Ye Qingshuang stood frozen in place.
For the first time, her dust-smudged little face displayed an expression so vivid it seemed on the verge of cracking.
Shock!
Disbelief!
Existential doubt!
Eldest... senior brother?
A... chicken?!
Her hands, clutching the cloth doll, tightened subconsciously, knuckles turning white.
Her icy pupils churned with unprecedented turmoil.
She had joined the sect, sought power, to find her brother who was taken by demonic cultivators.
But now, her master told her a mortal body could also cultivate.
It completely overturned her understanding.
And that wasn't all. Her eldest senior brother was a chicken!
How was this anything like the immortal sect she had imagined?
Had she joined the wrong sect?
Beneath the frozen layer of despair, a sliver of confusion and wavering quietly surfaced.
"Coo!"
What's up? Don't you know to bow when you see your eldest senior brother?
Sensing the new junior sister's gaze, Jin Cancan puffed out his chest and let out a crisp crow.
The sound seemed to shatter the stagnation.
Ye Qingshuang abruptly closed her eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath.
When she opened them again, the confusion and doubt were like stones cast into a frigid pool—instantly sinking, vanishing without a trace.
Replaced by a resolve even more unyielding than before!
Her brother was still waiting for her!
She had no time for hesitation, no right to be picky.
Even if her master said a pig could become an immortal, as long as there was the slightest possibility of becoming stronger, she would seize it!
She bowed deeply to Jin Cancan, her voice cold and clear. "Ye Qingshuang pays her respects to Eldest Senior Brother."
Jin Cancan nodded with satisfaction. "Coo-coo!"
Such a well-behaved junior sister, unlike that second junior brother who always wore a sour face as if someone owed him money.
In his good mood, Jin Cancan wanted to give the new junior sister a welcoming gift.
He hesitated for a moment, a pained look on his face, then opened his beak and spat out a fiery-red vermilion fruit, offering it to Ye Qingshuang.
"..."
Staring at the fruit, which seemed faintly moist, Ye Qingshuang's recently stabilized mind cracked again.
She really didn't want to eat her eldest senior brother's saliva. Could she refuse?
Jiang Ling watched with great relish nearby, almost laughing out loud.
The way this little ice block's face cracked and then was forcibly welded back together was absolutely hilarious!
"Coo-coo?"
Jin Cancan tilted his head, looking at Ye Qingshuang, a question flashing in his glass-like eyes.
This vermilion fruit was a good thing; it could temper the physical body. Since the little girl had no spiritual roots, the path of entering the Dao through martial arts suited her.
One had to admit, Jin Cancan had some insight. His thoughts actually aligned with the system's.
"Ahem, you'd best keep that for yourself. Your junior sister's cultivation resources will be provided by her master," Jiang Ling said, unable to suppress a chuckle.
"Coo-coo!"
Hearing this, Jin Cancan immediately pecked the fruit and swallowed it back down.
Jiang Ling's eyes twitched.
He had only just learned that there seemed to be another space inside Jin Cancan's belly, capable of storing items. Perhaps it was related to his bloodline talent. He still didn't know exactly what breed Jin Cancan was.
But this thought only flickered briefly in Jiang Ling's mind before he dismissed it.
No matter what bloodline talent Jin Cancan awakened or what breed he evolved into, he was still Jiang Ling's first disciple.
Nothing could change that!
The more Jiang Ling looked at Jin Cancan, the softer his gaze became. His introduction of his second disciple, Hua Yuntian, grew even more perfunctory.
"This is your second senior brother."
He pointed at Hua Yuntian. Brief and to the point, that was it.
Ye Qingshuang silently stepped forward and bowed. "I greet Second Senior Brother."
Hua Yuntian: "..."
He struggled fiercely to hold back the impulse to curse out loud. His face once again darkened like the bottom of a wok.
A Tribulation Transcendence Great Power like him... his standing was actually less than that of a chicken?
That old rogue Jiang was simply too insulting!
As if oblivious to his dark expression, Jiang Ling waved a grand hand. "Alright, everyone, into the sect."
…
Back in the main hall, Jiang Ling plunged headfirst into a pile of miscellaneous items in a corner, rummaging through chests and boxes.
Dust flew, making him cough.
"Cough, cough! Found it!"
He pulled out a heavily dust-covered oil-paper package, its edges worn and frayed. Blowing off the dust revealed a thread-bound book with a yellowed, faded cover.
Scrawled crookedly across the front were four characters:
Star-Swallowing Great Art.
"Tsk, this condition... it's really seen some years," Jiang Ling muttered, slapping the dust off the book with distaste. He walked over to Ye Qingshuang, who stood frozen like an ice sculpture nearby.
"A mortal cultivation manual?"
Hua Yuntian was momentarily stunned, then a flash of mockery passed through his eyes.
So a mortal body was only fit for mortal techniques.
That being the case, whether Ye Qingshuang would ever get the chance to enter the Dao through martial arts and step into the cultivation world in this lifetime was anyone's guess.
A strange light also flickered in Jin Cancan's eyes.
Since the master had recruited her and accepted her as a personal disciple, surely he wouldn't just give her a mortal technique, right?
"Ahem, my disciple," Jiang Ling cleared his throat, handing the book over with a somewhat guilty expression.
"Your master sees that your willpower is tenacious, suitable for the path of entering the Dao through martial arts. This Star-Swallowing Great Art may just be a mundane martial art, and its methods a bit... unconventional, but it's excellent for forging the body. Practice it for now, and we'll find a more suitable technique for you later."
He boasted extravagantly, trying to gloss over the manual's inferior quality.
[Ding! Detected host bestowing disciple Ye Qingshuang with 'Star-Swallowing Great Art' x1! Triggered Ten-Thousandfold Return!]
[Congratulations, host! Obtained the Supreme Immortal Canon 'Devouring Heaven Demonic Art' x1! Innate Dao Embryo Source Spirit Liquid x10!]
Boom!
Jiang Ling's mind was instantly blasted blank by the notification!
His entire body stiffened as if under a paralysis spell. His eyes widened into perfect circles, his mouth slightly agape—large enough to fit an egg.
Devouring Heaven Demonic Art?
Immortal-grade!
And that... Innate Dao Embryo Source Spirit Liquid?
What kind of heaven-defying luck was this?!
He instinctively looked inward at his system space.
A jade slip floated quietly. It was a deep, dark purple throughout, its surface flowing with countless mysterious, silvery runes that seemed to contain the principles of the Great Dao!
The space around the jade slip was slightly distorted, exuding a profound, vast, and terrifying aura—as if it could devour the heavens and all laws, refining all into one!
It didn't have the sinister, demonic feel of a devilish art. Instead, it radiated the supreme majesty of something pointing directly to the Great Dao!
[Devouring Heaven Demonic Art (Immortal Grade)]
Devour all things under heaven, refine them into the self, and forge a supreme Dao foundation!
This art points directly to the origin of the Devouring Great Dao. It is domineering and peerless, capable of assimilating all laws for one's own use, breaking all paths, and achieving the Devouring Immortal Body.
When cultivated to great completion, one can devour stars and refine laws! (Note: This art can only be mastered by those with an extremely tenacious will. Otherwise, one is easily consumed by the instinct to devour, leading to a shattered Dao foundation. It is not a demonic art, but a supreme immortal canon manifesting the Devouring Great Dao!)
[Innate Dao Embryo Source Spirit Liquid x10]
Source spirit liquid born from an Innate Dao Embryo at the dawn of creation, containing the purest innate Dao essence and life source.
A single drop can cleanse the marrow, remake the body, greatly enhance aptitude, solidify the Dao foundation, and foster affinity with all Daos.
Has a heaven-defying, fate-altering effect on special constitutions or mortal bodies!
"Holy mother of—!!!!"
Jiang Ling sucked in a sharp breath, feeling his heart was about to leap out of his throat.