Wu Di knelt on the ground. He was visibly tense, yet his expression contained a hint of longing. Ye Zichen watched him for a long time without answering.
In truth, he’d tried to accept Wu Di as his disciple for his own reasons. There was likely even a hint of exploitation mixed in. However, after returning to Wu Di’s residence and thinking the matter over, he felt that taking a pupil for his own benefit would be a bit too unfair for someone as pure-hearted as Wu Di.
Accepting a disciple meant taking on a responsibility, especially since this was Ye Zichen’s first apprentice.
Ye Zichen’s expression was somewhat grave. Beneath his intense gaze, Wu Di clearly understood that this senior was considering the matter. In his heart, he felt incredibly tense, yet the look on his face grew increasingly serious.
“Have you thought this through?” After a while, Ye Zichen finally looked directly at the kneeling Wu Di. His eyes glowed bright as fire. They seemed to bore right through him, as if they were examining the depths of his soul. “I might not be able to teach you too much. All I can do is point the way when you encounter bottlenecks. As for your future path, you’ll still need to walk it yourself. I can’t stay in Black Ox Town or this mortal great district forever, nor can I possibly protect you your whole life. I don’t want you to take me as your master on the spur of the moment. Are you sure you’re prepared for this?”
If he was going to take on an apprentice, Ye Zichen naturally had to scrutinize him properly first. Although he’d never experienced an apprentice’s betrayal, he’d read quite a few stories about disciples betraying and grievously wounding their masters back in the Modern Realm.
Although Wu Di’s disposition was fundamentally good and pure, there were undeniably far too many stories hidden deep within his heart. Ye Zichen was worried that, in order to get revenge, Wu Di would resort to unscrupulous methods. He absolutely didn’t want to take on that sort of apprentice.
He absolutely didn’t want to become the main character of a tragedy. In an instant, a voice carrying hints of the mysterious power of Heaven and Earth pierced directly into Wu Di’s mind and examined the depths of his soul.
“Whether I accept you as an apprentice or not depends most upon your fundamental nature, but at the end of the day, my understanding of you still isn’t that deep. If I take you as an apprentice, I will naturally instruct you to the best of my abilities in everything from your personal conduct to how best to break the shackles impeding your cultivation. However, I don’t want to accept someone who’s been blinded by thirst for revenge or scum who will sink to any depths to strike back at those who’ve hurt them. Do you understand me?”
Rumble.
As soon as Ye Zichen spoke, his words stirred up fierce gusts of wind and heavenly lightning rumbled in the skies. All of Heaven and Earth was cast into darkness. It was as if the world were empty except for Ye Zichen and Wu Di.
As Wu Di knelt on the ground, his heart thudding wildly. He was astonished at Ye Zichen’s all-encompassing might, but after a moment’s shock, he regained control of his emotions. He looked up and met Ye Zichen’s evaluating gaze. He wore a determined expression and when he spoke, each word was pronounced clearly and emphatically.
“A teacher for a day, a father for life. I, Wu Di, have never betrayed anyone’s trust, and will absolutely never do so in the future.”
Wu Di spoke straight from the heart. He knew full well that Ye Zichen was testing him, which meant he really was considering whether or not to accept him as his apprentice.
Testing implied earnestly. The more Ye Zichen tested him, the more serious and exacting he was.
To Wu Di, Ye Zichen’s kindness was as weighty as a mountain. Although they’d only known each other for a short time, he would never forget everything that Ye Zichen had done for him.
There was no guilty conscience hidden behind his words, nor even the slightest hint of fakeness or insincerity!
Ye Zichen beamed with satisfaction. From the moment Wu Di first responded, he’d been examining his soul. He now could say with absolute certainty; Wu Di’s words were how he truly felt deep in his heart.
“Alright. From this day forth, you are my, Ye Zichen’s, first apprentice!”
Bang!
Wu Di kowtowed, his body trembling from head to toe as he looked up to the sky and shouted, “I, Wu Di, humbly greet my master!”
Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Besides going over the history of the God Realm and acquiring some common knowledge, he spent this time resolving Wu DI’s cultivation difficulties.
He had to say, this Wu Di really was the overlooked treasure of the Wu Family. Even Ye Zichen couldn’t but acknowledge his uncanny talent and intellect.
In just a few days’ worth of time, with just a few words and a tiny bit of help from Ye Zichen, Wu Di went from early entering immortality to mid-stage entering immortality. Remember, when they’d first met just a few days ago, Wu Di was only a spiritual body cultivator.
With this sort of monstrous cultivation speed, the Wu Family had absolutely missed out by not wholeheartedly supporting him with ample resources. Of course, it was also possible that people were manipulating them from the shadows, forcefully repressing Wu Di’s talent and preventing him from revealing his true brilliance.
On the third day of Wu Di’s apprenticeship and without any tricks or delays, Li Wanlong kept his promise and arranged a team to deliver all the resources he’d promised.
The escort included over ten peak-entering-immortality experts. There was even a single human immortal expert leading them.
He had no other choice; this was truly far too many resources, and worse, he’d had to pay for them all himself. If something went wrong during the delivery and had to replace them, he was afraid it would cost him his life.
In particular, the earth-grade battle armor Ye Zichen demanded. He’d spent a full million spirit coins plus the promise of a personal favor in order to purchase it from a grandmaster artifact refiner.
He felt his heart bleed at the thought of it, but when he considered Ye Zichen’s earth immortal or possibly even sky immortal strength, he could only keep his anger to himself. He didn’t dare object.
He could only grimace and summon his most trusted, long-time subordinates and repeatedly urge them to deliver the ring to Ye ZIchen with the utmost caution.
As Ye Zichen accepted the spatial ring, he naturally had to express his thanks. After all, Li Wan long had sent them such a huge gift. It was more than fair to praise his generosity.
After commanding the guards to thank Li Wanlong on his behalf, he returned home and tossed the ring to Wu DI.
He’d requested these resources for Wu DI right from the start.
Hearing Li Wanlong list the resources inside was one thing, but seeing them with his own eyes was completely different. Wu Di, shaken, nodded firmly and accepted the ring.
Ye ZIchen was treating him so well, but he had nothing to offer in return. All he could do was use his hard work and strength to gratify his master.
Days blurred into weeks.
In the blink of an eye, Ye Zichen had already spent half a month in Black Ox Town. During this time, he’d gone out of his way to taste being expelled from the city. He couldn’t deny it: the city was endlessly subtle and mysterious. When the time on his temporary residence permit ran out, he felt as if the Laws of Heaven and Earth themselves were rejecting him. He was left with no choice but to leave.
Ye Zichen couldn’t even begin to compete with this level of mastery over the Laws of Heaven and Earth.
Since the Laws were too profound, he no longer even tried to understand them. He simply obediently lingered in Black Ox Town, drinking immortal brew and instructing his disciple…..
Little did they know, an unfriendly-looking group of people had just arrived outside the city. They were led by none other than Scarface, the man who’d had even his pants stolen by Ye Zichen.
