I Can Upgrade Everything Infinitely-Chapter 130 - 129: Cabbage Flower Snake Level 10

"Elder Wu, I don’t quite understand what you mean."

Xu Qing said.

"Come with me first."

Wu Dao Ming shook his head, unwilling to elaborate. He seemed to have some reservations and clearly didn’t want to discuss the matter with Xu Qing here.

「A few minutes later.」

The Elder Hall of the Dapeng Martial Arts Hall.

The Elder Hall was divided into four sections: the Apprentice Elder area, the Outer Court Elder area, the Inner Court Elder area, and the True Inheritor Elder area.

Of these,

The entire Dapeng Martial Arts Hall had only nine True Inheritor Elders, and Wu Dao Ming was one of them. Each True Inheritor Elder had their own mountain peak standing within the True Inheritor Elder area.

From a distance,

one could see the nine distinct mountain peaks.

At this moment, Xu Qing had followed Wu Dao Ming to the foot of a mountain. The peak was between two and three hundred meters high, covered in dense, flourishing forests.

Additionally, there were towering buildings and houses at both the foot and the midway point of the mountain. The houses at the foot were mostly inhabited by Wu Dao Ming’s servants, while those on the mountainside were home to his disciples.

"Let’s go."

Wu Dao Ming said.

"Yes."

Xu Qing followed him.

The two of them walked up the mountain path. Along the way, they encountered Wu Dao Ming’s servants and disciples. Among the servants, Xu Qing even saw some Beastmen.

Among them were graceful women with fox ears and tails, burly men with ox horns, and other Beastmen with various animal features.

"It seems you’re quite curious about these Half-Demons?"

Wu Dao Ming asked.

"I am."

Xu Qing nodded.

"Have you heard of the Demon Path?"

Wu Dao Ming asked.

"A little."

Xu Qing replied. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Mm."

Wu Dao Ming nodded. "When the beasts of this world embark on the Demon Path, as long as they step into the ’Second Realm: Extraordinary,’ they can condense a Demon Pill within their bodies. They can then transform into human form and master all sorts of powerful and incredible abilities."

"Generally speaking,"

"we call these transformed demons the ’Demon Race.’"

"Furthermore," Wu Dao Ming continued, "when these transformed members of the Demon Race couple with our Human Race, their offspring are called ’Half-Demons.’"

"Half-Demons are born in human form, but parts of their bodies retain beast-like characteristics, just like what you’re seeing now."

"Half-Demons are accepted by neither the Human Race nor the Demon Race, so their situation is difficult. Most Half-Demons are slaves. Only a small number manage to learn a Cultivation Technique, obtain great Power, and thereby gain some status."

"However, both the Human Race and the Demon Race, deep down, do not accept Half-Demons, viewing them as aberrations."

"I never knew about all this."

Xu Qing took a deep breath and said, "I have truly learned a great deal."

In fact, Xu Qing thought of his Cabbage Flower Snake. After he had successfully cataloged it, he let it go into the wild once it had grown too large for his courtyard.

Before he knew it, more than half a year had passed.

Xu Qing had actually been keeping track of the Cabbage Flower Snake’s status. Even though it wasn’t by his side, he could still check on it through the Encyclopedia of All Things.

At the same time, no matter how far away it was, as long as the Cabbage Flower Snake gained enough Experience Points, Xu Qing could level it up remotely.

With a thought, Xu Qing’s consciousness connected to the Encyclopedia of All Things.

[Cabbage Flower Snake Level 10: 5000/5120 (Originally an ordinary cabbage flower snake, it has undergone transformation after transformation, growing from a common beast into a Demonic Beast. After nine transformations, it has now become a peak Tier Nine Demonic Beast, only one step away from comprehending the nature of the world and condensing a Demon Pill.)]

’It’s close,’ Xu Qing mused. ’Ever since the Cabbage Flower Snake left my side to hunt in the wild, it has devoured a vast number of living creatures, including all sorts of Demon Fiends and evil spirits.’

’Now, more than half a year has passed, and the Cabbage Flower Snake has reached Level 10. Its Experience Points have reached five thousand, and it won’t be long before it can level up again.’

’I reckon it will devour enough food in the next two days. Then, I can get it to Level 11, and it will enter the Second Realm of the Demon Path.’

ROAR!!!

Suddenly, Xu Qing heard a tiger’s roar. The forest trembled as a red tiger, nine meters tall with a pair of wings sprouting from its back, appeared.

The red tiger exerted immense pressure on Xu Qing. The aura it emanated was overwhelmingly powerful, exceptionally strong even among those in the ’Second Realm: Extraordinary’.

However, this terrifying tiger lowered its head before Wu Dao Ming, acting as docile and obedient as a house dog.

"This..."

A look of astonishment crossed Xu Qing’s face.

"Haha..."

Wu Dao Ming laughed, patting the winged tiger on the forehead. "Red Tiger, go play by yourself for now. I have important business to attend to."

Roar...

The winged tiger let out a low growl. Its enormous eyes stared at Xu Qing, scrutinizing him from top to bottom before turning back to Wu Dao Ming. Although it didn’t speak, its meaning was clear: it was asking if the important business had to do with this boy.

"That’s right."

Wu Dao Ming smiled.

ROAR!

With another roar, the winged tiger walked away.

"A Two-winged Red Tiger."

Wu Dao Ming explained to Xu Qing, "There are two different paths for a Demonic Beast to enter the ’Second Realm: Extraordinary’. The first is what I just mentioned: condensing a Demon Pill, taking human form, and becoming part of the ’Demon Race.’"

"The second path,"

"is to comprehend the nature of the world, integrating the power of a Mental Realm into the physical body. Instead of condensing a Demon Pill or taking human form, it awakens the power of its flesh. This is how it becomes a ’Ferocious Beast.’"

"This Two-winged Red Tiger is a Ferocious Beast."

"I see."

Xu Qing nodded in understanding. After listening to Wu Dao Ming’s explanation, he realized that this meant his Cabbage Flower Snake also had two paths to choose from.

As they talked, Xu Qing followed Wu Dao Ming to the summit. On their way past the mountainside, they encountered several of Wu Dao Ming’s disciples, all of whom were extremely respectful toward their master.

At the same time, Wu Dao Ming’s disciples naturally noticed Xu Qing as well.

Of course, they didn’t ask any questions.

In truth, one could get a rough idea of the sheer size of the Dapeng Martial Arts Hall just by looking at the nine mountain peaks of the True Inheritor Elders in the Elder Hall, as these nine peaks were only one part of the entire establishment.

「The Summit」

Here stood a majestic structure, like a palace from the Imperial Palace. A plaque hung above the grand doors, inscribed with the words: Dao Ming Palace.

The palace doors swung open.

"Come in."

Wu Dao Ming said.

"Mm."

Xu Qing nodded and followed him inside.

The scene shifted.

Inside the hall, only Xu Qing and Wu Dao Ming were present. Wu Dao Ming sat in the main seat and gestured for Xu Qing to sit in a chair to the side.

"That Dapeng Order of yours belonged to ’Zhou Guo,’ didn’t it?"

As soon as Xu Qing was seated, Wu Dao Ming asked him directly.

"Yes."

Xu Qing didn’t deny it. The Dapeng Order was engraved with the name ’Zhou Guo’. The reason Lin Yue and He Wensheng didn’t know was that they hadn’t gotten a clear look at the inscription.

Moreover, Lin Yue and He Wensheng had joined the Dapeng Martial Arts Hall long after the incident with Zhou Guo, so they were unaware of the details.

"I knew it."

Wu Dao Ming took a deep breath. "I thought it was all completely over after what happened twenty years ago. I never expected that two decades later, you would arrive at the Dapeng Martial Arts Hall with Zhou Guo’s Dapeng Order."

"..."

Xu Qing remained silent.

"Mm."

Wu Dao Ming nodded. "I won’t ask you where you got this Dapeng Order. There’s no point in knowing."

"I only want to ask you, do you have any idea what happened twenty years ago?"

"Well..."

Xu Qing hesitated. "I am not entirely clear on the matter. I only know that it had something to do with a difference in philosophy, because Zhou Guo advocated for ’education without discrimination.’"

"That’s part of it."

Wu Dao Ming said in a calm tone.

"Forget it."

Wu Dao Ming shook his head. "You’re just a junior; you don’t need to know too much about what happened over twenty years ago. You only need to know this: back then, Zhou Guo’s status in the Dapeng Martial Arts Hall was extremely high. It even surpassed that of the True Inheritor Elders. Only the Hall Master himself could outrank him."

"And within the entire Dapeng Martial Arts Hall,"

"aside from myself and a few others, practically all the higher-ups held strong animosity toward Zhou Guo."

"This is why I said earlier that you would have been in great danger if you hadn’t met me first. The Dapeng Order you carry is Zhou Guo’s."

"If one of the True Inheritor Elders who despises Zhou Guo had been the first to meet you, what do you think they would have done? Would they have been as reasonable as I am?"

"I understand, Elder Wu."

Xu Qing nodded. "Elder Wu, why does everyone else hold such strong animosity toward Zhou Guo, but you don’t? You’ve even shown me great kindness and taken my Dapeng Order for safekeeping."

"Because Zhou Guo saved my life."

Wu Dao Ming said in a deep voice, "Back then, if Zhou Guo hadn’t arrived in time, I would have surely died at the hands of a Supreme Elder from the Ten Thousand Forms Demon Sect. He appeared just in time to save me."

"I see."

Xu Qing nodded.

"I can’t give Zhou Guo’s Dapeng Order back to you."

Wu Dao Ming mused for a moment before continuing, "If anyone else were to see this Dapeng Order, there would be no place for you in the Dapeng Martial Arts Hall."

SWISH!

Then, Wu Dao Ming took out another Dapeng Order from his robes and tossed it to Xu Qing, who quickly reached out and caught it.

He examined it closely.

This Dapeng Order wasn’t much different from Zhou Guo’s, except that this newly acquired one was not engraved with any name.

"From this day forward, I will take you as my True Disciple."

Wu Dao Ming said, "You will be my seventh True Disciple. You have six senior brothers and sisters above you."