I proved immortality with thunder magic.

Chapter 86 Master and Disciple

Spirit Beast Mountain, Changming Hall.

When Zhou Tai arrived outside the Changming Hall and explained his purpose, he was quickly received by the Zifu Grand Master who guarded the place.

The elder appeared to be quite old, with a face full of wrinkles and completely white hair.

After verifying Zhou Tai's identity token, he took out an unlit Soul Lamp, then had Zhou Tai force out a drop of his life essence blood for him. Using a secret technique, he transformed that drop of life essence blood into a ball of blood flame, which landed on the Soul Lamp and ignited it.

As soon as the Soul Lamp was lit, Zhou Tai established a mysterious connection with it.

From then on, as long as he does not perish, and as long as someone adds special lamp oil to the life lamp on time, the lamp will continue to shine.

After the Soul Lamp was lit, Zhou Tai was immediately expelled from the Changming Hall.

After driving Zhou Tai away, Elder Yu carried his life-soul lamp into a secret room in the underground chamber of the Changming Hall.

This underground secret chamber is the most important part of the Changming Hall, which is the lamp room where the life-soul lamps are stored.

Inside the secret room were rows of long tables, each with a Soul Lamp on it. In front of each Soul Lamp was a wooden plaque engraved with the name and information of the owner of the Soul Lamp.

At a glance, there are at least one or two hundred life-soul lamps currently placed in the lamp room.

This means that there are at least one or two hundred cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage or above currently existing on Spirit Beast Mountain.

After Elder Yu placed Zhou Tai's life-soul lamp on a long table, he took out a wooden plaque, engraved his name on it, and placed it in front of his life-soul lamp.

He then checked the status of the other life lamps, and after confirming that none of them needed to be refilled with oil, he quietly left the place again.

On the other side, Zhou Tai, although expelled from Changming Hall, did not care about it.

He quickly rode his Sharp Claw Wind Owl to the Hall of Benevolence and Wealth to collect his inner disciple benefits.

The inner disciples of Spirit Beast Mountain receive excellent treatment. Each year they can receive three mid-grade spirit stones, two hundred catties of first-grade mid-grade spirit rice, ten fasting pills, and fifty catties of premium spirit beast rations.

After Zhou Tai verified his identity at the Hall of Good Wealth, he quickly received all the items, including an inner disciple's robe.

To be honest, these benefits are not even icing on the cake for him.

The spirit stones he earns in a month are several times more than all of these things combined.

Compared to these, he valued the other benefits that the sect offered to its inner disciples even more.

For example, one can enter and exit the inner chamber of the library, seek out places with abundant spiritual energy in the Longling Mountains to open up an independent cave dwelling, or, like Zhang Yuanjing and Sun Jianghai, choose a spiritual peak inside the mountain gate to sit and cultivate.

However, to achieve the latter, one must have an impressive background.

After all, although the gate of Spirit Beast Mountain is large, there are also many Foundation Establishment cultivators, so it is impossible for everyone to occupy a spirit peak alone.

Zhou Tai had already made up his mind that if he could successfully become an apprentice, he would try his best to cultivate on a spiritual peak.

If you fail to become an apprentice or fail to establish your own spiritual peak, then continue to find a cave dwelling with abundant spiritual energy on Yuanfu Peak, and then seek a position, such as the deputy hall master!

After leaving the Shancai Hall and returning to his residence, Zhou Tai waited for a message from the sect leader Zhao Dongyang while diligently studying the art of talisman drawing.

Hulei Peak is located deep within the mountain gate of Spirit Beast Mountain, and is the site of the cave dwelling of a Grand Master of the Purple Mansion.

The owner of this place is named Song Yanting, whose cultivation level is as high as the mid-stage of the Purple Mansion realm, and he is also a thunder cultivator who is proficient in thunder magic.

Song Yanting is actually over 300 years old, but he still looks like a middle-aged man with a square face, a full beard, and eyes like copper bells, exuding a dignified aura.

After he came out of the cultivation room that day, his Daoist partner Mo Yunshuang handed him a cup of spiritual tea and a letter, saying, "Husband, this is a letter sent by the sect leader. Please remember to read it when you have time."

"Is that so? Let's see what Junior Brother Zhao is up to this time!"

-

A strange light flashed in Song Yanting's eyes. After finishing his tea, he took the letter, opened it, and began to read it carefully.

A short while later, he finished reading the entire letter, then suddenly handed it to his Daoist companion beside him, saying, "My lady, you should take a look too!"

Mo Yunshuang was slightly taken aback, but knowing that her Daoist partner was not a reckless person, she took the letter after a brief pause and began to read it.

After she finished reading the letter, she exclaimed in surprise, "To enter the Daoist path at the age of thirty-seven, to achieve Foundation Establishment at sixty-four, and yet to be able to rejuvenate after that—such an experience is truly extremely rare!"

Song Yanting also said with a sigh, "Yes, such a rare case. No wonder Junior Brother Zhao recommended this boy to me even though he knew I had long since stopped accepting disciples!"

Upon hearing this, Mo Yunshuang looked at her Daoist partner with a surprised expression and said, "Husband, are you moved?"

Others might not know, but as his wife, how could she not know? Song Yanting had encountered a bottleneck in his cultivation over the years, his cultivation level stuck at the mid-stage of the Purple Mansion realm, which had prevented him from breaking through. As a result, he spent most of his time in seclusion, hoping to wear down the bottleneck through persistent effort.

In this situation, he rarely even left his cave dwelling, let alone devoted himself to teaching his disciples.

Even the disciples he had taken in before rarely got to enter this cave over the years, and could only contact him occasionally through a communication talisman.

But now, Song Yanting's words made her sense a hint of reassurance.

"I am indeed somewhat tempted."

Song Yanting nodded frankly, then looked at his Daoist partner beside him and said, "Yun Shuang, as you know, of the disciples I took in before, apart from the eldest and fourth who have lightning spiritual roots, none of the others can inherit my mantle."

After saying that, he couldn't help but sigh, "Now that the eldest brother has passed away, it seems that the fourth brother's chances of opening the Purple Mansion are also slim. I can't really let my mantle be cut off here!"

Upon hearing his words, Mo Yunshuang quickly comforted him, saying, "My husband, you are a prodigy; you will surely achieve the Core Formation and attain true enlightenment in the future!"

"Hehe, Yunshuang, you don't need to comfort me. Although I aspire to form my core, I also know that human strength has its limits. Even if I break through to the late stage of the Purple Mansion realm now, the probability of successfully forming my core in the future would be quite good if it were 30% or 40%!"

Song Yanting chuckled, his words revealing a thorough understanding of his own situation, without a trace of arrogance.

Mo Yunshuang did not want to talk about these things, lest it affect her Daoist partner's ambition.

She quickly changed the subject, saying, "Since my husband is so interested, shall we summon that disciple to our cave dwelling?"

Song Yanting immediately waved his hand and said, "There's no rush. Let the second and fifth brothers investigate this boy's background and character first. If his character doesn't meet my requirements for taking on a disciple, then we'll have to let him find another wise teacher!"

"I understand. Then please leave this matter to me!"

""

Mo Yunshuang nodded knowingly and immediately took on the task.

"Thank you for your trouble, my wife. Please remember to inform me as soon as the investigation results are available."

After finishing his speech, Song Yanting went to the cultivation room again after resting for a short while.

Zhou Tai, on the other hand, was unaware that the process of becoming an apprentice was already underway.

He is a patient person, and nowadays he has no shortage of time.

Since Sect Leader Zhao Dongyang told him to wait patiently for further instructions, he wouldn't act too impatiently.

So ever since he returned home, he has devoted himself to drawing talismans.

After several days of drawing talismans, Zhou Tai has confirmed that the success rate of his Thunder Spear Talisman is consistently above 30%.

So he began to try drawing a series of lightning strike talismans.

When drawing the chain of lightning strike talismans, Zhou Tai did not forget Zeng Qiming's teachings. He was no longer impatient for quick results as before, but instead focused on understanding the purpose of each rune that made up the talisman.

Every rune on a talisman has its unique purpose; not a single stroke is superfluous.

Zhou Tai used to not seek to understand the purpose of the runes, but only to be able to draw each rune accurately.

Therefore, Zeng Qiming said that he had gone astray and narrowed his path.

Now he wants to use the method taught by Zeng Qiming to draw talismans and walk the right path and the great way.

Abandoning old habits and experiences to draw talismans naturally results in poor progress and efficiency, but Zhou Tai doesn't care.

Things are different now. He no longer needs to race against time to earn money to buy elixirs, nor does he need to worry every day about whether he can establish his foundation in time.

He is now 240 years old, and has a long life ahead of him. He can take his time without any problem.

That day, Zhou Tai, who was focused on drawing talismans, suddenly received a message from Aaron Kwok.

It turned out that the other party was so excited and happy to learn that he had successfully established his foundation that he took leave to return to his sect to visit him.

Upon learning of this, Zhou Tai quickly tidied up the house and sent a message inviting the other party to visit.

Soon after, Aaron Kwok arrived on time as agreed.

"A distinguished guest's arrival brings great honor to our humble abode! Welcome, Senior Brother Guo, to my home!"

Outside the courtyard gate, Zhou Tai saw Aaron Kwok arrive from afar and immediately came out to greet him with a smile.

It turned out that he had been sitting in the courtyard waiting for the other party to arrive.

There must have been a reason why Zhou Tai held such a grand ceremony.

He knew very well that with his successful Foundation Establishment and advancement to Inner Disciple, regardless of what he and Aaron Kwok thought, the gap between them had indeed widened.

Now that Aaron Kwok has personally come to congratulate him, he must show him the respect and respect that he is not someone who forgets his roots after gaining power.

Even if he succeeds in establishing his foundation, he will still value Aaron Kwok as an old friend and will not forget their friendship.

Aaron Kwok is a smart man. He understood Zhou Tai's meaning from the fact that Zhou Tai personally greeted him at the door and the tone of his welcome. He was immediately moved.

He did have many worries before he came, and even his two Daoist partners reminded him to be careful with his words and not to be as casual as before.

Rationally, he understood that their reminders were correct.

But how could I possibly accept that emotionally?

Back when the two first met at the "Talisman Battle Assembly," Zhou Tai was just a menial disciple whose cultivation had only recently broken through to the fourth level of the Qi Refining stage, and whose talisman skills were still at an apprentice level.

At that time, Aaron Kwok was already a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator with a net worth of over ten thousand, making him a prominent figure among the outer disciples of the Spirit Beast Mountain!

Moreover, what others may not know, he himself is well aware that without his support and help, no matter how talented or intelligent Zhou Tai is, he would most likely not have achieved what he has today.

Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that Aaron Kwok deserves great credit for Zhou Tai's successful foundation building today!

In this situation, asking him to communicate with Zhou Tai as a junior would be more painful than killing him. How could he possibly do that?

He has no hope of reaching the Foundation Establishment stage in this lifetime, and his path to cultivation is severed. Now, apart from his Daoist partner and family, the only thing he cares about is his face!

It would be extremely difficult for him to lower himself to be trampled on if it didn't involve the lives of himself, his partner, or his family!

So when he saw Zhou Tai giving him a solemn and grand welcome, he felt both relieved and deeply moved.

He immediately responded with a genuine smile, saying, "Brother Zhou, you're too kind. You're now a Foundation Establishment cultivator and an inner disciple. Countless people are eager to pay you a visit and curry favor with you. I was just lucky to have met you when you were still a nobody!"

His phrase "we met when we were both humble" is full of profound meaning.

Zhou Tai also keenly discerned his inner thoughts from these words, so he smiled without changing his expression, grabbed his wrist, and said, "Brother Guo is absolutely right. I have prepared some rough tea. Please come inside with me to enjoy some tea and have a chat."

"Alright, I've been wanting to hear about Brother Zhou's success story, especially his secret to rejuvenation!"

Aaron Kwok smiled and nodded, then looked at Zhou Tai with a surprised expression, shaking his head and saying, "Tsk tsk tsk, Brother Zhou, your rejuvenation is too successful! If I didn't know I had come to the wrong place and wasn't so familiar with your magical aura, I probably wouldn't believe it if you stood in front of me and told me you were Zhou Tai!"

"Haha, if Brother Guo wants to know, I, Zhou, will certainly not hide it from you."

Zhou Tai laughed heartily and readily agreed.

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