Chapter 7: Da Huang Gains Spiritual Awareness

“Da Huang! Da Huang!”

When they saw the Da Huang dog come over, the children ran to him. One hugged his neck, the other hugged his belly, and they burst into happy laughter.

Children’s feelings were simple, and dogs were the best companions. Yesterday, Chen Yi had been busy building the sect and had not come home. The frightened, panicked children had mainly relied on the company of Da Huang and the big white goose to barely hold on until Chen Yi returned.

Now that they were reunited, they were terribly affectionate.

Chen Yi looked at Da Huang, who was playing with the children, and his expression deepened.

He silently studied him with a grave gaze.

It was not strange that Da Huang had found his way here. The dogs in the village were all street-roaming regulars. Where had they not been?

It was not strange that he had followed the scent all the way over either.

What truly stirred Chen Yi’s heart was whether Da Huang might also have become that “bottle.”

With the revival of spiritual energy, humans were not the only ones being nourished. Animals and plants could also mutate.

Last night, Da Huang had started barking at the very first moment, which meant not only had he sensed the existence of the uncanny, he had even come into contact with it right away.

Nothing could be seen yet, but perhaps some indescribable change was already taking place inside his body. Just looking at his eyes right now, he seemed much smarter than before.

It was only a matter of time before his spiritual intelligence opened.

Since Da Huang was going to evolve in the direction of a dog demon, was it possible that the system would also acknowledge him and allow him to be recruited into the sect?

The system had never said disciples could only be human.

With that thought, Chen Yi walked up to Da Huang with a grave expression.

Da Huang, who had been playing with the children, actually understood Chen Yi’s expression at that moment. He immediately sat down on the ground, looked at Chen Yi, and seemed to be waiting for him to speak.

Chen Yi tested it. Pointing at the plaque behind him on the main hall, he said, “See that? Those three characters say The Lurker Sect. This will be our new home from now on. Do you want to join?”

“Woof!” Da Huang barked.

Ding!

Recruit disciples, 5/5 complete.

Chen Yi’s eyes instantly lit up.

His third small task was complete!

Da Huang had been acknowledged by the sect system and had become a member of the sect.

In other words, this indirectly confirmed that Da Huang could sense spiritual energy, possessed cultivation talent, would transform into a higher life-form, and would become a dog demon!

Sure enough, books had wild imagination, and the apocalypse had plenty of oddities.

When you thought about it, the family’s native dog suddenly evolving into a dog demon really was not strange at all.

After taking in Da Huang, the only task Chen Yi had left was to cultivate himself to the first level of Qi Refining, so Chen Yi simply brought Da Huang with him to the Scripture Pavilion.

Unfortunately, as a demonic-beast type, Da Huang clearly was not suited to cultivating the Spirit-Nurturing Art. Forget turning into light and entering his head; Da Huang could not even see that there were books on the shelves.

With that, Chen Yi had no other choice. He could only wait and see for now. In such a large sect, perhaps once more of it was built, there would be something useful for demonic beasts.

After entrusting the children to Da Huang, whose spiritual intelligence had opened, Chen Yi finally had free time to cultivate.

Before that, however, he raced against every second and went home once.

He brought back some toys and snacks and left them in the sect’s main hall. Then he observed how the children and Da Huang got along for a while. Only after confirming that Da Huang really did know how to play with children did he relax enough to cultivate.

He had to strive to cultivate to the first level of Qi Refining as soon as possible.

Before he had gone to pick up the children, he had clearly been thinking that no matter what, he had to spend more time with them, reshape their worldview, and stop them from getting dragged into the protagonist group’s mess again. But in the face of the current severe lack of “firepower,” he could only set the children aside for the moment and prioritize cultivation.

Staying alive was more important.

Chen Yi sat down before the lotus meditation cushion and glanced at his parents, who were still cultivating.

An hour had passed, yet his parents still had not woken up. This meant they had not yet entered the threshold.

There were still differences in talent when it came to cultivation.

Chen Yi closed his eyes and did not notice that the moment he sat on the lotus meditation cushion, an inconspicuous corner of his system lit up. If he opened it now, he would see a function named Technique Transmission.

The lotus meditation cushion beneath him faintly shimmered with flowing light.

On the platform below, the five cushions also had spiritual energy circulating through them when sensed carefully.

The invisible spiritual energy seemed to be absorbed by the stems of the lotus. Most of it was absorbed by the lotus meditation cushion and Chen Yi sitting on it, while the spiritual energy that could not be used dispersed to the other cushions.

His parents, who were currently meditating, had still found cultivation difficult just moments ago because of their age. But at this moment, a large amount of spiritual energy poured into their bodies. Let alone having a cultivation method actively guiding their cultivation, even if a dog sat on one of the cushions, its body would be nourished by spiritual energy.

When Chen Yi cultivated, those below the platform cultivated along with him.

The first to open his eyes was Chen Jiankang.

He opened his mouth and exhaled a foul breath carrying the stench of old illnesses and lingering ailments. At his temples, which had already gone white, a few strands of black had appeared. His whole person looked two or three years younger.

He felt the changes in his body with surprise and delight. At this moment, he believed even more firmly in the sect system his son had spoken of, as well as the future apocalypse.

Then, as if he had thought of something, he glanced at his son and wife, who were still meditating, and quietly left.

After leaving, Chen Jiankang once again felt how suddenly light his body had become. The cervical spondylosis he had developed after years of desk work seemed to have healed without medicine.

At the entrance to the sect’s main hall, Chen Jiankang saw his grandchildren playing fetch with Da Huang.

In the eyes of country folk, the family dog playing with the children was an extremely normal thing. Chen Jiankang did not think too much of it. Although he was surprised that Da Huang had appeared here, once he figured his son had brought him in, it seemed perfectly ordinary.

He asked his grandchildren, “Grandpa is going out for a bit. Do you want to come along?”

The two children shook their heads. The dog was endlessly patient as he kept them company, running wildly with them, and there was food in the big house too. It was so much fun. They did not want to go anywhere.

Chen Jiankang was thinking about the matter of the final slot, so he said nothing more. He only reminded Da Huang once again of the things to watch out for when looking after the children.

Although Da Huang’s nod after listening was a little strange, Chen Jiankang had other things on his mind and did not think much of it. He quickly descended the green-jade steps, feeling that change of passing through space, going from the misty immortal mountain to the mortal world, until the view before him suddenly opened up and he saw stretch after stretch of terraced fields.

Even though Chen Jiankang had prepared himself early, his heart was still shaken.

His son had really obtained something incredible!

Anyone who saw this thing would turn green with envy. Possessing a treasure made one guilty. He had to think carefully about this last candidate.

Nearly an hour after Chen Jiankang left, Xiang Lan also woke up.

She was likewise shocked by the changes in her body and likewise delighted by this method. But unlike Chen Jiankang, Xiang Lan’s first reaction was that she had to let her son cultivate properly. Just like in the past, when they had supported their son through his studies, she would take care of all the logistics and not cause him the slightest trouble.

So after going out, Xiang Lan directly took over the work of looking after the children.

She washed their faces and hands and fed them. Seeing that the children were sleepy, she glanced at the cold floor of the sect’s main hall, then easily picked up one child in each arm and carried them to the Scripture Pavilion, placing them on the meditation cushions.

She had originally wanted to move the cushions and make a little bed for the children, but after discovering they could not be moved, she let it go. She placed the children on the cushions, sat in the middle, and gently patted them with one hand each while softly singing children’s songs.

The children soon grew drowsy. Seeing that Dad was right beside them, they curled up on the cushions and slept very peacefully.

After Xiang Lan coaxed the children to sleep, she remembered there were still many things to do, so she handed the job of watching the children back to Da Huang.

That was how it was in the countryside. When adults had to go down to the fields to work, the children would be left in the care of the old dog at home. An old dog that understood human nature could not speak, but it knew everything. Especially when it came to watching over children’s safety, they usually did very well.

After giving her instructions, Xiang Lan got up and left.

Da Huang had originally been lying between the two children. After a while, he seemed to sense something. He found a meditation cushion on his own, stepped onto it, circled twice, then lay down and closed his eyes.

Just like that, half a day passed.

When Chen Yi opened his eyes again, it was already two-thirty in the afternoon.

This cultivation session had taken him nearly six hours. He had successfully followed the method of the Spirit-Nurturing Art and filled the meridians in his body with spiritual energy, widening them. At the same time, he had opened a new meridian.

This meridian, running from his dantian to his left hand, allowed his spiritual energy to actively circulate to his palm. It now possessed active offensive capability. In other words, he could use certain techniques.

So after Chen Yi finished cultivating, he discovered that five more books had appeared on the shelf.

This once again proved that the opening of cultivation methods in the Scripture Pavilion was directly related to his cultivation level.

Chen Yi’s gaze fell on the children, who were still napping and had not woken up. Before drawing his gaze back, he met Da Huang’s eyes and gave him a grateful, approving nod.

Da Huang lolled his tongue and grinned, as if smiling back at him.

After that, Chen Yi picked up the newly opened cultivation techniques from the shelf and looked through them one by one.

Sword Manipulation, Axe Manipulation, Saber Manipulation, Spirit-Charge Fist, and Gale Legs.

After each of these five technique books was picked up by him, it turned into a beam of light and entered his mind. In an instant, he had the ability distribution of a bookworm with full marks in theoretical knowledge and zero marks in practical execution.

Chen Yi frowned first, confirming that there was a problem with this function where he learned whatever he picked up.

Except for fools, everyone knew the principle that biting off more than one could chew was bad. Was it really okay to learn everything he touched? Even an all-rounder had to have the ability to fill that role!

So once there were more sect members in the future, reasonable plans would have to be made for managing cultivation manuals and secret scriptures.

Chen Yi glanced at the re-formed technique books on the shelf, then closed his eyes again and carefully sensed the five techniques that had just been imprinted in his mind.

These techniques were clearly methods for converting spiritual energy into combat power after entering the first level of Qi Refining.

However, saber, sword, axe, and fist all required meridians leading to the arm. Chen Yi had just finished cultivating this point, which meant he could cultivate them.

The leg technique used a different meridian, and it required both legs’ meridians to be unobstructed. Because of that, Chen Yi could not use it right now.

He could not use it, but he wanted it.

The leg technique was called Gale Legs, and Chen Yi felt this technique might be pretty good for running away.

Hadn’t they said so?

Of all martial arts under heaven, only speed was invincible.

Besides, if you could not beat them, you ran. With this leg technique set aside as a fallback, his chances of survival would increase greatly.

Chen Yi looked at it with burning desire.

If he had not already cultivated the meridian in his hand, and if he had known there was also a leg technique to choose from, the first meridian he cultivated definitely would have been in his legs.

Now, since his left hand had already been cultivated, Chen Yi looked at his own mighty arm. Saber or sword?

Axe was out. It offended his sense of aesthetics too much.

Fists were an even livelier demonstration of the principle that an inch shorter was an inch more dangerous. Forget using fists to fight the uncanny; Chen Yi wished he could take a forty-meter broadsword into battle.

In the end, between saber and sword, Chen Yi chose the sword with absolutely no surprise.

This was, after all, the world of a book, and the protagonist also walked the “sword path.” Considering Heaven’s favoritism, the path of the sword was definitely broader than the others.

What more could he ask for?

Do not try to blaze a new trail and think you are so clever!

After Chen Yi confirmed that what he wanted to cultivate was Sword Manipulation, he stopped.

There was no other reason.

He did not have time to cultivate move by move. He still had to turn in his tasks, build the sect, and collect rewards.

With that thought, Chen Yi looked at the tasks on the water mirror.

Sect Master Appointment Complete

Reward: one peach tree, inferior spirit stone x5

There were new tasks below it as well.

Main Quest: Recruit Disciples Far and Wide

Reward: Spirit-Gathering Array, inferior spirit stone x5

One: Third level of Qi Refining, 0/1 incomplete

Two: Recruit Disciples Far and Wide, three, 5/10 incomplete

Side Quest: Sect Founding Ceremony, optional

Reward: Mountain-Protecting Grand Array, inferior spirit stone x5

One: Successfully hold the Sect Founding Ceremony, 0/1 incomplete

Two: Reputation achieved, 5/100 incomplete

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