Lin Shen tilted his little head, staring at his three Masters with a bewildered expression.
He had no idea what was going on.
Hadn't he just taken a nap?
Why were his three Masters looking at him as if he were their savior?
Those burning gazes made his scalp tingle.
"Beloved Disciple, you're awake!"
Tongtian Jiaozhu was the first to pounce, scooping Lin Shen into his arms and planting a hard kiss on his chubby cheek.
"How do you feel? Is anything hurting? Tell Third Master quickly!"
His voice trembled, his eyes filled with anxiety and concern, as though he feared Lin Shen might be suffering even the slightest discomfort.
Lin Shen's face itched from the man's coarse beard, and he babbled as he pushed at his face.
Uncomfortable?
No, I felt great!
My stomach was just a little empty.
He stretched out his tiny hand, rubbed his round little belly, and looked pitifully at Tongtian Jiaozhu.
"Yah..." (I'm hungry...)
Seeing Lin Shen's gesture, Tongtian Jiaozhu's heart nearly broke.
"Big Brother! Second Brother! Look! The child is hungry! He must have exhausted himself too much!"
Tongtian Jiaozhu was so anxious that his eyes reddened.
In his eyes, Lin Shen's earlier "great feat" had surely drained the accumulated essence of countless ages.
The first thing he did upon waking was say he was hungry. That meant he was terribly depleted!
Yuanshi Tianzun and Taishang Laojun also looked heartbroken.
"It is our fault. We focused only on our own breakthroughs and forgot about Lin Shen's depletion."
Yuanshi Tianzun spoke self-reproachfully, his voice trembling.
"No matter. Your Master has something here."
Taishang Laojun reacted the fastest. Without another word, he pulled the iconic little white jade bottle from his robes.
This time, he could not even be bothered to dispense it by drops. He pulled out the stopper and was about to pour it straight into Lin Shen's mouth.
"Come, Beloved Disciple. This entire bottle of Life-Creating Elixir is yours! Drink it quickly and nourish yourself!"
That was a treasure he had refined from the essence of countless supreme spiritual roots, after pouring more than ten thousand years of effort into it!
Every drop contained boundless life energy, enough to turn a mortal into an immortal on the spot.
And now, he was actually going to let Lin Shen drink it like water!
Lin Shen's eyes instantly lit up as he looked at the jade bottle held to his lips.
Wow!
First Master was being so generous today?
He did not care about depletion or anything else. He opened his little mouth, ready to drink.
"Big Brother, wait!"
Yuanshi Tianzun reached out and stopped him.
"Although the Life-Creating Elixir can replenish one's essence, its medicinal properties are too potent. Lin Shen has only just awakened and is physically weak. He should not be overnourished."
As he spoke, he took a fruit radiating nine-colored rosy light from his sleeve.
The fruit resembled a peach, but it was several times larger. Natural Dao Patterns flowed across its surface, and a single breath of its fragrance cleared one's primordial spirit.
"This is the Nine-Orifice Immortal Peach, an Innate Spiritual Root from the back mountain of Kunlun Mountain, born alongside Jade Capital Mountain. It bears one fruit every thirty thousand years. Its nature is gentle, making it most suitable for Lin Shen right now."
Yuanshi Tianzun held the immortal peach before Lin Shen, his face carrying unquestionable authority.
That expression clearly said: Eat mine! Mine is the best!
"What are you talking about, Second Brother? My Dragon Phoenix Auspicious Soup is the most nourishing!"
Unwilling to be outdone, Tongtian Jiaozhu somehow produced a steaming cauldron.
Inside, unknown dragon tendon and phoenix marrow simmered in Solar True Fire. Its domineering fragrance instantly overwhelmed the delicate scent of the Nine-Orifice Immortal Peach.
"Meat! Children need meat to grow! Come, Disciple, Third Master will feed you!"
And so, the three supreme experts who had just attained the Primordial Golden Immortal realm and shaken the entire Primordial World were once again arguing heatedly atop the mountain over whose food their little disciple should eat first.
Lin Shen sat in the middle. To his left was First Master's "immortal happy water," to his right was Second Master's "nine-colored giant immortal peach," and before him was Third Master's "supreme Buddha Jumps Over the Wall."
He fell into the troubles of happiness.
This... this was a bit too extravagant, wasn't it?
Hadn't I just taken a nap?
How had my treatment gone straight from a "VIP hospital ward" to "State Banquet standards"?
He looked at this, then at that. In the end, he honestly stretched out his chubby little hand and pointed at Tongtian Jiaozhu's pot of the most fragrant meat soup.
There was no helping it. A corporate drone's soul could not resist the craving for meat.
"Hahaha! I knew it! Beloved Disciple likes Third Master's cooking best!"
Tongtian Jiaozhu immediately beamed with pride and made faces at his two brothers.
Taishang Laojun and Yuanshi Tianzun could only shake their heads helplessly and silently put away their treasures.
Yet inwardly, they swore that next time, they would make something even more delicious than meat!
Lin Shen happily drank the meat soup stewed by Third Master, feeling as though every cell in his body were cheering.
The energy contained within the soup was more immense than anything he had eaten before.
After only a few mouthfuls, he felt that his Refining Void into Dao cultivation had vaguely improved again.
As he ate, he curiously studied his three Masters.
He discovered that his three Masters seemed... a little different.
He could not say exactly how they were different.
It was simply that when they stood there, heaven and earth themselves seemed to become their backdrop.
Before, although they had been powerful, they had still felt like part of this world.
But now, they had surpassed this world.
"Yah?"
(Have you... become stronger?)
"Hahaha, Beloved Disciple noticed?"
Tongtian Jiaozhu stroked Lin Shen's little head, his eyes full of pride and gratitude.
"That's right! Thanks to you, the three of us have all broken through!"
"We are now Primordial Golden Immortals!"
Primordial Golden Immortals?
Lin Shen blinked. He had seen that term in the outline provided by the system.
A realm corresponding to Quasi-Saints?
My god!
All three Masters had become Quasi-Saints?
The news left Lin Shen's tiny mouth hanging open in an O-shape.
This... was this my doing too?
I had only eaten a meal and taken a nap!
Could it have been that Newbie Gift Pack?
[ Ding! The Primordial World Safety Protection Plan is designed to provide the host with the highest level of security. It has detected that the host has just entered the great calamity, with insufficient protective forces nearby. The system has automatically drawn upon a portion of the host's essence, transforming the baleful energy of calamity into the purest Dao charm of creation, assisting the host's three Masters in breaking through to the Primordial Golden Immortal realm. ] [ This will ensure the host's absolute safety during the early stages of the Primordial World. ]
The system's explanation rang out in his mind.
Lin Shen finally understood completely.
Good heavens!
So the system had been pulling the strings behind the scenes!
It had decided that three Grand Unity Golden Immortals were not enough to keep him safe, so it had directly upgraded them into three Primordial Golden Immortals!
This Newbie Gift Pack was way too hardcore!
What safety protection plan? This was clearly a bodyguard upgrade plan!
A storm surged through Lin Shen's heart, but outwardly, he still wore an innocent and adorably clueless expression.
Looking at the tearful, grateful gazes of his three Masters, he felt a little guilty.
Masters, you have all misunderstood.
It was not because I selflessly sacrificed anything. My cheat was just ridiculously powerful!
Still, this beautiful misunderstanding should probably continue.
After all, pretending to be a good little baby got him meat and even more affection from his Masters. Why not?
"Beloved Disciple, you need not think it is only natural for you to expend your essence for our sake."
Yuanshi Tianzun saw Lin Shen's "confused" expression and assumed he was uneasy over his "sacrifice," so he spoke in an unprecedentedly gentle tone.
"As your Masters, it is our duty to protect you completely. Yet we have instead received your grace. It is we who are incompetent."
"From this day onward, you need not think about anything or do anything. You only need to eat happily and play happily."
"The heavens of the Primordial World will not fall. Even if they do, the three of us will hold them up for you!"
Yuanshi Tianzun's words struck the ground with force.
This was not merely a promise. It was a declaration from a Primordial Golden Immortal to the entire Primordial World!
Tongtian Jiaozhu nodded repeatedly at the side. "That's right! Whoever dares make our Little Lin Shen unhappy will have to answer to me first!"
Taishang Laojun simply looked at Lin Shen with a warm smile, his eyes full of affection.
"Little fellow, you have rendered immense merit to the Primordial World and to us. From now on, you are the treasure of Kunlun Mountain and even the entire Primordial World. Anyone who wishes to harm you must first ask whether the three of us brothers agree."
Lin Shen listened to the overwhelmingly domineering declarations of his three Masters, and warmth filled his heart.
A sense of security!
An unprecedented sense of security!
His three pillars of support had all become golden pillars holding up the heavens!
I really can strut sideways through the Primordial World now!
He happily rolled around in Tongtian Jiaozhu's arms, letting out a string of giggles.
Just then, Taishang Laojun's brow moved slightly as he looked beyond Kunlun Mountain.
"Oh? We have guests."
Before you continue