Tongtian appeared before Li Er with an arrogant air and handed him the token in his hand. "Look, my true disciple. I'll have your back from now on."
"Amazing! Third Brother Pan, you can compete for the position of personal disciple. When that happens, you'll receive a Saint's guidance, and your swordsmanship will definitely improve by leaps and bounds." Li Er spoke happily, sincerely delighted for Pan Laosan.
This was because, since coming to this world, Pan Laosan was the first person who had genuinely treated him well. He had helped Li Er simply because he was human, without any reason at all.
"Definitely. What about you, Li Er? Do you want to try becoming a true disciple?" Tongtian asked curiously.
"No need. An inner disciple is enough. Don't forget, I'm only at the Golden Core Stage right now," Li Er said seriously.
The minimum cultivation for true disciples was currently the Grand Celestial Immortal realm, which was Pan Laosan's current realm.
The realm classifications in this world were as follows: Sensory Perception, Qi Refinement, True Essence, Golden Core, Primordial Spirit, Fusion, Human Immortal, Earth Immortal, Grand Celestial Immortal, True Immortal, Mystic Immortal, Golden Immortal, Taiyi Golden Immortal, Great Luo Golden Immortal, Quasi-Sage (Grand Zenith Golden Immortal), Saint (Grand Zenith Imperishable Golden Immortal), Above Saint (Grand Zenith Infinite Great Luo Golden Immortal), Grand Zenith Eternal Great Luo Golden Immortal (Great Dao)—
He was merely a small Golden Core Stage cultivator. Becoming a true disciple would be like existing only to vanish at the slightest touch.
And there was the Heaven's Pride Ranking and the arena. Those were clearly meant for challenges. If anyone challenged him, wouldn't he be dead for sure?
Besides, when he thought of the fate of Interception Sect disciples during the Investiture of the Gods period, he felt that being an inner disciple was enough.
If he became a true disciple, he would have to participate in the Investiture of the Gods War when the time came. That would make him cannon fodder.
He had never considered changing the Investiture of the Gods. It was the path Tongtian had chosen for himself, not something a minor disciple like him could alter.
Not to mention the immense karmic consequences involved. It was all a game between Saints, and he had not lived long enough yet. Besides, he did not even have a Golden Finger, so he had to stay far away from such matters.
He had now completed the first stage of his mission: becoming an Interception Sect disciple. The second stage was to leave Golden Turtle Island at the appropriate time and avoid the Investiture of the Gods calamity.
"It's fine. Once I become a personal disciple and obtain resources, you'll be able to raise your realm very quickly," Tongtian said seriously.
He muttered to himself, I subconsciously forgot that Li Er is still just a small Golden Core Stage cultivator. No, I need to ask Eldest Brother for a few gourds of Nine Revolution Golden Pills. Li Er's cultivation is indeed far too weak.
"Thank you, Third Brother Pan. How about you take me back first? I feel like this place is rather dangerous."
Shouyang Mountain.
Achoo~
The Grand Pure Saint was somewhat puzzled. Why had he sneezed? How could a dignified Saint be so openly remembered by someone?
He immediately performed a calculation, and his beard rose with anger. He had actually become the Interception Sect's Grand Elder?
A thick karmic thread had bound him tightly. If he cut it, it would cause some damage to his own fortune.
"Third Brother! What exactly are you doing?!" The Grand Pure Saint glanced at the pill furnace, gritted his teeth, sealed it, and then tore open space.
He was going to Golden Turtle Island to see what had happened. It was merely the position of Grand Elder, yet such a huge karmic thread had directly bound him.
Yuxu Palace.
Yuanshi Tianzun looked at the karmic thread around himself and was instantly speechless. After calculating with his fingers, he became even more speechless.
He had become the Interception Sect's Second Elder? Last time, he had thought Tongtian was merely saying it casually.
He sighed toward the sky, feeling that his third brother had gone too far this time. How could titles be handed out so carelessly?
"Forget it. Eldest Brother has already acted, so I'll just watch.
But why is there such a huge karmic thread? How did this thing come about?
Could it be because of the Trial of Heart I set up?" Yuanshi Tianzun was curious about what exactly had happened.
But since his eldest brother had already made his move, he would wait until Eldest Brother left before going over. Then he could comfort his third brother. Perhaps Tongtian would understand that his second brother was the one who treated him best.
Golden Turtle Island.
The Grand Pure Saint fell silent as he looked at the Trial of Heart. With his discernment, he immediately saw the wonderful uses of the Trial of Heart. Then, seeing the Interception Sect's rules, he could not help nodding. This set of rules was highly suited to a sect's development.
But when he saw that he was listed as the Interception Sect's Grand Elder, his face darkened.
Especially when he saw that anyone with enough contribution points could ask him to teach the Dao, he understood why the karmic thread was so thick and massive.
The Human Sect only had Xuandu as a disciple, and he already found that troublesome enough. Now all these Interception Sect disciples called him Elder Taishang and expected him to teach them? His scalp went numb!
"Are these merit treasures?"
"Yes, Eldest Brother. What do you think?" Tongtian appeared beside the Grand Pure Saint, pride faintly visible on his face.
"Where did you get so much merit? And why are you being so wasteful?" the Grand Pure Saint asked darkly, already thinking of how to teach this spendthrift younger brother a lesson later.
Tongtian's eyes shifted, and he said helplessly, "Sigh, Eldest Brother, can't you think this through properly? Do you think I could have known that making these things would earn merit?
"If I had known, wouldn't I have used better materials?
"Besides, your little brother is terribly poor. Look at that stele of yours—it was made from scraps I picked up in your artifact-refining room."
The Grand Pure Saint was instantly speechless. His high-grade materials were being called scraps. Tongtian had clearly taken them without permission, yet he called it picking them up. Where was his shame?
This younger brother was becoming more and more shameless.
"How many disciples have you taken in now?"
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"There are several tens of thousands of ordinary disciples and over a hundred thousand servant disciples. But they cannot leave, so they won't produce bad karma.
"There are several thousand inner disciples, several hundred true disciples, and personal disciples have not yet been chosen.
"Eldest Brother, if you fancy any of these true disciples, you can take them as disciples. I don't mind." Tongtian spoke with a hint of pride, while quietly taking half a step back, ready to flee at any moment.
His eldest brother's aura did not seem right!
"Mm. Aren't you going to call your second brother over?" the Grand Pure Saint said blandly.
He minded very much! At that moment, his fists felt itchy and hard. He could not catch this spendthrift bastard of a third brother alone, so it would not be easy to beat him up.
"Oh, my second brother came long ago. Look, he was the one who made this Trial of Heart for me. Even these materials were forcibly stuffed into my hands by him.
"By the way, Eldest Brother, now that you're here, you can't possibly be stingier than Second Brother, can you?
"Take a look at how our Alchemy Hall should be built, and how to arrange the Artifact Refining Hall. Just handle it while you're at it." Tongtian threw an arm around the Grand Pure Saint's shoulders and spoke enthusiastically, his eyes sparkling with expectation.
The Grand Pure Saint: ...
When he thought of his second brother possibly saying in the future that he did not care about brotherly affection, and of his third brother henceforth believing him stingy and no longer being close to him—
"Then let's go take a look. I'll give you some advice."
"Eldest Brother, this way. I knew you loved me the most. You're much better than Second Brother."
The Grand Pure Saint: ...
After that, the Interception Sect disciples experienced a Saint's power. Those areas that had previously remained unopened continuously released waves of Saintly Dao resonance.
And unlike Tongtian, this proved that their Interception Sect had two Saints. Thinking of the descriptions on the system stele, they instantly understood.
Some Golden Immortal demons had originally intended to leave, unwilling to become servant disciples of the Interception Sect, but they immediately stopped.
Though they were Golden Immortals, they were still like ants in the primordial world. It would be better to find a safe place for quiet cultivation.
Moreover, Interception Sect servant disciples could also gain status through contributions. Once they accumulated enough contributions, they could advance.
If they listened to a Saint's teachings, they might even break through.
And the Trial of Heart would always be there. Once they broke through, they could pass the test and become outer disciples, or even true disciples.
Time's eldest brother looked at Golden Turtle Island, took hold of Three Days, and headed into the forest. Field combat was a fine choice.
The Grand Pure Saint left with a dark expression, departing without even looking back.
He felt much lighter. After being plundered several times by that bastard third brother, if he did not leave now, even his undergarments would be stripped away.
Tongtian grinned as he watched his eldest brother leave, feeling a little puzzled. Why had he become so shameless?
It seemed that after getting to know Li Er and hearing the things Li Er had said, he had somehow become enlightened and gained a new understanding of matters.
Especially the things Li Er had said about sects—they seemed particularly good at training one's mind.
But on second thought, asking his brothers for things was not shamelessness. It was called being close.
"Oh my, only twenty gourds of Nine Revolution Golden Pills, just one hundred and eighty pills. I wonder how much they can raise Brother Li Er's cultivation."
Inside a top-grade concealed cave abode on Golden Turtle Island.
Li Er was somewhat depressed. Could it be that he was not suited for cultivation?
After absorbing spiritual energy for so long, the Golden Core within his body was still only the size of a grain of rice. At most, it had become slightly brighter.
Or was there a problem with these cultivation techniques?
That should not be the case. His absorption speed was already very fast. He had absorbed so much spiritual energy that it condensed into spiritual liquid around him. It should not be a problem with the techniques.
"Could it be that I awakened some powerful constitution?
"After all, it would make no sense to transmigrate without a Golden Finger. But a Golden Finger like this seemed rather useless.
"Right, where did that pearl go? After my primordial spirit fused with my physical body, it vanished along with it." Brother Li Er kept pondering, even repeatedly searching his body with divine sense, but he still found nothing.
Strangely, his primordial spirit power remained, but the primordial spirit itself had disappeared.
"Could this be unity? Grand primordial unity?"
Just then.
A voice interrupted Li Er's thoughts.
"Brother Li Er, are you home~"
"Come in, Third Brother Pan. What is it? You seem so happy."
Tongtian sat carelessly atop the table, poured himself a cup of tea, and moistened his throat.
After all, over the past three days, he had said who knew how many good words before getting these pills from Eldest Brother.
"Of course it's good news. I got some pills for you to take, so you can raise your realm sooner."
"Third Brother Pan, did you rob someone else again?"
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