from the Two Elders Qian and Bai, Xiao Li suddenly understood. These two big shots had meant to nurture him. Their demand that he become their disciple the moment he arrived had given him quite a fright.
"Uh... Seniors..."
The Two Elders Qian and Bai fixed their eyes on Xiao Li, waiting for him to continue. They were no less nervous than when they'd confessed to their goddess and waited for her answer.
"Thank you. This junior will devote himself wholeheartedly to cultivating under your guidance."
Smiles appeared on the Two Elders Qian and Bai's faces. "Good. Hu Gan gave you a Two-Pattern Green Spirit Pill, right? Absorb it here. We'll protect you."
"Don't worry. I've already spoken to Hu Gan, so you don't need to worry about time."
Seeing how the Two Elders Qian and Bai seemed to have anticipated this all along, Xiao Li could only smile wryly. These two big shots had left him no room to refuse from the very beginning. Not having to become their disciple was already the best outcome.
It wasn't that Xiao Li didn't want powerful people backing him. He just found it hard to accept two old men suddenly showing up and telling him to become their disciple. Who could handle that?
And, taking the worst-case scenario, what if they'd taken an interest in Xiao Li's talent because they wanted to possess his body and cultivate anew?
In Martial Universe, when Lin Dong met the Azure Dragon King, didn't the king first teach him a technique and only then pass on his power? Even then, they hadn't called each other master and disciple.
Looking at the two perverted old men who'd suddenly popped up and wanted to become his masters, Xiao Li managed a strained smile. "Elders, where are we going to gain experience?"
Elder Qian's heart lurched. Oh no. I was so focused on taking him as a disciple that I haven't even thought about how to teach him.
"Ahem, well, first absorb the Two-Pattern Green Spirit Pill. Then I'll show you something that'll do you a lot of good."
Elder Qian smiled smugly. Luckily, he'd had the foresight to get the dean's cultivation notes and travel journals.
Xiao Li nodded. All right. I'll go along with them. They probably won't hurt me, at least.
With a flick of his fingers, a green pill surrounded by two Pill Patterns appeared between them.
After taking out the pill, Xiao Li sat cross-legged on the spot and quickly entered a state of cultivation.
Elder Qian swept his sleeve, solidifying the space around Xiao Li to prevent any mishaps.
Then, seeing that Xiao Li had devoted himself entirely to breaking through, Elder Qian secretly took out some notes on lightning cultivation and hurriedly began studying them.
Not long after Xiao Li closed his eyes, the still space around him began to ripple quietly, like a calm lake disturbed by a stone. Wisps of visible energy seeped out of the void, then turned into countless threads of energy that surged toward Xiao Li.
As soon as the energy entered his body, Xiao Li's mind easily took control of it. It followed the cultivation technique's circulation route for a full cycle, purging all impurities until only a little pure energy remained to be poured into his Dou Qi vortex.
He slowly absorbed the energy from his surroundings. After a while, when everything seemed normal, Xiao Li's fingers suddenly flicked the Two-Pattern Green Spirit Pill between them, using a deft burst of force to send it into his slightly open mouth.
The Two-Pattern Green Spirit Pill dissolved as soon as it entered his mouth. Before Xiao Li could react, it swiftly transformed into two waves of pure energy, each stronger than the last. Like a surging river, they rushed down his throat, then roared furiously into his meridians.
"Bang!"
Hearing the faint muffled thud from inside his body, Xiao Li let out a low grunt. A flush spread over his face. His hand seals shifted as he began guiding the two streams of energy, their sharpness somewhat blunted by his Dou Qi, along the cultivation technique's route at high speed.
Lightning surged through his body, carrying the energy along as it tempered it into countless streams of pure energy.
The effect of a Two-Pattern Green Spirit Pill depended on the flame used to refine it. The flame used to make this pill must have been relatively gentle, sparing Xiao Li some of the suffering.
As the two streams of energy traveled along the cultivation technique's route, they merged perfectly into a single stream of two-colored energy.
With their fusion, the energy's volume suddenly surged. What had originally been somewhat illusory energy had now completely transformed into a two-colored liquid...
Inside Xiao Li's body, countless tiny streams of energy charged like a force sweeping through dry weeds, savagely breaking into narrow meridians he had never reached before. The energy roared through them like a river, rapidly expanding the cramped meridians.
A feeling of pain and pleasure spread through Xiao Li's body. A fierce smile tugged at his lips, and the grimace on his face amused the Two Elders Qian and Bai, though neither made a sound to disturb him.
The sharp pain in those tiny meridians gradually subsided. The liquid energy, now like a small lake inside his Dou Qi vortex, began revolving around the Naling at its center.
Elder Qian's brows lifted slightly. "He did it."