After his expression changed abruptly, Ao Ding immediately regained his composure and asked with courteous humility, "Senior, did you want something from me?"
Old Daoist Sun smiled. "You were right to hide it from others. Spirit Pupils are a cultivation talent, but one that can be taken away. If someone harbored evil intentions and dug out your eyes to refine a treasure... heh heh..."
He drew out his words, the wrinkles on his face bunching into a sinister expression.
Ao Ding blinked his right eye, cupped his hands, and said respectfully, "Thank you for your guidance, Senior. I will certainly be careful and cautious from now on."
Seeing that the boy showed not the slightest panic, Old Daoist Sun was even more pleased. He nodded. "I see that you have considerable aptitude, and I would like to take you away from here and teach you the true methods of cultivation."
Ao Ding's gaze flickered. He was about to speak, but Old Daoist Sun stopped him. "No hurry. Hear me out first."
He beckoned Ao Ding to sit down, then said with calm, easy composure, "This old Daoist is dying."
Ao Ding was startled, but seeing the air of age and decline enveloping the old Daoist, he understood somewhat.
Old Daoist Sun said, "I came to the Seven Spirits Sect hoping to borrow some people to guard me during my 'Liberation by Violence and reincarnation.' Unfortunately, the Seven Spirits Sect dared not take on the trouble attached to me. Its sect master used seclusion as an excuse to avoid seeing me."
Ao Ding had met the master of the Seven Spirits Sect a few times, and instinctively offered an explanation on his behalf. "The sect master has been in seclusion for quite some time. If you only arrived these past few days, Senior-perhaps he wasn't avoiding you."
"Ha ha- that martial nephew of mine..." Old Daoist Sun shook his head, unwilling to say more.
After a pause, he continued, "There are two reasons I would take you away from the Seven Spirits Sect. First, you have no future here, and entering the outer court would be difficult. Second, this old Daoist cherishes talent and is willing to guide you in practicing the orthodox methods of true immortals. Young friend, you are no fool. You should hear my terms first."
Ao Ding looked at the old man.
"Half of a True Person's legacy. Aside from the precious treasures I have reserved for my reincarnation, everything else can be yours. Furthermore, I have a month left before I pass away in meditation. A True Person personally guiding and teaching you for a month would be enough for you to find your way to Mysterious Gang, or even to the 'heavenly gate and Jade Palace.' If you are willing to guard this old man in my next life and lead me back onto the immortal path, I can impart every insight I have gained in my lifetime of cultivation."
Ao Ding lowered his eyes in silent thought, then slowly spoke.
"A True Person's exalted standing leaves the Seven Spirits Sect far behind in the dust. Since the Seven Spirits Sect refuses to take on your karma, the trouble must be considerable?"
"Indeed. I am a True Person, and my enemy was at the same level. Though I killed that fellow, his resentment persisted after death, transforming him into a 'demon ghost.' One day, he will come to seize my opportunity to reincarnate and cultivate anew. When that time comes, I will need someone to guard me. Furthermore, during the period before I return from reincarnation, that enemy's relatives may regard you as an enemy."
"Who is this enemy?"
"A Demon Court."
A Demon Court!
Ao Ding's expression changed completely, and he silently lowered his head.
Although he had been rejected by the Seven Spirits outer court, his years in the kitchen gardens had given him a clear understanding of this world's geography and character.
The True Realm of Mountains and Seas was a world of savage wilderness. Humanity had only recently risen, while Demon Courts stood in profusion. According to the books, there were eight thousand known Demon Courts in the True Realm. Every Demon Court's ruler was an innate True Person who had attained Returning to Refine True Nature. By contrast, humanity had only such powers as the Six Sects of the Immortal Gate and five Buddhist temples. Though True Persons emerged among them in succession, they still struggled to clear away the demons overrunning the True Realm of Mountains and Seas.
Since the founding of the immortal sects, the struggle between humans and demons had never ceased.
Ao Ding's expression shifted uncertainly. Old Daoist Sun kindly told him to continue eating his lunch and think it over slowly.
But even after Ao Ding finished his lunch, he still had not decided how to respond.
Looking steadily at the old man, he silently removed his eyepatch and fully opened his left eye.
For the third time that day.
"Senior, forgive my rudeness."
Unlike the black pupil of his right eye.
The pupil of his left eye was exceedingly strange, its blue-green color tinged with purple. On closer inspection, golden gleams appeared and vanished within it.
Under that eye's scrutiny, the Great Dao golden core inside Old Daoist Sun instinctively began to circulate, seeking to retaliate against this impolite "threat."
Even the old Daoist felt an icy gaze, as though naturally formed by the Great Dao, see straight through his entire body.
Sure enough-Great Dao True Nature!
Old Daoist Sun thought to himself, This is a True Person's eye. Unfortunately... it places too great a burden on this child. If he is to practice and refine qi, ordinary "tortoise-script cinnabar classics" will not suffice. Moreover, I must seek out an immortal opportunity for him to replenish his depleted vital essence.
Immortal practitioners always insisted on elegance in their affairs. Take cultivation texts: rather than using the simple, readily understood classifications of upper-grade, middle-grade, and lower-grade immortal books, they gave them elegant names such as jade chapters and golden slips, Jade Casket Spirit Compendium, and Turtle Script and Cinnabar Scroll. Among these, jade chapters were the most prized, spirit compilations came next, and cinnabar scrolls ranked last.
Similarly, for cultivation realms, they did not use divisions such as early stage, middle stage, late stage, half-step, and great perfection. Instead, they divided each realm into four lesser stages: initial, proficient, upper, and pinnacle. But in plain terms, were these not still divisions like early and late stages? They had merely changed the names.
The "Azure Spirit Seven Forms Seven Qi Formula" taught in the Seven Spirits outer court was a Turtle Script and Cinnabar Scroll. Meanwhile, the "Northern Yin Hell Diagram" that Ao Ding contemplated was a preliminary step toward the Northern Yin Prefecture of the Ghost Capital's supreme inherited mental method, the "Northern Yin Hell Divine Wheel Great Sage Jade Chapter."
Thus, having gained some accomplishment in the hell method and entered the Qi-Seeding Connection Realm, Ao Ding could easily crush the outer court disciples. This was not only because of his talent, but also because of the subtle excellence of his cultivation method.
Ao Ding fixed his left eye on the old Daoist and saw the golden core slowly rotating within him.
Cultivation had six realms: Qi-Seeding, Mysterious Gang, Jade Palace, Light Joining, Divine Illumination, and Primordial Embryo.
Beyond those six realms lay True Person.
Thus, the path of cultivation was also called the cultivation of truth.
For a True Person, Great Dao True Nature united with the Primordial Spirit, and the golden core within should have been perfectly flawless, circulating the profound mysteries of the Great Dao.
But-
The golden core within the True Person before him hovered on the verge of shattering, its surface covered in cracks.
Added to that, every meridian in his immortal body had been severed...
Ao Ding concluded-this senior was indeed dying.
Yet as he observed, he vaguely perceived wisps of purple qi floating above the Daoist's head, slowly inclining toward him.
Agreeing to his proposal would do me no harm. I merely need to take a few precautions...
After considering, Ao Ding said, "Senior, I agree to your proposal. But to ensure matters are secure-consider it petty suspicion on my part, and please forgive me-I must ask you to swear upon your 'Great Dao True Nature.'" His expression grew solemn as he reached the end.
"Naturally."
True nature was the foundation of a cultivator's existence. Only after the tribulation of the Primordial Embryo, upon awakening to one's fundamental true nature, could one attain the fruition of a True Person. All cultivation thereafter approached the "Dao fruit of a True Lord." An oath sworn upon one's fundamental true nature concerned one's eternal Dao Path. No one dared violate it.
A spark of immortal radiance shot from Old Daoist Sun's fingertip, and a spirituality imbued with ethereal profundity and the wonders of the Dao slowly descended from the heavens.
"I, Sun Chen, swear upon my original Great Dao True Nature..."
Immortal light shone, and the power of true nature stirred the manifestations of heaven and earth, sending a thousand auspicious rays swirling through the courtyard.
Next, Ao Ding spoke one sentence, and he repeated it...
Every word was clear, without the slightest loophole or flaw, and filled with sincerity.
Once the oath was established, a mysterious power in the unseen entwined the two of them.
Ao Ding distinctly felt a power protecting him.
It was the power of Old Daoist Sun's Great Dao True Nature.
Even if Old Daoist Sun developed malicious intentions in the future, his Great Dao True Nature, the very foundation of his origin, the True Spirit Heavenly Soul suspended between heaven and earth, would turn against him and protect Ao Ding.
Such was an oath of true nature: a cultivator's most fundamental, most important, and inviolable oath.
Only then did Ao Ding finally set his mind at ease.
He was decisive himself, and immediately said, "There is no time to lose. I will go back and pack, then leave with you at once, Senior."
Old Daoist Sun nodded repeatedly. "Good. I will wait here. Go quickly!"
Hurry, hurry!
Before the master of the Seven Spirits Sect notices, let us make our escape!
Old Daoist Sun forcibly suppressed his wild delight, his face still bearing the same immortal air as he slowly stroked his beard.
After putting his bowl and chopsticks by the washing basin, Ao Ding went back to inform the kitchen women.
Sister Ma raised an eyebrow. "An old Daoist? What old Daoist? You silly boy, he says a few words and you're going to leave with him? I-"
She was about to press down on Ao Ding's little head and begin scolding him, but Wang Daniangzi stopped her.
Mistress Wang had cultivated for five hundred years and was herself an accomplished cultivator, though she looked like a young married woman.
An unusual gleam flashed through her eyes. "Is that senior surnamed Sun?"
"Yes. His name is Sun Chen."
Joy appeared on Wang Daniangzi's face, and she nodded repeatedly.
"That's right, that's right, it must be him? Good, hurry and pack. Don't keep the senior waiting!"
She was an old member of the Seven Spirits Sect and knew Sun Chen's connection to it. The inner sect's recent requests for help from the kitchen gardens were also related to this senior.
His identity was genuine, and his character was all the more trustworthy.
As for why he had sought out this child Ao Ding...
Wang Daniangzi thought of certain matters and naturally had some idea.
"You lot, put down your work-go help Ao Ding pack."
"But dinner-"
"Let those little fellows in the outer court go hungry for a meal. They're always making trouble... missing one meal won't kill them!"
Wang Daniangzi was also a cultivator from the inner sect and ordinarily commanded considerable authority.
Seeing this, the women called over the two fire-tending Daoists and two chopping assistants from next door to help Ao Ding pack.
Though they called it packing, there was actually little to pack.
According to Mistress Wang, when he had come to the Seven Spirits Sect in distress at eight years old, his strangely styled, oversized, ill-fitting clothes had been torn to pieces and covered in human and beast blood, and had long since been burned.
Everything acquired afterward consisted of Ao Ding's daily necessities from the past six years. Now, he generously distributed them among the chopping hands and fire-tending boys he knew well.
As for the money Ao Ding had earned through his little businesses, most had gone into cultivation. He took only his usual cultivation notebook and twenty-four Jade Cloud Shell Leaves.
The women put together three sets of new clothes and packed Ao Ding's five everyday outfits, bringing the total to eight. In addition, Wang Daniangzi prepared a pair of straw sandals and a pair of leather boots, then found brushes, ink, paper, and an inkstone, packing them into the trunks with two boxes of meals and pastries.
Grateful to the kitchen women who had cared for him day to day, Ao Ding handed Mistress Wang several bottles of newly made peach-blossom face powder and a set of hair ornaments.
"Mistress, I made these recently. Please share them with the other sisters. As for this set of mother-of-pearl hair ornaments, please pass it on to Luo Qiushui for me later..."
In the courtyard.
Old Daoist Sun silently examined Ao Ding's midday "masterpiece."
-Chicken feathers strewn everywhere, and a flock of bare Red 𫜁 Birds.
"The Northern Yin lineage's Great Skin-Peeling Method-at its profoundest levels, one can strip away one's own skin and mortal shell, leaving only a true soul of spiritual nature, thereby allowing the true soul to ascend to immortality..."
The Great Skin-Peeling Method was a superior cultivation method of the Northern Yin Ghost Capital that led straight to True Person.
"This child-what talent!"
Thinking of how he had traded three pills for a genius, Daoist Sun wanted to laugh.
"Senior, I'm here." Ao Ding came wobbling over, carrying two large wooden trunks.
Daoist Sun casually pointed, and the wooden trunks gradually shrank to the size of a palm, landing in Ao Ding's hand.
"Keep them safe. You must not fail the kindness others have shown you."
"Yes." Ao Ding put them away.
Then he enthusiastically asked about the spell just used.
"This is the 'Size-as-You-Will Mantra.' Once you master it in the future, it can develop into a divine ability. If you are interested later, I can certainly teach you."
Just then, Master Wang hurried out of seclusion and thrust a black iron tablet into Ao Ding's hands.
"This is yours. Since you have an affinity with this method, take it and study it properly."
The Northern Yin Hell Diagram!
Ao Ding often borrowed it for visualization, but he had never imagined that Master Wang would be willing to give it to him.
"This... how could I accept this?"
"Just keep it-in this whole vast place, you're the only one with an affinity for it. Also, I made that wooden staff especially for you. Keep it. There's no need to return it."
Old Daoist Sun and Master Wang exchanged glances, each understanding something of the other's little intentions, but neither exposed them.
While Ao Ding hesitated, Sun Chen urged him to accept the Northern Yin Diagram, then pulled him away.
Seeing how difficult walking was for the old Daoist, Ao Ding hastily put away the Northern Yin Diagram and supported him as they walked slowly.
The next instant, wind rose and light answered beneath their feet, and in two or three steps they passed through the Seven Spirits Sect's main gate.
The immortal wonder-method, the "Nine Winds Mystic Light Cloud-Riding Art"?
Ao Ding was somewhat dazed.
He had seen the sect master use it. Legend said it could carry one across the northern depths and southern seas in a single day.
"Want to learn? I'll teach you later!" Seeing Ao Ding's thoughtful, observant gaze, the old Daoist readily agreed.
On a distant tower, the deputy sect master watched the old man and the boy leave the Seven Spirits Sect, and a great weight lifted from his heart.
"That enormous trouble has finally left!"
The deputy sect master was all smiles, wishing he could immediately hold a banquet to celebrate.
"Don't laugh... mustn't laugh..." Leaning on his walking stick, Old Daoist Sun walked out of the Seven Spirits Sect with the boy supporting him.
Looking at the white clouds shifting like pale hounds, he dearly wanted to throw back his head and laugh.
But they were too close to the Seven Spirits Sect, and he feared disturbing its master Wang Weilong's seclusion.
This deal was worth every bit!
Three pills for a genius!
A genius with a True Person's eye!
He would gladly make ten more deals like this.
Forcibly suppressing his delight, he quickened his pace and pulled Ao Ding away.
Ao Ding was somewhat puzzled. This senior's qi and blood were depleted, so why was he still walking so fast?
Was he so eager to leave?
Could he be planning to teach him as many immortal methods as possible within the month once they returned to his residence?
At that thought, Ao Ding suddenly felt the weight of his task.
He would have to cultivate diligently over the coming month.
An opportunity to receive a True Person's devoted instruction was far too difficult to come by.
After riding the wind for over a hundred li, Sun Chen suddenly sensed an aura slowly awakening within the Seven Spirits Sect.
-Sect Master Wang Weilong had emerged from seclusion.
His expression changed. Seizing the boy, he abandoned all concern for dignity or his depleted qi and blood, swiftly using the "Earth-Traversing Golden Light Art" to leave.
Within the Seven Spirits Sect.
Golden light and auspicious clouds rolled before a stone chamber as its door slowly opened.
Wang Weilong strolled out, refreshed in mind and spirit.
The Connection Realm of Light Joining—I am finally about to break through!
"Congratulations on emerging from seclusion, Sect Master."
Sensing it from the tower, Deputy Sect Master Wu immediately traveled through the earth to offer his respects and congratulations.
Wang Weilong nodded slightly. As the two walked leisurely toward the main hall, he asked casually, "Has Martial Uncle left?"
"He has. He arrived the day before yesterday and left just now."
Wang Weilong's expression relaxed, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
His art of spiritual intuition and mystical perception had indeed improved.
He had deliberately calculated when his martial uncle would leave before coming out of seclusion, and his calculation had actually been right.
It was not that he had no regard for their ties or meant to treat this martial uncle harshly.
It was that this True Person martial uncle carried an enormous trouble with him. Their Seven Spirits Sect was declining by the day, and their master had gone off to reincarnate. They could not shoulder such enormous trouble.
"Since our Seven Spirits Sect didn't go to 'see him off at his end,' did he harbor any resentment before leaving?"
As he spoke, Wang Weilong swept his Divine Sense over the entire Seven Spirits Sect.
Suddenly, his expression froze, and he carefully examined the kitchen garden again and again.
Something's wrong. Why is someone missing?
Where's that child?
Out buying supplies?
Well, Wang He isn't a fool. He should know to keep things concealed.
"No," Deputy Sect Master Wu said smugly. "I found a way to satisfy both sides and let that martial uncle leave in peace."
"Leave in peace?" An inexplicable sense of foreboding rose in Wang Weilong's heart.
"How did you manage that? Tell me, quickly!"
"Martial Uncle took a liking to a fire-tending boy in the kitchen garden..." At the mention of taking a liking to his looks, the deputy sect master thought of that one-eyed little blind boy and could not help chuckling again. "Martial Uncle wanted that boy to safeguard his cultivation-I figured he wasn't a formal disciple of our Seven Spirits Sect anyway. And Martial Uncle was willing to offer three Mystic Gang Pills in exchange-so..."
Boom!
The force spilling from Wang Weilong hurled him away.
Fool, fool, you absolute fool-
Wang Weilong could not spare him any attention. He shot straight into the sky, spreading his Divine Sense with the Great Art of Spiritual Perception to cover a thousand li in every direction.
But Sun Chen was a True Person who had attained the Dao. Even if he was near death, his whereabouts were beyond what Wang Weilong's cultivation could discern.
"Senior Brother, what are you..."
Seeing the deputy sect master fly into the air, looking thoroughly displeased, Wang Weilong nearly failed to catch his breath. All the joy of just emerging from seclusion vanished.
Immortal light sent the man flying once more.
"Fool-three pills, and you handed over our Seven Spirits Sect's hope for the future? He was our hope of returning to the Guangfa Sect's main lineage! The eye that child kept hidden is a Heavenly Eye Immortal Pupil. I even helped him conceal it! He has a chance of becoming a True Disciple of the Guangfa Sect. He is... he is the hope of our Seven Spirits Sect!"
Wang Weilong had noticed Ao Ding long ago.
He had lovely features, but the disciples of the sect's outer court looked down on him for having only one eye and repeatedly ostracized him.
But Wang Weilong had said nothing, merely using this to observe and temper the boy's character.
What?
Might this make the boy harbor resentment in the future and flee the Seven Spirits Sect?
The Seven Spirits Sect was one of the Guangfa Sect's more than seven hundred and twenty lineages, occupying a territory five thousand li across. Where could a young lad who had not even entered the Dao go? Could he leave the territory of the Seven Spirits Sect alone?
Wang Weilong had long since calculated everything.
He had deliberately demoted a junior brother to serve as overseer of the kitchen garden and instructed his younger female cousin to look after the boy there day and night.
He had only been waiting until he emerged from this seclusion to personally take Ao Ding as his disciple. On the one hand, he would give the isolated boy the warmth of a family; on the other, he would carefully nurture him and help him open his heavenly eye, cultivating the Seven Spirits Sect's hope for the future...
He had even arranged a dao companion for him.
That girl with the Cloud-Su Immortal Physique, who was about to enter the inner sect from the outer court, even had a prior connection with the child.
What a lovely young couple!
Even that strange privilege of "promising Luo Qiushui she could bring one person into the inner sect" had been deliberately arranged by Wang Weilong.
And the result!
For three pills, the Seven Spirits Sect's hope for the future had been sold off!
Wang Weilong could just imagine how delighted his martial uncle must have been when he left!
Forcing down his fury, Wang Weilong restored his usual expression and headed straight for the kitchen garden.
Behind him, a cold sneer curled at the deputy sect master's lips.
No matter what this fellow tries to do, Luo Qiushui and all those spiritual cultivation treasures he has saved up belong to my nephew!
Before you continue