Ning Xiao was thrilled. He had only happened to consider the possibility, but he had not expected his request to work.
The others grew equally excited. Mr. Lu would answer their questions. They could only hope that Ning Xiao and the other two would not squander this opportunity on something foolish and ask something useful.
Qing Yun was also caught off guard by this sudden development, but things were much better this way, more entertaining.
Everyone eagerly focused on Ning Xiao, waiting to hear his question.
Facing Lu Yin, Ning Xiao bowed yet again. “Mr. Lu, may I ask how one can become your disciple?”
The crowd erupted. Did Ning Xiao want to accept Lu Yin as his master?
Even Greater Sancte Awe Gate was caught off guard by Ning Xiao’s attempt.
There was no denying that it was a shrewd move. Rather than waste this opportunity on a single question, it was far better to try to become one of Lu Yin’s disciples. Success would mean being able to ask for whatever he wished in the future.
Given the man’s talent, Ning Xiao was not unqualified to seek to become Lu Yin’s disciple.
He also had not simply demanded to be accepted. He had left room for Lu Yin to test him, while also praising Lu Yin.
No matter how people considered the matter, Ning Xiao’s chances of success did not appear low.
Everyone stared at him with envy. If he did become one of Lu Yin’s disciples, he would soar straight into the heavens.
It was no wonder why Ning Xiao had refused to ever join any faction or accept any master. He had been waiting for this kind of opportunity, hoping to submit himself to the strongest of all.
In that case, why had he not instead chosen to submit to Greater Sancte Awe Gate?
Ning Xiao kept his head bowed, nervousness filling his heart. It was not that he did not want to become Greater Sancte Awe Gate’s disciple, but rather that she did not suit him. Someone like Lu Yin, who had also climbed up from the very bottom, was a far better fit.
Lu Yin calmly observed Ning Xiao. Everyone had their own way of surviving. Ning Xiao had climbed up by using his own wits, and in at least that much, he was very similar to Lu Yin.
His question was not despicable, but rather part of the man’s struggle to survive.
Unfortunately, Lu Yin had little interest in Ning Xiao.
When considering Lu Yin’s followers, Ku Wei had been accepted early on, and only because Lu Yin had to do so to save him. On top of that, Ku Wei was only a lockbreaking apprentice. Hui Can had been accepted in part due to the fact that Lu Yin had taken something from the man, and partly to repay Progenitor Hui’s kindness to humanity. Tuo Lin had been accepted due to his own dogged persistence, Lu Yin’s pity for the man, and his relationship with the Sixverse Association at the time.
Not one had been like Ning Xiao.
“You are very accomplished, but unfortunately, you are not suitable to become my disciple.”
Lu Yin’s words plunged Ning Xiao’s heart into the abyss.
Some nearby let out quiet sighs of relief, while others felt a pang of regret.
Ning Xiao was unwilling to simply give up. “Mr. Lu, will you not even grant me a trial?”
Lu Yin shook his head. “With or without me, your path will remain the same. Still, I can give you a push and allow you to experience what it is like to walk a path that is not as smooth as the one you have taken.”
Ning Xiao understood that Lu Yin would not accept him as a disciple, but receiving any help at all from Lu Yin was not nothing.
He respectfully replied, “Then I will have to trouble you, Mr. Lu.”
Lu Yin waved a hand, causing his Champions' Stage Purgatory to appear. “If you are willing, then go in.”
Everyone stared at the Champions' Stage, fear blossoming in their eyes.
Lu Yin’s legends were inseparable from his innate gifts. Of those, the one that the Spirit Nidus feared the most was his Champions' Stage Purgatory. It was a place that forced a person to live painful lives again and again in an endless cycle. Whether the one who entered was an ordinary person or a Dukkhan, so long as a creature possessed emotions, they would fear that place.
Too many people from the Spirit Nidus had entered the Champions' Stage Purgatory. With the passing of time, the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and the Tianyuan had also learned that Lu Yin possessed an ability of endless torment.
No one had expected that the “help” Lu Yin offered would be pure torture.
The gathered people all directed looks of sympathy towards Ning Xiao. Would he enter or not?
If he went in, he would experience pain. As the people of the Spirit Nidus had explained it, the Champions’ Stage Purgatory inflicted not an ordinary pain, but rather an emotional agony. It ripped open the emotions that a person had accumulated throughout their entire life again and again.
If Ning Xiao refused to go in, it would mean taking a step back. There were so many eyes on him, and he had even personally asked Lu Yin for his help. While retreating might not outright offend Lu Yin, at minimum, it would ensure that he lost Lu Yin’s respect forever.
Not only that, but it would cause the entirety of their human civilization to look down on Ning Xiao as well.
The price was too great. Ning Xiao had no choice.
He never intended to hesitate. As soon as Lu Yin’s Champions' Stage Purgatory appeared in his sight, the man steeled his gaze and stepped inside it.
Many people had heard of the Champions' Stage Purgatory, but few had ever seen it.
At this moment, everyone was staring, as though trying to memorize every detail.
Even Greater Sancte Awe Gate was carefully watching. She knew that Lu Yin’s Champions' Stage Purgatory was able to increase Lu Yin’s karma, as well as the fact that more than one Immortal had already entered it. It was a ruthless place.
The Immortals had already discussed among themselves that, if the day came when their human civilization needed Lu Yin to quickly increase his karmic reserves, they would enter themselves and see how much they could strengthen him.
Greater Sancte Green Lotus had even praised Lu Yin’s Karmic Dao as the perfect tool for making great leaps forward.
Everyone waited for Ning Xiao to emerge once again.
It did not take very long for him to be released. His condition greatly resembled Lu Hui’s upon his release. The man’s entire worldview seemed to have been turned upside down.
Ning Xiao’s life had truly been too unobstructed, to the point where experiencing his various other possible lives had granted him an entirely new understanding of reality.
Seeing the man’s reaction, people could easily imagine how Lu Hui had felt.
Lu Hui’s life had not been something that could be summed up with a single word like “smooth.”