At once, a sharp, child-like voice echoed out: “Elder Senior Sect Brother, you’re quite crafty! You actually started talking first!”
Soon after, this voice hurriedly said to Gongyi Tianheng: “I am the palace master of the Fallen Soul Palace Hall. I possess the great treasure known as the Fallen Soul Bell. I also have the heaven-ranked ultimate skill <<Three Notes of the Heavenly Soul>>. Do you want to become my apprentice?”
Tianheng looked over, and saw a boy with a gallant and unconstrained appearance. It looked like he was only five or six years old. He wore a full-body, moss-green changpao, and there was a daub of green-flamed patterns between his eyebrows. It gave people a gloomy and strange type of feeling.
However, Tianheng didn’t have enough time to respond.
Because the others all started talking.
“I am the palace master of the Ardent Earth Palace Hall. I possess the great treasure known as the Sky Suppressing Seal, and the heaven-ranked ultimate skill <<Eight Points Suppressing Prison>>…”
“I am the palace master of the Frigid Ice Palace Hall. I possess the great treasure known as the Profound Ice Net, and the heaven-ranked ultimate skill <<Heaven and Earth Frost Cage>>…”
“I am the palace master of the Howling Wind Palace Hall. I possess the great treasure known as the Raging Wind Sword, and the heaven-ranked ultimate skill <<Wind Dragon Nine Transformations>>…”
“I am the palace master of the Golden Light Palace Hall. I possess the great treasure known as the Golden Sun Mirror, and the heaven-ranked ultimate skill <<Ethereal Three Lights>>…”
“I am the palace master of the Jade Ocean Palace Hall. I possess the great treasure known as the Ocean Lashing Whip, and the heaven-ranked ultimate skill <<Life Seizing Imperial Ocean>>…”
“I am the palace master of the Red Sands Palace Hall. I possess the great treasure known as the Scarlet Gold Vessel, and the heaven-ranked ultimate skill <<Traceless Sand Stepping>>…”
“I am the palace master of the Raging Flames Palace Hall. I possess the great treasure known as the Fire Dragon Cover, and the heaven-ranked ultimate skill <<Palm of the Fire God Climbs the Clouds>>…”
“I am the palace master of the Blood Transformation Palace Hall. I possess the great treasure known as the Spirit Blood Rope, and the heaven-ranked ultimate skill <<Endless Blood of the Divine Body>>…”
In a short period of time, the Ten Ultimates Palace Halls, the ten types of ultimate skills, and the ten great treasures were all mentioned by them. They wanted to allow Tianheng to choose which of the Ten Ultimates Palace Halls he would join.
Tianheng listened, and his heart was naturally shaken.
The names of those ultimate skills weren’t ordinary. Once comprehended, the deep meanings within would practically enrapture one’s mind. It would be hard to free oneself!
Apart from this, these palace masters talked about other benefits.
For example, in the Inner Sect, there wasn’t actually anything like Inner Sect disciples, Core Disciples, and True Disciples. What existed here were simply Inner Sect disciples and Palace Hall disciples. However, the distinction between them was that the former developed on their own in the Inner Sect while the latter sought out factions. However, it wasn’t entirely the case to say that this determined their positions in the Inner Sect — But this was getting off track. In any case, Tianheng was certainly going to be a Palace Hall disciple.
Compared to Inner Sect disciples, the greatest difference of each Palace Hall disciple was that they could enjoy the advantages given by their own palace master. And these advantages weren’t fixed. One would either take things out in exchange, or the palace master allocated them. Whatever the case, the things that each palace hall could allocate were all different.
Naturally, in order to rope in Tianheng, the palace masters of the Ten Ultimates Palace Halls talked about all kinds of resources available in their own palace halls. One by one, they expressed that Tianheng would obtain the highest treatments among the Palace Hall disciples. Each and every resource that was open to him, apart from the things that were beyond Tianheng’s realm to utilize, would either be given freely or at an enormous discount.
In short, regardless of which palace hall Tianheng went to, all of them would have incredible benefits!
As for Tianheng?
Once he listened to those speeches, his mind made many calculations. First and foremost, he had a clear understanding of himself. Due to his special constitution, practicing any body cultivation methods or ultimate skills would only be provisional. In the end, he still needed to rely on his own understanding to grasp what was the most suitable for him in order to tread upon the summit of the path of martial arts.
As such, what he currently needed to consider was which school of ultimate skills best suited the present him.
After a bit of pondering, Tianheng picked two schools.
One school was naturally the Golden Light Palace Hall, which was related to the power of the sun. The other school was the Blood Transformation Palace Hall, which was making two sets of his bone pearls restless at this moment.
Tianheng currently had three sets of bone pearls. The first had the power of the sun, the second absorbed the blood essence of wild beasts, and the third combined poison, resentful energy, and the blood of wild beasts to form a strange power. Within these three sets of bone pearls, the second and third were related to blood, and he could obtain numerous inspirations from the Blood Transformation Palace Hall. On the other hand, due to the first set’s power of the sun, he could acquire some realm advancements in the Golden Light Palace Hall. As for the ultimate skills of the other Ten Ultimates Palace Halls, those weren’t crucial items to him right now.
After thinking it over, Tianheng made a decision. He bowed towards a figure who wore a blood-colored changpao. This person’s appearance was nefariously handsome, and he looked like a young man who was twenty-something years old.
Tianheng said: “This humble Gongyi Tianheng wishes to enter the Blood Transformation Palace Hall.”
Although there was a connection between the Golden Light Palace Hall and the power of the sun, they weren’t a complete match. On the contrary, his resentful poison bone pearls could continuously advance through the Blood Transformation Palace Hall. Moreover, his blood essence bone pearls, which still had been only barely activated, needed to be urgently developed… Under this comparison, it already wasn’t necessary to overthink things.
Yet, when Tianheng’s words were uttered, quite a few of the palace masters couldn’t help their astonishment.
— He actually chose the Blood Transformation Palace Hall?
Although the Ten Ultimates Palace Halls held profound positions within Ten Ultimates Sect, the names of the Blood Transformation Palace Hall and Fallen Soul Palace Hall sounded somewhat evil. With regards to the people outside of Ten Ultimates Sect or the people who heard these names for the first time, the probability of choosing these two palace halls were usually the lowest.
Who would’ve thought that this all-star prodigy would only think about it for only a little bit before decisively selecting this palace hall?
For a time, this caused a somewhat subtle mood to arise within these many palace masters.
The Blood Transformation Palace Hall’s palace master reacted extremely quickly. He promptly revealed a smiling expression, and spoke invigoratingly: “Good, good, good! As expected of a disciple I’ve had an eye on. Quickly come here, and let your teacher get a proper look at you!”
Since Tianheng had chosen a master, his bearing was natural. He walked over, and gave another salute: “Disciple Gongyi Tianheng greets this master.”
The Blood Transformation Palace Master tentatively reached out a hand. When he saw that Tianheng didn’t have any negative reactions, he happily grabbed Tianheng’s arm, and laughed heartily: “Good, apprentice! Wait until we go back to the palace hall, and your teacher will hold an official apprenticeship ceremony for you so that I can accept you as my disciple!”
Tianheng naturally gave his thanks once more. After that, he expressed his apologies to the other palace masters.
That palace master of the Jade Ocean Palace Hall was an extremely slender woman. Although her voice was pleasant to hear, the prestige and dignity within it couldn’t be easily ignored: “Student Gongyi, we have many ultimate skills from which to choose from. You don’t have to worry if your own attributes are ill-suited. Each of us palace masters have countless resources to alter one’s attributes, enabling this disciple to practice many types of ultimate knowledge…”
Tianheng faintly smiled, and respectfully said: “Responding to this instructor. This disciple’s constitution has some unique qualities, and the cultivation methods I practice are compatible with the Blood Transformation Palace Hall, which is why I made this choice. Therefore, although this disciple greatly admires the other palace halls, I also can’t learn all of their ultimate skills. As this disciple is only one person, I can only make such a choice.”
These words comforted the hearts of the other palace masters who didn’t receive this all-star prodigy. At the same time, the feelings of regret over the fact that Tianheng was entering the Blood Transformation Palace Hall and not their own only deepened.
When the Blood Transformation Palace Hall’s palace master heard Tianheng speaking in this way, his brows rose up and his thoughts were filled with joy. His disciple’s “admiration” for the other palace halls didn’t make him unhappy. In any case, the advantages had all been occupied by him, so giving the other palace masters some face and a way out of this embarrassing situation was a simple affair!
After Tianheng settled his obligatory civilities, the Blood Transformation Palace Master swept his robe sleeve, and immediately took Tianheng away. He only left behind a single sentence: “The apprenticeship ceremony will be in two hours. You guys, be sure to prepare your congratulatory gifts and come over!”
Once these words were spoken, no one knew where they had vanished off to.
The remaining palace masters were exasperated, but they also understood.
If Tianheng had apprenticed under their schools, they would’ve done the same thing as the Blood Transformation Palace Master. Now, there was nothing they could do about it. The most outstanding disciple had become a member of the Blood Transformation Palace Hall, and they had no other choice but to bitterly prepare their congratulatory gifts.
However, the Golden Light Palace Master — A tender, genuine, and beautiful woman — Gave a sigh: “The strength of the Blood Transformation Palace Hall is only lower than that of the Absolute Thunder Palace Hall. It will be very beneficial for Student Gongyi to go over there…”
On the other side of things, Tianheng only felt darkness before his eyes. He didn’t know what had lifted him up when his feet were firmly planted on the ground a short time later. His vision had brightened again.
The area ahead of him was enveloped in a dense, bloody qi. And to his side stood the master he was about to apprentice to.
The Blood Transformation Palace Master saw that Tianheng had a puzzled look, so he smiled and said: “Apprentice, this place is a secluded area within the Blood Transformation Palace Hall. Just now, your teacher has called out to a Heaven Lord. And this Heaven Lord is going to come out to see you.”
Tianheng’s expression turned solemn: “This disciple understands.”
Soon after, the two waited in silence.
In a split second, that blood fog completely faded away like it had been swallowed by a whale.
At the exact same time, the scene before them became crystal clear.
Gu Zuo had just refined several cauldrons of outstanding medicinal pills. He walked out of the medicine refining room, and noticed that Hu Chang’an and his two siblings were coming over together.
He hastily called out: “Brother Chang’an, Young Lady Hu, Little Young Master Hu.” He recalled something, and asked, “Are we missing any of the medicinal ingredients we’re short of?”
Based on these three people’s expressions, it didn’t appear that they had suffered any setbacks. On the contrary, there was a vague sense of delight. It should’ve been like this, right?
Hu Chang’an and the others revealed smiling expressions. Their good impressions of him had been deepening ever since they first got to know him. Most of all was Hu Chang’an, who practically considered Gu Zuo a benefactor and close friend. He spoke frankly: “I won’t keep it from Brother Ah Zuo. Our luck has been pretty good. Among the three types of medicinal ingredients we’re lacking, we’ve already collected two of them. As for the last one we’re missing, there’s been some news. Large quantities will show up during today’s auction. If we can smoothly bid for them, there won’t be any more future worries!”
Hu Changbi and Hu Changfeng smiled and nodded their heads. Their moods were cheerful.
The two aforementioned ingredients had been collected without any hindrances, and quite a bit had been stored. And currently, large amounts of the final ingredient were being auctioned. Having seen their elder brother enduring those hard times in the past, how couldn’t they be happy for him as he was preparing to soar into the sky now?
Gu Zuo’s heart relaxed.
Once all of the medicinal ingredients were collected, he would help Hu Chang’an awaken the Myriad Leaking Body. This was also considered as having repaid his life-debt. After this, he wanted to be friends with Hu Chang’an, but it would be a friendship without any burdens.
At this time, Gu Zuo realized something, and inquired: “In that case, did Brother Chang’an come here to—”
Hu Chang’an spoke in a happy mood: “I came to invite Brother Ah Zuo to come with us to experience the auction. This time’s auction is mainly focused on medicinal ingredients. I assumed that Brother Ah Zuo wouldn’t want to miss it.”
Gu Zuo heard this, and naturally became glad: “I’ve troubled Brother Chang’an. Truly, this is exactly what this one has been looking for.”
Hu Chang’an and the others exchanged glances. Then, they led Gu Zuo out the door while wearing bright smiles.
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