Pain After Pain! The Masters' Parenting Reflection

On the peak of Kunlun Mountain, the atmosphere was heavy.

Lin Shen's soft, glutinous voice, laced with sobs, "Sister... don't... go..." struck the hearts of the Three Pure Ones like an invisible, heavy hammer.

Tongtian Jiaozhu was completely stunned.

He stared blankly at his disciple, the precious disciple he had held since their Form Transformation, fed and cared for, and worked like a horse for, now clinging tightly to another woman's clothes, preventing her from leaving.

And towards him, his suffering Third Master, the disciple didn't even spare a glance to ask him to stay.

At this moment, Tongtian Jiaozhu felt less like a Primordial Golden Immortal and more like a neglected wife abandoned by a faithless husband.

His heart was shattered.

Shattered beyond even a speck of dust.

"Waa--!"

A world-shattering wail echoed throughout Kunlun Mountain.

But it wasn't Lin Shen crying; it was Tongtian Jiaozhu.

The leader of the Intercepting Sect, who had just attained Primordial enlightenment and could cleave the Milky Way with a single sword, now sat on the ground like a three-year-old child, beating his chest and bawling.

"There's no justice! No justice at all!"

"My disciple, whom I raised with such hardship, is abandoning his master for a woman he's only known for two days!"

"What's the point of my living! Eldest Brother, Second Brother, don't stop me, let me go to the chaos and perish!"

As he cried, he secretly glanced at Lin Shen from the corner of his eye, hoping his "act of self-harm" would elicit a shred of sympathy from his disciple.

However, Lin Shen was merely startled by the sudden wailing, glanced at him curiously, and then buried his little head back into Nuwa's warm embrace.

His small hands gripped even tighter.

Clearly, in his young world, his master's cries were far less comforting than the embrace of the pretty sister.

Seeing this, Tongtian Jiaozhu cried even harder.

Yuanshi Tianzun's face could no longer be described as merely black.

It was a black of a thousand colors.

He looked at his third brother, who was throwing a tantrum on the ground without any regard for his image, and then at his disciple, who, with an innocent face, refused to let go of the beautiful sister.

His blood pressure was skyrocketing at a speed that defied the limits of the Heavenly Dao.

Disgraceful!

Utterly disgraceful!

The reputation of Pangu's True Lineage had been thoroughly disgraced and thrown into the sea of chaos by this master and disciple pair today!

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the urge to throw both Tongtian and Lin Shen into the Eight Trigrams Furnace for a complete remake.

His divine sense roared at The Grand Pure One Laozi: "Eldest Brother! Look! This is the good disciple you taught! This is the good brother you brought up!"

"One abandons righteousness for lust! The other throws tantrums!"

"Where is the decorum of our Kunlun Mountain? Where is the honor of Pangu's True Lineage?"

The Grand Pure One Laozi also had a splitting headache.

Looking at the farce before him, which rivaled any melodramatic mortal drama, he felt his Dao heart, which had been cultivated for countless eons and had long been pure and inactive, being repeatedly trampled upon.

He walked forward and kicked the still-wailing Tongtian Jiaozhu in the backside.

"Get up! Crying and whimpering, what kind of behavior is this!"

The Grand Pure One Laozi's kick carried the force of a Primordial Golden Immortal. Although it didn't injure Tongtian, the sheer authority of it made Tongtian Jiaozhu's cries come to an abrupt halt.

He got up from the ground with a wronged look, rubbing his backside, and mumbled, "But it's true... my disciple doesn't want me anymore..."

"Silence!"

The Grand Pure One Laozi glared at him, then turned his gaze to Nuwa.

His face showed helplessness, exhaustion, and a hint of... resignation.

"Fellow Daoist Nuwa, you win."

The Grand Pure One Laozi spoke slowly, his voice carrying an unprecedented desolation.

He knew that in this "battle for affection," the three brothers had lost miserably.

To continue to pester would only make the situation more awkward.

Rather than letting his disciple learn bad habits from his tantrum-throwing master, it was better to let him learn something good from Nuwa.

Nuwa also hadn't expected things to escalate to this point.

She looked at Tongtian Jiaozhu's red and swollen eyes, Yuanshi Tianzun's face as black as the bottom of a pot, and The Grand Pure One Laozi's exhausted appearance.

A faint sense of guilt arose in her heart.

Did I... go too far?

To push the dignified Three Pure Ones to this extent, no one would believe it if it got out.

He glanced down at the instigator in his arms, who was holding a tiny kitten and looking at the scene with an innocent expression.

He felt both annoyed and amused.

This little guy was naturally born to restrain powerful beings like them.

"Three Daoist Brothers, this little sister did not intend for this to happen."

Nuwa held Lin Shen and bowed gracefully to the Three Pure Ones, her tone sincere.

"I just... really like little Lin Shen."

"Since the three Daoist Brothers are so reluctant to part with him, then the matter of him staying with me shall be dropped."

Although she desperately wanted to bring this adorable little fellow back to Wa Huang Palace and keep him company every day, she also knew that one couldn't rush things.

Today, she had already succeeded in leaving a deeper impression on the little guy's heart than all three of his masters combined.

Her objective was achieved.

Pushing any further and completely offending the Three Pure Ones would be counterproductive.

After all, there would be plenty of time in the future.

Upon hearing Nuwa concede, the Three Pure Ones breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Tongtian Jiaozhu's expression immediately cleared up, and he eagerly rushed over, reaching out to take Lin Shen.

"Good disciple, come back quickly! Third Master will take you to eat chicken wings!"

However, Lin Shen shook his little head like a rattle, his small hands still tightly gripping Nuwa's clothes, refusing to let go.

Tongtian Jiaozhu's outstretched hand froze in mid-air once more.

The situation became incredibly awkward.

The Grand Pure One Laozi couldn't stand it any longer.

He stepped forward and spoke to Lin Shen in a tone of unprecedented gentleness, "Lin Shen, be good."

"Empress Nuwa has to return to her own home; she can't stay with you all the time."

"You are a disciple of Kunlun Mountain; your home is here, and we are your family."

The Grand Pure One Laozi's words flowed into Lin Shen's heart like a warm current.

Although he was a transmigrator, the time they had spent together and the kindness his three masters had shown him were real.

They would argue about what he should eat, create various toys to make him happy, and unhesitatingly shield him when he was in danger.

This kind of selfless love made him, a lonely corporate slave from his past life, feel a warmth he had never experienced before.

This was indeed his home.

His masters were indeed his family.

He glanced at his three masters, whose faces were full of anticipation, then at the gentle and beautiful goddess sister holding him.

For the first time, his little head began to seriously contemplate a question.

Why... did he have to choose just one?

Could he... have them all?

"Sister... home..."

Lin Shen raised his little face, looking at Nuwa, and struggled to express his thoughts in his unclear language.

"Masters... home..."

He then turned his head to look at the Three Pure Ones.

Then, he extended his two chubby little hands, one grabbing Nuwa's sleeve, the other grabbing the closest beard of The Grand Pure One Laozi.

"Together... home..."

Children's words are often unfiltered, yet they revealed the purest wish.

Together... home?

Nuwa and the Three Pure Ones were all stunned the moment they heard those three words.

They looked into Lin Shen's eyes, which were as clear as a bottomless pool, devoid of any impurities.

An indescribable emotion surged within them simultaneously.

Yes.

They, who had lived for countless eons and thought they had understood the profound principles of the Great Dao, why were they arguing so fiercely over the belonging of a child?

Where had their Dao hearts gone?

Were they truly fighting for their love for their disciple?

Or... was it just that ridiculous possessiveness and competitive spirit?

At this moment, the Three Pure Ones and Nuwa fell into deep self-reflection.

They looked at Lin Shen, this small, pure life.

They saw a mirror, reflecting the most original things in their Dao hearts that had long been forgotten.

"Big Brother... I... we were really wrong."

Tongtian Jiaozhu's voice, for the first time, carried guilt and confusion.

Yuanshi Tianzun also fell silent.

He looked at Lin Shen, his gaze complex.

The Grand Pure One Laozi let out a long sigh.

He gently freed his beard, which Lin Shen was tugging, from the small hands.

Then, he reached out and gently stroked the top of Lin Shen's head.

"Good."

He only said one word.

But this word was as heavy as Mount Tai.

He looked at Nuwa, a relieved smile on his face.

"Fellow Daoist Nuwa, if you don't find my Kunlun Mountain too simple."

"From now on, this will also be your home."