Master and disciple tidied up the spoils of war and planned to return to the Wuji Demon Sect.
Chen Ling was now at the mid - Nascent Soul cultivation level. With the help of a flying sword, he could barely fly with Ding Hao, but it was also a struggle, and the speed was naturally not fast. Even so, it greatly broadened Ding Hao's horizons. He felt an unprecedented sense of wonder, and his determination to cultivate the demonic way became much stronger.
By now, Ding Hao knew that he was on a spherical object called Tianxuan. On this sphere, land only accounted for one - third, and the rest was sea. On the land, there were mainly four large land masses in the southeast, northwest directions. These four largest land masses were separated by the sea, and there were countless other small land masses.
The mountain gate of the Wuji Demon Sect was on the Soul - Severing Mountain in the Western Continent. On the Soul - Severing Mountain, there wasn't only the Wuji Demon Sect among the cultivation sects. Although there were many famous mountains and great rivers in the Western Continent, only a few had abundant spiritual energy suitable for cultivators. There were thousands of cultivation sects of various sizes, and the scene of intense competition for limited resources was constantly 上演.
The largest sect on the Soul - Severing Mountain was the Purgatory Demon Sect. Together with the Heaven - Killing Demon Palace on the Eternal Hate Mountain and the Sword Demon Palace on the Black Cloud Mountain, they were known as the three great sacred places of the demonic sects in the Western Continent. Each sect had thousands of disciples and numerous experts. For thousands of years, they had always stood at the peak of the demonic sects.
Apart from the Purgatory Demon Sect on the Soul - Severing Mountain, there were also five other sects: the Yin - Yang Harmony Sect, the Blood - Fiend Sect, the Black Demon Sect, the Soul - Devouring Sect, and the Talisman Sect. Including the Wuji Demon Sect, they all depended on the Purgatory Demon Sect to practice the demonic way on the Soul - Severing Mountain.
These small sects had to pay tribute to the Purgatory Demon Sect every hundred years with spirit stones, rare treasures, and refining materials in order to obtain the right to continue cultivating on the Soul - Severing Mountain!
Among these sects, the Yin - Yang Harmony Sect and the Blood - Fiend Sect were slightly stronger, followed by the Black Demon Sect, the Soul - Devouring Sect, and the Talisman Sect. The Wuji Demon Sect was the weakest.
The other sects each had a mid - Divided - Spirit expert and several early - Divided - Spirit experts. The highest - cultivation - level sect leader of the Wuji Demon Sect, Li Tiannan, had just passed the late - Out - of - Body stage and entered the early - Divided - Spirit stage. The four elders were still only at the late - Out - of - Body stage. Compared with the other sects, their strength was much weaker!
The number of people in the entire Wuji Demon Sect was only in the tens, while the other sects had hundreds. The Yin - Yang Harmony Sect even had more than 500 people.
Due to their really poor strength, the members of the Wuji Demon Sect were extremely cautious in their actions on the Soul - Severing Mountain. The slightest mistake could lead to the sect's destruction. In the demonic way, people only care about cultivation level, not right or wrong. Therefore, the members of the Wuji Demon Sect were unusually low - key. Sect leader Li Nantian also stayed in seclusion all day long, ignoring worldly affairs, as if escaping. He was unwilling to bring humiliation upon himself and repeatedly urged his disciples to practice hard and avoid causing trouble, lest they bring great disaster to the sect!
Inside the Wuji Demon Sect. The buildings where the people lived were clustered together. The largest and most magnificent one was the main hall, the Wuji Hall. However, because there were so few people, there were more houses than people. Everyone lived alone in a room. Even the newly - arrived Ding Hao had one.
Behind the buildings was a deep pool. Even in summer, standing by the pool made one feel a biting cold. The cold air and the air mixed on the surface of the pool, forming a water mist more than three feet high, hazy and dream - like, truly having an air of cultivation.
Behind the deep pool was a small mountain peak. In the middle of the mountain peak, there were about a hundred caves for the disciples to use during cultivation. Just in terms of living conditions, Ding Hao was already very satisfied. However, there were not many people in the Wuji Demon Sect, and everyone focused more on cultivation, so it seemed extremely desolate.
Along the way, he only encountered two second - generation uncles and seven third - generation disciples. The way they looked at him was rather strange. The low murmur of surprise from a third - generation disciple made Ding Hao feel as if he had boarded the wrong ship. "After twenty - five years, there's finally a new disciple!" This sentence made Ding Hao feel something was amiss.
Chen Ling learned from an Uncle Wang that Ma Feng had come out of seclusion, so he took Ding Hao to pay a visit.
Ma Feng was only about 1.65 meters tall. His face was gaunt, with messy black hair hanging over his shoulders. He wore a gray robe. His protruding forehead, paired with a pair of narrow eyes, his expressionless square face, and his prominent ears really gave him a "mad" look!
When this man heard that Chen Ling had taken Ding Hao as an apprentice, his expressionless square face showed a bit of color. When Chen Ling took out a few scales of the eight - winged purple python and handed them to him, Ma Feng's half - narrowed eyes suddenly lit up, and his withered hands grabbing the scales trembled slightly with excitement.
"How did you get this? Are there any other things? Tell the truth!" His voice was high - pitched and thin, like the cry of a night - hawk, making one's eardrums uncomfortable.
Chen Ling firmly insisted that he had just obtained them accidentally during his travels and there was nothing else, just these few scales.
After looking at them for a while, Ma Feng directly put the scales into his storage bag. "You know the value of this thing but are willing to bring it to me. Considering your filial piety, I won't let you down. Here's a jade slip for you. Inside are the cultivation methods of the Wuji Demon Art for the Out - of - Body stage, as well as the making and using methods of three talismans. This jade stone is also for you. The spiritual energy inside is enough for you to cultivate for ten years. The apprentice you just took in has good bones. Our sect hasn't had a new disciple for a long time. You must train him well!"
Chen Ling repeatedly agreed. After confirming that he couldn't get any more benefits from Ma Feng, he took Ding Hao and left.
After Chen Ling brought Ding Hao back to his residence, he handed him a jade slip. Inside were the cultivation methods of the Wuji Demon Art from the Qi - Refining stage to the Heart - Stirring stage. After briefly explaining the introductory cultivation methods, he said that there was no good or bad in cultivation methods, and the improvement of cultivation level depended on one's talent and opportunity. However, Ding Hao sensed a hint of guilt in his tone! He always felt that the Wuji Demon Art was not a top - notch cultivation method for demons.
Ding Hao originally wanted to ask for the jade stone given by Ma Feng to Chen Ling to assist in his cultivation. But after thinking carefully, the spiritual power provided by the inner elixir of the eight - winged purple python in his body was already far more than enough for his cultivation supply, so he didn't mention it again.
It's just that although he had studied in a private school for a few years, he didn't think it was useful at that time and didn't study hard. Now that he had a cultivation method, he didn't know many characters. When the few characters he knew were put together, it was even more difficult to understand. Only then did he realize that his foundation for cultivation was far from sufficient.
Looking at Chen Ling's expression, he didn't seem to be a patient and good teacher. After just a few questions, he told Ding Hao to go to the study by himself to look up information and understand. Ding Hao didn't know if it was impatience or if he didn't really understand either. He just repeatedly urged Ding Hao to practice cultivation well, saying that cultivation was also a process of enlightenment and let Ding Hao understand on his own.
Ding Hao was not a talkative person, so he didn't say more to avoid embarrassing Chen Ling. Since he already knew his shortcomings, he naturally would do his best to make up for them and directly headed towards the library.
The library was only guarded by a third - generation disciple. At the entrance, Ding Hao saw him with his eyes closed, sitting cross - legged. Ding Hao didn't know if he was cultivating or sleeping. When he heard Ding Hao enter, he only opened his eyes and glanced at him, then continued to meditate, as if Ding Hao didn't exist.
Ding Hao didn't know his name and was too lazy to ask. He walked straight in. Generally, a library was an essential part of a cultivation sect, storing some books about common sense of cultivation and basic cultivation methods. The most advanced methods were not stored here but passed down orally from generation to generation.
Even so, the library was not a place where ordinary people could enter casually. However, the Wuji Demon Sect didn't seem to care much about the management and protection of the library. Although the Wuji Demon Sect was only a second - rate cultivation sect, there were still thousands of books in the library. Ding Hao wondered if it was because there were too few advanced cultivation methods in the Wuji Demon Sect. Most of the books in the library were basic cultivation books. For example, for the making and using methods of the most basic insect - repelling talisman, other sects usually only had one book to introduce it, and at most two or three. But here, Ding Hao found seven manufacturing methods.
Ding Hao thought that perhaps there were too few middle - and high - level cultivation methods. If there were only about ten books in the entire library, it wouldn't look good, so they just got some miscellaneous basic books to make up the number.
Ding Hao didn't rush to look at these basic cultivation methods. Instead, he found a dictionary and started to flip through it. He wasn't the only newly - entered cultivator who didn't know many characters, so the library also prepared some of the most basic things for such people to study!
With the help of the dictionary, Ding Hao identified the cultivation methods of the Qi - Refining stage, the Fetal - Breath stage, and the Rotation - Illumination stage in the jade slip. The beginning was always not too difficult. Although Ding Hao's memory was ordinary, his comprehension ability was remarkable. The originally difficult and obscure words gradually became understandable with the help of the dictionary.
Then he sorted out the contents of some common - sense books for cultivators. It took him three hours to put this information into his own jade slip, and then he returned to his residence.
Sitting cross - legged on the bed, he began to sort out his thoughts. Every event of the past two days was clearly visible in his mind. The day before yesterday, he was just an ordinary hunter in Shanhe Village, but today, he had entered the world of cultivation. The development of things was always unexpected. The experiences of these two days broadened his horizons while also making him feel uneasy. Everyone in this world had the ability to kill him. This threat made him uneasy, but more of it was excitement. Yes, it was excitement. Ding Hao knew that he liked this feeling. Maybe he was born not to like mediocrity. Ding Hao couldn't help thinking.
First, he thought of his master, Chen Ling. Ding Hao didn't believe at all that Chen Ling took him as an apprentice because he cherished his life. People in the demonic way were selfish. They would never do something so thankless.
Since the eight - winged purple python was so precious in his mouth, why was he willing to let him feed it? What was it about him that Chen Ling wanted? The inner elixir of the eight - winged purple python! Yes, but that's not right either. Although he had already swallowed it, he hadn't fully absorbed it yet. Chen Ling could have killed him to get it. Although the effect would be greatly reduced in this way.
Greatly reduced effect! Right. He was now at the early - Nascent Soul stage and already had the ability to let his Nascent Soul leave his body and choose a new one. When he fully absorbed the inner elixir of the eight - winged purple python, Chen Ling could directly scatter his soul and possess this body to obtain the maximum effect of the eight - winged purple python's inner elixir. This must be his real purpose!
Ding Hao was completely sure that this was the case. Now that he had figured this out, he was not afraid instead. For him, this was the first difficulty he encountered since entering the cultivation world. How to solve this problem was what he was thinking about!
After thinking for a while, he felt that there didn't seem to be a good solution for the moment. And currently, the most important thing wasn't this either, but how to improve his strength as quickly as possible.
Strength! Strength! This was the most important proof of whether he could survive in the cultivation world!