“I can grant you the ability to fly through the skies and burrow through the earth. While I dare not promise you immortality, I can make your lifespan more than ten times what it is now, and give you unimaginable power! There are many things in this world beyond your imagination. Seeing how young you are, yet so cold and ruthless, it’s truly a pity for you not to join our demonic path. You’re already physically strong and your bones are of the highest quality. Moreover, what you just consumed was the two-thousand-year-old inner core of the Eight-Winged Purple Python. The Eight-Winged Purple Python is a top-tier spiritual creature, a primordial beast from ancient times. Even for us cultivators, it’s rare to see one. This creature is ferocious and bloodthirsty, its entire body is poisonous. Even among cultivators, unless you’re a top expert, you’d have to avoid it. A mature Eight-Winged Purple Python is even more terrifying, able to fly and burrow with ease, from the highest heavens to the deepest underworld. Although this python had only cultivated for two thousand years, its inner core is still not something an ordinary person like you could withstand. The Eight-Winged Purple Python is extremely poisonous and fiery, but its inner core is not poisonous, only extremely hot. It has already flared up once just now—you’ve tasted it yourself. An ordinary person would have long since died from total depletion of blood and essence, but you managed to survive, which is truly extraordinary. But don’t think it’s over. From now on, it will flare up once every three days, each time more intense than the last, until it happens eighty-one times. Each time you endure it, your body will benefit a little. If you can survive all eighty-one times, the benefits you’ll gain will be beyond measure. Without my help, the next flare-up will be your death. That’s all I have to say. Whether you choose to become my disciple is up to you.”

The old man’s first few sentences made Brian Carter’s blood surge with excitement, but as he went on, Brian Carter felt increasingly cold. Although he couldn’t tell if the old man was telling the truth, the old man’s expression and fluent narration made Brian Carter unwilling to risk his own life.

Having just made up his mind, he acted immediately. Thud! Brian Carter knelt before the old man. Bang! Bang! Bang! He kowtowed three times in a row.

“Brian Carter is willing to take you as my master, to never abandon or betray you for life. If I break this oath, may heaven and earth destroy me!” Although Brian Carter grew up in the mountains, he had attended the village school for a few days and could read and write. He spoke these words quite fluently, though whether he was sincere, only he himself knew!

“Good, you may rise. Since you have taken me as your master, there are some things you must know. Our sect is called the Wuji Demonic Sect, specializing in demonic cultivation methods. There are four generations of disciples in our sect. The sect master Nathan Thompson and the four great elders are the first generation. The four elders are Henry Bolton, David Thompson, William Foster, and Franklin Clark. I am a disciple of Franklin Clark, my surname is Chen, given name Ling, and I am of the second generation. I won’t introduce the third and fourth generations for now; we’ll discuss them when we reach the sect. In this world, cultivators are divided into the righteous path and the demonic path, both aiming for ascension. Righteous cultivators ascend to the Immortal Realm, demonic cultivators to the Demon Realm. Whether cultivating the righteous or demonic path, both go against the heavens. When cultivation reaches its peak, one must ascend, but before ascension, there is always a heavenly tribulation. If you survive it, you ascend to the Immortal or Demon Realm; if not, your soul is scattered! In essence, there is no difference between righteous and demonic cultivation, only in method. Both have thirteen stages: Qi Refining, Embryonic Breathing, Illumination, Fasting, Opening Light, Fusion, Heart Movement, Nascent Soul, Out-of-Body, Divided Spirit, Unity, Tribulation Crossing, and Great Perfection. The first three stages—Qi Refining, Embryonic Breathing, and Illumination—are considered the first phase in the cultivation world, the true foundation for stepping into cultivation. After Fasting, each stage is divided into early, middle, and late phases. By now, you should understand that cultivation is a long process. Don’t think that only the heavenly tribulation is dangerous; every stage is fraught with peril. At best, a misstep will cause you to go astray and lose all your progress; at worst, you’ll die a horrible death or even have your soul destroyed…”

Eric Brooks didn’t realize until the sky outside began to lighten that he had been speaking for three or four hours. Cultivators have nearly limitless lifespans and a vague sense of time, but Brian Carter was just an ordinary person. Yet Eric Brooks noticed that Brian Carter had listened for a long time without the slightest impatience; on the contrary, he was quite interested and occasionally asked a question or two. Eric Brooks nodded to himself in satisfaction at Brian Carter’s performance!

“Master, then what exactly brought you here? You didn’t just come to this python’s cave to gather spiritual energy out of boredom, did you?”

Since they had started to get familiar, and Brian Carter knew he would be spending a lot of time with him from now on, his tone was no longer as indifferent and cold as before. Brian Carter had always made his living hunting in the forest, so he was no stranger to blood, though he only hunted animals. Although Brian Carter was usually cold and rarely spoke nonsense, appearing more mature than his peers, he was still just an eighteen-year-old boy and couldn’t escape some youthful nature.