Eavesdropping on My Disciple's Thoughts, Can I Still Return This Disciple?

On a nameless island in the South Sea, Cheng Yue sat within the main hall, comprehending the ten divine abilities recorded in the Daoist Canon.

Vaguely, he felt as though someone was thinking of him.

When he came back to himself, he looked around and even performed a divination.

Through his calculations, he only saw an old Daoist sitting on a meditation mat, saying something.

"Was it this old Daoist who woke me?"

"So weak—weaker than me. Looks like another ant of the Primordial World, just like me."

"Forget it, I won't bother. I've finished reading the ten divine abilities anyway."

But precisely because he had finished reading them, a hint of helplessness stirred in his heart.

The ten divine abilities recorded in the Daoist Canon—not strong enough to be called strong, not weak enough to be called weak.

Reading novels back then, he'd never seen abilities like these.

Take the ability to know others' minds, for example. Its description read: "Having attained the power of knowing others' minds, one perceives the minds of all beings in the three thousand great thousand worlds as undifferentiated, like a single world. Even across hundreds of billions of nayutas of worlds, the minds of all beings can be distinguished and known."

But in plain terms, it was mind-reading—yet not quite the same as mind-reading.

The description made it sound incredibly impressive, but to put it bluntly, it was just telepathy.

Cheng Yue looked at the main hall before him, then turned his gaze toward the side hall.

"Haven't I just taken on a disciple? Let me try—see if I can hear her."

No sooner had he said this than he felt it was wrong. Casually prying into someone else's mind seemed rather immoral.

"Immoral, my foot! She's my own disciple. Listening in should be fine. If it's for the sake of my disciple's growth and development, then I'm truly a good master!"

After saying this, his ears twitched slightly.

Cheng Yue felt as though all the other chaotic sounds in heaven and earth had vanished.

Gradually, he didn't hear his disciple's voice.

Instead, he heard a jumble of random noises.

[What kind of building is this? Who built it?]

[Feels a bit strange, but probably a Great Power.]

[Is he planning to set up his Daoist sanctuary here?]

[Probably so.]

[Great! If he sets up his sanctuary here, will the Great Power give a sermon?]

[A sermon! A sermon!]

[Transform! Transform!]

Countless voices like these rang in his ears.

Cheng Yue quickly withdrew the ability.

He let out a helpless sigh, thought for a moment, and then understood.

He just hadn't controlled it properly.

It was his first time using the ability—being unskilled was normal.

But those stray thoughts set Cheng Yue to thinking.

This island was unclaimed land, but when he arrived, he had directly cut down trees to build the main hall.

That must have inconvenienced many of the island's wild beasts, including those that had opened their wisdom and cultivated.

Thus, some karma had been incurred.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but say, "Very well, then I shall give a sermon to the living beings of this island."

After speaking, he slowly walked out of the hall, stood at the entrance, and began to speak.

"This Seat hereby opens a Daoist sanctuary here. In three days, I shall give a sermon. All who are fated may come and listen."

With that, he waved his hand.

Countless vines, grasses, and leaves from the mountains flew out, transforming into meditation mats that landed on the ground before the hall.

There were only a few hundred of them.

This number matched the island's living beings.

He had already sensed roughly how many beings were on the island with his divine sense when he first arrived.

The number of mats wouldn't be off.

In the side hall, Nuwa, who was still cultivating, seemed to hear the voice as well. Her eyes snapped open.

"Master is going to give a sermon!"

She stood up and rushed straight outside.

Seeing Cheng Yue walk in from outside, Nuwa stepped forward with a light bounce in her step.

"Master, are you going to preach?"

Cheng Yue nodded helplessly.

"We've settled here, which must have caused some inconvenience to these living beings. Preaching is my way of repaying that karmic debt."

Watching Nuwa's delighted expression, he couldn't help but feel a bit curious.

"You've finished your cultivation? It's only been a few days, hasn't it?"

Nuwa explained with a smile.

"I heard Master was going to preach, so I was afraid of missing it. Of course I had to come out of seclusion."

"But Master, this technique of yours is incredibly powerful. In just a few days, I feel like my cultivation is about to break through."

Hearing this, Cheng Yue glanced at Nuwa.

But inwardly, he couldn't help grumbling.

Powerful my ass. It can only cultivate up to the Grand Unity Immortal realm—how is that powerful?

If it were truly strong, it would let you cultivate straight to Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal of the Origin, or even beyond.

Look at other transmigrators—they're always talking about the Heavenly Dao realm, the Great Dao realm.

Always grinding the Heavenly Dao and Great Dao under their heels.

Why am I so unlucky? I transmigrated and only brought this piece of junk with me.

No system either, and I can only cultivate to Golden Immortal, barely enough to save my own skin.

Worst of all, I'm not even a Grand Unity Immortal yet—I can't even protect myself.

He had plenty of complaints in his heart, but since he was in front of his disciple, he couldn't let it show.

Still, his ear twitched slightly as he caught something.

[Master is so strong! Master this Golden Immortal is pretty impressive!]

Hearing that, Cheng Yue couldn't help but lift his head and smile, confidence shining in his eyes.

[Master should be able to beat the Three Pure Ones into pulp, and grind those two three-legged crows into dust!]

[Oh right, maybe he could even grind the Three Ancestors under his heel!]

At that, Cheng Yue froze instantly, staring at Nuwa with utter speechlessness.

But inside, he began muttering slowly.

[No, I can't. You're overthinking it. I'm just a Golden Immortal. They're Grand Unity Golden Immortals. I can't beat them!]

[As a disciple, why are you always thinking about fighting and killing? Can't you just cultivate?]

[And you—stay put. Don't go out picking fights with anyone.]

At this moment, Cheng Yue felt that taking on this disciple might have been a bit hasty. Something seemed off about her.

Can I return this disciple?

Nuwa was stunned too. The sudden appearance of her master's voice in her mind startled her.

Looking up at Cheng Yue, she suddenly recalled a divine ability recorded in the Daoist Canon.

Her face flushed slightly, and she spoke with some irritation.

"Master, how could you do this? Casually peeking into someone else's thoughts?"

Cheng Yue curled his lip.

"If I hadn't listened, I'd be worried you'd go out tomorrow and provoke some other strong cultivator. Consider this a preemptive warning. Don't worry, I don't listen all the time—just a little bit!"

Nuwa puffed out her cheeks, visibly annoyed.

"What kind of crappy divine ability is this? Randomly snooping into others' thoughts. This ability should be sealed away outright. The one who created it should have their soul scattered to the winds—utterly shameless."

Cheng Yue sighed, then finally said, "Fine, I won't use it anymore, alright? But you must remember: as a cultivator, you can't entangle yourself in too much karma. It's bad for your cultivation, and you can't go around provoking others recklessly."

Nuwa rolled her eyes, nodded, and then said, "Tch. Whether you use it or not, I wouldn't know. I'm ignoring you."

With that, she ran off toward her side hall.

Cheng Yue thought it over. He had to admit, this mind-reading ability was best used sparingly. Peeking into others' hearts really wasn't a good thing.

But he could still listen in secret—just not tell her.

Perfect!