To the three of them, it was as if a devil god were looking down upon them deciding their fates. Naath had truly been enraged at this point and stopped holding back at all, he sent a trace of true void energy into each of their bodies. The instant it entered their bodies it began to devour all of their martial energy and then their bones, out to their muscles and so on until it devoured them from the inside out. This is what happens if someone tries to take true void energy of too high a quality without the prior stages of true void arts allowing their bodies and meridians to acclimate. They would be devoured from the inside out and converted into more true void energy as if they never existed.
Of course, this only applies to those weaker than Naath, if they are of equal strength or higher they can hold off the true void energy or even expel it from their own bodies entirely. Once the true void energy was done with them there was nothing left, not a single speck of dust, not even an atom, they had become one with the void never to be even reincarnated again as even their souls were consumed. Naath scoffed and called the energy back into his own body and all of the energy from the three of their cultivation bases had joined Naath’s own energy bringing his cultivation up to peak first level muscle strengthening.
What Naath didn’t expect however was that the memories of the three he had just assimilated with the void flowed gently and naturally into his own soul sea. After looking through the memories briefly he waved it all off none of them were of any use to him at this stage. After all the true void energy was recalled into his body Naath turned around and faced Baal his face turning into a smile again. “Martial brother Baal, sorry for the trouble. Here let me give you some energy to help you heal your injuries.” Baal shook his head, “No, martial brother Naath it was my fight and you saved me from almost certainly being crippled. Thank you for helping me, let's go inside. I don't have much but I do have some tea leaves.”
As Naath began to help Baal up and heal his injuries he heard an all too familiar voice from above speak up. “Haha little brat this is where you ran off to? Oh, another friend other than that wolf? I wonder if all of your friends are as monstrous? Ah well either way I can’t have my disciple having an exploitable weakness for his enemies to use. I guess I'll train this little brat too, ah right but first teach him the method you did that wolf of yours, can’t have someone with a sub-par cultivation technique as an elders disciple now can we?” Naath paled instantly and swore so only Baal could hear him, “Oh shit, Baal I’m sorry.” Before Baal could even ask what was going on his vision blurred and he was standing in front of a giant glowing light black barrier.
He looked over and saw an old man standing next to Naath, once he saw the robes of the old man he hastily bent a knee. “Outer disciple Baal greets senior!” Elder Gui waved his hand and said, “whatever no need to say anything more, from this day forward you are my elder Gui’s disciple.” Baal was stunned on the spot and Naath paled completely and said, “shit sorry Baal I’ve dragged you down with me. Wait besides that, old man what the hell? You made me go through the ten thousand beast forest and you just let him be your disciple like that?! I call bullshit!” Baal hearing all of this wasn’t sure what to think. He wondered why Naath was apologizing to him for making him an elders disciple, why he had become one out of the clear blue sky. Most importantly he was stunned at what he heard and wondered who this elder was to induce such a cruel test to become a disciple.
After hearing Naath speak, elder Gui smacked him upside the head launching him into the formation. Elder gui sneered, “foul-mouthed brat, Baal you get into the formation to you two will be undergoing this training together from now on. Also don't ask what the training is, it's not optional anyway.” Baal nodded his head and in a daze walked through the formation to where Naath was spitting out a few mouthfuls of dirt and swearing about elder Gui’s slap. Baal stood on the spot dazedly and Naath spoke up to him, “ah shit, he really plans to make you do this training too? Baal, I cannot apologise enough even healing your injuries ten thousand times isn't enough.” Baal spoke up asking, “why is becoming an elders disciple and receiving his direct training a bad thing?”
Just as Naath was about to answer elder Gui walked in and waved his hand causing a faint black barrier to appear over Naath’s mouth silencing him. At this point Baal began to feel a cold sweat building on his back as clearly whatever this training was, it was going to be hellish. He watched as elder Gui went into a wooden shack nearby and grabbed a couple of vials. He said, “Naath, you will be moving on to ice poisons, Baal you will thank me for this in the long run and will be starting off in the same place Naath did with this training.” Naath to Baal’s side was shaking his head in protest profusely. Baal had no idea what was going on whatsoever.
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Elder Gui looked at Baal directly in the eyes and explained. “This training is at the stage right now where I am immunizing you to just about every poison in this world. I won't lie to you young man it will be a painful experience, even Naath here had some difficulty with it at first. Unfortunately, though you have no real choice in this matter, I will not allow my primary disciple here to have a single weakness and all of his friends will be just as safe as he himself.” Baal swallowed hard and nodded his head. Elder Gui smiled and looked at Naath who had a look of defeat in his eyes. Naath shook his head and formed his resolve making a small cut on his arm and holding it out.
Elder Gui nodded his head and opened one of the vials and a drop of pure blue liquid that looked like the purest ice flew into the cut on Naath’s arm. Almost immediately a thin layer of ice appeared around the wound and began to spread out as it circulated through his blood. Baal saw Naath’s face instantly contort into pain as he was gritting his teeth and his eyes went wide. He had seen earlier how he had dispatched the three disciples as if they were simple ants in his way. Now the look on his martial brother's face was of pure agony as if he had been sent to the ninth hell. Baal went pale for a second but then realised that this would help him in the long run. He also felt like he had already fallen far enough behind Naath and so he too cut a place on his arm and held it out.
Elder Gui smiled lightly seeing this and flicked the drop of the fire poison into Baal’s wound as well. This caused him to instantly fall to his hands and knees in agony and he let out small cries here and there. It was the exact same nerve targeting poison elder Gui had first given Naath. Elder Gui spoke again, “Oh right Baal, as I told Naath I'll tell you, we start at the lowest level of poison and work our way up. This is the easiest fire poison to endure.” Baal after hearing this lacked the same grit as Naath and directly passed out thinking about how bad it would be at the end if this was just the beginning. Elder Gui laughed saying, “hahaha I knew my disciple was a cut above the rest, look Naath most people cannot even stay conscious during this process.
But you, my little monster of a disciple, have managed to stay conscious for every single one. You have earned my respect and the right to truly call yourself my disciple. Now then, since he’s out for a few days and you are occupied with this I will go see to your wolf as well. He is already onto the hardcore poisons, his constitution is even scarier than yours is brat.” Hearing this Naath grit his teeth and began to endure the pain of the cold poison, still refusing the help of the true void arts or the true void seed. Meanwhile, the other elders were gathered hearing about everything that happened from elder Fu. All of their faces held expressions of delight hearing about the future hope of their sect.
All but one elder that is, elder Fah the elder whose disciple had gotten beaten. He wore a scowl and said, “ah that idiot disciple of mine, he didn't even look into the kid’s background he probably heard treasure and scrambled thinking it was his for the taking. I will have to discipline him properly when I return back to my peak, sigh maybe this will teach him to use the head that's on his shoulders for a change.” When elder Fu got to the part about Naath jumping down the cliff and saying “wee” all the way down, all of the elders burst into fits of laughter. It was as though Naath’s exploits to them were the grandest entertainment to them in decades.
In another location on top of the highest peak in the entire sect sat a lone cabin that looked almost run down. This was where the sect master stayed and in front of him was a report about what elder Fu was now explaining to the other elders. He too, even the esteemed sect leader was laughing to the point of tears. It seemed as though the entire sect had single-mindedly become focused on Naath and his development. However, after a moment the sect master stopped laughing and calmed down letting out a low sigh. “I guess it’s time I go register my new cultivation realm with those old monsters?” He shifted from his sitting position and slowly stood up looking towards the east and vanishing not leaving behind a single trace.
Back inside of the formation, Naath was in grueling levels of pain as he was enduring ice energy invading each individual cell in his body. The only reprieve he had was when it made contact with his bones it seemed as if part of it were absorbed passively alleviating the pain. Elder gui also noticed this and made a mental note to check Naath’s physique when he had the chance in between poisons. After a few hours of this Baal woke up once more with a loud pained cry. He coughed out a mouthful of vile black blood filled with impurities. After that, his complexion changed for the better and he stopped screaming bloody murder. The poison had somewhat alleviated in the time he was asleep and he could now bear it for the rest of its course. Elder Gui nodded lightly and smiled at this.
After several more days both Naath and Baal were done with their poisons but elder Gui decided to stop here to check some things with the two of them.