After wandering around with Xu Lingyue, Wu Tian finally headed toward the last destination—the Sect Hall. As he entered, several elders were already seated in their respective chairs, while the Sect Master sat upon a golden throne at the front.
Wu Tian and Xu Lingyue walked forward and immediately bowed respectfully.
"Disciple Xu Lingyue greets the Sect Master."
"Disciple Wu Tian greets the Sect Master."
The Sect Master stroked his beard, a satisfied smile forming on his face.
"I have already heard about your situation. From this day onward, you are a member of the Raging Flame Sect, and we will protect you to the best of our ability," he said. "I also intend to take you as my sole disciple."
The hall instantly erupted into an uproar. Several elders stood up to voice their objections, only to be silenced by a single gesture from the Sect Master.
"Of course," he continued, "you are free to refuse if you have already chosen another elder as your master."
Wu Tian had originally planned to follow Xu Lingyue. However, after realizing her true nature, he now wished to stay as far away from her as possible.
"This disciple is willing."
The Sect Master burst into hearty laughter. "Good. From now on, you are my disciple. Anyone who becomes your enemy will be making me—Cang Xuan—their enemy."
Wu Tian realized this was the master-disciple oath Xu Lingyue had once told him about. He immediately straightened his posture and clasped his hands together as though holding incense.
"The master shall not disappoint the disciple, and the disciple shall not disappoint the master."
"The Raging Flame Sect shall not disappoint the disciple, and the disciple shall not disappoint the Raging Flame Sect."
"This is the vow of disciple Wu Tian."
Everyone in the hall was stunned.
Cang Xuan only laughed louder. "Excellent! This is the bearing of a true genius. From this moment on, Wu Tian is both my disciple and the Holy Son of the Raging Flame Sect!"
At once, everyone in the hall bowed deeply toward Wu Tian.
"We pay our respects to the Holy Son!"
After that, the elders presented Wu Tian with gifts one by one before leaving the hall, leaving only Wu Tian and Cang Xuan behind.
"Wu Tian," Cang Xuan said, "I already understand your condition. If you wish to take revenge, you must first strengthen yourself."
"This disciple understands," Wu Tian replied. "However… in truth, this disciple harbors no hatred."
Cang Xuan looked at him quietly for a moment before asking, "Do you have a goal in this life?"
A goal?
The question left Wu Tian at a loss. Becoming the strongest? That sounded absurd. Building a harem full of beautiful women? Unfortunately, he was not ruled by desire.
In truth, Wu Tian had lost all purpose ever since that girl's death. Starting a family felt troublesome—if his child caused chaos, he would have to clean up after them. Over the years, he had frozen his heart, his hopes, even his ambitions, living only as someone waiting for death.
Seeing the confusion on his disciple's face, Cang Xuan offered a suggestion. "What if your goal is to defeat your former fiancée in the tournament two years from now?"
Wu Tian looked at Cang Xuan, trying to grasp what his master was planning.
"You may not know this yet," Cang Xuan continued. "The Heavenly Frost Sect and the Raging Flame Sect are long-standing enemies. Because of our conflict with them, our sect fell to second rank—though we dragged them down with us. Even so, their overall condition remains quite good, not far from that of a first-rank sect."
Wu Tian was surprised. He had joined the Raging Flame Sect purely by chance, without knowing its background, simply to obtain pills to break through to the Golden Core realm.
Having no other goal, Wu Tian ultimately accepted Cang Xuan's proposal, also hoping to earn his favor.
"This disciple agrees with Master's suggestion. From today onward, this disciple will cultivate to win the tournament two years from now."
Cang Xuan laughed joyfully and handed Wu Tian a powerful fire-attribute technique manual, along with a Golden Core–level beast flame, which Wu Tian accepted immediately.
Afterward, Cang Xuan informed him that he would be entering closed-door cultivation. If Wu Tian needed anything, he could approach the Vice Sect Master.
Wu Tian left the Sect Hall and hurried to the Treasure Division to retrieve his spoils.
After changing disguises several times, Wu Tian successfully gathered all his wealth—six hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones, not including the gifts from the elders.
He then returned to his residence, where several red-robed seniors were already waiting.
"Holy Son," they greeted, bowing respectfully. Wu Tian responded with a slight nod.
"The Vice Sect Master is waiting for the Holy Son. Please follow us."
Wu Tian nodded lightly, and they soon took flight, with Wu Tian following behind.
Upon reaching the mountain peak, Wu Tian saw an elder watering plants in the courtyard.
"Master, we have brought the Holy Son," the two disciples said before bowing and leaving.
"Wu Tian greets the Vice Sect Master," Wu Tian said respectfully.
The elder slowly turned around with a gentle smile.
"Even the brightest sun is powerless when shrouded by clouds. In the end, the plants beneath it will wither."
"Clouds are only temporary guests. The sun is the ruler of the sky. How could something fleeting overcome something eternal?" Wu Tian replied, even though he himself did not fully understand his own words.
The elder smiled. "Words are reflections of the heart. The heart follows thought, and thought is shaped by one's nature. From your words, I see that you revere eternity. But remember— even that which is called eternal cannot escape suffering."
His words triggered a memory from Wu Tian's past…
It had been a rainy day, and Wu Tian was sleeping with his head resting on a girl's lap.
"Look," he said excitedly, pointing at the screen before him. "This person is trying to develop a serum of immortality. If you wait just a little longer, there will definitely be a cure for your illness."
The girl smiled at his enthusiasm."Really? Do you think… humans can truly live forever?"
Wu Tian answered without hesitation."Of course it's possible. What do you think death is? Most fools believe death happens when the 'soul' leaves the body. In reality, the concept of the soul is just propaganda invented by religious zealots to scare people with heaven and hell."
"Think about it—when a car can no longer move, why does no one say its soul has been taken?"
The girl laughed at his reasoning. "How can you compare a human soul to a car?"
"It's the same," Wu Tian replied casually. "Humans are just humanoid computers. The brain is both CPU and memory. Humans die because their organs grow too old. If there were a serum that could continuously regenerate the organs, I believe humans could live forever."
The girl smiled softly, her eyes meeting Wu Tian's with calm warmth."Do you really want to live forever?"
Without thinking, Wu Tian replied enthusiastically,"Of course! There's still so much I haven't seen. I want to witness galaxies, supernovae, black holes—even intergalactic wars with millions of spaceships. I also want to see planets colliding. They say it's a breathtaking sight. What about you?"
The girl fell silent for a moment, then spoke thoughtfully."Hmmm… I don't think I want to live forever. Wouldn't immortals be miserable? They'd eventually grow bored living for too long. After all, even immortals cannot escape suffering."
Wu Tian snapped out of his reverie.
He remembered how, back then, he had invited the girl to become immortal together—only to be met with laughter.
Now, the same question resurfaced in his mind.
What would he do after becoming immortal and the strongest in the world?
Live for one trillion years?One quadrillion years raised to the power of a trillion?
Just imagining it made his heart tremble.
Perhaps God was the most pitiful existence in the world. How could any being remain sane after living for that long? Maybe watching the randomness of humanity was His only form of entertainment—that was why humans were created.
Or perhaps living in heaven, free from time and trapped in an illusion of eternal happiness, was an act of mercy—so one would no longer need to think about anything at all.
His heart growing increasingly restless, Wu Tian looked at the elder before him and finally voiced the question he had been holding back.
"Elder, is immortality truly a blessing… or merely an endless suffering? Is pursuing immortality a mistake?"
The elder smiled faintly."Immortality is never wrong. What is wrong is the reason people pursue it. A short life can be meaningful if lived with awareness, while an eternal life can become hell if filled with fear, greed, and emptiness. As long as you can give meaning to every step you take, whether one day or a million years, it is still life. But once that meaning is lost, even immortality becomes endless suffering."
Wu Tian understood his words. What he lacked was meaning—something to give substance to his hollow existence. To find meaning, he needed a purpose.
Realizing this, Wu Tian bowed deeply.
"No need for thanks," the elder said. "An elder merely clears the fog. The direction of your path is decided by your own feet. My name is Gu Changming. From now on, you may come to me whenever your heart is restless and full of questions."
Gu Changming handed him a token symbolizing Wu Tian's status as Holy Son. Following his guidance, Wu Tian went to the Ceremony Division and underwent a series of physical measurements. Soon after, he received crimson robes embroidered with gold—attire befitting the Holy Son of the Raging Flame Sect.
When night fell, a grand banquet was held. The elders introduced their disciples one by one, and at the climax of the event, Wu Tian was formally announced as the Holy Son of the Raging Flame Sect and the personal disciple of the Sect Master.