After Nan Ji opened his eyes, he found Xuanqing Peak unusually quiet.
"Master?"
"Senior Uncle? Junior Uncle?"
Nan Ji had not put away Ancestor Master's statue. Instead, he held it, intending to show it off properly to his elders.
However, after making a round of the area, Nan Ji found no trace of the Three Pure Ones.
"Perhaps... they had something to do!"
Unable to find them, Nan Ji headed straight to the entrance of his own hall.
"Ah!"
Nan Ji looked at the doors to his hall and slapped his forehead.
"Last time, I forgot to ask Master to name my palace. Once Master returns, I have to make him think of one."
With that, Nan Ji walked into the hall.
The hall contained every conceivable furnishing. Every palace had consumed an enormous amount of Nan Ji's effort.
After walking directly to the innermost area, Nan Ji selected a slightly taller stone table and placed it in the center. He then found a jade censer, jade plates, and jade cups, arranging them neatly around it.
"Right! I nearly forgot that!"
Nan Ji suddenly remembered something and headed outside, only returning after quite some time.
With a wave of his hand, a neat row of sandalwood incense appeared beside the jade table.
Then Nan Ji took out Dao Ancestor Hongjun's statue and respectfully placed him at the center of the stone table. After adding quite a few spiritual fruits, he lit the sandalwood incense and bowed to Dao Ancestor Hongjun. "May Ancestor Master bless this disciple with peace and safety!"
Nan Ji performed the ritual quite convincingly. When he inserted the sandalwood incense into the jade censer, a wisp of green smoke actually rose toward the Ninth Heavens.
At that moment, a thunderous rumble suddenly sounded in the sky, followed by a streak of golden light descending into Nan Ji's hall.
Then, three large characters abruptly appeared on the plaque outside the hall doors.
Changsheng Hall.
If any great cultivator who had attended teachings at Purple Cloud Palace had been present, they would certainly have noticed that the writing was identical to the plaque at Purple Cloud Palace.
"Hiss..."
At first glance, Nan Ji saw the mystery within it.
Not only did the calligraphy contain boundless Dao intent, but even the entire palace was suffused with strands of profoundly mysterious aura.
Yet what shocked Nan Ji even more were the words "Changsheng"...
Though he knew that, barring any mishap, he would be invested as the Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole after the Investiture of the Gods, he felt that this palace of his was far too conspicuous right now.
"Thank you, Ancestor Master!"
Nan Ji bowed toward Hongjun's statue in the hall.
The instant Nan Ji rose after bowing, massive auspicious clouds suddenly appeared in the sky, followed by an overwhelming pressure of the Heavenly Dao descending from above.
Nan Ji stared intently into the sky and discovered that golden clouds of merit had gathered across the heavens.
There were so many golden clouds of merit that they nearly covered the entirety of Kunlun Mountain.
For a time, the great cultivators of the Great Desolation all turned their gazes toward Kunlun Mountain, curious as to who had drawn down such a vast amount of merit.
After all, it had not been long since the Dao Ancestor finished teaching the path of the Quasi-Saint, and one of the methods involved relying on Heavenly Dao merit to raise one's cultivation.
The immense golden clouds of merit began surging toward Nan Ji's Changsheng Hall. As they roiled, they formed three waterfalls made of golden clouds of merit.
One fell upon Dao Ancestor Hongjun's statue, one fell upon Nan Ji's Changsheng Hall, and the last fell upon Nan Ji himself.
The instant the merit touched Nan Ji, he immediately understood.
The Heavenly Dao had acknowledged Nan Ji's actions, which had allowed the cultivation of the Divine Dao to appear in the Great Desolation ahead of time, and thus bestowed an oceanic amount of merit.
When that third of the merit had entirely entered Nan Ji's body, his whole person was illuminated into a glittering golden figure.
Nan Ji could even sense that if he absorbed all this merit, his cultivation would surely break through in succession to the middle or late stage of the Quasi-Saint realm.
But when Nan Ji thought of the future calamity, he instead condensed his merit into a Golden Wheel of Merit that hung behind his head.
After all, as the Three Pure Ones' cultivation steadily rose, there would inevitably be very few people capable of threatening him.
But should a calamity arise in the future and some Saint or great cultivator develop ill intentions toward Nan Ji, this vast Golden Wheel of Merit would surely make them deeply wary.
This was Nan Ji's understanding of the Great Desolation: high cultivation was inferior to having a good treasure, and having a good treasure was inferior to having a good background.
The pouring down of this vast merit was not Hongjun showing favoritism.
Rather, as the number of living beings in the Great Desolation grew ever greater, spiritual energy would inevitably become increasingly sparse. Divine Dao cultivation was the best solution.
After Nan Ji finished condensing the merit, he saw that Changsheng Hall stood out especially sharply. On all of Xuanqing Peak, his was the most eye-catching.
Upon closer inspection, Changsheng Hall had actually transformed into an acquired merit supreme treasure because of this.
Although it could not compare to the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda, which possessed world-opening merit, it was still an exceedingly rare treasure.
But since the golden light was still far too dazzling, Nan Ji refined it and concealed its merit, turning it into an ordinary palace. At the same time, Nan Ji also concealed his Golden Wheel of Merit.
Nan Ji was not someone who liked to show off excessively, and the Three Pure Ones had yet to become Saints.
Keeping a low profile while developing was the most appropriate course.
Just as Nan Ji finished everything, he heard a burst of commotion outside the hall, mixed with Yuanshi and Tongtian's voices.
"Third Brother, no matter what happens today, you must send them away."
"Second Brother, you are allowed to accept disciples, so why can't I?"
"Even if you talked until the sky split open today, I still won't let you take them in."
After hearing this, Nan Ji inwardly thought that things were bad and hurried outside.
Sure enough, the moment Nan Ji arrived, he discovered seven unfamiliar faces. There were even rabbits, monkeys, turtles, lions, and elephants that had yet to fully transform...
Has Xuanqing Peak turned into a zoo?
Looking at the group of living beings behind Tongtian, Nan Ji seemed to understand why his master was angry.
Nan Ji felt extremely uneasy before he finally forced out, "M-Master, Senior Uncle, Junior Uncle."
Hearing Nan Ji's voice, the two men, who had originally been at daggers drawn, immediately calmed down considerably.
"Disciple..."
"Little Nan Ji!"
Yuanshi and Tongtian both looked toward Nan Ji. There was delight and longing in their gazes, warming Nan Ji's heart.
It seemed that his position on Kunlun Mountain was still very secure, and life was still quite wonderful.
But then Laozi walked over to Nan Ji, patted him on the shoulder, shook his head, and said, "You handle it."
With that, Laozi turned and left.
"Uh..."
Nan Ji seemed to sense something.
It suddenly seemed like life was no longer quite so wonderful.
Sure enough, after Laozi left, Tongtian said to Nan Ji with an angry expression, "Little Nan Ji, you tell me..."
After hearing Tongtian's account, Nan Ji understood.
It turned out that after the Three Pure Ones returned, Tongtian had somehow ended up traveling through the East Sea, where he encountered several living beings seeking the Dao from him.
Tongtian saw that these living beings did not even possess a method for transformation. Thinking of how his Second Brother had enjoyed smooth sailing in all matters after accepting Nan Ji as a disciple, he was seized by the urge to take disciples himself.
And just at that moment, Yuanshi, who was in Kunlun, seemed to sense something, and his eyelids began twitching wildly.
After making a calculation with his fingers, he deduced Tongtian's location.
How could Yuanshi possibly sit still after that?
He hurriedly pulled Laozi along with him and rushed toward the East Sea at top speed.
Before you continue