The Corpse Sect was a place outside of civilization. Most of the disciples in the sect were focused on cultivation and didn't care about worldly affairs. However, Palace Master Liu's personality was similar to Jiang Dongcheng's; they were both very unscrupulous. After Lin Xue accepted me as her disciple, Palace Master Liu's attitude toward me became even more amiable. Calling me over most likely wasn't a bad thing, so I had no reason not to go.
When I arrived at the middle hall, I was surprised to find that there were a dozen or so disciples with high cultivation levels. It turned out that I wasn't the only person Palace Master Liu had called.
Seeing me enter, Palace Master Liu, who was sitting on his chair, enthusiastically stood up and smiled at me. "Junior Apprentice Brother Wang, come, come, come. Sit down."
Hearing how he addressed me, I felt awkward for some reason. However, after thinking about it, I understood. Lin Xue had the cultivation of a Celestial Master, one generation higher than Hall Master Liu. If I became Lin Xue's disciple, no matter what cultivation I had, Hall Master Liu could only call me junior brother at most.
I understood this logic, but the other disciples of the Middle Hall didn't. Hearing Hall Master Liu's greeting, a group of people revealed bewildered expressions and looked at me and Hall Master Liu in astonishment.
Seeing this, Palace Master Liu smiled and explained to everyone, "Everyone still doesn't know, but because of Junior Apprentice Brother Wang's talent, he was accepted as a disciple by Elder Lin. According to the sect's rules, if you see Wang Lin in the future, remember to call him Martial Uncle Wang. Otherwise, the sect's rules won't let you off. Do you all understand?"
After he finished speaking, everyone's faces were filled with surprise. They even ignored the sect's strict rules and began to talk.
"Elder Lin!
It can't be Elder Lin Xue, right?
She accepted Wang Lin as her disciple?
How is that possible?
Doesn't Elder Lin never accept disciples? "
"Aside from Elder Lin Xue, is there another elder named Lin in the sect?
This brat … no, this Wang Lin is really lucky. He awakened his bloodline and became an elder's disciple. In the future, he will soar into the heavens. "
The voices were very noisy, but Palace Master Liu seemed to understand the doubts in everyone's hearts, so he didn't say anything to stop them. He just silently looked at them.
Thanks to the strict rules of the Corpse Sect, the discussion didn't last for too long. They quickly calmed down and looked at me. They all bowed and said, "Greetings, Martial Uncle Wang."
It was just a group of acupoint sealing disciples. Bowing to them wouldn't have affected my heart, but perhaps it was because I had been playing the role of Wang Lin for too long that I felt a bit awkward, so I just stood there and didn't say a word.
"Done."
At this moment, Hall Master Liu waved his hand and changed the topic. With a straight face, he continued, "The reason why I called everyone here is to discuss the Sect Grand Competition.
Everyone knows the format of the Grand Competition every year. The Hungry Ghost Festival is the final round, and the preliminaries will start on April 1st, which is three days from now.
You are all the outstanding disciples of the Middle Hall and will be participating in this year's Grand Competition … Our Middle Hall disciples are only at the middle acupoint sealing stage, so it will be extremely difficult for us to fight for the final spot. You don't need to set high standards for yourselves, but the Grand Competition is the biggest event of the sect every year. The top one hundred disciples of each group will be rewarded. Last year, ten people from the Middle Hall entered the top one hundred of the Second Era Group. This year, my request for everyone is that your results must not drop. Otherwise, not only will I lose face, but you will also have a hard time in the coming year. "
The first part of his introduction of the Grand Competition was normal, but the second part of his introduction was not very magnanimous. However, none of the disciples expressed any surprise, and they all nodded in agreement. It seemed that they were used to Hall Master Liu's personality.
I was a bit stunned. I originally thought that the Grand Competition would start during the Hungry Ghost Festival. I didn't think that it would be the final round, and it would start so soon!
Fortunately, I had made use of the misunderstanding between Lin Xue and the others to think of a way to reveal the power of the Sacrificial Evil Spirit. Otherwise, this sudden news would have disrupted all of my plans.
After a slight pause, Hall Master Liu continued, "Three days from now, at a quarter to seven in the morning, everyone will gather here again. The first round of the Grand Competition will begin. Those who cram for the Buddha's feet in the next few days must remember to keep track of the time when you are in seclusion. Those who are late will be disqualified. That will be all for now. You can all go now."
After he finished speaking, everyone bowed in unison and dispersed.
I was about to leave when Hall Master Liu suddenly said to me, "Junior Brother Wang, please wait. I have something to tell you."
I was stunned and put my foot down again. After everyone had left, Hall Master Liu enthusiastically walked over and pulled me to sit next to him. He said to me, "Junior Brother Wang, even though you are extremely talented, your current cultivation is insufficient. This Senior Brother doesn't have any way to temporarily help you increase your cultivation. I can only give you this magic tool that I always carry with me. Here, it's this Yin Energy Awl."
As he said that, he passed a pure black awl to my hand. He smiled and said, "This Yin Energy Awl can condense Yin energy into the shape of an awl. It has an extremely strong penetrating power. With your current cultivation, it shouldn't be a problem for you to break through the defense of someone who has sealed seven acupoints."
After he finished speaking, I lowered my head to sense the interior of this Yin Energy Awl. There was a special rune engraved on it. Looking at its appearance, Hall Master Liu wasn't lying. This magic tool should be a magic tool used by someone at the Glorious Memory realm.
It seemed that Lin Xue's status wasn't low. In order to curry favor with me, Hall Master Liu had gone all out.
I smiled and didn't stand on ceremony. I put the Yin Qi awl away.
This magic tool naturally wouldn't be of much use to me. However, since I was using Wang Lin's identity, I wouldn't be able to use any of my other magic tools. Therefore, this Yin Energy Awl was suitable for the time being.
Seeing that I had accepted the Yin Energy Awl, Hall Master Liu's smile became even wider. He told me a few people that I should pay attention to during the competition. I didn't have any impression of most of them, so I didn't really care. I just nodded to show that I had remembered them.
Towards the end, Hall Master Liu even told me that the preliminary stage was an internal competition of the Black Zombie Cave. He also had the right to judge. If there was no difference in strength between the two, he would definitely give me the victory.
I couldn't help but laugh in my heart. Of course, I still thanked him profusely.
After saying all that, Hall Master Liu smiled and signaled me to go back.
Just as I stood up and was about to leave, I suddenly remembered about the evil spirit. I stopped in my tracks and turned around with a hesitant expression. I said to Palace Head Liu, "Senior brother Liu, I have something to ask you."
"Junior Brother Wang, there's no need to be polite. If you have something to ask, just ask."
I pointed at the evil spirit and said, "My corpse puppet's cultivation has increased a lot these past few days. A few days ago, I could roughly see through its cultivation. However, this morning, I accidentally glanced at the corpse puppet and felt that the Yin energy from its body made my heart tremble. It seemed … it seemed to have increased again. I can't see through its cultivation anymore. Senior Brother Liu, can you help me see what level its cultivation has reached?"
After hearing my words, Hall Master Liu smiled and indifferently said, "Junior Brother's cultivation is still shallow. It's normal that you can't see through it. You don't need to worry. I'll help you take a look."
As he spoke, he turned his head and shifted his gaze to the sacrificial evil spirit.
After looking at it for a few seconds, he turned around and said to me confidently, "From what I can see, your corpse puppet has already reached the eighth acupoint. Hehe, this cultivation is considered top-notch among the corpse puppets of the Middle Hall's disciples. It seems that Junior Brother Wang has some potential in this year's Great Sect Competition."
I was stunned. A few days ago, I had told the evil spirit to show my cultivation. Why did Hall Master Liu only see that it had reached the eighth acupoint?
Could it be that the evil spirit's Yin energy was restrained and that the cultivation it was showing was slightly higher than Hall Master Liu's? That's why Hall Master Liu couldn't see through it?
As I thought about that, I pretended to be hesitant and said, "Senior Brother Liu, the eighth acupoint doesn't seem to have improved much compared to the seventh acupoint. Are you … mistaken?"
Hall Master Liu was stunned. Then, he shook his head and said, "I can't be mistaken. How about this? Tell your corpse puppet not to move. I'll use the eighth acupoint to attack it. That way, I can break its defense without hurting it."
I didn't understand, so I nodded and agreed. I turned around and told the evil spirit to stay where it was, not to move, and not to fight back.
After I gave the order, Hall Master Liu casually attacked the evil spirit with his palm.
I looked at it and confirmed that his palm had reached the eighth acupoint.
Soon, Hall Master Liu's palm covered in Yin energy hit the evil spirit's body. Then, without even looking at the result, he turned around and smiled at me. "You see, I used the eighth acupoint. It's just enough to break its Yin energy defense and force it back …"
Halfway through his words, Palace Head Liu seemed to have not heard the sound of the evil sacrificial spirit falling to the ground. He stopped talking in astonishment and turned his head to take a look. Immediately, his expression darkened as he said with slight embarrassment, "Huh? Your corpse puppet... seems a little strange. How about this? I'll try again with my perfect acupoint pressing technique."
Then, he turned around and thrust his palm again. This time, the Yin energy of the full mastery of the acupoint pressed directly on the evil spirit's body.
This time, he didn't dare to turn around. He just stood there and watched.
Two seconds later, Hall Master Liu looked at the evil spirit standing there motionlessly. He was so shocked that he couldn't believe his eyes.