It was an established truth, gleaned from the accumulated experience of countless Black Spirit Masters over ten thousand years in the Netherworld: starting cultivation past the age of eighteen made significant progress nearly impossible, regardless of one's innate talent. Even if anomalies had occurred in the long history of the Netherworld, they were few and far between.

After a long moment, the mound of trembling, thick flesh finally settled. Milo cast a regretful glance at Nie Kong, his eyes immediately shifting to Huang Shan. Calculating based on age and aptitude balance, this eighteen-year-old fellow actually possessed greater potential among the twelve new disciples.

“Junior Brother Jing Hu, how about you let me have this apprentice?” Milo’s eyes darted around cunningly as he suddenly sidled up to Feng Hu, grinning with ingratiating enthusiasm that scrunched his facial features into a comical mess.

Feng Hu acted as if he hadn't heard a word. He selected two more from the gaggle of startled youths, then bowed slightly to Zhuo Yue before striding away without a backward glance. Milo chased him to the hall entrance, saw that Feng Hu hadn't even blinked, and could only huff back in annoyance.

“You! You! You! Come with me…”

Casually picking three others, Milo departed sullenly, shooting a fierce glare back at Nie Kong and Yan Luo as he left. If it weren't for Yan Luo’s earlier words sparking some anticipation for Nie Kong, the best disciple would have been his already!

Yan Luo shook his head helplessly and also selected three disciples, leaving with Yan Ya. Only Zhuo Yue, Lin Jun, and Nie Kong—five people in total—remained in the vast Spirit Sovereign Hall.

Silence descended upon the expansive hall…

Excluding Nie Kong, the two other newly recruited disciples were just young children barely in their teens, standing timidly to the side, extremely nervous.

“Lin Jun, take your three junior brothers below. Tonight, teach them the ‘Nether Fiend Art.’ How far they can cultivate depends on their own destiny…” Finally, Zhuo Yue rose from his chair, his gaze slowly sweeping over Nie Kong and the two children. He then waved his hand toward Lin Jun. As his words fell, he walked toward the side door of the Spirit Sovereign Hall, his posture conveying an indescribable weariness.

“Yes, Master…”

Night fell. In a crude room nestled halfway up the mountain, a space spanning several meters was brightly illuminated by a single, thumb-sized red jade bead.

On the black prayer cushion before the wooden bed, Nie Kong and Lin Jun sat facing each other: one calm and concentrating deeply on listening, the other speaking fluently and ceaselessly.

“Junior Brother Nie, that should cover it for now.”

About half an hour later, Lin Jun finally closed the thin booklet in his hands and smiled, “Keep this booklet for now. Return it after you’ve memorized it… Um, Junior Brother Nie, since you are older, even mastering the first layer of the ‘Nether Fiend Art’ in a year would be excellent progress for you. Alright, Junior Brother Nie… I’ll be leaving now. If you have questions, ask me again tomorrow…”

With that, Lin Jun set down the booklet and rose to his full height.

“Thank you, Senior Brother Lin…”

After seeing Lin Jun out, Nie Kong let out a long breath. He returned to the prayer cushion, sat cross-legged, picked up the booklet, glanced through it once, and set it aside.

The so-called ‘Nether Fiend Art’ was essentially the most basic introductory spirit technique. Its function was analogous to the ‘Five Star Shifting Art’ Nie Kong had previously cultivated.

The cultivation system of Black Spirit Masters differed greatly from that of the Heaven Spirit Continent. Spirit Masters on the Heaven Spirit Continent refined the ‘Three Spiritual Apertures’ (Ling Shen San Qiao), whereas here, Black Spirit Masters needed to condense the ‘Nine Great Nether Stars’ (Jiu Da Ming Xing). The purpose of the ‘Nether Fiend Art’ lay precisely here.

No matter who they were, Black Spirit Masters in the Netherworld always began with the ‘Nether Fiend Art.’ Only after condensing the nine Nether Stars through this art could one cultivate various other spirit techniques. If one couldn't even condense the Nether Stars, everything else was illusion.

The long explanation Lin Jun had given about the ‘Nether Fiend Art’ could largely be found within this booklet. If Nie Kong were truly a novice, the cultivation experience Lin Jun imparted would be immensely useful. However, Nie Kong was, in fact, a Spirit Tamer…

Of course, Nie Kong hadn’t gained nothing.

Through Lin Jun’s explanation, Nie Kong did grasp a few things. On this continent, Death Qi was also known as Nether Force. Affected by Nether Force, human bones completely set and stopped growing after the age of eighteen, making it difficult for any technique to alter them.

On the Heaven Spirit Continent, cultivation was solely linked to the ‘Three Spiritual Apertures’ and the transparency of the meridians. However, in the Netherworld, cultivation acted not only upon the Nine Great Nether Stars but was also intimately connected to the skeletal structure. For this very reason, cultivating too early could easily harm the body, yet cultivating too late was also unacceptable, especially after the muscles and bones had fully solidified.

Otherwise, Milo wouldn't have made the face he did upon learning Nie Kong’s age.

“The techniques here do have a unique quality,” Nie Kong muttered, but he decided to first test the effect of the ‘Nether Fiend Art’ and then determine how to absorb the vitality and death energy of Fubo Mountain based on the results.

After a moment of thought, Nie Kong quieted his mind.

Regardless of the differences between the cultivation systems of the Heaven Spirit Continent and the Netherworld, they ultimately led to the same destination, and there were some commonalities in the process of cultivation. Take cultivating this ‘Nether Fiend Art,’ for instance; the first required step was to gather the surrounding spiritual energy elements.

This was akin to the ‘Spirit Gathering’ on the Heaven Spirit Continent.

For a beginner, gathering Death Qi would naturally not be a simple task. But for Nie Kong, a Spirit Tamer, it was exceedingly easy. Reciting the incantation of the ‘Nether Fiend Art,’ Nie Kong merely moved his consciousness, and vast amounts of Death Qi separated from the void like fine threads. Appearing alongside this Death Qi were wisps of vitality.

In an instant, Nie Kong was enveloped by thick layers of vitality and Death Qi.

The ‘Nether Fiend Art,’ much like the ‘Five Star Shifting Art,’ first sucked in all absorbable spiritual energy elements indiscriminately. The body retained what it needed, and what it didn't would dissipate, returning to the void. This continent also possessed spiritual energy elements like wind, thunder, fire, and earth, but the only elements that could be mobilized—having reached their extreme—were vitality and Death Qi, which corresponded to the Wood and Dark spiritual energy elements.

“Whoosh!” Nie Kong’s figure was completely shrouded in a mixture of green, black, and faint white radiance. In the next moment, with a flicker of Nie Kong’s will, the vitality and Death Qi surged madly into his body, swiftly traveling through his internal channels along the pathways described by the ‘Nether Fiend Art’ like spiritual snakes.

During this process, Death Qi accumulated between the meridians, while the vitality continuously decomposed, overflowing from the body to once again surround him.

This cycle repeated incessantly. In a mere few dozen seconds, Nie Kong’s internal meridians were completely saturated with Death Qi. Although Nie Kong had anticipated it, the speed of absorption still caused him a secret astonishment, which quickly turned into immense joy.

Once the meridians were full, it was time for the next step of the ‘Nether Fiend Art.’

“Buzz…”

Suddenly, the Nine Great Hidden Apertures trembled slightly, and a marvelous fluctuation interwove within Nie Kong’s body. Influenced by this fluctuation, the Death Qi in the meridians also began to vibrate subtly. After a few minutes, the speed accelerated, and buzzing sounds erupted one after another.

The purpose of this step was to permeate the Death Qi into the skeletal structure, and the method employed bore a striking resemblance to Nie Kong’s ‘Nine Revolutions Golden Needle Technique.’ In Lin Jun’s earlier explanation, even exceptionally gifted individuals would take over half a month before causing the Death Qi to fluctuate. Of course, this applied to those who had just begun cultivating. Nie Kong already possessed a boundless reservoir of Death Qi within his Nine Great Hidden Apertures; using this existing energy to incite vibration in the newly channeled Death Qi in his meridians was effortless.

Approximately fifteen minutes later, driven by that oscillation, faint strands of Death Qi finally began to seep out of the meridians, spreading toward all parts of his body.

“Crack! Crack…” The cracking sound of bone joints suddenly erupted from within his body, crisp and loud, actually overpowering the intense sounds of vibration. Following that, the cracking sounds became unstoppable, like popcorn popping—pili pala la—resounding throughout the entire room.

Under Nie Kong’s control, more and more Death Qi was used to temper his bones. And under the induction of the ‘Nether Fiend Art,’ the vitality and Death Qi gathering around him grew increasingly immense, causing the void outside the room to churn more violently…

In another room a hundred meters away, two people sat respectfully, positioned as if listening intently. Seeing this, Lin Jun opposite them nodded with satisfaction. He had taught disciples on behalf of his master many times, and every time he saw the respectful demeanor of the junior brothers, he felt a sense of accomplishment.

Clearing his throat, Lin Jun pulled out a thin booklet from his robe, just about to commence his teaching duties, when he suddenly let out a soft 'Eh?' from his mouth. He quickly turned his gaze toward the outside of the white room, his face filled with astonishment. Immediately afterward, his body sprang up from the prayer cushion, hastily stuffing the booklet back into his robes, and rushed out like a gust of wind.

Seconds later, looking at the cluster of green-black radiant light overflowing from the room a hundred meters away, Lin Jun involuntarily stopped in his tracks, the look of shock on his face deepening. He knew that the room housed the newly arrived Nie Kong, but now he couldn't help but doubt himself.

Even if Nie Kong possessed astonishing talent, he was twenty years old and had only just started cultivating the introductory ‘Nether Fiend Art.’ How could he possibly create such a spectacle? As far as Lin Jun knew, besides Master Zhuo Yue and the three Martial Uncles—Milo, Feng Hu, and Yan Luo—even several senior brothers who had entered the sect for more than ten years might not be able to achieve this level.

Could it be that Nie Kong had swapped rooms with someone?

“Wow! Wow!”

Two exclamations sounded. Lin Jun glanced over to see two younger disciples running out of their room. One child’s dark eyes widened, and he couldn't help but ask, “Senior Brother Lin, is Senior Brother Nie Kong cultivating over there?” His voice was filled with envy.

Lin Jun hesitated, “Uh, this… perhaps, maybe… is it?”

“Senior Brother Nie Kong is amazing! He just started cultivating, and he can already absorb Nether Force with the ‘Nether Fiend Art’…”

“…”

Lin Jun’s heart skipped a beat. Who would possibly come here late at night to switch rooms with Nie Kong just to practice the ‘Nether Fiend Art’? The person in that room had to be Nie Kong. To reach this level in such a short time—had Master, the three Martial Uncles, and that Elder from the Black God Sect all misjudged? Was this Junior Brother Nie Kong’s talent completely unrestrained by age?

For a moment, Lin Jun was filled with shock and suspicion… PS: In the future, I shouldn't casually promise how many chapters I’ll update the next day. I originally set it as pressure for myself, but if things got delayed and I couldn't deliver, it would become like yesterday, where the pressure didn't turn into motivation but instead became a disaster after all~nnn…