Chapter 5: Taking Disciples! Taking Them Hard!

[Ten-pull in progress!] The system's light screen flashed wildly before Byron Cutmore's eyes. In his ears, the roulette wheel chimed with a crisp, rapid *ding, ding, ding*. The next second, a golden glare flooded the entire interface! [Whoa! A legendary gold drop!] [Congratulations, host. You have obtained an Immortal-tier reward: Bloodline Immortal Pool!] [The Bloodline Immortal Pool has manifested within the sect! Sect disciples may enter the pool to cultivate. Their bloodline power, physique, talent, and more will be enhanced!] [Note: As long as you soak in it every day, even a dog can swallow the sun!] Byron's eyelid twitched. He glanced at Goldie beside him. "Good grief. Why do I get the feeling this system was built for you?" "Goldie. I'm taking you somewhere fun." Before Goldie could even react, Byron grabbed him by the head and sprinted straight toward the newly manifested Bloodline Immortal Pool! "Awooo, awooo-!" Goldie yelped in pain, howling his head off. Not long after, man and dog froze at the sight of the pool's blood-red water. It was terrifying. It looked like a basin of raw blood. Byron couldn't help blurting out, "Is this a legit system? Or is it trying to make me found some demonic cultivation sect?" As he spoke, he pressed Goldie's head down and dunked him into the blood pool. "Goldie! Let's hope you don't turn into a demon dog!" "Woof?" Goldie: I'm not a person, but you're the real dog here! The instant Goldie entered the pool, a blood-colored halo flared around his body. Then the blood in his veins began to change. Flecks of gold light shimmered within it. *Whoosh!* Goldie's aura surged. His realm did not change at all, yet Byron could clearly feel it. Goldie looked… fiercer. More imposing. And somehow, he even seemed smarter. "Huh? Good dog." Byron hauled Goldie out of the pool with one hand, then sprang up and dove into the blood pool himself. Minutes passed. Nothing happened. "Uh… hey, System. Get out here. Is this for real? Why am I not getting any reaction at all?" The system screen replied: [The host is already a cripple. Go take disciples like a good boy.] Byron: "The hell?" The light screen flickered again: [Ten-pull rewards have been delivered!] [Congratulations, host. You have obtained: 50 mortal-grade medicinal herbs, 100 sets of standardized sect attire, 10 jin of spirit beast feed, 20 spirit-grade medicinal herbs, 10 spirit-grade weapons, 13 spirit-grade cultivation manuals, 1 saint-grade cultivation manual, 1 saint-grade medicinal herb, 1 Ultimate Emperor Weapon fragment (collect 30 fragments to exchange).] [Rewards have been automatically stored within the sect's facilities.] Staring at the flashing screen, Byron felt like crying without tears. "So that's how you want to play it? Not a single thing I can use!" "It looks like if I want my cultivation back, I can only clear the system's Main Quest." "Taking disciples. I have to take disciples, and take them hard!" He did it the moment the thought formed. Byron packed his things, took Goldie with him, and headed out beyond Skysoar Sect. As for Nathaniel Urwin's cultivation, Byron did not need to worry at all. With an Immortal Body and an immortal art, bottlenecks were a joke. On top of that, Adelynn Cougle, an emperor-level powerhouse, was holding down the fort. Byron could go recruit in peace. He tossed two pellets of spirit beast feed to Goldie. The scent, irresistible to countless mutts, made Goldie's eyes blaze. "Woof, woof!" Byron stroked Goldie's fur and sighed. "Ah… to think I used to be the number one genius of the Eastern Wilderness. And these days, I need a stray dog as my bodyguard when I travel." One man, one dog, fading farther and farther into the distance. … East Sea Coast, Greenspire Town, the Thubron family. "Kylian Thubron of the Thubron family has stolen and studied the family's secret art. For his crimes, he shall be thrown into the death cell!" Seated high above, Christian Thubron radiated authority without anger. His voice was ice-cold. Yet his eyes never left the boy's right arm. That arm was a full circle thicker than the left. The imbalance was disturbing, almost grotesque. The youth named Kylian lifted his chin, unafraid of Christian's pressure. He sneered. "Heh. If you want to convict someone, you'll always find a charge." "My father saved more than a dozen of our clansmen a few days ago. He even lost his life for it." "And today you want my life too?" Christian's eyes narrowed to slits. "Guards. Throw him into the death cell." At once, two members of the Thubron family stepped forward to seize Kylian. One of them wore a smile that never reached his eyes. "Kylian, you stole the family's secret art. Everyone knows it. Not executing you on the spot is already mercy." The other looked amused. "Heh. Didn't your dad leave you a Harpoon when he died? I heard it's a spirit-grade weapon. You're going to the death cell anyway. Why not hand it over to me?" Kylian only gave them a cold glance and said nothing. *Smack!* A solid slap cracked across Kylian's face. "The hell is that look? Believe it or not, I'll cripple you!" "Hm?" Christian flicked a glance their way. Both men instantly wilted. They tightened their grip and hurried Kylian along. But as they dragged him past the Thubron family's front gate, Kylian exploded into motion! A three-pronged Harpoon appeared in his hand out of nowhere. He drove it mercilessly toward one man's neck. *Shk!* Blood sprayed in an instant. Without hesitation, Kylian rammed straight through the front gate. *Boom!* He tumbled across the ground, rolled twice, sprang to his feet, and bolted for the town's outskirts. Not long after, a furious roar erupted from within the Thubron residence: "Kylian Thubron, traitorous whelp! You harmed your own kin. From this day forth, you are expelled from the Thubron family!" "Any disciple of the Thubron family may kill him on sight!" The next moment, more than a dozen cultivators poured out through the gate and gave chase. By then, Kylian had already sprinted out of Greenspire Town. Days earlier, Kylian and his father had led the Thubron family's disciples out to sea to hunt spirit beasts for the clan. Instead, they had run into Sea Beasts at the Spirit Spring Realm. As the leader, Kylian's father had stepped forward without hesitation, shielding the others behind him. He burned his own essence blood and, at the Sixth Level of Vein Connection, fought the Spirit Spring Realm Sea Beasts to mutual destruction. Only after they brought both corpses back did the truth surface. The Spirit Spring Realm Sea Beasts had already been badly wounded. A spirit-grade weapon was lodged in its body, the very Harpoon Kylian carried. By all logic, Kylian's father had died saving more than a dozen clansmen, and he had brought the Thubron family a Spirit Spring Realm Sea Beasts corpse plus a spirit-grade weapon. That merit should have guaranteed Kylian a worry-free life in the clan. Yet Christian used the excuse of "stealing the family's secret art" to throw Kylian into the death cell. Kylian later overheard the real reason. It was his right arm. … Elsewhere, Byron and Goldie traveled from town to town and village to village along the East Sea Coast. Byron's steps had grown uneven with exhaustion. He panted hard. "Goldie, how many villages have we hit?" Goldie barked once. "Woof!" Then he scratched a line into the dirt with his paw. "What? Eleven already? And we still haven't recruited a single person?" At first, Byron had wanted to take in talented young prodigies. After getting battered by reality, he only had one requirement for recruiting disciples: As long as they were human, they were welcome. The reason was simple. No one had ever heard of Skysoar Sect. They had no idea what backwater little sect it came from. And along the East Sea Coast, Sea Beasts attacks broke out all the time. Those monsters loved picking off cultivators. Ordinary people suffered heavier casualties when beast tides struck, but most of them died from being trampled. If they hid in underground shelters, they usually made it through. Meanwhile, the many small families along the coast all had their own clan-specific methods to survive. It was the sects that got it worst, especially newly founded small sects. Most of them ended up as Sea Beasts chow. In everyone's eyes, Skysoar Sect belonged in that category. So Byron failing to recruit even one person was not strange at all. As man and dog trudged along, a voice suddenly sounded in Byron's ears: "Reporting to the Sovereign Lord: a young lady has arrived outside the sect. She claims she wishes to join. May I ask if the Sovereign Lord permits it?" The speaker was Adelynn Cougle. The moment Byron heard someone wanted to join, joy exploded in his chest. "Yes, yes, yes! Approved! Make her a direct disciple!" "Give her the best resources in the entire sect!" He was so happy he could barely breathe. He had nearly worked himself into the ground like Goldie, and still recruited nobody. And someone had actually come to the sect on her own? And from Adelynn's report, it was a female disciple. Did fortune really fall into his lap that easily? As the sun neared the horizon, Byron hopped onto Goldie's back and swept his hand forward. "Goldie! Back to the sect. Let's go see my disciple!" Tempted by a few pellets of feed, Goldie practically vibrated with excitement. "Woof, woof!" One man and one dog kicked up a trail of dust as they charged toward Skysoar Sect.