Niu Sanbao seemed thoughtful as he looked at his severed hand, feeling his determination growing even stronger.
"Then do you not want to master divine skills and dominate the world?" Duge asked again.
Laoqi and Laowu hesitated, not daring to speak. In the Carefree Sect, their master had been skinned and deboned by those above, while those below had been relentlessly purged by disciples. Even during cultivation, one had to sever hands and feet; it truly wasn’t a good sect!
What normal person would want to live such a miserable life?
"Do you think the people of the Carefree Sect are miserable?" Duge saw right through their thoughts and asked with a cold laugh.
Laoqi unconsciously nodded.
"Fools, do you know how old I am?" Duge asked.
Laoqi shook his head.
"Counting up to today, I have lived for seven hundred and eighty-three years," Duge said proudly with his hands behind his back. "I met your ancestor at twenty-five, my skills were perfected at thirty, I betrayed and killed my master at forty-one, and I lived carefree for hundreds of years before being defeated by a rebellious disciple.
In that time, I visited all the famous mountains and great rivers, tasted all the delicacies, served as a general, became a prime minister, slept with princesses, played with Heavenly Immortals, and held the grandest banquets under the heavens..."
With a reminiscent look on his face, Duge said, "Do you have any idea how joyful I’ve been these hundreds of years? Do you know what the Deep Sea Golden Cauldron is? Do you know what the White Jade Roulette is? Do you know what Explosive Stir-fried Red Pills are?"
Looking at the two of them, dumbfounded, Duge hummed with pity, "If it weren’t for me, you probably would have never even heard of these names, right? Celestial Beings are untainted; do you know how fragrant a fairy’s body is? Are you willing to spend your life wallowing in the mud, sleeping with those dirty and smelly brothel women?
You can’t even imagine my happiness!
I have opened the door to a new world for you, and yet you want to close it with your own hands, even brick it up, completely blocking the path. I’ve never seen such fools... With a decade or so of pain, you exchange it for hundreds or thousands of years of joy; what more could you be dissatisfied with?"
Gulp!
Laoqi and Laowu’s throats bobbed, clearly moved by Duge’s vision of the future, and of course, greatly influenced by the Tirelessly Ruinous skill, with all the wicked thoughts in their hearts fully aroused.
"Senior, we were wrong," said Laowu, his eyes full of bloodshot vessels. "We have let down Senior’s painstaking efforts."
"Is it ruthless enough?" Duge asked.
"Ruthless," the two of them nodded affirmatively.
"Then what are you waiting for?" Duge said with a cold laugh.
Laoqi and Laowu exchanged glances, got up to find the steel knife they had used before, looked at each other again, closed their eyes, and with a fierce shout, each chopped off their own left hand.
The two of them dragged their bloody wrists back and said, "Senior, we have done it."
"Go tend to your wounds," Duge nodded approvingly. "Remember, enduring the bitterest hardships is what makes someone superior. What you give today is for tomorrow’s reward; one day, when your divine skills are fully developed, you will thank yourself for being so ruthless today."
"Yes."
Laoqi and Laowu looked at Duge, nodded forcefully, and went to the back yard to treat their wounds.
...
Having tested the power of the Tirelessly Ruinous skill on them, Duge chuckled to himself and shook his head—a bunch of idiots with such limited aspirations.
"Senior, did you rejuvenate by seizing a body?" Niu Sanbao, coming out of the beautiful blueprint Duge had painted for them, asked cautiously.
"Seizing a body? Such lowly cultivation techniques are an insult to our Carefree Sect’s Cultivation Technique," Duge said. "I underwent Limb Regeneration. After being ambushed by my treacherous disciple, my entire body was destroyed; I only escaped with an arm. This child’s body you see now is evolved from that arm..."
"An arm?" Liu Laowu unconsciously echoed.
"What’s so surprising about an arm?" Duge glanced at him sideways. "The Longevity Technique of Eternity, when practiced to its deepest levels, is said to allow one to regenerate from a single drop of blood, not much weaker than the Blood Demon’s Heavenly Demon Disintegration Art."
Blood Demon?
Another new term they heard.
Filled with excitement, Niu Sanbao became even more certain that Duge was indeed a supreme being. With a smile plastered on his face, he continued to ask, "Senior, how long will it take for you to recover your powers?"
"It all depends on my state of mind," said Duge. "If my mind is clear, it might even recover in three to five months. If my mind is clouded, it might take eight or nine years. And if the treacherous disciple finds me, I’m afraid it might get delayed even more..."
Three to five months, huh! There was hope!
Niu Sanbao licked his lips again, asking, "Senior, has your disciple also mastered the divine skill?"
"Afraid?" Duge glanced at him and asked with a smile.
"Not afraid, just asking," Niu Sanbao said.
"Yes, his divine skill is fully developed, no weaker than mine," Duge said. "His talent is stronger than mine; it took me five years to fully develop my divine skill, and he only took three. Anything else you want to ask?"
"Not for now," Niu Sanbao shook his head.
"Don’t think too much. Before my powers are restored, I will not pass on the divine skills to you," Duge snorted coldly and said, "Although the Cultivation Technique of the Carefree Sect prioritizes the state of mind, it also requires a catalyst. Until my powers are restored, I cannot plant the seed in your Dantian. Even if I were to pass the technique on to you, you wouldn’t be able to learn it unless you have the talent of a sect founder."
"We wouldn’t dare," Niu Sanbao grinned, "Senior, you should just focus on recovering, we are not in a hurry."
"Niu Sanbao, I’ll ask you, how will you explain your injuries to others?" Duge chuckled and asked.