The Nine Nether Cult's ten thousand years of savings had been completely swindled away by the hundred-thousand-year-old Dao Seeking Sect, and their Cult Master had perished as a result—a total loss of both people and wealth.
For the nine hundred years that followed, the Nine Nether Cult had been crushed under the blow, never recovering.
The weak are meat for the strong. Perhaps this was the cruelty of the cultivation world... like hell it was.
Halfway through reciting the voiceover, Lu Yang couldn't even keep going.
Shouldn't the cruelty of the cultivation world be mighty powers pillaging and plundering? Why did it turn into a financial investment scam here?
Whatever happened to might makes right?
Now that the Nine Nether Cult's millennial cold case had been cracked today, Li Haoran did not even know what to say.
Although the Cult Master from two generations ago had nothing to do with him, and his previous life, Qin Haoran, didn't have much connection to the scam either, he still felt he ought to show some sort of reaction.
He began to clap.
The Nine Nether Cult deserved eradication by all under heaven. Well scammed!
The Fifth Elder gave two dry coughs. "In any case, as for your invitation for me to become a protector of the Heavenly Court Cult, I agree.
"According to what you said, the Heavenly Court Cult's external stronghold is at the barbecue shop in Yanjiang Commandery. When do we set off?"
"A long night breeds many dreams. Why not depart tomorrow?" Lu Yang suggested.
"Fine."
"Right, Elder, please remember to disguise yourself. It wouldn't do if someone from the Nine Nether Cult recognizes you," Lu Yang reminded him. Whenever they had met people from the Nine Nether Cult before, they had used aliases and fake appearances.
"That's simple enough. While my disguise skills aren't as proficient as Old Ninth's, dealing with mere members of the Nine Nether Cult is no problem at all. Someone at the Body Integration stage might show up from the Nine Nether Cult this time; before a Body Integration cultivator, your disguises would be seen through at a glance.
"Before we set out, I'll disguise the four of you."
Evidently, the Fifth Elder had plenty of experience in this regard.
After bidding farewell to the Fifth Elder, Lu Yang did not forget about expanding the Heavenly Court Cult's membership. He wanted to invite Tao Yaoye and Man Gu to join the Heavenly Court Cult and head to Yanjiang Commandery to impersonate ancient prodigies.
Unfortunately, when Lu Yang went over, he found that both Tao Yaoye and Man Gu were in seclusion.
Senior Sister told Lu Yang that Tao Yaoye and Man Gu were currently consolidating their Golden Core stage and could not pull away for the time being.
"Right, Fairy, could you teach me a few magical arts or divine abilities? The kind that looks really ancient—the sort where anyone can tell at a glance it was used in antiquity."
Lu Yang explained, "Think about it. My current identity is an ancient prodigy. If I keep using modern moves, won't it look suspicious? It'll be easy to give myself away."
The Immortal Fairy looked at Lu Yang silently, thinking to herself: *Which of your moves looks like a modern one? Shrinking the Earth to Inches, or the Tree Planting Art?*
However, as a dignified, empathetic fairy, she refrained from uttering such disheartening words. "Sure thing.
"I have the Ancient Qi Refinement Art here. It gathers the spiritual essence of heaven and earth and the morning and evening mists. Ingesting and refining them grants longevity and eternal youth. The Qi Refinement stage itself was evolved from the Ancient Qi Refinement Art.
"When Immortal Jiuchong was demonstrating that he was the first person to achieve immortality, he perused many ancient texts, some of which mentioned the Ancient Qi Refinement Art. He used immortal arts to deduce it and claimed that cultivating the Ancient Qi Refinement Art to the utmost peak could cultivate Primordial Purple Qi, which was extraordinarily potent. But that was purely theoretical—I've never seen anyone pull it off anyway."
Lu Yang shook his head. "That won't work. I won't have a chance to show it off before the Nine Nether Cult, and they wouldn't be able to tell it's the Ancient Qi Refinement Art either."
"Then how about the Dragon Transformation Art? The Dragon Clan possesses formidable bodies. Mastering the Dragon Transformation Art lets you partially 'dragonify' your body and gain some of the Dragon Clan's innate abilities, like calling the wind, summoning the rain, or overturning rivers and seas.
"Immortal Ying Tian studied the Dragon Transformation Art and is the person with the highest achievements in it to date. He could undergo complete dragonification, to the point where the Dragon Clan referred to him as 'Yinglong.'"
Lu Yang's eyes lit up. "Hey, that sounds great! How do I learn it?"
"Let me think. First, you'd probably have to soak in dragon blood for three days. While you might end up with a bloated body like Immortal Ying Tian, with this fairy's guidance, it shouldn't be much of an issue... Right, is dragon blood hard to obtain in your era?"
Back in antiquity, if one wanted dragon blood, one either used force to coerce the Dragon Clan into handing it over, slaughtered an isolated true dragon, or, like Immortal Ying Tian, had the Dragon Clan view them as having high potential and willingly invest in them.
"We do have dragon blood."
The Dao Seeking Sect certainly lacked neither dragon blood nor phoenix blood. The trouble was that they had to set off tomorrow; he couldn't very well soak in dragon blood on the road, much less for three whole days.
Besides, the Immortal Fairy had just said he might end up with the same fate as Immortal Ying Tian.
"Is there anything else?"
"How about the Taotie Clan's divine ability, Heaven-Swallowing Earth-Devouring?"
Lu Yang was startled. The Taotie Clan's divine ability, Heaven-Swallowing Earth-Devouring, was renowned far and wide. He had heard storytellers talk about it even before he began cultivating.
Rumor had it that this move could devour souls, spiritual energy, the sun, moon, and stars, space, and all things under heaven!
If he could learn it, that would naturally be fantastic.
"Wait, shouldn't that be an innate divine ability unique to the Taotie Clan? Can I learn it too?"
The Immortal Fairy remained as confident as ever, patting her chest as she said, "Listen to you! With this fairy guiding you, what couldn't you learn?"
"Then let's learn this one!" Lu Yang made up his mind, his heart brimming with joy. At long last, he could learn a new skill.
Lu Yang found an open expanse on Tianmen Peak far away from the kitchen, and the Immortal Fairy manifested to instruct him.
"To master Heaven-Swallowing Earth-Devouring, the most critical aspect is possessing the desire to devour. That is the foundation.
"Why can the Taotie Clan eat so exceptionally much? It's precisely because their desire to devour is an instinct—one that cannot be suppressed!
"Close your eyes and imagine that you're starving, that you desperately want to eat."
Following the Immortal Fairy's words, Lu Yang imagined that he had become a mortal. His stomach felt completely empty, ravenous, longing for food, drooling from hunger.
He imagined a plate of delicious food before him... like scrambled eggs with tomatoes.
Instantly, Lu Yang wasn't hungry anymore.
He opened his eyes. Before him stood the Immortal Fairy, tilting her head as she looked at him.
With an innocent expression, she asked, "What's wrong?"
"...Nothing. Just a slip of the mind. Let me imagine again."
Lu Yang banished the scrambled eggs with tomatoes from his mind, replacing them with plate after plate of delicacies exquisite in color, aroma, and taste:
A braised pork knuckle, glistening red, its fried skin thoroughly soaked in savory sauce; firm, spicy river snails; noodles drenched in chili oil...
Lu Yang wiped his drool. Now he was truly hungry.
The fairy's voice rang in his ears at just the right moment. "Remember the incantation I recite. Don't try to memorize it by rote; understand it. Comprehend the meaning of this incantation on a deeper level."
What followed was an abstruse, ancient tongue.
Perhaps because Lu Yang's hunger matched the incantation so well, even though he still couldn't understand the literal words, he didn't find it obscure.
From noon until dusk, Lu Yang maintained this state of ravenous hunger as he sought to comprehend the incantation. Gradually, he grew more and more familiar with it, seeming to grasp its underlying meaning: to eat.
He opened his eyes once more. With the incantation echoing in his heart, he looked down at the soil beneath his feet, and an impulse welled up within him.
He wanted to eat dirt.
"Wait, why do I want to eat dirt?!" Lu Yang realized something was wrong.
Lying on her side on the ground with her cheek propped up on her arm, the Immortal Fairy replied as though it were the most natural thing in the world: "Congratulations! You've mastered 'Earth-Devouring.'"
Chapter 319