When Mike heard the old man's story, he couldn't help but feel pity and said, “Old man, I think I can help you. I have a technique that can help you cultivate without spirit roots, but it might be considered a prohibited technique in this world.”
When the old man heard it, his lifeless eyes glowed, and he asked: “You mean the method you used when you devoured the thief last night?”
Mike nodded his head and replied: “Yes, that method doesn't need spirit roots, but there is a downside. You can only absorb 10 people per level. If you absorb 5 people, and you don't manage to make a breakthrough, it means you will never be able to make any progress. That's why you need to absorb a cultivator who has a higher level than you to secure your success. I will teach you that technique, but before that, I want you to swear your soul to me, that you will never betray me and will follow my laws.”
When Rod heard Mike's words, he was shocked and couldn't believe it. In his hopeless life, where he had already decided to live a normal life and forget his grievances, now he saw hope for his revenge.
Rod asked Mike: “How can I swear to you using my soul?”
Mike replied: “Just swear to me that you will follow my rules and never betray me. Do a half kneel in front of me while bowing your head as a ceremony, accepting me as your leader.”
When Rod heard Mike, he stopped the carriage and jumped on the side like an old man full of vitality. Seeing this, Mike also followed, standing in front of Rod.
Rod then performed the ceremony without thinking twice, as he had already witnessed Mike's technique. He got into a half-kneel while bowing his head, swearing his loyalty: “I, Rod, swear on my soul that I will follow your command as my master and servant. If I break my oath, my soul will cease to exist.”
When Rod finished performing his bow, he was covered by a golden light, and he felt that a tiny part of his soul was being taken away. At the same time, Mike also started to glow. Seeing this, Rod was shocked because the aftereffect of taking an oath was not the same as swearing to the heavens and earth, where four lightning bolts could be seen in the sky. This time, nothing changed except for the golden light and a slight discomfort from his soul for a while, and it vanished at the same time the golden light disappeared.
Mike discovered that the book he cultivated could make him an army of loyal soldiers, and the book would collect a tiny part of the soul from the subject to merge it with him. In short, the larger his army became, the stronger his soul would become. The best part was that the book stated that the chosen one could only read the book; if one could read it, it meant he or she was the chosen one or the successor. When Mike discovered this, he was delighted and inspired to change the world where people of low status could live normally. This also motivated him to create an army for his secret empire.
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Mike said: “Now that the ceremony is done, I will pass the knowledge to you.”
Mike then passed the knowledge to Rod by following the instructions in the book. First, he recited the technique in his head, gathered his thoughts into his finger, and pointed it toward Rod's forehead. A light flowed toward Rod and went between his brows.
Rod's body trembled from the discomfort as a surge of knowledge played inside his head. After a while, Rod calmed down, and to his surprise, he didn't need to practice mastering the technique. For some reason, he remembered everything as if he had already memorized it for a very long time.
When he realized that he was standing in a daze while looking at Mike, he immediately kneeled in front of Mike and put his face against the ground, saying: “I, Rod, will serve you for the rest of my life for giving me this new life!”
Mike reached out his hand to indicate that Rod must stand up and said: “Now, old man, you are my first soldier. I will appoint you as my first general, and you will call me 'my lord.' But since our movement is secret, you can treat me like a young child, same as before, understand?”
Upon hearing this, Rod responded: “Yes, my lord!”
Mike nodded his head in satisfaction and added: “As for my laws, they are simple. Killing the innocent is not allowed. I will teach you a technique that can see a person's aura, and you can judge the person by what you see. The color is white for innocent, green for a minor offender, and yellow, red, and black. Anyone who can see yellow, red, and black are permitted to kill that person, but before killing the person, they must be judged for the crime they committed and the reason for their crime. Rape is an absolute death with no pardon, and the punishment depends on what they did. If they tortured someone to death, their sentence is also a torture to death. If the case is rape, both hands and feet should be cut one by one, and lastly, severing their head.”
Mike then looked at Rod and said: “Those are my rules, and also, slavery is not allowed. If a merchant is caught on-site selling slaves, he must be executed in secret. Everything will be done in secret since our empire is a secret, and let's call it 'The Shadow Scarlet,' since more blood will flow by the time. There are no exceptions—even the imperial family or the top clans that you mentioned before are not exempt. One must kill as long as they commit sin, but in doing so, they must be sure that they can handle it. If one is captured, no need to worry about soul search; no one can look into our souls since it is restricted by the heavens, even the strongest cultivator in this world no one can read it.”
When Rod heard everything, he was shocked. It was unheard of for a person to implement such rules, as in the cultivator world, the strongest usually becomes the law. Mike's laws were akin to declaring war against the entire cultivation world.
Rod nodded his head in a hasty manner and said, “Yes, my lord. I will remember your words and I will put them into my heart and soul.”
Hearing this, Mike nodded his head and pointed toward Rod. A golden ball flowed out toward Rod's eyebrow, and he said, “That technique will let you see a person's aura, just as I mentioned before. You will see five colors, and it will depend on the person's evil deeds.”