In the next half hour, the man in black subjected Chu Mo to no less than dozens of torturous methods, attempting to make him beg for mercy.
He even created numerous eerie and disturbing illusions to frighten the teenager.
Every time, Chu Mo was brought to the brink of death, his eyes filled with terror. The illusions were far too real, and he had indeed been scared half to death.
Yet in the end... the same three words remained: "I will not!"
"Heh..." The man in black was so frustrated smoke might as well had been puffing from his nostrils. He had roamed the world for many years, seeing all kinds of people. Yet today, he was at a loss because of a kid in his early teens.
If word got out, who knows how many people would be utterly dumbfounded.
The mighty Demon Lord willingly wanting to take on an apprentice, and not only was his goodwill not appreciated, it was outright rejected. Despite being tortured, the kid refused to yield even for the sake of his own life.
That would definitely be considered a shocking story.
"You...you're evil!" Chu Mo, looking weak, collapsed on the ground, devoid of strength to move even an inch. His whole body was ravaged with pain from countless broken bones.
But he didn't show any signs of yielding, angrily saying, "How could you do this? If someone doesn't want to be your apprentice, how could you force them?"
"You... Are you really not scared of dying?" The man in black glared at him with piercingly cold eyes, his voice was equally chilling. His icy gaze indicated that despite Chu Mo's stubbornness, he could take away his life at any given moment.
"I'm... I'm terrified." Chu Mo replied honestly. This man in black, in Chu Mo's view, was truly terrifying.
He was more frightening than all the nightmares Chu Mo had over the years combined.
"So you're scared, yet you still dare to reject me?" the man in black coldly retorted as he glared at Chu Mo.
"I... I am destined to join Longevity Heaven. My grandfather saved the life of the Seventh Elder of Longevity Heaven!"
"The Seventh Elder left my grandfather a token, as long as I take this token to Longevity Heaven..."
"The Seventh Elder will definitely accept me as his disciple!"
"Longevity Heaven is the top righteous sect in this world!"
"Inside Longevity Heaven, there are heroes and men of remarkable prowess, saviors of the world and immortals!"
"They would never do what you do, forcing others to become their disciples."
With his blood boiling at this moment, Chu Mo ignored his own consequences, went on firing off a volley of words, leaving the man in black somewhat taken aback.
After a while, he sneered, "Longevity Heaven is the top sect in the world?"
"It is filled with heroes?"
"Some of them are saviors of the world?"
"Are they all like immortal beings?"
"Pah!"
"Nonsense!"
"So all the people in a righteous sect are surely good people? How naive!"
Chu Mo stood his ground despite the excruciating pain throughout his body, leaving him on the verge of suicide from how weak he felt. He still lifted his head defiantly, gazing at the man in black, "You're just talking nonsense!"
"Longevity Heaven is nothing like what you're saying!"
The Demon Lord listened to Chu Mo's words, and the corner of his mouth twitched fiercely. If not for Chu Mo's rare qualifications and aptitude; if not for the fact he's been poisoned by the Seven Killings and his time was running out, longing to leave behind his own legacy... he would've already slapped this insubordinate brat to death!
"You say Longevity Heaven is so good. Have you seen any people from Longevity Heaven?" The Demon Lord took a deep breath, looking indifferently at Chu Mo.
"No, but my grandfather has!" Chu Mo stated, "Also, the reputation of Longevity Heaven in this world is extremely good!"
"If one person says something is good, it might not necessarily be good. But if many people say it is good, then it must be good!"
The Demon Lord burst into a fit of rage, "Something that many people claim is good must indeed be good? If many people claim something is bad, does it mean it's indeed bad?"
"The world is filled with so many ignorant people like you, simply repeating what others say. Although you have eyes, you are all blind!"
"Kid, you were saying how good Longevity Heaven is, right?"
"No matter what, you have to join Longevity Heaven and become a disciple of Longevity Heaven, right?" The Demon Lord asked, looking at Chu Mo.
At this point, Chu Mo barely had the strength to talk anymore. All he could do was lightly nod his head.
"Well then, do you dare to bet with me?"
"I bet that even though you have a token from no less than the Seventh Elder himself, you still will never be able to become a disciple of Longevity Heaven. Even... reaching the gate of Longevity Heaven won't be easy for you!"
The Demon Lord coldly stared at Chu Mo. "If you win, I not only personally apologize to you, but also give you a dazzling fortune. With this wealth alone, you can easily become the richest man in any country."
"You want to cultivate, right? Do you know that... wealth, is the most important factor in the process of cultivation!"
"If you're poor, don't even think about achieving anything on the path of cultivation!"
Chu Mo, with his jet black pure eyes, looked at the Demon Lord, struggling to say, "What... if... I lose?"
"Hahaha, didn't you say that you would definitely become a disciple of Longevity Heaven?" The Demon Lord couldn't help bursting into laughter.
Remembering the first time he saw Chu Mo, he felt for the first time that his mood had somewhat eased.
"For a kid like you who has nothing to offer, why would I desire anything from you? There are countless people in this world who want to be my disciple, yet you refuse!"
"If you lose, then obediently become my disciple!"
"And carry on my teachings!"
"Can... Can I not bet with you?" Chu Mo weakly asked.
The Demon Lord was taken aback. He finally realized that this little bastard adamantly believed him to be an evil person. No matter what, he did not want to become his apprentice.
You don't want to, do you?
"I refuse to believe this is the case!"
"As for this apprentice of yours, I am definitely taking him in!"
He gave Chu Mo a cold glance: "Do you think you have a choice?"
Chu Mo shook his head. Even though he was still young, he could tell. This Demon Lord wanted to take him as an apprentice; if not, he would have killed him already.
Why would he waste so many words otherwise?
Asking, it was just an effort to try one last time.
Chu Mo wasn't silly. Even though his experience and personal understanding were near blank, he still had his intelligence.
Right then, he nodded and said: "Alright, I will bet with you. However, I have one condition... You cannot interfere, and you cannot sabotage!"
"Humph, the kid is quite cunning." The Demon Lord had no expression, internally sneering: However, how can you compete with me? I'm the bad guy, I enjoy interfering, I always sabotage!
But now, he also understood this little fellow's personality. If he didn't agree, their bet would most likely fall through.
To take an apprentice, the mighty Demon Lord had truly gone all out.
Methods that he never needed to use in the past were now being brought to light.
"Fine, I promise you that I will turn into an ordinary person, from beginning to end, I will not meddle with your affairs!"
"If you successfully become a disciple of Longevity Heaven, then I will respect my promise and immediately leave!"
The Demon Lord looked at Chu Mo, sneering internally.
He thought to himself: If that's the case, I'll definitely grab you and leave instantaneously!
How can the disciple that I, Demon Lord, have taken a fancy to, become a disciple of someone else?
Could it be that those fools from Longevity Heaven are worthy of competing with me?
Chu Mo stated: "If I fail to become a disciple of Longevity Heaven, then... I'll go with you and become your apprentice!"
The Demon Lord nodded, although he was fuming inside: I, the great Demon Lord, have fallen to the degree of picking up the leftovers of Longevity Heaven? This is ludicrous!
On second thought however, with this young man's talents, if under normal circumstances, his admittance to Longevity Heaven is practically assured, he may even immediately become the personal disciple of the sect's head!
After all, anyone who sees such a prodigy will be green with envy, who wouldn't want to take him?
With this in mind, the Demon Lord's heart regained its balance.
Subsequently, he quietly sealed Chu Mo's aptitude and roots with a few hand seals.
I, the Demon Lord, can see this young man's uncommonness. Naturally, the people of Longevity Heaven could also see it.
So, the so-called 'not interfering' and 'not sabotaging' are simply a joke.
This young man doesn't even know himself how valuable he is!
However, the number of people who can recognize this young talent at a glance are many!
In this world, the number of people who can see through my Demon Lord's techniques are very few.
In Longevity Heaven, unless the head appears in person or those old undying appear, perhaps they could see the seal on Chu Mo.
Those other people... simply don't have the ability!
Therefore, once he had completed all of this, the Demon Lord sneered internally, thinking proudly: Kid, I'm looking forward to watching how you get into Longevity Heaven?
Even if you were carrying the token of the Seventh Elder, or even if you were carrying the token of the Great Elder, I suspect that you would be rejected by those hypocrites who pretend to be high-minded and noble.
Human feelings?
When has Longevity Heaven ever had that?
You can't escape my clutches!
Subsequently, the Demon Lord lifted Chu Mo off the ground, the two of them soaring into the sky in an instant.
The next moment, they appeared in the high sky.
Chu Mo's eyes widened in surprise, although he had just seen this person walk down from the sky, the feeling of him flying to the sky personally was entirely different.
Looking at the curious expression on Chu Mo's face, the Demon Lord couldn't help feeling a bit smug: "How about it? Being my disciple, you can fly in the sky in just several years!"
"Hmph, if I joined Longevity Heaven, I could do the same in a few years." Chu Mo replied.
The Demon Lord could not help but roll his eyes, he had shown more emotion today than in the past ten years combined.
This kid, although his strength is negligible, his stubbornness... is truly rare to see.
Crying out in fear while refusing to lower his head... what a strange creature!
"However, I really like this tenacity of yours!"
"If you were a coward, I wouldn't have given you a second glance!"
The Demon Lord dismissed him in the end, gripping the collar of his robe, they sped off.
The snowy terrains that would take Chu Mo several years to cross were reduced to just a few days' journey under the Demon Lord's feet.
Five days later, the Demon Lord transformed into a young man and brought Chu Mo to a place a dozen miles away from the mountain gate of Longevity Heaven.
A huge snow mountain towered before them.
The snow mountain is majestic, towering high, the clouds only reaching half of the mountain.
The mountain gate at the foot of the snow mountain is about thirty meters high and more than twenty meters wide.
The green stone door, full of the vicissitudes of time, was immeasurably thick. It gave people a sense of indestructible strength.
At the top of the door, three vigorous characters were engraved - Longevity Heaven!