Faced with the bizarre yet tempting offer, accompanied by Gu Jian's bright and honest smile — which looked more like that of a rchant about to swindle soone — Lei Yun and Mu Luyin couldn't help but have their lips twitch.
Lei Yun, as experienced as he was, found himself in a dilemma at that mont.
He could see sincerity in the man's eyes and, in fact, he was tempted by a technique the man described as so powerful, capable of cleansing impurities of such a level with such ease. At the sa ti, he found Gu Jian's exaggerated enthusiasm in recruiting him to be strange.
He hadn't shown anything extraordinary besides a bit of talent and temperant.
Of course, he imagined that his temperant might seem out of place in such a young body. But just because of that, he, a powerful Mahayana, would not suddenly beco a reckless and foolish youth, willing to disguise such inconsistencies with youthful liveliness. His temperant and arrogance were those of a strong man, and he wouldn't go trembling in corners or pretending to be a sheep just because he had reincarnated.
At most, he would avoid calling others juniors and respect the cultivation and seniority of others — albeit reluctantly — since, indeed, his current level was low.
Without understanding, Lei Yun decided to be straightforward in order to clarify his doubts.
"Senior Gu Jian, why do you insist so much on recruiting into your sect to the point of offering such a deal? I don't recall showing anything extraordinary, worthy of your attention," he asked, looking at the middle-aged, golden-haired man before him, carrying doubt and a bit of disguised suspicion.
'Of course it's because I suspect you're a reincarnator and I want to take advantage of you!' Aotian thought, but of course he would never say such a thing.
As a reincarnator and certified reader, Aotian knew that revealing knowledge about another person's reincarnation was the best way to drive them away — or even create mortal enemies. Therefore, he would never walk that path.
He also knew he was being a bit abrupt in his recruitnt, but he was already prepared for that.
Gu Jian tilted his head with a smile, while the other elders behind him looked at the boy with different expressions.
So rolled their eyes, others smiled in amusent, and a few even raised their hands to their foreheads helplessly.
This ti it was Lei Yun's eye that twitched in irritation, feeling that those n were mocking his stupidity.
He felt like shouting: 'What do you an by that, you bastards?!' but restrained himself from making a scene.
Even he, a forr Mahayana, couldn't bear those looks. He even wondered if they had foreseen such a situation and lowered their hoods earlier just to provoke him with their mocking faces.
If Aotian could hear his thoughts, he would swear they hadn't — though with his fingers crossed behind his back.
Normally, in Lei Yun and Mu Luyin's eyes, the nine n barely spoke to the couple and left Gu Jian as the representative to deal with them.
However, the boy noticed that the n communicated discreetly through sound transmission, so he didn't find it strange.
Of course, it was just Aotian in his puppet show and schizophrenia, but no one could say it was useless. Even Lei Yun, an ancient and powerful cultivator, hadn't realized he was dealing with the sa person pretending to be ten the whole ti.
Be it in mannerisms, movents, attitudes, or aura, each avatar seed unique, and this was Aotian's personal effort in giving life and personality to each of them.
So, despite having received reactions before, this was the first ti the n seed to be mocking him together, as if it were sothing obvious that only he himself hadn't realized.
Gu Jian, after staring at the boy in amusent for a mont, finally replied:
"Well… I don't know if this was your attempt at being discreet, but keeping yourself upright and calm under the pressure of twelve Soul Formation cultivators with only a Foundation Establishnt cultivation, staying indifferent to life and death under the bombardnt of enemy spells, as well as identifying impurities far beyond your realm sneaking discreetly into your body under the disguise of a powerful talisman… that's not exactly the best way to be discreet, or to avoid drawing attention, as you said," he joked, and a few avatars behind him sighed, shaking their heads before pulling up their hoods and ignoring the boy as if he were a fool.
Lei Yun's teeth clenched, and he almost felt like spitting fire from his mouth and rushing to punch those bastards. He had never thought he could be irritated by such simple reactions, even with his strong cultivation ntality.
To make matters worse, Mu Luyin covered her mouth beside him, holding back laughter, nearly making a vein burst from Lei Yun's forehead in rage.
Gu Jian, seeing him like that, smiled subtly.
"Well, now you look more like soone your age. It's not good for your growth to be so serious all the ti," he teased, making Lei Yun freeze.
The boy ca back to himself and cald down with a sigh, massaging his temple.
"Ok, so, you want to recruit because of my temperant? Without even knowing my talent?" he asked, turning his gaze back to the man, filled with strong suspicion.
Talent was the most important thing in this world. Without it, temperant mattered little. That was why his suspicions grew even stronger, and he began leaning toward refusing the recruitnt offer.
Gu Jian shook his head.
"My sect is not like the common sects that waste talents. As long as soone has a high-quality root or above, of any elent — even mixed — it doesn't matter, we accept. Of course, with your temperant, we can make an exception with my elder authority, even if your root isn't at that level, and even help you raise it in the future," he explained, to the astonishnt of the two listening.
Instead of reassuring them, their gazes overflowed with suspicion.
Gu Jian's mouth twitched at the looks he received, which almost seed to say they were staring at a lunatic, or a simple fool.
"You two little friends, stop doubting the good intentions of a gentleman. Little friend Lei Yun, I have a good temper, but if you keep looking at like that, I really will hit you," he spoke, helpless before the two, and couldn't help but raise his fist in a playful threat.
Lei Yun was left speechless before that man, and the worst part was that he couldn't detect any lies in what he was saying.
'Could it be that he's a super liar, and everything he said before was really a lie that I just couldn't see through?' The thought inevitably crossed his mind.
Sighing, Gu Jian insisted on ending it once and for all.
"Little friend Lei Yun, isn't it enough to just follow the agreent I proposed, and the truth will beco clear then? If I lied about anything, you can leave without issue, and we won't do anything against you. If we really wanted to harm you, wouldn't our current strength already be more than enough? If we weren't sincere, we wouldn't be causing such trouble," he spoke firmly, though still helpless.
This ti, the couple remained silent, collecting themselves, because the man was indeed right.
Having sufficient strength truly helped a lot in proving sincerity.
Lei Yun reflected for a mont and thought it was worth trying. Even if the technique turned out to be a trap, with all the knowledge of his past life, he was confident he wouldn't be deceived.
Thinking of this, he nodded. After all, those n didn't seem like bad people, so he decided to believe in them a little and see if he could gain sothing from the technique the man was so confident in.
"Alright, let's do as you say. I just hope you keep your promise," he agreed, taking a deep breath and eting the man's eyes.
Gu Jian waved his hand casually, as if it wasn't a big deal.
"Alright, don't worry, we won't act over sothing so small. I'll request the technique for you now. Will you show your roots? Or do you prefer to give the technique you're using, and then I'll use that to find a similar one? The first option is better for you, since that way the technique will be the most compatible possible, but the choice is yours," he asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
Hearing that, the girl Mu Luyin opened her mouth to complain that there was no way to communicate from within the mountain, let alone send an entire technique that was much more complex than a simple ssage, but in the end, she just closed her mouth and waited with narrowed eyes, ready to see what those n were plotting.
Lei Yun pondered.
'There's no way I can show my root. Even though it's still awakening, it already shows signs of being extraordinary. Passing my cultivation technique, even if only up to the Foundation Establishnt part, isn't good either, since it's too extraordinary and could stir up greed… hmm… I'll pass that old technique I found that ti, the one that suits . Although it's not bad, it's also not too good, just in the right asure.'
Quickly finding a solution, he pulled out a jade slip, inscribed the technique into its mory, and handed it over to Gu Jian.
Aotian already expected he wouldn't be completely honest, but he didn't care. As long as he saw the technique, he knew the boy would be hooked. And once he was, the return would co imdiately.
Taking the technique the boy had passed, Elder Gu imdiately pressed the jade slip against his forehead and activated it.
Since it was a high-quality slip, the knowledge flowed comfortably into the mind of a Golden Core cultivator, specified by the energy intensity with which it was activated. Still, Gu Jian furrowed his brow as he felt it was taking too long, and sent energy to speed up the process.
In an instant, all the knowledge was absorbed, and he lowered the slip calmly under Lei Yun's astonished gaze.
'This… how did he do that? That was a Nascent Soul cultivation technique, and if he's really in the Golden Core realm, he shouldn't be able to absorb so much knowledge with such ease and speed!'
It must be rembered that the higher the realm of a technique, the more complex and difficult it becos. Absorbing the knowledge of a Nascent-Tier technique all at once wasn't easy even for a cultivator in the Nascent Soul realm itself.
Seeing such extraordinariness only increased his eagerness to receive the technique that man would give him, for these n had already proven themselves mysterious many tis before.
Aotian observed the technique he had received, now in his mind, with a raised eyebrow. Of course, with his more than three hundred minds, reading sothing small like a Nascent Soul technique in an instant couldn't be easier.
'Heeh… who would have thought I'd find such a thing here. It seems this kid's root isn't simple… a mutant root. These roots only appear alongside special physiques, so he has at least a spiritual-level physique, if not higher. Even if he isn't really a reincarnator, he'll still be an excellent addition to the sect,' Aotian pondered, a small smile appearing at the corner of his main body's lips.
Without wasting ti, he processed the technique called: "Heavenly Thunder Fury Technique."
'Terrible na.' Aotian chuckled, and imdiately controlled Tian Zhi to synthesize a new technique based on it.
'This is the first ti I've created a technique of a mutant elent. Thunder… if I'm not mistaken, it's a mutation of the fire elent. With this technique as a base, I can start studying how to simulate thunder using my roots.'
He blinked, intrigued.
'Anyway, the operating thod of this technique isn't too different. With the size of the database I have, as long as I get a reference like this "Heavenly Thunder Fury," it's easy to synthesize a new technique.'
Back to Gu Jian, under the astonished gaze of the couple, he pulled out a jade slip, inscribed the freshly forged technique onto it, and handed it to the boy under their surprised stares.
"This is the technique the sect has sent back. Since you haven't yet reached the Golden Core, nor accumulated enough contribution points with just a Nascent Soul technique — which are the two essential steps to acquiring sect techniques — you only received it up to the Foundation Establishnt stage. But that's already enough for your current realm."
He explained, while Lei Yun, who was already reaching out his hand, froze for an instant upon hearing that, really wanting to punch soone.
'Are you seriously telling that I handed over a rare and excellent Nascent Soul technique and received a Foundation Establishnt one in return?! I think you just wanted to steal my techniques! And what kind of communication with the sect was that?! Do you think I'm an idiot? You did nothing! Haah... let's see what you're actually giving .'
Helpless and a bit irritated, he pressed the jade slip to his forehead. His expression, which started normal, slowly grew grave and, finally, left him open-mouthed and stunned as he analyzed the contents.
Aotian only smiled, convinced, upon seeing the scene.
Since he was the one who made the deal, of course he knew he would co out on top. After all, he hadn't lied even once.
Now, if Lei Yun were foolish enough to try to escape after receiving the technique, Gu Jian would show that the elders of the sect were not vegetarians.
It was sealed — the Thunder Sovereign couldn't escape from the Infinite Dao Sect in this life.
For original chapters go to novel⸺fire
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