Lu Sheng put down the book in his hand and listened hard . He recalled how Song Zi'an had mentioned that the ringing of the bell indicated the start of the morning lesson .
But he had only come in for several hours; it was unlikely to be the morning lesson .
'In that case, it should be the reminder to return to our caves…' Lu Sheng put the book down and stood up .
'I haven't gotten a clear grasp of the situation in the sect yet . It's not too late to wait till after meeting the other disciples and finding out for certain what are the do's and don't's before coming back to continue reading . ' He made up his mind and quickly returned the book to the shelf, walked out of the building and returned to the bridge .
He was about to cross the bridge when he suddenly heard the creaking of a door .
Turning around, he saw the originally ajar door of the library closing by itself .
"Thud . "
The bar even fell into place after the door was shut .
Lu Sheng's eyes narrowed . Then, turning around, he leapt into the air and dashed across the bridge, vanishing into the darkness .
He headed straight back to his cave to rest . Early the next day,
Shafts of light beamed down from the top of the cavern, lighting up many spots in it .
Lu Sheng dressed himself and walked out of his cave, then immediately caught sight of a man and a lady waiting outside the Grand Elder's cave .
The man had handsome features and was dressed in white athletic robes, with a jade belt around his waist . At the sight of Lu Sheng, he arched his brows and sized Lu Sheng up .
"Another newbie who has just entered the sect," the man mumbled .
The lady behind him was of average figure and looked wooden . She, too, glanced at Lu Sheng without a word .
Lu Sheng considered for a moment, then approached and waited with them outside the door .
The handsome man frowned as he stared at Lu Sheng again .
He had not expected that there would still be newbies willing to join Prime Devil Sect when it was already in such dire straits . There were no resources supplied and one even had to do free labor and missions for the sect and face the bullying of their rival sect, Nine Bells Sect . Had it not been for that Prime Devil Secret Art which Grand Elder had been keeping to himself, he, Fei Huangzi would long since have deserted them .
'Maybe it's a disciple who made a mistake . And will leave before long when he's fed up .
But, if he's really come for the secret art, trying to score an easy kill, then he's got to ask if I, Fei Huangzi, would agree to it . ' The handsome man put on a poker face, but a vicious thought flashed across his mind .
He gave the lady behind him a sidelong glance .
Presently, his greatest rival was He Xiangzi, who stood behind him . This lady might not have much in the talent department and was weak in cultivation, but she was extremely scheming . She loved to put on an earnest goody-two-shoes act… an extremely deceptive front .
"Come in . " Just then, the Grand Elder's composed voice rang out from within the cave .
"Rumble…"
The stone door opened gradually .
Grand Elder was seated on a praying mat on the ground in front of his desk .
A few other praying mats were laid out before him, clearly meant for Lu Sheng and company .
"Yes . " They entered .
"Take a seat . You're early . " At the sight of Fei Huangzi, a look of satisfaction and contentment appeared on the Grand Elder's face .
Although the sect was in decline, some loyal disciples had been willing to stay in support of him . Among them, Fei Huangzi and He Xiangzi were the most prominent .
Especially Fei Huangzi . His character was decent and he had pretty good talent . The future of the sect may very will lie with him .
He Xiangzi paled in comparison . While she was honest and down to earth, her bloodline and talent were seriously too mediocre . Despite all her hard work, she lagged behind Fei Huangzi .
The three of them bowed in respect to Grand Elder—this was the custom . Then, they each sat down on a praying mat and waited silently .
Time trickled by . Before long, more disciples streamed into the cave . After a joss stick's span, more than half of the twenty praying mats were still unoccupied .
As more time passed, Liu Shanzi's expression grew cold and disheartened as his gaze swept across the empty mats .
"Alright, let's begin this morning's lesson . Lu Sheng's a newly initiated disciple, so his progress is different . He can cultivate the foundational Three Yin Technique . He Xiangzi, you'll instruct him .
The rest of you, let's begin the morning lesson . "
"Yes . "
The dozen disciples replied in unison .
Then, they shut their eyes and streams of black smoke began gushing out from their mouths and travelling into their nostrils . On and on it circulated .
He Xiangzi walked to Lu Sheng's side and sat down on the mat next to his .
Lu Sheng remained emotionless outwardly, but he was starting to get anxious inside . He was no Nobleman . One look at that black smoke told him that it was somehow related to the black membrane . Being carriers of Nobleman blood, it was expected of these disciples to be able to activate the power in their black membrane . Although Lu Sheng far surpassed them in strength, there was no way he could produce black membrane .
"Junior Apprentice Brother Lu, let's talk softly so we don't distract the others from their morning lesson," He Xiangzi said in a hushed voice .
"Alright . "
Immediately, He Xiangzi began imparting Three Yin Technique's steps to Lu Sheng .
As he listened, Lu Sheng roughly understood the method of cultivation used by these Noblemen .
In actual fact, Three Yin Technique operated on the same principle as the meditation diagrams in martial arts—deploying and developing the power and potential of the body through one's mental energies .
"Three Yin Technique's effects might not be powerful—in fact it's pretty weak—but it's suitable for most bloodlines, unlike other sects' skills which can be cultivated only be a select few bloodlines," He Xiangzi explained . "Our Prime Devil Sect has a total of ninety-nine secret arts like Three Yin Technique . They are to be trained in progression until one reaches the highest Prime Devil Secret Art .
Prime Devil Secret Art is our Prime Devil Sect's highest secret art . Once cultivated to full mastery, one can activate fifty percent of the power in one's bloodline . Although we can't attain eighty or ninety percent like other sects, the universality of our skill far surpasses theirs . "
"Prime Devil Secret Art . . . is it related to the Devils in the legends?" Lu Sheng asked in curiosity .
He Xiangzi looked at him with a wooden expression . "Supposedly . But that happened a long time ago . Young ones like us don't know much about it .
Junior Apprentice Brother, you should focus on cultivating Three Yin Technique and hopefully achieve an early breakthrough . Don't let your bloodline down . "
"Many thanks, Senior Apprentice Sister . " Lu Sheng could sense the earnestness in her words . There was no attempt to hide anything; she was just advising Lu Sheng as a senior apprentice sister would a junior apprentice brother .
In Lu Sheng's eyes, He Xiangzi's power was at best at the Three-Vein Level . And that was the outcome of her many years of hard work .
Lu Sheng did not know if Shangyang Family had notified Prime Devil Sect of his strength . Given his Three-Vein Level cover, he was considered elite even among Noblemen .
But now it seemed that Shangyang Jiuli did not divulge much to the sect . All she had done was to insert him into the sect according to the standard procedure .
At that thought, Lu Sheng collected his thoughts and began studying Three Yin Technique's steps which He Xiangzi had imparted him .
When one examined Three Yin Technique in detail, one would discover some unique aspects to the skill . It involved one visualizing three balls of Yin Fire burning in one's heart and tempering one's own body using some Yoga-like moves which pitted one's body against itself .
These disciples might seemed to have been seated without moving . In reality, however, they were all trembling subtly as the muscles in their body pushed and pulled against each other .
Lu Sheng continued examining the skill and realized that the reason why Three Yin Technique was suited to all was because it did not involve any mysterious, nebulous elements . It was a down-to-earth skill focused on developing the physical body .
Because Noblemen carried the power of Divine Weapons and Devil Blades in their bodies, the strength of their bodies far surpassed that of mortals' . Hence, ordinary external stimuli had no tempering effect on their bodies .
The only way for them to temper their bodies was to pit their own bodies against themselves .
And that was how Three Yin Technique worked . The meditation diagram was designed to aid one in focusing and coordinating the muscles to maximise the effect of the training .
Lu Sheng studied it carefully and found that as long as the body was tough enough, this technique could work on anybody!
This discovery immediately filled him with joy . Originally, he had not expected to learn much from the sect . His decision to join the sect was merely a pretext for him to understand the Noble Families and Central Plains better and be exposed to existences of a higher level .
Little did he expect that the secret art in the sect designed to develop one's Nobleman bloodline could work on him as well .
The morning lesson lasted four hours (i . e . the whole morning) .
Very soon, He Xiangzi was done imparting the technique to Lu Sheng as well, leaving him to practice on his own after telling him a series of mantras and briefing him on the characteristics of each stage of cultivation .
After the morning lesson ended, the Grand Elder rose and left as well . The dozen or so disciples stood up and some among them struck up a conversation in sighs .
"Quite a few left today again . Even Brother Wang Zhen has left . . . Little Mei, Brother Shangguan, Brother Xue . . . they've all left . . . "
"If this goes on, how long more can the sect last?"
"Who knows? It's been two months since we've gone without training resources . . . a few days ago, somebody said he saw Wang Zhen in contact with Nine Bell Sect . . . is that true?"
"I saw it too . It's true indeed . With things coming to this stage, having lost even the mining district, you can't blame everyone for finding their own ways out . Even Grand Elder himself . . . "
In the midst of the whispers going on around him, Lu Sheng roughly understood the circumstances that faced Prime Devil Sect .
With the mining district seized and Nine Bell Sect continually poaching its members, Prime Devil Sect was truly in dire straits .
Every few days, some disciples would leave silently . In the beginning, Grand Elder would chase after them, arrest them and bring them back for disciplinary punishment . But as it went on, he grew disheartened .
From a scale of seventy or eighty strong, Prime Devil Sect was now left with a dozen disciples in merely two months .
Occasionally, new disciples would enter the sect . But because no cultivation resources were supplied, they would leave silently too .
To begin with, Prime Devil Sect's techniques were not as targeted in developing Noblemen bloodlines as those of other sects' . Now, without any supply of resources, progress of cultivation was further impeded, wasting the precious time of many disciples .
Grand Elder understood this as well . That was why he grew disheartened and stopped bothering about the disciples leaving . Fortunately, he had only imparted them part of the ninety-nine foundational skills in the sect . Apart from Three Yin Technique and two other foundational skills, Grand Elder kept the sect's skills to himself .
While other sects might not even value those skills, they were Prime Devil Sect's root and had to be guarded closely .
Even among foundational skills, only a few were taught . Needless to say, no subsequent higher-tiered skills were released, not to mention the sect's highest Prime Devil Secret Art . Now, the Grand Elder's only wish was to pick one out of the remaining disciples who was loyal enough for him to impart the sole surviving Prime Devil Secret Art .
"Ai . . . "
Standing in front of the stone pillar, the Grand Elder lifted his head and gazed at the blood-red symbol .
His thoughts went back to Prime Devil Sect a thousand years ago, when multiple profound Prime Devil Secret Arts existed in the sect which was filled with prodigies and talents . Every Prime Devil Secret Art was cultivated by at least a hundred disciples .
Back then, not as many targeted secret arts existed . Due to their numbers, Prime Devil Sect ranked among the top three grades in the Hundred Lineages . But now . . .
Since that calamity, ninety percent of the Prime Devil Secret Arts were lost with the deaths of those Elders . Only the version that was passed down his line of tutelage survived intact .
The elite disciples, Deacons, and Elders who used to prop the sect up had either died in battle or passed away gradually due to age .
In the end, he who had been mediocre in talent was now the strongest expert in Prime Devil Sect today .
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