Chapter 51: Applying as a Disciple

Chapter 51: Applying as a Disciple "Y-You bastard...! What did you...!" Uriel, despite losing strength in her entire body, still pushed herself to curse at Xu Tao. But the man himself wasn’t even looking at her anymore. Instead, he was seemingly staring at "something" mid-air, completely distracted. "Fu...ck...!" Her gaze slipped to the side, eyeing Henrietta. But just like her, Henrietta didn’t seem able to move. At most, her arms were trembling ever so slightly, but still far from moving freely. ’At my current state, I can’t even protect Ritta...!’ Uriel cursed her weakness—more than anything, her inability to protect someone important to her. But despite all that, Xu Tao continued at his own pace, ignoring the two. He was confused, after all. ’The Lost System... followed me?’ No doubt, the windows before him belonged to the Lost System. It said so itself. And not only that, there was also a record of the total time passed after he entered the Lost System’s world, Alkryon, compared to the time passed in the "real" world. ’The passage of time doesn’t match...’ He had spent roughly four days inside the game-like world, while the system claimed only one day had passed here. A disparity of at least four times. Furthermore, it didn’t seem like he could return to Jehanne and the others anytime soon. The cooldown he was seeing—about three days and ten hours—needed to pass before he could. But that posed a question in his mind. ’Will time pass in there while I’m here... Will it pass at the same rate as here? Or will it also be four times faster...?’ He prayed it wasn’t the last one. If time moved four times faster there, then that meant he’d return 12 to 13 days later from their perspective. Worse, they might even think Xu Tao had died since he disappeared without a trace. Xu Tao’s mind spun rapidly, raising questions and giving himself half-baked answers. But in the end, he could only sigh. "Guess I can’t do anything but wait it out..." He had too little information to form a proper analysis. At the very least, he needed to get back and out of Alkryon one more time each. In short, he was stuck on this side for three days. "Hey, you..." "Hmm?" Just as he finished his analysis, Henrietta’s voice reached him. He turned to her, only to see a trembling beauty half-covering her lingerie-like attire with a towel draped over one shoulder. "Ah..." And he remembered. Before getting distracted by the Lost System’s panels, he had been "catering" to these two girls. He had left them immobilized with a technique, drained of vitality and strength, then completely forgot about them. "Sorry, I was preoccupied," Xu Tao apologized, before clapping once more. In the next moment, the two ladies’ bodies regained their mobility. Their energy returned—no, it more than returned. It increased! Uriel, being the better cultivator, immediately sensed it: her internal energy had tripled in an instant. A gain she couldn’t imagine without ten years of closed-door cultivation! But it didn’t stop there. Xu Tao noticed that his beloved Storage Pouch still hung from his waist—and that a familiar SSR Ring adorned the middle finger of his right hand. This little trinket confirmed one thing: his trip to that desert world wasn’t a dream. With a wave of his hand, he retrieved one of the robes from the SSR Storage Ring and "equipped" it to Henrietta, wrapping her body to preserve her modesty. "This... is...?!" But she wasn’t shocked by the robe appearing on her body. It was the internal energy swirling inside her—the curse, the Qi Deviation she’d suffered from since birth... It had calmed. "As an apology, I fixed your Qi Deviation for free. With this, I hope my earlier rudeness is forgiven," Xu Tao explained, instinctively folding his hands into his sleeves. But Henrietta wasn’t listening. She was overwhelmed. "Ritta?!" Uriel noticed her trembling, the tears in her eyes. But she quickly understood—it wasn’t from fear or pain, but from sheer, overwhelming relief. For the first time in her life, Henrietta was freed from the constant torment of her own body. The pain that comes with her every move, and the anguish and irritation from always ensuring minute control over all her actions—had disappeared like a lie. She felt... reborn. Uriel saw the tears fall, but didn’t try to stop them. No one could. No one should. "Hello...?" Xu Tao called, noticing they were lost in their own worlds. "Is this my cue to leave?" he muttered. But he couldn’t just go. That VR Pod, situated between the girls, was critical now. It was, after all, the only "passage" for him to revisit Alkryon. "...ster." "Huh?" Then came a whisper—from Henrietta. Her body trembled as tears streamed down. She inched forward, kneeling with her legs beneath her, hands flat on the floor, head bowed deeply. "Please take me as your disciple, Master!" she shouted, much louder this time. Loud enough to be heard until the next block—if not for the VVIP room’s excellent soundproofing. "You... a disciple?" Xu Tao raised a brow. As the Great Elder, he hadn’t taken a direct disciple in thousands of years. That was the job for the other Elders in the Azure Dragon Sect. Even Little Wenwen couldn’t be considered his direct disciple—more like a disciple of a disciple. He was about to reject her without a second thought when— "I’m begging you too, Mysterious Master!" Uriel suddenly joined in, pressing her forehead to the ground beside Henrietta’s. "Please take Ritta here as your disciple! I’ll do anything in return!" It was her first time seeing Henrietta "beg" someone to be her master, as it was usually the other way around. As such, she didn’t want to miss this opportunity. "...Oh?" Thankfully, her words tugged at Xu Tao’s heartstrings. "Anything, huh?" Thinking about it, he couldn’t return for a while anyway. And with nothing better to do, wasting time by teaching some juniors... sounded oddly fitting. A smile crossed his face as he watched the two girls kneeling before him. He felt a wave of amusement, even a touch of pride, before nodding. "Alright! I accept!" he declared. "It’s rare enough to see Evil Spirit Mixes, but it’s even rarer to find a Dual-Soul Wraith and a Blazing Wrath Fiend. I’ll humor your wishes, kids. Feel honored, for I, the Great Elder of the Azure Dragon Sect, Xu Tao, will take you both as my direct disciples!" To his words, however, someone raised a small concern. "Uhh... I already have a master though..." Uriel raised her head, muttering awkwardly. "Hmm? And you think that master of yours is better than me?" "..." Xu Tao’s counter left her speechless. After all, with just a clap, he had tripled her cultivation—even if only temporarily. A feat her own master, who was just slightly stronger than her, could never dream of performing. "It’s an honor to be your disciple, Master!" the decision was instant. "It’s an honor, Master!" Henrietta echoed, tears still fresh on her face. And just like that, Xu Tao gained two new Direct Disciples. But he wasn’t done yet. "You said you’d do anything earlier, right?" he grinned, eyes slowly traveling from Uriel’s face to somewhere along the ripped side of her skirt. "Then..." Uriel gulped, bracing for his "request"—and preparing her heart for the worst.