Accepting Disciples, Ten-Thousandfold Returns: Starting from Battle Through the Heavens — Part 3

Judging from the system's return mechanism, it was not hard to see that the higher a disciple's aptitude and the faster their cultivation speed, the greater the cultivation return he could obtain.

The first person Qin Hao thought of was Xiao Yan, the protagonist of this world.

He was no longer thinking about how to cling to someone powerful. Instead, he was thinking about how to take the other party as his disciple.

It was no exaggeration to say that as long as he succeeded in taking him as a disciple, Qin Hao could truly win while lying down.

In the early stages, because his cultivation was too low, the effects of the returns might not be too obvious.

But having read the original story, he knew very well just how terrifying Xiao Yan's cultivation speed was. Especially after Xiao Yan began devouring Heavenly Flames, his cultivation speed would practically soar like a rocket.

From the start of the plot, he had become a Dou Emperor in just over twenty years. When the cultivation returns came then, it would be absolutely incredible.

The only uncertainty now was the timeline. He did not know whether Yao Chen had awakened or whether Xiao Yan had already taken Yao Chen as his master.

He had never been to the Jia Ma Empire, so he could not yet determine the current timeline.

Based on the current situation in the Jia Nan Academy Inner Academy and comparing it with the original story, he could only roughly confirm a few things.

He had lived in the Inner Academy for five years and knew its students very well. From the memories of the previous owner of this body, Qin Hao discovered that the influential figures from the original story's Inner Academy, such as Lin Xiuya, Liu Qing, and Han Yue, had yet to appear.

That was good news for him.

He planned to visit the Outer Academy after his body had fully recovered. A certain character from the original story could help him determine the current timeline more clearly.

That character was Xiao Yu, the granddaughter of the Xiao Clan's Great Elder, where Xiao Yan resided.

If she had not enrolled yet, then the plot clearly had not begun. If she had already enrolled, Qin Hao could also obtain the information he wanted from her and determine the current timeline.

Aside from Xiao Yan, Qin Hao estimated that Xiao Yi Xian and Qinglin from the original story should also meet the system's standards for accepting disciples, barring any surprises.

After all, one possessed the special Calamity Poison Body, while the other possessed the rare Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils bloodline.

Taking in any one of them would make it hard not to soar to greatness.

"By the way, System, isn't there a newbie gift pack?"

After suppressing his chaotic thoughts, Qin Hao suddenly seemed to remember something and hurriedly asked.

Based on his experience from his previous life, system activation usually came with a newbie gift pack.

"Detected that the host possesses one newbie gift pack. Would you like to open it?"

The system's voice sounded once more.

"So there really is a newbie gift pack. Open it!"

Qin Hao immediately chose to open it.

"Congratulations, Host. You have obtained the cultivation art Chaotic Heaven-Devouring Art!"

"Congratulations, Host. You have obtained one strand of Origin Emperor Qi!"

"Congratulations, Host. You have obtained one Dou Saint Experience Card!"

The system notifications sounded again.

Then, Qin Hao felt an enormous amount of information flood into his mind in an instant.

Not daring to hesitate in the slightest, Qin Hao hurriedly sat down cross-legged, calmed his mind, and focused fully on refining the information within his mind.

"Hoo..."

"What a powerful cultivation art! As expected of something produced by the system! It truly is top-quality!"

Only after a long while did Qin Hao slowly open his eyes and exhale a breath of turbid air. A sharp gleam flashed in his eyes, and the excitement in them could not be concealed.

At the same time, there was also deep shock mixed within them. Clearly, he had been stunned by the power of this cultivation art.

The cultivation arts of the Dou Qi Continent were divided into four ranks: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow. However, the Chaotic Heaven-Devouring Art Qin Hao had obtained was a cultivation art that surpassed the Heaven rank.

The core principle of the Chaotic Heaven-Devouring Art was devouring. It could be said to devour anything and everything.

In the original story, the Flame Mantra Xiao Yan obtained was already heaven-defying enough. It could evolve by continuously devouring Heavenly Flames and could also feed cultivation back to its user.

But the Chaotic Heaven-Devouring Art was far stronger than the Flame Mantra. The Flame Mantra could only devour Heavenly Flames, whereas this cultivation art could devour anything that contained energy, ultimately transforming it into the purest origin power and integrating it into the body.

In a sense, as long as there was enough energy, one's cultivation could rise endlessly. This cultivation art was simply heaven-defying.

Not only that, this cultivation art cultivated both the body and Dou Qi. The energy it devoured could not only increase cultivation, but also strengthen the physique.

Likewise, because of this, breaking through while cultivating this art required far more energy than others at the same realm. That could barely be considered one of its flaws.

But compared to the power and heaven-defying nature of this cultivation art, that flaw was clearly nothing at all.

"There's even a strand of Origin Emperor Qi!"

When Qin Hao saw the second item from the gift pack, he was shocked once again.

Having read the original story, he naturally knew exactly what this thing represented.

It was no exaggeration to say that in the Dou Qi Continent, this was comparable to the Primordial World's Primordial Purple Qi. It was an essential item for breaking through to the supreme realm.

This strand of Origin Emperor Qi was equivalent to a slot for a Dou Emperor. To the peak experts of this world, it possessed a fatal allure.

Whether it was Gu Yuan of the Ancient Clan, Hun Tiandi of the Soul Clan, or Zhukun, who was trapped at the entrance to the Ancient Emperor's Cave-Dwelling, any one of the three could break through the shackles of the Dou Saint realm and enter the Dou Emperor realm in the shortest possible time if they obtained this strand of Origin Emperor Qi. They would not need any damn inheritance from the Tou She Ancient God.

With this item, once Qin Hao reached the peak Dou Saint realm in the future, he would not be restrained by the shackles of heaven and earth and could advance directly into the Dou Emperor realm.

"This Dou Saint Experience Card is also a pretty good life-saving trump card!"

The final item was clearly a powerful life-saving treasure.

Qin Hao was currently only a one-star Dou Wang. Although this cultivation level barely made him an expert in the Northwestern Continent, there were still quite a few people who could threaten him, not to mention in the Central Plains.

This Dou Saint Experience Card was practically equivalent to gaining another life.

One had to know that even in the current Central Plains, Dou Saints almost never appeared in public. Dou Venerates were already the peak experts seen in the open. Therefore, this Dou Saint Experience Card was absolutely a trump card that Qin Hao could keep hidden away for emergencies.

Qin Hao was clearly extremely satisfied with the items the system gift pack had provided. They were far more powerful than he had expected.

The Origin Emperor Qi and the Dou Saint Experience Card were stored in the system space, a storage space provided by the system itself. Its capacity was enormous.

However, the system space had one limitation: it could only store items produced by the system or returned through the system. Other items could not be placed inside.

Only after a long while did Qin Hao suppress the complicated emotions in his heart. The first thing he needed to do next was switch cultivation arts.

Now that he had obtained the Chaotic Heaven-Devouring Art, which surpassed the Heaven rank, he naturally needed to cultivate it immediately.

The cultivation art he had previously cultivated was only the high Profound-rank Blazing Sun Profound Flame Technique, which he had obtained from the academy treasury.

It was considered a top-tier Profound-rank cultivation art, and its power was even comparable to a low Earth-rank cultivation art. It was already a decent cultivation art.

But compared to the Chaotic Heaven-Devouring Art, it was clearly far inferior.

He immediately sat down cross-legged and began converting the Dou Qi within his body according to the circulation route of the Chaotic Heaven-Devouring Art.

"Hm? This is..."

However, Qin Hao had only completed one major circulation cycle when his expression suddenly changed drastically.

Without daring to delay at all, he moved his thoughts and took out several items from his storage ring: medicinal pills, medicinal herbs, and several magic beast cores.

Then, Qin Hao grabbed a bottle of medicinal pills and impatiently poured every pill inside into his mouth.

Just as Qin Hao had circulated the Chaotic Heaven-Devouring Art, he felt his original one-star Dou Wang cultivation become unstable, as though it were about to fall back.

In almost an instant, Qin Hao understood what was happening.

The Dou Qi in his body had previously been cultivated through the Blazing Sun Profound Flame Technique. Whether in quality or quantity, it was far inferior to the Dou Qi cultivated through the Chaotic Heaven-Devouring Art.

Therefore, as the Dou Qi in his body was converted into the Dou Qi of the Chaotic Heaven-Devouring Art, his cultivation naturally began to drop. To keep his realm from falling, Qin Hao could only consume medicinal pills to make up for the "difference" caused by the conversion.

"Hoo..."

"It's finally over! This Chaotic Heaven-Devouring Art truly deserves to be called a cultivation art beyond the Heaven rank. It is genuinely heaven-defying!"

Only after a long while did Qin Hao slowly open his eyes and look ahead. The medicinal pills, herbs, magic beast cores, and other items that had originally been piled before him had all vanished without a trace.

Naturally, Qin Hao had completely devoured and refined all those items.

It was precisely because those items had provided energy that Qin Hao had barely managed to maintain his one-star Dou Wang cultivation after switching to the Chaotic Heaven-Devouring Art.

Fortunately, Qin Hao was a fourth-tier alchemist, and his wealth was far greater than that of an ordinary Dou Wang. Otherwise, he truly would not have been able to sustain such consumption. He would likely have already fallen from the Dou Wang realm back to the Dou Ling realm.

However, although his expenditure this time had been considerable, his gains were equally immense.

He was still a one-star Dou Wang, but Qin Hao's current strength was vastly greater than before.

Compared to before, it was a complete and overwhelming improvement in every aspect.

The Chaotic Heaven-Devouring Art cultivated both the body and Dou Qi, so not only did the quality and quantity of Qin Hao's Dou Qi far surpass those of others at the same rank, but the strength of his physical body had also increased enormously under the tempering of his Dou Qi.

His physical body was now comparable to that of an ordinary fifth-tier magic beast. This showed just how powerful and heaven-defying the Chaotic Heaven-Devouring Art was.

If he faced the Azure Shadow Eagle again now, he definitely would not be as miserable as before.

Perhaps he still had no way to deal with the Azure Shadow Eagle's speed, but likewise, the Azure Shadow Eagle could no longer hope to injure him.

Furthermore, after cultivating the Chaotic Heaven-Devouring Art, the injuries on his body had now completely healed.

Early the next morning, Qin Hao walked out of the two-story building where he lived. After becoming an Inner Academy elder, the academy had arranged this new residence for him.

After leaving his home, Qin Hao headed directly toward the core area of the Inner Academy. There was a massive plaza here, and at the center of the plaza stood a towering pagoda that radiated blazing heat.

It was none other than the foundation upon which the Jia Nan Academy Inner Academy had been established—the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.

"Greetings, Elder Qin!"

"Good morning, Elder Qin!"

Along the way, Qin Hao encountered quite a few members of the Jia Nan Academy Inner Academy.

Qin Hao was also considered a prominent figure in the Jia Nan Academy Inner Academy, and he had only graduated and remained in the Inner Academy this year. Thus, aside from a small number of members who had just entered the Inner Academy, Qin Hao was very familiar with the Inner Academy students. Most of them had once been his classmates.

He could be considered someone who had dominated an entire era of the Inner Academy, so many students treated him with great respect upon seeing him.