My words have become law; I truly have no desire to display my divine power before others.

To be able to freeze both himself and the snake in place, and to ride a leopard through the forest—these are not things that ordinary people can do.

He is most likely a highly skilled person.

He quickly bowed to the old man's retreating figure, saying, "Thank you so much for saving my life, sir!"

Before he could finish speaking, the old man's body suddenly stiffened.

The leopard stopped.

Yun Songzi slowly turned his head and looked at Lü Yang.

His eyes were bright, as black as ink, as bright as a lamp, yet at this moment they carried an indescribable expression—not anger, not doubt, but shock.

"You...can you speak?" Yun Songzi's voice was hoarse, as if she hadn't spoken to anyone in a long time.

Lu Yang was taken aback by the question: "Of course I can. Why can't I speak?"

Yun Songzi frowned, and the wrinkles on his face gathered together, like a cracked riverbed.

He stared at Lü Yang for a long time, then suddenly raised his right hand, put his index and middle fingers together, and touched his forehead.

Lu Yang didn't know what he was doing, but he felt something invisible wash over the old man, like water, soaking him from head to toe.

The thing was cool and pierced his skin, his muscles, and his bones, as if it were searching for something.

Lu Yang shivered and instinctively tried to dodge, but Dongxi had already retreated.

Yun Songzi's face turned even uglier.

He touched his brow again, and the chill spread over him again, stronger and denser than before, as if trying to pull out his soul to examine it.

Lu Yang felt extremely uncomfortable, as if countless ants were crawling under his skin.

He endured it and didn't move.

According to the book, these wise people all have their own little quirks, so it's best not to refuse them.

Yun Songzi withdrew that power.

He sat on the leopard, looking at Lü Yang, and remained silent for a long time.

"What... is your name?" Yun Songzi finally asked.

"Lü Yang".

"Lü Yang," Yun Songzi repeated, as if savoring the two words, "which sect are you from?"

Lu Yang thought for a moment and said, "I don't belong to any sect. I will cultivate under the guidance of a celestial master."

"A Celestial Master?" Yun Songzi's brows furrowed even more. "What Celestial Master?"

Lu Yang opened his mouth, wanting to say "It's Immortal Master Qingwei," but then felt that the other party might not know.

He shook his head: "He was a Taoist priest. I practiced under his tutelage."

Yun Songzi fell silent.

He rode on the leopard, looking down at Lü Yang with a complex expression.

He just used his spiritual sense to examine Lü Yang's body.

This guy actually has Qi within his body, which means he is a legitimate cultivator.

Although it wasn't much, less than a year's worth of cultivation, the Qi he practiced was genuine.

Even a legitimate cultivator, with only a year of cultivation, how could he break free from his control?

That shouldn't be happening!

"How did you break free from my control just now?" Yun Songzi asked.

Lu Yang looked completely innocent: "What control? I couldn't move just now, did you do that? I thought it was a snake that scared me so much I froze."

Yun Songzi's lips twitched.

He took a deep breath, suppressing his agitation, and asked again:

"How long have you been practicing?"

Lu Yang thought for a moment: "Not long."

Indeed, all things considered, it shouldn't have been more than half a month!

Yun Songzi narrowed his eyes; he felt the other person was being dishonest.

Poor talent is poor talent, why bother hiding it? However, after more than ten years of cultivation, the cultivation level is not even a year's worth. This talent can be described as the worst of the worst.

Why are there fewer orthodox practitioners in the world today?

Besides the fact that orthodox sects strictly control the outflow of cultivation techniques, there is another main reason.

That means it's difficult.

Even if you enter the path of Qi cultivation, you may practice for more than ten years, and the level of your cultivation you achieve will be so high that you will struggle to even perform a basic spell.

Admittedly, the supernatural powers and spells learned through Qi cultivation, once mastered, will certainly be more powerful than those of these unorthodox methods.

However, there is still a problem: besides cultivation, where can ordinary people spare more time to cultivate supernatural powers and spells?

But unorthodox methods are different; they only cultivate one of the four elements: essence, energy, and spirit. They are easy to learn and anyone can get started.

Logically speaking, after more than ten years of training to this level, one should have given up long ago.

But what Yun Songzi didn't know was that Lü Yang had only been learning for about ten days.

Moreover, they only work sporadically.

"Do you know why you were able to escape that snake just now?" Yun Songzi asked.

Lü Yang shook his head.

"It was I who used my divine soul to immobilize you. That snake, and you too," Yun Songzi said, staring into Lü Yang's eyes.

"But my spirit cannot hold you still. You only froze for a few breaths before you moved on your own."

Lu Yang looked bewildered: "Really? I didn't notice."

Yun Songzi's brows furrowed even more.

He didn't know if the young man was genuinely unaware or pretending.

He thought for a moment and suddenly had a thought—this young man might have the talent to refine the spirit.

People with the talent for refining the spirit are born with powerful souls and have high resistance to spells that affect the soul.

Qi cultivation focuses more on the spiritual roots and comprehension inherent in the unseen world, and does not conflict with the talent for refining the spirit.

The talent for refining the spirit is also the first threshold for the Misty Hidden Sect to accept disciples.

Those without the talent to refine their spirit cannot even step into the threshold.

The Misty Hidden Sect naturally has its own methods for selecting talents in the Refinement of Spirit realm. Within the sect, there is a visualization diagram that is kept closely by the sect leader.

At first glance, this visualization diagram looks like a jumbled mess, but those with the talent for refining the spirit can see the pattern on it.

The more talented a person is, the more patterns they can see.

People without talent will never see it, no matter how long they look.

When he first entered the sect, his master showed him a visualization diagram. He saw seven things and his master said he was a once-in-a-century genius.

His grandmaster saw six things, and his grandmaster's grandmaster also saw six things.

The young man in front of him was able to break free from his soul suppression, so his talent must be quite good.

He wanted to try it.

In that case, even if we don't find the Mountain God's Seal, it would be a perfect ending if we could acquire a disciple with extraordinary talent on this journey.

After all, he was not satisfied with any of the few true disciples who were now able to inherit his mantle.

If this continues, won't the Hidden Mist Sect gradually disappear?

This is not what he wanted to see. Otherwise, how could he face his ancestors after he passed away?

Yun Songzi took out a scroll of silk from his bosom, unfolded it, and held it up in front of Lü Yang.

The silk book was old, with worn edges and yellowed color. It was covered with messy lines and color blocks, making it impossible to tell what it was.

"What do you think this picture depicts?" Yun Songzi asked.

"picture?"

Lu Yang curiously leaned closer.

He stared at the picture for a few moments, then said, "There's a sun."

Yun Songzi's eyes lit up. Being able to see the sun meant he had talent. The first time he saw this picture, he also saw the sun.

"Anything else?"

Lu Yang looked for a while longer and said, "There's a moon."

Yun Songzi's hand trembled slightly.

After he saw the sun, he looked for a long time before he saw the moon.

This kid saw it after only a few breaths?

"Anything else?"

Lu Yang stared at the picture, his brows furrowed, as if trying to make out something blurry.

"There's a river... a mountain... a tree... a person... that person is fishing... and a bird... the bird is in the tree..."

Yun Songzi's hands began to tremble. Back then, he only saw seven things: the sun, the moon, the river, the mountains, the trees, people, and fishing.

This person saw the sun, the moon, the river, the mountains, the trees, people, fishing, and birds—eight things in total.

He has one more thing than him.

But Lü Yang hadn't finished speaking.

"That person caught a fish...the fish's tail was red...a bird flew up...the bird had a worm in its beak...the worm was green..."

He frowned as he spoke, as if trying to make out the blurry patterns.

"And...and there's another house...there's a stone lion at the entrance...the stone lion has a ball in its mouth...the ball has patterns on it..."