章節 2: Chapter 1: Demon Cultivator_2
After entering, Su Jie realized the grandeur of an immortal's abode, with palatial buildings nestled amid the clouds on mountaintops, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he was met with a Demon Cave scene full of skeletons forming forests, wandering ghostly fires, and poisonous creatures all over the ground.
By the time Su Jie understood that Ghost Ridge Palace was a Demon Sect, it was too late for regrets.
In half a year's time, Su Jie had learned some common knowledge about this Cultivation World by constantly inquiring for news.
For instance, Demon Cultivators are universally loathed.
The idea of achieving immortality and longevity seems so enchanting.
Yet these are terms associated with the orthodox Taoist sects. In this world, Demon Cultivators are the evils that everyone spurns and seeks to kill.
Simply because the Cultivation Techniques practiced by Demon Cultivators are often sinister and bloody, commonly involving living humans for Blood Sacrifice, Blood Extraction, and Soul Stripping.
Such actions naturally lead to universal ostracism.
After the last great war between the Taoists and the demons five hundred years ago, the Demon Path suffered defeat and gradually declined.
Nowadays, Demon Sects can mostly only cling to survival in remote mountains, forests, and isolated islands, no longer possessing the arrogance of their once flourishing era when they slaughtered thousands unchallenged.
Ghost Ridge Palace, where Su Jie resides, is one such Demon Sect.
During this half-year, Su Jie gradually came to accept his fate, extinguishing any thoughts of escape.
The deep mountains and dense forests are teeming with evil creatures, ferocious beasts, and hazardous terrains, with sect disciples stationed at all essential passages.
Thinking of fleeing without a Pass Token? If caught, expect to be subjected to the Punishment Elder's Soul Extraction and the lighting of a Corpse Lamp.
Fortunately, although it's the Demon Path being practiced, the principle of reaching the same goal by different means holds true.
Attaining a high level of Demon Cultivation can still grant longevity, and this is Su Jie's hope.
However...
Su Jie's Cultivation aptitude is poor. Otherwise, he would have joined the inner sect from the start, not needing to spend his days hunting insects.
As an Outer Disciple, the Hundred Poison Refining Gu Scripture he studied specifically to catch insects is the most common Demon Cultivation Technique.
After half a year of diligent practice, he had only reached the Second Level of the Yunling Realm, slightly enhancing his physique, developing some immunity to minor poisons, and gaining a certain affinity for Poison Insects.
The Yunling Realm is divided into ten levels, and with Su Jie's level of power, he couldn't even count as cannon fodder within Ghost Ridge Palace.
Outer Disciples with poor aptitude often reach their twilight years stranded at the Yunling Fourth and Fifth Levels, nothing more than expendables in the eyes of the higher-ups.
Inner Disciples, however, have the potential to break through to the Secret Realm, typically possessing the Cultivation of the Yunling Sixth and Seventh Levels. Only at this level of power are disciples considered significant.
As for breaking through the Secret Realm, that's no longer a disciple's concern but an ability to take on positions such as Manager, Master, Elder, etc. Both status and power would skyrocket, becoming a part of the core forces of Ghost Ridge Palace.
Su Jie is aware of his poor potential, but this is the only chance in his life to defy fate.
In the modern civilized world, he was just an ordinary worker, where finding a job was extremely difficult.
While here, he could hope to wield the immense power to move mountains and compel the seas, to exist as long as the heavens and the earth.
Either way, he's selling his life; in the real world, working hard for a boss to afford a Ferrari.
Working for Ghost Ridge Palace, at least, held a sliver of hope for immortality.
...
The sun had completely set behind the mountain tops.
Before the last ray of light disappeared, Su Jie returned to the foothold of Ghost Ridge Palace.
Corpse oil bone lamps hung high, emitting pale fires as they lit up the blood candles.
Owls hooted from the treetops, their cries as mournful as sobbing.
Under the illumination of the bone lamps, rows of stark and crude stone caves appeared in view.
"Brother Su, you're back late!"
A lean-faced young man greeted Su Jie.
"No choice, if I don't catch more Poison Insects to sell, I won't be able to pay the Master's monthly fee."
Su Jie replied with a smile; the person in front of him was Peng Shiwen, Su Jie's neighbor and also a fellow disciple inducted into Ghost Ridge Palace at the same time. They were both disciples of Taoist Qiu and shared a Cultivation at the Yunling Second Level.
Since they were neighbors and inducted together, their relationship was somewhat better than with the average disciple.
"Sigh, who knows when we'll see the end of these hard days. Capturing insects day in and day out, I feel like I'm turning into a bird."
"Then you're in luck, bird-type spiritual beasts are natural enemies to many poisonous insects. You should try strapping on a pair of wings someday."
Su Jie bantered with Peng Shiwen for a few more sentences before they said goodbye to each other.
Arriving in front of a stone cave, he took out a key and unlocked the door; this was Su Jie's dwelling in Ghost Ridge Palace.
Inside, which spanned about thirty square meters, there were a few scant items such as a bed, a cushion, a desk, and so on.
The most precious were the assortment of bottles and jars on the shelves.
They contained the poisonous creatures he had found on Ghost Ridge Mountain, such as the Blue-tailed Demon Scorpion, Rainbow Blood Patterned Snake, Evil Scissors Spider, Red Poison Fire Ant, and others—all low-grade species.
Upon seeing a living person appear, the agitated and ferocious poisonous creatures fluttered their wings and screeched.
There was one, however, that remained calm at the sight of Su Jie.
It was a centipede as long as an arm, colored in alternating bands of red and black.
Eerily, beneath its abdomen, the densely packed segments were actually pale human hands, looking incredibly sinister.
The thousand-handed centipede, which thrived in moist and dark environments, was nocturnal and had highly toxic extremities.
This was the lifebound poisonous insect that Su Jie had nurtured.
Although it wasn't of high quality, it had grown considerably over more than half a year of nurturing.
When he had first obtained it, it was merely the length of a finger.
"It's feeding time, little guy, and today it's a feast."
Su Jie lifted the lid off the thousand-handed centipede's container and took out five human-faced moths from today's haul, feeding them in with a pained expression.
Crunch.
The previously calm thousand-handed centipede suddenly sprang to action.
Its jaws snapped a human-faced moth in two, chewing and swallowing it voraciously.
The remaining human-faced moths screamed, and the thousand-handed centipede rose up, its underbelly hands unfurling, easily crushing several human-faced moths.
With over half a year of nurturing, the thousand-handed centipede had grown robust, well, at least among creatures of its lowly caliber.
Hiss, hiss.
The thousand-handed centipede quickly finished off the human-faced moths and then began to wave its antenna at Su Jie, indicating its desire for more food.
"That's all, the food for today is just this much."
The insatiable thousand-handed centipede crawled restlessly inside the cultivation tank.
"Fine, fine, I'll give you some blood to drink."
Su Jie, resigned, took out the blood collection equipment provided by the sect and drew half a tube of fresh blood.
The dripping blood collected in a small bowl and was placed before the thousand-handed centipede, quickly slurped up until not a drop remained.
"That's really it."
Knocking on the still beggarly thousand-handed centipede, Su Jie appeared dejected.
The cultivation technique he practiced, the Hundred Poison Refining Gu Scripture, emphasized the mutual slaughter and consumption of poisonous creatures to continuously refine and enhance the quality of the poisonous insects.
The stronger the lifebound poisonous insect bound to Su Jie became, the more cultivation it fed back to him, greatly accelerating his cultivation progress.
Unfortunately, the poisonous insects he could gather each day were limited; besides feeding the thousand-handed centipede, he had to hand over ten Blood Marrow Crystals to his Master every month, and he also needed them for his own cultivation expenses.
This led to the thousand-handed centipede's growth being a mere forty to fifty centimeters over half a year, severely malnourished.
Su Jie had seen those inner disciples who, with ample money and resources, fed their lifebound poisonous insects a massive amount of toxic creatures.
Some of the insects that mainly grew in size were generally several meters long, a far cry from Su Jie's own.
Lacking resources, and as the thousand-handed centipede's growth increased its daily demand for poisonous creatures, Su Jie had no choice but to let his own blood for feeding.
But even this could not satisfy its appetite; the situation was truly miserable.
Placing the still begging thousand-handed centipede on his arm, Su Jie closed his eyes and started running the Hundred Poison Refining Gu Scripture.
The next moment, the thousand-handed centipede clung tightly to Su Jie's arm, harmonizing its breath with his.
Energy flowed through his meridians, continuously drawing in the outside spiritual power into his body.
By his own estimation, reaching the Yunling Third Level would take another year with normal cultivation.
After practicing for a while, Su Jie's mood was far from pleasant, with the road to immortality seemingly endless.
Two hours later, Su Jie, who had completed his cultivation, slowly opened his eyes, only to be dazzled by a brilliant light.
Turning his head to look, the Ancient Mirror he had kept in his room was shining brightly, illuminating the stone cave.
"Damn, you can still be used? I thought you were a one-time consumable."
Su Jie was shaken, quickly stood up, and, with a mix of shock and joy, picked up the Ancient Mirror.
He saw red light flowing across the Ancient Mirror, and a portal to another space quietly opened upon its surface.
Through the portal, he could faintly make out a modern home on the other side.
His mouth agape, Su Jie couldn't be more familiar with the setting.
Because that was the rental room he lived in before transmigrating to this Tianyuan World.
He had been sleeping there, when the Ancient Mirror had brought him here.
Seeing this scene, Su Jie realized what had happened and, unable to contain his excitement, stepped through the doorway.
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