"Boy, we've never met before, and there's no enmity between us. Why do you want to harm me so viciously? At such a young age, you're so cruel - hearted!" The old man stared at Ding Hao gloomily. Under the faint light of the pearl, those emerald - green eyes looked indescribably eerie.
Although Ding Hao's hands were grasped tightly and he was in great pain, his expression remained calm, and his eyes were extremely cold.
"It's the dead of night, and we're in this desolate mountain and forest. You're lurking here with a mysterious trail, and your whole body is covered with black mist. Who knows if you're a human or a ghost? If you're a ghost, wouldn't I fall into your clutches? Of course, I have to strike first to protect myself!" Ding Hao said calmly, but his eyes were fixed on the old man, guarding against any further action from him.
"Ridiculous! Then according to what you said, why are you here in the middle of the night? You say I'm mysterious? Aren't you the same? Just classifying me as a ghost because of the black mist around me is too arbitrary."
The old man laughed instead of getting angry. The strength in his hands increased a lot. Ding Hao felt as if his wrists were clamped by two iron hooks, and the blood circulation seemed to be cut off.
"I'm a hunter from nearby. I got lost chasing prey and came here. I just heard the noise in the cave and came to take a look. Sir, what are you here for? Senior, could you please let go of my hands? Since I know you're a human and not a ghost, I naturally won't harm you anymore!" Ding Hao said slowly after thinking for a while.
"What a cunning boy. But what if I let you go? Do you think a mere mortal like you can harm me? It's laughable!" With that, he let go of his hands. His green eyes stared at Ding Hao, constantly rolling as if he was thinking about something.
Ding Hao stepped back a distance from the old man, slowly rubbing his wrists to get the blood flowing, his eyes looking at the exit, but his attention was always on the old man to prevent any accidents!
After a while, the old man seemed to have made a decision after thinking. He stood up from his cross - legged position. The old man's body was unusually tall after standing up. He was only a little shorter than Ding Hao. When he walked, he was full of vigor, without any sign of the stagger that should be expected of his age.
Looking at the skin on his hands, there were no wrinkles. It was unusually black, shiny, and smooth, and his muscles were well - developed and powerful. Judging from his body, he was in the prime of life, definitely not the state an old man in his fifties should be in!
When he reached five feet in front of Ding Hao, the man stared at Ding Hao with his eyes and said, "Are you willing to become my disciple?"
His tone was extremely solemn. As he approached, a huge pressure hit Ding Hao. Ding Hao felt that the surrounding space seemed to have suddenly solidified. He couldn't even feel the air flowing. It was the breath of death. Ding Hao felt that at this moment, he was like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, with no chance to resist!
What kind of power was this? It completely exceeded Ding Hao's imagination!
It was a kind of fear from the soul. His heart was beating much faster than usual, and the thumping sound was clearly audible!
"What can you teach me? What do I need to do?" Ding Hao's reply was relatively calm.
The pressure on his body suddenly disappeared, as if everything just now was just an illusion of Ding Hao's. But Ding Hao was certain that it was definitely not an illusion. At this time, his heart was still not beating completely normally.
At this time, Ding Hao found that the old man's eyes had become normal dark - brown. Suddenly, he felt that the dangerous aura on the old man had weakened a lot.
"I can enable you to fly through the sky and hide underground. Although I can't guarantee you eternal life, I can make your lifespan more than ten times longer than it is now and give you unimaginable power! There are many things in this world that you can't imagine. Seeing that you're so young yet extremely cold - hearted and cruel, it would be a pity if you don't enter our demonic path. Besides, you're already physically strong and your bones are of high quality. Also, the thing you just swallowed is the two - thousand - year - old inner elixir of the eight - winged purple python. The eight - winged purple python is one of the top spiritual creatures between heaven and earth. It's a primeval and rare species from ancient times. Even for us cultivators, it's not easy to encounter one. This creature is brutal, extremely bloodthirsty, and poisonous all over. Even for us cultivators, if we're not top - notch experts, we have to avoid it. The ability of a mature eight - winged purple python is even more terrifying. It can fly through the sky and hide underground, reaching the celestial realm above and the netherworld below with ease. Although this eight - winged purple python only has two - thousand - year - old cultivation, its inner elixir is by no means something an ordinary person can endure. The eight - winged purple python is an extremely poisonous and hot creature, but its inner elixir is non - toxic but extremely hot. It has already erupted once, and you've tasted the pain yourself. An ordinary person should have already died with all their blood and essence dried up. You, boy, managed to survive. You're really an anomaly. But don't think it's over. It will erupt once every three days from now on, and each time it will be more severe than the last until it stops after ninety - nine times. Every time you survive an eruption, your body will gain some benefits. If you can survive eighty - one times, the benefits you'll obtain will be immeasurable. Without my help, the next eruption will be your death. That's all I have to say. It's up to you whether to become my disciple or not."
Ding Hao's blood boiled with excitement at the old man's first few sentences, but then he felt colder and colder as he listened. Although he didn't know whether what the old man said was true or false, judging from the old man's expression and the fluency of his narration, Ding Hao didn't dare to gamble with his life.
As soon as he made up his mind, he immediately took action. Thump! Ding Hao knelt in front of the old man. Bang! Bang! Bang! He kowtowed three times in a row.
"Ding Hao is willing to become your disciple, senior. I will never leave you for life. If I break this oath, may I be punished by heaven!" Although Ding Hao grew up in the mountains, he had studied in the village school for a few days and knew how to read. He said these sentences quite fluently, but only he himself knew whether he was sincere!
"Good. Get up first. Since you've become my disciple, there are some things you must know. Our sect is called the Wuji Demon Sect, and we specialize in demonic cultivation methods. There are four generations of disciples in our sect. Sect Master Li Nantian and the four elders are the first generation. The four elders are Zhang Heng, Li Zhengfei, Wang Quande, and Ma Feng. I'm a second - generation disciple, and I studied under Ma Feng. My name is Chen Ling. I won't introduce the third - and fourth - generation disciples for now. I'll explain in detail when we get to the sect. In this world, cultivators are divided into the righteous path and the demonic path. The goal of both is to ascend. Those who cultivate the righteous path ascend to the immortal realm, and those who cultivate the demonic path ascend to the demon realm. Whether cultivating the dao or the demon, it's an act against the heavens. When cultivated to the extreme, one has to ascend. Before ascending, there's a heavenly tribulation. If one survives this tribulation, one ascends to the immortal or demon realm. If not, one's soul will be scattered. There's no essential difference between cultivating the dao and the demon. It's just that the methods are different. Whether cultivating the truth or the demon, there are thirteen stages: the Qi - refining stage, the fetal - breathing stage, the spiritual - illumination stage, the bigu stage, the spiritual - opening stage, the fusion stage, the heart - movement stage, the nascent - soul stage, the out - of - body stage, the spirit - separation stage, the body - combination stage, the tribulation - crossing stage, and the great - vehicle stage. The Qi - refining stage, the fetal - breathing stage, and the spiritual - illumination stage are regarded as one stage in the cultivation world, which is the foundation for truly stepping into the cultivation world. After the bigu stage, each stage can be divided into early, middle, and late stages. Hearing this, you should know that cultivation is a long process. Don't think that cultivators only face the danger of the heavenly tribulation. Every transition between stages is full of danger. One careless move can lead to a light result of going mad and losing all one's cultivation, or a severe result of dying on the spot or even having one's soul scattered... "
It was not until the sky outside was slightly bright that Chen Ling realized that he had been talking for three or four hours. Cultivators have an almost infinite lifespan and have a relatively weak sense of time. Ding Hao was just an ordinary person, but Chen Ling found that Ding Hao had listened patiently for a long time without any sign of impatience. On the contrary, he was still full of interest and asked a question or two from time to time. Chen Ling nodded secretly in his heart, quite satisfied with Ding Hao's performance.
"Master, what on earth are you here for? You didn't come here to collect the spiritual energy of heaven and earth just because you were bored, did you?"
Since they had started to get familiar with each other and Ding Hao knew that he would be with him day and night in the future, his tone was no longer as indifferent as it was at the beginning. Ding Hao had always made a living by hunting in the forest, so his hands were also stained with blood. However, he had only hunted animals. Although Ding Hao was usually cold and rarely said anything unnecessary, looking more mature than his peers, he was still just an eighteen - year - old child and couldn't change some of the nature of a teenager.
"Nonsense. Who would be so bored as to come here to collect the spiritual energy of heaven and earth? I discovered the eight - winged purple python here more than a year ago. Although this eight - winged purple python only had two wings at that time, it was still beyond my ability to deal with. But at that time, the eight - winged purple python was about to give birth. After giving birth, its ability would be greatly weakened, and I could look for an opportunity to take the baby eight - winged purple python away. For more than a year, I've been waiting for the right time. I found that this eight - winged purple python often fought with a giant eagle. This giant eagle is also a rare species, but it seems to be domesticated. Although this eight - winged purple python had only evolved to two wings, it was still able to hold its own against this giant eagle. It was only a while ago that the eight - winged purple python stopped fighting with the giant eagle because it was about to give birth. Seven days ago, I found that the eight - winged purple python entered the cave and didn't come out to look for food. So I was sure that it was hiding in the cave to give birth. When it came out to look for food again after giving birth and was weak, it would definitely not be a match for the giant eagle. And I could also take the opportunity to take the baby eight - winged purple python away. Who knew that in the end, the baby eight - winged purple python let out a scream and led the eight - winged purple python into the cave ahead of time. Fortunately, it was already seriously injured at that time, so I was able to kill it. But I was also poisoned by it. Fortunately, I was prepared. It took me an hour to force out the poison with the antidote pill. After all the calculations, I never expected that after working hard for a year, you, boy, got the benefit. You ate the inner elixir of the eight - winged purple python. Just after I got rid of the poison, I found that you, bold as you are, actually wanted to take my life. It's really outrageous!" Chen Ling cursed.
Ding Hao just grinned sheepishly without any embarrassment.
"Alright. Now that things here are settled, clean up and get ready to go back to the mountain. Here's a flying sword for you. Throw away that hunting knife. Although this flying sword is of relatively poor quality, it's made of gold essence refined from gold, platinum, and black iron. It's much sharper than your lousy knife. Use it to peel off the two horns, two eyes, teeth, and scales from the head of the eight - winged purple python for me!" Chen Ling ordered.
Holding the flying sword in his hand, Ding Hao couldn't put it down and played with it. The flying sword was nearly twice as heavy as the hunting knife. The whole body emitted a faint white - gold light. The hilt was made of an unknown kind of wood. The dark wood emitted a faint sandalwood fragrance. It seemed to be of great value. Cultivators are really rich! The cost of just this flying sword is probably no less than a thousand gold pieces! Ding Hao couldn't help but sigh.
It took Ding Hao nearly half an hour to remove the items that Chen Ling had ordered from the eight - winged purple python. Only then did he realize that what Chen Ling said was true. This flying sword was definitely the best weapon he had ever used!
Before long, Chen Ling had packed up the spoils of war. By now, Ding Hao already knew that cultivators had so - called storage bags and storage rings to store items. The storage bag used by Chen Ling was relatively common in the cultivation world, while storage rings were relatively rare. Generally, those who wore storage rings were either of high cultivation level or had a powerful backer. Not every cultivator had the opportunity to get one!
Chen Ling took a relatively small storage bag and handed it to Ding Hao, ordering, "I've just told you how to use the storage bag. I've cast a Xuanbing Talisman on the eight - winged purple python meat to keep it from rotting. Put the eight - winged purple python meat in the storage bag and feed the baby eight - winged purple python for me every day. Since the inner elixir of the eight - winged purple python was swallowed by you, the baby eight - winged purple python will rely on its animal instinct to regard you as its kin. It's best for you to feed it. Remember, never show the baby eight - winged purple python to other cultivators at any time. People are greedy. If this kind of rare beast of heaven and earth is discovered by cultivators, they will surely try to snatch it. Don't even know how you died when that happens!"
The storage bag is the most basic item for cultivators. Chen Ling had just explained how to use it. As long as you pick up an item and concentrate on imagining, you can put the item into it.
Effortlessly, Ding Hao put pieces of eight - winged purple python meat into the storage bag. Only then did he find that the space inside this small storage bag was three or four times larger than the space in this cave. He couldn't help but marvel more at the magic of cultivators and became more determined to cultivate!