First Disciple of the Three Pure Ones

Seeing Laozi and Tongtian's approval of Nan Ji, Yuanshi nodded in satisfaction.

Laozi raised his right index finger and tapped Nan Ji between the brows.

As Laozi's glowing fingertip touched Nan Ji's forehead, countless obscure and incomprehensible runes suddenly flooded into Nan Ji's mind.

Nan Ji instinctively shut his eyes tightly, sensing those cryptic runes.

As he carefully comprehended them, he immediately gained a new understanding of all things.

Compared to the memories of White Crane's original body, it was like obtaining an almost complete game guide, impossible not to become immersed in.

Although Nan Ji desperately wanted to comprehend the secret art in his mind, he forcibly interrupted his own thoughts.

Because he knew that in the future Great Desolation, cultivation level was not what mattered most. What mattered was one's closeness to these Saints.

Besides, the great tribulation facing the disciples of the Three Teachings was none other than the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation. Why chase distant goals and pursue the utmost cultivation instead?

Suppressing his reluctance, Nan Ji opened his eyes, knelt on the ground, and said, "This disciple thanks Martial Uncle, Master, and Martial Uncle for bestowing this technique."

Yuanshi nodded in satisfaction, thinking to himself that this child possessed excellent temperament.

After all, they had yet to formally establish a teaching and accept disciples, and the cultivation method they practiced was still Pangu's inherited Three Pure Ones Primordial Scripture.

As transformations of Pangu's primordial spirit, this inheritance was more than enough to be called a top-tier cultivation method in the Great Desolation, something most living beings could hardly refuse.

Looking at the respectful Nan Ji before him, Laozi felt, for the first time, the warmth of being a master.

Stroking his beard, Laozi smiled and said, "This is the Three Pure Ones Primordial Scripture cultivated by us Three Pure Ones. Study it well, and do not pass it on to others."

Laozi did not say much, but Nan Ji was thrilled upon hearing it. After all, it had been jointly bestowed by the Three Pure Ones.

Nan Ji replied excitedly, "Yes!"

Perhaps he had grown accustomed to paying respects, for Nan Ji once again bowed and kowtowed to the three of them.

It was not that Nan Ji deliberately wanted to flatter them. These three were genuine immortals, and having worshipped gods and Buddhas in his previous life, he was not particularly resistant to it.

But when Tongtian saw this, the way he looked at Nan Ji became displeased.

Tongtian directly said, "Enough. You keep kowtowing over and over, but your Martial Uncle has nothing to give you instead."

Those words made Yuanshi and Laozi blush with embarrassment.

The Three Pure Ones had yet to hear Hongjun's second sermon. Even the distribution of treasures would only take place after the third sermon, so among the three of them, only Laozi possessed a Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda.

"Cough, cough..." Laozi could only cough dryly to hide his embarrassment after being choked by Tongtian's words.

Yuanshi shot Tongtian a fierce glare, then explained somewhat awkwardly, "Disciple, by rights, since you have entered the Three Pure Ones' lineage, you should have a treasure to protect yourself. But at present, we have no other treasures in hand."

"Master, it's fine."

Nan Ji interrupted Yuanshi. Having seen everything, warmth immediately filled his heart.

Tongtian might have spoken harshly, but his words made sense. He was simply concerned for his martial nephew.

Even with his toes, Nan Ji could tell that the Three Pure Ones were utterly penniless. But for the sake of his three elders' dignity, Nan Ji paused before clasping his hands and saying, "With the teachings bestowed by Martial Uncle, Master, and Martial Uncle, this disciple needs no treasures."

The embarrassed Yuanshi and Laozi immediately looked seriously at Nan Ji upon hearing those words.

"For this disciple to enter the Three Pure Ones' lineage is already an immense blessing. This disciple is very content."

Nan Ji meant those words sincerely. If he had transmigrated to the start of the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation, then even if he wanted to join one of the Three Teachings, he could only serve as cannon fodder to ward off disaster.

Even if the Three Pure Ones might not know that they would certainly become Saints in the future, Nan Ji knew.

"Moreover, Master enlightened this disciple and allowed me to take form. Then the three elders unreservedly imparted the Three Pure Ones Primordial Scripture to me. Could this disciple still be dissatisfied?"

"If I still harbored resentment, how could this disciple face the three elders with a clear conscience?"

Those few short sentences were heartfelt, reasonable, and well-founded.

For a moment, Laozi, Yuanshi, and Tongtian all fell silent.

Yet Nan Ji, the one who had caused it all, felt that there was nothing improper about it and looked thoroughly righteous.

"Excellent! This child possesses both virtue and character. He may become the first disciple of our Three Pure Ones' lineage!"

Only after a long while did Laozi say with emotion.

Yuanshi and Tongtian actually nodded in agreement after hearing this. "Big Brother is right!"

Now Nan Ji was dumbfounded.

Something was wrong!

This script was definitely wrong.

How had he become the first disciple of the Three Pure Ones?

Thinking of this, Nan Ji excitedly kowtowed once more.

"This disciple thanks Martial Uncle, Master, and Martial Uncle!"

This time, the three of them said nothing and solemnly accepted Nan Ji's salute.

After Nan Ji finished paying his respects, Laozi said, "The Dao Ancestor's second sermon is imminent. We must also quickly comprehend the Yellow Court Scripture bestowed by the Dao Ancestor."

Yuanshi nodded as well and said to Nan Ji, "For now, cultivate using the Three Pure Ones Primordial Scripture. If there is anything you do not understand, wait until we emerge from seclusion and we will answer you."

"Yes!"

After Nan Ji answered, Yuanshi returned to the thatched cottage with Laozi and Tongtian.

Nan Ji looked at the thatched cottage where the three lived, shook his head, and thought, This environment is truly too crude.

But with his three elders still inside the thatched cottage, how could he simply build himself a house?

Thus, Nan Ji went beneath a massive tree and began comprehending the cultivation method bestowed by the Three Pure Ones.

This earliest version of the Three Pure Ones Primordial Scripture was indeed an exceedingly rare treasure to the living beings of the Great Desolation.

Not only did it contain many cultivation methods, but more importantly, it held inherited knowledge concerning all things in the Great Desolation.

It was precisely because this inheritance came from Pangu that Laozi's pill refining, Yuanshi's artifact refining, and Tongtian's formations were all unparalleled in the Great Desolation.

When Nan Ji saw the section on body cultivation, he immediately thought of the Chan Teaching's protective cultivation method, the Eight-Nine Arcane Art.

"Presumably, this body-refining section will later be deduced by Master and the others into the Eight-Nine Arcane Art, which is said to allow one to become a Saint."

It would be a lie to say he was not tempted. After all, there were only so many paths to becoming a Saint in the Great Desolation.

Proving the Dao through strength was probably also the most cost-effective path.

No, that won't do!

A famous scene he had seen before transmigrating suddenly appeared in Nan Ji's mind.

His originally immortal and refined appearance suddenly bulged with muscles...

Thinking of that, Nan Ji murmured, "Presumably, Master might not like it in the future either. Besides, later on..."

Nan Ji had originally wanted to say that Saints would later be driven out of the Great Desolation.

But the moment Nan Ji was about to speak, a wave of terror suddenly rose in his heart, even causing his aura to become disordered.

Only after a while did Nan Ji's mind finally calm down.

After carefully considering it, Nan Ji decided that he should still cultivate his primordial spirit.

The Great Desolation had not yet established the passage of time, and the rotations of the sun and moon remained irregular.

After an unknown amount of time, Nan Ji slowly opened his eyes. He carefully sensed his realm and unconsciously stretched.

"Ow, who said cultivation was like playing a game? Even playing games for too long gets tiring."

Feeling his Mid-stage Taiyi Golden Immortal cultivation, Nan Ji nodded in satisfaction.

At present, the Dao Ancestor Hongjun had yet to teach the method of cultivating the Quasi-Saint path. Among all living beings in the Great Desolation, the highest cultivation level was only the Grand Unity Golden Immortal stage.

Though he could not compare to those innate living beings of the first generation who had possessed Grand Unity Golden Immortal cultivation upon taking form, he had still been an Early Taiyi Golden Immortal upon transforming.

With the cultivation method bestowed by the Three Pure Ones for him to comprehend this time, Nan Ji had only risen from Early Taiyi Golden Immortal to Mid-stage Taiyi Golden Immortal, but it had made up for many of his previous shortcomings.