At Kunlun Mountain Peak, the atmosphere was heavy.
Lin Shen's soft, tearful "Sister... don't... go..." struck the Three Pure Ones' hearts like an invisible sledgehammer.
Tongtian Jiaozhu went completely blank.
He stared dumbly at his disciple—the precious child he had held from the moment he took human form, fed and cared for, serving like a beast of burden—who was now clutching another woman's sleeve for dear life, refusing to let her leave.
Yet for his Third Master, who had painstakingly raised him, he did not spare even a glance of protest.
At that moment, Tongtian Jiaozhu felt less like a Primordial Golden Immortal and more like a forsaken wife abandoned by her heartless husband.
His heart shattered.
Not even scraps remained.
"Waaah—!"
A world-shaking wail echoed across all of Kunlun Mountain.
But it was not Lin Shen crying. It was Tongtian Jiaozhu.
The master of the Interception Sect, who had only recently attained the Primordial Golden Immortal realm and could split apart a galaxy with one strike of his sword, now sat flat on the ground like a three-year-old, pounding his chest and bawling his eyes out.
"There's no Heavenly Principle! No Heavenly Principle at all!"
"I painstakingly raised this disciple, and now, for a woman he has known for only two days, he doesn't even want his Master anymore!"
"What is the point of me living? Big Brother, Second Brother, don't stop me! Let me go fend for myself in the Chaos Sea!"
As he cried, he secretly glanced at Lin Shen from the corner of his eye, hoping this little act of suffering would earn even a sliver of sympathy from his disciple.
However, Lin Shen was only startled by the sudden howling. He gave him a curious glance, then buried his little head back into Nuwa's warm embrace.
His tiny hand gripped even tighter.
Clearly, in his small world, his Master's sobbing offered far less security than a beautiful sister's embrace.
When Tongtian Jiaozhu saw this, he cried even harder.
Yuanshi Tianzun's face could no longer simply be described as dark.
It was a kaleidoscopic black.
He looked at his third brother, rolling around on the ground without a shred of dignity, then at his disciple, who wore an innocent expression as he clung to a beautiful sister and refused to let go.
His blood pressure was skyrocketing at a speed that threatened to break the limits of the Heavenly Dao.
Humiliating!
Absolutely humiliating!
Today, this master-disciple pair had thrown the face of Pangu's True Lineage straight into the Chaos Sea!
He took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the urge to toss both Tongtian and Lin Shen into the Eight Trigrams Furnace to be reforged.
Through divine sense, he roared at Taiqing Laozi, "Big Brother! Look at them! This is the fine disciple you taught! This is the fine younger brother you raised!"
"One forgets righteousness at the sight of beauty! The other throws tantrums on the ground!"
"Where is the discipline of Kunlun Mountain? Where is the dignity of Pangu's True Lineage?"
Taiqing Laozi felt like he had two heads and both were aching.
Watching this farce rivaling some melodramatic mortal play, he felt his Dao Heart—refined through countless epochs and long since Pure and Inactive—being trampled over and over again.
He stepped forward and kicked Tongtian Jiaozhu, who was still howling, squarely in the rear.
"Get up! What sort of spectacle are you making, crying and sniveling like that?"
Taiqing Laozi's kick carried the force of a Primordial Golden Immortal. Though it did not hurt Tongtian, its authority made his crying stop abruptly.
Tongtian Jiaozhu climbed to his feet with a wronged look, rubbing his backside as he muttered, "But it's true... my disciple doesn't want me anymore..."
"Shut up!"
Taiqing Laozi glared at him before turning his gaze toward Nuwa.
His face carried helplessness, exhaustion, and a trace of... resignation.
"Fellow Daoist Nuwa, you win."
Taiqing Laozi spoke slowly, his voice carrying an unprecedented bleakness.
He knew that in today's battle for the child's affection, the three brothers had suffered a crushing defeat.
If they continued to press the matter, they would only make themselves look worse.
Rather than let their disciple learn bad habits from a Master who rolled around in tantrums, it would be better to let him learn something worthwhile from Nuwa.
Nuwa had not expected things to develop this way.
She looked at Tongtian Jiaozhu's red, swollen eyes, Yuanshi Tianzun's face as black as the bottom of a pot, and Taiqing Laozi's utterly drained expression.
A faint sense of guilt rose in her heart.
Had I... gone too far?
She had driven the dignified Three Pure Ones to this state. No one would believe it if word got out.
She lowered her head and looked at the culprit nestled in her arms, holding a little milk cat and watching everything with an innocent expression.
She felt both exasperated and amused.
This little fellow was practically born to restrain supreme powers like them.
"Three elder brothers, I did not intend for this to happen."
Holding Lin Shen, Nuwa gave the Three Pure Ones a graceful bow, her tone sincere.
"I simply... like Little Lin Shen too much."
"Since the three elder brothers are so reluctant to part with him, then let us forget about having him stay for a while."
She desperately wanted to bring this adorable little fellow back to Wa Huang Palace and spend every day with him.
But she also knew that some things could not be rushed.
Today, she had already successfully left a deeper impression in the little fellow's heart than all three of his Masters combined.
Her goal had been achieved.
If she pushed any further and thoroughly offended the Three Pure Ones, it would only be counterproductive.
After all, there would be plenty of time in the future.
Hearing Nuwa relent, the Three Pure Ones all breathed huge sighs of relief.
Tongtian Jiaozhu immediately went from stormy skies to sunshine. He scampered over and reached out to take Lin Shen.
"Good disciple, come back quickly! Third Master will take you to eat grilled chicken wings!"
Yet Lin Shen shook his little head like a rattle drum, his small hand still tightly clutching Nuwa's collar and refusing to let go.
Tongtian Jiaozhu's outstretched hand froze in midair again.
For a moment, the atmosphere was intensely awkward.
Taiqing Laozi could not stand watching any longer.
He stepped forward and spoke to Lin Shen in an unprecedentedly gentle tone. "Lin Shen, be good."
"Empress Nuwa is going back to her own home. She cannot stay with you forever."
"You are a disciple of Kunlun Mountain. Your home is here, and we are your family."
Taiqing Laozi's words flowed into Lin Shen's heart like a warm current.
Though he was a transmigrator, during this time, the kindness the three Masters had shown him was entirely real.
They argued over what he should eat, made all sorts of toys to make him happy, and unhesitatingly stood in front of him whenever he was in danger.
That selfless love made him, an office worker who had been lonely and helpless in his previous life, feel a warmth unlike anything he had ever known.
This truly was his home.
His Masters truly were his family.
He looked at his three Masters, whose faces were filled with anticipation, then at the gentle, beautiful goddess sister holding him.
For the first time, his little mind seriously began considering a question.
Why... did he have to choose just one?
Couldn't he... have them all?
"Sister... home..."
Lin Shen raised his little face to look at Nuwa, struggling to express his thoughts with unclear words.
"Master... home..."
Then he turned toward the Three Pure Ones.
He extended both chubby little hands, one grabbing Nuwa's sleeve, the other grabbing the beard of Taiqing Laozi, who stood closest to him.
"Together... home..."
Child's innocent words, yet they expressed the purest wish.
Together... home?
The instant Nuwa and the Three Pure Ones heard those words, they all froze.
They looked into Lin Shen's clear, spotless eyes.
At the same time, an indescribable feeling stirred in their hearts.
That was right.
Why had they, supreme powers who had lived through countless epochs and believed they understood all the truths of the Great Dao, argued until their faces turned red over where one child belonged?
Where had their Dao Hearts gone?
Were they truly fighting over their love for their disciple?
Or... were they merely indulging their ridiculous possessiveness and desire to win?
At that moment, the Three Pure Ones and Nuwa all sank into deep self-reflection.
They looked at Lin Shen, this small, pure life.
In him, they saw a mirror reflecting the truest parts of their Dao Hearts, things they had long forgotten.
"Big Brother... I... we were truly wrong."
For the first time, Tongtian Jiaozhu's voice carried guilt and confusion.
Yuanshi Tianzun fell silent as well.
He looked at Lin Shen, his gaze complicated.
Taiqing Laozi let out a long sigh.
He gently freed his beard from Lin Shen's tiny hand.
Then he reached out and tenderly stroked Lin Shen's head.
"Alright."
He said only one word.
Yet that single word weighed as heavily as Mount Tai.
He looked at Nuwa, a relieved smile appearing on his face.
"Fellow Daoist Nuwa, if you do not find Kunlun Mountain too humble."
"Then from now on, this place is your home as well."
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