latelenovela Chapter 31 Apprenticeship
Chapter 31 Apprenticeship
Zhang Yunling had already escaped a hundred miles away from Qiankun Dao, and the Daoist mountains behind him had disappeared from sight. Only here did he dare to stop and sit down on the ground to rest.
"Fortunately, I came to Qiankun Dao using the identity of Xu Tianli. Now, if I want to join another sect, I can use my real name and identity." Zhang Yunling took off the yellow robe of a third-level alchemist from Qiankun Dao, activated the alchemical fire in his hand, and burned the yellow robe to ashes without leaving a trace.
After resting for a moment, he slowly stood up, his disheveled hair fluttering in the wind behind him, his tattered clothes making him look extremely disheveled. With a helpless smile, Zhang Yunling took out a set of clothes from his storage bag and changed before gazing into the distance, searching for a new way out.
The area was deserted and quiet for miles around, but then a low house came into his view.
"Oh? Someone lives here. I'll go take a look and ask for directions." Zhang Yunling flew towards the house. When he got close, he saw an old man feeding chickens in the yard.
Fearing that his flight might frighten the old man, Zhang Yunling quietly landed on the ground and walked over. Pushing open the courtyard gate, he asked the old man, "Grandpa, excuse me, could you tell me how far the nearest town is?"
The old man looked up at Zhang Yunling but didn't say anything. He just continued to scatter rice bran on the ground to feed the chickens, seemingly ignoring the Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Seeing this, Zhang Yunling smiled awkwardly, and at the same time, he had some guesses about the old man. After closing the courtyard gate, he took a few steps forward to continue asking questions, but unexpectedly, a powerful pressure suddenly appeared out of nowhere!
What? This old man...is not an ordinary person!?
Zhang Yunling finally lost his composure, a look of horror appearing on his face. Despite the oppressive aura, he bowed deeply to the old man before him, saying, "I have disturbed your seclusion, senior. Please forgive me. I am lost in this place and have no ill intentions. I only wish to know how to get to a populated town. Please show me the way, senior."
The old man remained silent, leaving Zhang Yunling to his own devices until he had finished scattering the rice bran and the hens had eaten their fill. Only then did he dissipate his oppressive aura, raise his head, and say, "I can tell you, but before that, I don't want you to frighten my livestock."
So that's how it is. He had thought he had run into some kind of evil spirit who would rob him of his money and life. Zhang Yunling breathed a deep sigh of relief, and the cautious expression on his face relaxed. The old man beckoned to him, "Come on, kid, come in first. We should have a drink of water before we talk about anything."
"Thank you, senior." Zhang Yunling followed him into the house. The old man pulled out a wooden chair and gestured for him to sit down. Then he poured a cup of water, sat down on the chair next to him, and asked in a deep voice, "I see that you are surrounded by Dao power. Could it be that you have encountered some kind of opportunity in this place?"
Zhang Yunling was startled. This old man could actually see the traces of him having taken the Qiankun Qi Yun Pill. Truly, there are experts among the common people. However, for the sake of safety, Zhang Yunling did not choose to reveal the truth and replied in a deep voice, "Indeed, this junior accidentally obtained an ancient cultivation technique called True Yang Finger."
"True Yang Finger?" The old man's previously calm expression changed upon hearing Zhang Yunling's words, and his gaze turned from lazy to sharp. "Why don't you let me take a look at this manual?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yunling immediately tensed up again. Before even taking a sip of the tea on the table, he abruptly stood up from the wooden chair. "Senior, I'm just an ordinary cultivator who's putting in the effort to cultivate. You wouldn't be...?"
"Stop talking nonsense! Do you think I, a dignified cultivator at the Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul stage, would steal something from a junior like you? Hand over that cultivation technique and let me take a look to see if it's real or fake!"
The old man looked at Zhang Yunling's wary posture with some disdain, then picked up his teacup and began to drink. Only then did Zhang Yunling feel somewhat relieved. Judging from the oppressive aura he had felt from the old man earlier, the old man's claim of being at the Nascent Soul stage was probably true.
With a flick of his left hand, the True Yang Finger manual shot out of his storage pouch and landed in Zhang Yunling's hand. He handed it to the old man, saying, "This shouldn't be fake, right..."
After flipping through a few pages and glancing at it, the old man smiled and nodded, saying, "Not bad, it's the real deal. But what I'm more curious about is, I've lived in this area for hundreds of years, and I know the terrain and landforms here very well. Where did you find this manual?"
This question stunned Zhang Yunling. When he wanted to use this cultivation manual as a decoy, he hadn't considered these things at all. Now that he was asked about the secret core, he had to quickly think of a solution.
"This is... I saw several powerful people fighting each other before. After one of them was killed and the others had gone far away, I got it from that person." Zhang Yunling made up a lie on the spot, trying to cover it up.
The old man frowned as he stared at him, his sharp eyes becoming increasingly terrifying. It seemed that he had seen through Zhang Yunling from the inside out, from body to mind, but he did not waste any more words on this topic. Instead, he focused his attention back on the True Yang Finger manual.
"This manual comes from a sect called Quanzhen Dao. This technique is a secret skill that only its inner disciples can access. Now that you have obtained it by chance, you are truly fortunate."
The old man handed the True Yang Finger manual back to Zhang Yunling, then stood up and continued, "I was once a disciple of the Quanzhen Taoist sect, but I was expelled because of some conflicts, hahaha! However, there is still something I haven't resolved there, which has been troubling me for hundreds of years. If you can help me, I will give you an opportunity as a reward."
"Is it another case of doing the work first and then giving the opportunity?" Zhang Yunling frowned slightly. This reminded him of the promise Sun Jie had made to him. Were these powerful cultivators too lazy to do anything themselves and just preferred to order others around to do things for them?
However, as long as it can improve one's strength, these opportunities that come knocking on one's door are always good. Zhang Yunling put away the manual and nodded in agreement.
Seeing this, the old man burst into laughter, turned around slowly with his hands behind his back, and said with a profound and unfathomable look, "In that case, you shall become my disciple. My name is Duan Weihuang. Although I am not a grandmaster, you will naturally learn the most authentic True Yang Finger killing move from me."
Hearing Duan Weihuang's confident words, Zhang Yunling considered the pros and cons for a moment and decided to agree. Now that he had offended Qiankun Dao, one of the three major Daoist sects, and he was powerless, without any sect or faction, it would be too difficult for him to survive and develop in this cultivation world without finding a backer.
Like a broken, lone boat in a vast ocean, it can easily be tossed about and sunk by towering waves, but finding a port to dock in greatly increases one's sense of security.
Duan Weihuang turned around and smiled at Zhang Yunling. The young man, quite sensibly, picked up the still-warm cup of tea from the table, knelt down, and respectfully said:
"Greetings, Master!"